Chapter 259: Leaving Seclusion
In this huge space of a few kilometres, there were only the three of them staying there, giving a spacious feel to the place. As such, SongZhong decided to do a few things so as not waste these places with such dense spiritual Qi.
When SiYu and SiYun heard SongZhong’s plan, they gave an idea to him; allocate a plot of land not in use for them to lay a grand formation. If SongZhong were to meet someone whom he could win in the future, he could just absorb them into this formation to use the it as a form of aid in dealing with the enemies.
With regards to this plan, SongZhong was extremely supportive of it, asking SiYu and SiYun to quickly get it done with the help of the nine beauties. After a few years of hard work, they finally made a Negative Positive Five Element Maze Formation.
The formation flags of this large formation were made by the nine beauties. With their strength of a JinDan cultivator, precise skills and the large amount of materials inside his natal artifact, these formation flags were perfectly created. Furthermore, they created over a thousand of these flags. It exhausted a large amount of materials and made the nine beauties extremely tired. However, with effort will come reward. With the aid of so many formation flags, the might of this formation which spans about 5 kilometres is extremely powerful. According to the nine beauties, if Old Devil Feng enters without using his ‘devil entering the body’ skill, he would be dead for sure! From now on, SongZhong will have another trump card up his sleeves.
However, this move of his cannot be used too easily. If he were to allow someone who was far too strong to come in, it would be trouble if the formation is unable to trap him. SongZhong would not want this secret base of his to be destroyed after putting so much effort into it.
In any case, SongZhong relied on the special ability of his Natal Artifact and his own cultivation method to experience a great leap in his strength. From a low-grade cultivator, he officially advanced to become a middle-grade cultivator. Furthermore, with the Nine Beauties Painting, Gold Dragon Boat and large copper bell on hand, he is already able to contend with YuanYing cultivators even at the early JinDan stage.
However, it was not the time for SongZhong to be happy yet; he still had another challenge to pass, the heavenly tribulations. After all, when he advanced to the foundational stage back then, he had suffered from the lightning once. Once a heavenly tribulation appears, it would usually appear again in the future. If a YuanYing cultivator were to be struck by lightning, he would have to be struck again every time he advances to the next cultivation level.Feeling anxious, SongZhong bade farewell to SiYu and SiYun and exitted his Natal Artifact. The moment he appeared on the outside, SongZhong felt a bad premonition of an imminent disaster. It was exactly like the last heavenly tribulation he experienced.
The moment he felt this bad premonition, SongZhong realized that he cannot escape the lightning tribulation this time. However, SongZhong had the foresight to first place his copper bell on the outside. As such, he would be able to use this treasure to endure the heavenly tribulations. He wanted to avoid a situation where his Natal Artifact was locked and him being unable to take out any treasures to use.
However, just when SongZhong was thinking about how he can use the copper bell to defend against the heavenly tribulations, something which he had never dreamt of occurred. The copper bell did not wait for SongZhong to issue any order, and transformed into a golden light before disappearing.SongZhong was startled as he swept his Natal Artifact with his spiritual sense, realizing that the copper bell entered of its volition. Now, he was completely anxious, trying various means of summoning his copper bell. But no matter what he tried, the Natal Artifact which he could usually use like an extension of his limbs, completely ignored his orders.
SongZhong was mad! Feeling frustrated, he wanted to enter his Natal Artifact to have a good chat with his copper bell. However, his Natal Artifact made him disappointed him again. No matter how much he tried to, he just could not enter his Natal Artifact.As such, the poor SongZhong was betrayed yet again. He could only face the terrifying heavenly tribulations with his fleshly body again. The last time, it was the smallest lesser heavenly tribulation. But this time, it is the heavenly tribulation of a JinDan cultivator, probably at least 10 times more powerful. Just thinking about how his previous lightning tribulation was able to turn the surrounding 1000 feet into ashes, it made a chill run down SongZhong’s spine.
However, now that things have already developed as such, it was pointless for SongZhong to be anxious. After a bitter laughter, he walked out of the secret chamber helplessly. Life is as such, since he is unable to fight back, he might as well embrace it!After the depressed SongZhong came out, AoTian was quickly alerted. In just a few short breaths, he arrived in front of SongZhong. While he looked old, he was extremely swift and agile. As such, he appeared out of nowhere, giving SongZhong a shock.
As AoTian arrived in front of SongZhong, he managed to deduce with a single glance, that SongZhong made an advancement. He then said in excitement, “Congratulations to Your Highness for advancing to the 5th grade!”
“Don’t rush to congratulate me!” SongZhong replied with a bitter laughter, “I may be dead in a while’s time!”
“En?” As AoTian heard that, he was immediately stunned as he asked, “Your highness what happened? Why would you say that?”
“Haiz, it’s difficult to explain!” SongZhong wanted to cry as he thought about it. As he walked towards the outside, he said depressingly, “Let me tell you the truth, the reason why I was able to transform so quickly is because I am cultivating a strange cultivation method! At that time, I never expected this cultivation method to have such an effect. If I knew~”
As SongZhong said that, he did not continue. Even if he knew that the Primal Chaos Formula would cause heavenly tribulations, he would definitely have cultivated it still. At that time, he was of a lesser status and did not have any other choice.
AoTian did not know what was going on; as he followed SongZhong out, he asked apprehensively, “Your highness, what kind of effect will your cultivation method have? Can you not cultivate it?”“Not cultivate it?” As SongZhong heard that, he could not help but laugh bitterly, “I really can’t bear to… as for the effect, you can just take a look at the sky!”
As they were talking, SongZhong and AoTian were already on the outside. After hearing what SongZhong said, AoTian lifted his head and looked at the dark clouds and strong winds. At times, there were even flashes of lightning in the clouds. The atmosphere was intense, as though an earth shattering explosion would take place at anytime. As AoTian saw that, he said with shock, “Eh? Why did the skies change? Wasn’t the sky was bright, clear and cloudless a while ago? However, this is also normal, the weather in the Eastern Ocean is extremely erratic, with passing thunderstorms being a common occurrence.”
After SongZhong heard that, he replied with a bitter laughter, “Can’t you tell that these aren’t rain clouds?”
As AoTian heard that, he looked up again and frowned, “After your highness has said that, I do find it a little strange. Usually, all of the clouds would be drifting in a single direction. Why does it seem that the clouds today seem to be converging towards the centre and forming a whirlpool? Furthermore, the whirlpool is right above our heads.”
“Not your head, but my head!” SongZhong said bitterly, “These are tribulation clouds. The whirlpool which you are talking about is the eye of the tribulation. And I, am the unlucky person who is going to go through the tribulation!”
“Ah?” As AoTian heard that, he said with shock, “How is this possible? You are only of the 5th grade! Doesn’t the lesser heavenly tribulation only happens after the 7th grade?”“5th grade? As SongZhong heard that, he replied with a bitter laughter, “Let me tell you, I have been struck by lightning when I just entered the 4th grade. It struck me to the point I was charred all over!”
“Tribulation in the 4th grade?” AoTian exclaimed, “Ai yah yah, if that’s the case, your cultivation method is really something amazing! The more profound a cultivation method, the more powerful it is. Also, it would incur the jealousy of the heavens and attract heavenly tribulations at an earlier time. But, the strongest few cultivation methods which I heard of, only starts provoking the heavenly tribulation at the 6th grade. However, you started right from the 4th grade. Goodness, just how strong would that be? No wonder you can fight a YuanYing cultivator at the 4th grade. It seems that the problem lies here!”
“This is indeed one of the reason. So, even if I am going to be struck by lightning, I cannot bear to give up this cultivation method!” SongZhong shook his head and said, “Right, are there any islands nearby? I obviously cannot experience the lightning tribulations here. I will end up ruining the Pure Water Palace!”
In that direction, 1000 kilometres away is an uninhabited island. It is suitable for receiving the heavenly tribulations!” AoTian pointed in a direction and said. After he said that, he cupped his fists and solemnly, “I wish Your Highness will be successful!”
“Hopefully! If I do not come back alive, the Pure Water Palace will be yours. Besides that, help me to apologize to the empress!” As he said that, he did not wait for AoTian to reply and flew away. Looking at SongZhong’s back view, AoTian had a complicated gaze in his eyes. He could not help but touch his moustache and mumble to himself, “Looks like my time has come! This child experienced the heavenly tribulation since the 4th grade. He will definitely accomplish much in the future! If he manages to live through this tribulation, I will definitely devote my entirety to him!”
Because his Five Element Essence Sword was in his Natal Artifact, SongZhong could only use a spell to fly in the air. However, such a speed was just far too slow and he could not stand it. Thus, he dived into the ocean and traveled through the water, leveraging on the black tortoise bloodline and it’s water spells. A short while later, he arrived at a large round island 5000 kilometres wide.