Chapter 439 - 367: Without you, what is the meaning of a ten-thousand-year lifespan?
Chapter 439: Chapter 367: Without you, what is the meaning of a ten-thousand-year lifespan?
In a basin on the outskirts of the Qin Kingdom’s Imperial City.
The area was remote and low-lying, surrounded on all sides by mountain peaks, and it also happened to be a natural Array that gathered Spiritual Power.
For Xiao Mo, it was the perfect place to undergo his tribulation and ascend to the Nascent Soul Realm.
There was a saying among Cultivators: "Only after forming a Golden Core are you one of our own."
There was another saying: "Only when the core shatters to form the soul does one become a true Immortal."
In the minds of most Cultivators, the Nascent Soul Realm was the end of the line.
Therefore, achieving the Nascent Soul Realm meant one was considered a true Immortal.
After all, a Nascent Soul Realm Cultivator could establish their own Sect and be hailed as an "Ancestor." Golden Core Realm Cultivators, on the other hand, were typically only at the level of Elders in most Sects.
Even though the Qin Kingdom was at war with the Allied States, and there were not only Nascent Soul Realm Cultivators on the battlefield but even those from the Upper Three Realms.
However, these Cultivators were all nurtured with the full power of their nations, and any single country had very few of them.
In the seven great nations, such as the Qin Kingdom, there were no more than thirty Nascent Soul Realm Cultivators.
The number of Cultivators in the Upper Three Realms was even smaller.
Among the seven great nations, each had no more than ten Jade Realm Cultivators, and those in the Immortal and Ascension Realms were few and far between.
Most Cultivators of the Upper Three Realms would only be asked to act by their Sovereign during a full-scale national war.
Moreover, they mostly engaged in one-on-one battles against enemy Cultivators from the Upper Three Realms, avoiding the main battlefield whenever possible.
After all, a place like a battlefield was heavy with karma, and few Cultivators wished to be excessively stained by it.
If the Celestial Dao saw your heavy karma during a future tribulation and decided to throw a couple of extra bolts of Thunder Tribulation your way, it simply wouldn’t be worth it.
Of course, for a high-ranking official like Xiao Shi, a Jade Realm Cultivator, they couldn’t care less about so-called karma.
For people like him, if karma came, it came. So what? It was nothing that couldn’t be shattered with a single slash of a blade or thrust of a spear.
However, Xiao Mo wasn’t thinking much about entering the Upper Three Realms at the moment.
First, he had to get past this Nascent Soul tribulation.
After setting up the Array in the basin, Xiao Mo checked to ensure he had all the necessary Elixirs.
He paid special attention to the Elixirs that replenished Blood Qi.
For a Martial Cultivator, Elixirs that replenished Blood Qi were of the utmost importance.
Once he confirmed that everything was in order, Xiao Mo began Crossing the Tribulation.
With a deafening roar, the sky above was instantly covered in dark clouds, and flashes of lightning tore through the heavens.
Standing outside the valley, Qin Siyao watched the events unfolding in the distant sky. She pressed her thin lips together tightly, her small hands clenched into delicate fists. She looked incredibly nervous, as if she were the one Crossing the Tribulation.
At the same time, great gusts of wind blew toward the Imperial City.
Many citizens in the Qin Kingdom’s Imperial City raised their heads and looked toward the outskirts.
「In the Imperial Palace.」
The Sovereign of Qin raised his head, gazing outside the Imperial City.
"Your Majesty, is this..." Empress Shi walked to the Sovereign of Qin’s side.
"I wonder which Cultivator is Crossing the Tribulation outside the city," the Sovereign of Qin said with a slight smile, stroking his beard.
BOOM!
A bolt of lightning fell from the sky, striking down at Xiao Mo.
Xiao Mo held his Long Spear and thrust it forward.
ROAR!
The Spear Qi transformed into a dragon.
A massive silver dragon lunged toward the Thunder Tribulation.
The silver dragon completely devoured the lightning bolt.
As if feeling it had been provoked, the Celestial Dao’s thunderous roar from the sky grew even more intense.
BOOM! Another bolt of lightning struck down. This one contained the might of the heavens, as if intending to blast Xiao Mo to smithereens.
Xiao Mo was fearless, continuing to withstand the Thunder Tribulation head-on.
One bolt.
Two bolts.
Three bolts.
Each successive bolt of the Thunder Tribulation was more powerful than the last.
After nine consecutive bolts of lightning, the heavy clouds in the sky began to dissipate, and only then did Qin Siyao breathe a sigh of relief.
Over the past few days, Qin Siyao had read many books about the Nascent Soul Realm’s tribulation, so she knew it was divided into two parts.
One part was the heart tribulation.
The other part was the Thunder Tribulation.
Although Martial Dao Cultivators didn’t need to pass a heart tribulation, how could the Thunder Tribulation possibly be easy?
The Nascent Soul Thunder Tribulation consisted of five to nine bolts.
The Celestial Dao would administer tests of varying difficulty based on each person’s talent and Realm.
Now that Xiao Mo had endured nine bolts, it should be over.
Just as Qin Siyao was about to go congratulate Xiao Mo, Hua Sheng grabbed her wrist. "Princess, please wait a moment."
"Sister Hua Sheng, what’s wrong?" Qin Siyao asked curiously.
"Please look, Princess."
Hua Sheng’s brow furrowed as she pointed upward.
Qin Siyao looked up and saw that the thunderclouds, which had been about to dissipate, were gathering once more, growing even thicker than before.
"What in the world is..." Qin Siyao’s eyes trembled.
The terrifying pressure made it difficult for even her to breathe.
"This is the legendary Ten-String Tribulation," Hua Sheng said, her gaze fixed as she felt the pressure that seemed poised to swallow heaven and earth.
"The Ten-String Tribulation?" Qin Siyao had never heard of it.
"I only heard about the Ten-String Tribulation from my clan’s chief when I was a child. Legend says this tribulation only existed during the age of Divine Spirits, a time when the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi was at its most dense.
Whenever a prodigy of the Human Race or the Demon Race ascended to the Nascent Soul Realm, the Celestial Dao would send down its most rigorous test—the Ten-String Tribulation.
I’m afraid Young Master Xiao is..."
"He won’t be!"
Qin Siyao clenched her fists, cutting Hua Sheng off.
"Nothing will happen to Xiao Mo! He will succeed. He promised me!"
High above, the Thunder Tribulation continued to gather its power, holding it back without releasing it.
Just then, a number of Tributors from the Nascent Soul Realm and the Upper Three Realms within the Imperial City arrived outside the basin.
They were sensing the Dao rhythm produced by the Ten-String Tribulation, hoping to gain some enlightenment from it.
At the same time, they were immensely curious to see if the person could successfully pass the tribulation.
Unfortunately, because of the Array and the obscuring power of the tribulation, they couldn’t see the man’s face and were unable to witness the true appearance of this prodigy.
Just as the thunder grew louder and louder, as if about to shatter the very mountains and rivers...
In an instant, the sound of thunder in the sky vanished.
The entire world fell silent, as if everything, including time itself, had been frozen.
BOOM!!!
Three breaths later, a colossal clap of thunder echoed out once more.
The dense clouds parted, revealing a woman kneeling upon them. A zither rested on her lap as she looked down upon Xiao Mo.
It was like a god looking down upon an ant.
But Xiao Mo knew this was no god.
Divine Spirits had vanished for countless years.
This woman was merely a manifestation of the Great Dao!
TWANG!
The sound of the zither rang out.
The music transformed into an army of thousands, charging toward Xiao Mo.
Unafraid, Xiao Mo soared into the sky alone, battling his way through the massive army.
The next moment, the zither’s tune changed, and this time, tens of thousands of Great Demons joined the fray.
Ten breaths later, the music changed again, and ten Flood Dragons formed from lightning lunged to bite the reckless man.
The zither’s music changed a fourth time. The Thunder Tribulation descended as golden light, covering the lightning-forged humans, demons, and Flood Dragons. Their Blood Qi grew even more ferocious, as if they were truly real beings in the world.
But Xiao Mo continued to fight his way relentlessly toward the "goddess."
The goddess’s zither music grew more urgent, and the assault of the massive army became even more ferocious!
The zither’s music changed a total of ten times.
On the final change, ten Divine Spirits appeared high above, looking down on all living things. Their divine might pressed down on Xiao Mo’s shoulders, radiating for a thousand li.
DONG!
In the Qin Kingdom’s Imperial City, the City Defense Array activated on its own, neutralizing the divine might manifested by the Great Dao.
But outside the Imperial City, everyone except for Qin Siyao and the Cultivators of the Upper Three Realms couldn’t help but fall to their knees and kowtow.
The divine might manifested by the Great Dao was like a mountain, leaving Xiao Mo breathless.
Yet Xiao Mo still raised his head, straightened his back, and charged toward the woman with the zither.
The ten "Divine Spirits" made their move.
Their figures dissipated, transforming into a single golden long spear that stabbed toward Xiao Mo’s heart.
Xiao Mo knew he couldn’t dodge it, but he had no intention of doing so anyway.
Using all his Spiritual Power, Xiao Mo threw the Long Spear in his hand!
His spear turned into a streak of silvery-white light, soaring up from below to break through the sky and collide with the golden spear.
A violent ripple of Spiritual Power exploded outward.
Lightning struck everywhere, shattering one mountain peak after another. Rubble tumbled down as the earth shook violently.
A full twenty breaths passed before the lightning finally vanished. The black clouds slowly dissipated, and everything returned to calm.
Only his Heaven and Earth, a colossal figure hundreds of zhang tall, slowly rose from among the mountains to look down upon the Imperial City.
"That’s... the Frost King!"
"The Frost King is Crossing the Tribulation!"
"Has the Frost King reached the Nascent Soul Realm?"
"Isn’t the Frost King less than thirty years old? I’ve never heard of such a young Nascent Soul Realm Cultivator."
"As expected of the Frost King!"
"Even if I can’t be his primary wife, I wish the Frost King would take me as a concubine..."
Throughout the Qin Kingdom’s Imperial City, everyone who saw the form of this Heaven and Earth knew that the Frost King had broken through to the Nascent Soul Realm.
"This kid... he’s always full of surprises."
In the Imperial Palace, the Sovereign of Qin smiled with satisfaction, withdrew his gaze, and walked back to the Imperial Study.
"Congratulations, Frost King!"
Outside the basin, the assembled Cultivators bowed in salute.
None of them had ever imagined that it was the Frost King Crossing the Tribulation here.
"You are all too kind." Xiao Mo’s Heaven and Earth returned the bow.
The next moment, Xiao Mo’s Heaven and Earth dissipated into motes of light.
With a single step, he left the basin and appeared before the woman who was always on his mind.
"You broke through?" Qin Siyao’s eyes curved into crescents.
"Yes, I did," Xiao Mo nodded. "I made you worry just now."
"I wasn’t worried at all. I knew you would definitely break through," Qin Siyao said with a light laugh. "But I need to practice diligently too. You’ve already formed your Nascent Soul, so I should at least reach Core Formation. Otherwise, my lifespan won’t be long enough to stay by your side, and other women will take advantage of the opportunity."
"Let’s not even talk about other women taking advantage. With your talent, Siyao, entering the Nascent Soul Realm wouldn’t be difficult. You’re just too lazy most of the time." Xiao Mo smiled and gently flicked Qin Siyao’s forehead.
"I’m not lazy, I just don’t like cultivating," Qin Siyao said, rubbing her forehead.
"What do you mean you don’t like cultivating?" Xiao Mo shook his head helplessly. "Have you never thought about reaching Ascension? For one thing, the lifespan of someone in the Ascension Realm is tens of thousands of years."
"If you reach Ascension, then I’ll work hard to reach Ascension too," Qin Siyao said, hugging Xiao Mo’s arm.
"And what if I don’t reach Ascension?" Xiao Mo asked with a smile.
"If you don’t, then of course I won’t either."
Qin Siyao looked into her beloved’s eyes and gave a sweet smile.
"So what if Ascension grants a lifespan of tens of thousands of years?
If I don’t have you.
Even with ten thousand years to live, what meaning would it have for me?"