78: Chapter 78 The Heavenly Tribulation is Approaching
Returning from the back mountain, Lu Mingyuan sensed something was wrong.
The sky was still the same sky, the mountain the same mountain, and the ancient temple the same ancient temple. But something had changed.
He couldn't say what it was. It was just a feeling—like the stifling heat before a storm, the silence as a predator draws near, as if something were watching him from the heavens.
He stood in the courtyard, looking up at the sky.
The sky was very blue, clear and bright. A few white clouds drifted slowly by, leisurely and carefree.
But he knew that beneath that blue, something was hidden.
Xuanweizi came out of the east wing and walked to his side.
"Do you feel it?"
Lu Mingyuan nodded.
"I feel it."
"What does it feel like?"
Lu Mingyuan thought for a long time before finding a word.
"Being watched."
Xuanweizi nodded.
"Then that's right. The Heavenly Dao is watching you."
The Heavenly Dao is watching you.
These five words sounded ordinary, but thinking deeply on them was terrifying.
The Heavenly Dao was the rule of all things, the fate of all living beings. What did it mean to be watched by it?
"Master," Lu Mingyuan asked, "is the Heavenly Dao watching this Disciple because it is about to send down a tribulation?"
Xuanweizi shook his head.
"It doesn't watch to send it; it sends it and then watches. It has always been watching. It's just that you have reached Body Integration Perfection and can now sense it."
He looked at the sky, his gaze calm.
"The Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulation is the greatest hurdle for a Cultivator. Pass it, and you become an Earth Immortal. Fail, and nothing remains. The Heavenly Dao is watching, waiting—waiting to see if you undergo it or not."
Lu Mingyuan fell silent.
To undergo it, or not?
This wasn't a choice he could make. Having reached this step, he had to face it whether he wanted to or not. The tribulation wouldn't fail to come just because he didn't want to undergo it. It would come, and keep coming, until he passed it or died.
"Master," he asked, "what is the Heavenly Tribulation... like?"
Xuanweizi thought for a moment.
"It's different for everyone."
"Different?"
"Yes. Different," Xuanweizi said. "The Heavenly Tribulation isn't just fixed lightning strikes or burning fires; it is custom-made according to your Dao, your heart, and your path."
He looked at Lu Mingyuan.
"Your Dao is the Xuan-shu Path, your heart is the melting pot of the Three Teachings and Nine Schools, and your path has spanned five years and nineteen places. Your tribulation will also be custom-made for you."
Lu Mingyuan was stunned.
A custom-made tribulation?
Then... what would it be?
Xuanweizi walked back to the east wing, and Lu Mingyuan followed.
The tea was already brewed. This time, the tea was exceptionally strong, so dark it was almost black.
"Drink it," Xuanweizi said. "Drink more strong tea these few days. It refreshes the spirit, clears the mind, and steadies the heart."
Lu Mingyuan picked up the bowl and took a sip.
Bitter, so bitter his tongue went numb. But after the bitterness, a lingering sweetness slowly rose from the back of his tongue.
Xuanweizi also took a sip.
"With the Heavenly Tribulation approaching, there are a few things you must remember."
Lu Mingyuan set down the tea bowl and sat upright.
"First, the Heavenly Tribulation is not a punishment."
Lu Mingyuan was startled.
Not a punishment?
"Many people think the Heavenly Tribulation is Heaven punishing the Cultivator. They are wrong. The Heavenly Tribulation is Heaven testing the Cultivator. Punishment is when a sentence has already been passed; a test is when the result is still unknown."
Xuanweizi looked at him, his gaze deep.
"The Heavenly Dao doesn't know if you can pass it. It is merely watching. If you pass, you become an Earth Immortal. If you fail, you fall. There is no right or wrong, no good or evil, only success or failure."
Lu Mingyuan nodded.
"Second, the Heavenly Tribulation tests the heart, not power."
Xuanweizi continued:
"You think the Heavenly Tribulation is just lightning and fire that can be blocked with magic power? No. The Heavenly Tribulation will reflect your deepest fears, your darkest corners, and the things you dare not face. You can block lightning, but can you block yourself?"
Lu Mingyuan fell silent.
Oneself is the hardest to block.
"Third, a normal heart is the foundation of Undergoing Tribulation."
Xuanweizi picked up the tea bowl and took a slow sip.
"The more you fear, the heavier the tribulation. The more you panic, the more chaotic your heart. The more you rush, the more you stray from the path. Only with a normal heart—eating when you should eat, sleeping when you should sleep, preparing as you should prepare—can you pass."
He looked at Lu Mingyuan.
"Remember these three rules, and you've already succeeded halfway in Undergoing Tribulation."
Lu Mingyuan etched these three rules into his heart.
Not a punishment, but a test.
It tests the heart, not power.
A normal heart is the foundation.
"Master," he asked, "what about the other half?"
Xuanweizi smiled.
"The other half depends on fate."
Lu Mingyuan was stunned.
Depends on fate?
"Yes. Fate," Xuanweizi said. "No matter how well you prepare or how calm your heart is, if you're meant to fail, you will. No matter how poorly you prepare or how chaotic your heart is, if you're meant to pass, you will. At the end of cultivation, there are always things that humans cannot control."
He paused and added:
"That thing is called fate. It's also called Heaven's will. It's also called... who knows what it's called."
Lu Mingyuan fell silent.
He suddenly remembered that day at the White Deer Grotto, debating the "the flower in the rock" with a junior from the school of mind. That junior said, when the flower is in the rock and I haven't looked at it, the flower and my heart are both silent. When I come to look at it, the flower and my heart both become clear.
Was fate like that too?
When you don't know it, it isn't there. When you know it, it is.
But whether it exists or not is not up to you.
"Master," he asked, "can fate be changed?"
Xuanweizi looked at him.
"Do you want to change it?"
Lu Mingyuan thought for a long time.
"Yes."
Xuanweizi nodded.
"Then change it."
Lu Mingyuan was stunned.
Was it that simple?
Xuanweizi laughed.
"You think changing fate is such a difficult thing? What is fate? It is the path walked in the past. But you are still walking. As long as you are still walking, the path will change. When the path changes, fate changes."
He looked at Lu Mingyuan.
"Haven't you already been changing it for five years?"
Lu Mingyuan froze.
Five years.
Five years ago, he was a minor Cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Stage, just descending from Zhongnan Mountain, understanding nothing, knowing nothing.
Five years later, he was at Body Integration Perfection, knowing the Ancient Secrets, knowing the Heavenly Dao is damaged, knowing the Person of Destiny.
In these five years, how many paths had he walked, how many people had he met, and how many questions had he pondered?
Those paths, those people, those questions—weren't they all changing fate?
He suddenly smiled.
Yes, he had been changing it all along.
From the first time he entered the Songgang Demon Cave, he was changing it. From the first time he sealed The Rift in the Black Water Marsh, he was changing it. From the first time he saw that blood-colored rift, he was changing it.
He had been changing it for five years.
"Master," he asked, "I have changed so much; has my fate changed?"
Xuanweizi looked at him, his gaze gentle.
"What do you think?"
Lu Mingyuan thought for a long time.
Then, he smiled.
"It has changed."
Xuanweizi nodded.
"Then continue changing it."
When he came out of the east wing, it was already evening.
Lu Mingyuan stood in the courtyard, looking at the sunset in the western sky. The sunset was very red, red like blood. Red like that rift.
He knew that was not a sunset.
It was an omen of the approaching Heavenly Tribulation.
Qingyuan stuck his head out from the kitchen.
"Junior Martial Uncle! Time to eat!"
Lu Mingyuan walked over.
In the kitchen, Qingyuan had already set out the meal. It was simple: two vegetable dishes and a soup, with a bowl of brown rice.
Lu Mingyuan sat down and picked up his chopsticks.
Qingyuan sat opposite him, stealing glances at him while eating.
"What do you want to say?" Lu Mingyuan asked.
Qingyuan hesitated for a moment but asked anyway.
"Junior Martial Uncle, are you about to undergo tribulation?"
Lu Mingyuan nodded.
Qingyuan's expression changed.
"Then... then..."
"Then what?"
Qingyuan struggled for a while before blurting out:
"Then you're still eating?"
Lu Mingyuan smiled.
"Does Undergoing Tribulation mean I stop eating?"
Qingyuan was speechless.
Lu Mingyuan took a bite of food and chewed slowly.
"When the Heavenly Tribulation comes, eat when you should eat and sleep when you should sleep. If you don't eat or sleep, will that help you pass?"
Qingyuan was stunned.
After thinking for a long time, he suddenly understood a little.
"Junior Martial Uncle, are you... practicing a normal heart?"
Lu Mingyuan nodded.
"Smart."
Qingyuan chuckled and lowered his head to shovel rice.
As he ate, he looked up again.
"Junior Martial Uncle, you will definitely pass."
Lu Mingyuan looked at him.
"Why?"
Qingyuan thought for a bit and said seriously:
"Because the way you walk doesn't look like someone who would stop."
Deep into the night.
Lu Mingyuan sat in his room, looking at the moonlight outside the window.
The moonlight was very bright, almost piercingly so. But in that brightness, there was an indescribable chill.
He knew it wasn't the moonlight's fault.
It was his own issue.
With the Heavenly Tribulation approaching, his mind and spirit were inevitably affected.
He closed his eyes and looked inward at his Dantian.
That mass of Wanxiang True Qi hung there quietly, warm and glowing like a small sun. Within the sun were all the paths he had walked, all the people he had met, and all the questions he had pondered.
Those paths, those people, those questions—they were all there.
He looked at them, one by one.
The talismans of Longhu Mountain, the swords of Wudang Mountain, and the intent of Mount Qingcheng.
The snow of Shaolin, the bell tolls of Daxiangguo Temple, and the Buddhist chants of the Leiyin Ruins.
The sounds of reading at Yuelu, the osmanthus flowers of White Deer Grotto, the misty rain of Junshan Mountain, the hidden weapons of the Tang Clan, and the Sword Debates of Mount Hua.
And those people—Immortal Master Yu Shu, the Pavilion Keeper, Perfected Master Changkong, Zen Master Huijue, Tang Zhuo, the Sect Leader, The Palace Guardian Taoist, and that young swordsman who chased him asking "what have you realized."
One by one, they passed through his mind.
Once they had passed, he opened his eyes.
His heart was a bit calmer.
Suddenly, it brightened outside the window.
It wasn't moonlight, but something else.
Lu Mingyuan went to the window and pushed it open.
To the Northwest, that blood-colored rift brightened again. It was brighter than usual, red as if it were on fire.
The red light pulsed like a heartbeat.
Looking at that red light, he suddenly understood.
An was also waiting.
Waiting for the Heavenly Tribulation.
Waiting for an opportunity.
When the Heavenly Tribulation descends, it is when he is at his weakest. His Physical Body struck by lightning, his spirit tortured by the tribulation, beset by troubles from within and without.
At that time, if An were to strike...
His heart tightened.
But then, he relaxed again.
What was there to fear?
If he feared, would he not undergo it?
He closed the window, walked back to the bed, and lay down.
He closed his eyes.
Sleep.
Tomorrow, there would be tomorrow's matters.
That night, he did not sleep soundly.
In his dream, he stood in a Void Realm. There was no sky, no earth, no up or down, no front or back. He was all alone.
Suddenly, a light appeared in the distance. The light drew closer and brighter, piercingly so.
Within the light was a figure.
The figure walked up to him and stopped.
It was himself.
Another him.
That him looked at him, his gaze calm.
"Are you ready?"
Lu Mingyuan looked at him, his gaze also calm.
"I'm ready."
That him nodded.
"Then let's begin."
With that, the other him disappeared.
The light disappeared too.
In the Void Realm, only he remained.
He stood there, motionless.
After an unknown amount of time, he suddenly heard a voice.
The voice came from all directions, yet seemed to come from within his own heart:
"The Heavenly Tribulation approaches."
He opened his eyes.
Outside the window, the sky was just beginning to brighten.
He sat up and looked at the morning light.
In the morning light, something was brewing.
He stood up, pushed open the door, and walked into the courtyard.
In the courtyard, Xuanweizi was already standing under the old cypress tree, his hands behind his back.
He didn't turn around, simply saying:
"Do you feel it?"
Lu Mingyuan nodded.
"I feel it."
Xuanweizi turned around and looked at him.
"Then prepare. In three days, the Heavenly Tribulation will descend."
Lu Mingyuan was silent for a moment.
Then, he smiled.
"This Disciple will be waiting."