Translator: AnubisTL

Almost the instant the faint cracking sound echoed, thick, vast thunderclouds converged outside the grotto-heaven.

The sky within a ten-thousand-mile radius was completely obscured, as if the heavens themselves were about to collapse.

The bottleneck had been broken—the thunder tribulation had arrived!

This was the heavenly tribulation of the Divine Transformation stage. Even in its initial stages of formation, the thunderclouds radiated an oppressive aura that weighed heavily on all living beings below.

Even Li Qing felt a surge of panic and shortness of breath. The overwhelming Heavenly Might left him deeply unsettled.

True Monarch Chen Yuan, the protagonist of this tribulation, exhaled deeply, knowing his thunder tribulation had come.

"Hah!"

"The heavenly tribulation has finally arrived, young friend. Now, it’s up to you!"

This time, True Monarch Chen Yuan no longer casually addressed Li Qing as "boy," but instead called him "young friend" with genuine warmth.

In truth, he lacked confidence in surviving this tribulation. Without the Lightning-Repelling Dharma Robe refined with the Heaven-Deceiving Dao Pattern, he feared he would be reduced to calamity ash under the terrifying Heavenly Might.

His aging body, weakened by declining vital energy, could scarcely withstand the onslaught of Heavenly Thunder.

Li Qing took a deep breath, clasped his hands in a fist-and-palm salute, and declared, "Senior, please proceed to face your tribulation with confidence. I will do everything in my power to serve as your guardian!"

These words were enough.

True Monarch Chen Yuan wouldn’t have entrusted Li Qing with such a critical task at this pivotal moment without first assessing his character and integrity. In his eyes, Li Qing valued loyalty and kept his word, making him absolutely trustworthy for this responsibility.

"Very well, I shall depart!"

With these words, True Monarch Chen Yuan surged forth from the small world behind the stone gate, employing the Ground Shrinking Technique to traverse the grotto-heaven at lightning speed.

The thundercloud stretched boundless and vast, and he was about to confront this terrifying heavenly tribulation head-on.

Successfully weathering this trial would elevate him to the pinnacle of this realm, allowing him to survey the entire Human Realm from above!

Moreover, once a cultivator in the nascent soul realm advanced to the divine transformation stage, their lifespan would dramatically increase, extending their existence by at least a thousand years. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

This was of paramount importance to him. His lifespan was nearing its end, and he had exhausted all the life-extending secret techniques in the world. If he wished to avoid being swept into the cycle of reincarnation, his only option was to break through to the divine transformation stage.

Li Qing followed closely behind, unleashing the Kunpeng Divine Power to move at extreme speed. His pace was nearly as swift as True Monarch Chen Yuan’s Ground Shrinking Technique, allowing them to burst out of the grotto-heaven almost simultaneously.

When Li Qing saw the boundless thunderclouds gathering outside the grotto-heaven, his body jolted violently.

"This is the heavenly tribulation of the divine transformation stage? The terrifying energy contained within feels like it could annihilate the world."

Li Qing’s spiritual perception was exceptionally keen. He could sense that even the Primordial Energy of Heaven and Earth in this realm was being suppressed by the extreme terror of the heavenly tribulation.

Within the deep, dark clouds overhead, multicolored lightning flickered faintly. Even the slightest leakage of energy sent a primal sense of danger surging through Li Qing.

In fact, the magnitude of this boundless heavenly tribulation was so immense that it could be sensed even in distant great domains.

In the Great Wilderness Domain, within a certain Ice Palace, a frigid gaze turned northward toward the Azure Ridge Domain.

The Palace Master of the Ice Extremity Palace was no stranger to such a sight. She herself had once endured a cataclysmic heavenly tribulation that nearly annihilated the world.

Yet she said nothing, slowly withdrawing her gaze and sinking into silence.

Meanwhile, in the far western reaches of the Great Wilderness Domain, lay a forbidden land known as Moonlit Ridge.

Here, a full moon seemed to hang perpetually in the sky, bathing the entire mountain range in its ethereal moonlight.

"Hmm, someone in the Azure Ridge Domain is undergoing the Divine Transformation Tribulation!"

"Unbelievable! To break through that barrier in such a harsh environment... Who could it be?"

"Heh, I remember that old fool Qian Gu sealed himself in the Azure Ridge Domain, didn’t he?"

"That wretched old ghost perished in a mutual destruction with an ancient demon from the lower realm. Utterly foolish! Didn’t he ever wonder why none of us seized this opportunity to ascend?"

"Enough talk. At least that poor fool paved the way for us!"

Amidst this hushed discussion, a crisp, resonant tremor suddenly rang out, interrupting the mysterious beings’ conversation.

Buzz!

The resonant vibration resembled both the hum of a sword and the roar of a dragon.

But the crisp, ringing vibration abruptly ceased, as if encountering some unseen obstruction.

"Intriguing. This sword truly seems on the verge of gaining sentience. Who would have thought a magic treasure casually suppressed so long ago would possess such astonishing potential?"

"Having been nurtured within the dragon vein for so many years, it should have become a spirit treasure long ago. Why has it been suppressed for so long? What were the intentions of the now-vanished Ancient Hua Dynasty?"

"..."

Deep within the mountain range, a dark golden sword, wreathed in imperial dragon qi, was deeply embedded in a massive boulder.

The crisp, ringing vibration had emanated from this very blade.

If an external cultivator were to witness this scene, they would be utterly astonished. This was none other than the ancestral imperial sword, lost for centuries!

It had been wielded by the last emperor of the Ancient Hua Immortal Dynasty against their enemies, only to vanish without a trace during the dynasty’s final collapse.

No one could have imagined that this legendary blade, rumored to be nearly sentient, lay hidden within the forbidden land of Moonlit Ridge.

Once the ancestral imperial sword fell silent, the faint murmurs that had arisen on Moonlit Ridge also subsided. The colossal thunder tribulation raging in the Azure Ridge Domain to the north seemed to hold no interest for them.

In the East Sea, an old flood dragon with dark azure scales raised its head above the waves, its massive eyes fixed on the direction of the Azure Ridge Domain.

"That commotion... is someone attempting to break through to the divine transformation stage?"

"Chen Yuan asked me for a top-grade spirit stone a while back. Could it be him?"

Convinced his guess was correct, the Azure Flood Dragon King submerged back into the sea, unwilling to get involved.

True Monarch Chen Yuan, having lived for over a thousand years, had cultivated extensive connections and naturally knew several old monsters in the divine transformation stage.

On the opposite side of the sea territory, where Heaven’s End Island once stood, now only a towering iron tower pierced the void.

Here, a series of melodious zither notes rang out. Upon closer inspection, one could see a refined young man with the air of a scholar gently plucking the strings of an antique, reddish-brown zither.

The music abruptly ceased as Wan Shengtian pressed his hands against the strings, his gaze fixed on the gathering dark clouds on the distant horizon.

"This is utter folly. Choosing this critical moment to undergo the Divine Transformation Tribulation? Doesn’t he fear attracting the Formless Demon Ancestor’s attention?"

With these words, Wan Shengtian, clad in snow-white robes, resumed playing the ancient zither, its melodious notes echoing ceaselessly through the air.

After finishing the piece, he sighed softly, then slowly put away the guqin and stood up.

"Well, I did owe him a favor back then. Might as well see if I can repay it completely this time."

True Monarch Chen Yuan had already begun his tribulation crossing. Perhaps knowing that the commotion would draw attention, he strode boldly toward the heavens.

"Hahaha! Let this old man see what this Divine Transformation Tribulation is all about!"

Shedding his usual frivolous demeanor, he actively confronted the colossal thunder tribulation.

Boom!

(End of the Chapter)

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