Longevity Thunder Ancestor

Chapter 1135 The Demon Lord's Tribulation, Yunxiu's True Strength
Two days later, Ningfa followed the Demon Lord northwards for hundreds of thousands of miles into the desolate sea, arriving at a strange place.

The sea here has gradually turned dark, and the ferocious sea beasts that were once everywhere have rapidly diminished. The world is quiet, and the atmosphere is oppressive.

They flew nearly ten thousand miles deeper into the sea, where a howling wind filled the air, carrying dark ice crystals. This was not just cold, but an extreme chill, so intense that even a Core Formation cultivator would find it difficult to withstand.

Moreover, strange and grotesque ghosts began to appear around them, flying towards the two of them fearlessly.

However, before Ning Fa could make a move, the Demon Lord only slightly revealed a trace of his aura, and these ghosts all showed fear and quickly retreated.

Finally, a black ice field appeared ahead. In the distance, countless skeletons, zombies and other ghostly creatures seemed to be wandering aimlessly on the ice field.

Ning Fa was slightly surprised to sense the extremely dense Yin energy deep within the icy plains.

The Demon Lord laughed at Ning Fa, "There is a fifth-order Xuan Yin earth vein in this place, so the Yin energy is very strong."

There was originally a wounded Nascent Soul level Ghost King here, and it took me a great deal of effort to kill it.

Thanks to this place, I was able to successfully transform into a ghost cultivator. This is also the best place for me to undergo the tribulation of becoming a god.

I've made quite a few preparations over the years, hoping to increase my chances of success.

At this point, even the gaunt Demon Lord looked solemn. Even he had no confidence in facing the Nascent Soul Tribulation of a ghost cultivator.

Before long, the two arrived at the center of this vast ice field.

There are three black mountain peaks, each thousands of feet high, arranged in a triangular shape. In the center of the three mountains is a huge valley with an area of ​​nearly a hundred miles.

At this time, the valley was filled with extremely heavy yin energy, forming a black mist that seemed to have a physical form, which kept churning at the entrance of the valley.

Outside the valley, gray light flickered intermittently, clearly indicating a powerful restriction that was binding the pure Yin energy within the valley, preventing it from dissipating.

The Demon Lord pointed his fingers and cast a series of spells, instantly revealing a passage about ten feet wide in the gray light curtain at the entrance of the valley.

The Demon Lord called out to Ning Fa and then flew into the room.

Ning Fa used his divine sense to scan the area, taking in the entire situation. He raised his eyebrows and flew over as well.

The valley was more like an abyss, and the two flew down for hundreds of feet before reaching the bottom.

Ningfa hovered in the air, his gaze quietly fixed on the center of the valley.

There was a huge array there, covering an area of ​​more than ten miles. Its complexity was definitely that of a fifth-order array, and array patterns penetrated into the valley, indicating that the array was even larger than it appeared.

This formation is clearly divided into nine major areas. At what appears to be the center of the formation, there are items such as skulls, black hearts, and dark blue crystals, all of which exude extremely powerful yin energy.

After reading it, Ning Fa couldn't help but feel a renewed sense of admiration for the Demon Lord.

Before he came here, the Demon Lord had already explained the preparations for the tribulation to him in detail. In addition to this Xuan Yin earth vein, there was also this key fifth-order formation called the "Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Reversed Yin Yang Formation".

This formation is one of the ancient wonders, originally a pure Taoist formation. It can be regarded as an extremely advanced spirit-gathering formation, which under normal circumstances can only absorb pure spiritual energy.

This formation was originally lost long ago, and the Demon Lord had only obtained half of the fragment before. However, he not only completed it, but also modified and transformed it so that it could absorb Yin energy.

Once this formation is activated, the Demon Lord will be able to absorb and utilize the Yin energy of this place to the maximum extent, thereby increasing his chances of breaking through.

Ningfa had to admit he admired her.

The Demon Lord nodded to Ning Fa, then flew to the center of the formation and unleashed nine spells in succession.

The formation suddenly shone brightly, the spiritual light within the formation's patterns flowing rapidly. The dense yin energy in the valley seemed to be attracted and surged in, disappearing into the formation like a mud ox entering the sea.

Immediately afterwards, chunks of black ice crystals appeared in the array and converged toward the Demon Lord at the center.

Soon, the Demon Lord was covered by these black ice crystals.

About a day later, a small mountain formed of black ice crystals appeared in the area. The yin energy emanating from it was extremely dense, completely obscuring the figure of the Demon Lord, and even his aura became barely perceptible.

Just as Ning Fa was starting to worry, the Demon Lord's aura suddenly grew rapidly, quickly surpassing the limits of a Nascent Soul cultivator.

The sound of "crackling" rang out, and cracks appeared on the black ice crystal mountain. It quickly turned from black to gray and soon turned to ashes, revealing the figure of the Demon Lord again.

His body was now blurred and emanating a billowing aura of yin energy. His face was also somewhat ferocious, but fortunately, his eyes were still clear, and he was looking up at the sky with a solemn expression.

A strange howling sound arose, and cracks began to appear in the surrounding void, from which wisps of yellow wind poured out.

The gale seemed insignificant, but Ning Fa's expression changed slightly when his divine sense barely touched it.

This yellow wind, like a tribulation lightning, actually contained a trace of the power of the laws of heaven and earth. Even with his divine soul strength, he felt a slight tremor upon touching it.

With a flash of purple light, Ning Fa vanished instantly and quickly reappeared dozens of miles away, gazing at the valley from afar.

The Demon Lord has officially begun his tribulation. If he remains nearby, he may be attacked by the Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation as well, and the power of the tribulation will be doubled.

Ning Fa's expression turned solemn. Ghost cultivators undergoing the Nascent Soul Tribulation are very different from ordinary cultivators.

Aside from the tribulation of lightning, which almost all living beings experience when undergoing tribulation, ghost cultivators do not have the tribulation of inner demons. Instead, they face another terrifying tribulation, namely the "soul-sweeping divine wind".

This kind of spiritual wind is specifically designed to destroy intangible beings, such as ghost cultivators.

Because ghost cultivators are originally of the Yin spirit form, their cultivation path is from Yin to Yang. Only by advancing to the Nascent Soul stage can the Yin spirit solidify and become the Yang spirit. Therefore, the Nascent Soul tribulation of ghost cultivators mainly tempers their Yin spirit form.

Therefore, this soul-sweeping divine wind is extremely threatening to ghost cultivators, and this hurdle will definitely not be easy to overcome.

Ning Fa, having personally experienced the power of this soul-sweeping divine wind, couldn't help but feel a pang of worry for the Demon Lord.

More and more cracks appeared in the valley, and more soul-stirring divine winds emerged from them, howling and converging towards the demon lord in the formation.

The Demon Lord remained calm and composed, sitting cross-legged, letting the soul-stirring divine wind assault him. Soon, the dense yellow wind engulfed him.

Ningfa's divine sense did not dare to probe too deeply, and he could only watch from afar.

Another day passed, and the cracks in the valley that had been spewing out soul-stirring winds finally began to heal slowly, and the terrifying soul-stirring winds finally disappeared, revealing the Demon Lord's figure once again.

At this moment, he only had most of his body left, and the surface of his remaining body was cracked everywhere, with yin energy emanating from it, and the demon lord's aura had dropped significantly.

Ning Fa, however, was relieved, because according to his perception, the Demon Lord's soul power was not too weak.

The demon opened his arms, and the surrounding yin energy immediately converged on him. His missing body was slowly restored, and his magical power was gradually recovered.

However, the Heavenly Tribulation did not give the Demon Lord much time to recover. Just three hours later, a thunderclap rang out, and a large patch of dark clouds appeared out of thin air, quickly spreading over an area of ​​nearly a hundred miles, blotting out the sun. Thunder rumbled within, and each bolt of lightning contained the terrifying power of the laws of heaven and earth.

Ning Fa retreated further, watching with a solemn expression. This second trial was the real test for the Demon Lord, because the lightning tribulation was especially lethal to ghost cultivators.

In particular, the tribulation lightning that ghost cultivators undergo is especially targeted. Ancient books record that the last few tribulation lightning bolts are even the evil-repelling divine lightning that Ning Fa is very familiar with.

Moreover, it is not an ordinary exorcising thunder, but an exorcising thunder that contains the power of the laws of heaven and earth.

It possesses unimaginable power for ghost cultivators.

Therefore, even if he is the Demon Lord, Ning Fa has little confidence in him and can only hope that he has made sufficient preparations.

This is why it is extremely rare for ghost cultivators to successfully pass the Nascent Soul Tribulation. Of course, the supernatural powers of Nascent Soul ghost cultivators are usually much stronger than those of other beings at the same level.

At that moment, a thunderous roar resounded, and a crimson bolt of lightning cleaved down from the tribulation clouds, scattering celestial fire and radiating an aura of pure yang and supreme strength.

This is a fire-lightning strike, and the attributes of fire and lightning are usually most effective against the Yin spirit form of ghost cultivators.

The Demon Lord remained calm and fearless. He slapped his right hand downwards, and the surrounding Yin energy immediately boiled and rapidly condensed, forming dozens of black longswords.

With a whooshing sound, these longswords flew towards the lightning and fire in the air.

Logically speaking, the longswords formed from yin energy should have crumbled upon contact with this tribulation lightning and fire. However, these yin energy longswords erupted with vigorous sword intent, and even though the swords themselves flickered, the sharp sword intent still tore apart the lightning and fire.

After a series of "bang bang bang" vibrations, the sky returned to calm, and the Demon Lord's body, which was formed from Yin energy, trembled. Clearly, he had not taken this tribulation lightning without paying a price.

Just then, Ning Fa seemed to sense something. He was slightly surprised and whispered, "This person has indeed arrived. He is indeed extraordinary. I didn't even notice him until he got this close."

He then curled his lips into a cold smile, and with a thunderous roar, he vanished in a flash.

More than a hundred miles away, in a seemingly deserted place in the sky, a sudden ripple appeared, and a figure abruptly appeared.

The man was tall and slender, dressed in a scholar's robe with cloud patterns. He had a broad forehead, a high nose, and a handsome appearance. He also exuded a strong scholarly air, looking like a learned scholar.

Looking at the pitch-black tribulation clouds ahead, the man muttered to himself in a strange tone, "I underestimated you. It seems you've already figured out the other method I deliberately left for you."

That "Demon Seed Heart Sutra" should have been the best way to break the restrictions I placed, and it was also extremely compatible with the cultivation techniques you originally learned, which could increase your chances of breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage by 10%.

But you actually rejected this temptation and instead chose the incredibly difficult path of ghost cultivation.

"Heh, do you think you can escape my grasp just by becoming a ghost cultivator?"

As he said this, a cold smile appeared on his lips.

But just then, a calm voice rang out: "Oh, really?"

The white-robed cultivator's expression changed instantly, and he stared intently in a certain direction.

Suddenly, a flash of light appeared, revealing a handsome figure—Ning Fa.

He stood with his hands behind his back, sizing up this Nascent Soul expert who was terrifying in both strength and cunning, and said with a faint smile, "Fellow Daoist Yunxiu, it's been a long time."

After recovering from her surprise, Yunxiu laughed and said, "I was wondering why he dared to advance to the Nascent Soul stage at this time. It turns out he had your help."

Fellow Daoist Ning is truly a genius. Not only did he not die in that conspiracy a hundred years ago, but he has now truly broken through to the Nascent Soul realm.

I've heard that Fellow Daoist Ning caused quite a stir in the cultivation world of the Great Qin Dynasty.

It seems that Fellow Daoist Ning has not only greatly increased his strength after advancing to the Nascent Soul stage, but has also learned from the conspiracy a hundred years ago. This time, he planned carefully before acting, and even Fairy Linghua, Youyunzi, and Wangque Sanren were secretly turned against him.

Even so, being able to kill Nascent Soul cultivators like Venerable Wan Sha and the Ancient Venerable's avatar is enough to prove your extraordinary strength.

Ning Fa was taken aback for a moment, then smiled.

It seems that although news of his actions in Qin has spread, the information is somewhat inaccurate. For example, Yunxiu seems to believe that he was able to achieve such results because he received prior assistance from Fairy Linghua and the other two.

To the average person, this might seem more reasonable, since fighting eight opponents alone is truly astonishing.

No wonder Yunxiu remained calm and composed even after she stepped in.

Of course, this also indirectly proves that this person is extremely arrogant about his own abilities.

Otherwise, even based on this flawed intelligence, the strength he displayed would definitely surpass that of an ordinary mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, yet Yunxiu remained so calm.

At this moment, Yunxiu's smile vanished, and his expression became sincere as he said, "Fellow Daoist Ning, I have always admired you and have no grudge against you."

Could you please refrain from interfering in my affairs with the Demon Lord?
"Just name your price, and I'll agree to anything I can."

Ning Fa shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, I've already promised the Demon Lord to protect him. If you know what's good for you, please leave on your own."

Yunxiu stared intently at Ning Fa, her voice turning cold as she said, "Fellow Daoist Ning, are you truly determined to remain obstinate? Or do you think that killing a piece of trash like Venerable Wan Sha has made you arrogant and disdainful of everyone?"

To tell you the truth, if it were me, even without the help of Fairy Linghua and the others, I alone would be enough to annihilate them.

Although you are strong now, you haven't been at the Nascent Soul stage for very long, and you should still be somewhat weaker than me. I advise you not to make a mistake.”

Ning Fa smirked: "Enough with the nonsense. Since you're unwilling to leave, let me test your mettle."

"Hmph, you won't listen to reason, so you'll have to suffer the consequences." Yunxiu snorted coldly.

Immediately, the man's figure flashed, and his right hand quickly tapped his body several times. Suddenly, a surge of spiritual energy erupted around him, and dazzling spiritual light emanated from his mouth, nose, eyes, and ears, as if some kind of seal had been broken.

His spiritual pressure increased wildly, quickly reaching the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm, and only stopped at the peak of the mid-stage. Ning Fa felt that Yunxiu at this time was probably only slightly weaker than the Ancient Venerable and the Yuan Venerable.

Ning Fa narrowed his eyes slightly. Yun Xiu was indeed hiding his true strength. It turned out that he had already reached such a high level. He had been concealing his strength all along. Even after fighting with the two sea monsters for so long, he only revealed the peak of the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm.

That wasn't all. Behind Yunxiu, a black light wriggled and quickly formed another black figure similar to him.

The figure's face was indistinct, but its eyes, like burning embers, radiated a bloodthirsty killing intent. Its demonic aura soared to the sky, and although its cultivation level was not as strong as Yunxiu's true form, it had still reached the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm.

The black figure flashed and stood side by side with Yunxiu. The two seemed to move in sync, stretching out their right hands and holding two long swords, one white and one black.

The white longsword shone brightly, radiating pure Xuanmen sword energy, while the black longsword surged with demonic energy and murderous intent.

At this moment, Yunxiu's refined demeanor vanished, replaced by an air of authority and dominance. He spoke in a booming voice:
"Few people in the world know that I actually practice two top-tier cultivation techniques."

Besides the righteous sword technique "Supreme Forgetfulness Sword Manual", there is also the demonic classic "Shadow Slaughtering God Strategy".

"This body of the Netherworld God was cultivated with countless efforts and resources, yet I've never had the chance to use it in battle. Today, you have that honor."

(End of this chapter)