First Signs, Less Than Three Months
"What?!" everyone exclaimed in shock.
Less than three months? Didn't they say it would take at least three to five years, or at most ten years? How come it's been brought forward so much all of a sudden?
"How could this be? Something's not right. According to the calculations, it shouldn't be this fast. Could something have gone wrong?" Wangshu frowned.
The Star God swallowed hard and said with difficulty, "I've deduced that the source is the Sect Leader's Wind Tribulation."
"Me?" Li Yunjing was taken aback.
The Star God nodded, his tone tinged with bitterness. "Yes, the Wind Tribulation unleashed by the sect leader is unprecedentedly strong, and it has even resonated with the ten Ancestral Vein. This fluctuation is too great, disturbing the rules of heaven and earth, which is equivalent to prematurely triggering the switch of the God-Slaying Tribulation."
"Therefore, the catastrophe was triggered, and its outbreak was brought forward significantly."
The hall was deathly silent. The premature end of the God-Slaying Tribulation was actually caused by the sect leader?
The group looked at each other, somewhat at a loss.
Li Yunjing remained silent for a moment before slowly speaking, "So, it was I who triggered the God-Slaying Tribulation ahead of schedule."
His tone was calm, revealing neither joy nor anger.
Mo Xuan quickly said, "Sect Leader, this is not your fault. No one expected it to turn out this way. Besides, even if it weren't for the Sect Leader, the calamity would have come sooner or later. It's just a matter of time. It's better for it to come sooner than later. At least we still have time to prepare."
"Exactly! We'll have to face it sooner or later anyway, it's all the same!" Fang Tong nodded in agreement.
Wangshu nodded in agreement. "Elder Mo is right. The God-Slaying Tribulation is predetermined. Its early arrival may not be a bad thing. At least we have three months to prepare, which is better than being caught off guard at the last minute."
Everyone chimed in with their own opinions, all worried that Li Yunjing might blame himself.
Li Yunjing raised his head, his eyes regaining their calmness, even carrying a hint of sharpness.
"You're right, what's meant to happen will happen."
"It's better to be ahead of schedule; it's always better to prepare early than to be like a frog slowly being boiled in water."
He remained completely calm. Since things had come to this point, self-blame was useless; the only option was to face the situation.
"From today onwards, the entire clan will enter a state of high alert."
With that one sentence, the tone was set, and the chaos inside the hall quickly subsided.
Li Yunjing sat upright in the main seat, conveying orders methodically one by one. "Junior Brother Mo."
"Exist."
"You will oversee the overall situation and coordinate the affairs of each hall," Li Yunjing said slowly. "Pass down the order: all disciples of the sect will emphasize both cultivation and combat training, with a small competition every month and a large competition every quarter. Combat performance will be counted towards contributions."
"The Artifact Hall, Talisman Hall, and Array Hall should focus on refining war supplies, including pills, Law Artifact, talismans, and array plates, prioritizing supplies to the border regions and the fleet. Fallen Star Ore should be doubled, and the fleet expansion plan should be accelerated. Within three months, I want to see at least three complete fleets, totaling one hundred and eight warships."
"The border defenses of Luozhen Province must be fully reinforced. All cities and strongholds must be equipped with purification arrays, defense arrays, and soul-suppressing arrays. In particular, the western and northern borders must be fortified with multiple layers of defenses extending for hundreds of miles."
"Yes, sir." Mo Xuan noted it down one by one, his expression solemn.
"Wangshu."
"Yes." Wangshu stepped forward.
"Contact all the Rogue Cultivator and those who are still observing," Li Yunjing said. "Tell them that the God-Slaying Tribulation has been brought forward, Haoyang can't be relied on, and if they want to live, they should come to the Luozhen Sect and unite against the common enemy."
"The rules remain the same: the greater the contribution, the more blessings and protection you will receive."
"I understand." Wangshu nodded. "I'll take care of it right away."
"The Old God Lingmu."
"This old man is here." The Old God Lingmu quickly stepped forward.
Li Yunjing said, "You take the Wood Element deity and do your utmost to cultivate spirit medicine and grains. Expand the medicinal fields threefold and stockpile as many as possible, especially healing, amplification, and soul-soothing pills. Refine as many as you can."
"Yes," the Old God Lingmu bowed in response.
"Also, I'll personally speak with Divine Seal of Creation." Yunjing paused.
"With a calamity imminent, the spirit of the artifact should be aware of the gravity of the situation. Asking him to stabilize the earth's veins and suppress the Tribulation Qi should be no problem."
Everyone nodded in agreement. As the orders were issued, the previously somewhat panicked hearts were completely calmed down. With the sect leader there, even if the sky were to fall, someone would hold it up.
The meeting ended, and everyone dispersed to attend to their own business.
A full month has passed since Li Yunjing overcame the Wind Tribulation and the ten Ancestral Vein celebrated.
Everything in Luozhen Province is progressing smoothly and methodically.
The Fallen Star Ore mines were dug deeper and deeper, the hammers in the Artifact Hall rang day and night, the Spirit Field of the Verdant Fertile Plain were harvested one crop after another, and the border defenses were reinforced layer by layer.
The entire Luozhen Province was like a giant beast operating at high speed, accumulating every bit of power for the impending God-Destroying Calamity.
Aside from handling daily sect affairs, Li Yunjing spent most of his time in the cultivation room honing his cultivation and consolidating his foundation for the Tribulation Transcendence First Stage.
The perfect foundation brought by the Nine-Turn Marrow-Cleansing Instruction continues to release its benefits, and his cultivation is advancing by leaps and bounds, getting closer and closer to the threshold of the Tribulation Transcendence Second Stage of the Fire Tribulation.
No one expected that the first wave of the God-Slaying Tribulation's aftershocks would arrive so quickly and so devastatingly.
Soon after, the ominous signs of the God-Slaying Tribulation appeared for the first time.
Li Yunjing received news that something had happened to three mid-level sects in the Central Divine Province: Azure Yang Gate, Purple Clouds Temple, and Cangwu Pavilion.
These three families are not considered top-tier powers, but they each have their own lineages, and not long ago they each attached themselves to three reclusive Higher God.
The three families originally planned to use the sect's fortune to protect the gods, and then use the gods' power to strengthen their sects, supporting each other through the God-Slaying Tribulation.
Unexpectedly, the speed at which the Tribulation Power infiltrated far exceeded everyone's expectations.
One morning, without warning, a towering black aura erupted from Azure Yang Mountain, where Azure Yang Gate was located.
The Great Immortal Jianmu, who was attached to the Azure Yang Gate, was a Wood Element Higher God who was already somewhat famous in High Antiquity times. His soul was corrupted by the Tribulation Power, and he became completely frenzied.
He first personally slaughtered more than two thousand people in the entire Azure Yang Gate, then his soul completely lost control, and he exploded on the Azure Yang Mountain.
A terrifying shockwave swept across hundreds of miles, turning green mountains into scorched earth and withering all vegetation.
Almost simultaneously, Purple Clouds Temple and Cangwu Pavilion also experienced incidents.
The two Higher God went mad one after the other, wiped out their entire families, and then self-destructed.
Three vast ruins, like three hideous scars, are etched on the land of Central Divine Province.
When the news reached the Immortal Alliance headquarters, Zhang Jianchen was both furious and alarmed.
He immediately used the name of the Immortal Alliance to inform all member sects of the matter, warning all parties to be wary of the gods going berserk.
As one of the Three Sovereigns of the Immortal Alliance, Li Yunjing delivered the urgent report to the Luozhen Grand Hall on the same day.
Li Yunjing held the thin letter paper tightly, his fingertips applying slight pressure.
Three Higher God and three sects with thousands of years of history vanished just like that.
"Go and invite the Moon God over," he ordered the temple guards in a deep voice.
A moment later, Wangshu arrived in a hurry, her moon-white divine dress still carrying the chill of the night dew, clearly having rushed there from her cultivation.
"The sect leader is looking for me?" Wangshu asked, puzzled.
Li Yunjing handed over the letter, and Wangshu took it and glanced at it. Her face turned deathly pale instantly.
She muttered to herself, "Impossible! This is only the initial manifestation of Tribulation Power, how could it cause Higher God to lose control and self-destruct?"
She raised her head, her eyes filled with disbelief. "The first God-Slaying Tribulation only saw the fall of Higher God a hundred years after it began. This time, it's only just started, and the Tribulation Power is already this strong?"
Li Yunjing remained silent; he could sense that Wangshu's body was trembling slightly.
Just as the atmosphere inside the hall was tense, a disciple's voice came from outside, tinged with hesitation. "Sect Leader, a deity outside the city, claiming to be Fairy Qingyuan, requests an audience. She says she is an old friend of Wangshu, and she is seriously injured."