The Tribulation of Achieving Dao

Rumble—!

Above Ye Changqing's head in the chaos, black tribulation clouds gathered without cease, expanding to cover hundreds of millions of miles in the blink of an eye.

Nine Heavens Divine Thunder brewed within them, each bolt as immense as a true dragon and comparable to an attack from a Quasi-Saint expert.

In an instant, a million bolts of Nine Heavens Divine Thunder struck down at the figure below all at once.

"Senior Disciple Brother!"

"Senior Disciple Brother, watch out..."

San Xiao's faces were written with anxiety, and they could not help crying out.

Merely watching had already left their Dao hearts unsteady, let alone experiencing it firsthand.

Holy Mother Wudang and Holy Mother Guiling were even more terrified, shutting their eyes and not daring to look.

Facing the divine thunder cleaving down upon him, Ye Changqing suddenly moved.

His entire body shot into the sky like a sharp sword unsheathed, crashing straight into it.

A sword cry instantly drowned out the thunder, and every thunder dragon was slashed into dust.

"Hiss..."

Everyone who witnessed this scene could not help drawing in a sharp breath.

Ye Changqing was terrifying to such a degree!

On Mount Sumeru, serene and peaceful within the Western World, Daoist Jieyin and Daoist Zhunti could not help rising to their feet when they saw this.

Daoist Zhunti sighed and said, "If our Western Sect had a figure like this, why would we need to worry about the West never flourishing?"

"How is Sect Master Tongtian so lucky?"

His words dripped with sour envy, while his gaze at Ye Changqing burned with fervor.

Daoist Jieyin had no answer. He merely said softly, "Junior Brother, you are attached to appearances!"

Yet was that not precisely what he himself thought as well?

The Two Sages of the West shifted their gazes from Ye Changqing back to the Primordial World, taking in the entire Western World.

Although the Western World was now lush and green, it remained extraordinarily barren.

During the Dao-Demon Conflict, Demon Ancestor Luohu and Dao Ancestor Hongjun had fought in the West for the position of spokesperson for the Heavenly Dao.

That battle had been exceptionally brutal. Old Ancestor Qiankun, Old Ancestor Yin Yang, Old Ancestor Wuxing, and others who had survived from the chaos had all perished.

Demon Ancestor Luohu had also suffered grave wounds. Before his death, he detonated all the spiritual veins of the Western World, intending to drag everyone down to the grave with him.

From then on, the Western World became barren beyond measure. The surviving living beings found it difficult to awaken their spiritual intelligence due to the lack of spiritual qi.

In order to restore the Western World to glory, the Two Sages of the West had no choice but to cast aside their dignity and become rats crossing the street, despised by everyone in the Primordial World.

"This object is fated with our West!"

That sentence had practically become their catchphrase.

After a long while, when the Two Sages of the West looked toward the chaos again, their gazes had changed.

If Ye Changqing truly succeeded, their West would forever lose its chance to flourish.

They absolutely could not let him succeed!

Within the Netherworld Blood Sea, Old Ancestor Minghe's face was equally gloomy, with a trace of disappointment in his eyes.

A lightning tribulation comparable to a Saint's strike had actually been crossed so easily.

"This child cannot be allowed to remain!"

He immediately made up his mind and prepared to act.

Even if a Saint stood behind Ye Changqing, Old Ancestor Minghe did not fear in the slightest.

He had refined the entire Netherworld Blood Sea into 480 million Blood Droplet avatars.

So long as even one Blood Droplet avatar survived, he would never die.

As long as the Blood Sea did not run dry, Minghe would not perish. Even before a Saint, he was confident he could survive.

Ever since the Witch-Demon War ended, Old Ancestor Minghe had regarded himself as the Number One Under the Saints, seeing everyone else as mere marked heads waiting to be sold.

But now, Ye Changqing, a mere junior, had gotten ahead of him.

He decided to give Ye Changqing a proper lesson, letting him know what it meant to be an old schemer... pfft, old ginger was spicier!

The path to Becoming a Saint was paved with bones; only the victor could live to the end.

When Dao Ancestor Hongjun had once preached at Purple Heaven Palace, he said that there would be nine Saints beneath the Heavenly Dao.

Setting aside the Three Pure Ones, Nuwa, the two Western Saints Daoist Jieyin and Daoist Zhunti, Empress Pingxin of the underworld, and the Three Human Emperors of Huoyun Palace, only one Saint's position remained.

If that brat truly succeeded, Old Ancestor Minghe would have no chance left.

On Golden Ao Island, the disciples of the Jie Cult burst into cheers.

"Senior Disciple Brother succeeded..."

"Our Jie Cult has gained another Saint!"

Before they could celebrate, an angry rebuke rang out. "Idiots, this is only the first layer of the Heavenly Tribulation..."

Daoist Duobao's words immediately silenced everyone.

Originally, the living beings of the Primordial World had no need to undergo tribulations, but Ye Changqing's attempt to transcend the Heavenly Dao was an act of defying heaven.

The Heavenly Dao's majesty could not be violated!

This first lightning tribulation was the easiest trial. The tests to come would only grow more and more formidable.

Within the chaos, though the lightning had been shattered by a single sword strike, the tribulation clouds above Ye Changqing's head continued to gather.

Countless black clouds spun into a vortex resembling an eyeball.

Ye Changqing knew that the damned Heavenly Dao was hidden within that vortex.

In the blink of an eye, the second Heavenly Tribulation descended—but it was born from within his own body.

Inner Demon Tribulation!

For this, he had Demon Ancestor Luohu to thank as well. Before his death, he had made a great vow.

Whenever living beings of the Primordial World made breakthroughs, Heavenly Tribulations would descend, and they would suffer the backlash of Inner Demons.

In an instant, countless illusions appeared in Ye Changqing's mind.

"Senior Disciple Brother, save me!"

Trapped within the Nine Dragon Divine Fire Cover, Niangniang Shiji desperately cried out to him.

Yet his body could not move. He could only watch helplessly as she was devoured bit by bit by the nine fire dragons, until she turned to ashes.

"No!"

Ye Changqing roared through gritted teeth, his eyes splitting with rage.

The scene abruptly shifted, and he saw San Xiao standing before him, drenched in blood.

"You do not understand the heavenly order. You deserve execution!"

Venerable Primordial snorted coldly from above the nine heavens, and a huge hand condensed from magical power wiped the three of them out with a single palm.

"How dare you!"

Ye Changqing knew full well that it was false, yet his eyes still turned blood-red, showing signs of falling into demonic deviation.

The illusion flashed past, and the scene changed once more.

The Myriad Immortals Formation had been broken. Countless Jie Cult disciples were slaughtered by the Chan Sect and the Western Sect.

Sect Master Tongtian wept tears of blood as he charged desperately at the Two Sages of the West, Venerable Primordial, Laozi, and the others who had schemed against the Jie Cult in secret.

But with the Four Immortal Slaying Swords lost, he was no match for them at all. They toyed with him and humiliated him without end.

The scene changed again. In Purple Heaven Palace, Sect Master Tongtian was force-fed the Saint-Slaying Pill by Old Ancestor Hongjun and imprisoned forever within the chaos.

Throughout the long years, he sighed day after day. The words he spoke most often were, "Changqing, your master has wronged you!"

"I have wronged the myriad immortals of the Jie Cult!"

Ye Changqing's heart seemed to suffer a crushing blow at the sight, but his gaze only grew firmer.

"Heart Sword, sever!"

With a cold shout from Ye Changqing, an invisible force shattered every illusion.

His Dao heart was unwavering. Mere illusions could not possibly deceive him.

Instead, they only strengthened his resolve to save the Jie Cult.

In the Primordial World, the entire Netherworld Blood Sea suddenly rose up and shot toward the heavens.

On Kunlun Mountain, the corners of Daoist Randeng's lips curled upward, as though he had long foreseen this outcome.

It seemed Old Ancestor Minghe truly could no longer resist making his move!