Chapter 151: The Serpent Demon Enlightened, The Tribulation Lightning Strikes!

At the borderlands between the Song and Liang states lies a place known as the Two Realms Abyss...

On both sides rise towering, precipitous cliffs, shrouded in dense and luxuriant forests. Due to its remote geography and difficult terrain, coupled with the wild beasts that frequently prowled the thickets, there were no cities belonging to either Song or Liang within a radius of a hundred miles of the Two Realms Abyss, save for a scattering of small villages and towns.

Because of this unique landscape and scarce human presence, the forests near the abyss harbored numerous ancient and rare medicinal herbs. Consequently, at regular intervals, mercantile houses from the outside world would travel to the nearby settlements, trading everyday household goods and meager sums for various medicinal herbs and animal pelts.

Recently, a merchant caravan belonging to the Zhao family had journeyed with various supplies into the villages near the Two Realms Abyss. After acquiring furs and herbs, the caravan's leader instructed his men to spread word that he was willing to pay a massive sum of five hundred taels of silver for a wild mountain ginseng aged over five hundred years.

Old Man Li was a local hunter. With his son now grown and reluctant to remain in the mountains—desiring to seek his fortune in the city yet lacking the funds to do so—he found himself approached by several hunters and herbalists from the same village who intended to venture deep into the mountains in search of the ginseng, promising an equal split of the silver if they found one over five hundred years old...

Without hesitation, Old Man Li agreed. Grasping his hunting bow and bringing along his hounds, he entered the forest alongside the other hunters...

Aside from the herbalists, the rest of the party were veteran hunters, so they set a three-day limit for the excursion...

The first two days went relatively well. Though they failed to find a five-hundred-year-old ginseng, they did unearth several other valuable herbs.

However, complications arose on the third day. Even though the previous night had been filled with twinkling stars, by morning, for reasons unknown, a massive expanse of dark clouds had gathered directly above the Two Realms Abyss...

The veteran hunting hounds seemed to sense something amiss; some bared their teeth and snarled, while others tucked their tails and whimpered, growing increasingly agitated.

"This bodes ill..."

Old Man Li gazed at the abruptly changing weather and the restless hounds, muttering to himself, "There must be a spirit beast undergoing its tribulation down in the Two Realms Abyss. This is no place to linger."

The other veteran hunters had also heard legends of such occurrences. Gathering storm clouds in the wild woods were never a good sign, so after a brief consultation, they hurriedly prepared to retrace their steps.

To their dismay...

A thick fog had somehow materialized within the mountain forest. It was as if they had run into a ghost-guiding-its-steps maze, causing them to circle around and end up right back where they started...

Meanwhile, at the bottom of the Two Realms Abyss...

A horned serpent, several zhang in length, its pitch-black body marked with faint white patterns, was coiled around a thick, ancient tree. Its vertical pupils were blank and void of expression, as if it were in a daze...

From its reptilian jaws, a murmuring monologue spilled forth: "There is a thing confusedly formed, existing prior to heaven and earth... Silent and void, standing alone and unchanging, cycling endlessly and never imperiled, it may be considered the mother of all under heaven..."

"I know not its name; I style it the Dao, and for lack of a better term, call it Great. Being great, it passes on; passing on, it goes afar; going afar, it returns..."

"Therefore the Dao is great, heaven is great, earth is great, and man is also great. Man models himself on earth, earth models itself on heaven, heaven models itself on the Dao, and the Dao models itself upon spontaneity..."

The serpent remained coiled around the tree in a trance...

The scales across its body opened and closed, seeming to brush against one another and producing a rustling, whispering sound...

"My mentor means to say: There is a substance that is chaotic, boundless, formless, soundless, and complete in itself, which existed even before the primordial division of heaven and earth..."

"My mentor means to say: It is utterly unique, without peer or equal, following its own laws and remaining forever unaltered, cycling back and forth in motion without ever ceasing, and it can serve as the fundamental source of all things, even of heaven and earth..."

"My mentor means to say: That vast, formless entity is called the 'Dao,' the Great Dao..."

"My mentor means to say: The 'Dao' is in constant motion and transformation, omnipresent and omni-reaching, traversing the past and present, existing within the eight desolate expanses, reaching the furthest extremes only to return to the root of all things..."

"My mentor means to say: Precisely because the 'Dao' is thus inexhaustible, it is called 'great,' and heaven, earth, and man—which model themselves upon it—are likewise 'great'..."

"My mentor means to say: Man must conduct himself according to the rules of earth, earth according to the rules of heaven, and heaven according to the rules of the Dao..."

"My mentor means to say: The Dao arises from nature and returns to nature; the two generate one another and share the same law..."

"My mentor means to say:..."

The serpent continued to mutter to itself. At some unknown point, four fleshy lumps had bulged out beneath its belly, twitching constantly as if nurturing something within them...

Above the Two Realms Abyss, dark clouds gathered, lightning flashed, and thunder rolled, seemingly concealing a boundless, murderous intent...

Suddenly, a silver serpent of lightning plunged from the edge of the clouds, striking squarely into the ancient tree within the Two Realms Abyss...

The tree canopy instantly dissolved into fine ash...

The serpent coiled around the trunk was blasted to the ground by the thunderbolt. The scales across its body cracked and burst, and its wounds smoked with wisps of black vapor as if they had been scorched by fire...

Struck by the lightning and hurled to the earth, the serpent let out a muffled groan, appearing to regain a fraction of its wits...

It lifted its head to glance at the sky above the abyss. Seeing the gathering dark clouds, its vertical pupils revealed a hint of dread—a terror of the majesty of heaven and earth...

Sensing that it had somehow been locked onto by a mysterious fate, it snapped back to full awareness and murmured to itself, "I have barely grasped the mere furor of my mentor's teachings, yet I must face this thunder tribulation. It seems heaven intends to destroy me..."

With that, the corners of its jaw parted into a grimace. Ignoring the terrifying manifestation of the heavenly tribulation above, it shifted its body and coiled tighter. Its scorched wounds scraped against the ground, tearing its flesh and spilling threads of fresh blood.

"I have been timid for half my life. Finally, just once, I was brave enough to encounter my mentor and attain the true path. Now that the true path lies before me, you would sever my Dao journey?"

Its voice paused, its vertical pupils gradually scattering as it lost its focus once more. The serpent mumbled through its jaws, "If this were merely my own fate, perhaps I would have felt fear and backed down. But this is the fate bestowed upon me by my mentor... No!"

With a snap, the scales over the fleshy lumps beneath its belly shattered. Amidst flying snake blood, four tender, pink claws protruded from the growths...

The little claws twitched and flexed as the serpent quickly grew accustomed to this abruptly sprouted bodily structure. Then, counting on its fingers, it resumed its muttering...

"My mentor means to say: From 'non-being' is born 'being,' and from 'being' one returns to 'non-being'."

"My mentor means to say: One is non-being, two is being; one produces two, two returns to one, and the three produced by the union of one and two is nature..."

"My mentor means to say: One is yang, two is yin; yang bestows upon yin, yin receives from yang; the union born from yang bestowing and yin receiving is nature..."

"My mentor means to say: Yin and yang are finite and prone to imbalance; the imbalance of yang bestowing and yin receiving generates positive and negative forces. The rotation that produces these positive and negative forces is still nature..."

"My mentor means to say:..."

Meanwhile...

Deep within the Dragon Palace of the Tongtian River...

Ao Lan leaned half-reclining against her dragon bed, resting her cheek in her hand as she dozed.

Having undergone the dragon transformation and attained the body of a true dragon, she enjoyed boundless years of life. Amidst this vast expanse of time, dozing off was one of her favorite pastimes to while away the hours...

Suddenly, whether stirred by a dream or sensing something in the air, she knitted her slender brows and opened her eyes, turning her gaze toward the direction of the Two Realms Abyss.

She made calculations with her fingers and muttered to herself, "A member of the aquatic dragon lineage is undergoing the tribulation to transform into a jiao?"

Her cultivation was profound. Not only was she the Dragon King of the Tongtian River, but she was also the sovereign of all aquatic life across the inland waters. Toward inland water-dwellers, especially dragons, she held a vague, innate communion of spirit.

To her...

Those were merely juniors...

Initially, Ao Lan had no desire to meddle and prepared to resume her nap, but the thought of a dragon undergoing the jiao tribulation reminded her of her own utterly unpromising, rebellious son...

And the more she thought about it, the angrier she grew...

Any trace of sleepiness vanished entirely.

She considered going to check on her rebellious son, but feared that if she went secretly, the unfilial wretch might sense her presence and become even more dependent on her.

Besides, with Wu Qin nearby, the spiritual sense she had left attached to her son detected no danger; he should be in the midst of cultivation, and it would be unwise to disturb him...

Thus, she extinguished the thought of visiting her son...

With nothing better to do, she cast a glance toward the Two Realms Abyss, transformed into a streak of golden light, and departed the Dragon Palace...

Riding upon the clouds, Ao Lan caught sight of the gathering dark clouds capping the Two Realms Abyss, causing her delicate brows to twitch involuntarily. Could this really be the thunder tribulation for transforming into a jiao?

Why was its might so terrifyingly immense?

Upon arriving at the Two Realms Abyss, she concealed her presence at the edge of the cliff.

Below, she saw a streak of blood-tinted lightning plunge from the sky. At the bottom of the abyss, the four-clawed serpent undergoing the tribulation was coiled upright, seemingly lacking any substantial means to withstand the trial...

Struck by that blood-red lightning, the surrounding trees were reduced to fine powder. The tribulation-bound serpent let out a muffled groan, and the few remaining scales on its body shattered once more!

Its exterior was charred black, and no fresh blood leaked from its burst wounds. It resembled a coiled piece of charred charcoal, a truly horrifying sight...

*There is something wrong with this thunder tribulation!*

Ao Lan's heart stirred. Having herself endured the jiao transformation tribulation, she could naturally perceive that the power of this lightning was异常.

Raising her gaze back to the dark clouds churning above the abyss, she faintly sensed...

Heavenly wrath!

Just how much karmic retribution had this snake spirit accumulated, or what kind of overwhelming causal burden had it touched, to provoke the wrath of heaven itself during its tribulation?

A jolt ran through her heart. When she looked back down at the serpent at the bottom of the abyss, her confusion deepened...

For she could discern that the serpent's cultivation level was not particularly high, nor was its burden of slaughter and karma heavy. For an ordinary demon cultivator like it, that minuscule amount of karma was entirely negligible!

This meant the serpent had somehow become entangled in a certain cause-and-effect, and was thus being implicated by association during its tribulation!

This...

Seeing that the descending lightning had turned blood-red, and that after bearing the blow, the serpent's body was nearly carbonized—making it utterly impossible to survive another strike of lightning—

The serpent's aura was now faint and dying, its life force dimming as if it would perish in the very next instant...

An unbidden ripple of compassion stirred within her...

As fellow members of the aquatic tribe, and both of the dragon lineage, had the serpent accumulated excessive slaughter and profound karma, she would not have uttered a word even if it lacked the strength and perished beneath the thunder...

Yet the snake demon before her possessed very little karmic debt. It was clearly blessed by fortune, having comprehended the opportunity to transform into a jiao, and had thus stumbled into the tribulation without the slightest preparation...

Even so, given the serpent's fortune, surviving the thunder tribulation to shed its mortal skin would not have been an insurmountable task...

Except that there was something deeply wrong with the thunder tribulation!

Because it was entangled in a certain causal web, it had been dragged into a joint implication, causing the power of the lightning to multiply manifold. With its own meager cultivation, it was utterly impossible for it to survive this disaster!

She wanted to intervene...

She wanted to preserve the life of this fortune-favored junior...