The Qi of All Heavens Sweeps Vast

As everyone raised their eyes toward this place, dark clouds suddenly began gathering slowly in the sky, and an inexplicable pressure spread toward the ground, blanketing heaven and earth.

Fortunately, this pressure did not target anyone else. Otherwise, Su Mu absolutely could not have withstood it.

At that moment, the eldest princess abruptly opened her eyes, then rose and made a Daoist bow toward the sky.

"This disciple, Xiao Luanji, now prays to Heaven."

So the eldest princess was named Xiao Luanji.

Hearing her voice, Su Mu instinctively committed the name to memory.

The Emperor of Liang and the others beside him, however, all froze for a moment. "What is the eldest princess doing?"

To the right, a handsome man in a bright yellow robe could not help frowning, unsure what his elder sister was doing.

Xiao Luanji suppressed a trace of discomfort in her heart. She had already bathed and changed three days earlier, and now that the moment had arrived, she could only try the method Su Mu had suggested.

"This disciple has upheld her Dao heart, treading the path of cultivation with diligence and trembling caution. Now, at Golden Core Perfection, I hereby undergo Tribulation Transcendence."

"Even should I fail at Tribulation Transcendence, my body dying and my Dao extinguished, I would not dare harbor the slightest resentment."

"Moved in my heart, and mindful of the heavenly tribulation's hardships, I have come here expressly."

The eldest princess maintained her Daoist bow and recited in a clear, ringing voice. Everyone around her froze when they heard her words.

"Th-this, what has come over the eldest princess? Is she flattering the heavenly tribulation?"

One person wore a strange expression and glanced around, wondering inwardly just who had taught the eldest princess to do this.

The Emperor of Liang's face had also turned somewhat livid. "Who taught the eldest princess to pray like this?"

This was a tribulation! Naturally, the eldest princess should have made thorough preparations to face it. How could she waste her attention on these prayers?

If prayers worked, why would cultivators need to cultivate? They could simply spend all day pondering how to pray!

"Do you know anything about this?"

The Emperor of Liang turned and questioned his personal guard, staring at him.

The personal guard frowned, a measure of fear in his expression. "This subordinate knows nothing of this matter."

"After the heavenly tribulation, investigate it thoroughly. I will have this person's tendons torn out and their skin flayed!"

The Emperor of Liang snorted coldly. He believed someone had bewitched the eldest princess into doing this.

Just as everyone around them murmured, somewhat stunned by the eldest princess's actions, a subtle change quietly occurred in the dark clouds overhead.

A vortex formed in the middle of the ink-black clouds, slowly revealing an indifferent, supremely majestic eye.

The eye held no trace of color or emotion, yet at that moment, it glanced at the person undergoing Tribulation Transcendence below.

When everyone around them noticed this, they immediately froze.

"Th-this, this is the Heavenly Dao responding!"

Everyone was startled. The Heavenly Dao had actually shown itself at this moment. The prayer had worked! It had worked!

Even the Emperor of Liang was startled, his expression immediately turning to utter delight. "After the heavenly tribulation, find out exactly who taught the eldest princess. I will reward them handsomely!"

"The eldest princess's prayer actually worked! With the Heavenly Dao responding, her chances of succeeding at Tribulation Transcendence will increase by at least thirty percent!"

"The eldest princess already had a forty percent chance. Doesn't that mean she now has a seventy percent chance?"

The people around them spoke up one after another, their words filled with disbelief and joy.

Hearing this, the Emperor of Liang and the prince beside him could not stop the corners of their mouths from rising.

Su Mu, too, could not help looking up at that enormous eye. Its pupil gleamed silver-gray, but after a single glance, he hurriedly lowered his head, an inexplicable thought surfacing in his mind: he must not gaze at it for long.

"Eldest Princess!"

Su Mu drew a deep breath. The Heavenly Dao had actually responded to this, giving him a little more confidence in what he intended to do next.

With that thought, Su Mu shouted loudly, then ran toward the eldest princess.

A nearby guard's expression immediately turned cold. Although an incomplete soul like this could not affect the eldest princess's Tribulation Transcendence, no one was permitted to approach, just to be absolutely safe.

Besides, this had already been made clear beforehand. This fellow actually dared cross the guard line. Kill him!

The eldest princess was also feeling something inexplicable. She had merely intended to give it a try, never imagining that the method that fellow suggested would truly work!

As the person undergoing Tribulation Transcendence, she sensed vaguely that the heavenly tribulation seemed likely to leave an opening in its net for her this time.

At that moment, hearing Su Mu's voice, she turned and saw him floating toward her, while the guard beside him prepared to strike him down.

"Let him come."

The eldest princess's willow-leaf brows relaxed a little, and her voice sounded beside the guard's ear.

Hearing this, the guard paused with his weapon, then returned to his position, allowing Su Mu to float past.

"What else do you need? This method of yours was somewhat useful. I now have a seventy percent chance of succeeding at Tribulation Transcendence."

The eldest princess's tone softened a little. "Even if I fail at Tribulation Transcendence, I will leave orders forbidding anyone from making things difficult for you again."

Even summoning an auspicious beast would presumably have achieved no more than this.

Yet Su Mu still felt uneasy at her words. "Seventy percent? That's still too dangerous!"

"Eldest Princess, please take out paper, brush, and ink. I will recite, and you write."

Su Mu glanced at how far the dark clouds had gathered. Feeling there was still a little time, he spoke hurriedly.

The eldest princess's willow-leaf brows drew together slightly. "What are you going to do?"

"Sorry for the trouble, Eldest Princess, but please give it a try."

Su Mu's expression was resolute. He felt it would be better to give the eldest princess a greater chance of surviving this tribulation.

Even if what he intended to do proved ineffective, it was still better than doing nothing.

The eldest princess's beautiful eyes lingered on Su Mu for a short while before she nodded lightly. Spiritual light flashed from the jade bracelet on her fair wrist, and a bamboo table immediately appeared before her, followed by paper, brush, and ink.

"What is that fellow going to do?"

The Emperor of Liang also noticed this scene and paid a little more attention to Su Mu, who had intruded without permission.

He had clearly seen that the eldest princess had let him in, so he harbored little hostility at the moment.

Everyone around him shook their heads at his question. They did not know what this soul intended to do now, either.

"The human Dao is faint and distant; the immortal Dao is vast and boundless."

Su Mu drew a deep breath, then began reciting.

The eldest princess waved her delicate hand and began writing the words Su Mu recited in midair.

At that moment, the enormous eye in the sky, which had been about to disperse, suddenly shifted, its gaze locking directly onto the two below.

In an instant, dark clouds spread more than a thousand li, a crushing black expanse beneath the blazing majesty of Heaven!

"The ghost Dao rejoices at the gates of human life; the immortal Dao cherishes life, while the ghost Dao cherishes its end."

"The immortal Dao ever brings good fortune; the ghost Dao ever brings calamity. High above, pure spirits shine clear, their sorrowful song resounding through the vast heavens."

Su Mu began reciting word by word. The eldest princess's expression gradually grew solemn, and her brushwork was no longer as casual as it had been at first.

At that moment, the words written by the eldest princess began releasing Righteous Qi, one after another.

The spectators watching the tribulation from afar abruptly rose to their feet, all gazing toward the center with utmost solemnity.

Su Mu did not pause, continuing his recitation.

"I wish only for the immortal Dao to flourish, not for the human Dao to reach its end."

"In Northern Capital Spring Bend Prefecture dwell hosts of ten thousand ghosts, seeking only to cut short human lifespans and sever the gates of human life."

Boom!

With a thunderous roar, the characters hanging in midair erupted with immensely vast Righteous Qi. A radiance suffused with rich azure light shot straight into the clouds.

More than a thousand li away stood the Academy of Righteousness, where emerald bamboo grew everywhere, and faint sounds of reading could be heard upon approaching.

At that moment, the scholars within the academy all sensed something and abruptly looked up. When they saw that radiance on the horizon, their jaws nearly dropped in shock.

In Green Hollow, a voluptuous figure opened her limpid, peach-blossom eyes, a trace of astonishment on her peerlessly beautiful face as she watched the distant radiance.

In the Qin River, an enormous black fish leaped from the surface, then fell back into the water with a splash.

"Let all sing the cavern scripture to subdue Northern Luofeng, arraign the demonic spirits, and behead the six ghost peaks."

"The Qi of all heavens sweeps vast; my Dao flourishes with each passing day."

By then, Su Mu had long since lowered his head, unable to keep looking ahead.

At that moment, the enormous eye in the sky slowly transformed into the aged face of a Daoist priest.

"Good!"

An inexplicable voice then slowly arose in everyone's hearts.