Elder Hui rushed to the room at the highest tower of the Xi Immortal Dynasty. Once outside, he paused and took a few deep breaths. As a nascent soul grandmaster, Elder Hui had no need to breathe, but he still reflexively did so to compose himself.
“Hui Tushan requests an audience,” he said with cupped fists.
A moment of silence passed before the door opened by itself. Inside the room sat a man in his mid-twenties. Although he was described as sitting, he was actually floating in the air in a lotus position.
The man had a thin film of golden light around him. Anyone radiated by the light would feel goodwill toward the man, as if they were bosom friends.
“Palace Lord,” Elder Hui greeted.
Xi Ri opened his eyes. Strands of golden light flowed and twisted in his pupils before disappearing. “There’s no need to address me as palace lord without outsiders. We’re both elders of the Buzhou Immortal Court, after all. Speak, why have you come?”
“It concerns Jun Qiangwu.”
Xi Ri pursed his brows, causing Elder Hui’s heart to skip a beat. “What happened?”
“He killed a disciple.”
“Who?”
“Qian Jiafeng.”
Xi Ri stood up, his feet touching the ground. He took out his Xiyi Talisman and seconds later, he already learned everything.
Upon seeing Xi Ri’s silence, Elder Hui tentatively asked, “Should we hide it?”
Elder Hui didn’t know why Xi Ri asked him to take Jun Qiangwu as a disciple. He couldn’t see anything special about him, but at the very least, Jun Qiangwu was head and shoulders over his peers, except Mu Long. He just never expected him to be so rash and kill Qian Jiafeng before the life-and-death duel.
Why couldn’t he hold back his temper? As a cultivator, one needed to be patient and endure. His qualifications were good, but his personality didn’t fit a cultivator.
Now, an enormous problem cropped up. He was in charge of Jun Qiangwu and any trouble the latter caused would reflect back on him.
Xi Ri shook his head. “No need. Hand the trackers to the punishment deacons and have them bring Jun Qiangwu back.”
“Understood,” Elder Hui said. He internally sighed in relief when Xi Ri didn’t seem to blame him. “Then, please excuse me.”
After Elder Hui left, Xi Ri messaged Tianyi. When he noticed Jun Qiangwu, he hadn’t thought much of it. With Tianyi, it was likely just a flight of fancy. But since something happened, he wanted to ask Tianyi’s opinion.
Even if he didn’t punish Jun Qiangwu according to the Xi Immortal Dynasty’s rules, Jun Qiangwu would have to leave the lower realm and never return.
After a few minutes with no reply, Xi Ri stored the Xiyi Talisman. He was in no rush. He could imprison Jun Qiangwu and wait for Tianyi’s reply before sentencing him.
Xi Ri expected Jun Qiangwu to be captured and brought back without much trouble. After all, when Jun Qiangwu left, he was only in the Sixth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm. And punishment deacons were all in the Twelfth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm.
Surely, nothing would go wrong.
Jun Qiangwu panted as he stood over the sacks of flesh that used to be the punishment deacons. Instead of fear over his actions, an exhilarated smile appeared on his face. “Hahaha, these are Twelfth Stage deacons? So weak, so weak!”
He released a maniacal laughter. He stared at the corpses and walked to the nearest one. His hands pierced the corpses. After searching for a few seconds, he pulled his hand out. In his grasp was the punishment deacon’s heart.
Jun Qiangwu brought the heart to his lips and bit a chunk out of it. The blood coated his mouth and dripped down his neck, but he didn’t care as he swallowed. The qi in his body increased tremendously when he finished the heart. He laughed again. “I’m not far from opening the next meridian. Soon, I’ll be able to reach the Thirteenth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm.”
He walked to the other corpses and dug out their hearts. After finishing them all, Jun Qiangwu immediately left.
The brand on his chest burned. Jun Qiangwu had thought that it did nothing but humiliate him. Now, it seemed that the brand wasn’t just for appearance. It must have had tracking features. Otherwise, how could the punishment deacons zero in on him so fast after he took many steps to hide his tracks?
Jun Qiangwu had immediately decided to flee once the brand appeared on his chest. With the brand, he couldn’t return without facing punishment. Since that was the case, it was better to flee as far as possible before the Xi Immortal Dynasty discovered anything wrong. Once he obtains enough power, he’ll return and kill Mu Long for his actions.
However, it seemed that the Xi Immortal Dynasty already discovered his actions immediately after he killed Qian Jiafeng and her associates.
“System, can you erase the brand on me?”
[No.]
Jun Qiangwu wasn’t surprised by the Nine Heavens Revenge System’s cold reply. He had already used all the gacha tickets, but none of the prizes could deal with the brand on his chest.
Since he couldn’t hide from them or run away, he’ll kill them as they come. Be it Mu Long, Protector Hanwei, or even his master, Elder Hui. If they dare cross him, he’ll kill them. Even the palace lord is no exception!
But first, he had to absorb all the blood and qi he received. After washing the blood off his body, Jun Qiangwu searched for a safe location. Just because the Xi Immortal Dynasty could track him whatever he did, didn’t mean he shouldn’t take precautions.
Once he found a new safe spot, Jun Qiangwu focused on digesting everything he’d absorbed. A week later, he entered the Thirteenth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm. From there, he took out the Foundation Establishment Pill.
Jun Qiangwu swallowed it, and once the pill entered his stomach, it dissolved into pure qi. He felt an overwhelming amount of energy threatening to burst from his body.
He walked outside the cave he had hidden himself in, only to see black clouds gathering above him. This was the Foundation Establishment Heavenly Tribulation. An instinctive fear emerged from every single one of his cells.
“Hmpf, if heaven blocks my way, I’ll rip the heavens apart!”
The black clouds thundered, as if angered by Jun Qiangwu’s words. The black clouds increased in density, almost becoming solid. Lightning arced its edges, threatening to drop at a moment’s notice.
Jun Qiangwu took out a set of armor and his spear from the system space. Now protected and in his peak state, he readied himself for the first bolt of tribulation.
The tribulation clouds attacked not a moment too soon.
“Geh!” Jun Qiangwu bit back a howl of pain. He had attempted to pierce the lightning bolt with his spear, but the lightning shrouded his spear and snaked to his body covering him.
It felt as if he had met his nemesis. Each cell of his body protested as the lightning attacked them. It would not be inaccurate to say that his body started dissolving. Had it not been for the restorative effect of the Foundation Establishment Pill, his injuries would have been worse.
“What’s going on? Why is the lightning so much more powerful than described in the records?” Jun Qiangwu asked.
[The power of the heavenly tribulation will increase under certain conditions, like receiving external aid or practicing devilish arts.]
“What? My heavenly tribulation is stronger because of you?” Jun Qiangwu asked. Or rather, blamed.
[The Nine Heavens Revenge System has been bound to your soul. In the eyes of the Heavenly Dao, your and my existence are the same. It is because you practiced a devilish art that your heavenly tribulation became more powerful.]
“What? So it’s my fault, but I never learned any devilish art—” Jun Qiangwu stopped talking. He recalled the technique that appeared to him in his dreams. Originally, he had thought it was something the system gave him, but it turned out that it was a devilish art?
“System, what can I do?”
[Do your best.]
Do his best? Wasn’t that the same as saying nothing? Despite his thoughts, Jun Qiangwu had no choice but to resist the heavenly tribulation to the best of abilities. Each bolt of tribulation lightning brought him endless pain. It was as if he was a dragon facing hundreds of warriors, each equipped with a dragon slaying sword. Not only did the dragon slaying swords hinder his strength, but it brought him endless pain each time the blade cut into his flesh.
Jun Qiangwu didn’t know how he endured the Foundation Establishment Heavenly Tribulation. By the time he realized the tribulation had finished, he was barely hanging on by a thread of consciousness. Using his remaining willpower, Jun Qiangwu took out a pill from the system space and ingested it.
Almost like a miracle out of a fairy tale, Jun Qiangwu’s injuries healed. His body, which had only been composed of charred flesh attached to a skeleton, regrew muscle and skin at an incredible pace. The flickering life force burned with vengeance. In less than ten minutes, Jun Qiangwu had returned to his former appearance.
Before Jun Qiangwu could breathe a sigh of relief, two figures appeared in his vision. Each one rode atop an object, the most common being a sword. They were the terrace lords of the Xi Immortal Palace.
In his estimation, he would only clash with them once he reached the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm. Furthermore, although his body had returned to peak condition, his mind was still fatigued. In such a situation escape was difficult. So he didn’t even hesitate.
Two Inferior White Shell Talismans appeared in his hand and he chucked both of them at the two core formation masters. The two core formation masters snorted. They didn’t bother using their artifacts and parried the white shells with their hands. To their shock, the moment they touched the talisman, they were knocked back ten meters.
Inferior White Shell Talisman could only guarantee killing qi gathering pupils and injuring foundation establishment disciples. They couldn’t even injure core formation masters, but they had a cheat-like knockback effect that could even stun a nascent soul grandmaster for a split second.
Jun Qiangwu didn’t miss his chance, and he took out another talisman. This one resembled a slip of paper, but printed on it was the night sky. This was the Thousand Li Voidverse Talisman. Upon activation, the Thousand Li Voidverse Talisman shrouded him in a film of energy and carried him away. The sheer speed of his departure made it seemed as if he had teleported to the two core formation masters.
Over five hundred kilometers away, Jun Qiangwu reappeared. He didn’t dare to linger and immediately fled as fast as he could. He still had a few more Thousand Li Voidverse Talismans, but they should be used at the critical time, not wasted when not needed.
Now it was a game of cat and mouse. The question became whether or not he could cultivate fast enough before the Xi Immortal Dynasty killed him. Although he couldn’t complete the main mission, side missions were still available. As long as he used the gacha rewards well, he had the hope of surviving. “Xi Immortal Dynasty. Once I attain the strength, I won’t let any of you go for this humiliation!”
Two weeks later, six core formation masters sped toward him.
Jun Qiangwu didn’t even attempt to confront them. Before waiting for them to even speak, the Thousand Li Voidverse Talisman appeared in his hand. Just as he was about to activate, he discovered that his body froze. He couldn’t even circulate the spiritual qi in his body.
“Jun Qiangwu, you’ve really disappointed me.”
If his body could tremble, Jun Qiangwu would have done so. He recognized the voice. It belonged to his master, Elder Hui. His reaction wasn’t out of guilt, but despair. Why did a nascent soul grandmaster appear? Shouldn’t they have kept sending core formation masters? He had the confidence to escape core formation masters but not nascent soul grandmasters.
Just as Jun Qiangwu lost all hope, the world changed colors. Day had turned to night. He didn’t even think about running away and looked up instead. He wasn’t the only one as the core formation masters, and Elder Hui copied his actions.
No, it wasn’t the night sky, but an incomprehensibly large colossal being formed from the cosmos. In its abdomen, a single star stone and eight planets orbited it.
Jun Qiangwu had never seen the being before, but his heart recognized him. It was the Nine Heavens Emperor! He was saved!
