Hunyuan Tribulation!
When Taishang Laojun spoke those four words, the hearts of every mighty being in the entire Primordial Three Realms sank to rock bottom.
Tribulations were nothing unfamiliar to the living beings of the Primordial World.
From mortals cultivating toward immortality, to Heavenly Immortals, to Hunyuan, every breakthrough into a major realm would bring a corresponding tribulation, testing a cultivator's Dao heart and strength.
But those were all petty skirmishes.
The Hunyuan Tribulation was the most terrifying punishment, one that existed only in the most ancient legends.
It was the Heavenly Dao's final judgment upon heaven-defiers who dared challenge its authority and tried to stand on equal footing with it.
Since Pangu's Creation of Heaven and Earth, those who had truly drawn down a Hunyuan Tribulation could be counted on one hand.
Because the vast majority of those who proved the Dao walked the path of Heavenly Dao Saints. They were "one of its own" within the Heavenly Dao system, so naturally the Heavenly Dao would not send down punishment.
As for those who tried to Prove Dao with Strength, they either ended up like Great God Pangu, exhausting his strength and dying amid the Creation of Heaven and Earth, never even waiting until the tribulation descended.
Or they were like Qin Mu, whose Dao had long since transcended the Primordial World and become a realm unto itself. Even if the Heavenly Dao wanted to meddle, it had no reach.
Guangchengzi, however, happened to be in the most awkward position.
He was not a Heavenly Dao Saint, and he did not have Hongmeng Purple Qi protecting him.
His power had also been forced into being through the most savage methods of the demonic path, filled with ill omen and brutality, an existence most loathed by the Heavenly Dao Laws.