Amid the layers of clouds, a massive head emerged.
It was a dragon, but not a living creature—this one was formed entirely of blue lightning.
The thunder dragon descended slowly. Its claws tore through the clouds, and its body wove in and out of the sea of clouds. Bolts of lightning crackled around it, and the thunderclouds veiled its form, half-obscuring and half-revealing its majesty.
Surrounding the dragon was an aura of pure lightning.
Nine Heavens Thunder Tribulation.
The name surfaced in Xu Ming's mind.
He had once read about various tribulations in a book.
For a cultivator, there were typically five major tribulations to overcome: advancing from the Sea Observation Realm to the Dragon Gate Realm, from the Golden Core Realm to the Nascent Soul Realm, from the Nascent Soul Realm to the Jade Purity Realm, from the Jade Purity Realm to the Immortal Realm, and finally, from the Immortal Realm to the Ascension Realm.
Depending on a cultivator's talent and fortune, each tribulation had nine levels of difficulty. Among them, the Nine Heavens Thunder Tribulation was the most challenging for advancing from the Sea Observation Realm to the Dragon Gate Realm.
Countless cultivators had perished under this tribulation, their bodies destroyed and their paths severed.
But the problem was... Xu Ming was only in the Furnace Foundation Realm. Even if he were to break through to the Cave Mansion Realm, it shouldn't trigger a tribulation.
"The Heavenly Dao never blocks all paths," a voice echoed in his mind. "You should consider yourself fortunate. Because your realm is merely Furnace Foundation, the final trial of Baiwa City is the Nine Heavens Thunder Tribulation meant for breaking through from Sea Observation to Dragon Gate.
Had your realm been higher, you might have faced the Nine Celestial Thunder Tribulation of the Nascent Soul Realm or the Nine Lotus Profound Tribulation of the Jade Purity Realm instead."
"Well, I suppose I should thank the Heavenly Dao, then," Xu Ming replied with a faint smile.
The Golden Toad wasn't wrong. The higher his realm, the more difficult the tribulation. At his current Furnace Foundation Realm, Xu Ming truly benefited from his "weaker" cultivation.
Even so, Xu Ming was well aware of the harsh reality: facing the most challenging Nine Heavens Thunder Tribulation of the Cave Mansion Realm with his "mortal body" at the Furnace Foundation Realm was an insurmountable task.
Below the Heavenly Staircase, nearly everyone had lost hope for Xu Ming.
If nothing unexpected happened, Xu Ming was destined to die here on the Heavenly Staircase.
After all, how could a cultivator at the Furnace Foundation Realm possibly survive the most supreme tribulation of the Sea Observation Realm?
The crowd, which initially harbored feelings of jealousy and bitterness toward Xu Ming, now felt nothing but relief.
At the beginning, watching Xu Ming carry the entire Baiwa City on his back while shattering four golden avatars of Baiwa City's monstrous guardians, they had felt deeply dissatisfied.
Their frustration stemmed from one thought: If he can do it, why can't I?
But as Xu Ming ascended step by step, the crowd grew increasingly uneasy, wishing fervently for his downfall.
Now, faced with the Nine Heavens Thunder Tribulation, they knew there was no chance for Xu Ming—and, by extension, no chance for themselves.
For if Xu Ming, at the Furnace Foundation Realm, had to face the Nine Heavens Thunder Tribulation, wouldn't those of them at the Cave Mansion or Sea Observation Realms face the even deadlier Nine Celestial Thunder Tribulation?
Crossing multiple realms to endure the harshest tribulations was as close to impossible as one could imagine.
"ROAR!"
The thunder dragon above the sea of lightning let out another deafening roar, scattering winds and filling the air with the stinging static of the tribulation.
Even hundreds of meters below, many cultivators trembled in fear, their knees threatening to buckle under the dragon's overwhelming presence.
But there, standing on the Heavenly Staircase just dozens of meters away from the thunder dragon, Xu Ming stood with his hands clasped behind his back. His expression remained calm, neither joyful nor sorrowful.
"Are you not afraid?" the Golden Toad asked, curiosity evident in its tone.
It couldn't help but wonder—how could this sixteen-year-old boy possess such composure beyond his years?
"Afraid," Xu Ming replied with a slight smile. "But does it help?"
The Golden Toad froze for a moment, then smirked. "Indeed, it does not."
"ROAR!"
As the Golden Toad's words fell, the tribulation descended.
The thunder dragon exhaled a blast of draconic breath—this was the first strike of the tribulation.
The blue dragon's breath, resembling fire, engulfed Xu Ming completely.
Lightning smoke billowed from Xu Ming's surroundings, spreading across the sky.
Everyone instinctively swallowed hard.
The Nine Heavens Thunder Tribulation consisted of nine strikes, but judging by the sheer power of the first one, most of them doubted they could survive even this initial onslaught.
As the lightning smoke dissipated, the crowd focused their spiritual energy into their eyes, straining to see Xu Ming atop the Heavenly Staircase, hundreds of meters above.
Many assumed they would see nothing, that Xu Ming must have been reduced to ashes by this first strike.
But they were disappointed.
When the smoke cleared, Xu Ming stood there, his body charred but intact.
"He's alive. He's alive!" Qin Qingwan clenched her fists tightly, her gaze fixed on Xu Ming.
"Cough... cough..." Xu Ming let out a few raspy coughs, faint trails of smoke escaping his mouth.
As he moved slightly, his every action crackled with static electricity.
Even though Xu Ming had survived, most onlookers believed his journey was over—his strength was already spent, his resolve nearing its limit.
The thunder dragon, however, gave him no time to recover.
With a furious roar, it seemed to bellow, Why hasn't this ant died yet?!
The second strike followed immediately.
Lightning surged around the thunder dragon, coalescing into an enormous pillar of pure energy.
The lightning pillar crashed into Xu Ming.
Within the storm, Xu Ming felt every inch of his flesh being torn apart. His soul itself seemed on the verge of being ripped to shreds.
In the past, the most excruciating experience Xu Ming had endured was the body-tempering process forced upon him as a child by Madam Wang.
Yet this second strike surpassed that pain a hundredfold.
As the second tribulation strike subsided, Xu Ming's consciousness began to blur. Thoughts of the seven remaining strikes filled him with despair.
Watching the man pushed to his limits, the Golden Toad shook its head.
It admired Xu Ming greatly, but there was nothing it could do to help him. Xu Ming could rely only on himself now, and he didn't even have the option to surrender.
The third strike descended.
The sky above Baiwa City split open, revealing a gaping hole. From this opening, a torrential waterfall of lightning poured down toward Xu Ming.
The waterfall, a cascade of liquid lightning, struck Xu Ming the moment it touched him.
The weight of it drove him to one knee on the Heavenly Staircase.
Xu Ming felt the liquid lightning penetrate every pore, seep into his body, and merge with his blood.
If the first two strikes had aimed to destroy him externally, this third strike sought to obliterate him from within.
His internal organs, blood vessels—every part of him felt as though it were being gnawed apart by thousands of ants.
For a moment, a thought surfaced in Xu Ming's mind: Maybe I should just give up. If I die, this pain will end.
"No," Xu Ming muttered, shaking his head with a faint smile. Not now. Not yet.
There were still people waiting for him below the Heavenly Staircase.
Back in Wudu City, his mother awaited his return.
The greatest act of filial ingratitude was for a parent with gray hair to bury their child.
Xu Ming took a deep breath, though it felt like his lungs might burst.
That single breath steadied him, if only a little.
He began to gather his martial true energy.
To everyone's astonishment, streams of martial energy coalesced behind Xu Ming, forming a shadowy figure—a martial soul avatar.
As Xu Ming slowly rose to his feet, the martial soul avatar behind him stood upright as well.
Within the waterfall of thunder, Xu Ming stood tall, facing the heavens directly.
The fourth tribulation.
The fifth.
The sixth, and then the seventh.
Against all odds, Xu Ming endured each one.
Every time a heavenly strike descended, everyone thought Xu Ming would perish, yet he stubbornly lived on.
"Enough... this is enough..." Qin Qingwan muttered, her eyes misty as she gazed at Xu Ming atop the Heavenly Staircase.
Xu Ming's clothes were completely scorched, clinging to what remained of his battered and bloodied flesh.
His body was like parched earth, riddled with cracks. Even the few drops of blood that managed to seep from his wounds carried faint traces of thunder.
By now, Xu Ming was sustained by sheer willpower alone.
The eighth tribulation descended.
Mustering every ounce of his remaining strength, Xu Ming activated Blood Qi Frenzy Mode.
This technique could not heal his injuries—it was more like a painkiller, dulling his agony temporarily. But its drawback was clear: if Xu Ming survived the eighth strike, he would be utterly spent, leaving him defenseless against the ninth.
In that moment, Xu Ming understood one thing clearly: if he couldn't endure the eighth tribulation, there would be no point in worrying about the ninth.
"Boom!"
The eighth strike manifested as a massive longsword, forged of pure lightning, hurtling straight for Xu Ming's head.
Shaking, Xu Ming drew his peachwood sword. The phantom of the sword appeared behind him, merging with the soul avatar from his Heroic Soul Realm.
Together, Xu Ming and his avatar swung upward.
The tip of the lightning sword clashed with the edge of the peachwood blade.
Upon contact, the blade of the peachwood sword began to blacken, crack, and splinter.
But just then, a gust of wind carrying the scent of ink and the rustle of pages swept over him, and a gentle, righteous aura began to surround Xu Ming.
"That's... Confucian merit!"
Yu Wenxi and Miao Feng exclaimed in unison, their faces alight with hope.
When a scholar creates a literary masterpiece that becomes widely used by disciples of the Confucian path, it accumulates merit. This merit serves as a form of protection for the Confucian disciples.
But what puzzled the two was how Xu Ming, who had never joined the Confucian sect or cultivated righteous energy, could possibly summon Confucian merit.
Could it be that one of the ancient sages of the Confucian path, who had long since transcended, was moved to intervene?
As the righteous aura enveloped Xu Ming, the ink-scented wind surrounded the lightning sword.
Slowly, the massive lightning sword dissipated, dissolving into nothingness under the gusts.
When the winds finally calmed, Xu Ming glimpsed the faint image of an elderly scholar in the clouds above.
He clasped his hands together and bowed deeply.
Meanwhile, in the ancestral hall of White Deer Academy, a young woman kneeling in prayer slowly opened her eyes.
The hall was lined with statues of Confucian sages, the foremost being that of the First Sage—Confucius himself.
"To think that the First Sage would respond to you, little girl," the current headmaster of White Deer Academy remarked, stroking his beard with a sigh.
The last time the First Sage had shown his presence was a millennium ago. Since then, despite countless rituals and offerings, the sage had never responded.
And yet this girl, troubled by a sense of unease and fearing for Xu Ming's safety, had knelt in prayer for a single incense stick's time—and the First Sage had truly intervened.
The headmaster couldn't help but wonder: what kind of ordeal was this Xu Ming facing?
The girl ignored her teacher's musings. She remained kneeling, hands clasped tightly in prayer.
In her heart, her unease had not abated. If anything, it had grown stronger.
"Xu Ming... please be safe..."
She closed her eyes again, praying with all her heart.
"Roar!!!"
The thunder dragon's deafening roar echoed across the skies.
Perhaps it was because the eighth heavenly tribulation had been blocked by external intervention, but the thunder dragon was clearly enraged, thrashing violently within the clouds.
Watching the increasingly agitated dragon, Xu Ming found himself utterly devoid of strength or means.
He had barely survived the eighth strike, and only because of the inexplicable assistance of the Confucian Sage. How could he possibly withstand the ninth?
Yet even with not an ounce of strength left in his body, Xu Ming forced himself to stand, trembling.
He remembered the words his old instructor once told him:
"A warrior of the Wu Kingdom never dies lying down."
"Roar!!!"
The enormous thunder dragon disappeared into the roiling clouds, its form hidden amidst the storm.
Then, in the blink of an eye, the dragon burst forth, slicing through the sea of clouds as it hurtled straight toward Xu Ming.
This ninth tribulation was the thunder dragon itself.
Xu Ming raised his head, staring directly at the approaching behemoth. He never closed his eyes, not even once.
"Gah!"
Below the Heavenly Staircase, the Tianxuan Goose sensed Xu Ming's impending doom. Flapping its wings in panic, it soared upward, determined to reach Xu Ming's side.
Even though the goose didn't know what it could do upon reaching him, it knew one thing: it had to stay with Xu Ming.
But before the goose could even make it halfway, it felt a strong force yanking its wings back.
"Honk?"
Before it could react, someone grabbed hold of its wing, flung it downward, and then tied it up for good measure.
The Tianxuan Goose watched in disbelief as a young woman in Daoist robes flew at full speed toward Xu Ming.
The Heavenly Staircase did not obstruct Qin Qingwan.
Anyone could fly up if they wished—but only those who walked every step and passed the trials would earn the Baiwa Scroll.
Qin Qingwan, however, didn't care about the scroll. She only wanted to stand by Xu Ming's side.
Xu Ming's focus remained fixed on the thunder dragon.
Just as a series of life-flashing memories rushed through his mind, he suddenly felt his left hand—numb and lifeless until now—gripped tightly by something warm and soft.
He turned his head to see the girl standing beside him.
"What are you doing here? Get down!" Xu Ming barked.
"I won't go!" Qin Qingwan shot back stubbornly.
"Why are you so hard-headed? You've been like this since we were kids!" Xu Ming's frustration flared.
Looking into Xu Ming's eyes and listening to his scolding, Qin Qingwan was momentarily stunned. Then, her delicate hand gripped his charred, blackened one even tighter.
"Yes~"
Her eyes curved into crescents, her smile blooming like a flower.
"I've been like this since we were kids~"
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