Chapter 162: Not Pretending Anymore, We’re All Tribulation Stage

Tianming Daoist looked up at the mighty figures fighting like gods, his heart turning ice cold.
First, he racked his brain to remember if he’d said anything that might have offended them. Then he started thinking about who should be the next Tower Master of Tianji Tower. Finally, he wondered who he should leave his will with.
“…To all branch masters, thank you for your hard work all these years. By the time you read this letter, I might already…”
At this moment, the audience didn’t care what Tianming Daoist was doing. They were all staring, unblinking, at the once-in-a-lifetime battle unfolding above them.
And honestly, a Tribulation Stage battle wasn’t something Tianming Daoist could even explain.
In their hearts, everyone marveled—Great Zhou’s tournament really was extraordinary. Watching a Nascent Soul battle turn into a full-on Tribulation Stage clash… totally worth the trip.
Great experience. Definitely coming back as a spectator next time.
Not just the audience below the stage—four Tribulation Stage cultivators, one step away from Immortality, were engaged in a cosmic-level battle, the sheer scale like the end of the world. The entire Nine Provinces could see it.
Though no one else really knew what was going on.
Tianji Tower disciple Lü Kai clutched his news draft, shivering in fear.
He’d been following the four of them around for the past few days, taking notes and conducting interviews. They’d joked with each other, and he’d thought they were just messing around. Looking back now… weren’t those jokes actually terrifying secrets even Tianji Tower didn’t dare record?
He was just a mere disciple—how was he supposed to survive knowing this stuff?
Right, the Tower Master is here. He had to find him and beg for his life.
“Now that you’re Tribulation Stage, how are you going to explain that?” Bai Hongtu’s formation pressed in with dazzling runes, even the nearby stars began to glow brighter.
“Aren’t you also Tribulation Stage?” The Sword Sovereign couldn’t come up with a reason, so he threw the question back. He didn’t believe Bai Hongtu could come up with one either.
“I just merged with the Tribulation Stage soul inside me, awakened my past-life insight, elevated my spiritual platform, and broke through all at once—easy peasy.”
“…Okay, I’ll give you that one.”
Bai Hongtu smugly said, “I’ve always had the natural gift of spouting bullsh*t. Even Jiang Li bows to me. You think a little thing like this can stump me?”
Since they were in space, they were using Divine Sense to communicate.
…Why are you proud of that? The Sword Sovereign was speechless, slashing out with his sword. Countless stars were caught in the sword aura, split in half, exposing their cores and magma before detonating.
Yu Yin was empowered by National Fortune. The Ruyi Gourd shielded her as she unleashed her strongest techniques. The Empress reigned over all, expression cold, aura noble beyond offense, making people willingly kneel in submission.
Li Er summoned his Dharma Body True Form—so massive it defied description.
His Dharma Body was himself.
The Dharma Body Sect emphasized comprehending all things in the world, constantly shifting until one’s Dharma Body settled into the image of what they believed to be the strongest.
Originally, he’d wanted to take Jiang Li as his model, but Jiang Li was too powerful—he couldn’t manifest that image no matter how hard he tried.
So Li Er settled for second-best—himself.
Though he hadn’t reached the level he bragged about at drinking tables, “stars like dust in my squinted eyes,” his Dharma Body was still colossal, stars wrapped around his waist like decorations.
Li Er grabbed a star, compressed it with force into a twenty-meter-wide ball of dirt. In the Nine Provinces World, there was no specific name for it, but Jiang Li knew the proper term from his past life.
It was called a neutron star, incredibly dense, just one step away from becoming a black hole.
But black holes didn’t do much against Fusion Stage cultivators—not because their bodies were that tough, but because Fusion Stage cultivators were beings whose bodies and forms, minds and intentions, had become one. As long as their minds were stable, a black hole couldn’t tear them apart.
Only Immortal-level beings achieved truly indestructible bodies that even black holes couldn’t consume.
So Li Er didn’t bother creating a black hole. He just compressed the star into a neutron star and hurled it at Yu Yin.
White fire, fueled by spiritual energy, roared to life. Even in the cold void of space, its heat could be felt.
Over a hundred thousand years ago, a true phoenix had burned itself during its Immortal Ascension Tribulation and was reborn in flames, successfully ascending. It left behind a clump of white flame in the Nine Provinces—its brow flame.
This was true Immortal Fire.
Yu Yin had found it by chance when she was still a Human Sovereign candidate.
The white fire and the neutron star collided in a massive explosion, releasing a visible shockwave that knocked nearby stars off their orbits.
Li Er noticed lines forming beneath his feet, crisscrossing like a chessboard.
Tianyuan Dynasty’s National Fortune—The Tianyuan Chessboard.
Delicate fingers picked up a chess piece. A giant star plummeted toward Li Er. He dodged easily and kicked it back at Yu Yin.
“I’m the captain of the Dharma Body Sect’s kickball team!”
Li Er often organized Fusion Stage elders to play cosmic kickball with Dharma Bodies, usually far from the Nine Provinces. Not many people knew about it.
Yu Yin didn’t respond. She kept placing pieces. Stars kept falling. If they hit the Nine Provinces, it would cause massive waves, collapsing mountains. Entire states would be wiped out—who knows how many would die.
These were techniques usable only in space.
The Ruyi Gourd spewed forth the fire tribulation from the four tribulations of earth, wind, fire, and thunder, combining with Yu Yin’s white fire and igniting the flames in Li Er’s heart.
He felt karmic fire burning within him, his organs roasting as if set on a furnace.
But he had long refined his body into an unblemished state, perfectly harmonized inside and out. This kind of attack barely affected him.
He shrunk to normal size and punched hard. Yu Yin met him head-on. Fists and feet clashed—blood was drawn.
Bai Hongtu and the Sword Sovereign’s swords collided, sword aura unending, space trembling, on the verge of shattering.
The Sword Sovereign was stunned—Bai Hongtu was actually clashing head-to-head with him using pure Sword Dao, not any other tricks.
“You’ve got this level of Sword Dao talent, so why not focus on it instead of learning runes and formations?”
Bai Hongtu grinned, “If I don’t study runes and formations, who’s going to set up the Nine Provinces Barrier Formation? You?”
“…My apologies.”
The Sword Sovereign’s sword techniques didn’t weaken—instead, they became even sharper.
……
Nine Provinces, Observing Stars Sect.
The Sect Master wept into his hands. Their sect’s entire philosophy was based on tracking celestial movements and interpreting human fate. But now that the stars near the Nine Provinces had been completely jumbled, how were they supposed to observe anything?
The worst part? Their sect didn’t even have a single Fusion Stage cultivator, so they couldn’t participate in the Nine Provinces Council Meeting. Otherwise, he’d absolutely propose creating a Star Protection Association to sue those four star-wrecking Tribulation Stage monsters!
Don’t star lives matter too!?
“Sect Master, should we… maybe change the sect’s name and mission?” One disciple suggested. There were hundreds of Fusion Stage cultivators across the Nine Provinces. Even if they weren’t all as extreme as those four, changing star trajectories or even blowing up planets was still well within their ability. At this point, sticking with Observing Stars Sect felt kinda tone-deaf.
Did I make a rash choice joining this sect?
“To what?”
“Observing Mahayana Sect. Observe Mahayana trends, interpret human fate.”
“…Get lost.”
“On it.”