"For me, the safest course right now is still to check in at the Divine Profound Sect. But a great age is approaching, and I can't possibly keep myself untouched by it... Perhaps the changes in the Divine Profound Sect's fortune now have quite a lot to do with me."
A great many thoughts occurred to Han Xuanji.
The changes in the sect's fortune were closely tied to its many disciples.
He should have been counted as a member of the Divine Profound Sect, which was why its fortune was still rising. But a wisp of black Qi faintly curled around it, which should have been the Heavenly Devil Cult's influence.
The Heavenly Devil Cult's fortune was obviously immensely powerful. Even a slight trace of it was clearly an ill omen for the Divine Profound Sect, which would likely undergo a great upheaval in the future.
"I often run into tribulations. I'm afraid it's because of the Heavenly Devil Cult's influence on my fortune. Have I been marked as someone fated to face the tribulation?"
Han Xuanji now understood why he kept running into "unprovoked disasters."
But he still had to check in.
These tribulations were nothing much.
There were many ways to break through a tribulation; in the past, he had simply chosen the most direct and heavy-handed.
"But no matter what, I need to keep my Dao heart unchanged. However the winds and clouds shift in the outside world, it has nothing to do with me."
As if he had come to an understanding, Han Xuanji suddenly felt his mind clear.
Let the floodwaters rage to the heavens. He would neither contend nor fight, but cultivate in peace, and eternal life would be within reach. In any case, he already possessed the greatest fortuitous opportunity under heaven.
"But now that I have the Heavenly Divination Technique, I can choose a good place to make my breakthrough. I shouldn't run into an unexpected situation like last time."
So Han Xuanji thought.
Before long, he settled on an excellent place for Tribulation Transcendence.
According to the Heavenly Divination Technique's calculations, transcending the tribulation there would bring good fortune and no misfortune.
"The Heavenly Gloom Mountain Range in Youzhou, Great Xia. I remember there are no sects stationed there. There seem to be only some members of the Demon Race living there, but no great demons have made it their domain. It really is an excellent place for Tribulation Transcendence. Besides, there are relatively few great cultivators in Youzhou, so they can't possibly interfere with my tribulation, and the Heavenly Devil Cult can't possibly expect me to go there to transcend it."
His mind made up, Han Xuanji hesitated no longer.
Early the next morning, just after checking in, Han Xuanji left the Divine Profound Sect without a sound or a trace, alerting no one, and headed for Youzhou on the Great Xia Dynasty's northern frontier.
To avoid wasting time, Han Xuanji used the Nine Steps of the Great Void, crossing vast distances with every step. Though it consumed a great deal of spiritual power, he was not short of pills or Spirit Stones to replenish it.
In less than a day, he crossed a million li and arrived at the Heavenly Gloom Mountain Range.
Far from any settlement, the place was shrouded in gray-black miasma all year round. Ancient trees towered into the sky, jagged rocks jutted out, and an air of savage desolation and deathly silence hung over it.
Ordinary cultivators could not avoid it fast enough, but according to Han Xuanji's Heavenly Divination calculations, it was an ideal place for his breakthrough to the Void Return Realm, one that would bring "good fortune and no misfortune." A strange Qi dynamic here naturally shielded it from outside scrutiny, and the spiritual potency deep in the earth veins was considerable enough for his breakthrough.
He found a secluded valley ringed by immense black crags. At its bottom lay a cold pool of unfathomable depth, its waters black as ink and radiating a bone-piercing chill.
The Spiritual Qi in the valley was not especially dense, but it was exceptionally pure and stable.
"This is the place."
Han Xuanji sat cross-legged on a smooth boulder beside the cold pool. After spending some time setting up several layers of extraordinarily sophisticated restrictions, he completely released his suppression of his own perfected cultivation realm.
Rumble!
In an instant, heaven and earth responded!
The originally gray sky abruptly darkened, as if drenched in ink.
Before long, vast masses of tribulation clouds gathered wildly from every direction, piling layer upon layer until the entire valley seemed to have been pressed down.
Within the clouds, silver serpents danced wildly, and muffled thunder rolled as world-destroying might gathered.
A suffocating pressure from heaven and earth descended, instantly sweeping aside the miasma in the valley. Even the black water of the deep pool rippled uneasily.
The Void Return Heavenly Tribulation!
This tribulation was no small matter. Refining the spirit and returning to the void was an exceptionally crucial step for a cultivator, the beginning of the Primordial Spirit's transformation and the comprehension of the Great Dao!
Those who failed would naturally perish, their Dao extinguished and their bodies reduced to tribulation ash. Those who succeeded would see their Primordial Spirits rise to a higher state, take their first step toward touching the source of the Great Dao, gain a greatly increased lifespan, and wield boundless Divine Abilities!
Han Xuanji's expression was calm as he looked up at the tribulation clouds brewing destruction. There was not a trace of fear in his eyes, only the composure of one who saw through to the essence of things.
At the same time, the Void-Penetrating Divine Eye quietly activated. The paths of the power flowing through the clouds, the Power of Principle contained in each bolt of tribulation lightning, and even the best response when each bolt fell all became crystal clear under his calculations.
Crack-!
The first deathly pale bolt of tribulation lightning, as thick as a bucket, tore across the sky with a piercing shriek and struck straight for the crown of Han Xuanji's head!
Han Xuanji held two fingers together like a sword and lightly pointed upward.
Hiss!
An invisible strand of Sword Qi, condensed to the utmost and only three feet long, shot upward against the bolt and struck with perfect precision at its core, where its power was both most violent and most vulnerable!
Bang!
The seemingly mighty bolt of tribulation lightning burst like a pricked bubble, exploding in midair into countless tiny arcs that scattered and vanished.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Tribulation lightning struck one bolt after another, its power climbing geometrically!
The Void Return Heavenly Tribulation was a Six-Nine Heavenly Tribulation, with a full twice as many lightning tribulations as the Spirit Transformation Heavenly Tribulation. Its power, too, was far beyond anything the Spirit Transformation lightning tribulation could match. Normally, many Spirit Transformation cultivators needed to spend hundreds of years preparing to transcend it.
But Han Xuanji had long been ready. Among his check-in rewards over the years were quite a few treasures to help him transcend tribulations.
Soon, in the sky,
bolts of lightning tribulation struck down one after another.
Crimson fire lightning, ice-blue frost lightning, dark green poison lightning, and even Void Divine Lightning containing the power to tear space apart...
When the first wave of lightning tribulation fell, it came not only in a great variety of forms, but with heaven-shaking, earth-shattering might!
The lightning lit the entire valley as brightly as day. The earth cracked, rocks shattered, and more than half the water in the cold pool evaporated, only for the rest to be frozen by the frost lightning that followed!
Yet Han Xuanji, standing at the heart of the thunderstorm, remained as immovable as a rock.
He was already well versed in the Dao of lightning, so he naturally did not fear the lightning tribulation's power. Instead, he was eager to put himself to the test.
Han Xuanji's responses were as straightforward as could be. He either used his fingers as a sword to break the tribulation lightning or drew its power into his body and absorbed it for his own use.
Every move he made was wondrous to the finest detail, as if he were not transcending a tribulation but putting on a performance.
Soon, he safely passed through five waves of lightning tribulation, and the final wave arrived.
Han Xuanji still dealt with it easily. With two Immortal Artifacts and treasures like the Heavenly Devil Battle Armor to protect him, there was no way he could fail.
When he shattered the eighth terrifying bolt of tribulation lightning, powerful enough to gravely injure an ordinary early-stage Void Return cultivator, with a single strand of Sword Qi, the tribulation clouds seemed to grow angry. They churned violently and contracted, brewing a final, devastating strike-the Heavenly Baleful Tribulation Lightning!
As its name suggested, the Heavenly Baleful Tribulation Lightning contained the heavens' Baleful Intent. If a cultivator came into contact with this power, the Sha Qi could easily enter their body and cause all their previous efforts to come to nothing.
Han Xuanji therefore had no choice but to take it seriously.
The Heavenly Devil Battle Armor, the Soaring Firmament Sword, the Heaven-Reaching Sword, the Black Tortoise Shield... He armed himself with all manner of divine weapons and Law Treasures.
The instant the tribulation lightning struck down,
a sharp light flashed in Han Xuanji's eyes, and he turned to look in another direction.
"Tsk."
"Wasn't there supposed to be no danger...?"