Chapter 1202: Come to a Compromise
Outside the cave abode, Yun Mengmeng used unripe Everlasting Spirit Fruits as beanbags, tossing them at Gan Tian.
Gan Tian dodged nimbly, and the fruits were caught by Qing He standing behind her.
Qing He threw them back at Gan Tian, who continued dodging.
The three women were having a wonderful time with their game.
Lu Yang took two deep breaths. With a smile, he stepped out of his cave abode with composure. Although I have no idea what the heavenly tribulation will be like this time, I’ll have to look like I have everything under control first.
“Sister Mengmeng, I’ve broken through and am about to face my tribulation. You should all go down the mountain first...”
Yun Mengmeng hadn’t expected Lu Yang to come out now. Caught off guard, she failed to catch the Everlasting Spirit Fruit tossed to her, and it fell to the ground.
Then came a loud boom as it exploded.
It drowned out Lu Yang’s voice.
Unripe Everlasting Spirit Fruits were highly explosive.
Startled, Yun Mengmeng quickly checked on Lu Yang. “Second-in-Command, are you alright? Did you just say you’re about to face your tribulation?”
Covered in soot and coughing, Lu Yang had lost all his earlier composure. “Cough, I’m fine. You all should quickly get down the mountain.”
“Alright, alright.”
Yun Mengmeng hastily hauled the bag of Everlasting Spirit Fruits down the mountain. If a stray lightning strike hits these fruits, they’ll blast the Second-in-Command into the sky.
After the three women left, only Lu Yang remained on Heaven’s Gate Peak. He took another deep breath to stabilize his mental state, then spread his arms wide to embrace the heavens.
He fully released his cultivation, welcoming the heavenly tribulation.
“I’m ready. Come, heavenly tribulation!”
He stood with his arms outstretched like a cross for ages, but the heavenly tribulation still hadn’t descended.
“Strange. Where’s the heavenly tribulation?”
~~~
“Whatever tribulation you say he should face, that’s what I’ll send down.”
The Heaven Mandate Immortal pondered it seriously and decided that the type of heavenly tribulation shouldn’t be his decision. After all, my understanding of Lu Yang is far less than that of Fellow Daoist Yun Zhi and the Everlasting Immortal.
The one who knows Lu Yang best should decide.
The Everlasting Immortal Fairy beamed at his words. “That’s great then. Just pick an easy lightning tribulation and send down a couple of strikes for show.”
“Alright, then I’ll send down...”
“That’s not appropriate. Little Junior Brother hasn’t become an immortal yet. He still lacks tempering. If he starts slacking off during his cultivation now, what will become of his future cultivation? The lightning tribulation should be harsher.”
“Alright, then I’ll send down...”
“I think that Xiao Yangzi is doing just fine. He’s full of spirit and energy, and he’s also as strong as an ox; he doesn’t lack tempering. Just make do with a moderate lightning tribulation.”
“Just as Senior Immortal Fairy says, Little Junior Brother’s essence, qi, and mind are adequate, and he has a tough physique, but there’s still room for improvement. Even when one is at the peak, shouldn’t they still strive to go one step further?”
“Heaven Mandate, you tell me, what tribulation should Xiao Yangzi face?”
“Senior Heaven Mandate Immortal surely understands that the stronger the tribulation, the better.”
Both turned to look at the Heaven Mandate Immortal in unison.
Sweat beaded on the Heaven Mandate Immortal’s forehead. He didn’t know which side to choose.
Is this Lu Yang’s tribulation or mine?
“Since ancient times, the strong have reigned supreme. How about the Everlasting Immortal and Fellow Daoist Yun Zhi settle it with a match? The stronger one will naturally be decided.”
The Everlasting Immortal Fairy, who had been wearing a tense, grave expression, suddenly coughed. “This immortal’s injuries are too severe. I need to recuperate and haven’t recovered to my peak state. Lass Yun wouldn’t be so cruel as to fight me as I am now. Once I’ve healed, I’ll compete with Lass Yun to see who’s stronger!”
Yun Zhi began to regret accepting the Fate Arbiter as hush money. Wasn’t that hush money a bit too little?
“Senior Immortal Fairy, how about we come to a compromise?” she suggested. “See, there are eighty-one lightning strikes in a lightning tribulation. We can alternate between light and heavy. That way, the light ones add up to eighty-one, and the heavy ones add up to eighty-one as well. That would satisfy both our requirements.”
The Everlasting Immortal Fairy pondered seriously for a moment and thought it was a good idea.
Although it doesn’t completely reduce the power of the lightning tribulation as I’d wished, halving it still counts as having done right by Xiao Yangzi.
~~~
Now that the legendary Lu Yang was about to face his tribulation for his breakthrough in cultivation realms, the entire Dao-Seeking Sect came to join the spectacle, including those from the barbeque shop and the slaughterhouse.
Since Lu Yang’s heavenly tribulation at the Divine Transfiguration Stage had broadened their horizons, they believed that it would be equally extraordinary at the Void Refinement Stage this time.
“Why hasn’t the heavenly tribulation descended yet?”
The crowd whispered among themselves, sensing that something was amiss.
“I’ve never heard of a tribulation being late.”
Everyone was perplexed. It was an iron law of the cultivation world that a lightning tribulation would strike immediately upon one’s breakthrough. In three hundred thousand years, no one had been an exception.
“Why is Senior Brother Lu standing with his arms outstretched? Is it some kind of ritual?”
“Maybe that’s why he’s so strong?”
Boom!
The long-awaited lightning tribulation descended. It was blindingly bright, resembling a pillar slamming into Lu Yang.
Even though they were far away from Heaven’s Gate Peak, it was still deafening, and their chests vibrated, as if resonating with the thunder. One could only imagine the immense pressure Lu Yang faced at the epicenter.
“It’s here, it’s finally here! What kind of tribulation is this? It looks incredibly powerful!”
“I don’t recognize it.”
“Quick, go to the scripture library and borrow the Comprehensive Tribulation Compendium!”
“I’ve memorized it, but this tribulation isn’t in it!”
“Who told you to look it up? I’m telling you to add a blank page at the back. The list needs to be updated!”
“Good point, good point!”
Lu Yang was startled at first. Does Senior Heaven Mandate Immortal have to be this ruthless?
But he quickly noticed something odd. The lightning tribulation looked fierce, but when it struck him, it sent a pleasant tingling sensation through him, almost like a massage.
“Looks like Senior Heaven Mandate Immortal isn’t that bad to me... Ah—”
Before he could finish, the second strike hit him squarely. It was a world of difference from the first. He had let his guard down after the first strike, and the second one nearly gave him a seizure.
“First a weak one to make me relax, only to follow suddenly with a powerful one? Senior Heaven Mandate Immortal, surely you don’t need to use tactics against me, right?”
It was usually cultivators who employed tactics against tribulations. This was the first time Lu Yang had encountered a tribulation that employed tactics.
Just as he braced himself for the third strike, it was back to that tingly sensation.
Lu Yang remained on guard. Sure enough, the fourth strike was astonishingly powerful, nothing like what a Void Refinement tribulation should be.
“Sss, that hurts, that hurts.”
With so many admirers watching below, Lu Yang silently endured the pain, displaying remarkable resilience.
He inwardly hypnotized himself. Eighty-one strikes, I just have to get through them. Eighty-one strikes, I just have to get through them.
After eighty-one lightning strikes landed, Lu Yang exhaled in relief. Although the process was brutal, I’ve made it through.
A mere lightning tribulation is nothing special.
Then, the eighty-second strike began charging up.
“Wait, why is there more?!”