Chapter 185: The Sect Leader Undergoes Tribulation

Inside the Immortal Cave.

Li Qingqiu sat in meditation on a stone bed. The entire Immortal Cave was shaking violently, frightening Chu Jing, Nangong E, Lin Chuan, and Gold Lad, who all looked at him in terror.

They could feel the Spiritual Qi inside the Immortal Cave surging frantically toward Li Qingqiu. This left them puzzled, not understanding what exactly was happening.

Li Qingqiu opened his eyes, and a strange light actually emanated from them, making the three ghosts and one demon feel as if their eyes were playing tricks on them.

He stood up and immediately performed the Extreme Movement Technique, moving out of the Immortal Cave.

He arrived at the summit of Qingxiao Mountain. As he appeared, air currents swirled around him, and Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi surged toward him.

He finally found the opportunity to Breakthrough to the Spiritual Consciousness Realm. Along with the appearance of this opportunity, he felt a sense of heavenly might.

That’s right, it was heavenly might!

This was the first time he had such a feeling. In the dark, it seemed as if some supreme power was staring at him, oppressing him.

Following his intuition, he came to the mountain Peak. Without the obstruction of the mountain’s body, he could feel the heavenly might even more clearly.

Under his gaze, dark clouds continuously emerged in the sky, gathering rapidly. The dark clouds gradually turned black, becoming increasingly oppressive.

Li Qingqiu actually felt a bit flustered.

This was the first time he was facing a Heavenly Tribulation.

The Taiqing Hunyuan Scripture recorded the method of Undergoing Tribulation. In the path of immortal cultivation, whenever a major Realm Breakthrough occurs, one must face a Heavenly Tribulation. If one passes, they transform; if not, their path forward will be cut off. Even if they survive, it would be difficult to return to their Peak state.

Li Qingqiu called up the dao lineage panel and looked at his destiny once again.

【Heavenly Thunder Spiritual Root: A rare single-attribute Spiritual Root, possessing extraordinary talent for lightning-attribute Daoist techniques. For the Heavenly Thunder Spiritual Root, a Lightning Tribulation is actually a boost.】

It’s a boost!

Li Qingqiu’s heart settled, though he still felt somewhat apprehensive.

It only said it was a boost; it didn’t necessarily mean he wouldn’t get hurt.

No, I can’t be careless!

Li Qingqiu took a deep breath and sat cross-legged in meditation. His gaze was fixed on the dark clouds above his head, waiting for the Heavenly Tribulation to begin.

Qingxiao Mountain was still trembling, though the intensity was decreasing. However, the sound of thunder began to echo on the mountaintop, and the vast dark clouds expanded, drawing the gazes of Disciples both on and off the mountain. Even Disciples on other nearby mountains looked over.

Li Qingqiu felt people rushing toward the Lingxiao Courtyard; he sensed the auras of Zhang Yuchun, Li Dongyue, and Yuan Qi.

As they neared the Lingxiao Courtyard, he spoke, “No one is allowed near the summit. I am Undergoing Tribulation.”

His voice was loud and clear, carrying far and wide.

Zhang Yuchun and the others who were ascending the mountain, along with all the Disciples who heard this voice, were all stunned.

Undergoing Tribulation?

They subconsciously thought they had misheard.

Rumble—

A muffled sound of thunder rang out, snapping the dazed Disciples back to their senses.

Zhang Yuchun took a deep breath, turned to look at Yuan Qi and the other followers, and said, “Spread the word! Especially to Ziyang Peak—no Disciple is permitted to approach the summit of Qingxiao Mountain by flying sword!”

Everyone immediately complied and ran down the mountain, announcing along the way that the Sect Leader was Undergoing Tribulation.

Every Disciple who heard this news felt astonished and confused.

What tribulation?

Li Dongyue looked toward the summit. From her perspective, the sky had already darkened, and within the thunderclouds, bolts of lightning intertwined like dragons and snakes, inspiring awe and fear.

“Senior Brother…”

Li Dongyue couldn’t tell if Undergoing Tribulation was a good or bad thing, but the vast heavenly might made her feel uneasy, worried that something might happen to Li Qingqiu.

Zhang Yuchun did not comfort her. He also turned to go down the mountain to take charge of the situation and prevent Qingxiao Mountain from falling into chaos.

Li Qingqiu didn’t care about all that; his mind was entirely focused on the Heavenly Tribulation.

Gold Lad suddenly landed on his shoulder and looked up at the sky with him.

“What are you doing up here?” Li Qingqiu asked in surprise.

Gold Lad replied, “To live and die with Master.”

His voice was very cold, yet it carried a hint of childishness, like a youth of fifteen or sixteen.

Li Qingqiu hadn’t expected it to say such things and felt quite moved.

The emotions of a demon are no shallower than a human’s!

“What do you mean ‘live and die together’? This is a good thing; I’m about to Breakthrough to a major Realm. Go down and wait. I can endure it, but you cannot.”

Li Qingqiu picked up Gold Lad and tossed it directly backward.

Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Lin Chuan, Nangong E, and Chu Jing, saying, “You too. Heavenly thunder is even more harmful to you. Stay far away.”

Seeing that Li Qingqiu didn’t seem to be lying, the three ghosts could only follow Gold Lad down the mountain. They looked back frequently, and under their gaze, the meditating Li Qingqiu actually began to float.

Li Qingqiu himself was quite surprised but quickly calmed down. He couldn’t show any weakness in the eyes of others.

The Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi lifted him into the air, as if an invisible hand was holding him up to face the Heavenly Tribulation.

The heavenly might was still brewing, and the sound of thunder continued to intensify.

Meanwhile, the news of the Sect Leader’s impending tribulation spread down the mountain, drawing more and more Disciples to jump onto rooftops and treetops to look toward the summit.

At the foot of the mountain.

Monk, Madam Xu, and her son had just crossed the Xi River. They looked toward the summit of Qingxiao Mountain, frowning at the oppressive thunderclouds.

“It’s going to rain; we need to pick up the pace,” Monk said.

Madam Xu nodded and then quickened her pace while holding her son.

Rumble—

The sound of thunder exploded, frightening Madam Xu’s son, Li Huaizhen, who shrank tightly into his mother’s arms.

When they arrived at the mountain gate at the foot of Qingxiao Mountain, they saw the Qingxiao Sect Disciples also watching the summit instead of looking for a place to hide from the rain.

One by one, Disciples flew out from the woods on the mountain on swords, quickly passing through the mountain gate and flying toward Ziyang Peak.

“The Sect Leader is about to undergo tribulation! No one is allowed to fly on swords!”

These Disciples repeated this phrase one after another, leaving the gatekeepers stunned.

Monk and Madam Xu were also dazed; they suspected they had misheard.

Could the thunderclouds in the sky be related to Li Qingqiu’s tribulation?

…Li Qingqiu, sitting in meditation in mid-air, was surrounded by Spiritual Qi. His robes fluttered violently. He had already set aside distracting thoughts and was focusing on the cultivation of the Taiqing Hunyuan Scripture.

Suddenly.

He opened his eyes, and almost instantly, a bolt of heavenly thunder struck down, crossing hundreds of feet and landing on him.

Numbness!

This was Li Qingqiu’s first sensation. He didn’t feel any pain, which settled his heart slightly.

It seemed the 【Heavenly Thunder Spiritual Root】 was indeed very effective.

Down the mountain.

Shen Yue and Xu Ning stood on treetops, about ten feet apart. When they saw the lightning strike Li Qingqiu, their hearts both trembled. Then, they noticed that Li Qingqiu’s body didn’t shake, nor did he fall, and they finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“Immortal cultivation and Undergoing Tribulation… Is this what it means to struggle against the heavens? I wonder what Realm one must reach to face a Lightning Tribulation.”

Shen Yue felt emotional. The heavenly might was so terrifying that it filled him with fear; he found it hard to imagine how Li Qingqiu was enduring it head-on.

He decided to watch carefully to prepare for his own future tribulation.

Xu Ning had the same idea. As the second highest-ranked person in terms of cultivation within the sect, she could more clearly see the connection between the Heavenly Tribulation and the Hunyuan Scripture.

Looking down the mountain from where they were, many figures could be seen standing on treetops, rooftops, and rocks.

Zhao Zhen, Xue Jin, Li Yang, Han Lang, Ji Ya, Yang Jueding, Cheng Canghai, Chai Yunshang, and others—the number was still increasing.

They watched as bolt after bolt of heavenly thunder struck the summit, each of them trembling with fear.

They couldn’t see Li Qingqiu’s figure, but this was the first time they had seen lightning continuously strike a single mountaintop. The scene was magnificent.

Boom! Boom! Boom… Bolt after bolt of heavenly thunder struck down upon Li Qingqiu. His robes fluttered incessantly but remained undamaged.

It wasn’t that his robes were made of good material, but rather that the heavenly thunder bypassed his robes and entered his body directly.

The heavenly thunder seemed only to target the one Undergoing Tribulation, so the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi lifted Li Qingqiu, ensuring the summit was not devastated.

The speed of the lightning strikes grew faster and faster. Li Qingqiu felt his whole body go numb, while an itch began to develop inside him, as if insects were crawling within his muscles and bones.

He had no choice but to close his eyes again and begin operating the Mind-Cultivation Technique of the Taiqing Hunyuan Scripture.

By using the technique to guide his Qi time and again, he gradually grew accustomed to the abnormality within his body and even began to enjoy it.

After a while, Li Qingqiu clearly felt his spiritual consciousness growing stronger. Even with his eyes closed, the world appeared clearer and clearer to him.

Suddenly.

Li Qingqiu’s spiritual consciousness broke into another world.

He actually saw everything inside his own body.

Blood vessels, flesh, internal organs, bones, and so on.

He could even zoom in his vision to see the mysteries hidden within his blood.

This sensation felt novel to Li Qingqiu, who thought to himself, “Is this the legendary internal vision?”

It was as if he were using a clearer microscope with no blind spots to observe everything inside his body. His Origin Qi surged like a vast ocean, his muscles and bones were like mountains, and within his flesh were small individual worlds.

The transformation of his spiritual consciousness gave Li Qingqiu a deeper understanding of his Physical Body.

Not only that, Li Qingqiu clearly felt his spiritual consciousness condensing from an ethereal sense into a tangible force.

He moved his spiritual consciousness outside his body and fixed it on a rock below. With a single thought, the rock soared into the air, moving as easily as if it were his own limb.

Is this the true Spiritual Consciousness Realm?

Li Qingqiu was exhilarated, as if he had opened the door to a new world. He manipulated his spiritual consciousness while undergoing the tribulation.

While he was in a state of excitement, all ten thousand Disciples of the Qingxiao Sect were break into a cold sweat for him.

Even the Disciples at the foot of the mountain could see the lightning flashing in the sky, which the clouds and mist could not completely hide.

The commotion caused by this Heavenly Tribulation was simply too great, sparking intense discussions among the Disciples.

On the Martial Arts Stage, Ye Nan sat on the ground, healing his injuries while looking up at the summit, his face filled with terror.

What kind of tribulation is the Sect Leader undergoing?

Yang Xuan stood to the side, also watching the summit.

At that moment, a Disciple flew down on a sword and shouted loudly, “The Sect Leader is using his Physical Body to endure the tempering of the heavenly thunder!”

Boom!

The Disciples here became even more excited, and the sound of their discussion grew even louder. Yet no matter how loud their voices were, they could not drown out the sound of the heavenly thunder.

The sound of thunder was earth-shattering, echoing among the mountains and sending the wild beasts in the forest fleeing.

After enduring dozens of bolts of heavenly thunder, Li Qingqiu clearly felt himself stepping into a brand-new Realm. Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi flooded into his body, converting into Origin Qi at a much more efficient rate.

While his Origin Qi was surging, its essence also underwent a transformation.

The Spiritual Consciousness Realm!

Only when Li Qingqiu truly stepped into this Realm did he realize its uniqueness; his physical senses were also being enhanced accordingly.

Thanks to Little Eagle Lord for the tip of 100,000 Qidian coins, becoming the book’s first Alliance Leader, shocking the Qingxiao Sect!

I’m scared to tears; I really have to add more chapters!