Liu Wuxie had no other choice, with only his head remaining. He could try using immortal arts to destroy the life-and-death tribulation, but if he did that, the tribulation would fail, and he would not gain the celestial realm's recognition. That meant all his effort thus far would go down the drain.

Whoever wished to become an immortal needed to endure the life-and-death tribulation.

"NO!" Hua Feiyu cried out, trying to stop Liu Wuxie from courting death.

Radiant also looked aghast, but it was already too late for them to intervene.

They watched as Liu Wuxie opened his mouth wide and swallowed the entire Thunder God's Spear. His action sent a chill down Hua Feiyu's and Radiant's spines as the Thunder God's Spear vanished completely into Liu Wuxie's mouth.

The sky returned to calm as the thunderclouds dissipated. He had withstood nine hundred and ninety-one tribulations.

The moment the Thunder God's Spear entered his mouth, it released destructive energy and began destroying his vitality.

Shortly after, the Heavenly Dao Book emitted a dazzling radiance that enveloped the Thunder God's Spear, preventing its destructive power from reaching the depths of his soul sea.

Even so, Liu Wuxie looked miserable as several holes exploded across his head. The sight was unbearable, and Hua Feiyu and Radiant both turned their heads away. The lesser realm also began collapsing into countless fragments that floated in the air.

The disciples and elders standing in the distance could not comprehend what was happening. They felt as though heaven and earth had collapsed. Mountains began exploding, as if a mysterious force had crushed them.

Dong Wu and the others began growing anxious.

"What a terrifying aura! It has been almost a month, and why has Wuxie yet to make his breakthrough to the Immortal Realm?" They had witnessed Hua Feiyu's breakthrough, and the entire process had taken only about 10 to 15 days.

The aftershocks formed by the lightning swept outward as lightning serpents intertwined in the sky like a giant net. Only Liu Wuxie's head remained, but he had refined the energy from the Thunder God's Spear.

"Break!" Liu Wuxie roared, unleashing a powerful shockwave that sent Radiant and Hua Feiyu flying ten thousand meters away.

Finally, a golden beam descended from the sky and bathed Liu Wuxie within it. The surrounding laws also began gathering rapidly, helping him heal his injuries. He first healed the wounds on his head before regenerating his torso and limbs.

Liu Wuxie's physique had grown even stronger. His unity with heaven and earth had reached perfection, the absolute limit of the mortal realm. Relying on his physical strength alone, he would be comparable to the ninth-level Heavenly Immortal Realm.

As powerful shockwaves swept outward, a thirty-foot-tall mountain vaporized, turning to dust.

The surrounding heaven and earth grew heavy under the pressure of an immortal. A suction force then descended from the sky to pull Liu Wuxie into the celestial realm.

That was ascension. Whenever someone reached the Immortal Realm, the celestial realm would release a mysterious force that guided them upward. But how could Liu Wuxie ascend now when he had yet to settle matters in the mortal realm?

"Radiant, now!" Hua Feiyu yelled.

Radiant swiftly transformed into the Radiant Mirror and released dazzling golden radiance, severing the mysterious force. The moment the mysterious force was cut off, Liu Wuxie's ascension was abruptly halted.

The immortal runes in the desolate world began increasing rapidly, soon reaching two million in the blink of an eye.

In the Fleeting Cloud Celestial Realm, even those at the ninth-level Heavenly Immortal Realm would only possess about one million immortal runes, but Liu Wuxie's immortal runes contained ancient laws.

He had exhausted the few hundred immortal stones Hua Feiyu had given him. After its compression, the desolate world's devouring ability had grown stronger than before.

The Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron pulsed, and the Divine Purgatory Palace grew even more majestic as it began constructing an underground world.

The elders and disciples below were affected by the immortal light, and many of them began breaking through in their cultivation. The immortal light contained the laws of the celestial realm, which greatly helped them.

Anyone could foresee that quasi-immortals would soon emerge in large numbers within the Heavenly Dragon Sect.

Immortal energy swirled around Liu Wuxie, making him look like an immortal who had returned to the mortal realm. The suffocating pressure he released swept through the entire Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain.

Countless people sensed that aura and looked toward the Heavenly Dragon Sect.

"He finally took that step," sighed the palace lord of the Nine Profound Palace. He had long known that Liu Wuxie would eventually reach the Immortal Realm.

"Chaos is about to descend onto the world," the abbot of the Comet Temple murmured.

"The heavens are about to change," sighed the White Mist Manor's manor lord.

An undercurrent began surging throughout the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain. They knew Liu Wuxie's advancement to the Immortal Realm would drastically change the structure of the astral domain.

After three days, Liu Wuxie finally consolidated his cultivation at the first-level Heavenly Immortal Realm. When he lightly clenched his fist, the surrounding space began collapsing, unable to withstand his power.

This was why immortals could not fight recklessly in the mortal world. Doing so would alarm the Celestial Realm and trigger the force of ascension. Radiant had only temporarily severed the connection to the Celestial Realm, so the issue had not been permanently resolved.

In addition, the passage between the celestial and mortal realms had opened frequently, causing laws of the celestial realm to flood into the mortal realm. For the time being, the celestial realm would not be able to sense the immortals in the mortal realm. This was also why the celestial realm had not released any ascension force when the Spirit Child had fought Liu Wuxie.

As for Liu Wuxie's fight with the Grand Unity Sect's avatar projection, the celestial realm could not possibly send down any ascension force, since the projection had come from the immortal realm to begin with.

Once all the laws from the celestial realm fully merged with the mortal realm, immortals would have to restrain themselves whenever they acted, or the celestial realm would drag them back at any moment.

Liu Wuxie withdrew the aura around him and returned to his normal appearance. However, an additional wisp of wisdom now shone in the depths of his eyes.

"I have finally come this far," Liu Wuxie murmured. He had waited far too long for this day.

When his divine sense entered the desolate world, he found it filled with laws, while immortal runes surged like an ocean. The Ancestral Tree slowly grew thicker, releasing a flood of wood-attribute energy that nourished the world.

Liu Wuxie's breakthrough had reduced the desolate world by half. His internal organs now shone with a crystalline glow, and every tiny capillary was clearly visible. Though his body seemed to consist of flesh and blood on the surface, closer inspection revealed that countless crystals made up his body. This sight was truly shocking.

This meant the crystals would slowly repair themselves even if someone shattered his body. These crystals could also rearrange themselves freely. In other words, Liu Wuxie could now change his appearance with a single thought.

Hua Feiyu stepped forward to congratulate him. "Wuxie, congratulations on your breakthrough to the Immortal Realm!" He looked even happier than when he had made his own breakthrough.

"A large number of auras have appeared across the four astral domains. I suspect that the Skyfall Realm has opened," Liu Wuxie said with a solemn expression. There should still have been another day or two before the immortals returned, but he could already sense countless powerful auras across the astral domains.

"We can only handle whatever comes our way. With the current power of our Heavenly Dragon Sect, there's no need for us to fear," Hua Feiyu said as confidence rose in his chest.

In addition to the current ancestor of the Heavenly Dragon Sect, they now had three immortals. Moreover, no one could measure Liu Wuxie's combat strength by normal standards. Even experts at the higher levels of the Heavenly Immortal Realm wouldn't be his match.

Liu Wuxie nodded. He knew his master was only trying to comfort him. Then again, he did not fear immortals from the Skyfall Realm, but those from the celestial realm. They were his greatest opponents. At best, the strongest immortal in the Skyfall Realm would be at the higher levels of the Heavenly Immortal Realm.

"Master, I plan to move the Heavenly Dragon Sect, the Heavenly Dao Society, and the Liu Clan into Nightmare City. This way, we can gather all our forces," Liu Wuxie proposed.

Nightmare City was massive and capable of accommodating tens of millions of people. It would not be a problem for the city to contain the three forces.

If the three forces were attacked simultaneously, Liu Wuxie couldn't defend all of them. After all, True Martial Star and Indigo Bamboo Star were far apart, and Liu Wuxie would need at least several minutes to travel between the two planets.

But to an immortal, a single breath was enough to wipe out the entire Liu Clan.

"Let's just do as you say," Hua Feiyu said, showing full support for Liu Wuxie.

In terms of status, Liu Wuxie had already surpassed Hua Feiyu. He controlled two superpowers, the Heavenly Dao Society and the Liu Clan, not to mention that all the elders in the Heavenly Dragon Sect supported him. Hua Feiyu even considered passing the sect master position to Liu Wuxie, but he refused with a smile.

After all, Liu Wuxie planned to ascend to the celestial realm after settling the mortal realm's affairs. He would not remain in the four astral domains for long.

In the final hours, Liu Wuxie successfully merged the three forces. He divided Nightmare City into three regions to prevent overlap.

Nightmare City then descended onto a mountain range within the Heavenly Dragon Sect, transforming into a city with a radius of over three thousand feet, enveloped in powerful immortal light.

Though everyone had moved into Nightmare City, they could still enter and leave freely. This meant other cultivators could also enter the city.

Nightmare City was too vast, with plenty of space left even after the three forces moved in. Cultivators visited mainly for two reasons. Some came to cooperate with Liu Wuxie, while others came to establish shops there.

In just two days, hundreds of millions of people had moved into the city, yet it still showed no signs of reaching full capacity. From that alone, one could imagine the vast superiority of Liu Wuxie's immortal artifact.

After making arrangements for the three forces, Liu Wuxie finally felt some relief. With Nightmare City's protection, even an immortal would not be able to harm any mortals there.

"Wuxie, the ancestor just sent word that Skyfall Realm will fully open in another day," Hua Feiyu said anxiously as he found Liu Wuxie. The Heavenly Dragon Sect also had an ancestor cultivating in the Skyfall Realm.

"They're finally returning," Liu Wuxie murmured.

He spent the remaining time tempering the two teams and guarding against the celestial realm, paying little attention to the outside world. As for the matter with the Skyfall Realm, he had left it to his master. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

......

Cracking sounds echoed from the depths of the universe. This year, the fissure on the Skyfall Realm was massive as streaks of light vanished from within and entered the four astral domains.

Liu Wuxie stood on the mountain summit and gazed into the distance. After reaching the Immortal Realm, he could now capture the entire astral domain within his eyes.

"They're finally here!" Liu Wuxie said, a smile rising from the corner of his lips as he eagerly waited for the immortals to return.

If he could absorb enough immortal laws, he believed it wouldn't take long for him to reach the second-level Heavenly Immortal Realm.

In the celestial realm, those at the first-level Heavenly Immortal Realm could not even qualify as ants, so he intended to reach the High Immortal Realm. High immortals naturally held a slightly higher status than heavenly immortals.

Hundreds of immortals vanished in all directions. Some of their sects had already fallen during their hundreds of thousands of years of seclusion.