The Mentality of the Great Tribulation

All of those Celestial Immortals and True Immortals below looked up at Daofather Crimsonbright.

“I once had the chance to accept this Ji Ning as a disciple, but back then, among the three candidates, I chose Mu Northson.” Daofather Crimsonbright smiled, seeming to be in quite a good mood. “I was certain back then that Mu Northson had more promise than this Ji Ning. It seems my eyes are growing dim as well.”

“Eh…”

The Celestial Immortals and True Immortals below were all stunned.

Praising Ji Ning was one thing; after all, he had indeed changed the course of the war in the Grand Xia world. But saying he himself had ‘dim eyes’ was a bit too much. What kind of status did a Daofather have? Even if he was making a self-deprecating joke, to do so because of Ji Ning was rather strange.

“My old friend still has a good eye.” Daofather Crimsonbright pointed into the air, and a circular mirror appeared once more, showing a scene of battle. Dozens of Celestial Immortals and True Immortals could be seen at a glance, accompanied by flood dragons, Fiendgods, phoenixes—two sides were locked in slaughter. Daofather Crimsonbright said calmly, “The great battle between the Jiuyang Realm and the Seamless Gate has reached its most frenzied stage.”

Below, everyone looked carefully.

The Jiuyang Realm was the territory of ‘Daofather Jiuyang’, encompassing dozens of major worlds and trillions of minor worlds. It was not inferior to the Crimsonbright Realm.

“Nearly eighty Celestial Immortals and True Immortals joining the battle in the Jiuyang Realm?”

“Look! The ‘Ninefold Grand Formation’ of those eighteen True Immortals is approaching the power of a Daofather.”

“They’re fighting like madmen.”

“The Phoenix bloodline has mobilized as well.”

This was a battle far more intense than the war in the Grand Xia.

Upon seeing this battle, the Xia Emperor immediately understood. Yes, while he was lamenting the deaths of some Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals under his command, the Daofathers high above had a far broader perspective. In the midst of the Great Tribulation, the deaths of Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals were hardly enough to stir any ripples in a Daofather’s heart. Only the deaths of Celestial Immortals and True Immortals would draw a Daofather’s attention.

When the Xia Emperor felt his side was suffering heavy losses and couldn’t hold on any longer…

In the eyes of the Daofathers, the losses of the Seamless Gate and the Xia Emperor in the Grand Xia war were roughly equivalent. It hadn’t yet reached a critical point.

“The Great Tribulation. This is a tribulation sweeping through the Three Realms, one that will ultimately cause countless True Gods and Daofathers to fall. And I was so quick to admit defeat? It seems I have grown too comfortable for far too long. At the first sign of a setback, feeling that victory was hopeless, I wanted to retreat.” The Xia Emperor thought to himself.

“Xiamang.” Suddenly, a voice rang out in the Xia Emperor’s mind.

The Xia Emperor couldn’t help but look up. It was the voice of Daofather Crimsonbright.

“The Grand Xia war has only just begun.” Daofather Crimsonbright transmitted. “The forces the Seamless Gate has sent are still very limited; it’s mainly the Seamless Gate under the command of Qinghu. That’s why none of us have made a move yet. If the Seamless Gate stops here, we’ll let it be. If they mobilize their forces on a large scale, we will help you.”

The Xia Emperor was immediately stirred with excitement.

“Of course, if you can’t even hold against just this small portion of the Seamless Gate under Qinghu’s command, and you are defeated, you can’t blame anyone else.” Daofather Crimsonbright transmitted. “You can only blame yourself for not being strong enough, for not even forcing Qinghu’s Seamless Gate to call for reinforcements.”

“I understand.” The Xia Emperor nodded.

Looking back…

Indeed. He, Xiamang, had never been able to be ruthless enough.

He wasn’t ruthless enough to his subordinates… He couldn’t bear to lose a single Celestial Immortal or True Immortal, couldn’t bear to let a single Xingtian die. But in a true life-and-death war, sacrifices sometimes had to be made. The more you tried to keep everyone alive, the easier it was to lose. The ‘Seamless Gate’, for instance, had their ‘Bloodcloud Puppets’ which were practically suicidal. Yet the Bloodcloud Puppets had been very successful, killing a Xingtian and a Fiendgod legion at the cost of only eight of their own. That kind of mentality—preferring to die fighting for a result—yielded astonishing returns.

He wasn’t ruthless enough to himself… He was reluctant to consume massive amounts of Golden Core Source to activate the ‘Grand Xia World-Suppressing Grand Formation’ a second time, because doing so meant his second true body, the ‘White-robed Xia Emperor’, wouldn’t be able to recover for a very long time.

“The Seamless Gate is fighting on multiple fronts, with the flames of war spreading across the Three Realms.” Daofather Crimsonbright transmitted. “Their strength is also limited. Although their intelligence can judge the approximate power of your Grand Xia and make arrangements accordingly, they won’t be too lavish with their forces. If not for the three thousand Celestial Immortals who were lured away from your Grand Xia earlier, this battle would have actually put them at a disadvantage in terms of power.”

“The highest-level major powers of the Seamless Gate are also having their subordinates fight.”

“You need to fight, too.”

“Even if a few Celestial Immortals die, or even Celestial Immortals and True Immortals, so what? In a Great Tribulation, if we can kill seven or eight of the Seamless Gate’s Celestial Immortals and True Immortals at the cost of four or five of our own, that’s still a great victory.” Daofather Crimsonbright’s words sent a chill through the Xia Emperor.

Kill a thousand enemies, lose five hundred of your own—that counted as a great victory.

“The Great Tribulation requires the mentality of a Great Tribulation. Back in the Primordial Era, you were too weak to participate and had no idea how terrifying the Great Tribulation could be. This is only the beginning… that old fellow hasn’t fully awakened yet.” Daofather Crimsonbright transmitted. “When that old fellow awakens, that will be the most frenzied time of this Great Tribulation. Then, Celestial Immortals and True Immortals will only be ants; True Gods and Daofathers will fall in droves.”

“Your disciple was wrong.” The Xia Emperor completely understood now.

He had to be ruthless.

Ruthless to his subordinates.

Ruthless to himself.

Only then could he survive the Great Tribulation!

…

Within Eight Dragons Cloud City, there was jubilation everywhere.

The Fiendgod Legion, the Yinglong Legion, and the Xingtian Legion had all disbanded.

“Daolord Darknorth, I, Floating Water, rarely admire anyone, but this time I truly admire you.” As the Yinglong Legion disbanded, a graceful woman in black armor flew over. She was a Pure Yang True Immortal.

“Greetings, True Immortal Floating Water.” Ji Ning said. He was still disguised as a Celestial Immortal.

“No need for formalities. If I had been leading a thousand Celestial Immortals and many Loose Immortals, I wouldn’t have done as well as you.” True Immortal Floating Water looked at Ji Ning carefully. “To be honest, I suspect you’ve already become a Pure Yang True Immortal.”

Ji Ning smiled.

“Ji Ning.”

“Darknorth.”

Voices of pleasant surprise rang out. It was Tonghe, Wanshou, Kuangzui, Feiyu, and Fuchen—the five of them.

Seeing these five elder brothers and sisters, Ji Ning felt both joy and pain. The pain was that their sixth brother, ‘Zhanghong’, had already died in battle.

“Alas, it’s a pity our sixth brother can’t see this.”

“Zhanghong, he…”

When the six of them gathered, they soon all fell into sorrow.

“People always die in war.” The black-robed Xia Emperor flew over, followed by a group of Celestial Immortals and True Immortals—Zhuan Shui Deity, Nimbusflame Deity, Coldstar Deity, Firecloud Deity, Heavenly Farmer True Immortal, Dongyan True Immortal, and others.

“Your Majesty.” Ji Ning and the other five all quickly bowed.

“We lost many Celestial Immortals, Loose Immortals, and even Fiendgods this time. Zhanghong was just one of them.” The black-robed Xia Emperor said. “This is only the beginning of the Great Tribulation. We should all understand that even more of us will die.”

Ji Ning understood this as well.

Both Patriarch Subhuti and the others had told him as much. The two major camps were determined to destroy each other.

“But…” The black-robed Xia Emperor looked at Ji Ning and broke into a smile. “Haha, Ji Ning, you truly surprised me, haha. I had already given the order to temporarily retreat earlier. Who would have thought you’d give me such a wonderful surprise, and even kill a Pure Yang True Immortal?”

Earlier, it hadn’t been a temporary retreat at all. The Xia Emperor had been planning to abandon the entire Grand Xia and concede defeat.

“Now, it’s no longer the Seamless Gate that holds the advantage, but our Grand Xia.”

The Xia Emperor looked around, his voice booming with laughter. “Now, the Seamless Gate has to worry about how to contain Ji Ning. The combined efforts of True Immortal Baiji, Sect Leader Qinghu, and the poisonous Duque’s White-Faced Flood Dragon only managed to delay him for a short while; they couldn’t truly contain him. They’ll probably need another Celestial Immortal and True Immortal to lead a White-Faced Flood Dragon before they can match him.”

“Haha…”

“That would make things easy for us. We’ll just go on a killing spree.” After all, they still had the Yinglong Legion, two Fiendgod Legions, and five other Xingtians, along with countless Celestial Immortals and True Immortals.

For a moment, the entire atmosphere within Eight Dragons Cloud City became relaxed.

Killing a Pure Yang True Immortal was indeed a great victory.

The Seamless City.

The atmosphere was oppressive.

“Chibi is dead.”

“How could this happen?” The gathered Celestial Immortals and True Immortals were all in the main hall, including True Immortal Baiji and Sect Leader Qinghu. All of them wore ugly expressions.

Although they had killed some of the Grand Xia’s Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals, they had also lost many of their own Celestial Immortals and Loose Immortals. The losses on both sides were roughly equivalent.

The most important thing was—

They had also lost a Pure Yang True Immortal.

“What do we do?”

“That Xingtian under Ji Ning’s command suddenly became so powerful. Earlier, Baiji, Qinghu, and Duque’s White-Faced Flood Dragon all attacked together, yet Ji Ning was still able to rampage through them. Our strength is no longer sufficient. If we keep fighting like this, we might even be in danger of losing. I think we need to request reinforcements.”

“Right, we need reinforcements.”

“We don’t have enough power.”

One Celestial Immortal and True Immortal after another spoke.

Sect Leader Qinghu, however, had a dark expression on his face. He let out a cold shout: “Request reinforcements? Is it that easy to request reinforcements? Under the Godking, there are a hundred Seamless Gates, each fighting on its own major world stage. Some are even garrisoning worlds they’ve already conquered. Every Seamless Gate is in desperate need of manpower, of stronger forces. Who doesn’t hope for reinforcements from above? But when everyone wants them… no one can get them.”

Everyone fell silent.

The Seamless Gate’s overall strength was, in fact, still at a disadvantage compared to the Nuwa Camp.

Otherwise, why would they have to resort to so much cajoling, sabotage, and sowing of discord?

Fortunately, they held an absolute advantage in intelligence. As the saying goes, ‘Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.’ In war, intelligence was of great use. Relying on their intelligence superiority, the Seamless Gate was able to fight the Nuwa Camp to a stalemate. In truth, the Seamless Gate’s forces were already stretched thin. Asking for reinforcements? Difficult!

Last time, because of the ‘Grand Xia World-Suppressing Grand Formation’, the Godking would rather take out a single Chaos Daofruit than send stronger forces.

“Qinghu, times have changed. This Ji Ning is a variable, a major variable.”

“Right, report this to the Godking.”

…

Ji Ning’s might was too great. The Seamless Gate side felt that if they continued to fight to the death, they would probably end up very badly.

Sect Leader Qinghu pondered.

True Immortal Baiji also looked at Qinghu. Although he, too, was a disciple of the Godking, in terms of closeness, Qinghu had a closer relationship with the Godking. Qinghu was the true Sect Leader of the Seamless Gate. True Immortal Baiji was merely a temporary commander in the Grand Xia war.

“Fine. I will report this to the Godking.” Qinghu said solemnly.

Requesting reinforcements made Qinghu feel deeply ashamed.