Chapter 649

After forming the demonic nascent soul, Qin Ming shattered the physical limits of cultivators.

He not only reached the realm of martial transcendence, where the body becomes sacred.

He also merged and refined two extremely ruthless body-refining arts into one.

Qin Ming felt the wild, surging power within him, experiencing unprecedented strength.

This Nascent Soul Tribulation was, without doubt, the most perilous he had faced since entering cultivation.

CRACK-KRAKO! The final three heavenly tribulations descended in succession.

Behind Qin Ming, the blood-colored eight-armed demonic monkey radiated overwhelming demonic energy; its purple-gold demonic runes blazed to life, its face grotesque, its demonic body shaking the heavens, like a true demon god.

ROAR! The demonic monkey pounded its chest, let out a deafening roar toward the sky, leapt upward, and charged once more at the tribulation!

BOOM! The cataclysmic heavenly tribulation slammed into the demonic monkey; the purple-gold demonic runes flared violently, and the creature withstood the three strongest tribulations purely through its physical form.

The lightning tribulation transformed into silver arcs, coursing over the monkey's entire body, all fully absorbed by the demonic manifestation behind it.

Those watching from afar saw only the Moonwatch Lake engulfed in a towering crimson glow and a blinding white heavenly tribulation.

Aside from trembling in terror, none could discern what was happening.

Even the spiritual sense of a Jin Dan True Person, upon approaching within a thousand li, was instantly devoured and shredded by the tribulation's residual waves, deterring any further probing.

Amid the stunned gazes of the onlookers,

the terrifying gray tribulation clouds finally began to slowly dissipate.

"Jing Qing senior brother, has he… has he passed the heavenly tribulation?" The lean cultivator from Li Huo Palace stared at the dissolving clouds, his face filled with disbelief.

Jing Qing, the Nascent Soul seed of Li Huo Palace, was utterly numb—he had gone from initial disdain and schadenfreude to profound shock and envious jealousy.

Now, seeing the other man successfully pass the Nascent Soul Tribulation, he felt a deep sense of helplessness.

"Heheh! Of course he passed."

"Soon, we'll have to address him as Elder."

"Younger brother, remove the restrictions on the two captives you brought, soothe them well, and treat them with utmost care."

The lean cultivator hurriedly replied: "Yes, Jing senior brother! I'll attend to it at once."

He could hardly believe he had glimpsed a trace of fear on the face of Li Huo Palace's famed Nascent Soul seed.

Yes, he was truly afraid.

As the lean cultivator turned to leave, he halted, then spun back, hesitating to ask:

"By the way, Jing senior brother, doesn't he still need to face the Heart Demon Tribulation?"

"Someone who can survive such a terrifying Nascent Soul Tribulation must have unshakable willpower—he surely has other means at his disposal. Passing the Heart Demon Tribulation is merely a matter of time," Jing Qing said with a bitter smile.

The lean cultivator shuddered, then dared not speak further, swiftly carrying out his orders.

Outside the spiritual energy Archipelago, the three pets of the Devouring Sky Rat were also wildly excited.

"See that? Brothers Two and Three!"

"I told you! Our master's power is terrifying—he would surely pass this tribulation!"

"We're about to have a Nascent Soul True Lord as our backing! Hehehe!"

"This one's a sure thing!"

…

On Moonwatch Island, Qin Ming retracted his divine technique.

After passing the tribulation, a fresh force descended from the heavenly clouds, healing his injuries and restoring his depleted magic power.

Instantly, Qin Ming felt a mysterious, ceaseless vitality from heaven and earth settle upon him, filling his body and mind with profound comfort.

He seized the moment to activate the Blue Emperor Scripture, hastening his recovery, for the Heart Demon Tribulation was coming next.

A person's greatest enemy is their own heart; the Heart Demon Tribulation is exceedingly difficult to overcome.

The Heart Demon Tribulation amplifies the cultivator's deepest fears and obsessions countlessfold, disrupting and corrupting the mind, dragging them into despair.

If one fails the Heart Demon Tribulation, all prior efforts vanish into nothingness, and one risks death and the dissolution of the Dao.

But if one passes it, their will is profoundly tempered, their spiritual state greatly elevated and refined, allowing better mastery of Nascent Soul-level power and reducing the future emergence of heart demons.

After a brief rest, Qin Ming's wounds were fully healed, restored to their original state.

Above the heavens,

shortly after the gray tribulation clouds dispersed, a strange crimson cloud began to coalesce again.

Within it, ten thousand ghosts wailed, and demonic voices of temptation echoed incessantly.

The crimson clouds churned and surged.

Suddenly! A pair of colossal demonic eyes opened within the clouds, gazing down upon Qin Ming with cold, godlike indifference—as if they had already scanned every inch of his being.

In the depths of fate,

Qin Ming suddenly felt a soul-level assault strike him.

Instantly, he pulled out a Purifying Soul Incense and lit it.

The incense smoke curled gently, its spiritual energy sharpening his spirit.

Then he flipped his hand and produced a strange Yin-Yang colored elixir, its surface marked with twelve complete Dao patterns.

It was the Heart Demon Tribulation elixir—the Ice Heart Jade Soul Pill.

Without hesitation, Qin Ming swallowed it.

In an instant,

Qin Ming's world twisted violently, plunging him into the Heart Demon Illusion: Qingyang Market. Qin Ming, shoulder slung with a spirit hoe, arrived at his small plot of land as usual, tending his spirit fields.

"Sigh! When will this life ever end?"

"Tomorrow's the day to pay the spirit rice tax again."

"Cultivation? Dogs don't cultivate!"

He wiped sweat from his brow under the blazing sun. Just then,

Cai Laojiu ran up, grinning: "Little Qin, want a wife?"

"I can get you one—even prettier than your neighbor Li Yanli! Hehe!"

"And she's from a wealthy family—she'll save you decades of dead ends."

"Huh? Such luck exists?" Qin Ming's spirit hoe trembled slightly in his hand, his heart stirred.

"Wait here—I'll go fetch her for you to see, then decide."

Before he could reply, Cai Laojiu dashed off to fetch her.

After a while,

Cai Laojiu actually returned with a breathtakingly beautiful female cultivator—gentle, refined, and unmistakably Gu Qingzhao! Gu Qingzhao, too, seemed taken with Qin Ming, blushing faintly, her gaze shimmering with uncertainty.

"Hehe! Little Qin, what do you think? Nod, and tonight she's yours in the bridal chamber," Cai Laojiu whispered with irresistible allure.

Qin Ming's heart leapt with joy—he was about to set down his hoe and accept the match.

But deep within his soul, a sudden flash of clarity pierced through—next instant,

Qin Ming raised his spirit hoe and smashed it down, hurling the two figures violently aside.

He spoke calmly: "Women only slow me down digging. I'm here to farm!"

Immediately, the world before him dissolved like bubbles—then the Heart Demon realm shifted again.

Qin Ming's consciousness blurred; when he awoke again, he found himself in the Qi Refining stage.

He was being relentlessly hunted by an old man of Foundation Establishment.

"Qin Ming, your crimes are exposed! You dared kill my son Jiang Kun—I'll tear you limb from limb! Use your soul to light a lamp, to honor my son's spirit!" roared Jiang the Elder of Lingyu Sect, his face twisted with rage.

Qin Ming, a lowly Qi Refining cultivator, trembled in terror before Jiang the Elder, a Foundation Establishment powerhouse—like a leaf in a storm.

But suddenly, he thought carefully: Wait—that doesn't make sense. How could I have left evidence?

In the entire cultivation world, no one understands corpse disposal better than me. "Old ghost, you're bluffing me?!"

"Disappear!"

The illusion vanished again.

…

The scene shifted: Qin Ming was now a Jin Dan cultivator, facing before him a celestial elder in feathered robes, crowned with five-colored divine light, golden lotuses blooming beneath his every step.

He was a genuine immortal!

"I perceive your extraordinary talent and astonishing bones—we are destined as master and disciple."

"I shall grant you the Fruit of Immortality, guide you into the Celestial Dao Court, and grant you eternal freedom—will you accept?"

Yet in the next instant,

the Ice Heart Jade Soul Pill's effect surged, clearing his mind instantly.

Qin Ming sneered: "This heart demon's gone too far—even an immortal's showing up."

But then he thought: Of course. His greatest lifelong pursuit was cultivation and immortality—so this was the test.

If he accepted, he would instantly sink into endless obsession…

The Heart Demon realm shifted again.

Qin Ming experienced the entire cultivation world's ebb and flow, enduring countless illusions.

He dismantled and saw through them all.

As bizarre, shifting scenes flashed past,

time slipped away.

When Qin Ming finally came to his senses, he realized he was still enduring the Nascent Soul Heart Demon Tribulation.

After enduring all manner of inhuman temptations and desires.

His inner state began to loosen, gradually sinking into it, unable to extricate himself: "I failed the Tribulation Crossing; a hundred years of cultivation have come to nothing."

Then came the next.

The Nascent Soul cultivation Qin Ming had just solidified began to disperse, and he grew increasingly frenzied.

What he most feared losing, came to him.

Just as Qin Ming was about to believe it true, a cool thought flickered through his mind.

He instantly snapped back to awareness.

It seemed as if some thought had always been watching over him.

"This mere illusion dares to frighten me?"

CRACK! Qin Ming swept his hand, and the final demonic illusion shattered like a mirror, crumbling into nothing.

WHOOSH! The blood-red tribulation clouds hovering over Wangyue Island quietly dispersed, and the giant pupils vanished without a trace.

Suddenly,

The demonic tribulation passed; heavenly auspices descended, like rain clearing to reveal a bright sky, as waves of rosy light rose.

Above the heavens, a vast phantom Nascent Soul projected forth, identical in form to Qin Ming.

The Nascent Soul swiftly surveyed its surroundings, then vanished.

Beneath his life-spirit plant, the Yin-Yang Mystic Vine Tree,

Qin Ming felt the immense power of his Nascent Soul magic force, brimming with confidence.

"Now that I've ascended to the Nascent Soul realm, I can send my soul forth, comprehend the void arts, and perform teleportation. As long as my Nascent Soul endures, I may possess any body and be reborn at will."

"After so many years of cultivation, I've finally reached the pinnacle of the immortal world."

…

(End of Chapter)