#152 - I have been like this since I was a child (4000 words, two-part
Chapter 152: I've Been Like This Since I Was a Kid (4000 words, two-in-one)
From within the layers of clouds, a massive head emerged.
This dragon was not a living creature, but rather composed of a kind of blue lightning.
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The giant dragon slowly descended.
Its claws tore through the cloud layers.
Its body moved ceaselessly through the sea of clouds, with the thunderclouds partially obscuring the lightning dragon.
Rays of lightning permeated the dragon's surroundings.
“Nine Heavens Lightning Tribulation.”
The name surfaced in Xu Ming's mind.
Xu Ming had once read about various types of lightning tribulations in a book.
A cultivator generally needed to undergo five Heavenly Tribulations.
These occurred when advancing from the Ocean Observation Realm to the Dragon Gate Realm, the Golden Core Realm to the Nascent Soul Realm, the Nascent Soul Realm to the Jade Purity Realm, the Jade Purity Realm to the Immortal Realm, and the Immortal Realm to the Ascension Realm.
Depending on the cultivator's aptitude and opportunities, each tribulation was divided into nine types.
Among them, the Nine Heavens Lightning Tribulation was the most difficult tribulation when advancing from the Ocean Observation Realm to the Dragon Gate Realm.
Countless cultivators had perished under the Nine Heavens Lightning Tribulation.
But the problem was, Xu Ming was only at the Foundation Establishment Realm. Even if he broke through to the Cave Mansion Realm, he shouldn't be undergoing a tribulation.
“The Heavenly Dao never cuts off all paths. You should be grateful that your realm is only at the Foundation Establishment stage. Therefore, the final test for White Dike City is the Nine Heavens Lightning Tribulation for those advancing from the Ocean Observation Realm to the Dragon Gate Realm.
If your realm were any higher, it would be the Nine Immortal Lightning Tribulation of the Nascent Soul Realm or the Nine Lotus Heavenly Profound Tribulation of the Jade Purity Realm.”
“Then I should thank the Heavenly Dao.”
Xu Ming smiled.
The Golden Body Toad was indeed right.
The higher his realm, the greater the difficulty of the lightning tribulation.
His current Foundation Establishment Realm was truly a bit of an advantage.
But even so, Xu Ming knew that overcoming the most difficult Nine Heavens Lightning Tribulation of the Ocean Observation Realm with his Foundation Establishment Realm, this 'mortal body,' would be exceedingly difficult.
Almost everyone below the Heavenly Stairway no longer held any expectations for Xu Ming.
Without a doubt, Xu Ming was going to die on this Heavenly Stairway.
For a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator to face the supreme lightning tribulation of the Ocean Observation Realm, how was that possible?!
At the same time, the unwillingness in their hearts completely disappeared, replaced by more relief.
Initially, when they saw Xu Ming carrying the entire White Dike City on his back and ascending the Heavenly Stairway, when they saw Xu Ming single-handedly shattering the golden body dharma images of four White Dike City demons, they actually felt a little uncomfortable.
This discomfort was—
Although Xu Ming seemed to be going through a very difficult time, what if I could do it too?
So, when they saw Xu Ming walking upwards step by step, they felt extremely uncomfortable, wishing Xu Ming would die on the spot.
But now, seeing the Nine Heavens Lightning Tribulation, they knew that they definitely could not pass it.
Xu Ming was at the Foundation Establishment Realm, and what awaited him was the Nine Heavens Lightning Tribulation.
But if they were to ascend the Heavenly Stairway, wouldn't they, these Cave Mansion Realm and Ocean Observation Realm cultivators, have to undergo the Nine Immortal Lightning Tribulation?
To cross several realms to undergo the most difficult lightning tribulation was almost impossible.
“Roar!”
The lightning dragon in the sea of lightning roared at Xu Ming again, the gale scattered, and the air was filled with the stinging sensation of the lightning tribulation.
Faced with the might of the lightning dragon, many of the cultivators hundreds of meters below could not help but tremble in their legs, almost kneeling down.
But on that Heavenly Stairway, Xu Ming, who was only a few dozen meters away from the lightning dragon, stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the lightning dragon with a calm expression, without joy or sorrow.
“Aren't you afraid?” the Golden Body Toad asked.
The Golden Body Toad was also curious.
This young man, no more than sixteen years old, possessed a maturity beyond his years.
“Afraid.” Xu Ming smiled and nodded, “But, is it useful?”
The Golden Body Toad was stunned, and the corners of its mouth curled up: “Indeed, it's useless.”
“Roar!”
As soon as the Golden Body Toad's words fell, the lightning tribulation arrived.
The lightning dragon spat out a breath of dragon fire at Xu Ming, this was the first lightning tribulation.
The blue dragon breath, like flames, completely covered Xu Ming.
The lightning smoke overflowing from Xu Ming's body permeated the entire sky.
Everyone subconsciously swallowed.
The Nine Heavens Lightning Tribulation had a total of nine trials.
But according to the current situation, not to mention surviving nine lightning tribulations, if it were them, they probably wouldn't even be able to withstand the first lightning tribulation.
The lightning smoke dissipated, and the crowd focused their spiritual power into their eyes, looking towards Xu Ming on the Heavenly Stairway hundreds of meters above.
Many people felt that they should not be able to see Xu Ming anymore. It was very likely that Xu Ming had been reduced to ashes under this first lightning tribulation.
However, the crowd was disappointed.
As the lightning smoke dissipated, Xu Ming was intact, except that his body was a little charred.
“He's still alive, he's still alive…” Qin Qingwan clenched her fists tightly, her eyes fixed on Xu Ming.
“Cough, cough, cough…” Xu Ming coughed a few times, smoke coming out of his throat.
Xu Ming moved a little, and every move was accompanied by static electricity.
Even if Xu Ming was still alive, most people felt that Xu Ming was almost at his limit, already at the end of his rope.
The lightning dragon didn't give Xu Ming a chance to rest at all.
The lightning dragon roared angrily, as if shouting, “Why hasn't this ant died yet?!”
The second lightning tribulation followed closely.
The lightning around the lightning dragon continued to condense, eventually forming a huge lightning pillar.
The lightning pillar smashed onto Xu Ming's body.
In the lightning, Xu Ming felt that every inch of his skin was being constantly lacerated, and his soul seemed to be torn to pieces.
In the past, the most painful thing Xu Ming had experienced was when Madam Wang tempered his body when he was a child.
But this single second lightning tribulation was a hundred times more painful than that.
As the second lightning tribulation disappeared, Xu Ming's consciousness was already a little blurred, and even thinking that there were still seven lightning tribulations to come gave people a deep sense of despair.
Looking at this man on the verge of collapse, the Golden Body Toad also shook his head.
He admired this man very much, but unfortunately, he couldn't help him in any way. He could only rely on himself now, and he didn't even have the chance to give up.
The third Heavenly Lightning descended again.
A crack opened in the sky above White Dike City, and from this crack, a waterfall cascaded down towards Xu Ming.
This waterfall was a liquid formed by condensed lightning.
The moment the waterfall poured onto Xu Ming's body, Xu Ming's body sank, and he knelt on one knee on the steps.
Xu Ming deeply felt the waterfall of lightning piercing into every pore of his body, entering his body, and merging into his blood.
If the first two lightning tribulations wanted to destroy him from the outside, then this third lightning tribulation wanted to tear him apart from the inside.
Xu Ming felt that his internal organs, blood vessels, everything inside his body, was being gnawed at by tens of thousands of ants.
Even in Xu Ming's mind, a thought arose—why not just give up, if he died, he wouldn't be in so much pain.
“How can I die now…”
Xu Ming smiled at this thought in his mind and shook his head.
Below this Heavenly Stairway, there were still people waiting for him.
In Wudu, his mother was still waiting for him to return.
The greatest filial impiety in the world was for a white-haired person to send off a black-haired person.
Xu Ming took a deep breath, his entire lungs almost bursting.
But this breath allowed Xu Ming to hold on a little longer.
Xu Ming condensed the martial artist's true energy.
In everyone's eyes, behind Xu Ming, strands of martial artist's true energy were constantly condensing behind Xu Ming, and finally, a martial soul dharma image was formed.
As Xu Ming stood up little by little, the martial soul dharma image behind Xu Ming also stood up.
In the waterfall of lightning, Xu Ming stood up and faced the sky directly.
The fourth Heavenly Tribulation.
The fifth Heavenly Tribulation.
The sixth, the seventh.
In one impossible situation after another, Xu Ming stubbornly endured.
With each Heavenly Tribulation that fell, they felt that Xu Ming was going to die, but Xu Ming just lived like this.
“Enough, really enough…”
Qin Qingwan looked at Xu Ming on the Heavenly Stairway, her eyes blurred.
Xu Ming's clothes were already charred, sticking to his already disfigured flesh.
Xu Ming's body was cracked like parched earth, even if a drop of blood struggled to flow out of Xu Ming's body, the blood was mixed with faint lightning.
The current Xu Ming was completely relying on his willpower to support himself.
As the eighth lightning tribulation descended, Xu Ming exhausted his last strength again and used blood qi berserk.
Blood qi berserk could not repair Xu Ming's injuries. This move was more like a painkiller, which could allow Xu Ming to temporarily forget the pain, but the disadvantage was that even if Xu Ming could withstand the eighth Heavenly Lightning, what about the ninth?
The ninth Heavenly Lightning, he would be exhausted and would not have any strength to resist.
At that time, he would be no different from an ordinary person undergoing a lightning tribulation.
But Xu Ming knew even more clearly that if he couldn't stop the eighth Heavenly Lightning, how could he talk about the ninth?
“Boom!”
The eighth Heavenly Lightning was a huge long sword, the long sword made of lightning pierced down towards Xu Ming's head!
Xu Ming tremblingly took out the peach wood sword, and the phantom of the peach wood sword also appeared on the heroic soul dharma image of the Heroic Soul Realm.
Xu Ming and the dharma image thrust the sword upwards, the sword peak of the lightning sword resisting the blade of the peach wood sword. From the contact surface, the sword peak of the peach wood sword began to turn black, carbonize, and burst.
But at this moment, bursts of book-turning wind blew, and the aura of righteousness slowly blessed Xu Ming's surroundings.
“This is… Confucian merit!”
Yuwen Xi and Miao Feng were overjoyed!
When a talented scholar creates a famous work that is used by Confucian disciples, it accumulates Confucian merit.
This is the protection that Confucianism provides for its disciples.
However, what puzzled them was that Xu Ming hadn't entered Confucianism, nor had he cultivated the aura of righteousness, so he shouldn't be able to connect with Confucian merit.
Could it be that a Confucian sage who had already ascended to immortality couldn't bear to watch and lent a helping hand?
Confucian merit protected Xu Ming, and the wind of turning pages covered the lightning sword.
The giant lightning sword gradually dissipated, turning into nothing with the wind.
As the wind of turning pages gradually subsided, Xu Ming vaguely saw the figure of an old scholar above the clouds.
Xu Ming cupped his hands and bowed deeply.
At the same time, in the ancestral temple of White Deer Academy.
The girl kneeling on the ground slowly opened her eyes.
Inside the ancestral temple were statues of Confucian sages, and at the forefront was the Confucian Forefather—Confucius.
"I didn't expect the Ancestral Master to respond to you, little girl."
The current Dean of White Deer Academy stroked his beard, deeply moved.
The last time the Forefather responded to him was a thousand years ago, and after that, no matter how he sacrificed, he couldn't make the Ancestral Master manifest.
But this little girl felt uneasy and thought Xu Ming was in danger, so she knelt in this ancestral temple for the time it takes to burn an incense stick, and the Forefather really helped.
Speaking of which, what exactly happened to that Xu Ming?
The girl ignored her teacher's words, still clasping her hands together, praying to the Ancestral Master.
In the girl's heart, that uneasiness not only didn't disappear but grew even stronger.
"Xu Ming... you must be alright..."
The girl closed her eyes and prayed sincerely.
"Roar!!!!"
Perhaps because its eighth heavenly tribulation was blocked by an external force, this lightning dragon was extremely displeased, thrashing about in the clouds.
Watching the increasingly violent lightning dragon, Xu Ming had no strength or means left.
He could barely withstand the eighth tribulation just now, and the Confucian Forefather had inexplicably helped him once.
What about this ninth one?
Even if Xu Ming didn't have the strength of a single punch left.
Xu Ming still stood up shakily.
Xu Ming still remembered what his former instructor had told him: Warriors of Wu Country never die lying down.
"Roar woo!!!!"
The giant lightning dragon disappeared into the thunderclouds, and in the next instant, it broke through the sea of clouds, charging straight towards Xu Ming.
This ninth tribulation was the lightning dragon itself.
Xu Ming raised his head, staring directly at the approaching lightning dragon, never closing his eyes.
"Honk!"
Below the heavenly ladder, the Heavenly Profound Goose sensed that Xu Ming was really going to die, and quickly flew forward, even though it didn't know what use it would be, but it wanted to be by Xu Ming's side.
However, before the Heavenly Profound Goose could fly halfway, it felt its wings being pulled heavily.
"Honk?"
Before the Heavenly Profound Goose could react, someone grabbed its wings, threw it down, and tied it up.
The Heavenly Profound Goose watched helplessly as the girl in the Daoist robe flew to Xu Ming's side at top speed.
The heavenly ladder didn't stop Qin Qingwan.
Anyone could fly up, but only those who walked up the heavenly ladder step by step and passed the test could obtain the White Marsh Painting.
But Qin Qingwan didn't want the White Marsh Painting; she just wanted to be by Xu Ming's side.
Xu Ming's attention was still on the lightning dragon.
Just as a series of memories flashed through Xu Ming's mind, he felt his almost numb left hand being held tightly by a soft and delicate presence.
Xu Ming turned his head and looked at the girl beside him.
"What are you doing here? Go down!" Xu Ming scolded.
"I'm not going down!" Qin Qingwan stubbornly said.
"Why are you so stubborn? You've been like this since you were a kid!" Xu Ming was a little angry.
Looking into Xu Ming's eyes and hearing his words, Qin Qingwan was slightly stunned, and the girl's small hand held the charred hand even tighter.
"Yes ~"
The girl's eyes curved, and her smile was like a flower.
"I've been like this since I was a kid ~"
