Volume Four: The Buddha Saves No One; Only I, the Demon, Deliver Them - Opportunity (Part Two)

There was only one possible reason the Supreme Pure Emperor had stepped back: he wanted Luo Qian and the Awakening King to settle things quickly. Like a boxing match stripped of every rule, the fight would soon be over. His Majesty could no longer afford to wait.

Feng Zilei did not know why, but he was almost certain His Majesty had little time left. Immortals were not eternal. Once their power reached a certain level, a Quantitative Immortal Tribulation would descend. The greater their power, the fiercer the tribulation. Each one also varied with the Immortal's cultivation and conduct, taking so many forms that no one could guarantee he would not face a tribulation unlike any other.

The Supreme Pure Emperor had probably reached the point of triggering his Quantitative Immortal Tribulation long ago. Almost every Immortal knew ways to postpone an Immortal Tribulation, but the longer one delayed it, the stronger one grew—and the more powerful the tribulation became. Unless one held a position like the Immortal Emperor's, few would choose to put theirs off.

Feng Zilei guessed the Supreme Pure Emperor was nearing the end of his life and was desperate to choose a successor. Before His Majesty lost control of the situation, Feng Zilei's merchant instincts spotted an opening to profit. This was an opportunity, perhaps the only one he would ever have...

Luo Qian could almost smell the horse bandits outside the True Transformation Source. Merchant caravans had visibly dwindled over the past two days, and tourist numbers had fallen by thirty percent. He did not have to think hard to know what had happened. What he could not understand was why the Supreme Pure Emperor let the Awakening King run so wild. The position the Awakening King wanted was the one beneath His Majesty's own