When the national fate is incomplete, the influence extends not only to the chessboard but to Yu Yin herself. Her Tribulation Transcendence Stage was far less stable than that of General Divine Might. What she couldn’t understand was this — General Divine Might had only used the power of his army to raise himself to the Tribulation Transcendence Stage.
Reasonably speaking, he should be weaker than her. Yet, contrary to expectations, he now displayed such tremendous strength! Though Yu Yin did not grasp the reason, her confusion did not slow her down; instead, it only made her attacks even more ferocious.
General Divine Might had spent countless years honing his art amid the army ranks. His battle experience had long become instinctive reflex. With the added strength of the Divine Repository, facing Yu Yin, he had every advantage.
And this time, An Prince and five other cultivators at the Union Stage made their move. Since the Tribulation Transcendence Stage renders all methods ineffective—then they would use other means! An Prince had offered his two daughters as sacrifice to summon the King of Qiongqi for this very purpose.
Though the King of Qiongqi’s physical body could not compare to Zhang Konghu’s absurd might, it was still capable of clashing several rounds with a Tribulation Transcendence cultivator. That alone was enough. The Supreme Elder of the Five Thunders Orthodox Sect once again cast the Five Thunders True Law, summoning imitation Heavenly Lightning Tribulation.
Though it was called a “law,” this method was more like a Dao—its essence transcending the usual category of magical arts, thus bypassing the rule that no laws could touch a being in the Tribulation Transcendence Stage. Earlier, Yu Yin’s single strike had dispersed the false lightning tribulation. That alone was proof of its effectiveness.
The Lake Lord of Dream Marsh removed a bowl filled with his treasured Mysterious Heavy Water—each drop weighing ten thousand catties, yet he possessed a whole bowl of it! The Sect Master of the Heavenly Sky Sect swung a gigantic hammer and smashed it toward Yu Yin. An Prince gripped the Heaven Measuring Ruler.
That ruler could measure an enemy’s shortcomings to pinpoint weaknesses. However, as he was only at the Union Stage, he could not precisely gauge Yu Yin’s flaws—only roughly sense them. Moreover, he only knew spells, which were ineffective against her.
Only the arts cast by a cultivator of the Tribulation Transcendence Stage could harm another of the same realm. Even though An Prince couldn’t strike directly, he could convey Yu Yin’s weaknesses to General Divine Might.
“The five vital acupoints—Baihui, Tongtian, Qianding, Chengguang, Shangxing—one of these has not been trained to perfection!”
“When her spiritual power circulates through a Great Celestial Cycle, there will be a momentary pause!”
“Within her six viscera, there is one fault…”
“And at her Spiritual Platform as well…”
Each weakness that An Prince named triggered an attack tailored to those points. The previously ever-fiercer Yu Yin soon began to tire. Gradually, she could no longer cope with General Divine Might’s relentless assaults and the constant harassment from the others.
Her cultivation fluctuated violently; the national fate’s weakening made it nearly impossible to maintain her realm within the Tribulation Transcendence Stage.
“One person alone thinks to stop both of us?”
The Minister of War and the Minister of Justice kicked aside the severely injured Minister of Personnel and rushed toward Prince An. They could already see the battle nearing its end. If they didn’t intervene now, there would be no merit left for them when rewards were handed out.
Neither of these two were the strongest within the Union Stage, but they were like the final straw that broke the camel’s back—Yu Yin could no longer bear it. Her realm dropped, falling back to the Peak Union Stage, and she could no longer re-enter the Tribulation Transcendence Stage! Prince An was overjoyed.
Clutching the Heaven Measuring Ruler, he aimed for Yu Yin’s weakest point, ready to shatter her Life Gate. Although General Divine Might’s expression changed little, the gleam in his eyes betrayed his satisfaction. He was helping Prince An seize the throne, not for gain or reward, but to defeat Yu Yin.
Once, he too had thought himself a genius, destined to become the next Human Emperor. Yet the earth veins of the Nine Provinces had not even granted him the qualification to be a Human Emperor Candidate. From that moment, his heart had changed.
Since fate refused him the title of Human Emperor Candidate, he would prove fate wrong—by defeating one! Jiang Li was impossible to overcome, Bai Hongtu was a genuine Tribulation Transcendence expert, equally beyond his reach. That left only Yu Yin.
Who told her to neglect building her own power base, leaving only the Minister of Personnel willing to stand by her? A single palm from General Divine Might struck her, and Yu Yin’s five viscera twisted into chaos. Her meridians ran backward, forcing blood to spurt from her mouth continuously.
She looked even weaker now than when she had been faking illness earlier. Her life hung by a thread. Yet, despite facing an unprecedented crisis, her heart was astonishingly calm.
Long ago, she had felt the existence of a barrier ahead, but the tether of national fate had held her back, preventing her advance. Now, that long-standing barrier seemed as fragile as paper—a single push would pierce through, even fate could no longer stop her.
Prince An’s harsh laughter, General Divine Might’s air-rending force, the roaring thunder of the Five Thunders True Law, the furious howl of the King of Qiongqi, the desperate cries of the Minister of Personnel… She closed her eyes, yet everything became even clearer. The clamorous sounds faded farther and farther away; her Spiritual Platform became pure and spotless.
She imagined herself seated cross-legged, one with her Spiritual Platform, one with the heavens and the earth. So this was the true meaning of tribulation… At last, Yu Yin understood the essence of the Tribulation Transcendence Stage.
No wonder no one ever spoke of how to reach it—because the moment one put it into words, one would never attain it. It was called the Tribulation Transcendence Stage because one must truly pass through a tribulation. That tribulation had to be a Death Calamity of absolute doom—one that offered death with no chance of life.
Only by seeking life within certain death could one transcend. If any Union Stage cultivator knew the true meaning of the Tribulation Transcendence Stage and attempted to artificially create a death tribulation, they would never succeed. Even if they survived through clever tricks, they would fail to enter that realm.
Because once the mind expected survival, the tribulation lost its edge. Even some mighty cultivators who deliberately crafted death tribulations for disciples could not produce a true breakthrough. Yu Yin, by suppressing herself through the brink of death in an attempt to trigger her potential, had begun from a false intention—but by accident, the process turned out correct.
To break through to the Tribulation Transcendence Stage was immensely difficult. At the peak of the Union Stage, where could one find a true death tribulation? Even surrounded by ten cultivators of equal cultivation, one could still escape.
That was not true death. Within the Heavenly Origin Dynasty, though chaos reigned and killings were frequent, such things occurred mostly among Nascent Soul or Spirit Transformation cultivators. Hardly any Union Stage experts died in ten years, much less enough to count as a true life‑and‑death ordeal.
To reach the Tribulation Transcendence Stage one also needed to prove one’s Dao with the heart—to validate one’s own Dao. For Yu Yin, that was not difficult.
Ironically, resisting the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demons was when a Tribulation Transcendence expert was most likely to perish, and also the moment a Union Stage cultivator was most likely to ascend into the Tribulation Transcendence Stage. At this very moment, Prince An suddenly realized, with rising dread, that Yu Yin’s weaknesses were vanishing one after another, until none remained.
In an instant, she seemed to have become flawless—perfect beyond measure.
Impossible!
He didn’t want to believe it. He didn’t even dare to believe. There was only one kind of cultivator who could attain perfect flawlessness.
Majestic might descended from the heavens. The Supreme Elder of the Five Thunders Orthodox Sect was the first to sense it. He abruptly looked up, feeling like a counterfeit laid beside the genuine—uncontrollable fear surged through him, and every hair stood on end.
Others too felt it in their hearts and raised their heads toward the sky. A supreme existence had just been born. High above at the pinnacle of the Dao Sect, Bai Hongtu stood gazing in the direction of the Heavenly Origin Dynasty.
Though he could not possibly see that far, he sensed distinctly that another being of his realm was about to appear.
“I have waited long… You finally stand at the same level as I.” Far away, the Red Dust Fairy sat upon the Immortal Peach Tree, her snow‑white legs swinging lightly back and forth, gazing toward the direction of the Heavenly Origin Dynasty as well.
The outside world seemed so lively and interesting… but her courage was too small to venture out. What should she do?
“Boom!”
Heavenly might condensed into Tribulation. Yu Yin had fully stepped into the Tribulation Transcendence Stage.
(End of Chapter)