Ascension Day

"Do Celestial Gods take bribes?"

The Guo Family Ancestor muttered, "Can they be bought off, too?"

Imperial Uncle Li shook his head. "No. This is kidnapping. He kidnapped the Celestial Gods, tied them to his war chariot, and forced them to fight for their lives for him."

The Shi Family Ancestor said, "It's our misfortune to live in the same era as him."

"But at least he's about to ascend."

On Wuyang Mountain, a big snake's tongue flickered like a wave as he shrieked, "Dao Images! Those are the Dao Images of a Celestial God! Quick, memorize them! Every single Dao Image can be transformed into an incredible Divine Skill and passed down through the ages!"

Prompted by Yuan Qi, everyone from the great Noble Families—whether they were ancestors, the disciples they brought, or even their mounts—hastily tried to commit what they saw to memory.

They did not know what a Dao Image was, but they knew of Hidden Scenery. To them, the Celestial God Dao Images were a form of Hidden Scenery that could be transformed into incredible Nuo Art Divine Powers. If one's talent was high enough, they might even comprehend an extraordinary Nuo Technique.

However, they were too far away, there were too many Celestial God Dao Images, and the Thunder Tribulation was moving a bit too fast. The Dao Images also changed with extreme rapidity, leaving them no way to comprehend anything.

One would have to get up close, stand not far from the Celestial Gods, and observe them in detail to capture the divine essence and Daoist rhythm of the Celestial God Dao Images.

Unwilling to give up this opportunity, they forced themselves to memorize everything. But the Celestial Gods were manifestations of the Celestial Dao itself; how could the Daoist Mysteries they contained be anything but overwhelmingly intense?

Forcing themselves to memorize and comprehend them took a terrifying toll on their Heart Spirits. Before long, the donkey began to vomit mouthfuls of blood before collapsing weakly to the ground.

A moment later, Xu Ying's oxen, the brothers Niu Zhen and Niu Qian, also sprayed blood from their mouths. Guo Xiaodie let out a muffled grunt as blood seeped from her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. The others with slightly lower Cultivation all coughed up large mouthfuls of blood. For a moment, Wuyang Mountain was a gory scene.

Even Guo Xiaodie's second aunt, Li Yingzhu, suffered damage to her Heart Spirit and fell unconscious.

'Why isn't Lord Qi spitting up blood?'

The brothers Niu Zhen and Niu Qian lay on the ground, their auras in disarray. They saw Yuan Qi still staring wide-eyed, his gaze fixed on the scene of the Tribulation Crossing, looking perfectly calm and composed. He seemed completely unaffected by the Celestial God Dao Images, and they were inwardly aghast. 'As expected of someone our master respectfully calls Lord Qi. I never thought his foundation would be so profound. We're not even in the same league.'

Yuan Qi stared at the procession of Celestial God Dao Images, his eyelids twitching. 'I don't get it... Ying can definitely understand this, right? I'll have him explain it to me later. Forget it, I'll just watch a little longer. I don't want Ying to say I'm not focused.'

Xu Ying also hadn't had time to comprehend anything, so he stopped observing the Celestial God Dao Images and instead focused on the Celestial Tribulation itself.

'Three hundred and sixty Celestial Gods joining forces with Zhou Qiyun to fight the Celestial Tribulation... The variations are endless and difficult to grasp. But if I can use the stances of the Guo Family's Bi Luo Poem as a basis and compare them to the Celestial Tribulation, I could add a new Divine Power to the Bi Luo Poem,' he thought to himself.

He silently activated the Bi Luo Poem, mobilizing his Heart Power according to its Magic Skill. A vision of a blue sky gradually materialized behind him, slowly transforming into a thundercloud.

Beside him, the girl in the coffin watched in surprise, her gaze flickering as she studied the abnormal tribulation phenomenon behind him, but she said nothing.

The Guo Family Ancestor suddenly sensed something. He looked back and up, and when he saw the thundercloud forming behind Xu Ying on the broken cliff, his heart skipped a beat. 'A ninth stance, derived from my Guo Family's Bi Luo Poem?'

He turned to look at the Celestial Tribulation a thousand li away, his eyes glinting. 'While others are trying to comprehend the Celestial God Dao Images, he's trying to master the Celestial Tribulation itself! This kid is truly extraordinary. The more I look at him, the more he looks like a son-in-law of my Guo Family!'

He was overjoyed, thinking, 'Xiaodie has a two-hundred-jin older sister. She's gentle and kind, prettier than a chrysanthemum, and still waiting for a husband. Why not recruit him as a live-in son-in-law for our Guo Family?'

The tribulation cloud behind Xu Ying grew larger and wider, gradually spanning several acres. Having formed such an Abnormal Phenomenon, it already possessed the might of a Divine Power.

The Guo Family Ancestor was delighted. 'His aptitude is even better than mine. The more I look at him, the more I like what I see.'

However, the tribulation cloud gradually started to seem off. It was still expanding, and its rate of expansion was a bit fast, soon reaching a size of over a hundred acres.

"With this level of aptitude, it wouldn't be a problem to marry both Xiaodie and her sister to him." The Guo Family Ancestor was extremely satisfied.

Beside Xu Ying, however, the girl in the coffin immediately sensed that something was wrong. She subconsciously took a step back, putting some distance between herself and Xu Ying, and then came to a realization. 'Why did I retreat on my own? That's right, I sensed the intent of the Celestial Tribulation, and my subconscious wanted to get away from it, so I moved back!'

At that moment, Da Zhong also flew out from behind Xu Ying's head. Forgetting its grudge against the girl, it quickly asked, "Miss Qing Bi, did you sense something?"

"Tribulation!" the girl, Qing Bi, said, her expression grave. "What is going on?"

Da Zhong speculated, "Ying is Entering the Dao by observing the Celestial Tribulation, and his consciousness has connected with it. This has happened to him before. On Jiuyi Mountain, when he observed the Jiuyi Dao Image, his consciousness connected with Jiuyi."

The girl was startled. She looked up at the other tribulation cloud high in the sky and said, "Are you saying his consciousness is inside that tribulation cloud right now? Why is the one behind him still expanding?"

The tribulation cloud floating in the air behind Xu Ying had now expanded to a thousand acres in area, and the sound of thunder was beginning to rumble within it.

Down on Wuyang Mountain, the Nuo Immortals all frowned and looked in this direction. They too felt a faint sense of unease, the kind of feeling one gets when a great catastrophe is imminent.

Da Zhong had never encountered a situation like this either and did not know the cause.

Just then, three figures flashed and appeared beside Xu Ying. It was the old man with the sorrowful face, the woman in red, and the old man in white. With grave expressions, all three simultaneously extended their fingers and aimed them at various points on Xu Ying's body!

The girl, Qing Bi, frowned. Her sleeve fluttered. The next instant, the sorrowful-faced old man's finger struck the white-robed old man between the eyebrows, the red-robed woman's finger stabbed into the white-robed old man's heart, and the white-robed old man's own finger pierced his throat!