“Boom!”
A massive thunderclap shook the world.
It surged straight for Longbrow True Man.
“Damn it!” Longbrow True Man screamed, his figure darting out, rushing to the opposite cliff.
But the lightning shifted direction mid-air, chasing after him.
“I’ll dodge!”
Boom!
The lightning grazed past Longbrow True Man, striking the cliff and blasting a huge crater.
“That was close, almost got hit…”
Boom!
Before Longbrow True Man could catch his breath, another tribulation struck.
“I’ll dodge again…”
He changed directions countless times, but the tribulation seemed to have eyes, relentlessly pursuing him.
“Damn heavens, I’ve done good all my life, why are you after me?”
“Are you picking on the good guy?”
“I’ll keep dodging—”
Longbrow True Man kept evading, the lightning forming a dragon-like shape chasing him at incredible speed.
After a prolonged chase, the tribulation seemed enraged.
“Boom!”
Seven bolts of lightning descended, forming a sea of thunder that quickly engulfed Longbrow True Man.
“Is this the tribulation of a cultivator? It’s terrifying,” Xiao Zhan, watching from the ship’s bow, was utterly shocked.
He then looked at Ye Qiu.
Unlike Longbrow True Man, Ye Qiu didn’t dodge his tribulation but faced it head-on.
“Boom!”
As the lightning struck, Ye Qiu soared upward, his golden fist unstoppable, smashing into the thunder.
Splat!
Blood sprayed.
Ye Qiu was blasted back by the lightning.
Yet he quickly stood, continuing to pound the thunder with his fists.
Xiao Zhan’s skin crawled, “Boss is actually fighting the tribulation head-on. What a freak.”
On the cliffs flanking the valley, Ye Qiu and Longbrow True Man were both enduring their tribulations.
“Rumble!”
The deafening thunder echoed, vast and boundless, connecting heaven and earth like countless stars falling.
Though Xiao Zhan stood on the ship, he felt a chilling dread.
He looked up at Longbrow True Man.
Trapped in the lightning, Longbrow True Man was charred, his skin torn and bleeding, heavily wounded.
Yet there was no trace of defeat in him; he fought desperately.
Under a tribulation, there were only two outcomes: life or death.
It was a fight to the end!
“Boom—”
Another sea of thunder descended, burying Longbrow True Man beneath it.
“The path of cultivation defies the heavens, and that saying is no lie,” Xiao Zhan muttered, “This is too terrifying.”
“Senior, you have to hold on!”
At that moment, a massive vortex appeared in the thunderclouds above.
Lightning flickered within, an aura of world-ending destruction spreading across the heavens.
Under this aura, Xiao Zhan felt his soul nearly obliterated.
Three minutes later.
“Rumble!”
A colossal thunderclap shook the earth.
Forty-nine bolts of lightning, like world-shaking dragons, plunged from the sky toward Ye Qiu.
“Little brat, good luck!” Longbrow True Man said, focusing on his own tribulation.
Ye Qiu looked up at the sky.
Endless lightning unleashed blazing divine light, like raging flames burning the void or a galactic flood pouring down.
“Hmph, my fate is mine, not the heavens’. You can’t stop me.”
Holding the Emperor Sword, bathed in golden light, Ye Qiu soared to meet the tribulation.
“Boom!”
The moment he met it, he was blasted back, his body nearly pierced through, wounds everywhere.
Golden blood stained his wounds, a shocking sight.
Fortunately, his innate true qi flowed endlessly, and with the Nine-Turn Dragon Art, his injuries healed rapidly.
Before he could catch his breath, another wave of lightning engulfed him.
Ye Qiu felt excruciating pain, like a small boat battered by a stormy sea.
Time and again, he felt death’s approach. At critical moments, he pulled out a dozen century-old herbs from his Qiankun bag, swallowing them to restore his strength.
But the tribulation was too powerful, unrelenting, as if it wouldn’t stop until he was dead.
Ye Qiu nearly couldn’t hold on, even taking out the Heaven-Avoiding Pill, gripping it in his palm.
In the end, he didn’t use it.
The Heaven-Avoiding Pill, left by Ziyan Heavenly Sovereign, could bypass a tribulation and break through a realm.
Ye Qiu planned to save it for breaking into the Foundation Establishment realm.
“If I can’t even handle this tribulation, how will I become a cultivator?”
“Bring it on!”
Ye Qiu’s combat power surged, clashing with the tribulation again.
He endured for another half hour.
Finally, the thunderclouds dispersed, and the world returned to calm.
Both Ye Qiu and Longbrow True Man had survived their tribulations.
They sat on their respective cliffs, healing their wounds.
Three hours later, fully recovered and in fresh clothes, they leapt down from the cliffs, returning to the ship.
Ye Qiu’s eighth strand of true qi had formed, while Longbrow True Man’s aura was terrifyingly potent.
“Hahaha, I’ve finally become a cultivator!” Longbrow True Man laughed heartily, a massive dragon shadow, three zhang long, appearing behind him, exuding fearsome might.
Dragon qi!
Ye Qiu recalled the battle at the Forbidden City, where the War God said martial artists cultivated true qi, while cultivators cultivated dragon qi.
One dragon qi marked the early Foundation Establishment realm, three for mid, six for peak, and nine, after a tribulation, led to the Venerable realm.
With one dragon qi behind him, Longbrow True Man had entered the early Foundation Establishment realm.
Beaming with pride, he said, “Now I’ve got endless energy, and my spirit’s never been sharper.”
“This feeling reminds me of a saying: how lonely it is to be invincible.”
“Sigh…”
Longbrow True Man sighed, “Only now do I understand Su Dongpo’s line about the coldness of high places. What a shame!”
“By the way, little brat, your strength has improved a lot too.”
“How about a spar?”
Ye Qiu was thinking the same.
He wanted to see how far he was from a cultivator after forming his eighth strand of innate true qi.
“Alright,” Ye Qiu agreed, releasing his eight strands of innate true qi.
Longbrow True Man grinned, “Little brat, don’t say I didn’t warn you. Use your strongest moves, or you’ll be crying when I beat you, and don’t blame me.”
“Old man, take this!” Ye Qiu shouted, charging forward, throwing a punch at Longbrow True Man.
Smack!
Longbrow True Man casually pressed out a palm.
“Boom!”
Fist met palm.
The next second, Longbrow True Man was sent flying.
