Chapter 2450: Ascension Tribulation
8,000 years was an unimaginably long period of time for a mortal, but for ancient true spirits who went into slumber for thousands of years at a time, it was nothing more than the blink of an eye.
8,000 years later, the human race had become a first-rate power on the Tian Yuan Continent. On this day, countless mortals had gathered on the street of all of the human cities, discussing something among themselves with excited expressions.
There were also armed guards patrolling the streets, as well as groups of cultivators patrolling the sky.
All of the cities on the outskirts of human territory had activated all of their restrictions, and ma.s.sive flying treasures loaded with armored warriors had risen up into the air; it was as if the entire human race were preparing for war.
On the summit of a ma.s.sive mountain tens of thousands of kilometers away from the city, three foreign Grand Ascension Stage beings were seated across from one another.
One of them was a burly man in a five-colored beasthide garment who was gulping down mouthfuls of wine, and he was joined by a white-robed young man with a pale complexion, as well as a heavily wrinkled green-robed elderly man.
After a long while, the burly man suddenly asked, "Heavenly Lord Bi, it"s about time, isn"t it?"
"The best time to transcend an ascension tribulation would be at noon, when the Yang energy is most abundant. This is the most powerful being in the Spirit Realm we"re talking about here, so he"s definitely aware of this; just be patient and wait for a while longer," the green-robed elderly man replied as he opened his eyes."That"s true. At such close proximity, there"s no way we won"t be alerted once the tribulation begins. It"s been countless years since someone attempted an ascension tribulation; I"m getting a little excited just thinking about it," the burly man said with a smile.
"I can"t recall when someone from the Spirit Realm last successfully transcended an ascension tribulation; I can only remember that it happened a very, very long time ago. I must say, this Heavenly Zenith Han of the human race is very courageous for making no attempt to keep his tribulation transcendence a secret. In the past, everyone who"s attempted such tribulations have always done so in secret in fear of being found out," the white-robed young man said with a hint of admiration in his voice.
"During these past years, many of our old acquaintances have disappeared; there must"ve been quite a few of them who had attempted tribulation transcendences in secret. Seeing as none of us detected those tribulation attempts, they must"ve all perished," the elderly man sighed.
"All of us are repressing our magic power with all our might in fear of attracting a heavenly tribulation too early, yet this Heavenly Zenith Han is making a tribulation attempt after no more than 10,000 years as a Grand Ascension Stage being; I also greatly admire his courage. By the way, Fellow Daoist Bi, I heard that you encountered Heavenly Lord Han several thousand years ago; what kind of person is he?" the burly man asked.
"I haven"t had a chance to ever meet Fellow Daoist Han, so I"m also quite interested to hear your answer," the white-robed young man chimed in with an intrigued expression.
"I did indeed meet Fellow Daoist Han several thousand years ago, but I can"t muster up the words to describe him," the elderly man replied with slightly furrowed brows after a brief hesitation.
"Then what were his powers like? Surely you were able to deduce that," the white-robed young man said.
"I can only say that he"s extremely powerful. I didn"t try to engage him in battle, but I"m sure that even three or four of me combined definitely wouldn’t have been a match for him," the elderly man replied with a serious expression.
"What? Surely you jest, Heavenly Lord Bi! How could he possibly be able to defeat three or four of you at once? We"ve been acquaintances for a very long time, and we"re extremely familiar with your powers," the white-robed young man exclaimed as he shook his head in disbelief.
The burly man was also very skeptical to hear this.
"I wouldn"t make jokes about something like this. If you two had gotten the chance to meet him, you would know why I"m making this a.s.sessment. Setting aside everything else, just a glance from him had struck me with a bone-chilling sensation; that"s a clear indication that his spiritual sense is several times more powerful than my own," the elderly man replied with a wry smile.
The white-robed young man and the burly man couldn"t help but exchange a bewildered glance upon hearing this.
"In any case, this is good news. The more powerful Fellow Daoist Han is, the greater the chance that he"ll successfully transcend this tribulation. If that happens, energy fluctuations from the True Immortal Realm will emanate from the pa.s.sageway that opens up the True Immortal Realm. All of the powerful beings in the entire realm should be able to sense this, and if we can attain enlightenment by immersing ourselves in those energy fluctuations, we"ll be sure to benefit immensely. We"re in very close proximity to Fellow Daoist Han, so we should be able to sense those energy fluctuations more clearly," the burly man said as he returned to a calm expression.
"Hehe, if that weren"t the case, we wouldn"t have gone to the trouble of coming all the way here," the white-robed young man chuckled in response.
Thus, the three of them conversed for a while longer before falling silent again.
Similar scenes were taking place in several other places outside the giant city.
An astonis.h.i.+ng number of Grand Ascension Stage beings had gathered in the human territory, and many of them were old monsters who were constantly in seclusion and had to repress their magic power with all their might before they dared to come out.
......
On the outskirts of a certain deserted island in the Boundless Sea, a man and a woman were standing next to one another.
The woman was Fairy Ice Soul, and she was accompanied by a brocade-robed man with a remarkable disposition.
"There should be a very good chance that Brother Han succeeds in his tribulation transcendence; I"m sure we"ll benefit immensely from witnessing such a spectacle at such close quarters, Fellow Daoist Hu Jun," Fairy Ice Soul said.
"Indeed. If it weren"t for the pills that had come out of the Azure Origin Palace, there"s no way I would"ve been able to reach the Grand Ascension Stage, and now, I"m once again benefitting from Heavenly Zenith Han," the man by the name of Hu Jun replied with a hint of admiration in his voice.
He was a new Grand Ascension Stage who had appeared in the human race during the past 1,000 years.
As for Mo Jianli, he had perished during a major heavenly tribulation several hundred years ago.
On the other side of the island were around a dozen cultivators standing in front of a giant black ark, among which was a trio of stunning beauties who were casting their eyes toward the center of the island with solemn expressions.
These three were none other than Nangong Wan, Yuan Yao, and Silvermoon.
Not long after Han Li"s soul fragment returned from the human world, Yuan Yao and Yan Li had returned to the human race, where they moved in to a side palace on the Origin Integration Island.
As for Silvermoon, she had been freed from the curse of her Art of Indifference and reached the Grand Ascension Stage over 1,000 years ago.
Behind those three women were the Ice Phoenix and Han Li"s direct disciples.
During the past several thousand years, all of Han Li"s disciples had reached the Body Integration Stage. As for whether they would be able to reach the Grand Ascension Stage, that was up to them.
The Ice Phoenix, Nangong Wan, and Yuan Yao were all on the cusp of the Grand Ascension Stage, and with her Ice Phoenix Physique, the Ice Phoenix would presumably have a much better chance of reaching the Grand Ascension Stage than the others.
These were the people closest to Han Li, and they had immense confidence in him, but they still couldn"t" help but be concerned.
......
High up in the sky close to 10,000 kilometers away, a black-robed young woman was standing on a black bird, looking in the direction of the deserted island with a complex expression.
Beside her stood the Black Phoenix Monarch, and she wore a sympathetic expression as she said, "Dai"er, if you really want to bid farewell to Senior Han, then why don"t you go to see him? Don"t make this a lasting regret that could affect your mental state."
"It"s alright. Brother Han has always seen me as a little sister, and Big Sister Nangong and the others are already there, so there"s no need for me to throw myself into the mix; I"ll just watch his ascension from afar," Dai"er replied in a calm manner.
The Black Phoenix Monarch could only heave a faint sigh in response.
......
At the center of a giant formation that had been set up at the center of the island, Han Li, Daoist Xie, Mo Guang, and Huo Xuzi were gathered together, looking up into the sky.
A five-colored cloud that encompa.s.sed virtually the entire island down below was slowly taking shape in the sky, and even though it was expanding at a very slow rate, the increase in its ma.s.s was still noticeable.
"Looks like you"ll have to transcend your ascension tribulation soon, Fellow Daoist Han. With your powers, I"m sure you"ll be able to transcend this tribulation with ease," Mo Guang said with a faint smile.
"You think far too highly of me, Brother Mo Guang. Countless Grand Ascension Stage beings have perished at this hurdle; I certainly can"t treat this tribulation lightly," Han Li replied.
"Hehe, that may apply to everyone else, but you"ve mastered the third stage of the Spirit Refinement Technique and the Organ Refinement Origin Arts; even the average immortal is most likely no match for you. If you were to encounter Ma Liang again in your current state, you"d be able to kill him with ease. I"m actually very intrigued; your apt.i.tude clearly isn"t all that exceptional, but you"ve been able to cultivate these immortal abilities to a stunning extent. I must say, I"ve never seen anyone like you," Huo Xuzi mused.
"Perhaps I"m naturally suited to cultivating these immortal techniques," Han Li replied with a smile.
Daoist Xie suddenly interjected, "Please don"t forget the promise you made to me once you ascend to the True Immortal Realm, Master."
"You"ve recovered your memories and have accepted me as your master, so I"ll be sure to follow through on my promise," Han Li replied with a serious expression.