423: The Great Emperor's Tribulation Appears

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, a month had passed since the upheaval that swept through heaven and earth.

During this month, the Xuanhuang Great World seemed to have entered a golden period of rapid development.

The concentration of Spiritual Qi continued to rise steadily, and the Laws of the Great Dao became increasingly clear.

Every day, Cultivators made Breakthroughs. News of the birth of a Saint was no longer as shocking as it had been at first, and all major forces were frantically accumulating strength.

Prodigies either made high-profile challenges to gain fame or practiced low-profile cultivation; the entire world appeared to have entered a flourishing yet tense period of calm.

However, on this day...

Without any warning, the originally clear sky above the Central Region suddenly darkened!

It wasn't that dark clouds were gathering, but rather that the color of the entire sky turned deep and pitch-black in an instant, as if it had been splashed with thick ink!

An indescribable, terrifying Heavenly Might that stood above all things and made even the Souls of Saints tremble began to spread slowly, like a slumbering Primordial God-Fiend awakening, enveloping the entire Central Region.

And at an incredible speed, it spread toward the entire Xuanhuang Great World!

"Buzz—"

A low hum, seemingly originating from the Origin of the Dao, echoed between heaven and earth.

At this moment, the sun, moon, and stars lost their luster. All living beings, from divine birds soaring through the Nine Heavens to insects in the mud...

...all instinctively prostrated themselves on the ground, shivering. It was an absolute suppression on the level of existence itself!

"What happened?"

An Elder of a great sect had just finished lecturing his Disciples. His face was now deathly pale, and the Spiritual Qi in his body was almost stagnant. He looked up at the sky with great difficulty, his eyes filled with infinite fear.

"This pressure is a thousand, ten thousand times more terrifying than a Saint Tribulation! No, it's fundamentally different!"

A Saint who had recently made a Breakthrough felt as small as an ant under this Heavenly Might; even his Dao Heart was trembling.

The Central Region, Western Region, Southern Region, Northern Region, Eastern Region, and the depths of the starry sky... all Cultivators, regardless of their cultivation level or location, felt this palpitation and fear from the depths of their Souls!

Within the Heavenly Secret Pavilion, all the divination dharma plates shattered instantly!

The Heavenly Secret Master suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, but ignoring his injuries, he pointed at the ink-black sky. His old face was filled with extreme horror and disbelief, and his voice was distorted and sharp.

"Emperor Might! This is the aura of a Great Emperor Tribulation! How is this possible?! The world has only been recovering for a month! Who is it? Who is triggering this tribulation?!"

"Could it be that person? The mysterious powerhouse behind the Battle Asura?"

At this moment, the faces of those Prodigies and the older generation who originally had thoughts of proving their Dao turned pale in unison!

"Someone has actually reached this step?!"

Emotions of panic, despair, resentment, and disbelief spread like a plague through the hearts of all the Prodigies who aspired to the emperors path.

All their previous ambitions seemed so pale and powerless in the face of the cruel reality of a sole Great Emperor of the current age!

Although the world continued to recover and might be able to support more Great Emperors in the future, that was merely a vague speculation!

At this moment in the Xuanhuang Great World, no one dared to be certain whether this generation could break the fate of 'one emperor per generation'!

At the same time, in the deepest parts of several Forbidden Zones, fluctuations far more violent and terrifying than those in the outside world erupted!

One by one, the slumbering ancient Supremes were completely startled awake, their voices filled with unbelievable fury and a hint of dread!

These Supremes, who had slashed their own cultivation and remained dormant for eons, felt an unprecedented panic at this moment.

Now that the Golden Great Age had just begun, they hadn't even had time to harvest enough life essence to extend their Lifespans, yet someone was actually going to take the first step and ascend to the Emperor's throne?

This was practically taking their old lives!

Once someone became an Emperor, by relying on the complete Emperor Dao Laws and the Luck of the current age, they would surely rule over the world and command all Daos.

At that time, these Forbidden Zone Supremess would be like rats in a gutter; not only would they be suppressed for another ten thousand years, lingering on in the Forbidden Zones, but they would also have to be constantly on guard against the current Great Emperor's expeditions and liquidations!

"If they succeed, the moment they are weakened from Undergoing Tribulation will be the day we emerge!

Even if we have to break our seals early and exhaust our Origin, we must join forces to strangle them!!"

Even Gu Changge couldn't help but turn his gaze toward the Central Region.

"Is it him?"

Gu Changge looked at the figure beneath the Lightning Tribulation and recognized him.

This person was exactly the Quasi-Emperor Old Blind Man who lived in seclusion at the Dao Zang Academy, Xing Tianao.

When Gu Changge had previously used his Divine Sense to investigate the Xuanhuang Great World, he had seen this person and paid a little attention to him.

The Silent Great Emperor, Xiao Hei, and Xiao Bai also walked out. Feeling the world-destroying Heavenly Tribulation, their eyes held a few hints of expectation.

Just as the billions upon billions of living beings in the entire Xuanhuang Great World cast their gazes toward the Central Region...

...at the very center of that ink-black tribulation cloud that seemed to have swallowed all light, the endless lightning had yet to fall. Only a blurry figure floated there quietly.

He didn't release any powerful aura around him, yet he seemed to be the center of the entire world, facing that terrifying Heavenly Might alone that was enough to make the Ten Thousand Daos collapse.

Within the tribulation cloud, Chaos Qi began to swirl, scenes of the creation of heaven and earth flickered, and phantoms of ancient God-Fiends roared.

That was no longer lightning, but the interrogation of the Dao, the manifestation of rules, and the final and most cruel test for achieving the Supreme Emperor's throne!

The Great Emperor Tribulation had descended!

A flash of lightning illuminated Xing Tianao's set of washed-out, coarse hemp clothes.

This seemingly ordinary figure caused all living beings in the Xuanhuang Great World to feel an inexplicable palpitation.

It was a kind of determination that 'once my Dao is formed, I shall not fear ten thousand tribulations,' and a calmness from having experienced eons of dormancy to finally touch the end of the emperors path.

A greyish Chaos Divine Lightning, as thick as a mountain, struck down from the Nine Heavens. Everywhere it passed, space was not just torn apart but directly returned to Chaos, manifesting earth, water, fire, and wind, as if it wanted to strike all things back to their Origin!

Facing this world-ending strike, Xing Tianao at the center of the tribulation cloud did not dodge.

His hunched body straightened for an instant. He raised his withered right hand, neither dodging nor avoiding, seemingly intending to meet it head-on!

"Boom—!"

The Chaos Divine Lightning struck his body fiercely!

In an instant, the clothes around him turned to ashes, revealing a lean body covered in the Dao marks of time.

The terrifying power of destruction eroded him frantically. His flesh instantly charred and cracked, and even his bones let out groans from being overwhelmed, as if they would completely disintegrate in the next moment.

However, at the very moment this destructive aura reached its peak, a faint yet incredibly resilient red-gold light, like a spark in the dead of winter, lit up tenaciously from the deepest part of his charred husk!

"Crack..."

Large patches of charred skin peeled off like old wall paint.

Under the cracks was not a bloody mess, but a newborn body flowing with a faint divine glow!

His aura did not wither; instead, after the destruction, it welcomed a new life, becoming more solid and more majestic than before!

"Nirvana Fire, seeking life through death!"

An ancient Quasi-Emperor cried out in shock, recognizing this legendary Heaven-Defying technique.

The Old Blind Man's empty eye sockets 'looked' toward the tribulation cloud and spoke for the first time. His voice was hoarse yet carried a terrifying calmness.

"Again!"

Happy New Year's Day, everyone!

Thank you for the gifts; this sentiment really touches me! Also, thank you for your constant support~

I wish everyone success in their studies, smooth work, and great wealth in the new year!

2026, set sail!

May we all have a bright future!