The Difficult Road

Looking at the Yellow-Haired Great Bear before him, Ju Hua felt a surge of complex emotions.

He was currently standing within the immortal estate inherited from the Sanshou Daoist, and this Yellow-Haired Great Bear was the spirit of the estate—its artifact spirit.

The creature had accompanied him on his journey since he was a teenager, over three hundred years ago. It was no exaggeration to say that, aside from his little sister, this Yellow-Haired Great Bear was the "person" closest to him.

"Senior, I failed my tribulation," Ju Hua said.

"I know," the Yellow-Haired Great Bear nodded.

"But I will not give up!" Ju Hua said, his gaze resolute. "If I cannot become a Celestial Immortal, I can still become a Celestial God! I can even cultivate a Second Primordial Spirit and have it undergo the Celestial Immortal tribulation instead!"

"Your chances of becoming a Celestial God are slim to none. You have been cultivating the Crimsonbright Diagram of the Nine Heavens, yet you have only reached the thirteenth level. You are far from becoming a Void-refining God-Fiend, let alone surviving the incredibly difficult Celestial God tribulation," the Yellow-Haired Great Bear continued.

"As for your Second Primordial Spirit undergoing the Celestial Immortal tribulation, you have even less hope! That path is theoretically possible, but no one has ever succeeded. Do you know why?"

"Why?" Ju Hua was slightly taken aback.

"Because the second Celestial Immortal tribulation is terrifyingly powerful—it is not even inferior to a weaker Celestial God tribulation. If even most Void-refining God-Fiends cannot survive such a calamity, how could your Second Primordial Spirit, with only the body of an Earth Immortal, possibly pass it?" the Yellow-Haired Great Bear asked.

The Yellow-Haired Great Bear's words left Ju Hua in silence. Most Void-refining God-Fiends were comparable to weaker Celestial Immortals, and those capable of surviving the Celestial God tribulation were the elite among them. If such beings mostly failed, what hope was there for a mere Earth Immortal?

After a long silence, Ju Hua finally asked, "Does Senior mean I should give up on becoming a Celestial Immortal and strive with all my might to become a Celestial God instead?"

"To be able to realize this shows that your heart is not yet in chaos," the Yellow-Haired Great Bear nodded slightly.

"I understand your good intentions, Senior! However, I will not abandon either path; I will try my best at both! But please rest assured, before my soul dissipates, I will find a suitable new master for this immortal estate!"

"Your resolve is firm. I hope you truly can succeed," the Yellow-Haired Great Bear sighed. He then asked, "Where do you intend to go now?"

"The Star Hall!" Ju Hua said without hesitation.

"Very well. Having just failed your tribulation, that is indeed the most suitable place for you. Go," the Yellow-Haired Great Bear nodded, and then he vanished from before Ju Hua.

After the Yellow-Haired Great Bear departed, Ju Hua walked silently out of the magnificent hall. Beyond these gates lay the true immortal estate, home to the four most precious halls.

The Treasure Hall, containing countless treasures, though one required sufficient strength to obtain them.

The Divine Ability Hall, housing seven great divine abilities. Ju Hua had entered it in his youth, but unfortunately, he failed to pass the trials and missed his chance to master them.

The War God Hall, the most dangerous place in the estate, yet also one filled with opportunity.

The Star Hall, the most incredible hall of all, containing the profound mysteries of countless Daos, and even complete Daos themselves.

Ju Hua walked at a steady pace for a while until he arrived before a massive wooden gate.

Looking inside, he saw a vibrant, lush mountain covered in trees and weeds. Yet, looking further down toward the foot of the mountain, the ground was almost entirely barren, with only the occasional patch of grass in the corners.

At the foot of the mountain sat a thatched cottage, with a stream flowing past it, winding down from the heights with a unique, artistic charm.

Above, the sky was filled with massive, brilliant stars. Their light bathed the earth, casting a dreamlike quality over everything below.

While these appeared to be stars, they were, in reality, manifestations of different "Daos."

Ju Hua had admired this scenery countless times and had no heart to look at it again. Upon arriving, he walked straight to a desk in front of the thatched cottage and sat down cross-legged.

On the desk lay several books: Star Scroll I, Star Scroll II, and Star Scroll III. There were forty-three volumes in total.

Ju Hua sat there, reminiscing about his past days of enlightenment here, then sighed softly. The past was gone, and the future remained distant.

The Daos of the Three Realms were divided into ordinary Daos, Great Daos, and Heavenly Daos. Ordinary Daos were countless. Great Daos included the Great Dao of the Sword, the Great Dao of Dripping Water, and the Great Dao of Thunder. There were ten Heavenly Daos: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, Yin, Yang, Life, Destruction, and Chaos!

The realms of the Dao were generally divided into comprehending the true intent of a Dao, comprehending the true intent of multiple Daos, the Domain of the Dao, and the complete Dao.

Ju Hua had once considered himself exceptionally gifted. In just three hundred years, he had fully comprehended three complete Daos: the Dao of Flowing Water, the Dao of Swift Wind, and the Dao of Thick Earth. He had already entered the threshold of the Great Dao of the Sword, and was now only a step away from the Domain of the Great Dao. He had also reached the Domain of the Dao in the Dao of Rainwater and the Dao of Raging Fire.

With such high attainment, an ordinary Earth Immortal would have had a chance to succeed in their tribulation. But Ju Hua now understood that he was different from ordinary Earth Immortals. He possessed the immortal estate inherited from the Sanshou Daoist, and the karmic luck he carried far exceeded that of a normal Earth Immortal. Consequently, the power of the tribulation he faced was far greater than that of a normal practitioner.

Only he knew of his possession of the immortal estate. The Celestial Immortals of his clan would not have told him such things without reason, and the Yellow-Haired Great Bear had tried to stop him, but he had not taken it to heart.

Thus, he had failed his tribulation—failed miserably!

The reason Ju Hua now understood this was entirely due to the knowledge he had gained from the book Desolate Era. With his horizons broadened, his past doubts naturally cleared.

It was just a pity that this realization had come so late.

"I lack powerful divine abilities. If I want to survive the tribulation and become a Celestial God, comprehending a complete Great Dao is a must! And if I want my Second Primordial Spirit to pass the Celestial Immortal tribulation..." Ju Hua sighed softly. Although he had made up his mind, the difficulties involved could not be explained in a few words.

Comprehending a complete Great Dao was the greatest hurdle for a Celestial Immortal to become a True Immortal. Celestial Immortals possessed souls countless times stronger than his, with deduction speeds far exceeding his own, yet even they could not comprehend a single Great Dao after countless years. For a loose immortal like him to achieve this, the difficulty was unimaginable! It could even be said to be fundamentally impossible!

"My only advantage is the Star Hall, so I must make good use of it. The Great Dao of the Sword is my only hope!" Ju Hua said to himself silently, then picked up the first Star Scroll and began to read slowly.

PS: The original work didn't seem to specify if a Second Primordial Spirit could undergo a second tribulation, so I've set it as possible, though the difficulty is despair-inducing!