[Congratulations! Your descendant Li Yunlin has integrated the Rank 7 Azure Mist Branch and Rank 6 Tian Xing Tear into the Skyveil Hall, gradually completing the artifact. He has also received Venerable Tian Xing's inheritance, acquiring several strands of Rule comprehension from the Venerable's memories, resulting in a massive increase in his strength!]
[Due to these gains, his impending Seven-Nine Heavenly Tribulation has successfully escalated into the Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulation! He is currently undergoing the breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage!]
[Location Effect: Within the Tian Xing Abode, your descendant Li Yunlin cannot perceive the Heavenly Tribulation. Consequently, he has achieved a breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage (Pseudo). The Nascent Soul is successfully formed, allowing him to command Heaven and Earth Spirit Qi. He has obtained roughly one-tenth of the expected power consolidation from transcending the Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulation!]
BOOM!
High in the sky, the rain of golden coins manifested once more!
Seeing Li Yunlin actually dare to launch an offensive, Nangong Yazhi quickly recovered her composure from the initial shock. She almost seemed relieved. Gazing at the Fire God-like Li Yunlin, her expression shifted to one of wry amusement. Her golden coin artifact shot forward; with a single parry, it simultaneously blocked the immense fist of the Tian Xing Tear's Asura giant, the fiery vines, and Li Yunlin's own spear thrust!
"How amusing. Are all you Li family members so wildly arrogant?" Nangong Yazhi resumed her elegant bearing, a faint smile playing on her red lips. "The Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulation, you say?" she mused. "And what of it? Even if you had fully transcended the true Nine-Nine Tribulation, you still wouldn't be my equal. And yet, having not even endured the tempering flames of any tribulation for this realm, you have the audacity to challenge me?"
"How can a frog in a well comprehend the vastness of the sky ?" She continued, pityingly. "Still, I must admit, I do admire your courage. Such a waste, ah... Courage alone is nowhere near enough. In the end, you're no different from those two worthless fools from my own Nangong clan."
Yet beneath her calm, Nangong Yazhi felt a surge of exhilaration.
"After hiding my strength for so many years," she thought, "now that I finally have reason to act, what harm is there in revealing a sliver of my true power? To let these ants—Li Yunlin and the rest—feel as though they are facing a god, crushed helplessly beneath my might… is that not an amusing prospect? Once I've seized every opportunity that Li Yunlin holds, I can turn my attention to Xu Dingsheng. And here, within the Tian Xing Abode, who will dare stand in my way?"
But even as he faced an enemy whose strength seemed utterly beyond reach, Li Yunlin did not waver.
He continued his frenzied forward charge.
His Asura Dharma Body—summoned through the Tian Xing Tear—had already been torn apart by the golden rain.
His spear, wreathed in blazing flames, failed even to leave a mark on Nangong Yazhi's golden coin artifact.
The vines of his Azure Mist Branch crumbled into ash, powerless and irrelevant.
And yet, Li Yunlin showed no fear.
Not even a flicker of hesitation.
He pressed on, like a man determined to break through heaven itself—even if it meant being consumed in the attempt.
No words were necessary. For many years, for longer than he could remember, he hadn't felt this unrestrained, this thoroughly exhilarated, as he did in this moment.
All his life, Li Yunlin had carried a deep-rooted fear.
As a child, growing up under the shadow of his mother Qu Xiao's difficult circumstances, he had always felt inferior to his peers, never able to stand tall among them. Years later, during his struggle against Elder Qiuye of the Skyveil Sect, he fell victim to a scheme by Daoist Zhen. That disastrous misstep led directly to the death of the Pig Demon King, a blow that left Li Yunlin too terrified to make enemies ever again.
For over a hundred years after that, he tread carefully.
Dealing with the major factions of the Azure Cloud region, he moved with extreme caution.
When facing the powerful Wind King Mansion, he made sure never to provoke them.
Even when the Wu Clan arrived, he suppressed every impulse to act rashly.
But now…
Now, as he looked at the flames that wrapped around him—flames that had begun to flicker and dim from his repeated failed attacks—Li Yunlin suddenly remembered the Old Ancestor's words:
"Here, within the Tianxing Abode, I am the most senior elder present!"
His heart, which had long been shackled by fear, now surged with newfound resolve.
He told himself.
'There is no room for hesitation!'
'All my kin are counting on me!'
'I must rise. I must fight!'
"Skyveil Hall!" he roared, "Aid me! Slay the enemy!!!"
....
Meanwhile, high atop a Spirit Mountain bathed in pure Immortal Qi, flocks of Immortal Cranes wheeled gracefully through the sky. Their cries rang out in unison—a familiar signal that the time had come once again for Dao discourse.
Dong!
The deep toll of a great bell echoed across the mountain, its ancient resonance carrying the weight of ages past.
Deep within the mountain's sacred domain, a figure—appearing as a mere child—sat serenely upon a Lotus Platform. For a long time, he had been reciting scriptures aloud, his voice calm and rhythmic. Below him, dozens of disciples in Daoist robes sat cross-legged in meditation, silently absorbing the Dao truths being imparted by the Child.
As the final toll of the bell faded into silence, the Child slowly opened his eyes, marking the end of his recitation.
The assembled disciples immediately rose, performed a deep and respectful bow, and then quietly departed. Only after they had traveled a full kilometer away from the sacred ground did they dare to take to the skies in sword flight.
Yet among them, one figure stood out: an elderly man at the forefront, his hair stark white but his face still bearing the smoothness of youth.
As the others left, the Child's calm voice rang out, instructing this old man to remain behind.
"Master Ancestor," the white-haired elder asked respectfully, bowing low, "may this disciple inquire why you have summoned me to stay behind?"
Seated high upon the Lotus Platform, the figure before him appeared to be a mere child—yet when he spoke, his voice carried a deep, resonant power that far surpassed any mortal man.
"One hundred and thirty thousand years ago," the Child began, his gaze fixed on the elder, "this Seat departed from the lands then known as the Azure Cloud region. Before I left, I entrusted a great treasure—the Skyveil Hall—to those lands. It was this treasure that later enabled the founding of your Skyveil Sect."
The Child's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Your natural talent is passable," he continued, "your heart is devoted to the Dao, and you are the bearer of the Skyveil Hall, the legacy I left behind. Yet at your age—over fourteen hundred years—you still linger at the peak of the Nascent Soul realm. By now, you should have refined your Nascent Soul and stepped into the Soul Projection stage, breaking through to Divinity Transformation. That is the path you were meant to follow!"
This white-haired elder was none other than Daoist Jiuyou.
The very same Daoist Jiuyou who had once ventured to the Imperial Capital years ago, only to fall into a deadly ambush and vanish without a trace, leaving behind no word, no body, nothing but rumors and unanswered questions.
Li Yunlin had spent countless years brooding over his Master's mysterious disappearance.
Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that Daoist Jiuyou had survived—let alone that he had been cultivating all this time in such a sacred and hidden place!
---
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