Chapter 710: The Real and Fake Myriad Laws Dao Monarch

"What in the world?" Gu Xie wondered if he had heard wrong.

How could the Nine-Nine Immortal Tribulation suddenly appear?

Are you the Demigod or am I?

Besides, he had never heard of a lightning tribulation called the "Nine-Nine Immortal Tribulation"!

What in the world is this Nine-Nine Immortal Tribulation? Did I miss a relevant ancient text?

From the Nine-Nine Immortal Tribulation, Gu Xie witnessed the Yuqing Heavenly Tribulation, the Heaven and Earth Great Lightning Tribulation, and the Nirvana Purple Lightning Tribulation. It was as if every known lightning tribulation had converged into one.

Boom.

Before the Nine-Nine Immortal Tribulation had even fully materialized, its residual power had already leveled mountain peaks, and several large boulders rained down, landing near their feet.

Outside the illusion, Dai Bufan's eyes twitched with alarm.

He had intended to observe how the Grand Patriarch would overcome his inner demons. However, before the Grand Patriarch's demons even emerged, a sudden flash of lightning momentarily blinded him.

"Whose inner demon is this?!"

What mere mortal's inner demon could cause such a disturbance? Even the lightning tribulation he faced when ascending to the Body Integration stage wasn't as formidable as this!

"The one named Gu Junye," the River Spirit said, creating a chair from water and sitting down with his legs crossed.

He controlled all inner demons and knew the origin of each.

Dai Bufan whirled his head around, fixing his gaze on Meng Jingzhou. "You owe me an explanation," he stated.

Meng Jingzhou was about to pull Lu Yang into taking the blame, but then he remembered that Lu Yang had vanished even before the second round of trials began. He silently wondered if Lu Yang, that cunning rascal, had anticipated trouble and fled beforehand.

"Well, children often have vivid imaginations."

"What is the Grand Patriarch's inner demon?" Dai Bufan asked the River Spirit curiously.

The River Spirit waved his hand. "He might have had inner demons in the past, but they're gone now. If he hadn't idly decided to team up, he would have passed this trial by himself."

The Innate Daoist truly had no inner demons. He did during the Great Yu period, but ever since he witnessed contemporary cultivators' inner demons being captured on Prisoner Peak, his own had vanished.

Gu Xie's eyes twitched, fixed on the circling lightning tribulation above. If he acted, his identity would be exposed. If he didn't, he would be struck dead and fail the trial.

Why was I so foolish as to team up with you three just now?

The Innate Daoist, who had never witnessed a lightning tribulation of such immense scale in his life, praised in a low voice, "Truly worthy of the Myriad Laws Dao Lord; even his inner demons are this potent."

Gu Xie's expression was even more bewildered than when he first encountered the lightning tribulation. "Who is the Myriad Laws Dao Lord?" he asked.

The Innate Daoist pointed at Gu Junye. "He is, he's the reincarnation of the Myriad Laws Dao Lord."

Gu Xie froze. If he was the Myriad Laws Dao Lord, then who was Gu Xie?

Gu Xie quickly realized that Gu Junye was an imposter.

How reckless!

Wait, no, that's not right. The world only knows the Myriad Laws Dao Lord as a Tribulation Transcending cultivator, unaware that he was actually a Demigod long ago. A Tribulation Transcending cultivator cannot encounter an Immortal Ascension Tribulation!

How did Gu Junye know he was a Demigod?

He casually asked Gu Junye, "How did you know the Myriad Laws Dao Lord is a Demigod? I've never heard that before."

Gu Junye turned, a hint of loneliness in his eyes, as if recalling a past life. "What Demigod? The Myriad Laws Dao Lord is, of course, in the Tribulation Transcending stage."

"How could a Tribulation Transcending cultivator possibly overcome an Immortal Ascension Tribulation?!" Gu Xie retorted, feeling utterly deceived.

Gu Junye's lips curved into a mocking smile. "Achieving immortality means achieving it; failing means failing. There is no such thing as a 'Demigod'," he stated meaningfully.

"It's simply nonsense spouted by mortals."

Gu Xie initially intended to argue, but upon closer consideration, he found Gu Junye's words surprisingly sensible.

Gu Junye then ignored Gu Xie. In reality, he knew nothing of a 'Demigod' realm and had simply been playing along with Gu Xie's earlier statement.

Gazing at the fully formed Nine-Nine Immortal Tribulation above them, he calmly declared, "It's alright. Since this matter originated with me, I shall bring it to an end."

To the astonishment of the three, Gu Junye slowly ascended, directly confronting the lightning tribulation!

Gu Junye stood unmoving, bathed in the lightning tribulation, as if a figure from ancient eons had manifested, everlasting and eternal.

In that instant, Gu Xie felt as though the other person was the true Myriad Laws Dao Lord, and he was merely an imposter.

The next moment, Gu Xie and Hanhai Dao Lord simultaneously realized the truth: Gu Junye was undeniably a mortal. The reason he could fly up and face the tribulation, enduring every strike without harm, was because they were in an illusion!

Inner demons are figments of imagination, and one's own strength can be imagined into existence as well!

The realization brought immense relief to both of them.

If strength could be conjured by imagination, then all would be well.

Hanhai Dao Lord saw this as an excellent opportunity to discover his own inner demons.

Unless he opened his heart, the River Spirit wouldn't be able to reveal his inner demons.

Gu Xie and Hanhai Dao Lord's strength surged instantly. They imagined themselves transforming from mere mortals into Tribulation Transcending cultivators, then fought alongside Gu Junye, bracing themselves against the lightning tribulation.

The Innate Daoist, whose imagination fell short, could only stand by and watch from below.

The three joined forces to resist the lightning tribulation.

"Why is this lightning tribulation so incredibly powerful?" Gu Xie muttered to himself, realizing with a grim sense of foreboding that the tribulation was far more ferocious than it appeared.

Meanwhile, Zhou Xinger was also trapped within her inner demons, being scolded by her mother.

"I've raised you for so long! Go find a good family to marry into later, and you can earn some spirit stones to support your brother's cultivation!"

Zhou Xinger remained timid and silent.

The thunder descended, imbued with boundless power, as if to tear open the heavens and reshape the universe.

"This is the Yuqing Heavenly Tribulation," Gu Junye explained, recalling its description from ancient texts he had seen sold at market stalls.

Gu Xie's mouth was smoking from the intensity of the strikes. He was barely holding on; forgetting about eliminating the other three, he was doing well just to avoid being eliminated himself.

Hanhai Dao Lord, possessing a genuine lightning spirit root, had his own unique methods for handling lightning tribulations, making him fare better than Gu Xie.

Gu Junye had imagined resisting lightning tribulations countless times; he could overcome every one except the eighty-first.

"You have a dual spirit root? Perfect! Transplant your spirit root to your brother so he can cultivate; his cultivation talent is certainly superior to yours!"

Zhou Xinger continued to be lectured and pointed at by her mother, who, with a fierce expression and spitting as she spoke, left her with her head bowed, unable to retort.

"This is the Nirvana Purple Lightning Tribulation!"

Purple heavenly lightning descended, tearing through space and annihilating all it touched. The three of them were blasted to the brink of death.

Gu Xie was charred black all over. Hanhai Dao Lord and Gu Junye weren't much better off; all three were severely wounded, without a single patch of unscathed skin after eighty lightning strikes.

Gu Xie glared at Gu Junye with burning resentment. "Once I conquer the Wendao Sect, you'll be the first to die!"

*Crack!*

The eighty-first lightning tribulation descended. The three braced themselves and, finally, overcame it.

*Thud*. All three crashed to the ground simultaneously, landing in a crater, their lives hanging by a thread.

"Are you saying a Demigod infiltrated the entrance trial?" the Eldest Senior Sister asked, her eyelid twitching as she listened to Lu Yang's report.

"Yes, that person is named Gu Xie, but his true name is unknown."

Lu Yang was about to add more, but the Eldest Senior Sister raised a hand, cutting him off.

"Junior brother, wait a moment. I sense someone is using me as their inner demon. I should go take a look."

"It's finally over," Gu Xie sighed, a release he hadn't felt in a long time. He had worried that if he were struck any further, he wouldn't be able to resist using his nascent Dao Fruit.

The nascent Dao Fruit was undoubtedly not something a mortal could imagine, and using it would instantly reveal his true identity.

Gu Xie had blocked the River Spirit's senses, so from the River Spirit's perspective, Gu Xie had no inner demons.

Surely, this was the end.

Before Gu Xie could even take two breaths, an immense pressure descended from the sky, even more terrifying than the previous Nine-Nine Immortal Tribulation.

He looked up to see a female cultivator suspended in the air, her back to the sun, her features obscured, appearing divine.

Hanhai Dao Lord's inner demon — Yun Zhi.