Stranger Danger

“It’s really nothing. He’s the hider, and I’m the seeker. I found him nine times in a row, so he gave me the Xuanyang Demonic Ascension Furnace,” Feng Qingyou kept her answer brief.

She did not tell her companions that Gu Shentong’s hiding spots were out of this world. She did not tell them that he had hidden himself hundreds of meters underground or tens of thousands of meters in the sky, that he had concealed himself in a flock of birds, a school of fishes, and even specks of dust; that he had turned himself invisible, shrank himself down to the size of a speck of dust, and even teleported tens of kilometers away in an instant. Whatever you could think of, Gu Shentong had done it.

He might be a good loser, but he always gave it his all.

Ye Qing shrugged and did not say anything further. If Feng Qingyou did not want to go into details, then he would honor her wishes.

“Hmm?”

It was at this moment Ye Qing sensed something and looked up at the sky. It was still nighttime, and the sky should be pitch black right now. In reality, it had turned as bright as day for some reason. At the same time, purple qi descended from above while dancing celestials and divine beings celebrated.

Purple qi was normally elusive and transient, but this particular wisp seemed to be brimming with the profound essence of the Great Way and protected by the world itself.

The purple qi soon entered Wen Anran’s body and increased her power drastically. Her energies instantly reached peak levels, and her mind became flawless.

“Congratulations, Miss Wen! It looks like you’ll be joining us very soon!” Ye Qing said with a smile on his face. Wen Anran was a Half-Step Trueman to begin with, and after she absorbed the wisp of purple qi, her cultivation had improved drastically, her energies had returned to peak levels, and the flaws in her mind were completely removed. At her current state, she needed but a single thought to break through the wall and become a Trueman.

“Thank you, warrior Ye.” Wen Anran nodded smilingly at him. “Please give me a moment. I will be back before you know it.”

A sword beam appeared beneath Wen Anran’s feet, and she disappeared and reappeared tens of meters away in the blink of an eye.

“Er, what is she…?” Ye Qing blinked in confusion. What is she doing?

Feng Qingyou answered, “What else? She’s about to undergo a tribulation!”

“She is?” Ye Qing exclaimed in surprise. “I mean… she looks a little too at ease, if you get what I mean.”

Anyone who broke through the barrier between Spirit Master and Trueman must undergo a tribulation as a matter of course. If they successfully overcame it and obtained the world’s approval, then they would become Trueman. If not, then they would be dust and forgotten ash. It was why most people faced their tribulation full of tension, caution, and preparation.

Ye Qing had never seen someone walking toward their tribulation looking as confident and at ease as Wen Anran. Heck, she hadn’t even brought out her Strange Artifact. And what did she say just now? “I’ll be back before you know it?” Did she think she’s Guan Yu or something?

“Don’t forget that Anran’s the disciple of True Lord of the World,” Feng Qingyou reminded, “and her cultivation art is just as extraordinary. A heavenly tribulation means nothing to her.”

“Well, that’s true. I guess it’ll be fine then.” Ye Qing shrugged. He had, in fact, overlooked the fact that Wen Anran was not your ordinary woman.

Another important question occurred to Ye Qing. “Speaking of which, the tribulation Miss Wen incurs cannot be ordinary, but we are in the middle of a city right now. The casualties…”

Goddess City had already been wrecked once by yours truly. He really did not think it could take a tribulation.

Feng Qingyou assured him, “It will be fine. Just watch.”

Meanwhile, Wen Anran’s energies were becoming so strong that it stirred the clouds above her. Seemingly sensing the rise in power, a massive cloud of purple qi began emerging from the east.

The cloud of purple qi was unbelievably vast and majestic. At a glance, it looked like a floating ocean. Everyone and everything was dyed purple because of it, and all sorts of strange illusions were rising here and there.

The gorgeous purple qi could not be underestimated, however. A warrior would recognize the terrible power and danger it represented. Not only that, a simple glance was enough to shake one’s heart, destabilize one’s mind, and dim one’s consciousness.

“The Red Dust Purple Qi Tribulation of Degeneration!”

Ye Qing furrowed his brow. The Red Dust Purple Qi Tribulation of Degeneration was the twelfth tribulation of the Seventy Two Earthly Fiends Tribulations, and unlike all the other tribulations, it harmed neither the body nor the mind. When put it that way, it sounded like the tribulation was completely harmless. In reality, it was the opposite.

The Red Dust Purple Qi Tribulation of Degeneration contained the poison of red dust, the filth of every manifestation of nature, and the taint of all living things. It could pollute one’s mind and heart without a trace.

The Taoists preached detachment from all things outside the heart, the Buddhists taught about purity of the heart, and Confucianists spoke of subduing the “heart ape” and mastering the “horse of desire”. In the end, they were all preaching the same thing: cultivation of the mind. A weak will and a shrouded heart might not affect a normal person too much, but they were absolutely detrimental traits for a warrior.

The Red Dust Purple Qi Tribulation of Degeneration possessed the power to inflict a victim with degeneration. Assuming that the victim could not overcome its influence, they would experience insecurity, slothfulness, and cultivation decline in the best case scenario, or drown in distraction and heart demons and eventually perish from a fatal deviation.

The Red Dust Purple Qi Tribulation of Degeneration might be ranked twelfth on the list, but for those who possessed a weak will and an insecure mind, it was worse than the top five Seventy Two Earthly Fiends Tribulations. After all, those tribulations at least had a form and shape that could be defeated. A tribulation with no shape and substance? That was something that even gods and demons were afraid of.

Even Ye Qing did not dare to lower his guard around the Red Dust Purple Qi Tribulation of Degeneration despite not being its target. From time to time, he would engage in self-introspection and affirm his heart.

Strangely, the actual target of the tribulation, Wen Anran did not seem worried in the slightest. Her response toward the purple qi, red dust, and myriad manifestations rolling in from every direction was to summon… a book.

The book looked old, ancient, and perfectly ordinary. And yet, when it flipped open without any help whatsoever, it unleashed some sort of invisible power that diminished both the purple qi in the sky and its insidious influence. The more pages it flipped through, the weaker the Red Dust Purple Qi Tribulation of Degeneration became.

“What in the…”

Ye Qing was stunned. This was the first time he saw a tribulation like this. Wen Anran wasn’t weakening the Red Dust Purple Qi Tribulation of Degeneration via her own power, it was dissipating on its own.

Technically, it sounded like there was no difference. In reality, it was anything but.

When a challenger fought against a tribulation, they were essentially fighting against the heavens. They were weakening the tribulation and overcoming it using their own power.

But if a tribulation diminished on its own, it meant that the heavens chose not to fight against the challenger. It was surrendering ground without even a fight.

It was clear which method was superior to the other. Ye Qing did not even think such a method was possible until he saw it with his own eyes.

“Did you know that Anran’s main cultivation art is the ‘Supreme Demon Subjugation Scripture of Beneficence’?” Feng Qingyou asked him all of a sudden.

“No? What’s so unique about it?” Ye Qing asked. Since Feng Qingyou was bringing it up, it was probably the reason Wen Anran was overcoming her tribulation in such an extraordinary manner.

“The ‘Supreme Demon Subjugation Scripture of Beneficence’ is an extremely powerful martial art of the True Martial Sect that emphasizes on carrying out the heavens’ will and accumulating karma through such acts. ‘The heavens’ way is my way, the heavens’ will is my will’.”

Feng Qingyou explained, “To put it simply, all a warrior needed to do to practice the ‘Supreme Demon Subjugation Scripture of Beneficence’ is to slay demons, eliminate the dark, end violence, maintain order, and carry out the heavens’ will. Their cultivation level would naturally grow as a result of this.”

“Since she is acting on behalf of the heavens, her good karma will shield her from all evils and even nullify the tribulations she should have faced. Theoretically, she would never encounter a bottleneck in her practice.”

At this point, it became clear what Feng Qingyou was trying to say. The reason Wen Anran suddenly grew stronger and broke into the Trueman stage was because she had slain the three goddesses. As her action was considered right and proper from the heavens’ perspective, she was rewarded with good karma and power.

Ye Qing sighed. “I had no idea such a powerful martial art existed. No wonder the Red Dust Purple Qi Tribulation of Degeneration couldn’t affect her at all.”

To call it powerful would be an understatement. Theoretically, all Miss Wen needed to do to fuel her growth was to “slay demons, eliminate the dark, and carry out the heavens’ will”. She would naturally enjoy the protection of good karma, she would never encounter a bottleneck in her life, and she was untouchable even by tribulations. Hell, it was practically out of this world. However…

“Is ‘slaying demons, eliminating the dark, and carrying out the heavens’ will’ really all she needs to do to get to the Sage stage though? Maybe even higher?”

It was just too good to be true.

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