Killing Tribulation

"What kind of organization is Human World?" Li Jiusheng asked with a frown.

Knowing that his senior brother had secluded himself in the Scripture Repository Pavilion and paid no attention to worldly affairs, with little knowledge of the forces in the Old Land, Li Qingshan patiently explained, "The assassin organizations in this world can roughly be divided into three ranks. Third-rank organizations merely train deathsworn within a small area, specializing in assassination and taking on jobs. They are usually small organizations that handle troublesome matters for important figures."

"Second-rank assassin organizations have some real standing. They operate across an entire region, with strict internal hierarchies and Venerables stationed within them. They lurk in the shadows and wait for opportunities. Such organizations have dealings with the major sects, and when some sects have matters they cannot handle openly, they hand them over to these people to deal with in secret."

"What about first-rank?" Li Jiusheng asked with a frown. Second-rank assassin organizations already sounded formidable to him. An organization guarded by a Venerable could be considered a force to be reckoned with in the Old Land. After all, Shangqing Palace's strongest fighters at present were only Venerables.

Of course, with Li Jiusheng constantly feeding him, Li Qingshan had already come infinitely close to the Ancestor Realm.

Li Qingshan said, "First-rank assassin organizations are extremely mysterious. No one ever knows where their headquarters are. It is said that first-rank assassin organizations are not only active in the Old Land; their traces can be found throughout the territories of the major Outer Domain powers. According to rumor, such assassin organizations contain old assassins at the Ancestor level, specializing in assassinating Ancestors."

"Human World is exactly that kind of organization," Li Qingshan said gravely.

Li Jiusheng frowned. "If Luochuan Sect offers an organization like that a huge reward and asks them to assassinate people and disrupt Shangqing Palace, how should we respond?"

Li Qingshan knitted his brows tightly. This question stumped him. He could not think of any way to deal with an assassin organization like Human World, which had no trace anywhere in the world.

They only struck once when assassinating a target. Once that strike landed, they would swiftly flee, vanishing without a trace and leaving no way to find them.

So there was no way to guard against them.

"What does Senior Brother think we should do?" Li Qingshan asked.

"You have already obtained the Grandmaster Pure Land. What we need most now is time. Issue the order: from this day onward, Shangqing Palace will seal its mountain gate. No one is to leave until you break through to the Ancestor Realm," Li Jiusheng said firmly. As long as they were impregnable, nothing else would be a problem.

At present, Shangqing Palace did not need to do anything. They only had to quietly wait for Li Qingshan to break through to the Ancestor Realm. Once the aura of an Ancestor spread out and announced itself to the world, all those demons and monsters would vanish.

Li Qingshan nodded. "I'll go issue the order now. Shangqing Palace will seal the mountain!"

With that, Li Qingshan transformed into a rainbow and departed, beginning to issue the orders.

Li Jiusheng watched him leave, then stood at the cliff's edge and gazed into the distance. Amid green mountains and white clouds, mist coiled around the peaks and layered clouds blocked his view.

"Just wait a little longer. Wait for an Ancestor's sword radiance to cleave through every obstacle," Li Jiusheng murmured.

Soon, bells rang one after another from Shangqing Palace's Golden Summit Hall. The elders gathered in quick succession, deliberated for an entire afternoon, and issued a proclamation.

From this day onward, Shangqing Palace would seal its mountain.

No one was permitted to leave, nor would they receive anyone from outside. The sect's grand formation would be activated.

Any violator would be expelled from the sect.

The moment the news came out, Shangqing Palace was shaken from top to bottom. Many disciples sought out their teachers and asked why this was happening.

The elders had already received notice that the Sect Master was entering seclusion to break through to the Ancestor Realm. Shangqing Palace was sealing its mountain to welcome the third Ancestor since the first and second generation Ancestors. Everyone was thrilled, yet they all kept their mouths shut. When faced with their disciples' questions, they merely told them to cultivate in peace.

Li Jiusheng also heard the news, but his days remained the same. Whether the mountain was sealed or not had no effect on his current life.

Yet after the outside world learned that Shangqing Palace had sealed its mountain, the reactions of all sides differed.

Some guessed that Shangqing Palace was quietly undertaking something major.

Others speculated that the mysterious Ancestor within Shangqing Palace had given the order.

Still others claimed that Shangqing Palace had secretly discovered some treasure in that ruin and was now sealing its mountain to digest the gains.

All sorts of rumors flew everywhere, but none of them affected Shangqing Palace.

The news soon reached Luochuan Sect. The elders were astonished. They had only just begun preparing to deal with Shangqing Palace, yet Shangqing Palace had declared that it was sealing its mountain and closing its gates.

It made them feel as though they had punched cotton. They immediately went to report the matter to their Ancestor.

At Emperor Wu of Zhou's secluded cultivation site, the elders of Luochuan Sect informed him of the news.

From beyond a thick stone wall, Emperor Wu of Zhou's voice came through. "Will Shangqing Palace sealing its mountain affect Human World's assassins? Don't they call themselves the world's first-rank assassin organization? Raise the stakes. Give them whatever they want, so long as they thoroughly throw Shangqing Palace into chaos."

"Yes, Ancestor!" The elders of Luochuan Sect exchanged looks. Their hearts bled at the thought, but they could not defy Emperor Wu of Zhou's order and could only obey.

Time passed swiftly, and several days went by in the blink of an eye.

Shangqing Palace had sealed its mountain. The outside world was in turmoil, but within the sect, under the elders' reassurance, the disciples continued cultivating diligently and were not disturbed by the storms outside.

Li Jiusheng was stabilizing the realm he had just broken through.

Every morning, he took Little Fox to cultivate for a quarter of an hour, then let her cultivate by herself while he watched silently nearby, speaking up only to correct her mistakes.

Of course, Little Fox's talent was so exceptional that she understood everything at a single hint. There was practically no room for mistakes, making Li Jiusheng deeply envious.

Before the waterfall, Little Fox practiced her punches while Li Jiusheng pondered how one should cultivate within the Great Grandmaster realm.

A Grandmaster practiced martial arts, comprehended domains, and drew close to nature.

A Great Grandmaster refined the spirit, cultivated the heart, and followed the natural course of Daoist magic.

Li Jiusheng had already formed his Primordial spirit. The road ahead was to strengthen it and comprehend his own Dao.

The Earth Store's Original Vows Sutra became Li Jiusheng's dedicated cultivation method for his Primordial spirit.

"Upon entering the Great Grandmaster realm, I can truly begin cultivating the Earth Store's Original Vows Sutra, visualizing Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, hell, and the underworld, empowering my Primordial spirit and strengthening it every day so it can rapidly grow," Li Jiusheng thought silently as he sat cross-legged and began cultivating.

His Primordial spirit spread outward continuously, extending in every direction with himself as its center.

At first, it could only reach a hundred paces, but as Li Jiusheng cultivated the Earth Store's Original Vows Sutra, his Primordial spirit began to tremble and strengthen, gradually expanding farther outward.

"First, expand the power of my Primordial spirit until it is as large as my domain." Li Jiusheng set himself a small goal and carried it out with unwavering resolve.

His domain had expanded extremely quickly and already covered a radius of two hundred li, encompassing more than half of Shangqing Palace.

His Primordial spirit needed to catch up as soon as possible.

Li Jiusheng expanded his Primordial spirit, inch by inch. He emptied his mind of all distracting thoughts and refused to let outside matters linger in his heart, focusing solely on refining his spirit.

Under the clear breeze and bright moon, Li Jiusheng refined his spirit.

Beneath bright skies and broad daylight, Li Jiusheng refined his spirit.

Amid howling winds and torrential rain, Li Jiusheng refined his spirit.

In just three short days, Li Jiusheng remained free of distractions and entered a tranquil state of comprehending the Dao.

In his eyes, in his heart, in his thoughts, there was only one thing.

Refining the spirit.

In this state, Li Jiusheng felt that all things between heaven and earth were his teachers. Walking, eating, sleeping, and guiding Little Fox were all forms of cultivation.

As his insights continued to deepen, the power of his Primordial spirit rapidly expanded outward, spreading alongside his domain. It soon reached half the extent of his domain, covering a radius of one hundred li.

When Li Jiusheng sensed the area within a hundred li, a warning suddenly arose in his heart. The power of his Primordial spirit locked onto a stretch of wilderness where Shangqing Palace connected with the outside world. More than a dozen black shadows had suddenly appeared and were slowly infiltrating under cover of night.

Each of those dozen-plus shadows cultivated breath-concealing techniques. They moved without a sound and did not speak. Under the moonlight, they were like ghosts, utterly undetectable by domains.

"These people are assassins!" Li Jiusheng realized something was wrong. These black-clad figures were completely different from the two groups that had previously infiltrated the Scripture Repository Pavilion. They were far too professional.

Only true assassins could do things so flawlessly.

"So someone really hired assassins to infiltrate Shangqing Palace." Li Jiusheng opened his eyes, fury burning in their depths. Sensing the strength of those people, he found that all of them were Great Grandmasters. Their leader was even at the peak of the Great Grandmaster realm, the strongest among them.

As Li Jiusheng silently observed them, the black-clad group also infiltrated the vicinity of the Scripture Repository Pavilion. The peak Great Grandmaster leading them spoke. "This mission is simple. Kill the old man guarding the Scripture Repository Pavilion and deliver his corpse to Luochuan Sect. Then assassinate as many of Shangqing Palace's Great Grandmasters as possible. Each Great Grandmaster is worth one spirit vein. How many spirit veins you earn depends on your own abilities. This old man from the Scripture Repository Pavilion is mine."

The other black-clad figures all nodded calmly without speaking, following the lead of the peak Great Grandmaster.

"Good. Then we'll kill the old man here first and transport the body out." The peak Great Grandmaster nodded in satisfaction and prepared to sneak into the Scripture Repository Pavilion.

Boom!

At that moment, an incomparably dazzling streak of Sword energy descended. In an instant, it lit up the night like the setting sun over a long river. Sword energy surged forth, directly engulfing the dozen-plus Great Grandmasters.

"Not good, we've been discovered!" The peak Great Grandmaster's expression changed. He immediately raised a hand, and powerful pressure swept out like a storm, transforming into an illusory goshawk. With a shriek, its claws tore through the air, seeking to shatter the Sword energy.

But as the Sword energy danced, a fierce wind rose from nowhere, turning the entire area thick and oppressive. Carrying an unstoppable aura, it slashed down in an instant. The goshawk let out a miserable cry and immediately dispersed, while the peak Great Grandmaster was forced back by that sword strike.

As for the other Great Grandmasters, three died instantly beneath that strike, while the rest were injured.

"One sword strike killed three Great Grandmasters and forced me back. He dared to attack more than a dozen of us at once. Could he be a Venerable?" These thoughts flashed through the peak Great Grandmaster's mind in an instant. In his understanding, only a Venerable would dare strike like this. They had infiltrated without making a sound, and only a Venerable could have detected them.

But in the next second, Li Jiusheng appeared before them.

"A... a Great Grandmaster?" The peak Great Grandmaster assassin was struck speechless. Unable to believe his eyes, he stared fixedly at Li Jiusheng and asked, "Was that sword strike just now yours?"

"That's right. It was mine. Those who trespass into Shangqing Palace will die." Li Jiusheng's expression was icy. He did not waste words and attacked directly. True Qi surged within him as his two-hundred-li domain contracted with a boom, suppressing the area and making it viscous before he slashed out with his sword.

Grass and Wood Sword Technique!

In an instant, every flower and blade of grass between heaven and earth became a sword.

After delivering that strike, Li Jiusheng did not remain where he was. He moved swiftly, his body becoming an afterimage as he arrived among the dozen-plus people.

Five hundred strands of Dragon Elephant Power erupted in an instant. With a boom, his fist slammed into one Great Grandmaster.

That Great Grandmaster raised a shield with both hands and resisted with all his strength, but it was useless. The moment the fist landed, the shield shattered. Then the overwhelming force caved in the Great Grandmaster's chest, spreading through his entire body and pulverizing every bone while shattering his Primordial spirit.

One strike!

Though both were Great Grandmasters, he could not even take one punch from Li Jiusheng and died miserably on the spot.

The sight left the other assassins stunned.

Li Jiusheng, however, did not pause. He turned and pointed with one finger.

Primordial Stream God Finger!

That finger contained powerful Dao and principles intertwined together as it struck the Great Grandmaster between the brows.

His Primordial spirit resisted with all its might, even attempting to transform into sharp blades and flying swords to kill from a thousand li away.

But unfortunately, before the Primordial Stream God Finger, all of it was futile.

With a wet pop, another Great Grandmaster was killed by Li Jiusheng.

At that moment, Li Jiusheng's speed reached the extreme. Countless afterimages were left behind in a single step. His body was as ethereal as a clear breeze, yet as illusory and real as drifting smoke and clouds.

It was not as though the assassins had never considered fighting back. They possessed domains as well and had even practiced combined attacks, intending to stack their domains together and restrain Li Jiusheng's movements.

Yet just as their domains unfolded, the area abruptly transformed into a surging sea. Amid the rolling waves, a koi bearing yin and yang in its eyes leaped up and crashed forward. Boundless Dao Rhyme slammed down like ocean waves, shattering all the assassins' domains.

Fish Leaping in the Sea of Time!

The assassins were terrified. What kind of terrifying being was this? He was attacking more than a dozen of them alone, unleashing one method after another, every strike utterly dreadful.

At the very moment the koi shattered their domains, a brilliant flower silently bloomed within that sea. It descended directly, fixing itself between the brows of three Great Grandmasters. Its roots extended out, crazily drawing nourishment from their Primordial spirits and flesh.

The three Great Grandmasters struggled desperately, but there was no turning the tide.

Flower Blooms on the Other Shore!

The two great phenomena revealed their sharpness, instantly suppressing and killing three Great Grandmasters while shattering all their domains. Li Jiusheng followed close behind.

One punch, one sword strike, one palm strike—three simple attacks.

Another three Great Grandmasters died instantly.

When the remaining assassins saw this, they were utterly terrified. They no longer dared oppose Li Jiusheng and fled at once.

"None of you will escape." Li Jiusheng's voice was cold, like a ghost on a freezing ice field. His eyes brimmed with killing intent. When it came to speed, they were no match for him within his domain.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Li Jiusheng fully unleashed his twice-reborn body, erupting with incomparably terrifying power. Even the peak Great Grandmaster, after exchanging a palm strike with him, heard a crack as the bones in his hand broke. He vomited blood in great mouthfuls, eyes wide in utter disbelief that this was merely an early Great Grandmaster.

He felt as though he had encountered a Venerable specializing in body cultivation.

"I'll send you on your way!"

At that moment, Li Jiusheng was more like an assassin than they were—cold and merciless. With every breath, he unleashed all manner of techniques.

Invincible Golden Body, Grass and Wood Sword Technique, Heaven-Slaying Sword Drawing Technique, Savage Force, Primordial Stream God Finger...

Each technique took away one assassin. The speed was so fast that it seemed as though they had all been unleashed at once.

In the end, Li Jiusheng left only the peak Great Grandmaster assassin alive and calmly asked, "Who hired you?"

The peak Great Grandmaster assassin was drenched in cold sweat. Clutching his broken hand, he looked despairingly at the old man before him, who seemed both god and demon. With a bitter laugh, he gave no answer, bit through the poison hidden between his teeth, and killed himself.

Li Jiusheng sneered. "Did you think I wouldn't know it was Luochuan Sect just because you refused to speak?"