According to the Wendao Sword Sect chronicles:
On the second day of the second month, the Dragon Raises Its Head, and on the eve of the Awakening of Insects and the ascension, the auspicious beast Lu Yuan drew thunder at the Ancestral Peak, swallowed it, and entered the tribulation transcendence stage.
He was just over four hundred years old.
He was a disciple of Xu Xian.
A few brief lines, and nothing more.
But for those who witnessed the entire process that day, the shock was beyond what even a full treatise could express.
Swallowing falling thunder?
Absurd.
Someone in this world actually eats lightning tribulations as food?
Ridiculous!
These people were not inexperienced. Setting aside the knowledgeable old monsters on the Ascension Platform, even most of the disciples within the Wendao Sword Sect had witnessed two lightning tribulations four hundred years ago.
Li Qingshan
had drawn the tribulation into battle,
using the lightning tribulation as a lethal weapon.
Xu Xian
had struck with a single sword, and all three tribulations perished.
Even now, those memories remained vivid.
And today,
Lu Yuan swallowed the tribulation.
Compared to those two, he was not inferior in the slightest.
For a moment,
the mountains and fields boiled with excitement, and gasps of shock rose like a tide.
As for the subject of it all, Lu Yuan merely let out a satisfied burp, looking as though he hadn't had quite enough.
He was truly extraordinary.
In the distance, the crowds on the cloud boats who had come to watch the ceremony were even more stunned. It had ended before it even truly began. Some were so far away they hadn't even seen what happened clearly.
On the Ascension Platform, the group of old monsters clicked their tongues and shook their heads, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
“What kind of monsters does the Wendao Sword Sect recruit?”
“That is an auspicious beast...”
“Bai Ze, that little fellow is much fiercer than you were back then.”
Bai Ze remained silent, simply closing his eyes to rest.
Just as the lightning tribulation ended, Xu Xian's true body arrived and ascended the platform. Everyone naturally snapped back from the shock of the lightning tribulation and turned their gaze toward the human youth.
They scrutinized him,
sized him up,
feared him,
and felt tense.
He was here. Could it be that the ascension was being moved forward?
After Xu Xian's gaze slowly swept over them, he raised his hand and waved. A gust of wind blew past, and the powerhouses who had been tied up and fixed to the Ascension Platform were released from their bonds, regaining their freedom.
They looked confused and bewildered.
“This...”
Xu Xian raised his hand again, setting up an isolation formation that completely enveloped the Ascension Platform. He then sat cross-legged, facing the crowd.
Sensing the heavy hostility and resentment in the gazes falling upon him, Xu Xian remarked sarcastically, “Why are you all looking at me like that? Ascending to the heavens and reopening the Sky Gate... isn't that what you've always wanted to do but failed? Some of you have waited for ten thousand years, and the shortest wait has been over a millennium. Today, I am fulfilling your wishes by opening the Sky Gate wide. Shouldn't you be happy instead?”
Four hundred years ago, they had come together to crusade against the Wendao Sword Sect, intending to destroy the mountain gate, open the Sky Gate, and ascend to the Heavens.
This was an indisputable fact.
What Xu Xian said was indeed true, and they really didn't know how to argue back.
But circumstances change.
That was then,
and this is now.
The two situations could not be compared.
However,
arguing was meaningless. They truly could not afford to provoke the man before them.
Remaining silent
was the most rational choice.
Seeing that no one responded, Xu Xian dropped the subject and spoke of business. “Everyone, there are four days left until our agreed-upon day of ascension. At that time, I will fulfill my promise. I will open the celestial path here, and you may all ascend to the Heavens.”
“I know what you are all thinking, and I know your concerns.”
“Ascension?”
“Longevity?”
“Immortality?”
“Can there really be such a good thing in this world?”
“Can you, Xu Xian, really be so kind-hearted?”
Pausing for a moment, Xu Xian gave a candid smile.
“Heh.”
“You're right to think that.”
“I, Xu Xian, am not that kind-hearted...”
“And this isn't necessarily a good thing...”
Before they could process his words or ask questions, Xu Xian changed his tone and continued.
“However, I, Xu Xian, am not that bad either. This isn't necessarily a bad thing.”
“You are all ninth stage powerhouses, titans of the mortal realm. You have lived longer than I have and seen more than I have. Many things don't need to be said; you naturally understand them perfectly well.”
“In this world, nothing is absolute. Good and bad are always split down the middle...”
“Just like this path to ascension.”
“Even if there are nine chances of death for every one of survival, if you make it through, you will have attained the Dao. That much is true.”
“As for the risks?”
“We are all cultivators. Looking back at our lives, who among us hasn't experienced countless hardships to reach where we are today?”
“The things that grind you down are also the things that deliver you...”
Hearing Xu Xian's words, many of the powerhouses fell into deep thought. Some even nodded subconsciously in agreement.
The words were blunt, but the logic was sound.
Anything in this world has two sides. Good and bad exist in a single moment, just as good and evil exist within a single thought.
They had never viewed ascension as a bad thing.
Even with a slim chance of survival,
a sliver of immortal opportunity was contained within.
If they caught it,
they could become immortals.
The difference between immortal and mortal
lies in a single thought.
So they had come and waited here for over a month—the ancestors of the Three Sects, the reclusive spirits, the hidden masters...
The path of cultivation was inherently a struggle for the Great Dao, a defiance of heaven itself. How could there be no risk?
Xu Xian finished what he had to say.
He hadn't come
to argue with them, nor did he want to tell them he was right or that he was doing this for their own good to parade around as a champion of justice.
He had come
simply to tell them that since things had reached this point, instead of thinking about how to hate or blame him, they should spend more time thinking about how to deal with the tribulation of ascension.
Rather than wasting energy on a predetermined fact, it was better to focus on facing the unknown future.
After finishing, he stood up and said slowly, “I have said all that needs to be said. The journey ahead is perilous. You should take this time to recover your spirits and face it with everything you have...”
With that,
he left.
As he departed,
he activated the Heaven-Sealing Trapping Formation arranged around the Ascension Platform.
He used this formation
to prevent them from escaping.
Although
Xu Xian didn't think anyone would be foolish enough to try and flee at this stage, there were always exceptions, and it was better to be cautious.
It saved him the trouble of dealing with problems later.
Xu Xian came and went, leaving the platform full of powerhouses lost in their own thoughts.
Exchanging glances, they actually followed Xu Xian's suggestion and began to rest again, adjusting their states in these final hours.
Especially those who had been dragged back, whose cultivation had been sealed and who had been injured; they now needed to hurry and recover.
Xu Xian's words had been very clear.
The path of ascension
was very dangerous.
Whether it was good or bad, life or death, would depend on their own fortunes.
Xu Xian's words also confirmed their suspicions.
Up there in the heavens,
there were dangers they could not foresee.
Immortals?
Vengeful ghosts?
Divine generals?
Or were there demons who viewed them as food, or something else entirely?
The answer
was perhaps known only to Xu Xian himself.
Some said he was a decent person...
Some said he still had some humanity...
Some said he was a sanctimonious hypocrite...
Everyone had their own opinion.
Among the group from the Demon Abyss, Jin Yu asked, “Sister, what exactly is up there in the heavens?”
Chi Ming answered before she could, “Whatever it is, it's definitely nothing good...”
Jin Yu: “...”
Jin Qing looked at the sky and said worriedly, “Uncle Chi is right. For him to be this wary, it must be a very troublesome bunch...”
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