Cultivation: But Not a Game

"Crack!"

The sky suddenly rang out, and a crack appeared in the void above Su Yu’s head. A vertical tribulation eye suddenly emerged, and invisible ripples exploded, turning thunderclouds into lightning.

Ring after ring of invisible ripples swept through, and the lightning quickly transformed, illuminating the entire Xuankong Mountain brightly. Countless sect disciples were drawn by the heavenly phenomenon and flew over.

"Is someone crossing a tribulation?"

"Is it an Earth Immortal Tribulation with such a scale?"

"It doesn’t quite look like it; the Earth Immortal Tribulation is much larger in scale than this."

"But it doesn’t resemble a Loose Immortal Tribulation either; the Loose Immortal Tribulation doesn’t have such a strong pressure."

The sect disciples, more knowledgeable than others, quickly recognized it:

"If my guess is correct, this should be the third tier of a Loose Immortal Tribulation. I wonder which expert is so fortunate."

Everyone glanced at the man who spoke; some were speechless:

"Don’t gloat, this senior brother is really unlucky."

Most disciples nodded internally, feeling sorry.

A second-tier tribulation is enough to establish a high-grade Dao Foundation. A third-tier tribulation is a once-in-a-millennium occurrence on Blue Mountain Island, with a pitifully low success rate. In their eyes, this tribulation seeker really is unlucky to encounter such a rare third-tier tribulation.

"Crack!"

Within a short moment, the thunderclouds expanded to a full hundred kilometers and then stopped expanding, beginning to contract and gather toward the center.

Though the thunderclouds ceased expanding, its power continued to accumulate, and the pressure descending from the sky grew increasingly terrifying.

"Is this the third tier of the heavenly tribulation?"

Su Huan put his hand in front of his eyes, showing a worried expression:

"If I had faced this tribulation back then, I definitely wouldn’t have been able to cross it."

Meng Siyi also expressed worry:

"I hope Xiao Yu can pass it successfully."

Chu Xinyue didn’t speak, but her worried face and tightly clenched hands revealed the tension in her heart.

Standing beside her, Xiao Qingli frowned slightly, glancing thoughtfully at Su Yu in the distance.

Just at that moment, the sky trembled slightly, and the endless tribulation lightning stopped gathering.

And this tremor seemed to be a signal; the blinding thundercloud spanning over a hundred kilometers quickly converged toward the center, compressing endless energy. In just over ten seconds, it transformed into a chaotic disk of only a thousand meters in diameter, suspended at the sky’s peak.

Unsure if it was an illusion, Su Yu vaguely saw a palace hovering at the chaotic central tribulation eye, through the slowly opening palace gates. In a blur, he glimpsed a figure seated at the palace’s center.

"Boom!"

A thunderous roar spread for miles, shaking everyone’s spirits as the seething chaotic disk’s central tribulation eye opened, releasing nine streaks of mixed chaos sword energy.

"Innate Qi Capturing Hand!"

Heaven and earth’s primordial energy converged into a giant capturing hand, rising to intercept the falling chaos sword energy.

"Boom!"

The capturing hand jolted violently, shattering into countless fragments that scattered in all directions.

"First wave power, one hundred thousand!"

"The tribulation crossing platform and Primordial Infinite Elixir’s tribulation-reducing attributes are indeed ineffective; the one hundred thousand damage was not reduced at all."

Su Yu’s expression was solemn as he exhaled lightly and rapidly circulated the mana within his body.

This power somewhat exceeded his expectations.

According to the information he gathered, the first tier of the Five Elements Heavenly Tribulation’s first wave power was only ten thousand, whereas the third tier was ten times that amount. Moreover, accompanying the tribulation lightning was a force that ignored all impacts on the divine soul, though he ignored it due to the Nine Heavens Battle Immortal Body and Sword Intent blessings.

Heavenly tribulation consists of nine layers, each layer more powerful than the last, with tribulation lightning increasing with each layer, nine layers accumulating...

"Again!"

Fifteen seconds later, the sky suddenly brightened, and eighteen mixed chaos sword energies descended in the second layer.

This time, Su Yu was prepared, as before the tribulation lightning fell, he unleashed ten Tier Six Treasures hovering in space. As tribulation lightning fell, all ten Tier Six Treasures detonated, neutralizing ten strikes of tribulation lightning.

Eight remaining mixed chaos sword energies descended, piercing through the protective barrier after blocking only four swords, slashing Su Yu as chaos aftermath instantly engulfed him.

"Second wave power, one hundred fifty thousand."

Condensing the Nine Heavens Battle Immortal Body, his HP exceeded three million, and he resisted the remaining four mixed chaos tribulation lightning.

"Tier Six Treasures are useless now."

If it were first or second tier tribulation, Tier Six Treasures would still be effective, but the third tier tribulation’s power is too great, likely not able to withstand the next wave, so Su Yu decisively replaced all treasures with Tier Seven Treasures.

Another fifteen seconds later, twenty-seven mixed chaos sword energies tore through the void and descended in the third wave.

"Go!"

Ten Tier Seven cannon fodder ascended and detonated in a circle of violent shockwaves formed a thousand meters above his head, spreading several kilometers outward.

"Battle True Form!"

Su Yu decisively activated the ultimate move, his body rapidly expanded, quickly transforming into a twenty-zhang four-headed eight-armed true form, remaining unmovable against the sword energies descending.

"What true form is this?"

"Four heads and eight arms, it looks quite formidable."

At the summit of Xuankong Mountain, Master Xuanwei and several figures stood before the suspended great hall.

Initially, his expression was grave, and upon realizing it was the minor Chaos Tribulation, Master Xuanwei appeared even more serious, with a hint of concern.

But when Su Yu transformed into his four-headed and eight-armed battle form, the intensity on his face slightly diminished, and at this moment, another elder of Xuankong Mountain nodded in approval:

"Not bad, now there might be a chance!"

Beside him, the face of Wandering Dragon Ancestor remained expressionless, but he clutched his chest.

Knowing that this child once sought to enter his sect but was dissuaded by his disciple, he was furious and scolded his disciples harshly at the time.

Yet no matter how angry he was, he couldn’t change the facts.

Every time he witnessed his performance, his heart ached intensely.

At the peak of Xuankong Mountain, the third wave of chaotic ripples dispersed, revealing the undamaged battle form.

The power of the third wave of tribulation lightning was as high as 200,000, with a total of twenty-seven strikes. The battle body’s physique was as high as 60,000, leaving 140,000 * 8 strands of Chaos Sword Qi = 1,120,000, reduced damage by 50%, suffering 560,000 damage.

"Bring it on again!"

This time he equipped an eighth-tier defensive treasure plus two Tier Nine Flying Swords, as well as seven Tier Seven ’cannon fodder’. When the power was as high as 250,000, thirty-six strands of Chaos Sword Qi bombarded down. The seven ’cannon fodder’ were launched first to perish together with seven strands of tribulation lightning.

The two flying swords soared into the sky, ’Sword Light Division’ split the swords into three hundred strands of Sword Qi, forming a chain to meet the descending Chaos Sword Qi with twenty-nine strands of Sword Qi.

"Boom boom boom!"

The moment the Sword Light touched the Chaos Sword Qi, it shattered like decaying wood, crumbling in an instant. The Star and Tiangang twin swords soared upward and shattered two strands, leaving twenty-five strands of Chaos Sword Qi to continue descending.

Unexpectedly, it was blocked by the eighth-tier treasure.

After the Chaos Sword Qi shattered all the Sword Qi, its power was greatly diminished, adding up to less than 500,000 overall.

With a fifteen-second interval between heavenly tribulations, there was no time to infuse mana into the treasure’s defense. Su Yu decisively switched to a second eighth-tier defensive treasure, a white tower suspended above his head.

The fifth wave, forty-five strands with a power of 300,000 Chaos Sword Qi, arrived as expected.

Seven ’cannon fodder’ soared into the sky and perished together with seven strands of Chaos Sword Qi. The two Tier Nine Flying Swords flew upward and shattered two strands, leaving thirty-six strands of Chaos Sword Qi to bombard down, the tower above his head trembled violently and its defense was broken on the spot. Chaos Sword Qi sliced into the tower, which exploded with a boom, and the violent chaos instantly engulfed him.

Seconds later, a wave of air swept away the chaos, revealing the undamaged battle form.

After the eighth-tier treasure self-destructed and the body shield broke apart, losing over 900,000 blood to withstand the fifth wave of heavenly tribulation.

"From here on, I can only rely on myself."

With one eighth-tier treasure and three Tier Seven ’cannon fodder’ left, it was certain not to withstand the next wave.

The sixth wave of heavenly tribulation consisted of fifty-four strands of Chaos Sword Qi with a power of 350,000 each.

Su Yu took a deep breath, with a plan already formed in his heart.

He swallowed a Ten Thousand Beasts Spirit Pill to restore his state to perfection, then summoned the remaining three pieces of Tier Seven ’cannon fodder’, followed by the Purple and Cyan Twin Swords, the Star and Tiangang Twin Swords, along with the Wind-Fire Vajra Wheel, the True Fire Heart Lamp, and the Fire Essence Gourd, totaling ten treasures.

When the heavenly tribulation descended, all the treasures soared into the sky.

After a series of thunderous booms, besides the two Tier Nine Flying Swords, the other flying sword treasures crumbled entirely.

Forty-six strands of Chaos Sword Qi remained plummeting down. Su Yu tossed the Nine-Ring Immortal Banner into the sky, suspended above his head. The forty-six strands of Chaos Sword Qi struck the banner with a series of deafening booms, flipping the banner directly and sending it flying.

"Blocked another wave!"

Although not a defensive treasure, the Nine-Ring Immortal Banner was a Tier Nine Treasure, with its inherent strength evident.

It’s worth mentioning that, in theory, the many guardian divine generals within the Nine-Ring Immortal Banner could be summoned to block the tribulation. After all, each divine general has at least a million in Qi and Blood, but the truth is, these guardian divine generals are crafted from essence souls and do not possess physical bodies; they are part of the Immortal Banner.

Therefore, the heavenly tribulation striking the guardian divine generals is equivalent to directly attacking the Nine-Ring Immortal Banner.

Most crucially, the third-tier heavenly tribulation Su Yu faced contained a kind of soul impact similar to True Sword Intent, which is specifically the bane of such guardian entities, annihilated upon contact, proving inadequate for blocking the tribulation.

Additionally, it’s not feasible to use the Dragon Transformation Great Divine Techniques to transform into a red dragon for tribulation crossing.

Theoretically, using a transformation to withstand a few waves is possible, like his Celestial Ghost Transformation, but the third-tier tribulation is too fierce for the Celestial Ghost Transformation to be viable.

In reality, his transformation differs from normal transformation techniques, as his red dragon form is akin to an independent entity. Using this form to withstand the tribulation could instead trigger the red dragon’s own heavenly tribulation, leading to disaster.

Whether supplementing two hundred levels of the Earth Immortal Tribulation or crossing three hundred levels of the Celestial Immortal Tribulation, neither scenario is favorable for Su Yu at this time.

Worse still are potential glitches from multiple heavenly tribulations, like if the red dragon tribulation doesn’t vanish or replaces his first tribulation, any of which results in certain doom.

As the sixth wave concluded, the Nine-Ring Immortal Banner had become virtually useless, and ’cannon fodder’ was exhausted, leaving only pure skill to withstand the next round.

He summoned the Cyan Cloud Cover to suspend over his head, taking a deep breath and grasping at the air:

"Rise!"

The entire formation of ten thousand strands of Sword Qi previously laid out manifested, transforming under his control into sixty-three tornadoes of Sword Qi soaring into the sky.

Each Sword Qi tornado composed of 156 strands of Sword Qi erupted in succession, shattering into scattered Sword Qi in an instant.

However, each strand of Chaos Sword Qi was dissipated by the 156 strands of Sword Qi, becoming dispersed chaotic energy, and both sides perished simultaneously.

"Excellent!"

Su Yu laughed heartily, grasping at the air:

"Reform!"

The scattered Sword Qi swiftly reformed into ten thousand strands under the influence of the Power of Reincarnation.