Chapter 815 - 466: Immortal Sect Incident

Zou Feng nodded.

"But didn’t you say Li Chengxin was nearby? What if he takes this opportunity to interfere?" Su Qingyu asked, her voice laced with worry.

"He wouldn’t," Zou Feng replied. "If everything goes smoothly, the Celestial Tribulation I trigger will be absolutely terrifying in its might. No matter how powerful Li Chengxin is, he wouldn’t dare taint himself with this cause and effect."

Advancing to the Nascent Soul Realm drew the Celestial Tribulation, a process saturated with an overwhelmingly potent power of cause and effect. This was precisely why no one could help another endure their tribulation. Anyone foolish enough to intervene would be tainted by this cause and effect, instantly drawing an even more devastating tribulation upon themselves. Even if the interloper miraculously survived, their path of cultivation would be effectively crippled. From then on, every subsequent breakthrough would trigger an irresistibly horrifying tribulation, forcing them to bear the weight of two people’s tribulations combined. It would be a miracle if anyone could survive that.

Therefore, Zou Feng was certain that Li Chengxin wouldn’t succumb to such dementia as to disrupt his Nascent Soul Formation. As long as he successfully broke through to the Nascent Soul Realm, the imminent threat posed by Li Chengxin—and whatever hidden dangers lurked in the shadows—would be effortlessly resolved.

With that said, Zou Feng glanced back at his five Dao Companions.

Tian Yun and the other women had long since stopped trying to comprehend Zou Feng’s series of maneuvers. They simply trusted that since he had chosen this path, there would be no problems. Firm in their belief that he would succeed in his breakthrough, they could no longer hide their excitement. In truth, they had always known Zou Feng would eventually reach the Nascent Soul Realm. The only issue was that his cultivation speed was, quite frankly, absurdly fast.

Furthermore, the Celestial Tribulation Zou Feng was about to trigger would undoubtedly be grand enough to secure his position as a Direct Disciple of the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect. The intensity of a cultivator’s tribulation during a breakthrough was the exact metric the sect’s higher-ups used to determine if someone was worthy of that title. If the tribulation was utterly mundane, or if they deemed it insufficiently powerful, the candidate would lose all hope of becoming a Direct Disciple. However, none of the women present knew exactly how intense or spectacular the tribulation needed to be to pass the test.

As for how the absent higher-ups of the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect would witness Zou Feng’s tribulation? That was of no concern; those mighty figures had plenty of ways to "see" exactly what he was enduring.

After meeting the gazes of his Dao Companions one by one, Zou Feng gently patted Lu Wu’s head. The petals of the Lotus Platform slowly closed around him before carrying him high into the distant sky. Naturally, it was impossible to undergo a Celestial Tribulation directly within the Xuanwu Poison Domain.

Upon reaching the howling altitudes of the upper sky, the Lotus Platform’s petals bloomed once more, revealing Zou Feng’s figure. He was brimming with confidence that his breakthrough to the Nascent Soul Realm would go exactly as planned. Even knowing Li Chengxin was nearby didn’t bother him in the slightest. What truly made him tense was the lingering sensation of an unknown, lurking danger.

Still, the arrow was already nocked and had to be loosed!

Crushing a Nascent Soul External Pill and rapidly absorbing its essence, Zou Feng sank his heart spirit inward, once again entering the Chaotic Space beyond the Celestial Gate. In this expanse, which resembled a primordial universe, a planet-like sphere slowly orbited. This sphere was, of course, the physical manifestation of Zou Feng’s Golden Core.

For a cultivator to achieve transcendence step by step and break the shackles of the world, they had to recreate another version of themselves within their own Little Universe—an entity that functioned as its own heaven and earth, entirely free from the Rules of Heaven and Earth that governed the Great Thousand Worlds. Establishing the Dao Foundation, crossing the Heaven-Soaring Gate, and achieving Golden Core Formation were all merely preparatory steps to nurture this brand-new self.

This new self was, naturally, the so-called Nascent Soul. It originated from the cultivator but achieved transcendence beyond them. Only by possessing a Nascent Soul could one shatter Rule Power and use the power of cause and effect to reverse the order of the cosmos.

At this moment, Zou Feng’s Golden Core had absorbed an immense amount of nutrients. Supplemented by the Nascent Soul External Pill he had just consumed, it was finally on the verge of completion. Deep within its core, that other "self" had already begun to pulse with a faint rhythm. Zou Feng began to continuously comprehend the power of cause and effect, interpreting it through the Poison Dao he was most adept at.

Unsurprisingly, the rhythmic pulsing of his Golden Core triggered celestial phenomena. It was glaringly obvious that the Rules of Heaven and Earth had sensed another rebel attempting to break free from their worldly shackles. And this time, the rebel was exceptionally fierce.

In the very next moment, countless tribulation clouds frantically converged on his location. In just a few breaths, the sheer volume of tribulation clouds had already surpassed the amount Zhu Caiwei had faced during her Nascent Soul Formation.

Watching the scene unfold, Zhu Caiwei couldn’t help but click her tongue in secret dread. Back then, if Zou Feng hadn’t risked the taboo of being tainted by cause and effect to help her, she never would have survived her Celestial Tribulation. The sheer terror of that Heavenly Tribulation still left her palpitating with residual fear to this day. Yet the Celestial Tribulation Zou Feng was about to endure had already amassed clouds several times the size of hers—and they were still growing.

Could anyone even survive this?!

Not only was Zou Feng naturally predisposed to triggering an outrageously powerful Celestial Tribulation, but he was also carrying the added karmic weight of the cause and effect he had absorbed by helping Zhu Caiwei. With all these detrimental factors stacking up, Zhu Caiwei instantly lost the ability to share in everyone else’s optimism. The others present had never experienced a Celestial Tribulation; they were entirely ignorant of its horrors, which allowed them to harbor blind faith in Zou Feng’s success. But as someone who had truly lived through it, she was already gripped by an overwhelmingly ominous premonition.

Almost simultaneously, atop an unnamed mountain peak, Undying Master suddenly opened his eyes.

"It has finally begun..." he muttered. "It seems the fortune of my Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect has not declined after all!"

After a moment of profound emotion, Undying Master turned toward the direction of the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect, bowed deeply, and said, "Senior Brother Sect Leader, there is no need to wait any longer. Initiate it immediately!"

From the void, a voice echoed out, sounding as though it had traveled through time from the ancient era. "Undying, do you truly think that highly of him?"

Remaining bowed, Undying Master replied, "Senior Brother Sect Leader, whenever our Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect faces a great calamity, a disciple will always emerge to meet the tribulation. Was it not the same for you back in your day?"

The entity in the void pondered for a moment before answering, "Very well. I shall notify the Celestial Dao Cauldron. It is time to thoroughly eradicate these two scourges."

"And what of the Dubhe Divine Domain...?"

"No matter. The Dubhe Divine Domain has hidden itself deeply enough, but they made one fatal oversight. It won’t be long before Luo Hou and the others can lock onto its coordinates." At this point, the Sect Leader changed the subject. "Undying, there is no need for you to be overly anxious about matters on my end. After all, rushing things will do no good."

"But Senior Brother, you..."

"Enough, enough. Just remember not to do anything foolish. We will leave it at that!"

Before his final words had even faded, the Sect Leader’s aura vanished entirely. Undying Master straightened his posture and let out a faint sigh.

A moment later, a heaven-shaking explosion suddenly erupted, followed by the continuous, resonant tolling of bells. Undying Master gazed into the distance. There, the Celestial Dao Cauldron, which had always hovered motionlessly high above the gates of the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect, was actually beginning to move.

Simultaneously, a majestic and solemn voice echoed from the direction of the sect. "All disciples, hear my command..."

Meanwhile, Zou Feng naturally had no idea that massive, transformative events had just been set into motion at the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect. He was still fully immersed in comprehending the power of cause and effect. As his understanding deepened, the Golden Core within his Chaotic Space spun faster and faster, its internal rhythm growing ever more pronounced.

Simultaneously, in the high sky where his physical body resided, the density of the converging tribulation clouds had reached an absolutely absurd level. Even Li Chengxin was deeply astonished. He had already been taken aback by the fact that Zou Feng was attempting Nascent Soul Formation right then and there. Now, witnessing the tribulation clouds Zou Feng was drawing in, Li Chengxin’s surprise morphed into sheer disbelief—he couldn’t begin to fathom how anyone could possibly survive this Celestial Tribulation. For a tribulation to reach such an apocalyptic scale... this wasn’t overcoming a trial; this was a blatant death wish!

Not to mention, there was still an unfathomable chess piece on the board that even he couldn’t see through. All signs pointed to the fact that Zou Feng had long since fallen into the schemes of some almighty figure; there was simply no way he would survive this tribulation unscathed.

Thinking of this, a wave of melancholy washed over Li Chengxin. It wasn’t out of sympathy for Zou Feng, but rather the sudden realization that he would no longer have the chance to leech off Zou Feng’s fortune.

"Tsk," Li Chengxin muttered. "The Child of Fortune of our Immortal Sect, and in the end, he’s just a chess piece in someone else’s hands..."