Chapter 257: Bai Hongtu: Let Me Give You Something Big

Jiang Li was idle for a few days, strolling around and witnessing all kinds of amusing events.
The Baize Empress, still young at heart, disguised herself as an ordinary cultivator and participated in a knowledge competition—she won first place. Jiang Li gave her some face and didn’t expose her identity.
After all, he had competed against her and lost—he only got second place.
Jiang Li also entered a Jiang the Human Sovereign imitation contest but didn’t even make it past the preliminaries.
Confucian Envoy Wang Bian took part in a poetry competition and just missed first place—because the winner was the anonymous leader of the Confucian Sect, Dong Zhongren.
Bai Hongtu used “One Qi Splits into Three Pure Ones” to perform a group cross-talk skit at a street corner. Many cultivators found it hilarious and rewarded him with spirit stones. Jiang Li had to contact his guardian, Immortal Elder Changcun, to take the kid home.
To prove her musical talent, Mortal World Celestial—heavily wrapped with only her eyes exposed—was performing Immortal Dao music on the street. It was so beautiful and moving that Jiang Li quickly asked Holy Maiden Jingxin to escort her back to the Pure Land of the Mortal World.
Commander Liu even invited people from the Mingzhong World to the celebration. Mingzhong sent representatives who translated their world’s situation into Nine Provinces Language and handed out leaflets near the Human Sovereign Hall, causing a huge stir.
Fortunately, Commander Liu had prepared in advance and deployed extra guards to maintain order.
Jiang Li thought Commander Liu really had it tough—every celebration required him to manage so many things.

…

After several days of preparation, under a lively atmosphere and the attention of all, the grand Human Sovereign Celebration began. Representatives from all major factions sat on the high platform. Mingzhong, as an honored guest, was among them and stood out.
As soon as Jiang Li appeared on stage, the crowd erupted into thunderous applause.

“Fellow cultivators and Daoists, today we gather in great celebration for the 300th anniversary of the reign of the 72nd Human Sovereign—that is, myself. Here, on behalf of the commanders and guards of the Human Sovereign Hall, I offer my heartfelt thanks to every cultivator working to make the Nine Provinces better!”

“For three hundred years, I have never forgotten the efforts of my predecessors, nor the invasions by Outer World Demons. I’ve cultivated tirelessly day and night, improving my strength to protect the Nine Provinces…”

“As the Nine Provinces continue to develop and our systems improve, I have reached the Mahayana Stage—the highest combat strength in the Nine Provinces—capable of defeating Outer World Demons. With the joint efforts of all major factions, we’ve established the Nine Provinces Barrier Formation centered around the External War Armament, completely eliminating the threat of Outer World Demons!”

“Today, I solemnly declare—the Nine Provinces need no longer fear the Outer World Demons!”

“Let the celebration begin!”

After Jiang Li’s speech, applause burst forth louder than ever before. Some cultivators were moved to tears and took out Recording Spheres to capture this historic moment.
The audience sat at round tables watching performances.
Top-tier ingredients purchased by Zhang Konghu were made into delicious dishes and served for everyone to enjoy freely.
People ate, watched the once-in-a-decade performance, and felt absolutely delighted.
The Pure Land of the Mortal World didn’t present a performance but instead sent two hosts to emcee the celebration.

“Everyone has probably heard of the Mingzhong World. First up is their performance. Let us enjoy a show from the Mingzhong World—the Mecha Dance.”

Dozens of mechs came on stage to perform a dance that seemed strange to the Nine Provinces audience at first.
But beauty has no borders—after a few minutes, the crowd adapted and began to cheer enthusiastically.
Mingzhong’s choice to showcase mechs had been carefully considered.
Mechs were the pinnacle of their technological civilization—by presenting them, they demonstrated their technological level.
Moreover, the Nine Provinces had puppets similar to mechs, but mechs didn’t rely on spiritual energy—that was the key difference, and the main attraction.
By showing off their mechs, they hoped to draw more interest from cultivators and accelerate talent exchange.
And as expected, some cultivators were intrigued and began planning to apply to visit Mingzhong World.

“What’s your Dao Sect performing this year? Another group cross-talk?” Jiang Li glanced at Bai Hongtu, whose performance was coming up soon. But the guy hadn’t left yet?
Bai Hongtu scoffed disdainfully: “Do I seem like someone with no creativity? Just watch—I’ll give you something big.”
Jiang Li thought One Qi Splits into Three Pure Ones doing a cross-talk skit was already creative enough.
Bai Hongtu jumped off the stairs.

“Next up, we welcome the Dao Sect’s Sect Master, Bai Hongtu, with a performance… uh… undergoing Lightning Tribulation?” The two disciples from the Pure Land were stunned, wondering if they misread the script.
“???” Jiang Li stared wide-eyed. Undergo Lightning Tribulation in public? This isn’t giving me something big—you’re trying to get me killed!

Bai Hongtu stood in the center of the stage, smiled confidently, and pointed at the sky. The weather instantly changed, and a thunderbolt struck down—turning him into charcoal.
Fortunately, the stage was large. Otherwise, the tribulation might have included the audience, and then no one would survive.
The air pressure dropped, the sky darkened, and the figure on stage became immortalized—lightning flashing upon Bai Hongtu’s unyielding silhouette.
The might of the Lightning Tribulation was immense, incinerating all. The surrounding thousands of kilometers trembled.
Thunder roared like fire, the tribulation lightning turned to molten plasma, carrying heavenly might from sky to earth, shaking the entire Nine Provinces.

The lightning focused solely on Bai Hongtu. The audience and faction representatives were only spectators.
But even just watching, they were terrified—hearts pounding in awe.
Cultivators recording with their Spheres had trembling hands.
Mingzhong was shaken. They thought their mech dance was impressive—but this was next-level: “Are all Nine Provinces performances this hardcore?”
Jiang Li’s lips twitched. “The Nine Provinces don’t have that many Immortal Ascension Tribulations to show off—he’s a one-of-a-kind scorpion poop.”

Jiang Li thought Bai Hongtu must’ve mastered some great Divine Ability and was just going through a normal tribulation. Who would’ve thought—it was an Immortal Ascension Tribulation!
And in the middle of it, Bai Hongtu… fell asleep. Letting the lightning strike around him as he napped.

“That’s the Fearless Immovable Tribulation,” Jiang Li explained. “My first tribulation was this one too.”
Mingzhong asked, “What does that mean?”
Ruyi Gourd chimed in, “Every bolt of lightning in the Fearless Immovable Tribulation surpasses the cultivator’s limits. If you try to resist, you’re toast. The only way through is to remain still, fearless, and unshaken in your Dao Heart.”
“See how Bai Hongtu is sleeping? That shows he’s unafraid. As long as he’s not afraid, the lightning won’t strike him directly.”
Mingzhong tried to imagine it—knowing you’d be fine is one thing, but standing under lightning that looked like the end of the world… it’d be impossible not to be scared.

Bai Hongtu napped his way through the tribulation and passed safely. Then, nine ring-shaped lightning bolts appeared in the sky.
“That’s the Nine-Ring Descent Tribulation. No tricks. You can only get through by enduring it head-on—and only if you’ve fully mastered every realm from Qi Refining to the Tribulation Stage,” Ruyi Gourd explained. “It’s one of the scariest Immortal Ascension Tribulations. The fact that Bai Hongtu is facing it shows his immense potential.”

The ring-shaped lightning roared with terrifying force. Spiritual energy went chaotic, space shattered, threatening to grind bone and soul alike into dust. Bai Hongtu couldn’t absorb outside energy and could only rely on his own.
Each bolt could split the soul from the body of a Fusion Stage cultivator—truly terrifying.

Blinding white light flashed, too intense to keep eyes open. A bolt wrapped around Bai Hongtu with a loud crackling sizzle.
Second bolt.
Third.
Fourth…
Ninth.

All nine bolts struck Bai Hongtu.
As the audience adapted to the light and finally saw the stage—
They found Bai Hongtu twisting his waist, using the lightning rings like hula hoops.
All nine at once.

Mingzhong turned to Ruyi Gourd: “You said barely passable?”
Ruyi Gourd coughed awkwardly: “Well… not barely, then.”