“Since you’ve arrived, Ji Ning, that means we are all present. Let’s head out tonight to the tribtion area, then,” Immortal Diancai said.


    Ning and Immortal Fivecraze exchanged a nce, then both nodded. “Fine. We’ll head out tonight.”


    This tribtion had to be kept top-secret. Ning and the others didn’t dare be even the slightest bit careless. Even during a normal situation, one would have to be extremely careful in attempting the Celestial Tribtion, but given that the Three Realms were currently in a state of chaos...Ning and the others naturally had to be even more careful than normal.


    Late night.


    Immortal Diancai, Immortal Fivecraze, Ji Ning, and the Whiteweater Hound stealthily used a spatial teleport to depart from Stillwater City.


    ......


    In the air above an awe-inspiringly vast sea, a spatial ripple suddenly appeared. Three human figures apanied by arge, snowy white hound appeared from within the ripple.


    “Where are we?” Ning looked at the surrounding area. Because it had been his master, Immortal Diancai, who had used the spatial teleport, not even Ning knew where they were exactly.


    “The great Darknorth Sea,” Immortal Diancai said. “The location that I’ve chosen for my tribtion is a minor world which I discovered by ident when I was adventuring through the Darknorth Sea as a child. This minor world was extremely well-hidden, and it is extremely well-suited for attempting the tribtion. Follow me!”


    Clouds instantly appeared around them as Immortal Diancai used a technique to lead Ning, Immortal Fivecraze, and the Whitewater Hound in quickly flying forward. Soon, an ind appeared in the distance. The ind was scorchingly hot, as there was a live volcano atop it.


    “The entrance to that minor world is within the volcano on that ind.” Immortal Diancai led the group to fly into the air above the ind, then charged straight into the mouth of the volcano.


    The region within the volcano was extremely strange. Arge amount ofva was bubbling and frothing about.


    Immortal Diancai quietly nced at one corner of it, aplicated look in his eyes. He said softly, “In my youth, I was young and arrogant; I roamed the world in a fearless, untamed manner. And now, I am about to attempt my tribtion...life truly is a marvelous, strange thing.”


    Ning and Immortal Fivecraze could both sense that Immortal Diancai’s mood seemed rather off.


    “For this tribtion...if I fail, I shall die!” Immortal Diancai said softly. “If I die...then I’ll reunite with you, junior apprentice-sister.”


    Deep within his memory...


    There was a young, carefree, brilliant genius youth; Immortal Diancai, the number one peerless genius of his generation within the ck-White College.


    With him was a reincarnated Immortal maiden who was known as Fairy Drizzlerain, and who had countless admirers and pursuers.


    They adventured together, shoulder-to-shoulder, expericing life-and-death events together. They had roamed through countless ces, entering mountain ranges and passing through seas. And then, one day, they had encountered an ancient Primal-level Fiendgod of fire. The ancient Fiendgod had emerged from within theva...and their parting on that day truly became an eternal one. The mes of the Fiendgod caused his junior apprentice-sister’s soul to be shattered...


    “Master.” Ning was shocked. His master was actually nning to die if he failed?


    It must be understood that the Celestial Tribtion was extremely dangerous; even the Goldlotus Primal would be heavily wounded. Some would realize halfway through the tribtion that they wouldn’t be able to seed, and so they would give up, choosing to be a Loose Immortal. Because the amount of damage sustained by each person’s Goldlotus Primal was different, the purity of the elemental ki would vary amongst Loose Immortals. Formidable ones wereparable to peak Void-level Earth Immortals, while weaker ones might only have elemental kiparable to early-stage Void-level Earth Immortals.


    Some Earth Immortals, however, would go wee the tribtion with the intent of rather dying to it than giving up!


    This did indeed give someone a significantly higher chance of oveing the Celestial Tribtion. But at the very end, if they failed...then their souls would be shattered!


    “You still haven’t forgotten.” Immortal Fivecraze shook his head.


    “Forget? Why should I forget? How could I bear to forget?” Immortal Diancai replied softly.


    Ning said, “Master, leave yourself a sliver of a chance, so that you can have a chance at reincarnation. If you fail in this life, you might seed in the next one.”


    “No need to try and dissuade me.” Immortal Diancai shook his head. “My decision is made. Let’s go. Let’s go inside.”


    Whoosh!


    Theva below them suddenly parted as Immortal Diancai led them deeper downwards. At the very deepest part, a winding tunnel suddenly appeared. Immortal Diancai led them through the tunnel in an extremely familiar manner, and a dark cave soon appeared before them.


    “Go in.” Immortal Diancai led Ji Ning and the others to fly into the ck cave.


    ......


    This was a world that was filled with an infinite aura of death. Even the mountains had turned ck, while the earth itself was a sickly yellow. Not a single hint of green could be seen, and no ordinary grass lived here. This world only had a strange type of vegetation that was pitch-ck and covered by spikes.


    Whoosh...


    The side of arge mountain began to ripple and shake. Immortal Diancai, Immortal Fivecraze, Ji Ning, and the Whitewater Hound flew out from within it.


    “Such a strong aura of death?” Immortal Fivecraze frowned as he stared at the surrounding area. “What happened to this minor world? Logically speaking, even if it suffered some sort of disaster, given the power of the Sr Star and the Lunar Star, it should have eventually recovered.”


    “This was a world where a Fiendgod of fire hid within,” Immortal Diancai said. “The Fiendgod caused this minor world to bepletely filled withva, causing all the living creatures within it to perish. Although that Fiendgod is now dead, for this minor world to recover...a very long period of time will be needed.”


    Ning nodded.


    It was easy to ruin a minor world, but in order for it to recover, a million years would be needed or perhaps even longer. Only then would new vegetation arise and new creatures and birds be born.


    “This minor world is extremely well-hidden, and it has no living creatures; I don’t have to worry about any ordinary life-forms being killed as coteral damage. It is very well-suited for my tribtion attempt,” Immortal Diancai said. “In a normal situation...chances of being discovered while undergoing a tribtion in such a well-hidden ce should be very low. However, now that the entire Grand Xia world is in a state of chaos...I’ve heard that quite a few Void-level Earth Immortals have suffered attacks during their tribtions ofte.”


    “Right. All Void-level Earth Immortals choose extremely well-hidden ces for their tribtions...but they were still discovered and assaulted,” Immortal Fivecraze agreed somberly. “We have to be careful.”


    “Don’t worry, Master. Leave everything to me and big brother Fivecraze,” Ning promised solemnly.


    “Alright.” Immortal Diancai nodded, then began to fly far away. Ji Ning, Immortal Fivecraze, and Uncle White hurriedly flew after him.


    After flying for a period of time.


    Immortal Diancai descended upon a wide area that had beenpletely scorched ck. He then sat down in the lotus position...and began to wait quietly.


    “After eight days, the Celestial Tribtion shall descend. Everything will be up to your master, then.” Immortal Fivecraze was worried.


    “He will have to rely on himself.” Ning was worried, too.


    When the Celestial Tribtion descended, all outside sources of help were forbidden.


    Even Daofathers of the Great Firmament wouldn’t dare to intervene and assist others in their tribtions. If anyone tried to help someone else defeat a Celestial Tribtion...then the tribtion would instantly unleash a divine punishment upon the offender, even if the offender was a Daofather. If the Daofather immediately stopped, that was one thing, but if he tried to continue and resist...even the Daofather would be annihted by the divine punishment!


    Thus, from ancient days till now, no one ever dared to help someone else resist a Celestial Tribtion.


    In addition...


    Even setting up formations was considered ‘outside help’. If Immortal Diancai himself had been the one to set up the formations, that wouldn’t be as much of an issue! At most, the formation would be destroyed and the power of the Celestial Tribtion would be increased. But if someone else, such as Uncle White or Ji Ning, was in control of the formation...then the two of them would suffer divine punishment!


    This was the reason why Ning hadn’t invited his master to go to Swallow Mountain for the tribtion.


    There were far too many ces in the world with extremely formidable formations. The headquarters of powerful sects all contained exceedingly mighty formations; for example, the formation within the imperial citadel of the Grand Xia was something which a major power had set up. If a Void-level Earth Immortal could temporarily borrow the strength of a formation to fight the Celestial Tribtion, then oveing it would be far too simple!


    Thus...


    All sources of outside help werepletely forbidden! The Celestial Tribtion was the test which all Immortal cultivators faced on their Immortal path! Even experts in the Dao of Formations such as Uncle White would only be permitted to use magic treasure formations, such as the Fuxi Staff Formation. When the Celestial Tribtion truly descended, they would be allowed to use the Fuxi Staff Formation to defend against it.


    The [Heavenraker] and the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation] were all considered types of sword-formations.


    However, formations that were locked onto one location and which were set up using precious ingredients were considered outside sources of help! [Heavenraker], the [Lesser Thousand Swords Formation], and the Fuxi Staff Formation, however, were all considered part of one’s own strength.


    “Master.” Ning suddenly walked over.


    “Yes?” Immortal Diancai raised his head to look towards Ji Ning.


    “Master, I have five top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords. If you use them, your chances of oveing the Celestial Tribtion shall be greater.” Ning willed it, and five pitch-ck Immortal swords suddenly appeared out of nowhere to hover next to him. These were the Heavenraker Immortal swords. Ning had already dispersed his elemental ki from within them; they had be ownerless items now.


    Immortal Diancai was stunned. “Five top-grade Immortal ranked swords?”


    “Top-grade Immortal-ranked...and five of them?” Immortal Fivecraze revealed a look of crazed joy as well. “Wonderful! Ji Ning, you truly have been hiding some incredible secrets.”


    Ningughed.


    Items at the level of a top-grade Immortal-ranked flying sword could no longer simply be purchased; they had to be traded for! Five such swords, and all from the same source...they were far more valuable than thebined value of all of the Immortal swords Ning had acquired from killing the monster kings and that vile Patriarch. These were items from the underwater estate’s Treasure Hall; they were naturally exceptional!


    “Take them,” Immortal Fivecraze said with a chortle. “Your disciple is telling you to use them; are you going to be wishy-washy about it?”


    “Fine.” Immortal Diancai’s aura instantly changed. “With these five top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords, my chances of oveing the Celestial Tribtion shall be much greater...at least for the first three tribtions.”


    The Celestial Tribtion was divided into a total of four great tribtions.


    They were the wind tribtion, the fire tribtion, the thunder tribtion, and the demonheart tribtion!


    The first three could be blocked, but they would grow increasingly powerful and terrifying; the vast majority of Void-level Earth Immortals would perish over the course of the first three tribtions. The thunder tribtion in particr...bolts of divine lightning would crash down,pletely disintegrating the bodies of many Void-level Earth Immortals. The Goldlotus Primal would be heavily injured by the mming thunderbolts, and many were so terrified that they would give up and flee, bing Loose Immortals. In the past, Immortal Juhua had also failed during the thunder tribtion...and it was because he didn’t have any good Immortal-ranked magic treasures!


    If he had top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures, given Immortal Juhua’s power and Dao-heart, he might’ve be a Celestial Immortal.


    “Right. Your chances are now much greater...but you still need to be careful. The Celestial Tribtion...magic treasures are only one part of your power. When iron is being forged, it has to rely on its own innate hardness. The Celestial Tribtion primarily tests one’s personal power,” Immortal Fivecraze said seriously.


    “I understand.” Immortal Diancai nodded.


    Even many disciples of True Immortals or Empyrean Gods would fail during their tribtion. Generally speaking, disciples of True Immortals or Empyrean Gods all had top-grade Immortal-ranked magic treasures, and yet many still failed. Clearly, the Celestial Tribtion was different for each person! The more monstrously talented someone was, the more powerful one was, the more ridiculously terrifying the Celestial Tribtion would be.


    ......


    One day after another went by


    Immortal Diancai familiarized himself with the Heavenraker swords, then began to wait quietly. Ji Ning, Immortal Fivecraze, and the Whitewater Hound also quietly stood to one side, standing guard for him.


    And finally...


    Whoosh...


    Suddenly, a gentle wind began to blow, rustling Immortal Diancai’s Daoist robes.


    Immortal Diancai opened his eyes. “Senior apprentice-brother Fivecraze, Ji Ning, brother White...stand guard for me. My Celestial Tribtion has begun.”


    Ning and the others could sense that the nearby wind was beginning to slowly grow increasingly fierce. They couldn’t help but nervously look towards the seated Immortal Diancai.