Chapter 262: Few Words, Great Matters – The Ten Thousand Spirits Calamity

"Li Changshou, a disciple of the Dao Sect, today I appeal to the vast heavens!"

Beneath endless black clouds and amidst surging spiritual energy, Li Changshou stood atop a large boulder. His long hair remained still, and his robe did not stir as he gazed up at the black clouds high above.

He called out loudly, his voice overpowering the urgent wind and muffled thunder.

A hundred miles away, four Daoist masters couldn't help but cock their ears, each feeling a bit strange. They wondered why Li Changshou spoke before his tribulation and what he wished to reveal to the Heavenly Dao.

But as Li Changshou's voice echoed through the clouds, Grand-Master Xuandu and Yun Xiao faintly sensed a wisp of vast, unknowable Dao rhythm lingering within them.

The Heavenly Dao, or rather, the Ancestor of the Dao Sect, was truly listening!

This...

Just as Grand-Master Xuandu considered sending a message to warn Li Changshou not to speak carelessly, Li Changshou had already performed a Daoist bow and declared loudly:

"Since entering the Dao Sect and cultivating until now, I am grateful for my masters' kindness and remember the sacred teachings. After enduring hardships and dangers, I have finally attained the Dao realm!

Today, I present my Dao here and humbly request the vast heavens to test me!

If the heavenly tribulation descends and this Dao collapses, it would simply mean this disciple was too eager for success or lacked proficiency in cultivation, and I shall have no regrets!

Heaven is vast, Earth is profound; my Dao is eternally serene!

Thank you, Heavenly Dao, for your care and for bestowing the immortal realm of longevity!"

After finishing his declarations, Li Changshou performed another deep Daoist bow. Then, his form slowly floated upwards, hovering dozens of feet above the peak.

At this moment, Grand-Master Xuandu's expression, as he watched, was somewhat... complex.

Grand-Master Xuandu wanted to laugh, yet also found the situation quite ingenious. After much thought, he could only think to say to Li Changshou, 'As expected of you.'

This young disciple always managed to give him various surprises.

Yun Xiao, standing nearby, also had a smile playing on her lips. She, who had initially been somewhat worried, felt much more at ease now.

Qiong Xiao and Bi Xiao had already burst into laughter...

Bi Xiao said, "If all tribulation-transcenders called out like this, and the power of the heavenly tribulation could be weakened by a few points, then who knows how many Golden Immortals would have appeared from ancient times until now."

However, no sooner had Bi Xiao's words fallen than thunder rumbled above Li Changshou's head!

Li Changshou, within the tribulation, only heard the sound of thunder, but the four disciples of Saints nearby heard a sound that transformed into heavenly might...

'Good!'

Bi Xiao instinctively covered her small mouth, a hint of shock in her eyes.

It really worked?!

Yun Xiao glanced at her younger sister and said, "Do not speak too much; the Heavenly Dao is sensing."

The expressions of the four immediately became even more varied.

The Dao Ancestor showed his presence, heavenly might locked on;

A call before the tribulation received a response.

Yun Xiao secretly glanced at Grand-Master Xuandu, a hint of shame appearing in her beautiful eyes.

Earlier, she had thought this was yet another scheme by Senior Brother Xuandu to deepen her relationship with the Sea God.

Now it seemed, to protect Daoist Sea God and intervene at crucial moments, one person alone might truly not be enough...

Crack—

Electric serpents danced wildly in the air. The surging tribulation clouds began to rapidly contract, sweeping in boundless spiritual energy from a ten-thousand-mile radius. Combining with the mighty heavenly might, they revealed the true form of the heavenly tribulation!

The tribulation clouds directly contracted to three hundred miles and thickened frantically, continuously swirling above Li Changshou's head!

Li Changshou's immortal consciousness was suppressed by the heavenly might; at this moment, he could only barely perceive the unusual state of the tribulation clouds and did not know how they would evolve.

The originally dark and gloomy world suddenly gained streaks of golden light.

The tribulation clouds above resembled a 'wardrobe,' slowly rotating and dyeing the clouds above and below golden.

The golden light intensified, illuminating the world for ten thousand miles around.

And when the golden light receded, the tribulation clouds contracted again, this time transforming into their final form—

A ten-thousand-foot-tall pagoda enveloped in mist!

The pagoda had thirty-three tiers, with high, pointed eaves, and deities appeared at each window. Walking beasts, fierce beasts, divine birds, spiritual fowls – all living beings of heaven and earth could find their corresponding representation within it!

Almost in an instant, Qiong Xiao and a certain black panther a thousand miles away simultaneously spoke out.

"His Golden Immortal Tribulation is actually the Myriad Spirit Tribulation, ranked second!"

"Aowu!"

—The panther's language said:

'It truly is one of the top three Golden Immortal tribulations in legend, and it's the Myriad Spirit Heavenly Tribulation, ranked second!'

The black panther finally breathed a sigh of relief in its heart and smiled smugly.

It definitely wouldn't have to eat tree bark anymore!

This Myriad Spirit Heavenly Tribulation has rarely appeared since ancient times, and there's no record of any living being surviving it!

"Meowu!"

—The panther's language said:

'A heavenly punishment, it truly is a heavenly punishment. There have truly been few Qi Refiners so envied by the heavens after ancient times.'

The black panther comfortably lay down, quietly waiting for the great tribulation to dissipate, and began its subsequent hunting plan.

Now, let's turn to Li Changshou's tribulation site.

Yun Xiao looked at her third sister and asked, "How do these heavenly tribulations have rankings?"

Qiong Xiao chuckled, "Sister, you're always in seclusion, so you naturally wouldn't know this.

This heavenly tribulation ranking was precisely arranged by our Jie School immortals when they had nothing else to do.

At that time, hundreds of people gathered to deduce together, extracting information about different heavenly tribulations from the Heavenly Secrets to provide some reference for the disciples within our Jie School who needed to undergo tribulation."

"There's no other way; our sect has too many members."

Grand-Master Xuandu asked with a smile, "Then what is the Golden Immortal Tribulation ranked first?"

"Senior Brother Xuandu," Bi Xiao whispered, "for both Immortal Ascension Tribulations and Golden Immortal Tribulations, the one ranked first is the Purple Heavens Tribulation."

Bi Xiao softly replied, "Tribulations are born from spirits and suffered by spirits. The Myriad Spirit Tribulation is already the strongest heavenly tribulation the Heavenly Dao will inflict upon living beings.

The Heavenly Secrets deduced at that time manifested in this way."

Grand-Master Xuandu slowly nodded, sighed softly, and said, "Changshou has also reached his limit from when he was a Heavenly Immortal."

Qiong Xiao asked, "Senior Brother Xuandu is also of human origin; what was your Golden Immortal Tribulation like?"

Yun Xiao's face stiffened, and she admonished her, "Do not ask Senior Brother Xuandu about such private matters!"

Qiong Xiao quickly lowered her head and pouted, looking wronged.

Xuandu chuckled, "This is not really a secret.

At that time, Master took me into the Xuanhuang Pagoda and taught me the Great Dao. I don't know how long it was until I fully comprehended all the teachings my Master imparted, and my realm was already above that of a Golden Immortal.

When I left the pagoda, I did not undergo a heavenly tribulation; it should be that the Xuanhuang Pagoda bore it for me...

The three junior sisters probably haven't undergone heavenly tribulations either, have you?"

"Senior Brother is right," Bi Xiao giggled. "When we took human form at the end of ancient times, we were already spirits of longevity."

Grand-Master Xuandu chuckled lightly upon hearing this, as if sensing something, and whispered:

"It's starting."

The three Xiaos also simultaneously looked towards Li Changshou's location.

The tall pagoda in the air began to spin faster; the heavenly tribulation was about to descend!

Li Changshou looked up, and what he saw was only a vortex collapsing inwards, with lightning spots continuously flickering within, as if to swallow him whole.

It's coming.

Li Changshou slowly flew upwards a hundred feet, holding a spiritual treasure iron brush in his hand. Immortal power surged throughout his body, and moving like a phantom, he quickly pasted several black paper talismans on his wrists and chest.

For the first wave of the heavenly tribulation, he intended to resist it with his own strength to test its intensity, so he could choose which plan to activate.

Bring it on!

Zzzzt—

Within the pagoda, inside the vortex, thirty-six lightning spots suddenly extinguished, yet no pillars of lightning or lightning rain fell...

The world was completely silent. Li Changshou also held his breath, fully prepared.

Why did the lightning spots suddenly disappear?

It felt as if the tribulation clouds above were brewing something, gathering something, but it was invisible to the naked eye and undetectable by immortal consciousness.

Suddenly, a thin strand of black lightning appeared in the center of the vortex. This lightning, no thicker than a thumb, traversed layers of heaven and earth, slowly landing on Li Changshou's head!

Three flowers appeared above Li Changshou's head, on his chest, and at his lower abdomen. All three flowers vibrated intensely, his body trembled violently a few times, his face turned red, and he spat out a mouthful of foamy blood, his aura fluctuating wildly!

He had already suffered a minor injury!

What kind of heavenly tribulation was this?

Li Changshou was startled, realizing the situation, and brought up his highest-intensity tribulation-transcending plan. He raised a hand to wipe away the blood from his mouth, watching the forty-nine lightning spots beginning to flicker in the air.

He swallowed a spiritual pill, and Li Changshou focused entirely on sensing.

At this moment, he looked down, only to see that half of the barren mountain below had disappeared into thin air!

His heavenly tribulation was truly difficult to overcome!

Li Changshou slowly took a breath, raised his hand to write the character 'Dao'. Spiritual light flashed all over his body, and talismans activated instantly.

Based on the tribulation of the Forgetful Daoist, he should also have some time to prepa...re...

Li Changshou looked down at his feet again. Unbeknownst to him, the barren mountain, half of which had disappeared, now gushed forth fiery lotus flowers, with clusters of orange flames continuously leaping, enveloping him.

Heavenly fire?

The second wave of heavenly tribulation is here already?!

A wailing wind sound appeared in the vortex above, and at this moment, the forty-nine illuminated lightning spots flashed and extinguished once more!

Another pitch-black tribulation lightning bolt fell!

This time, it was as thick as a baby's arm, still crookedly penetrating layers of heaven and earth, striking towards Li Changshou's forehead...

Li Changshou: ...

Fortunately, he had considered such a possibility beforehand.

"Rise!"

With a soft shout, the 'Dao' character floating before Li Changshou's chest shot into the sky, barely blocking the tribulation lightning.

Then, the iron brush in Li Changshou's hand moved swiftly, writing seven large characters in succession: 'Rise', 'Heaven', 'Earth', 'Law', 'Origin', 'Self', 'Nature'!

These large characters, formed from the tip of the Arbiter's Brush in his hand, flew one after another towards the sky, intermingling with the 'Dao' character, acting like eight barriers to block the small, pitch-black lightning bolt!

Not only that, immortal power surged around Li Changshou's body, the 'Gathering Immortals' talisman on his chest had ignited, and twelve immortal-power-formed petals appeared beneath his feet. The petals closed, encasing his form layer by layer.

These preparations were completed in an instant!

The tribulation lightning struck from above. The eight large characters flashed, each holding on for an instant before being broken one by one!

Meanwhile, the fiery lotus flowers below swept in, licking out individual flames and enveloping Li Changshou's entire body.

The tribulation lightning struck. Li Changshou formed a fist with his left hand and directly smashed it upwards; the blood patterns inscribed on his knuckles shone brightly, directly clashing with the tribulation lightning!

The second pitch-black heavenly lightning bolt flickered a few times, then transformed into a wisp of black smoke falling from the sky and dissipated directly.

Li Changshou's left fist was bloody and mangled, and he again spat out a mouthful of fresh blood...

However, this time it was only his aura trembling. Because he was well-prepared, his previous injuries did not worsen, and his primordial spirit had already stabilized itself.

Although the lightning tribulation dissipated, the surrounding heavenly fire was still calcining Li Changshou's immortal power, and in the air, azure sword shadows continued to fall!

Li Changshou raised his brush to counter, his figure swaying back and forth in the air with the heavenly fire, and the Arbiter's Brush wrote large characters one by one!

As his long hair fluttered, he actually resembled a Fire God descending into the world, with a slight sense of elegance...

The offensive of the second heavenly tribulation lasted for about one-third of an incense stick's time.

Comparing it to the Forgetful Daoist's tribulation, Li Changshou calculated that it was roughly equivalent to the power of the Forgetful Daoist's sixth heavenly tribulation...

After blocking the second heavenly tribulation, Li Changshou also gained confidence. He had thoroughly calculated the power of his third heavenly tribulation and brought out new trump cards.

As the heavenly fire receded, Li Changshou swallowed another pill. He held the Arbiter's Brush in his right hand and a carving knife in his left. Seizing the momentary lull in the tribulation, he wrote the hundred-character Shennong Scripture in mid-air.

In ancient times, there was Shennong, who obtained heavenly grains to plant the five cereals, tasted a hundred herbs to compile medical scriptures, saved countless mortals, and was a human sage, ranked among the Three Sovereigns.

This Shennong Scripture was a chapter praising Shennong's virtues.

No sooner had the glittering hundred characters been written than they rushed towards Li Changshou himself, transforming into intricate talismans, as if clothing him in a treasure robe condensed from talismans.

The third wave of heavenly tribulation did not give him much opportunity to prepare and quickly activated again.

And this time, Li Changshou's heart manifested numerous strange phenomena; it was actually inner demons at work...

This was only the third wave, yet the forms of a typical Golden Immortal Tribulation were already fully displayed!

It's just that these inner demons...

were a bit...

weak.

Li Changshou watched the scenes emerging in his mind's eye. First, his old master appeared before his younger self, suddenly raising a sword to kill him.

Then came his enchanting junior sister, his 'poisonous' junior sister who wore battle robes but disrobed before him, and that smiling, hopping junior uncle...

Uh, why is Junior Sister Youqin always there?

Could it be that in his subconscious, he was truly craving... *Cough*, how could that be? Even if they were inner demons, his junior sister still looked the cutest, and his junior uncle had the most impact.

Shaking his head slightly, Li Changshou began to recall the new version of the 'Robust Hundred Beauties in Old Age' painting in his mind!

With a "ding" sound, his Dao heart became completely clear. He even couldn't help himself, retching twice towards the heavenly tribulation.

The lightning tribulation immediately struck more fiercely.

When the first pitch-black lightning tribulation appeared, even Grand-Master Xuandu couldn't help but feel a pang of concern for Li Changshou and was already preparing to intervene and save him.

This was by no means an ordinary Golden Immortal Tribulation.

Fortunately, Li Changshou endured it;

Not only did he withstand the first wave of heavenly tribulation, but for the second, third, and fourth waves of lightning tribulation as well, Li Changshou also responded appropriately, continuously repelling and shattering the heavenly tribulation, fully bearing it himself!

Li Changshou's Limitless Perfection Dao foundation fully revealed its power; heavenly fire couldn't burn it down, and heavenly wind couldn't cut it!

As the heavenly tribulation grew stronger in leaps and bounds with each wave, Li Changshou revealed more and more divine abilities and spells. Even the well-informed Grand-Master Xuandu felt a bit overwhelmed...

This fellow, when he slew Golden Immortals in the East Sea before, actually hid so many private reserves!

By the fifth wave of heavenly tribulation, Grand-Master Xuandu had already seen on Li Changshou twelve types of defensive divine abilities.

Apart from the scripture-writing-into-law, the Samadhi True Fire, and those few black paper talismans, all others were abilities Li Changshou had not displayed before.

What made Grand-Master Xuandu's eyes light up was undoubtedly the lightning spell Li Changshou had just demonstrated.

Five thunders condensed in his palm, pure yang attracting the Wood God!

Li Changshou actually used lightning to attract lightning, borrowing lightning spells to draw heavenly thunder, indirectly weakening the power of the lightning tribulation within the heavenly tribulation. This could be considered quite original.

It's just that...

"Senior Brother Xuandu," Yun Xiao asked, "Did you give him enough spiritual pills before? His immortal power is being depleted too quickly; I'm worried he won't be able to last later."

"Well," Grand-Master Xuandu mused for a moment, "I only gave him two Nine-Revolutions Golden Pills; I didn't give him any other spiritual pills.

He himself is skilled in alchemy, and he previously received alchemy methods taught by Grand Pure One, so there's no need to worry about that."

Bi Xiao and Qiong Xiao exchanged glances upon hearing this, their eyes sparkling.

Yun Xiao slightly relaxed, continuing to fully focus on Li Changshou's figure, her slender hand already clutching a small golden bucket...

Under the raging heavenly winds and calcining heavenly fire, Li Changshou had now recovered his true appearance. All his disguises had been stripped away by the lightning tribulation, and his robes barely covered him, relying entirely on immortal power to conceal exposed areas.

For the fifth wave of heavenly tribulation, Li Changshou resisted with all his might. His injuries slightly worsened, and his immortal power was already more than half depleted.

The medicinal power of the spiritual pills within him continued to spread, and the medicinal power of the pills that enhanced lightning spell resistance was once again completely consumed.

Li Changshou opened his mouth and swallowed two spiritual pills, looking up to observe the changes in the tribulation cloud vortex...

Just then, three figures flew out from the distant forest. Each hastily wrote the character 'Nuo' (move) with their brushes, struck it with their bodies, and with a swish, vanished!

When these three figures reappeared, they were already a hundred feet away from Li Changshou, rapidly rushing towards him.

Qiong Xiao almost instinctively moved to intervene, already gripping the Golden Flood Dragon Scissors in her hand, but Yun Xiao extended a plain hand, stopping Qiong Xiao's movement.

"They are his avatars."

The three avatars quickly flew to Li Changshou's side, each extending their palms and pressing them against Li Changshou's body.

Immortal power flowed back. Li Changshou took a deep breath; the three paper Daoists quickly deflated, turning into three paper figures that he held in his hand and placed into the treasure pouch hidden at his waist.

Immortal power, fully restored!

Divine light surged in Li Changshou's eyes. The tribulation clouds above trembled slightly, eighty-one lightning spots flickered, and divine lightning, as thick as a bucket and black with purple hues, fiercely struck down from the air.

Heavenly lightning invoked earthly fire, gale winds aided profound ice!

Below, flames surged forth again, wind swords sliced down beside the lightning tribulation, and long spears formed from profound ice stabbed towards all parts of Li Changshou's body from all directions!

With a soft shout from Li Changshou, immortal light surged around his body as he unleashed all his techniques again, his figure moving as fast as an illusion to counter the heavenly tribulation's assault.

But the sixth wave seemed to have something new...

Li Changshou at this moment could not see the abnormal phenomena above, but Grand-Master Xuandu and the other three could clearly see:

Within that ten-thousand-foot pagoda, hundreds of figures leaped from the lowest three tiers' windows, rapidly falling downwards.

"Kill—"

Shouts of killing suddenly appeared amidst the thunder!

Li Changshou, who was currently dealing with the five tribulations of wind, fire, lightning, ice, and inner demons, quickly looked up, only to see hundreds of humanoid figures in the air, like heavenly soldiers, carrying a surging aura of slaughter, rushing down.

Holy crap, did the heavenly tribulation gain sentience?

*Cough*, this should be transformations of the heavenly tribulation's power, fundamentally the same as lightning tribulations and such.

Li Changshou naturally dared not be careless. To be safe, before these figures could rush down, he immediately summoned ten paper Daoists. These paper Daoists bypassed the raging heavenly tribulation, rushed high into the sky, then activated all their immortal power, each throwing out dozens of...

jade immortal beans!

Popping sounds were incessant as hundreds of immortal bean warriors appeared in the air, charging towards the figures rushing down from above.

The advantage of the Paper Daoist-Bean Soldier system was now undeniably apparent.

Li Changshou didn't need to expend extra immortal power; the immortal power for the paper Daoists had already been prepared beforehand.

Of course, these immortal bean soldiers were just testing the waters; if they could delay for a bit, that would be even better, preventing Li Changshou from being flustered and overwhelmed.

Tsk, today's heavenly tribulation truly did not disappoint him; all 'new' moves that the Forgetful Daoist had not experienced...