The Lull Before the Tribulation

Ji Ning nodded gently. “It’s time for my tribulation. But before I undergo it, I want to return to Mount Yan. Consider it a period of quiet contemplation before the storm. For me, the Wind, Fire, and Lightning Tribulations should be relatively easy to endure. The true challenge will be the Heartfiend Tribulation.”

Given the karmic fire clinging to him, his heartfiends would likely be terrifying.

“Mm.” Yu Wei looked at him with concern.

“I’ll inform Master. We’ll return to Mount Yan today,” Ji Ning said.

“I’ll follow your lead,” Yu Wei replied with a smile.

That very day, Ji Ning and Yu Wei departed for Mount Yan.

…

At Brightheart Island on Winged Serpent Lake, within Mount Yan.

“Ah! Master, you… you and the Fire Rainbow actually have a child? And you didn’t tell me? Such an important thing, and you kept it from me! I’m so heartbroken, waaah…” Little Qing stared at Yu Wei’s belly, trembling with excitement. “Master, let me be your child’s teacher, okay?”

“With your meager skills, don’t go leading the youth astray,” Uncle White said from the side, a smile on his face. He was, in truth, the happiest of all.

An heir.

Ning’er had an heir!

If only his elder brother and sister-in-law were still alive… he couldn’t imagine how overjoyed they would be.

“Senior apprentice-brother, I want to be your child’s godfather,” Mu Northson said, a rare glimmer of vitality in his usually dispirited demeanor.

“Alright. But if you want to be a godfather, you’d better prepare a good gift. As a puppet grandmaster… you can’t just bring out something shoddy,” Ji Ning said with a laugh. It was a good thing, to give his junior brother something to look forward to.

“Enough chatter, everyone sit down.”

Autumn Leaf entered from the door, carrying a wooden tray laden with sumptuous food.

The whole family gathered together, eating, drinking, and laughing.

Ji Ning’s heart grew increasingly calm and peaceful.

Before facing his Heavenly Tribulation, he had felt an inexplicable urge to return home. It wasn’t just to see familiar faces, but also to look upon Winged Serpent Lake once more.

…

A small boat drifted on the waters of Winged Serpent Lake. Ji Ning lay alone inside, sleeping.

The air was thick with mist.

At some point, he sat up and reached out to part the water beside the boat. Softly, he said, “Father, Mother, you always hoped I would make a name across this boundless land. Your child has done it. My name has even spread to other major worlds. And in a few days, I will face my Heavenly Tribulation.

“I swear this oath: I will become a True God or Daofather, standing at the very peak of the Three Realms. Then I will see you again, and recount to you everything that has happened over these years. This tribulation… is merely one wave among many in the great storms to come.”

He spoke to his family as if they were right there, sharing casual words while his hand idly parted the water. But the resolve and ambition in his voice would have made anyone tremble.

A beautiful, vast gorge stretched out before them, filled with magnificent halls and palaces. Rare flowers and strange grasses grew everywhere, making it seem like a celestial realm.

Two peerless immortals, whose beauty surpassed even Yu Wei’s, walked side by side.

One wore a green robe; the other was clad in grey.

The grey-robed female immortal walked barefoot. The coarse, sackcloth-like fabric could not hide her breathtaking beauty; instead, it gave her an ethereal quality that seemed to transcend the mortal world. A mere glimpse of her was enough to drive countless gods and demons mad with desire. She was the foremost female immortal of the Hundred Tombs Mountain: the Withered Grass Immortal.

The Hundred Tombs Mountain was a place of concentrated elemental energy in the Heavenly Realm. In ancient times, the bodies of countless powerful gods and fiends who fell during a great war had been buried there, hence its name. Perhaps because of the burial of so many powerful corpses, the land had become increasingly miraculous. Countless flowers and grasses grew upon the mountain, and most of them had developed sentience, even beginning to cultivate on their own.

Plants and grasses find it inherently difficult to cultivate. Having all originated from the same place, the Hundred Tombs Mountain, they naturally banded together.

When they took human form, they all became women.

The Hundred Tombs Mountain was home to numerous Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals, six Celestial Immortals, and a single Pure Yang True Immortal.

The Withered Grass Immortal was that Pure Yang True Immortal. Her true form was a seemingly withered weed—an utterly miraculous one, however, for no other plant could grow within a large area around it. Upon taking human form, she was already a Returning Void Earth Immortal. She then easily overcame her Heavenly Tribulation, becoming the first Celestial Immortal of the Hundred Tombs Mountain. Her beauty was subtle, yet the more one came to know her, the more one could not help but be intoxicated by her. Even the Celestial Thearch of the Three Realms was enamored with her. He attempted to steal a kiss, but upon entering the Hundred Tombs Mountain, he was sent flying with a single kick.

Only one word rang out across the Heavens: “Scram!”

The Celestial Thearch slunk away in disgrace.

Thus, it was widely speculated throughout the Three Realms that behind the Withered Grass Immortal stood a True God or Daofather. Given that she was arguably the most beautiful woman in all the Three Realms, it was not surprising that she could attract such a patron.

“Sister,” the green-robed immortal said, her eyes filled with tears. “Little sister Purplegrass died a truly miserable death. She was such a gentle, weak girl, yet that Ji Ning showed her no mercy at all. My husband rushed over with all his might, even sending a message to stop him, but Ji Ning still killed her. Sister… you must avenge her!”

The Withered Grass Immortal’s eyes flashed with cold light. She said calmly, “The Seven Fairies of the Hundred Tombs Mountain are not to be casually slaughtered. Who exactly is this Ji Ning? Your husband, the Radiant Hua True Immortal, is no weakling. Surely he couldn’t have been unable to kill him?”

“This Ji Ning is merely a Returning Void Fiendgod. He hasn’t even overcome his Heavenly Tribulation,” the green-robed woman said. “However, his strength is extraordinary. Even as a Returning Void Fiendgod, he was able to hold off my husband for a short while.”

“Held off Radiant Hua?” The Withered Grass Immortal was surprised.

The gap between a Celestial Immortal and a True Immortal was immense.

To be able to block a True Immortal was something only the rarest of monstrous talents among Celestial Immortals could achieve.

“As my husband says, although he wanted to kill this Ji Ning, the man’s strength has truly reached the threshold of an Empyrean God or True Immortal,” the green-robed woman said. “Furthermore, the Grand Xia’s Xia Emperor stubbornly shelters him. And behind Ji Ning… there is also a True God or Daofather as his master! Oh, I forgot to mention, Ji Ning has also mastered the Eight-Nine Arcane Art.”

The Withered Grass Immortal paused in her tracks.

“I understand.” She stood there, deep in thought.

The green-robed fairy waited anxiously by her side.

She knew well the power of her senior sister and naturally hoped for her help.

“Sister?” the green-robed fairy called out softly.

“Of the Seven Fairies of the Hundred Tombs Mountain, Purplegrass was born the latest and was always with you. I only met her a few times after she overcame her tribulation and became a Celestial Immortal. Our bond is rather thin… nonetheless, she came from the Hundred Tombs Mountain. If I recall correctly, after she left you, she followed Greenfox, didn’t she?” the Withered Grass Immortal said calmly.

“Yes,” the green-robed woman nodded.

“I will go see Greenfox tomorrow,” the Withered Grass Immortal stated coolly.

The Hundred Tombs Mountain was home to a vast number of female immortals. The ranks of Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals were large, but most would not survive more than a million years under the onslaught of the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations. Thus, the Withered Grass Immortal, who was born in the earliest era, had little emotional connection with those who came later. She only had deep bonds with the earliest batch. Purplegrass was a junior who had followed several powerful figures, eventually achieving the status of Celestial Immortal through a stroke of fate. If not for that, the Withered Grass Immortal might not have even remembered her.

…

The Fifth World.

Within a grand, majestic hall, the Seamless Gate’s master, ‘Greenfox’, was entertaining the Withered Grass Immortal.

“Sister Withered Grass, I have told you everything from beginning to end,” Greenfox said, shaking her head. “In truth, my Seamless Gate wants this Ji Ning dead more than any of you. As long as he lives, he remains the single greatest variable in our plan to conquer the Grand Xia world. He possesses the strength to disrupt our schemes even now, to say nothing of the future. The sooner we kill him, the better. But I have been waiting for a good opportunity. It is… elusive. After all, this Ji Ning is very hard to kill. He is protected by the Eight-Nine Arcane Art. If we attempt to kill him and fail… the figures behind him might very well retaliate and kill the immortals we send.”

The Withered Grass Immortal frowned.

She was a proud being, but she was not about to foolishly risk her life.

“Greenfox!”

A roar of fury split the air.

A man with disheveled hair strode in, his gaze terrifying.

“Wuxiao.” Greenfox and the Withered Grass Immortal both recognized the newcomer. He was Wuxiao, the Celestial Immortal, an eccentric renowned throughout the Three Realms. No one knew the true extent of his power from ancient times to the present. What they had seen suggested he was merely a top-tier Celestial Immortal.

However, the many unorthodox techniques he employed in battle could even cause trouble for Empyrean Gods and True Immortals. For example, when the Radiant Hua True Immortal had gone to kill Ji Ning, Ji Ning could only rely on his archery to defend himself. But Wuxiao, the Celestial Immortal, could easily escape using his unorthodox arts. Thus, throughout the Three Realms, Empyrean Gods and True Immortals treated him as an equal.

“Purplegrass is dead, and you, a Gate Lord of the Seamless Gate, couldn’t protect her? What about the promises you made to me?” Wuxiao, the Celestial Immortal, was furious. He could not forget that simple-minded girl, who had just begun to develop her sentience. She had just taken human form, naively following him and calling him ‘old man’. He had always smiled kindly at her.

“I was powerless to stop it. It was too late,” Greenfox said, shaking her head.

“Damn it.”

Wuxiao, the Celestial Immortal’s eyes flickered with cold light. “There are three hundred Seamless Gates under the Godking. Can you not even protect your own personal attendant? Are you even worthy of being called a Gate Lord?”

“Wuxiao, you go too far!” Greenfox’s eyes flashed with cold murder. The strands of her long green hair floated in the air, and an eerie light shone from her gaze.

“Going too far? You sent Purplegrass to her death, and you say I’m going too far? I guided her step by step, building a solid foundation, helping her become a Celestial Immortal, and even pushing her to become a top-tier Celestial Immortal in record time. I never imagined… asking her to do some tasks was one thing, but you allowed her to go into life-or-death combat, taking such a terrible risk!” Wuxiao, the Celestial Immortal raged.

“That foolish girl… she didn’t even crush the talisman I gave her.” Tears seemed to glimmer in his eyes, but they vanished in an instant.

Wuxiao, the Celestial Immortal, burned with regret.

He had wandered through the Three Realms all his life, living a carefree existence since ancient times. It was rare for him to form an emotional bond, treating that naive girl who thought herself so clever as his own child. And now, they were separated by death. When Purplegrass had faced her life-or-death crisis, she had indeed thought of him. He had puffing his chest out, claiming, “Come to me for anything. I’ll grant you three promises. I can do anything for you, no matter how big.”

“Old man, stop bragging. You’re just a Celestial Immortal. How can you do ‘anything’?”

He had only smiled at the time, brushing it aside.

He forgot.

When true danger came, Purplegrass saw how terrifying Ji Ning was. Would she dare to crush the talisman he gave her? She was afraid. Afraid that he would come only to die. So, the two talismans she crushed belonged to Empyrean Gods or True Immortals.

“Hmph.” A cold light flickered in Greenfox’s eyes as she glared at Wuxiao, the Celestial Immortal. Then she let out a furious snort. “I failed to protect Purplegrass. That is my fault. Let it be. I will not hold this against you.” Greenfox was a loyal follower of the Godking, and she knew that within their faction, a Celestial Immortal like Wuxiao was far too free and easy. This freedom made her uneasy. Thus, she chose to swallow her anger, unwilling to make an enemy of him.