"Being cautious was the right call after all..." Zhou Qing nodded.
Having cultivated to the Earth Immortal level and reached a realm that placed him among the best of them, he was beyond the native immortals of these lesser worlds.
[After dealing with these troubles, you returned to the Three Immortals Palace and found that it had activated its sect-protecting grand formation. Everyone in the sect was on edge, startled by the slightest stir of wind and cry of a crane.]
[Puzzled, you drew on your years of insight into the Pure Yang Immortal Mansion's formations to infiltrate the Three Immortals Palace, where you saw several Primal patriarchs speaking with worried frowns.]
[You listened in secretly and learned that, ever since you entered the Pure Yang Immortal Mansion, the righteous, demonic, and monster factions had pressed the Three Immortals Palace at every turn. Even immortals from other immortal worlds had come knocking at its gates, seeking a fight. To protect themselves, they had been forced to seal off the mountain and wait for you to leave the Pure Yang Immortal Mansion and break the deadlock.]
[That was because, since ancient times, most people who left the Pure Yang Immortal Mansion had gone on to become renowned immortals. Immortal Zhenling, the strongest of the Three Immortals Palace's three immortal founders, had once obtained a fortuitous opportunity there.]
[Once you understood their thinking, you stopped concealing yourself. The patriarchs were overjoyed to see that you had become an Earth Immortal. They immediately announced your breakthrough to the entire sect and honored you as a Supreme Elder.]
[The Primal patriarchs then brought a Zifu cultivator before you. You took a closer look and saw that he was your father, whom you had thought had long since reached the end of his lifespan.]
[As it turned out, after learning that you had entered the Pure Yang Immortal Mansion, the Primal patriarchs had acted decisively, bringing your parents and clansmen from the mortal world into Pure Yang Heaven and protecting them with care, lest ill-intentioned people take them hostage.]
[Your mother had little talent for cultivation and had passed away many years ago. Your father, meanwhile, had been raised to the Zifu level by the Primal patriarchs at the expense of their resources.]
[Hearing this, you were deeply moved, having believed that all your blood relatives were gone. To repay the Primal patriarchs, you not only prepared Essence Liquid for each of them to break through to the Void level, but also left copies of the cultivation manuals and secret techniques you had obtained from the Pure Yang Immortal Mansion within the sect.]
[After catching up with your father and clansmen, you began traveling throughout the Seven Wonders World.]
[The Dragon Gate of Wondrous Dao Heaven, the Dark Abyss of Returning Dao Heaven, the Star Palace of Wenchang Heaven... Over three hundred years, you took in all the fortuitous opportunities of the various immortal worlds.]
[In the process, you not only comprehended the Grand Dao of Xun Wind to the Great Dao Domain Realm, but also made your Dao heart more steadfast.]
[During your travels through the Seven Wonders World, you also made two good friends. One was Old Immortal Heming of Wenchang Heaven, a Loose Immortal of the three-hundred-thousand-year level.]
[The other was Patriarch Black Turtle, a monster immortal who had lived for nearly a million years and had once witnessed Patriarch Lu preaching the Dao in the Seven Wonders World. Although a monster's strength could not be measured by its lifespan, he too was a Loose Immortal of the three-hundred-thousand-year level.]
[Another three hundred years passed. Every day, you discussed mysteries and debated the Dao with your two friends, sparring and exchanging insights. Before you knew it, your comprehension of the Grand Dao of Xun Wind had reached the level of the seventh stance of the Three-Foot Sword.]
[At the same time, you discovered that your Dao heart and comprehension of the Dao had reached a peak, with no room for further progress in the short term. You therefore chose: one, break through to Void Perfection and face the Heavenly Tribulation; two, spend more time consolidating your foundations.]
"These options..." Zhou Qing fell into thought for a moment.
There were a little over two hundred years left before the simulation's thousand-year limit. Would facing the tribulation now be somewhat hasty?
Still, Zhou Qing's heartforce had reached the third level. After some consideration, he quickly made his choice.
"Face the tribulation!"
For a cultivator, the most important thing was to have unimpeded thoughts. His simulated self felt he was at his best, so there was no need to delay. If he backed down now, it would instead work against him in the Heart Demon Tribulation.
[Feeling full of Qi and vigor, you began preparing for the Heavenly Tribulation. When Old Immortal Heming and Patriarch Black Turtle learned of it, they came together to urge you not to be impulsive. Both knew that you had cultivated for less than a thousand years and could not understand why you were in such a hurry to face the Heavenly Tribulation.]
[But you were exceptionally resolute. Seeing that they could not dissuade you, Old Immortal Heming and Patriarch Black Turtle had no choice but to drop the matter. Mindful of their friendship with you, however, one lent you the Crane Feather Treasure Robe, the only immortal-grade treasure he possessed, while the other went so far as to lend you his lifebound treasure, refined from his own shell.]
[Grateful for Old Immortal Heming and Patriarch Black Turtle's help, you secretly swore that you would never fail to treat them well in the future.]
[You found a secluded place to face the tribulation, then refined Essence Liquid and broke through to Void Perfection.]
[The moment you broke through, you felt your heart tighten. The next instant, heaven and earth changed color, and the Heavenly Tribulation arrived.]
[First came the wind and fire tribulations. Though their force was immense, you passed through them easily with the Crane Feather Treasure Robe and turtle shell you had received from your two friends.]
[Next came the Lightning Tribulation. One-nine... two-nine... Heavenly lightning bolts fell one after another, growing ever fiercer. After the eighteenth bolt fell, you could feel the spirit of the Crane Feather Treasure Robe wailing in anguish.]
[To keep the treasures borrowed from your friends from being damaged, you had no choice but to use two high-grade immortal-ranked Pure Yang immortal swords to withstand the Lightning Tribulation.]
[Three-nine... four-nine... After the thirtieth bolt of heavenly lightning, you suddenly found yourself struggling, and the two Pure Yang immortal swords in your hands grew extremely dim.]
[After taking the thirty-sixth bolt, you had just breathed a sigh of relief when you discovered that the thunderclouds overhead had not dispersed. Your expression grew extremely grave.]
[You did not understand why your Lightning Tribulation was so powerful, but after looking down at the Pure Yang immortal swords in your hands, your expression eased in understanding.]
[You realized that, having received Patriarch Lu's inheritance, you counted in some sense as a disciple of a mighty figure, so it was only natural for your Heavenly Tribulation to be intensified.]
[Steeling yourself, you immediately used a forbidden technique, resisting the rolling bolts of heavenly lightning at any cost.]
[At last, after nearly losing your old life, you blocked the forty-fifth bolt of heavenly lightning. Looking at the slowly dispersing thunderclouds, you knew you had passed the Lightning Tribulation.]
[But looking at the broken Pure Yang immortal swords in your hands, you could only force the faintest smile onto your pale face.]
"Five-Nine Lightning Tribulation..." Although he had passed the Lightning Tribulation and was only one step away from a successful simulation, Zhou Qing showed not a trace of joy.
In his view as a half-baked heartforce cultivator, the Heart Demon Tribulation was his greatest trial in this simulation.
In the simulation, he could be called a favored son of heaven, the protagonist of the world. Everything had gone smoothly for him on his way to his present realm.
Yet the greatest problem was precisely how smoothly his path of cultivation had gone.
Without having experienced hardship, his Dao heart was not sufficiently well-rounded, and it would be all too easy for him to succumb to the Heart Demon Tribulation.
And what followed in the simulation was just as Zhou Qing had expected.
[After passing the Lightning Tribulation, you found that your body was being transformed bit by bit by the Heavenly Dao. You understood that this was the so-called Celestial Immortal Body.]
[But you did not pop the champagne at halftime, because you knew that the coming Heart Demon Tribulation was still a severe test.]
[Soon, you fell into a heart demon world woven by the Heavenly Dao.]
[This world was so real that you could not tell truth from falsehood. Worse still, the plot and setting you knew as a transmigrator had become tools for the Heavenly Dao to make the world more convincing.]