Chapter 203 - 196: Undergoing Tribulation
He looked up at the Great Halberd suspended in the sky.
Qi Yun knew this was a precious opportunity the True Monarch had won for him.
He immediately suppressed all stray thoughts and once again sat cross-legged within the mountain cave.
His eyes closed, and his Heart and Spirit sank completely into the infinitely profound Daluo Ten Thousand Laws Dao Foundation within his body.
This time, it was not a life-or-death struggle, nor was it a rushed and frantic construction.
Instead, it was a meticulous refinement and profound realization, as patient as water wearing away stone, as gentle as a spring breeze bringing rain.
Time flew by, swift as a weaver’s shuttle.
In this special environment, isolated by the True Monarch’s power, Qi Yun entered a deep state of secluded meditation, his mind free of all distractions.
The first thing he did was "organize."
He sorted, categorized, and absorbed every insight, every spark of Spiritual Light, and all the latent potential that had been unlocked under pressure during his recent brutal battles—especially the Dao contention against the previous Daluo Master’s resentful will.
The profundities he had no time to savor during his rapid breakthrough now offered endless new insights. His Dao Foundation resonated with them, growing ever more stable.
Next came "integration."
Guided by his will, like a supreme creator, he meticulously inspected and adjusted every detail within the Venerable Dao Foundation.
He completely broke down and absorbed the pure Dao Essence from the previous Daoist Master, turning it into Resources for his own Dao Foundation’s evolution and erasing all external traces.
Thus, it became a Daluo that belonged entirely to "Qi Yun."
The flow of Yin Yang and the Five Elements became more harmonious, and the trajectories of spacetime’s creation and destruction grew clearer and more profound.
Spring passed into autumn, and the seasons turned. Outside the mountain cave, the flowers of the Xinglin bloomed and fell for who knew how many cycles.
High above the Taixu Mirror Heaven, the pitch-black Great Halberd remained, silently shielding him from heavenly portents and external disturbances.
Fifty years passed in the blink of an eye.
On this day, the aura around Qi Yun, who had sat as still as a stone statue, fluctuated slightly. His presence was perfectly complete, as if he were one with Heaven and Earth.
He slowly opened his eyes.
As his eyes opened and closed, gone was the dazzling gleam from fifty years ago when he had first formed his Dao Foundation, and gone was the sharp, domineering presence from his clash with the resentful will.
In its place was an ultimate depth and serenity.
Deep within his pupils, it was as if a Star River flowed, the Cosmos underwent birth and death, and the evolutionary paths of the Ten Thousand Laws flashed past before vanishing.
It all resolved into a primordial simplicity and calm, like the dawn of chaos itself.
He gently raised his hand, his five fingers slightly spread.
Without channeling any Magical Power, the very space above his palm naturally began to change in subtle ways.
Light warped slightly as a faint but fundamentally supreme Daoist Intent naturally emanated from it.
With another Heart Thought, the Daluo Heaven within him trembled slightly. A boundless, majestic power, yet as pliant as his own limbs, filled his entire being.
Compared to fifty years ago, this Venerable Dao Foundation was no longer a sharp weapon that had to be wielded with caution.
It had truly become an inseparable part of his body and will, as natural as breathing.
Fifty years of refinement, fifty years of consolidation.
He had finally mastered this incomparably domineering Venerable Dao Foundation, polishing it to flawless perfection and solidifying his foundation to the absolute limit.
All insights had been digested, all power was now under his control.
At this moment, though his Realm was still suppressed at the Qi Refining Stage, he was but a single step away from the Foundation Establishment Realm.
Qi Yun looked up, his gaze seeming to pierce through the mountain cave to the daylight outside, and to the pitch-black Great Halberd still suspended above the Taixu Mirror Heaven.
The fifty years of tranquility were over.
It was time to face the Foundation Establishment Celestial Tribulation that had been forcibly delayed.
An invisible, soaring spirit slowly kindled in the depths of his calm eyes.
"Walk to where the water ends, and sit to watch the clouds arise."
Within the mountain cave, Qi Yun, who had sat in meditation for fifty years, slowly rose to his feet.
With a single Heart Thought, he ceased resisting, no longer suppressing the Daluo Ten Thousand Laws Dao Foundation within him, which had long been straining at the leash.
As if in response to his resolute will—
HUMMM!
The pitch-black Great Halberd, which had been suspended above the Taixu Mirror Heaven like a Stabilizing Needle, cutting off the summons of Heaven and Earth for fifty years, let out a low, soft hum.
It then transformed into an extremely condensed beam of black light, tore through the void in an instant, and returned to stand silently beside Desolate Halberd Shattering Void True Monarch Guan Si Hai, whose indistinct figure was seated at the apex of the Taixu Mirror Heaven.
The protection was withdrawn.
The path ahead must be forged alone.
At the apex of the Taixu Mirror Heaven, the strapping man still leaned casually in his Grandmaster’s Chair, chin in hand. His eyes, which seemed capable of piercing the void, held a look of keen interest.
His gaze fell upon the young, slender figure, straight as a pine, that was slowly ascending from the mountain cave.
"Is it starting?" he murmured to himself, the corner of his mouth lifting in a barely perceptible smile.
And at the very moment that Desolate Halberd True Monarch withdrew his protection, and Qi Yun’s aura connected fully with Heaven and Earth as he resolved to face the tribulation—
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
From the Northwest, the south, Overseas... from countless unknowable places, a multitude of gazes—as vast as the abyss and incomparably powerful—that had previously fallen silent and retreated before Guan Si Hai’s domineering might, now "rose" in unison, crossing the endless void to focus on this spot!
These gazes carried curiosity, scrutiny, indifference, and even a hidden trace of malice.
After all, it had been far too long... so long that many had nearly forgotten the spectacle of the last time a Cultivator bearing a Venerable Dao Foundation ascended to the Foundation Establishment Realm.
All of those watching knew exactly what this meant.
If this young man successfully passed the tribulation, then at the most conservative estimate, the Infinite Demon Sect would gain a Great Master of boundless potential, one who would reign supreme in his Realm!
On a grander scale, to enter Foundation Establishment with such a foundation meant that in the future... the supreme position of a True Monarch was by no means an impossible dream!
A True Monarch with a Venerable Dao Foundation?
The significance of such a being was enough to shatter the balance of power among the current major factions!
In an instant, the storm began to brew once more, and an invisible pressure permeated Heaven and Earth.
Though no one dared interfere, the "gazes" from these titans were, in themselves, an invisible trial.
But Qi Yun seemed oblivious to it all.
His entire Heart and Spirit was immersed in the resonance between his own Dao Foundation and the Heaven and Earth Laws.
He was seen slowly ascending, without using any Escape Skill.
Beneath his feet, a phantom image of the Daluo Ten Thousand Laws Dao Foundation naturally manifested. Containing the creation and destruction of the Cosmos and the flow of the Ten Thousand Laws, it radiated a brilliant Dao might that gently lifted him upward.
The connection between his Dao Foundation and Heaven and Earth grew ever stronger, and Qi Yun’s body began to radiate an immeasurable, clear light.
This was a sign that the Dao Foundation had been stimulated to its absolute limit.
The next moment, the void above his head began to ripple violently, like the surface of water.
A blurry portal, exuding an ancient, majestic aura of both calamity and life, slowly materialized and swung open!
Beyond the portal lay not the ordinary sky, but a bizarre and phantasmagorical landscape where Daoist Intent was made manifest, a place filled with the strange phenomena of wind, fire, thunder, and flowing time—the Foundation Establishment Realm Heaven!
A minor realm that only Qi Refining Cultivators on the verge of their tribulation and Masters who have already formed a Dao Foundation can perceive and enter.
All trials of the Foundation Establishment Celestial Tribulation are completed within it.
Qi Yun raised his eyes slightly. The last ripple of emotion in them subsided, leaving only absolute determination.
Without another moment’s hesitation, he allowed the Dao Foundation beneath his feet to carry him. He transformed into a streak of Flowing Light and plunged, without a trace of fear... into the portal to the Foundation Establishment Realm Heaven!
His figure vanished inside. The portal’s vortex slowly contracted, then disappeared.
All that remained between Heaven and Earth was the lingering Venerable Dao Intent and the countless vast gazes that crossed the void, locked tightly on that region, awaiting the final result.
The Venerable’s tribulation!
Has officially begun!
...
As his figure plunged into the bizarre portal of the Foundation Establishment Realm Heaven,
Qi Yun felt the scenery around him change in an instant.
Here, there was no concept of Heaven, Earth, or the cardinal directions. All around—up, down, left, and right—were twisting, colorful streams of Flowing Light, which at times formed into phantoms of howling astral wind and at others coalesced into a rushing river of Fierce Fire.
He had no time to observe the wonders of this Foundation Establishment Realm Heaven, for in the very instant his form solidified,
The tribulation was upon him!
Qi Yun’s brows furrowed sharply as he felt a sudden, unbearable heat from beneath his feet!
The blaze surged directly through the acupoints on the soles of his feet.
The Earth-Surging Yin Fire! The yang within yin!
This fire does not burn external objects; it burns only the Cultivator.
From the soles of his feet, it shot straight into his internal organs.
It passed through his Dantian and pierced his Purple Mansion.
It seared his limbs, his bones, and every meridian in his body.
In an instant!
It had spread throughout his entire body!
"Ngh!"
Even with his iron will, Qi Yun could not help but let out a muffled groan.
He felt as if a roaring furnace had been ignited within him. His internal organs were being roasted over a spit, his meridians screamed with a searing, piercing pain, and even his solid bones seemed to emit a faint cracking sound as they were calcined!
This fire even ignited the True Essence he had painstakingly cultivated for years, along with his potent qi and blood!
The power that once flowed gently had now become fuel for the flames, causing the Yin Fire to burn even more furiously inside him.
It seemed determined not to stop until it had reduced his years of arduous cultivation, along with his physical body, to nothing but ash!
His skin began to turn crimson, and wisps of white smoke carrying the stench of burnt flesh seeped from his pores.
His consciousness even began to blur.
It was a sign that even his Divine Soul was starting to be scorched by the Yin Fire!
This was one of the Foundation Establishment Three Calamities—the Fire Tribulation!
It can burn away impurities, but it can also incinerate one’s very foundation!
Countless Peak Qi Refining Cultivators had failed to endure this first trial, the body-immolating Yin Fire.
In the end, their Dao Foundation was never formed; instead, they were burned to a crisp, their souls scattered to the winds.
Qi Yun’s brows knitted tightly as he endured the pain, which was enough to drive a person mad.
He immediately activated the Daluo Ten Thousand Laws Dao Foundation within him!
The Daluo Heaven trembled slightly, emitting a supreme Dao Rhyme that was capable of Commanding All Skills.
Suppressed by the Venerable Dao Foundation, the Earth-Surging Yin Fire immediately abated. Though still intensely fierce, it was now contained at a level Qi Yun could withstand.
Taking a deep breath, Qi Yun sat down cross-legged.
This Earth-Surging Yin Fire was both a tribulation and a baptism.
Only Fierce Fire can forge true gold!
Without experiencing the tempering of this yang-within-yin, this Earth-Surging Yin Fire, how could one ever forge the physique of a Master!
Guarding his Heart and Spirit, Qi Yun’s physical body was calcined by the Earth-Surging Yin Fire. Like porcelain plunged into a kiln, its surface began to show faint cracks, which then gradually healed.
And through this process of being broken down and rebuilt,
his physical body gradually ascended to a new level, stepping into a higher Realm!
...