The Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulation

Uncle White, Autumn Leaf, Mu Northson, and the others were watching from afar, all of them extremely nervous. The Diancai Immortal immediately consoled them, “I was able to successfully transcend my tribulation. My disciple’s current strength alone already surpasses mine. This second true body of his is only a Ki Refiner. I believe the Heavenly Tribulation won’t be too severe. He will definitely succeed.”

“Mm.” Everyone nodded. Yu Wei also nodded in succession, but there was a growing unease in her heart.

Because she had taken Patriarch Lü as her master, she knew very well that when Lü Dongbin had transcended his tribulation, he had faced a Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulation. It was clear that Ki Refiners could also encounter extremely terrifying tribulations.

“Whoosh.”

On the distant solitary peak, the seated Ji Ning suddenly vanished into thin air, having entered the aquatic manor. Only the black-robed Ji Ning remained seated there.

At the same time, the Golden Lotus Primal within the black-robed Ji Ning’s body finally completed its final breakthrough, directly reaching ‘Return to Void Perfection’ and beginning to actively summon the Heavenly Tribulation…

Hu, hu, hu~~~

The wind began to blow.

“It’s starting.”

“It’s the Wind Tribulation.”

“The Heavenly Tribulation has begun.” The Diancai Immortal and the others all watched, tense and focused.

The area around had been still and quiet, but suddenly a violent gale kicked up, forming wind blades. The wind blades grew smaller and smaller, their color constantly changing, their power increasing dramatically until they became black blades, each one not inferior to an Immortal-ranked magic treasure.

“Just a Wind Tribulation, and it’s already this fierce right from the start.” The nearby Diancai Immortal and Yu Wei both changed expression. They had both transcended their tribulations before and had experience; it was clear that the initial stage of the Heavenly Tribulation for Ji Ning’s second true body was already far too intense, at least far surpassing what they had faced.

The black-robed Ji Ning, seated cross-legged, watched calmly and ordered softly, “Nine Petal, emerge.”

Instantly, a huge, snowy-white lotus throne appeared beneath Ji Ning. Upon closer inspection, the lotus throne had nine snow-white petals. This was the most powerful treasure prepared by Celestial Immortal Wu Xiao when he had followed the Seamless Gate force to attack Brightheart Island: an Innate spirit-treasure, the ‘Nine Petal Snow Lotus’.

This Nine Petal Snow Lotus was incredibly powerful, most adept at trapping foes! Even without an owner, the Nine Petal Snow Lotus could draw upon the cold energy of Heaven and Earth to form tiny ‘snow lotuses’ that would frantically bind enemies. With an owner channeling Immortal power into it, its power was even more astonishing.

Celestial Immortal Wu Xiao had originally relied on this Innate spirit-treasure to be confident in trapping Ji Ning! This showed just how powerful the treasure was.

Back then, Old Man Yuan had killed all of the Seamless Gate members and given all their treasures to Ji Ning. As for those Pure Yang treasures, they were temporarily unusable; Ji Ning hadn’t been in a hurry to give them to his senior apprentice-sisters, either. Since his own tribulation was imminent, and he had his master’s protection, this period was very safe. How to distribute the treasures would have to wait until after the tribulation.

As for the ‘Nine Petal Snow Lotus’, Ji Ning had directly refined it.

Treasures like this were of great help to Ji Ning. Furthermore, it was an Innate spirit-treasure. Refining one was very difficult and depended on whether the Innate spirit-treasure was willing to cooperate. This ‘Nine Petal Snow Lotus’ naturally possessed a spirit, and its manifested form was a white-robed little girl. After being coaxed a bit by the Luo Hou Bow and the Great Bear from the aquatic manor, combined with the fact that Ji Ning was indeed monstrously talented and she had seen a Daofather act on Ji Ning’s behalf, she quickly and voluntarily acknowledged Ji Ning as her master. This allowed Ji Ning to easily refine the Innate spirit-treasure.

If the Nine Petal Snow Lotus hadn’t been willing, the refinement process would have been troublesome. It would probably have required a Pure Yang True Immortal to forcibly refine it, consuming a漫长 period of time.

But once it was willing, Ji Ning refined it with ease.

“Rustle, rustle, rustle~~~”

Beneath Ji Ning’s seat was the Nine Petal Snow Lotus throne. It spawned countless snowflakes around him, each taking the form of tiny snow lotuses, tens of thousands of them, perfectly protecting his surroundings. Although it was more adept at trapping enemies—all the snow lotuses would converge on a single person—it could still be used for defense. At least, when spread over a larger defensive area, the power naturally decreased, but as an Innate spirit-treasure, its power was still extraordinary.

Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!!!!!!

Densely packed Immortal-ranked flying swords floated around Ji Ning, seeming to cluster around him. Although he had deployed an Innate spirit-treasure, just in case, Ji Ning still summoned his many Immortal swords, ready to block at any moment.

“Rumble~~~”

First came the howling gale.

Then came all sorts of terrifying celestial winds, each with astonishing power.

But no matter how fierce they were, the Nine Petal Snow Lotus, this Innate spirit-treasure, directly withstood them; there was no need for Ji Ning to use his sword formation.

“The final stage of the Wind Tribulation, the Celestial Immortal Wind, is coming.” The watching Diancai Immortal and the others all tensed up.

The Celestial Immortal Wind was formless and colorless, impossible to block with any magic treasure or technique.

Whoosh!

The Celestial Immortal Wind descended, easily passing through the Nine Petal Snow Lotus’s barriers, through Ji Ning’s skin, and directly entered the ‘Primal Water Pearl’ that was Ji Ning’s second true body. If it were a normal human, it would enter through the crown of the head, but Ji Ning’s second true body was this Primal Water Pearl. Even so, it was still very vulnerable in the face of the unfathomable ‘Celestial Immortal Wind’.

This Celestial Immortal Wind only appeared during the Heavenly Tribulation. It was a manifestation of the Dao operating within the Three Realms; no treasure or technique could block it. Once the Dao-heart was unstable, the Celestial Immortal Wind would scorch the cultivator to ashes.

Therefore, the Dao-heart had to be stable.

Ji Ning had already passed through the Karmic Hellfire Tribulation; how could his Dao-heart be ordinary? He felt his Zifu space within the Primal Water Pearl tremble and change. The Primal Water Pearl itself was also being transformed. Once he truly became a Celestial Immortal in the future… the Primal Water Pearl would completely disappear, and the true core of the second true body’s life would become the ‘Golden Core’.

…

The Wind Tribulation passed, and the Fire Tribulation came.

The weather changed drastically. A huge mass of red clouds appeared high in the sky, and the temperature soared crazily. But with the Nine Petal Snow Lotus beneath him, Ji Ning merely consumed a small amount of Immortal power to draw upon a vast amount of Heaven and Earth’s natural energy, bringing the temperature back down. For a time, fire was above, snow was below—truly a scene of fire and snow refusing to merge.

“The Fire Tribulation is here. But given how easily Ji Ning’s protective treasure withstood the Wind Tribulation, I believe it will have no trouble with the Fire Tribulation either.” The Diancai Immortal revealed a smile.

“The Wind and Fire Tribulations are comparable in power. Junior apprentice-brother’s protective treasure is formidable; he can easily withstand them without consuming much Immortal power.” Yu Wei was still worried. “I’m only afraid of the Lightning Tribulation now.”

Indeed.

The Innate spirit-treasure Nine Petal Snow Lotus was astonishingly powerful and consumed little power. It was a pity that Ji Ning hadn’t yet figured out how to use his Heartforce on the ‘Nine Petal Snow Lotus’. If he had, the power of the Nine Petal Snow Lotus might not have been inferior to that of his Immortal swords. After all, it was an Innate spirit-treasure. Although Ji Ning’s Immortal swords were numerous, numbering in the hundreds, and his Grand Thousand Sword Formation was extremely strong, they were still only supreme-grade Immortal-ranked treasures. Of course, Ji Ning had figured out how to use Heartforce with the Grand Thousand Sword Formation, so its power far surpassed that of the Nine Petal Snow Lotus.

The Wind Tribulation passed!

The Fire Tribulation was also withstood! The final Celestial Immortal Fire also caused the Primal Water Pearl to undergo another transformation.

Finally, it was time for the Lightning Tribulation.

…

However, the interval between the Fire Tribulation and the Lightning Tribulation was very long. This was the Heavenly Tribulation allowing the tribulation transcender to recover their power. In reality, Ji Ning had relied entirely on the Nine Petal Snow Lotus and his Dao-heart to withstand it all, consuming very little power.

“I wonder how many bolts of lightning my master’s tribulation will have.” Xiaoqing said worriedly.

“Mine was a Six-Nine Lightning Tribulation.” The Diancai Immortal said worriedly, “My disciple’s karmic encounters are far greater than mine. Furthermore, he was once wreathed in Karmic Hellfire. His Lightning Tribulation will probably be very astonishing.”

They were all worried.

What they didn’t know…

was that Ji Ning could be said to have inherited the supreme techniques of three major powers: Patriarch Subhuti, Daoist Threelives, and Old Man Yuan. Among these three, Old Man Yuan and Patriarch Subhuti were both top-tier Daofathers of the Three Realms. Although Daoist Threelives hadn’t become a Daofather, as a Primordial Chaos True God, his divine ability, the Starseizing Hand, was renowned, ranking among the top ten great divine abilities of the Three Realms.

Having inherited so many legacies, even if it was only for his Ki Refining tribulation, it would not be a minor affair. Not to mention that he had also mastered Heartforce and had been wreathed in Karmic Hellfire.

Half an hour passed.

“Rumble~~~” The calm sky suddenly manifested two massive dark clouds. These two clouds completely covered half the sky, plunging the world into utter pitch-black darkness, with barely any light visible.

“What’s going on?”

“Why has the sky gone dark?”

The Ji Clan members within the Yan Mountains, as well as the people of other tribes, and even the monsters, all looked at the sky in confusion.

The sky had suddenly gone completely pitch-black. The darkness of the clouds was so vast… that it covered the entire ten-thousand-li Yan Mountains!

“How can this be…” Yu Wei, the Diancai Immortal, Mu Northson, Uncle White, Xiaoqing, and Autumn Leaf looked up, their expressions changing drastically. Yu Wei’s face turned pale.

They saw the two enormous dark clouds, which covered the ten-thousand-li Yan Mountains, slowly shifting towards each other. Because they were so large, the clouds seemed to be moving very slowly. At the same time, rumbling crashes began to sound, and massive bolts of forked lightning appeared between the two colossal clouds.

Ji Ning, however, watched calmly.

He wasn’t surprised in the slightest.

Soon, a gigantic vortex of thunder and lightning clouds formed in the sky. Its size still covered half of the Yan Mountains. One could imagine its volume and the terrifying power it contained.

“Boom!”

A bolt of heavenly lightning, like a divine sword, shot down directly from the vortex of thunder and lightning clouds.

“Block it.”

Ji Ning was now standing. Hundreds of Immortal-ranked flying swords floated around him, and the Nine Petal Snow Lotus was beneath his feet. At the same time, a huge lotus flower, formed from countless ‘tiny snow lotuses’, condensed hundreds of feet above Ji Ning’s head, forming a layer of obstruction to block the Heavenly Tribulation. Ji Ning still preferred to use his Innate spirit-treasure, as it consumed very little power.

Boom~~ The first bolt of heavenly lightning couldn’t even shake the power of this Innate spirit-treasure.

Bolt after bolt of heavenly lightning descended.

Soon, it reached the Fourth-Nine Lightning Tribulation.

And then.

The Fifth-Nine Lightning Tribulation, the Sixth-Nine Lightning Tribulation…

“It’s the Seventh-Nine Lightning Tribulation now.” Autumn Leaf couldn’t help but say. By now, Brightheart Island had quite a collection of books, many obtained after Ji Ning killed some immortals. Autumn Leaf had naturally browsed through them.

“Master can barely hold on any longer.” Xiaoqing also said anxiously.

This was now the sixty-first bolt of heavenly lightning.

The huge lotus flower formed by the Nine Petal Snow Lotus was already teetering on the verge of collapse.

“Grand Thousand Sword Formation, out.” The black-robed Ji Ning, standing on the Nine Petal Snow Lotus, pointed towards the sky above. Instantly, a bolt of golden flying sword condensed before his chest and shot into the air.

Boom.

The huge lotus flower in the high sky had already vanished. At the same time, layer after layer of lotus flowers formed around the black-robed Ji Ning.

The Grand Thousand Sword Formation was deployed, containing a hint of Heartforce, and easily blocked the heavenly lightning.

“It’s the Nine-Nine Lightning Tribulation.”

Soon, it had reached the level of the Nine-Nine Lightning Tribulation, causing the hearts of the Diancai Immortal and the others watching nearby to hang in suspense. For a Ki Refiner to provoke a Nine-Nine Lightning Tribulation? Even if one had taken a Daofather as a master, it wasn’t supposed to be this terrifying.