Undergoing Tribulation with Difficulty
Wind flower tribulation and snow moon tribulation are each a separate earthly calamity, but together they form a heavenly tribulation, harder to survive. Wind flowers move fast and cut deep, and a snow moon’s cold light freezes a Gu Immortal’s body and slows their thoughts. Fang Yuan feels heavy pressure under it. With strength path giant hand and triple layered sword wave, each able to unleash rank seven battle strength, passing a heavenly tribulation is possible for him. What troubles him instead is that calamities grow stronger by stages, and his second has already reached heavenly tribulation level. ch. 1097
A rank six Gu Immortal meets an earthly calamity once a decade and a heavenly tribulation once a century, reaching rank seven after three hundred years and three heavenly tribulations. That is twenty-seven earthly calamities in all, plus three heavenly tribulations. Fang Yuan still has twenty-five of those calamities and all three tribulations ahead of him. If his second calamity already matches heavenly tribulation level, he reasons, the trend would put his later calamities at the level of grand tribulations. ch. 1097
The snow moon’s cold light slows even his thoughts, so he uses wisdom path methods, open to him as a wisdom path grandmaster, to protect his mind. He recalls Sixth Hair telling him that an earthly calamity keeps a hard ceiling no matter how it strengthens, and wonders if that was a lie. He judges Shadow Sect had no reason to deceive him, since they want him captured alive. He attacks the snow moon with triple layered sword wave and strength path giant hand. Wind flowers had been targeting Dang Hun Mountain alone and avoiding his attacks on purpose. Now they turn to defend the snow moon. Using myriad self to hide among a swarm of his own phantoms, Fang Yuan reaches the sky and destroys the snow moon. ch. 1097
A large infusion of Reckless Savage’s true meaning rushes into him. His transformation path attainment, which covers mountains, water and moons as well as living things, rises sharply. The destruction also proves the wind flower snow moon tribulation was only pieced together, not a true heavenly tribulation. His second earthly calamity stays within an earthly calamity’s bounds, since heaven’s will, however angry, must still obey the law of balance. ch. 1097
Heaven’s will attacks again with wind flowers. Fang Yuan uses myriad self once more, and the wind flowers slaughter his phantoms while his true body slips back to Dang Hun Mountain unnoticed. He finds a huge wound on his back, bone visible, hidden from heaven’s will by change form Gu. He heals with mortal methods rather than Man as Before, which spends immortal essence and only restores the body he had a moment earlier, and which he could not have used in the sky without leaking its aura. His dao marks do not conflict with mortal healing, an immense advantage that spares immortal essence he had prepared less of, since treasure yellow heaven stays closed. ch. 1097
Frost spreads over him and the mountain as three more snow moons appear at once, overwhelming his mind-defense. This wrecks his plan to hold the mountain. Reading it as a moment of life and death, since even a slight delay could cost him his chance to survive, he uses myriad self once more without hesitation, luring the wind flowers away while his true body charges into the sky. Away from Dang Hun Mountain’s soul path dao marks the cold light grows stronger. A fourth snow moon is already forming as he fights an intense battle to destroy the first three, and after a difficult struggle he brings them down, though more keep appearing. The cold numbs his limbs and his chances of surviving dwindle, but he presses on without dejection, his immortal essence draining fast enough that he must weigh every move’s cost. ch. 1097
