Chapter 72
Chapter 72: Serves You Right
Mahayana tribulation wasn’t supposed to happen inside the sect.
History made that clear.
The commotion was too great; it could drag the entire sect into disaster. Worse, it invited enemies. Once someone succeeded in Mahayana ascension, they usually lingered in the lower realm only briefly, using that window to settle grudges and remove threats for their sect.
An immortal’s strength was unmatched. If enemies found out, they would throw away their lives just to ruin the attempt.
So every Mahayana cultivator prepared early, choosing a safe tribulation site long in advance, waiting only for the heavens’ signal to go there and endure the lightning in peace.
But now, both Mahayana cultivators felt the same warning: there was no time. If they didn’t undergo tribulation immediately, they would miss the best chance.
They had no choice but to do it within the sect.
One of them projected his voice for miles. “Everyone, fall back. Don’t be struck by the tribulation lightning.”
Only then did the crowd snap out of their stupor. They’d been staring at the sky so long they’d forgotten their own safety.
In the crack of space, the immortals’ expressions turned heavy.
“Two Mahayana tribulations at once?”
“Will they ascend to the Ascension Pool, or stay here?”
“The clouds haven’t weakened at all,” someone said uneasily. “Was this always meant for multiple people?”
“Someone’s coming.”
The immortals went still.
A normal tribulation might not draw much attention, but Mahayana ascension was different. Those who had been through it would sense the movement of laws from far away. This was the first Spirit Immortal to emerge since Little Li Realm rejoined the Immortal Realm—of course they would come to watch.
“We—” someone began.
After three seconds of silence, a voice dripping with sarcasm cut in. “What, are you planning to help outsiders wipe out Zhaohua Sect’s hope?”
The others bristled. “Jie Shan, what nonsense is that? We don’t mean anything of the sort. We all came from Zhaohua Sect—are you the only one who remembers old favors?”
Jie Shan’s tone only grew uglier. “Oh? I thought you were just waiting for Zhaohua Sect to lose its leaders so it’d have to listen to you.”
Faces darkened. “That was Zhe Liu.”
Even Zhe Liu hadn’t attacked Zhaohua Sect outright.
Jie Shan snorted. “If you want Zhaohua Sect to fall, I won’t allow it. You can stand there and watch. Not everyone in this world repays kindness with betrayal.”
It was getting worse by the second. They weren’t standing around doing nothing—they were trying to discuss how to protect the people below.
This Jie Shan had a foul mouth and a black heart, talking like he was the only good man alive.
“They’re here.”
Jie Shan flashed forward, blocking a direction midair. His voice boomed like a gong. “Since you’ve come, stop hiding like cowards!”
The newcomers’ faces went black. That damn mouth.
Once called out, they had no choice but to reveal themselves in the sky.
On the ground, the Zhaohua Sect disciples felt their scalps go numb. Immortals—so many of them. Had they all come just to watch Zhaohua Sect’s spectacle?
Yu Liu Ya’s heart pounded. “Ancestors…”
The Ancestors were steady.
If they had to fight, they would fight. If they had to die, they would die. If these returning immortals truly chose this moment to strike at Zhaohua Sect, then the Immortal Realm wasn’t the paradise everyone imagined. Better not to go at all.
Besides, the many lethal tools Zhe Liu had “gifted” them were already hidden away, ready to be unleashed.
Right then, Yu Liu Ya received a message from Qiao Yu. He didn’t even glance at the details before cutting it off.
He looked toward Hu Qing’s side, worry twisting his gut.
Why was there still no movement?
Hu Qing’s body hadn’t moved at all, but something had left her.
Not exactly her soul—more like her senses were pulled free, lifted by a soft, invisible force until she stood suspended and looking down from above.
She saw the vast crowd below. She saw immortals hanging in the sky. She saw tribulation clouds thick as an ocean.
A strange calm settled over her—part sudden understanding, part emotionless peace. She didn’t know why she stood there. Wind brushed past. Thunder still roared, yet her vision swept outward, leaping tens of thousands of miles in an instant.
Zhaohua Sect, Baoping Ward, and beyond—places she’d been, places she hadn’t. Mountains and rivers, towns and cities, land and sea, and the endless sky.
Winds whipped over the ocean. Schools of fish glittered beneath the surface. A colossal sea monster slapped waves into towering icebergs. Beautiful merfolk played and sang in clear blue water.
Heaven’s Grace Continent lay under a veil of white mist.
Ahead was Yun Jing Heaven.
She drifted through Yun Jing Heaven, then to Huan Mo Heaven, seeing wonders she had never witnessed before. Land, sea, birth, death—she watched a mother beast give birth in Yun Jing Heaven, watched a devil creature come into the world in Huan Mo Heaven, and even wandered into the dragon clan’s burial grounds, walking among the graves of dragons.
Countless images and sensations poured into her, woven into her thoughts.
Then she returned to Qi Ye Heaven, seeing every corner of it in a single sweeping gaze.
And in the next breath, she was back above Zhaohua Sect.
The tribulation clouds still hung heavy. It was as if she had never left.
She glanced at the immortals hovering in the air. A weightless drop tugged at her—and she slammed back into her body.
Her eyes opened. She stared, dazed.
Juan Bu couldn’t speak.
Hu Qing had just received a massive opportunity, and he hadn’t been able to follow. Worse, he could feel it: everything in Hu Qing’s sea of consciousness—Scorching Sun Blaze, the Gold-Devouring Divine Beast, all of them—had been blocked out and forced to stay behind.
Only Hu Qing, pure and alone, had gone.
Only this world could suppress every other existence without harming their foundations. So what did it want from her?
Hu Qing sat there, still staring. Juan Bu remained unable to make a sound, unable to move, unable to grab her wrist and shake her back to herself.
And Hu Qing was thinking… something else entirely.
If she’d floated through the immortals just now, could she have quietly lifted their money pouches without anyone noticing?
Another chance to get rich, wasted. What a tragedy.
She glanced at her right hand. It was fine—no mark, no burn, nothing.
When she tried to stand, her legs refused. Pins and needles rushed up her body all the way to her waist. Grimacing, she massaged herself for a long time before she could get upright.
She found Shui Xin nearby. From the way he looked, his tribulation had likely ended too.
“Hey,” Hu Qing said. “Get up and make room.”
In midair, two elders she didn’t recognize were undergoing tribulation, and it was lively—they were actually slashing upward with swords.
Shui Xin opened his eyes, cold and annoyed. Hu Qing immediately felt guilty. “Um… did I interrupt your comprehension of the laws?”
“Comprehend my ass,” Shui Xin said. “They’re fighting up there. The laws haven’t descended yet.”
Hu Qing blinked. “Oh. If it’s going to take a while, let’s go out and rest.”
“I’m not going.”
Hu Qing stared. “Why?”
Shui Xin’s gaze flicked upward. “Didn’t you see Bai Wen and the Thunder Dragon still aren’t done?”
Hu Qing smacked her forehead and looked up. Sure enough, at the very top of the central clouds, white and purple and a lump of gold were still tangled together.
She sat back down beside Shui Xin. “Why are we on the ground while they’re up there?”
“Because they’re stupid,” Shui Xin said. “They flew up because they were afraid the lightning wouldn’t reach them. Unlike us. If we can’t take it, we burrow underground. I don’t believe the heavens can strike through the earth.”
The heavens, somewhere above: Would you like to test that theory?
They watched in silence for a while, and then something felt wrong.
Artifact tribulation lightning should have ended already.
So what were those three still doing?
They were stealing.
After surviving artifact tribulation lightning, the three of them had fully formed spirit entities and gained intelligence. The Buddha Seal and the Thunder Dragon were both lightning-aligned, and they’d inherited far too much of their masters’ shamelessness. With that much lightning around, only a fool would let it go to waste.
Bai Wen had been dragged into it.
The three of them crept into the tribulation clouds together, poking at the lightning inside—bzzt, bzzt, bzzt—like thieves testing a lock.
Heaven’s might was not something you toyed with.
A furious bolt exploded downward and smashed all three to the ground, leaving them smoking and charred.
Shui Xin and Hu Qing said at the same time, “Serves you right.”