Ascension Day

Even Young Master Xiang and Thirteenth Lady were deeply shaken at this moment. Their mission to summon the Plague God in the Zu Du Country had already been a grand undertaking.

The Plague God's descent, spreading pestilence, had caused the Naihe River to change its course, triggering a whole series of incidents!

And the scale of Zhou Qiyun's operation this time was hundreds of times larger than theirs!

"So rich," Imperial Uncle Li muttered, squeezing his own flat, empty coin purse.

The Guo Family Ancestor stroked his beard. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly. "Just how many graves has Captain Zhou dug up? How many tombs has he plundered? Being a Tomb Raider Captain really pays well. Xiaodie, go pack your things. We're going to go dig up some ancestral graves too."

Guo Xiaodie pouted. "As long as you're not dead, Ancestor, what ancestral graves does the Guo Family have to dig up?"

The Guo Family Ancestor flew into a rage. "Bah! I'm talking about digging up *other families'* ancestral graves!"

The Shi Family Ancestor sighed wistfully. "Captain Zhou has been a Tomb Raider for over two hundred years. If we only start now, isn't it too late?"

Imperial Uncle Li gave a bashful smile. "Captain Shi, hasn't your esteemed Shi Family been in the Tomb Raider business for a long time already?"

The Shi Family Ancestor, having his secrets exposed, didn't seem to mind at all. "Captain Li, you jest. I've heard that aside from grave robbing and tomb raiding, Captain Zhou had other gains in the New Land this time. Rumor has it he received help from the Yuan Family and a young man who raises a Big Snake."

The crowd fell strangely silent. No one spoke another word.

There was a Big Snake on this very mountain, along with a young man who raised it. They had all seen them on their way up.

The Yuan Family was a Noble Family. Though they were in decline, they were still propped up by Yuan Wuji. The young man with the Big Snake, however, had no such powerful backing. Whatever he had was up for grabs.

"If Captain Zhou can take it, why can't my Guo Family?" the Guo Family Ancestor said, stroking his white beard.

Guo Xiaodie whispered, "Ancestor, is our Guo Family going to produce a Captain Guo?"

The Guo Family Ancestor spat and cursed, "Damn it all! A true gentleman is open and honorable! How could I do such a thing?"

He paused, then said, "Luckily, I'm no true gentleman. If I don't become a Captain Guo, I'll be left in the dust by these old coots. I could get eaten alive by them and not even know it. This pugilistic world is a treacherous place."

His voice was so loud that his yelling echoed throughout the mountains.

Standing on the cliff's edge, Xu Ying couldn't help but feel a certain fondness for this Guo Family Ancestor. 'He's the only one who's refreshingly straightforward about being a scoundrel.'

Just then, the sky above Jiuyi Mountain suddenly roiled. It was as if thick thunderclouds had gathered, and a colossal being was churning within them, appearing and disappearing with the flashes of lightning.

Xu Ying's heart tensed, and he craned his neck to watch.

The young woman stood beside him, gazing into the distance. "It's not a Celestial Tribulation," she said. "They are performing a celestial sacrifice, pulling the Heavenly Dao World closer to this one. That thing in the clouds is a Celestial God that sensed the offerings. It's stretching its body and following the connection here."

Xu Ying was profoundly shaken. It wasn't his first time seeing a Celestial God, but he still felt a tremor in his very soul. Even from so far away, he could hear a strange static, the whisper of a Celestial God!

"Is Zhou Qiyun bribing the Celestial Gods?" Xu Ying asked.

The young woman looked at him in surprise. "He is bribing the Celestial Gods, but how could they be bribed by him? Even if he offers countless sacrifices, when he faces his Celestial Tribulation, the Celestial Gods will still show him no mercy! They are two separate matters. Celestial Gods must act in accordance with the Celestial Dao."

Suddenly, the firmament was torn asunder. People hundreds of miles away could see the spectacle. It was like watching a colossal celestial body draw near from beyond the heavens. A massive limb scraped against the skies of the Divine Land, its giant scales trailing long plumes of white vapor as it slowly descended!

It was a Celestial God, answering the call of Celestial-Human Communication. Having sensed the summons and sacrifices from the Heavenly Dao World, it was descending to the Lower Realm, landing in one of the Dao Fields on Jiuyi Mountain!

RUMBLE!

Above Jiuyi Mountain, the sky was squeezed until it shattered repeatedly. Another Celestial God, responding to the Celestial-Human Communication, broke through the barrier between the two worlds and descended from the heavens.

On Wuyang Mountain, all the old ancestors and the numerous mysterious masters shot to their feet, their eyes wide with horror as they watched this scene unfold.

Even the true body of the Yin Court Emperor shot bolt upright in his coffin, turning his stiffened neck to gaze toward Jiuyi Mountain!

The Eight-sided Sword had pierced through his head. Yuan Qi, standing not far away, snuck a glance and saw that the hole in the Emperor's head was wide open, letting light pass clean through from front to back. Peering through this head-hole, one could even get a telescopic effect.

Yuan Qi clicked his tongue in wonder and called Niu Zhen and Niu Qian over to have a look.

The two brothers of the Niu Family were Yin Spirits who had knocked about in the Underworld. Their bodies trembled at the mere sight of the Yin Court Emperor; how would they dare to look?

"What in the world is Captain Zhou trying to do?"

The Guo Family Ancestor tugged at his beard and shouted, "Is he trying to summon all the Celestial Gods into the Mortal World?"

Hearing this, Xu Ying's heart shook. He whispered, "Clever."

The young woman in the coffin was greatly shaken. She instantly understood Zhou Qiyun's plan and whispered, "He's not bribing the Celestial Gods, he's kidnapping them! He... he..."

Her Heart Spirit stirred with excitement as she murmured, "He might actually have a chance at successfully Crossing the Tribulation!"

In the sky, deep, muffled thunder constantly erupted from within the clouds. More colossal beings, carrying a mysterious power that warped and disturbed the consciousness of mortals, descended from the heavens into the Mortal World, landing in the magnificent Dao Fields on Jiuyi Mountain to enjoy their offerings.

More and more Celestial Gods descended from the Heavenly Dao World. That distant sky, hundreds of miles away, looked as if it would be crushed and collapsed by the combined aura of the gods!

In that short time, over a hundred Celestial Gods had descended into the mortal realm, and even more were responding to the Celestial-Human Communication!

The ancestors of the great Noble Families all clenched their fists, watching this scene with extreme tension. They were all beings who had cultivated the Nuo Technique to the Peak level in the current world. On the path of Nuo, they had already reached the Extreme Realm; there was no road ahead for them!

They too had sought other paths—raiding tombs and digging for treasure, searching for the footsteps of their predecessors, and researching the history of Qi Refiners. In doing so, they had obtained many world-shaking secret treasures.

They had seen rituals for sacrificing to Celestial Gods like the one the Zhou Family was performing in many ancient texts and murals, but one so thoroughly researched and on such a massive scale? The Zhou Family was in a class of its own.

And as for someone as audacious and reckless as Zhou Qiyun? He too was in a class of his own.

"What in the world is Captain Zhou trying to do?"

A brilliant light erupted behind each of them as they unfurled their respective Hidden Lands. The sky instantly became precarious, filled with wind and rain, roiling with instability.

The Hidden Lands of these Nuo Immortal ancestors included Celestial Palaces and Celestial Terraces, vast Long Rivers, endless mountain ranges, skies with suns and moons, and even a swirling starry expanse.

Their Divine Souls soared up to the very pinnacle of their respective Hidden Lands, allowing them to see everything more clearly from afar.

"They're trying to refine their Primordial Spirits, but they've all gone about it the wrong way," the young woman beside Xu Ying said in surprise.

Xu Ying nodded lightly. Although his Cultivation was still shallow, he could also tell that the Primordial Spirits these Nuo Immortals were refining were not proper ones. Each was a foul and murky mess.

Suddenly, the winds and clouds over Jiuyi Mountain surged, and the tribulation clouds erupted!

The power of these tribulation clouds surged in from beyond the heavens, arriving with incredible speed. In just a short time, they enveloped Jiuyi Mountain. The thunderclouds continuously expanded and roiled, spreading out to more distant lands!

The nine peaks of Jiuyi Mountain spanned a radius of about a hundred li. The thunderclouds soon exceeded that, blanketing the first ring of mountains around Jiuyi, then the second, and the third!

The power of the tribulation clouds came from the Heavenly Dao World—the power of a Celestial Dao Divine Artifact!

This was the so-called Celestial-Human Communication. It was precisely because Zhou Qiyun had sensed his Celestial Tribulation at this moment that he received a response from the Celestial Dao Divine Artifact, which came to dispense the tribulation!

But the might of this Celestial Tribulation was truly terrifying. The horrific power surging out from the Heavenly Dao World was still expanding outward. RUMBLING Celestial Thunder and Celestial Fire darted through the thunderclouds, making the sky both bright and gloomy!

The thunderclouds reached the inner third layer of the Hundred Thousand Mountains and still didn't stop, continuing to expand outward.

An indescribable fear enveloped Xu Ying's mind, nearly suffocating him as he watched. The thunderclouds, centered on Jiuyi Mountain, quickly surpassed the five-hundred-li mark left by the tribulation at the Chaotian Cave Heaven.

And still, it did not stop.

The thunderclouds were still expanding, like a giant millstone, RUMBLING as it rolled, expanded, rolled again, and expanded again!

The radius of the Celestial Tribulation had now reached eight hundred li.

Only then did the speed of its expansion begin to slow.

On Wuyang Mountain, everyone experienced what it meant to be without hope.

To be without hope is to be in despair!

Faced with such a Super Celestial Tribulation, no one had any chance of successfully Crossing the Tribulation!

Beside Xu Ying, the young woman in the coffin sighed faintly. It was this kind of Super Celestial Tribulation that blocked everyone's dream of Ascension.

But...

"Zhou Qiyun has found an opportunity," Xu Ying said in a low voice.

He had kidnapped the Weekly Heavenly Gods of the Heavenly Dao World!

Three hundred and sixty Celestial Gods, kidnapped by him and brought to the Mortal World.