Chapter 871: Under the Heavenly Tribulation

The sound of rushing wind was in her ears; the world became a blur in her eyes, receding at an extreme speed.

It was the first time in Nie Susu's life that she experienced the feeling of flying in the sky.

It was not very pleasant.

There was no joy of soaring through the heavens as she had imagined, only bewilderment, unease, and panic.

Following the instructions of the Marquis of Jing'an, Big Brother Li, she had stayed properly in the cell and gone nowhere.

But after waiting for a moment, she was suddenly taken away by the Big Brother Li she admired most, and he had taken her straight out of the city.

After speeding through the air for over ten minutes, Li Fei finally descended with her, landing in a patch of forest.

"Marquis Li, what is this for?"

Nie Susu looked at Li Fei's solemn expression and asked cautiously.

"That master of yours is likely one of the Three Evils. She used you to try and harm others. I have brought you out now to prevent you from remaining in the city and being used again."

Li Fei said as much.

"My master is one of the Three Evils?"

Nie Susu looked blank.

She had, of course, heard of the reputation of the Three Evils; "One Pinnacle, Three Evils, Five True Persons, Seven Martial Saints"—she had heard these titles since the first day she began practicing martial arts.

But that was all—just heard of them.

To Nie Susu, these pinnacle powerhouses were like the immortal figures in the novels she had read; they were all too far removed from her.

She had never thought that one day she would have any connection with such people.

But

Nie Susu looked at Li Fei before her. If the other party really was that Marquis of Jing'an, then it didn't seem impossible for her to have encountered one of the Three Evils, did it?

"But Master, she..."

On one side was the master who had shown her great kindness, and on the other was the legend she admired most; Nie Susu's heart was in a state of chaos.

"You and I have no grudges; I have no reason to harm you."

Li Fei actually didn't have time to explain too much to Nie Susu, but he was afraid she would pop out at a critical moment and ruin things.

Although he didn't know what connection this young girl had with Ning Qingman, he had already figured out that this trap set by Li Ming was aimed at the heart!

And Nie Susu was clearly being used by Li Ming as a key pawn.

Therefore, Li Fei had to ensure Nie Susu's safety while also ensuring she wouldn't misunderstand him and Ning Qingman, thereby leaning toward Li Ming and being used again, leading to some melodramatic turn of events.

This was the reason he had not taken coercive measures against Nie Susu.

"Tancheng is very dangerous right now. I hope you can stay in this place for a while and not run around. Can you do that?"

Li Fei said to Nie Susu in a gentle tone.

At any other time, if he had spoken to her like this, Nie Susu would surely have been happy to death.

But now, the young girl's mind was filled with only one thing—My master is one of the Three Evils?!

Hearing Li Fei's words, she suddenly snapped to her senses:

"Marquis, do you mean that my master, one of the Three Evils, is going to take action against Tancheng? Will she hurt my family?"

She was already leaning toward believing Li Fei.

Firstly, because Li Fei's past image had always been upright, bright, and righteous.

Secondly, because she truly couldn't think of any reason for the dignified Marquis of Jing'an to deceive a young girl like her.

Even if the entire Nie family were expanded tenfold, wouldn't they still be easily crushed if placed before Li Fei?

"Rest assured, that immortal sister of yours will fight against the evil, and she won't let their schemes succeed."

Li Fei comforted her, incidentally letting Nie Susu know of Ning Qingman's status as a good person.

"Immortal sister?"

A flash of that green-clad figure crossed Nie Susu's mind.

"Promise me, stay here for now and don't run around, okay?"

Li Fei looked into Nie Susu's eyes and asked again.

Nie Susu nodded gently.

Li Fei breathed a sigh of relief and raised his hand to set up a concealment array in the surroundings.

Although he was not skilled in sorcery, he was at least a top-tier True Person, so setting up a simple array was no problem.

Ning Qingman had said herself that Nie Susu was not tainted by any karma or fate; she had clearly checked personally.

Li Fei had flown at full speed with Nie Susu for over ten minutes; this distance was far enough.

Unless the two evil ones hiding in the dark gave up their plot against Ning Qingman and tracked them personally all the way here, it should be difficult for them to find where Nie Susu was.

When Li Fei brought Nie Susu out of the city, he first used 【No Distance】 to move a distance without leaving a trace, then used Sword State: Shadowless and Formless to fly while hidden, and only finally flew at full speed at low altitude with her.

Doing this ensured that even if the two evil ones had subordinates, unless they were Grandmasters or top-tier True Persons skilled in tracking and breaking concealment, it would be very difficult to track him.

Now, as long as Nie Susu stayed honestly in this array and didn't run around, she shouldn't fall into the hands of the evil ones again.

"The effect of this array can last for three hours. If I haven't come to find you after three hours, head all the way to the provincial capital and give this to the person in charge of the Blue Patrol Pavilion in Dongping Province."

Li Fei handed Nie Susu a token; the front was engraved with the two characters "Blue Patrol," and the back had the character "Li."

This was his token as the Pavilion Master of the Blue Patrol Pavilion.

He had left a message on the token using sorcery.

Nie Susu took the token with a blank expression.

Seeing that Li Fei was about to turn and leave, she gave a sudden start and hurriedly called out:

"Marquis!"

Li Fei turned to look at her.

Nie Susu gripped the token tightly with both hands and asked with anticipation:

"Will you go and help the immortal sister defeat the evil ones together?"

Tancheng.

The sky tore open like a piece of silk; Ning Qingman looked up at the ink-colored tribulation clouds gathering overhead.

Deep within the clouds, dark golden lightning surged, and a fierce, baleful aura filled the sky, as if a peerless, ferocious beast were about to break free from its cage!

This was the heavenly tribulation, the "positrons" attracted by the "negatrons" carried by the Old Ancestor of the Underworld.

The other party's Underworld Palace contained hundreds of thousands of vengeful spirits, and the power of heaven and earth that most restrained such spirits was lightning, so the first heavenly tribulation brought down was a lightning tribulation.

Besides this, the Old Ancestor of the Underworld's techniques were primarily cold and baleful, so it was also possible to trigger a fire tribulation.

His natal magic treasure, the Underworld Palace, suppressed the primordial spirit and established reincarnation through illusions, so it was also possible to trigger a heart-mind tribulation!

These were things Ning Qingman had already known beforehand.

Back at that village, she had actually seen a heavenly tribulation once.

It was just that the time was merely an attempt by the Old Ancestor of the Underworld, who had only attached vengeful spirits to several hundred people in the village, so the triggered tribulation was very weak.

But now, using the tens of thousands of people in Tancheng as carriers, under the intentional manipulation of the Old Ancestor of the Underworld, the gathered heavenly tribulation was more than a hundred times stronger than before!

Just looking at the might of the first layer of lightning tribulation, it was already approaching the pinnacle level!

If Ning Qingman did not act, this lightning tribulation would be dispersed among the tens of thousands of people in Tancheng.

And if she wanted to bear the heavenly tribulation alone, she had to actively block it before the tribulation's power dispersed.

This was the reason she had told Li Fei to leave quickly.

In this battle, she needed to deal with the attacks of two other pinnacle powerhouses while bearing the assault of one!

Even though her killing power was peerless and she was confident of certain victory against any one of the Three Evils.

But one against three was a different level.

In terms of killing power, Ning Qingman was even stronger than Wenren Zheng, who currently sat firmly as the world's second!

But in terms of defense, she was not as good as Wenren Zheng.

In terms of self-preservation, she was not as good as Qin Mingli and Li Ming.

In terms of diversity of methods, she was not as good as the Heavenly King of River Suppression.

So this trap today was truly a nine-deaths-and-one-life situation for her!

But she was already accustomed to using her sword to gamble for a slim chance.

Once an orphan of the Ning family, today she had become a Sword Immortal!

When she drew her sword, what she saved was not just Nie Susu's life.

It was also the version of herself that once lived in the shadows.

Boom—

Another muffled thunderclap resounded through the heavens, and the dark golden lightning became increasingly concentrated.

Ning Qingman smiled nonchalantly and ascended to the sky in one step.

Her iron sword had been left at Mount Tiansha; when Li Fei was recasting the Ghost-Slaying Blade at the Iron Heart Tower, he had asked her if she needed a sword forged.

She had refused.

Unless holding a legendary level-nine divine weapon, for a Sword Immortal possessing the 【Sword Resolution】 Dao law, there was no difference between a divine weapon and an ordinary iron sword in her hands.

Ning Qingman beckoned with one hand, and the dark golden lightning in the tribulation cloud was actually pulled down by her from the sky, transforming into a long sword which she grasped in her hand!

She had explained to Li Fei that the so-called "heavenly tribulation" was merely a gathering of the power of heaven and earth, not something that truly possessed the will of the Great Dao.

Therefore, in her eyes, this "heavenly tribulation" was nothing more than a large mass of highly concentrated heaven and earth spiritual energy, completing its eruption in a predetermined way under the influence of the Great Dao's rules.

Even if its essential power could reach the pinnacle level, to Ning Qingman, this was just a "foolish pinnacle" that only knew how to fight by instinct.

It had the appearance but lacked the ability to adapt.

Relying on 【Sword Dissection】, Ning Qingman immediately completed the "dismemberment" of the heavenly tribulation above her head—

Taking the power of the heavenly tribulation to forge a three-foot green blade!

If her opponent today were merely a "mere" heavenly tribulation, Ning Qingman would at most expend some effort and feel no pressure.

But for a person, the most dangerous thing is always one's own kind.

As soon as the sword of lightning took shape in her hand, cold, baleful energy surged from all directions, transforming into an invisible abyss that sought to swallow Ning Qingman whole!

With Ning Qingman taking the initiative to bear the heavenly tribulation, the Old Ancestor of the Styx could strike with composure.

"Sword Immortal, your righteousness is truly great; this old man admires you!"

He exclaimed loudly, secretly rejoicing in his heart.

Li Ming had truly calculated it correctly!

Ning Qingman did not speak, sweeping her sword of lightning horizontally.

The dazzling sword light tore through the darkness, leaving a long trail in the air.

The cold abyss disintegrated in its wake, the baleful energy scattering like shattered ocean tides into billions of water droplets.

Rumble!!!

The tribulation clouds churned, and a thick bolt of golden lightning descended from the sky.

By taking the power of the heavenly tribulation to forge a long sword, Ning Qingman had actively attracted the tribulation; guided by the flow of Qi, this golden lightning had a clear target.

As the lightning fell, a streak of golden sword light also transformed into lightning, surging upward from below to strike back against the heavenly tribulation!

Woo—

A sound like the wailing of ghosts from hell suddenly filled Ning Qingman's mind, and a deep black hole appeared behind her, like the opening of the gates of hell.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The sound of a great river rushing drowned out the ghost wails, and a dark blue river surged from the opening, sweeping toward Ning Qingman.

Within this river, countless arms danced in chaos, and countless human figures floated and sank.

This was the Styx!

The moment the Old Ancestor of the Styx struck, he unleashed the most fundamental and powerful force from his life-bound magic treasure, the Underworld Palace!

At the same time, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth within the vicinity of Tancheng changed abruptly, and an eye of a storm appeared in the sky.

The vast and mighty spiritual energy of heaven and earth gathered and concentrated into it frantically!

A pair of iron fists blasted out from the storm, and the space where Ning Qingman stood caved in and collapsed!

There was no probing, no slow attrition.

The moment the first layer of the heavenly tribulation fell, Li Ming and the Old Ancestor of the Styx chose to strike at Ning Qingman with all their might!

Both of them knew very well that from the moment Ning Qingman chose to actively attract the heavenly tribulation, she had placed her own life on the edge of a blade.

Next, it would depend on how the two demons turned their advantage into victory.

The sword of lightning in Ning Qingman's hand had already been thrown out to meet the falling heavenly tribulation.

She turned around, using her hand as a sword, and thrust her sword-finger toward the surging Styx, cutting it open from the middle before charging forward.

Instead of retreating, she advanced, actively plunging into the Styx!

Bang—

The water of the Styx exploded with a roar, kicking up hundred-foot waves; the surface of the water buckled downward, revealing the green-robed figure within.

The spiritual energy storm followed in quick succession, causing space to collapse and leaving a void within the Styx.

Ning Qingman struck with her sword again, taking advantage of the space before it fully closed to pierce through the Styx once more!

Her three thousand strands of dark hair flew in the gale, and the Styx was already behind her.

Sword Qi crisscrossed, and the spiritual energy storm dissipated as a result.

The green-robed figure stood with her sword held horizontally between heaven and earth, a Sword Immortal's demeanor beyond description!

In the first round of confrontation, Ning Qingman had barely managed to cope by exploiting the differing motives of Li Ming and the Old Ancestor of the Styx.

Li Ming wanted her dead, while the Old Ancestor of the Styx hoped she would endure the heavenly tribulation a few more times before dying.

That was why she had immediately adopted a posture of mutual destruction, charging with all her might into the depths of the Styx, making a show of intending to destroy the Underworld Palace!

The Old Ancestor of the Styx had immediately chosen to retract the Styx and defend with all his strength, which gave Ning Qingman the chance to catch her breath and deal with Li Ming's attack.

This round of confrontation was completed in an instant; Ning Qingman had successfully performed a sword dance on the edge of a blade and retreated unscathed!

Li Fei, who appeared a thousand meters away, remained expressionless and did not care about this.

The heavenly tribulation was not just one bolt, and the tribulation was not just one layer.

He still had plenty of opportunities!

The tribulation clouds in the sky became increasingly thick; as the gathered power of heaven and earth continued to accumulate, quantity triggered a qualitative change, and the might of the lightning increased further.

The power of the heavenly tribulation had officially reached the peak level!

The ink-colored tribulation clouds churned, the might of heaven and earth chilling to the soul.

The vast Styx flowed, and tens of thousands of vengeful spirits wailed in agony.

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth turned into a storm, and space twisted and vibrated under the iron fists.

Throughout all of Tancheng, tens of thousands of commoners were lost and trembling under this apocalyptic scene!

Between heaven and earth, a green-robed figure stood holding a sword, her long hair dancing in the wind.

Ever since the Ning family was destroyed, she had become accustomed to facing everything alone, with no one left to rely on.

Although Wen Xuexian had saved her, it was more out of consideration for her own personal cultivation, not because she could truly shield her from the wind and rain.

But it did not matter.

One person and one sword were enough.

The green-robed figure between heaven and earth lonely raised the long sword in her hand, preparing to welcome the second bolt of the heavenly tribulation.

Just like many years ago, when she stood alone with her sword to face those vicious enemies.

Rumble—

The golden lightning was like a mountain and sea, like an angry dragon, descending with a roar!

Ning Qingman prepared to meet it, to face yet another test of life and death.

The next instant, a golden figure stood between heaven and earth.

Standing between the heavenly tribulation and her!

Snap—

The lightning struck the figure clad in golden battle armor.

Layer upon layer of mountain and river phantoms shattered one after another, and the cries of billions of commoners were drowned out by the thunder.

Two glittering golden characters appeared, extremely eye-catching in the dim world—

Jing'an!

This sudden turn of events caught all three peak experts off guard.

Ning Qingman was the most surprised; she looked up at Li Fei, who had returned:

"Why?"

You clearly have a bright future, you clearly shoulder the heavy responsibilities of the nation, why return to risk your life for people and matters that are not important?

Li Fei lowered his head to meet Ning Qingman's gaze and smiled:

"In this life, one always has to do a few foolish things."

Ning Qingman was stunned; these were the words she had said to Li Fei before.

"Fool!"

Li Ming narrowed his eyes and cursed in his heart.

Li Fei's return would not make him and the Old Ancestor of the Styx back down.

"Old Ghost, stick to the plan."

Li Ming sent a voice transmission to the Old Ancestor of the Styx.

The next instant, the space behind Li Fei opened, and the vast Styx surged out from within!

"Careful—"

Li Fei's mind was struck instantly, and boundless vengeful spirits poured into his mental world, seeking to turn his consciousness into the Underworld!

Li Fei's expression remained unchanged as he utilized 【No Distance】 to dodge the incoming divine ability.

Seeing this, Ning Qingman breathed a sigh of relief, while the Old Ancestor of the Styx, hiding in the shadows, was filled with suspicion.

"This brat is strange!"

He immediately sent a voice transmission to Li Ming.

According to his plan with Li Ming, if Li Fei were to intervene in this battle, he would use his techniques to temporarily control Li Fei.

For a peak expert of the True One Realm like him, life-and-death combat might not be as strong as a Martial Saint, but his methods were diverse, and his trickery was certainly hard to guard against.

His life-bound magic treasure, the Underworld Palace, already had a boost for illusion techniques, so the Old Ancestor of the Styx had plenty of techniques to control his opponent!

He had assumed that dealing with a junior who had not yet reached the peak should be easy.

Yet, Li Fei's mind had not been affected by his techniques in the slightest?

Even if Ning Qingman had been hit by that technique just now, she would have been affected to some degree.

How could Li Fei do it?

"Old Ghost, stop playing your mother's games!"

Li Ming cursed angrily.

He simply did not believe that the Old Ancestor of the Styx could not control Li Fei.

He had controlled everything the moment he made his move!

A streak of brilliance cut across the sky, heading straight toward them.

Ning Qingman took the initiative to strike at Li Ming!

Li Fei had returned after leaving, and she could only choose to trust him.

Otherwise, having to divide her attention to save others while under siege by the heavenly tribulation and two peak powerhouses would only lead to her and Li Fei dying even faster!

Rumble—

At the same time, the third bolt of the heavenly tribulation descended.

Li Fei once again unleashed 【No Distance】, actively blocking in front of the heavenly tribulation.

The 【Peace-Pacifying】 divine ability was activated, bolstered by the power of the nation, transforming into layers of barriers in front of him.

Crash—

As the thunder shattered the phantom image of mountains and rivers and struck his battle armor, a River of the Underworld enveloped Li Fei.

In an instant, Li Fei's mind went into a trance, as if he had fallen into the netherworld—

Crying in his mother's arms as an infant, playing around with Li Tianyu as a child, listening to lectures in a middle school classroom, and following Hao Yi to practice martial arts in the Martial Arts Academy.

In an instant, all the memories of Li Fei's current life flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern.

It was as if he had relived his entire life, and then, he began to forget.

He forgot why he had come, forgot why he was traveling with Ning Qingman, forgot how he had broken through his realm, and forgot how he had fought on the Baifeng Plain.

Finally, at the very end, he forgot who he was!

Law of the Dao—【River of Oblivion】!

Li Fei stood blankly in the air, letting the thunder shatter his battle armor, letting the vengeful spirits in the River of the Underworld pull at him, letting the water of the River of the Underworld corrode him, and letting the cold, baleful aura strike him.

By the time he regained his senses, the third bolt of the heavenly tribulation had already ended.

"What a terrifying Law of the Dao!"

Li Fei was secretly shocked.

His techniques were yin-aligned, while the Myriad Blood Pearl was yang-aligned, so he could use the Myriad Blood Pearl to resist any technique purely targeting the mind, regardless of whether it caused him physical harm.

But just now, the Old Ancestor of the River of the Underworld had used a Law of the Dao directly against him.

This level of power had transcended the classification of yin and yang, and the Myriad Blood Pearl could not transfer non-damaging special effects.

Li Fei had almost completely forgotten himself just now!

Fortunately, although he had temporarily forgotten himself, the Myriad Blood Pearl had not forgotten to transfer the damage for him.

That was why he was still alive.

And—

The Myriad Blood Pearl had leveled up again.

Seeking monthly votes.

(End of this chapter)