Chapter 342 Nascent Soul Tribulation

Thunder and lightning dominated the sky, which had been clear only moments ago, over the mountains and forests. A vast heavenly might descended, and rolling black clouds hurled bolts of lightning upon the forest. Faint sutras echoed between heaven and earth.

Xiaomiao, the weakest among the group, turned pale. Fortunately, Xi Lian quickly grabbed her and flew beyond the reach of the black clouds, preventing the child from being grievously injured.

Qing Yanzi frowned. "Where did that heavenly tribulation come from?"

Mu Wanxuan pointed at the center of the formation. "Junior Brother."

"I know he's the one who triggered it," Qing Yanzi replied. He then faltered as he sensed a pair of eyes gazing upon him from within the clouds. His expression quickly darkened. "Go, now! If the heavenly tribulation deems us Little Sheng's helpers, its power will multiply several times over!"

Mu Wanxuan glanced worriedly at Wang Sheng, who sat under the heavenly tribulation. However, she knew better than to act rashly. Together with her master, she fled at full speed toward Xi Lian's position.

Right after they left, the black clouds in the sky began to churn, revealing the true tribulation cloud—a vast curtain of gray clouds that was slowly rotating and brewing patches of light in its depths.

Qing Yanzi frowned. "Can breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm really summon a heavenly tribulation?"

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Xi Lian shook her head. "I have only heard of Golden Core tribulations. If a Golden Core reaches a certain quality, it may trigger one, but the cultivators who managed to do that in ancient times could be counted on one hand. I've never heard of a Nascent Soul tribulation."

"Even so, that means this is a good sign." Qing Yanzi breathed a deep sigh of relief. "To face heavenly tribulation means he has drawn heaven's disfavor. Little Sheng's Nascent Soul must be extraordinary. We had feared something had gone wrong with his breakthrough, but who would have thought it would come to this instead?"

Convinced, calmness replaced the worry on Mu Wanxuan's delicate face.

"The Heavenly Tribulation Executor facing tribulation himself? Now that is interesting." Xi Lian giggled as she took out her phone from her storage artifact. She then switched to professional filming mode and began recording the scene from afar.

The tribulation brewed for several minutes before lightning struck Wang Sheng, engulfing him completely. Caught in the blast, the upper half of the great tree behind him shattered, and the trunk turned pitch black.

Fearing for Wang Sheng's life, the four watching from a distance grew tense with worry. Yet when the lightning faded, he was still seated. The wooden hairpin that bound his hair had turned to dust, allowing his long hair to spill over his shoulders, but apart from that, he was completely unscathed. Even his Flowing Celestial Robe was undamaged.

Two minutes later, lightning struck once more. Wang Sheng still sat motionless, cultivating as if nothing had happened. It seemed as though he had not even realized he was undergoing tribulation.

"Wha...?" At a loss for words, Qing Yanzi could only stare in helplessness and disbelief.

Ever since his second disciple had emerged from the Earth Qi Seal, he could no longer be assessed based on common sense.

Five bolts of lightning struck in succession, yet Wang Sheng just kept cultivating in silence. The violent heavenly tribulation had reduced the small grove around him to rubble. The ground had been pitted and scarred, and some other parts of the forest had caught fire.

Nevertheless, he stayed in a state of comprehension.

"Even I wouldn't be able to endure that heavenly tribulation!" Xi Lian muttered as she filmed with her phone. She then pursed her lips. "To treat the heavenly tribulation with such disregard... He's even more arrogant than Daoist Master Qinglin. Someone should seriously cut down his pride."

Seemingly provoked, the tribulation cloud above began to turn. At its center, a vortex formed, spinning tighter and tighter. Bolts of lightning gathered within it as the heavenly might's pressure grew even more oppressive.

Finally, Wang Sheng opened his eyes, and his dazed look gradually cleared. He even stretched lazily. His Dao Body then crackled with explosions, and a tide of pure, dense enchanted power burst forth, surging in every direction.

Wang Sheng instantly calmed his mind, formed hand signs, and guided the enchanted power back into him. He could not let them go to waste.

Before he could act further, over a dozen lightning bolts struck from the vortex. Merging into a pillar as thick as a barrel, they crashed down and swallowed him once more.

Mu Wanxuan reflexively covered her eyes, while Qing Yanzi's eyelids twitched uncontrollably.

Xi Lian stuck out her tongue and whispered, "That has nothing to do with me..."

Xiaomiao, who had just recovered from the earlier oppressive pressure, glared at Xi Lian before looking worriedly at the dazzling lightning.

The sixth bolt seemed like a colossal lightning tree standing between heaven and earth.

When the light dispersed, Wang Sheng emerged again. Though he now had a slight frown, he was still unharmed. He had even begun studying the structure of the tribulation cloud above.

This tribulation's power was on par with the ones that he had summoned. It was but a "mortal tribulation," which he had long grown accustomed to. He simply felt as though he had switched from bathing with a bucket to standing directly under a shower.

The structure of the tribulation cloud itself was far more intriguing. It had given him new insights, including a method of concentrating the lightning's force to multiply its strength.

Once again, patches of light bloomed within the tribulation cloud. This time, the entire mass pressed down on Wang Sheng. It seemed intent on punishing the cultivator who dared face the heavenly tribulation without a single measure of defense. Soon, the seventh bolt struck, its condensed lightning nearly thirty percent stronger than the sixth.

Wang Sheng raised his left hand, and golden enchanted power surged from it, forming a thick shield. It held for nearly two seconds, dispersing almost half the thunderbolt's force before shattering with a metallic ping. Lightning swallowed him again, making arcs of electricity crawl across the ground. He savored the experience carefully, testing the strength of his newly improved physique.

Without warning, the eighth bolt struck. Wang Sheng raised both arms high and endured it head-on with his power alone. He then stood and grasped Spiritless with his right hand. However, he did not draw it from its scabbard.

Overhead, forty-nine blazing spots in the cloud churned with lightning. It gathered its strength for its final and most fearsome strike. Every lesser tribulation ended at nine, for that was the law of heaven.

"

Letting your Nascent Soul undergo this tribulation is a fated opportunity,

" Yaoyun weakly said through telepathy.

Wang Sheng cleared his mind and closed his eyes. Streams of light converged at his chest, right beside Flying Haze that he had been nurturing. It was as though another sword sought to emerge. He then shone golden, turning half-transparent. Pure Yang Enchanted Power filled him.

As lightning flared in the sky, golden light burst from Wang Sheng and shot into the heavens!

The four onlookers gazed up instinctively at the column of light. At its peak, a tiny figure appeared in a blur of radiance, raising a tiny sword straight toward the heavens. Behind the figure spun a Tai Chi diagram. Under it, countless stars flickered.

His Nascent Soul had come forth!

Wang Sheng had spent dozens of days forging this breakthrough, merging Golden Core with Primordial Soul, and creating the very foundation of his immortal path.

One's Nascent Soul was usually the very core of cultivation. However, since it was inherently fragile, most cultivators went to great lengths to protect it within their Dao Body. Some were even more willing to lose limbs than let their Nascent Soul be harmed.

Wang Sheng took the unorthodox path. He released his Nascent Soul from his body and into the open sky, making it face heaven's might and the crushing force of tribulation lightning.

Forty-nine bolts merged into a single pillar and struck the soaring Nascent Soul head-on with a force seemingly strong enough to even split mountains! Even so, Wang Sheng's Nascent Soul resisted it!

The tiny figure was Wang Sheng himself. It was his soul, his spirit, his Dao!

Raising a starlight sword, it instantly unleashed countless sword phantasms. They merged into a strike and clashed with the lightning pillar.

Heavenly Ziwei Sword!

The enchanted power around the Nascent Soul ignited the primal qi of heaven and earth. Though seemingly unstoppable, the massive lightning pillar shattered inch by inch against the surging radiance of the sword.

Countless shockwaves tore across the sky. Primal qi fluctuated, and the world seemingly reeled and shifted. The onlookers couldn't see what was happening or even discern it with their spiritual senses.

Only Xi Lian, who had the highest cultivation and spiritual perception, managed to catch fragments of the scene.

The small figure shattered the heavenly tribulation and charged into the tribulation cloud. Moments later, the lightning dissipated. Though Wang Sheng, who was wrapped in lightning, still stood below, the small figure was nowhere to be seen.

Just as they hastily spread out their spiritual senses to search, the tribulation cloud above, which should have already dispersed, stirred once more. It rapidly shrank and collapsed inward until a vast inverted funnel hung above.

At the funnel's tip, the small figure shone. It opened its mouth wide, swallowing the tribulation cloud with astonishing speed.

After a while... a belch echoed across a hundred miles.

Enchanted power slowly lifted Wang Sheng into the air as the small figure began to descend. It opened its left hand and gathered threads of lightning until they condensed into a second sword—The Sword of Tribulation.

In its right hand was the Ziwei sword, in its left the heavenly tribulation sword. Still unsatisfied, the small figure looked behind at the Tai Chi diagram behind it. Light flickered as the diagram slowly merged and then instantly formed the Sword of Dual Polarity.

With three swords encircling it, the small figure descended into Wang Sheng's chest. Radiance flared as it merged perfectly with his Dao Body. Now, as long as the Nascent Soul endured, he would still have a chance to retreat even if his Dao Body were gravely wounded.

Even if only his Nascent Soul survived, he could keep living for a long time. This was the Dao of the Primordial Spirit's great advantage.

He hovered in the air for a while, then exhaled slowly and opened his eyes. Two beams of sword radiance shot from them, piercing the heavens.

Wang Sheng frowned and looked down. He placed his left hand upon his chest, summoned Flying Haze, and formed a sword finger gesture. Controlling the sword, he began to cut down the burning trees around him.

The ancients once said that a wisp of smoke on the mountain meant fifteen days of fire in the village.

They weren't kidding.