Chapter 607: The True Immortal Tribulation

"Xiao Nanfeng, how's Yin Peng doing now?" Ao Canghai asked.

The other Martial Aspects all stared at Xiao Nanfeng, clearly shocked and annoyed that he had made it out alive despite having been trapped with Yin Peng.

"I don't know." Xiao Nanfeng shook his head.

"How can you not know? Wasn't he chasing you?" the Martial Aspect of Violetfrost retorted in disbelief.

"I lured him into the Eastern Sea, then hid within the red moon illusory realm. By the time I came out, he was gone," Xiao Nanfeng replied.

The Martial Aspects: ...

None of them believed Xiao Nanfeng's nonsense, but they didn't know how to refute what he had said, either.

"Right, in accordance with our agreement, will you hand me the lion and elephant spirits' carcasses now?"

The Martial Aspects felt disgusted by Xiao Nanfeng's sunny smile. All that work—and it was Xiao Nanfeng who would benefit!

The Martial Aspect of Violetfrost retrieved the two carcasses, beheaded them, claimed their storage treasures, and even claimed their inner cores before handing the headless carcasses to Xiao Nanfeng.

"Those inner cores are clearly part of their bodies," Zhang Lingjun commented icily.

"Princess, the inner cores are clearly separate from the carcasses themselves," the Martial Aspect of Violetfrost replied.

Zhang Lingjun, annoyed, was just about to protest on Xiao Nanfeng's behalf when he stopped her. "It's alright, Princess."

Zhang Lingjun continued to glare at the Martial Aspect of Violetfrost in dissatisfaction.

"Once again, Eastern Aspect, Martial Aspects, I thank you for protecting Yongding." Xiao Nanfeng smiled.

Ao Canghai's brows furrowed lightly. "We Martial Aspects will carry out the Heavenly Emperor's orders to the best of our ability, of course. As for everything else, you'll have to handle it yourself."

Xiao Nanfeng nodded.

Ao Canghai and the Martial Aspects turned to leave. They felt angry just catching sight of Xiao Nanfeng.

"Princess, thank you for your help today," Xiao Nanfeng said.

"There's no need for such formalities," Zhang Lingjun said gently, her face taking on a pink tinge.

Within Dayin's imperial study, Yin Shenhua glanced at a number of worried subordinates standing before him.

"There's no need to worry. I'm not badly injured, and will recover after just a few days. If only I were at my peak! I'd easily squash Ao Canghai underfoot as if I were crushing an ant," Yin Shenhua gritted out.

"Your Majesty, we've just received word that Luye has fallen. The entire bandit-quelling army has been obliterated," one official reported.

"The Immortal city of Luye?" Yin Shenhua's face fell.

"Ancestral Buddha, would you like us to head over to Luye and reclaim it?" one monk asked.

Yin Shenhua considered the situation for a moment before shaking his head. "Don't bother."

"Why not, Ancestral Buddha?"

"Peng'er being lured out and the subsequent fall of Luye must have been carefully plotted. If you head there now and act carelessly, you might end up being ambushed yourself," Yin Shenhua warned.

"An ambush?" Yin Shenhua's subordinates gaped.

"We've lost too much today and can't afford to take any more risks. Right now, Dayin is the only divine empire that is openly against the Imperial Court; the other divine empires are just watching us struggle. This isn't how the situation should be. They need to commit to the rebellion themselves, or all that we've accomplished thus far will only be in service to them," Yin Shenhua said coldly.

"Understood!"

"I need to recuperate. As for the rest of you, figure out what's going on in Luye and see what Dazheng's planning. We'll decide on a strategy then. Have the other divine empires strike alongside me and take down the eighteen Martial Aspects of the Eastern Quadrant."

"Understood!"

Just then, Yin Shenhua glanced sharply into the air. His face turned colder than ever.

"What's wrong, Ancestral Buddha?" one monk asked.

"The sea of fortune—Peng'er's dead," Yin Shenhua spat out.

"What?!" everyone cried out.

"Investigate what happened!" Yin Shenhua demanded.

"Understood!"

As dawn broke, the situation in Yongding and Luye was revealed to forces neighboring Dazheng and Dayin.

When those of power learned of the news, they were astounded. They stared at their reports in disbelief.

"The bandit-quelling army was completely wiped out? How could this be?"

"The demon-slaying army took down Luye... That's impossible!"

"Yin Peng is badly wounded, his whereabouts are unknown... Yin Shenhua sustained serious injuries in Yongding and fled? Who wrote this nonsensical report?"

Thundering in outrage, monarchs, lords, and administrators demanded to speak with the spies who had issued such reports, who confirmed and stood by what they had written, as impossible to believe as it was. Dazheng had secured a massive victory in their second confrontation, once again.

It all seemed fantastical. How could an ordinary empire have taken down a divine empire.

Countless forces sent more and more spies to Dazheng and Yongding to figure out just what was going on.

Meanwhile, Xiao Nanfeng's main body had headed to a secluded island on the Eastern Sea.

He sat cross-legged in meditation as the black lotus floated alongside him.

"This is the roc's storage bangle, and there's quite a few treasures within, including Golden Immortal relics and a large number of top-notch pills. I suppose they should be enough for your ascension," the black lotus murmured.

Xiao Nanfeng considered the relics and pills before him as he nodded. "In addition to the three Golden Immortal inner cores I ingested, they should be enough."

He slashed at a resplendent golden bowl before him, causing roiling golden energy to gush out. He absorbed it all into his body, then repeated the process with a flaming kasaya.

The fact that he was destroying Golden Immortal relics just to get at the flames and energy within them—if others knew of what he was doing, they would surely call him a wastrel. At that moment, however, Xiao Nanfeng couldn't care less. Advancing his cultivation was paramount.

He swallowed the top-notch pills in bulk as well, causing flames to flare all over his body.

The black lotus explained, "There are six grades of Immortals. The lower three grades involve cultivating your qi, your body, and your bones. These form the foundation of your strength and cultivation. As for the upper three grades, those involve contemplating on your path and on natural law as you forge your own way toward the heavens. During your tribulation, meditate on your purpose and see if you can identify your attunement."

Xiao Nanfeng didn't respond. He closed his eyes and sensed his cultivation advancing in leaps and bounds.

Within his dantian, his ten golden crows grew larger than before—not in terms of size, but more like maturity, as though they had gone beyond fledglings and were now trending toward adulthood. The Imposing Avatar of Rulai shone with incandescent light that seemed to be infused with implacable will. The Jade Emperor's Frame's manifestation was the most muted. It shone like nurturing jade, as though in possession of the strength to purify the entire world.

His body resonated as he underwent yet another metamorphosis.

After an indeterminate period of time, lightning crackled overhead. Dark clouds surged toward him out of nowhere, covering a now-raging stretch of sea.

A tribulation had arrived, Xiao Nanfeng's True Immortal tribulation.

The black lotus rushed into the distance to avoid the tribulation, lest its presence disturb the advancement.

It peered carefully at the tribulation once it was sufficiently far away.

"There's something wrong with that tribulation! The True Immortal tribulation of the Thousand Buddhas I underwent was fifth in intensity out of all known tribulations. His tribulation, however, is the most intense, the most destructive—the tribulation of Immortal Annihilation!"the black lotus gasped. It shouted, "Xiao Nanfeng, summon the superior yin pearl, now!"

Afar, Xiao Nanfeng stood up and prepared to undergo his tribulation. When he heard the black lotus' cries, he cocked his head in confusion, but quickly changed to his True Yin body. A silver moon rose into the air.

The tribulation of Immortal Annihilation had locked in on Xiao Nanfeng; it didn't matter whether he was in his physical or spiritual body. The dark clouds roiled as an increasingly frightening aura gathered around him.

"Superior Yin Pearl, hurry over now!" the black lotus called out.

Xiao Nanfeng's silver moon flew toward the black lotus as Xiao Nanfeng transformed back into his physical body and looked up at the skies.

The black lotus said, "Xiao Nanfeng's undergoing the tribulation of Immortal Annihilation. In the annals of history, none have ever survived this tribulation—at the very least, I've never heard of anyone undergoing it as a Heaven Immortal. However, if anyone can do it, it's Xiao Nanfeng."

The silver moon considered the black lotus' words. Although it didn't respond, it bobbed up and down, as though nodding and agreeing with the black lotus.

"These tribulations occur as a matter of course, and the heavens above don't tend to pay much attention to them. However, if any Immortal manages to survive the tribulation of Immortal Annihilation—that's a completely different story altogether. You don't want to be exposed to the heavens' attention, do you?"

The silver moon was silent.

"Xiao Nanfeng's cultivation is still too weak for him to survive heavenly attention. We need to work together to reverse yin and yang, to seal this domain from heavenly sight. I know you can do it. We'll only need to work together this once, but we have to do it quick!"

The silver moon didn't hesitate. Silver light burst forth from its body, a clear sign of agreement.