Chapter 15 Yu Wei Crosses the Tribulation

Red Hair, Snow Scorpion, and the others all looked at the Yellow-haired Bear, for only the Bear could clearly sense the outside world and know what was happening.

"Don't worry," the Bear shook his head. "Now this Broken Horn World has sent out a powerful army, but strangely, this powerful army hasn't directly attacked Ji Ning. Even the purple-cloaked warrior who fought Ji Ning earlier hasn't attacked wildly. Ji Ning's divine power must be running low; if they fought a bit longer, he'd exhaust it completely. Yet they've stopped for now. Strange."

"Stopped?"

The seven powerful beings under Lord San Shou were puzzled.

"And there's another strange thing: Ji Ning's strength had clearly reached its limit, but just now his Star Picking Hand's power actually increased again, shattering his opponent's weapon. I can't figure it out no matter how I think." said the Yellow-haired Bear.

"His strength increased in the Land of Annihilation?" The seven pondered.

They were different from the Yellow-haired Bear. The Bear was originally just a spirit of a treasure, and only after the ancient Pangu World shattered did he gradually cultivate into a true life form. His experience wasn't vast... But the other seven had once been famous in the ancient Pangu World, their fame proven through countless battles. Their vision was naturally far broader, and they knew much more.

"Could it be..." The seven thought of several possibilities.

...

Ji Ning looked at the vast army of countless horned warriors in the distance. He had a feeling that even the most ordinary horned warrior was far stronger than the Blood Eye warriors he had fought. They were probably at the level of a million-year loose immortal, reaching the minimum threshold of a Celestial Immortal. Ji Ning could probably kill one with ease.

But no matter how ordinary their strength, a million of them was terrifying.

"With so many warriors, if they have a way to combine their power, even a True God or True Immortal would flee at the sight of them," Ji Ning thought. "This is just a part of the Broken Horn World's power in the ancient ruins. The ancient ruins... truly are the most terrifying forbidden land."

Ji Ning calmed down instead.

Because now control was entirely in the enemy's hands. Their strength was too great, especially with the eight hundred purple-cloaked warriors who had just appeared. If they were all as strong as the previous commander, that meant eight hundred Celestial Immortal-level combatants, plus an old fellow in a golden cloak who made Ji Ning feel no desire to resist.

"But even if I can't resist, I have the means to kill myself," Ji Ning thought. "I absolutely won't let them do as they please."

"Alien."

The general stepped forward with a smile, but his face covered in blue-black scales still looked ferocious even when smiling. "This is the void territory of my Broken Horn World. Why have you come to our place?"

"I was wandering through the endless void and stumbled in by accident," Ji Ning said, while seizing every moment to absorb the power of the Grand Yin and Grand Sun and convert it into divine power, as his divine power had been greatly depleted. "I truly have no hostile intent. I beg you to let me leave, and I will be eternally grateful."

"Letting you leave is not impossible," the general said suddenly.

"Oh?" Ji Ning looked at him, knowing that since they had activated the void formation spanning tens of millions of li, maintaining such a formation was costly, and sending out so many horned warriors meant they would not let him go easily.

"I have one condition. If you agree and fulfill it, I promise to let you go," the general said.

"What condition?" Ji Ning pressed.

"Just let me probe your soul," the general said. "Let me know your true intentions. As long as you are not an enemy of the Broken Horn World, I will immediately release you."

"Probe my soul? Soul search?" Ji Ning's expression changed.

He immediately understood their plan.

He was a Fiendgod Body Refiner, his soul and divine body completely fused, extremely stable—far more stable than many Celestial Immortals. And his heartforce had reached the 'Dominator' level. Even for an ordinary Celestial Immortal, a Pure Yang True Immortal would find it very difficult to directly soul-search them. With his strong heartforce, even among True Immortals and True Gods, few could match him. Forcibly soul-searching him would be extremely hard. Even if a Dao Ancestor acted, Ji Ning could react instantly and shatter his own soul to commit suicide.

Now they wanted him to not resist and let them soul-search him?

"Impossible." Ji Ning shook his head in refusal.

"Don't refuse so quickly," the golden-cloaked general said with a smile.

Ji Ning understood.

They had sent out so many warriors and activated the void formation; they surely wanted something significant. If he didn't resist, they might use some method to control his soul and turn him into a slave, which would be worse than death. Their promise was worthless—this was outside the Three Realms, with no oath of the Heavenly Dao.

"No need to say more," Ji Ning sneered. "Death is no big deal. Dream on if you want to soul-search me."

"Alas." The golden-cloaked general sighed.

Whoosh~~~

Silently, hundreds of streams of will flew from the golden-cloaked general and the hundreds of purple-cloaked warriors, directly assaulting Ji Ning!

"Boom~~~"

In an instant, an endless fatigue overwhelmed Ji Ning.

Sleepy.

So sleepy, like when he was a mortal in his past life, sick and tired, feeling like he wanted to close his eyes and sleep. But this feeling had never come since he embarked on the path of immortality.

"I am the master of myself."

Powerful heartforce enveloped his entire body.

Led by his heartforce, his soul stubbornly resisted the assault. Though incredibly sleepy, he remained awake.

...

"Alas..."

"Failed."

"This human's heartforce is quite strong. Although the three of us only descended a part of our will onto the First Generation, even the three of us together couldn't charm his soul."

"With such strong heartforce, charming the soul is too difficult."

The three Mother Queens communicated with each other.

They didn't really care about Ji Ning's life or death; what they valued was the 'heartforce technique'. Even the heartforce technique from Hou Yi's archery art was useful to them. Even if they didn't use bows and arrows, it could still provide insights and deepen their understanding of heartforce.

As for Ji Ning? Once they soul-searched him, they would naturally kill him. They wouldn't let him return. If Ji Ning went back to the Three Realms and the top experts there learned that the Broken Horn World had obtained a heartforce technique, it might provoke a top expert to act personally.

Having survived the great catastrophe back then, they knew well the strength of the Three Realms. The entire ancient ruins side was the loser! A single Broken Horn World could be easily destroyed by a top expert from the Three Realms. So once they obtained the heartforce technique, they couldn't let Ji Ning return alive.

"No other choice."

"We'll have to let our First Generation children fight this human. Fight again and again, and we'll observe carefully with our will. His heartforce control is still poor now; we can sense his heartforce fluctuations. By personally observing the fights hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of times, over time we might discover some mysteries of heartforce and deduce the heartforce technique."

"Only this clumsy method remains."

The three Mother Queens made their decision.

True experts generally had such means: from external manifestations, they could deduce many mysteries. For example, great divine abilities like 'Garuda Wings'—other great powers, after watching them many times, could deduce similar flight techniques, perhaps inferior to Garuda Wings but still achieving part of its effect.

The three Mother Queens intended to do just that.

...

"No need to capture this alien; let him keep hope. Your First Generation can fight him one by one. When his power is exhausted, let him rest. After he rests, continue fighting. Let this battle last as long as possible, even for endless ages." The Mother Queens' orders were given.

The general and the many First Generation purple-cloaked warriors were puzzled.

They could capture him, so why not?

And fight him one-on-one?

But they dared not disobey the Mother Queens, nor could they. Their loyalty to the Mother Queens was blood-deep; if the Mother Queens ordered them to commit suicide, they wouldn't hesitate.

"Tong Tuo, you go." The general ordered.

"Yes." A purple-cloaked warrior flew out and charged straight at Ji Ning.

Ji Ning's divine power had only recovered to a tenth, but he had been carefully watching the vast army. Seeing the purple-cloaked warrior coming, he naturally engaged.

...

While Ji Ning was trapped in the Land of Annihilation by the Broken Horn World's army, fighting one challenger after another in a long void battle, far away in the Three Realms, his Dao companion Yu Wei was at her most dangerous moment.

In a world of birdsong and flowers, now vortexes, lightning, and clouds hung high.

"Boom!"

From the vortex clouds high above, another bolt of lightning descended.

"Coo~~~" Yu Wei stood looking up at the sky, surrounded by ninety-nine phoenixes—white and fiery red—circling her, desperately resisting the lightning above. With this strike, almost all the phoenixes dispersed, leaving only one white phoenix by her side.

The lightning in the sky finally ceased completely.

Watching from the opposite mountaintop, the peerless sword immortal Patriarch Lu nodded slightly: "Seven-Nine Tribulation, as I guessed. My disciple, a Qi Refiner, even as a reincarnated immortal, facing the Seven-Nine Tribulation is somewhat excessive. It seems my disciple has indeed hidden something."

"The Heart Demon Tribulation has begun."

"For my disciple, this Heart Demon Tribulation is probably the most dangerous." Patriarch Lu thought.

In her past life, Yu Wei was a true Asura, extremely powerful, on par with the Northern Traveler Immortal. In this life, under Patriarch Lu's guidance, her realm was even higher. Using forbidden arts, she managed to survive the Seven-Nine Tribulation.

But the Heart Demon Tribulation was mysterious and unpredictable.

"In her past life, she suffered bitterly and became an Asura," Patriarch Lu mused. "And she harbors a great secret in her heart, telling no one, not even me. The deeper one hides such secrets, the more terrifying the Heart Demon Tribulation. In her past life, she failed the tribulation. I wonder how it will be this time."

Days passed.

Six days, seven days, eight days... fifteen days, sixteen days...

Yu Wei still sat there; her Heart Demon Tribulation lasted exceptionally long.

...