LAVW – Chapter 75 Five Crossing Tribulations

Inside the Ascension Path was a vast space suffused with immortal spiritual energy, forming a world of its own.

In the cultivation world, cultivators mainly relied on spiritual energy to cultivate. But the presence of the word “immortal” in “immortal spiritual energy” meant it was stronger than regular spiritual energy. However, it still couldn’t compare to the immortal qi of the upper realm. Thus, the name struck a balance between the two.

Just one trip through the Ascension Path, and merely converting the spiritual energy within one’s body into immortal spiritual energy would already result in a small increase in cultivation.

For a newcomer to the Nascent Soul stage like Shi Qian, the change was especially noticeable.

With every breath, his cultivation seemed to inch slightly upward.

No wonder this opportunity was considered such a blessing—so many people were desperate to compete for it.

However, with the interference and threats from the demonic cultivators, many voluntarily gave up this time and chose to remain behind for the greater good.

Thinking about the formation spirit and Grand Elder guarding the Sword Sect, Shi Qian decided to take the Ascension Path seriously—just in case he returned without anything to report.

Long Ye only felt the solid, not-so-light ball on his head start to stir. It squatted for a moment, then wobbled a couple of times.

He wanted to reach up and steady it but worried it might irritate Brother Qian.

And hats were out of the question—right now, Long Ye was genuinely starting to worry about his hair.

Shi Qian, of course, had no idea that someone’s mind was so delicate, overthinking things like that.

He was simply used to squatting up there. Besides, Long Ye was tall and steady in sword flight, and the view from the top of his head was excellent.

As they flew a distance, they could already see two towering white jade pillars carved in relief, framing a long jade walkway that led deeper in.

Elder Yuheng spoke, “Up ahead should be the Path to Immortality. It’s said to be quite… interesting.”

Shi Qian was curious. “Squeak Squeak?”

Long Ye helped ask, “Elder, may I ask what kind of interesting?”

Long Ye hadn’t found any records or jade slips related to the Ascension Path. But since Yuheng had lived a long life, she likely knew more than most.

Shi Qian saw Elder Yuheng turn her head as if she could see them.

Her black hair was simply tied into a bundle behind her head. As she turned slightly, her face appeared ivory-pale in contrast.

Unfortunately, Shi Qian couldn’t see her eyes—just a strip of white cloth.

“Well, if I tell you now, where’s the fun in that?” Elder Yuheng looked perfectly serious, and her tone seemed normal, but her words—there was clearly a mischievous curiosity in them. Shi Qian saw right through it.

Shi Qian grew wary. Was this beautiful Grand Elder like the formation spirit—taking joy in watching others cry?

Mo Sanchi gave Brother Qian a look that said, “Good luck, you’re on your own.”

Shi Qian: “…”

Even more uneasy now.

As they entered the so-called Path to Immortality on Long Ye’s back, a massive pressure came crashing down from above.

Squatting the highest, Shi Qian’s head took the brunt of it and instantly grew dizzy.

With a thud, he fell off.

Long Ye was quick to react and caught Brother Qian.

But even in Long Ye’s arms, Shi Qian still felt discomfort, as if something were pressing him down forcibly.

Still, being in Long Ye’s arms was far more comfortable than being on his head.

Realizing something was wrong, Shi Qian immediately spoke up. “Squeak Squeak!”

Brother Ye, p-please put me down on the ground first.

Hearing this, Long Ye squatted down himself and gently placed Shi Qian on the jade floor.

As Shi Qian’s four paws touched the ground and he stayed low, the pressure eased significantly. He could move again, albeit with some effort.

The dragon and chinchilla duo steadied themselves and looked around to check on the others.

Mo Sanchi hadn’t managed to hold out either and had crouched down.

Her cultivation was at the late Nascent Soul stage like Long Ye, but her foundation was deeper, and she was closer to breaking through to the Tribulation stage.

The rest—ten or so Sword Sect elders who had come in hopes of seizing the opportunity—were all just as disheveled. Some even had blood at the corners of their mouths.

The most pitiful ones were those in the early and mid-Nascent Soul stages, looking much like Shi Qian but even less composed.

After all—chinchillas were naturally low-to-the-ground, four-limbed creatures.

Elder Yuheng stood alone, scanning the crowd of collapsed individuals with her divine sense, a faint smile playing on her face. “You’d best hurry. Don’t dawdle too long on the way.”

Mo Sanchi tried using her Azure Edge Sword to clear the path ahead, but couldn’t move forward even a step.

This “Path to Immortality” actually devoured spiritual energy.

Walking while crouched, inch by inch, was not only humiliating but also incredibly slow. Every single step consumed an enormous amount of energy—frightening, really. They might not even reach the end before their spiritual reserves were half gone.

Mo Sanchi looked up and asked, “Master, is there any other way to walk this path standing up?”

“No,” Elder Yuheng shook her head. “If there were, how could Master have kept it from you?”

“But you all can learn from it.” Elder Yuheng precisely pointed at Shi Qian, who was lying flat on the ground in the most obedient posture.

“Squeak Squeak.”

The lower you stay, the easier it is.

Shi Qian shared this truth with the others, his body pressed tightly to the ground as he crawled forward with all four paws.

Although he was only at the early Nascent Soul stage, his crawling speed could match Mo Sanchi, and it didn’t even look slow. Plus, it consumed less energy.

Long Ye saw this and transformed into his dragon form as well.

His long dragon body moved forward and smoothly advanced a good distance.

After adjusting to it, Long Ye even grabbed Shi Qian in his mouth and dragged him along.

Mo Sanchi and the others: ?

Too inhuman.

But as Sword Sect disciples, they were all well-trained in the art of not caring about face.

Mo Sanchi only hesitated for a moment before choosing to lie down and crawl forward too.

Although they had a Grand Elder protecting them, the more spiritual power conserved, the better—it was safer that way.

So when Shi Qian looked back again, he saw a bunch of “bugs” crawling together.

This damned first experience of the Ascension Path—no wonder no one ever talks about it or writes it down.

They’d get murdered if they did.

Elder Yuheng also walked slowly. Sensing the black dragon approaching, she gave a helpful tip: “You can go take a look at the Myriad Beast Bone Forest. It’s said that there are a few dragon bones there.”

The black dragon paused in its forward movement: “Roar roar—”

Shi Qian: “Squeak Squeak.”

Couldn’t understand a thing.

After complaining about Long Ye, Shi Qian eagerly helped write with spiritual power: “Where did the dragon bones come from?”

Sensing the writing formed by the spiritual fluctuations, Elder Yuheng shook her head and said, “That, I do not know. But it’s said that the great being who built the Ascension Path originally prepared different opportunities for all kinds of races and cultivators.”

“Since its creation, this Ascension Path has only appeared three times.”

“So don’t stray too far from me, lest I can’t keep an eye on you.”

Though they had set off together, each person’s opportunity would be different. In the end, they would still have to split up.

Elder Yuheng herself was likely to take Mo Sanchi along. The two of them were true master and disciple, with a relationship like mother and daughter.

Though this “master” seemed to be the type who liked teasing her child.

Shi Qian became curious again. Taking advantage of the fact that little ancestor Mo Sanchi hadn’t caught up yet, he asked Elder Yuheng if Mo Sanchi had been fun as a child.

“Not very fun. She used to cling to her Qingfeng sword all day and wouldn’t let go—even drooled on it and bit it herself.”

Elder Yuheng recalled, “When she learned to walk, she dragged that Qingfeng sword everywhere. Before she could even speak, she was already using it to hack at puppets.”

Mo Sanchi hurried up: “Master! Please stop!”

“Wasn’t it the little guy who wanted to know?” Elder Yuheng shrugged off responsibility.

Shi Qian: “Squeak Squeak.”

Brother Ye, run!

Long Ye thought: Where am I supposed to run? He coiled up his dragon body and blocked Mo Sanchi’s path.

A nearby elder caught up, feeling a bit tired. Half out of curiosity and half mischief, he reached out and grabbed Long Ye’s tail.

Long Ye: ?

With the help of a few elders, Mo Sanchi climbed over the dragon’s body and caught Shi Qian.

Mo Sanchi said solemnly, “Brother Qian.”

Shi Qian: “Squeak Squeak.”

I just wanted to learn more about you.

Then he even wrote it down himself: “Wanted to know you better.”

Mo Sanchi didn’t believe it. “You could’ve asked me directly.”

Shi Qian thought: Things like this are much more fun when you ask a not-so-proper ‘parent’ instead.

He acted very obediently, nodding his head to spare his butt from Qingfeng Sword’s wrath.

When the group finally crawled their way out, any remaining dignity as cultivators was left on the ground. What Nascent Soul? In this realm, they were just weaklings. Only tribulation-transcending cultivators might qualify to be at the threshold.

Long Ye recalled reading in ancient texts that the spiritual energy between heaven and earth used to be far denser.

That must be why there were once far more tribulation-transcending cultivators than now.

Shi Qian, being the weakest among them, was utterly exhausted and lay motionless in Long Ye’s arms.

After the group rested for a while and regained some spiritual power, they continued their journey through the dense immortal aura.

The immortal aura in the Ascension Path didn’t obstruct divine sense; it was just so dense that it had condensed into mist-like clouds.

Everyone flew on swords, slicing through the immortal aura as Elder Yuheng followed her memories and successfully led them to the Myriad Beast Bone Forest.

This was their first stop. Shi Qian and Long Ye “got off.”

Standing on the grey-white earth, they looked up at the forest of bones—towering skeletal remains with strange horns, menacing fanged skulls, and spinal bones spanning like bridges across a sea of bones.

A majestic atmosphere swept over them. Shi Qian felt as though he could peer through the bone forest and see countless ancient beasts roaring.

“Roar—”

From deep within the bone forest came a clear dragon’s roar.

Elder Yuheng knew at once—this was the remnant soul of an ancient dragon sensing its descendant’s presence.

Truly, dragons were miraculous creatures. They were the stuff of countless legends in life, and even in death, they remained shrouded in mystery. This bone forest had existed for thousands of years, and yet it could still respond.

Many had tried to capture dragon remnants before, but none had succeeded.

“Take this, go.”

Elder Yuheng treated them equally and tossed two jade slips, each infused with a sliver of her divine soul, to the person and the spirit beast.

“Thank you, Grand Elder.” Long Ye gripped the jade slip tightly and, holding Brother Qian, bowed in thanks.

Shi Qian also snapped back to attention, waving a paw. “Squeak Squeak.”

Big beauty, see you later.

Long Ye tucked the affectionate little fluffball into his robe, turned around, and flew his sword into the Myriad Beast Bone Forest.

Shi Qian stretched out his paw and pointed in the direction of the dragon roar: “Squeak Squeak.”

This way.

Long Ye: “I know.”

Shi Qian: There’s no chatting with this guy anymore.

But the place was just too fascinating—Shi Qian couldn’t stop looking around.

He stared at the massive ridge-like backbone and asked Long Ye, “Squeak Squeak.”

Is there really such a huge beast?

“Some beasts are indeed massive, and many ancient beasts have already disappeared,” Long Ye replied with a touch of guilt. “Even I don’t recognize what kind of beast’s remains those are.”

“Squeak Squeak.”

Let’s go take a look.

“Alright, we’ll go back and check it out.”

As soon as he said that, the bone bridge receded into the distance, and two enormous dragon skeletons nestled deep within came into view.

As they approached, the dragon bones stirred up thick immortal spiritual energy, gradually forming the image of a dragon. But compared to the gigantic dragon skeletons, this “fake dragon” was pitifully small.

Long Ye transformed into his dragon form and let out a dragon’s roar: “Roar—!”

It was a mournful wail of a dragon discovering the remains of its kin, filled only with sorrow.

Shi Qian obediently kept quiet—staying silent was the only thing he could do.

After all, he couldn’t roar like a dragon.

“Roar roar—”

Even the dragon formed from immortal energy let out a cry.

Two dragon roars pierced through the forest of bones. Countless waves of immortal spiritual energy surged in, almost turning milky white like liquid.

Shi Qian felt like he had fallen into a sea of milk and was about to turn into a mochi dumpling.

Amid the exchange of dragon roars, the legacy of the great dragon was also being passed on to the young black dragon.

In terms of a dragon’s long lifespan, Long Ye was indeed still a young one.

If he had grown in dragon form, he wouldn’t be much older than Shi Qian—probably still a little dragon cub.

Shi Qian had always grown slowly because the dragon bloodline in his body suppressed his giant rat bloodline.

The mochi dumpling paddled around in the sea of immortal energy, found Long Ye, and saw the black dragon coiled around the great dragon’s body, seemingly in deep comprehension.

At the same time, an endless stream of immortal energy poured into the black dragon’s body as if it were free.

Shi Qian: Envious.

The next second, he saw the black dragon’s body trembling slightly.

Shi Qian: Never mind.

From excited to giving up—that quick and decisive.

Shi Qian released the black sword’s soul from his body and leisurely absorbed some immortal energy with it to cultivate.

“Zheng zheng—”

What a great place.

Shi Qian: “Squeak Squeak.”

See how nice I am to you? Go ahead and absorb all the immortal energy you want, but be careful, alright?

Letting something loose to stretch its legs was mentally exhausting too. Since he had a strong companion at hand, how could he not put him to work?

Black Sword: …

“Zheng—!!”

You wish. At most, we split it fifty-fifty.

Meanwhile—

The demonic path matriarch was already coughing up blood as she crawled up the Ascension Path.

Last time, she could fly through this path.

But so what if she was now crawling like an insect? She didn’t care.

She had experienced countless forms of hatred—hatred toward many people, hatred toward worldly power, and hatred for the heavens’ cruelty. She thought she had become indifferent to all things, never expecting there would be one last, most profound grudge waiting for her.

The old dragon’s cultivation was currently unmatched.

She had used all the fortune of the human cultivators from top to bottom to feed and strengthen the old dragon’s once-weakening blood and energy.

From infiltration at the bottom levels of the cultivation world, to the chaos in the mortal kingdoms, with spirit-devouring insects corroding spiritual veins and deadly secret realms that killed young cultivators…

And honestly, relying on the current righteous cultivators to take the old dragon down through normal means? The demonic matriarch saw no hope.

As for the child of destiny? Still just a greenhorn. Late-stage Nascent Soul was impressive, but nowhere near enough to kill the old dragon.

The cultivation world might have time to wait for him to grow—but she didn’t.

What she did have was knowledge from a few previous encounters with the old dragon.

That old thing—greedy and arrogant. Sealed underground and suffering the earth’s torment, it had long wanted to switch bodies but couldn’t bear to give up the benefits of being a dragon.

Now, she had handed over the information about a young child-of-destiny dragon to him.

As she flew forward, the demonic matriarch paused midway to avoid some righteous cultivators.

She vaguely heard two familiar voices talking.

“This place is truly dangerous. There were so many spirit-devouring bugs, ancient killing arrays, lethal traps, puppets… Good thing they’ve all lost power after so much time.”

“Speaking of spirit-devouring bugs, it’s lucky Sword Sect warned us early. Otherwise, if the event had gone on as planned, countless spiritual veins from major sects would have been ruined.”

“I always thought the secret realms were deadly and full of infighting, but the Ascension Path seems so peaceful—it’s hard to believe.”

“Don’t overthink it. With so many powerful tribulation-transcending cultivators here, no demon cultivator can cause trouble. Let’s just focus on improving our cultivation.”

The demonic matriarch listened without emotion.

After all—she was the one who did it all.

If these righteous cultivators all died, who would fight the old dragon?

At Divine Flower Valley.

Hua Qing followed her tribulation-transcending beast, the now-Divine Transformation stage Hei Mao, up the Ascension Path, feeling utterly drained.

From what she knew, over at Sword Sect, Long Ye was also waiting for his spiritual beast—Brother Qian. So, they had delayed more than a year. But even so, they’d gone earlier than her by at least a year.

Still, the difficulty levels weren’t the same.

Hei Mao had started off in the mid-Nascent Soul stage and now jumped straight to Divine Transformation. Hua Qing dared say, no one else in the cultivation world had done that. Not even Shi Hao could manage it.

But with Hei Mao’s great progress came one downside—she was broke.

Hei Mao was still energetic and full of excitement: “Squeak Squeak!”

Brother’s here too—let’s go find him!

Hua Qing was silent for a moment, then nodded. “Alright.”

At the very least, she could finally get some peace for a few days.

Divine Flower Valley had some insider information too. They knew about the Myriad Beasts Bone Forest—and that wretched Ascension Path.

Hei Mao clambered up the Ascension Path, only slightly slower than the tribulation-transcending powerhouses.

Seeing his little sister moving sluggishly, as if her limbs weren’t coordinated, Hei Mao grabbed her and demonstrated how to crawl fast with four limbs.

Hua Qing: “General, aren’t you tired?”

“Squeak—”

A little, but you’re too slow.

He couldn’t just leave little sister behind halfway. With his cultivation improving rapidly, Hei Mao now knew how useful little sister was and had already decided to treat her as half a younger brother.

Carrying her while walking was simply Hei Mao’s way of showing big brotherly affection.

Hua Qing really didn’t want to climb anymore. After some hesitation, she finally let Hei Mao carry her like a little beast cub.

It was still better than crawling. She had been a saintess for too long to accept crawling on all fours.

Meanwhile, at Taiyi Dao Sect—

Shi Hao had learned that Shenhua Valley had set out and could no longer endure this hopeless, bitter cultivation. “Forget it. It’s too hard. I just broke through to the late stage. From Nascent Soul late stage to Spirit Severing… it’s impossible within ten years.”

“Even a spirit beast managed it, but you can’t,” his mother, who was in the early Tribulation stage, rolled her eyes. “No wonder the Saintess doesn’t fancy you.”

“Mom, can’t you be reasonable? Spirit beasts have superior bloodlines, it’s naturally easier for them to break through quickly. Once they hit Tribulation and Ascension, understanding the Dao becomes key—that’s where their real bottlenecks lie.”

Shi Hao said, “Besides, it’s not like I’m giving up. I just don’t want to hold you and Long Hu back, wasting your time waiting on me.”

“Mom, take Long Hu and go ahead first. I’ll keep cultivating and try to catch up at the tail end.”

It had already been two years. Shi Hao’s mother—Wu Chunshu—simply said, “Alright, then I’ll take Long Hu and go. You’d better cultivate properly and don’t waste your time so badly that you can’t even catch the tail end.”

The Dao Sect had one more Tribulation-stage expert than the Sword Sect. Given how long Shi Hao might take, the others had already departed.

Wu Chunshu brought only Long Hu and traveled light, quickly catching up to the Shenhua Valley group.

Hua Qing was just relieved they had already passed the Path to Immortality. Otherwise, she might’ve really given up on being human and just disappeared with Hei Mao into the demon beast forest.

Once the groups merged, Long Hu heard two squeaks from Hei Mao and immediately howled to go find the little cub too.

Wu Chunshu agreed, amusedly teasing Hei Mao and feeding it quite a few delicious treats.

Long Hu: …

You can do that?

Long Hu rummaged through Shi Hao’s storage pouch and tried to bribe Hei Mao too.

Hei Mao ate the snacks, but didn’t reveal a single word about where his “mom” was.

When pestered too much, he just started brawling with Long Hu. The banging and thuds were loud enough for even distant demonic grandmasters to hear and steer clear.

In the Myriad Beast Bone Forest—

Shi Qian had already explored the entire bone forest and even obtained a new inheritance from a rat-beast’s skeleton—Teleportation.

+1 Escape Skill. Full sense of security.

This had taken a good half a year.

Half a year of solo wandering made the Black Sword slump into laziness again. Shi Qian had been patrolling the forest for two whole months straight.

Aside from that, he once fought with Black Sword over sunflower seeds, spilled a whole handful, and ended up growing a mutated giant sunflower seed field in the forest—which now gave Shi Qian a headache.

They were beautiful, yes, but he didn’t dare eat them.

Sunflowers that grow in a bone forest? He feared he’d be sleepless if he ate them.

Having grown slightly again, Shi Qian slid down a bone bridge and, stepping on sunflowers bigger than himself, steadily crossed through the sea of celestial energy and found the black dragon asleep and cultivating amidst the flower field.

Shi Qian had discovered another key to advancement—sleep more.

Look at Longye—he’d been sleeping from the Heavenly Dao Pool all the way to the Ascension Path. The longer he slept, the stronger he got.

But this time, Shi Qian caught a glimpse of something dazzling near the dragon bones.

Curious, he dug a bit with a tool.

He unearthed several colorful stones, shimmering in rainbow hues—strikingly beautiful.

Shi Qian: “Squeak squeak.”

Do you know what these are, Big Black?

Black Sword: “Zheng—”

Probably rainbow stones. There’s a sword that color in the Sword Grotto.

Black Sword even sounded a little disdainful: “Zheng zheng.”

Too flashy, I wouldn’t eat them.

Upon closer questioning, it turned out these rainbow stones could dye things. They were probably favored by the ancient dragon that lived here, which is why some were stashed away.

No way he’d eat them himself, so Shi Qian hauled the rainbow stones over to the black dragon’s tail.

Before long, the stones melted and, mixing with the dense celestial energy, were absorbed into the black dragon’s body.

When the first streak of color began to appear on the dragon’s tail, Hei Mao’s voice reached Shi Qian.

“Squeak!”

Bro! I’m here!

Shi Qian prepared to charge.

“Awooo—”

Dad’s here too!

Shi Qian almost tripped.

It was fine for Mouse Bro to come—but why bring that drag-along?

Still, it had been a long time since he’d seen anyone. Shi Qian still stepped on the giant sunflowers to meet up with the two beasts charging through the flower field.

The moment they met, Shi Qian saw that Mouse Bro had changed again—and felt another wave of envy.

Hei Mao now had golden markings on his face, and a faint “王” (king) character on his forehead. Compared to even Long Hu, he looked more domineering than ever—seriously cool.

Shi Qian enlarged himself and leapt over, pinning the entire mouse under him.

“Squeak squeak!”

Bet you didn’t see that coming.

With his strength growing again, Shi Qian’s giant form had also become much larger.

Hei Mao was a little surprised, but immediately puffed up in defiance—swelling into a small mountain.

Shi Qian lay on Mouse Bro’s belly, rising steadily with the view—it made the giant chinchilla a bit dazed.

“Squeak squeak.”

We both can go giant mode, but how come you’re so much bigger?

Next to them, Long Hu—who couldn’t go giant mode—neatly tucked all four tiger paws together. So envious. He was the only one who couldn’t do that.

Hei Mao: “Squeak squeak!”

I’m a Spirit Severing-stage grand demon, you know.

Shi Qian, jostled twice on his belly, turned back into a small ball and sat there, entering chat mode: “Squeak squeak.”

Bro, you’re amazing. You reached Spirit Severing already!

Meanwhile, Hua Qing and the others were still marveling at the flower sea in the bone forest, following the path Hei Mao had crashed through, slowly making their way inward.

The approach of the two Tribulation Crossing cultivators also caught the attention of Yuheng, who was heading in that direction.

In just a dozen breaths, three Tribulation Crossing cultivators had gathered.

The powerful auras of the three drew attention even from other Tribulation Crossing cultivators farther away.

Could it be a rare heavenly treasure? Or something important happening?

Two more Tribulation Crossing cultivators arrived, likely just finishing a round of cultivation and rushing toward the Forest of Ten Thousand Beast Bones.

The demonic patriarch, who believed she was hiding well, began to question her life choices.

Had she been discovered?

After some hesitation, the self-confident demonic patriarch decided to stay put.

And indeed, it turned out she had not been discovered.

It was just that these Tribulation Crossing cultivators were oddly gathering—five in one place? Did they agree on this?

At that moment, thunder cracked across the sky.

Long Ye’s tribulation had begun.

The five Tribulation Crossing cultivators, along with others and their spirit beasts, quickly moved aside.

Wu Chunshu said to Yuheng, “Sister Yuheng, looks like your Sword Sect is about to gain another Tribulation Crossing cultivator—and this one’s future is promising.”

The previously predicted Child of Destiny had already been narrowed down to either the Sword Sect’s young ancestor Mo Sanchi or the newly emerging but rapidly advancing Long Ye.

Now, Long Ye had surpassed Mo Sanchi and directly advanced to the Tribulation Crossing stage.

After this tribulation, the identity of the Child of Destiny would be certain—there would be no other candidate.

Aside from Wu Chunshu, the other three Tribulation Crossing cultivators also congratulated Yuheng—her Sword Sect was about to welcome another in their rank.

Out of respect for a fellow cultivator of the same realm, the five didn’t leave immediately but instead gathered together to observe the tribulation in the Bone Forest, where the black dragon was undergoing his trial.

Only Shi Qian mourned for the black dragon—and for his flower field.

With all this lightning, the question of whether the flowers would be edible or not was moot. Once the fruit came in, he probably wouldn’t get even a single seed to eat.

Before long, as the thunderclouds thickened, a dragon’s roar echoed from within the Bone Forest.

Long Ye awakened, his first thought filled with tension and anxiety about the heavenly tribulation.

But as soon as he opened his eyes and saw his once-black tail now shimmering with iridescent colors—and the field of dazzling flowers before him—his anxiety instantly vanished.

Clearly, while he was cultivating, Brother Qian had once again done a lot of “good deeds.”

After he got through this tribulation, he would make Brother Qian explain how on earth his dragon tail had changed color.

As the first bolt of tribulation lightning struck down, Shi Qian—perched atop Mouse Bro’s head—could see the dragon silhouette soaring through the Bone Forest.

The black dragon rode the clouds and mist, flying high. Spiritual energy swirled around him, condensing into a sea of celestial energy.

At the same time, large currents of spiritual energy descended, burying the sunflower field below.

Shi Qian was moved.

His Brother Ye was truly a considerate and wonderful dragon!

That big tail was even rainbow-colored—an absolutely dreamy and fierce dragon.

Shi Qian pointed at the dragon’s tail for Mouse Bro to see. “Squeak Squeak.”

Bro, look at Brother Ye’s tail—how cool is that?

Hei Mao said disdainfully, “Squeak Squeak.”

Just like the little sister’s. I don’t like it.

Hua Qing, who actually was wearing a silky, rainbow-colored magical dress, asked, “General?”

Hei Mao: “Squeak Squeak!”

Bro, you’re right! It’s beautiful!

Long Hu: “Awooo—”

It clearly looks bad!

Shi Qian: “Squeak Squeak.”

Bro, let’s move away from him a bit.

The spirit beasts howled, while the Tribulation Crossing experts beside them were busy guessing what kind of mysterious technique that black dragon’s tail might be.

Shi Qian listened in for a bit, then silently answered in his heart: The technique is called ‘Iridescent Black.’

Underneath Ascension Path, in the depths of the cultivation realm.

An ancient, slumbering earth dragon awakened.

First, it received a message sent through a dragon talisman by the demonic patriarch—another true dragon had appeared in the cultivation realm, and it was even a righteous Child of Destiny.

The earth dragon didn’t believe it at first. A Child of Destiny? How could that possibly be a dragon?

According to its own divination, the new Child of Destiny was clearly still a human. It wasn’t even certain whether that person had survived yet.

But still, compelled by a strange instinct, the earth dragon tried to surface.

And then it caught the scent—the exquisite aura of that young dragon, and the faint presence of another hybrid dragon cub.

The sensation made the earth dragon ignore even the pain of its collapsing body under the crumbling curse and formation.

It had slept underground for who knew how many years. The formation that sealed it had been in place for tens of thousands of years. During all this time, it hadn’t encountered a single bloodline-pure member of its race.

Two thousand years ago, its body began to collapse. Even absorbing the energy of the earth could no longer stop its semi-immortal cultivation from declining.

So it spent a thousand years grinding a single flaw into the formation—leading to that sky-defying attempt a thousand years ago.

Now, awakening once again and sensing the surging currents of fate, the earth dragon breathed out a mouthful of crimson dragon breath, intoxicated by the blood-tinged aura of human fate.

This blood was, to it, a most beloved delicacy.

Slaughter? Slaughter was everywhere in the cultivation realm.

Humans killed spirit beasts, spirit beasts ate humans, and cultivators killed other cultivators more often than beasts ever could.

Rather than letting all that blood go to waste, better to use it to nourish itself.

With destiny surrounding it, the earth dragon—its whole body glowing red—felt its cultivation once again climbing. It sensed itself nearing ascension.

But in this realm, the Heavenly Dao would never allow it to ascend. Its only options were to defy the heavens and walk toward death, or—
Seize another dragon’s body, and deceive the heavens with a new shell.

Since awakening, the earth dragon had not been able to forget the aura of that young dragon.

Such a youthful, pure body…

But it also knew how harsh the Heavenly Dao was toward it. So the earth dragon forcefully restrained itself, choosing to wait until more human destiny enveloped its broken-yet-powerful body.

Just as it was about to fall asleep again, it caught the scent of the young dragon once more.

And discovered—

That little dragon was already about to undergo the lightning tribulation from Nascent Soul to Tribulation Crossing.

The words “Child of Destiny” appeared in the earth dragon’s mind once more—this time, they were true.

Heaven had actually chosen another dragon… to be the Child of Destiny.

Moreover, if it became any stronger, it would be harder to seize its body.

“Roar—”

A low dragon’s roar echoed out. The earth dragon’s eyes turned crimson as its soul emerged from its massive body, slipping out through the only flaw in the formation.

In the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, the warning star array activated, and the sound of bells rang throughout the pavilion.

“Something’s wrong! There’s a celestial anomaly!”

The earth dragon’s soul swiftly climbed toward the Ascension Path and dove straight into it.

Once inside, the earth dragon rushed toward the direction of the little dragon.

But the earth dragon didn’t know that the moment it stepped onto the Ascension Path, the stairs at the bottom abruptly snapped and closed off.

The old devil patriarch’s eyes lit up.

Took the bait.

And thinking of those five undergoing tribulation, the devil patriarch couldn’t help but laugh—seems like the old dragon’s luck had run out too.

As the earth dragon drew closer, it naturally noticed the absurd sight of five tribulation-transcending cultivators gathered together, watching a little dragon undergo its tribulation.

But—why are all you human cultivators just standing there together like this? What are you planning?

At that moment, Shi Qian was overwhelmed by a scent so intoxicating it could knock out a Totoro dragon.

He only had time to squeak out a single “Squeak Squeak!” before he fainted.

Hei Mao jumped in shock. “Squeak Squeak!”

Brother, what’s wrong with you?!

Hua Qing immediately informed everyone, “Brother Qian just called out—Brother Ye is in danger!”