Chapter 158: Epiphany and Tribulation

"Even if one is as humble as dust, trampled upon time and time again, as long as one does not die, there will always be a day to rise above," Qingfang murmured softly. A stunning and moving smile suddenly bloomed on her pretty face. "My little nemesis, tell me, I have suffered so much in this life and never given up. I've tried so hard, will I be able to be reborn into a good family in my next life after I die? Perhaps, if immortals truly exist, seeing how pitiful I am, he might just ferry me across to become an immortal!"

Standing silently with his back to Qingfang, Yuntian felt his heart—numbed and hardened by too much suffering—tremble slightly. Slowly closing his eyes, he stood in silence for quite a while before gently opening them and walking straight outside.

"My little nemesis, I can feel that you are no ordinary person. Although your status is humble now, I believe you will be a person of consequence in the future. By then, as long as you still remember me, Qingfang will be utterly content," Qingfang could not help but say, watching Yuntian's retreating back with wide eyes.

Three days later, in the deep dungeon of the Prince Yun Mansion, Yuntian was bound to a cross-like execution rack, his entire body bloody and without a single uninjured spot. Yet his eyes remained calm and deep, as if he were deep in thought, pondering something profound and incomprehensible.

"How is that brat? Is he dead yet?" Amidst the sound of footsteps, a middle-aged man in black brocade with a cold gaze walked in.

A skinny man hurried forward to greet him and said, "Manager Zhou! Every single trick was used, and all sorts of heavy tortures were applied, but this brat didn't even utter a single groan. He's simply like a block of wood, completely unresponsive to pain."

"Oh? A mere lowly slave, and his bones are actually this tough?" Manager Zhou glanced at Yuntian with slight surprise, then said coldly, "Alright, there's no need to exert any more effort. The Prince has given the order to dispose of this brat; go make the arrangements!"

As he spoke, Manager Zhou walked directly up to Yuntian, looked at him, and could not help but shake his head slightly. "Good lad, what a pity!"

"Safe journey, Manager Zhou!" The skinny man replied respectfully, watching Manager Zhou turn and leave while hurriedly offering a flattering smile.

Half an hour later, in a grove of trees outside the royal capital, a blood-soaked Yuntian was tossed into a freshly dug dirt pit.

"Little thief, I heard your name is Yuntian, right? What a pity! In the imperial city, Prince Yun is the sky. Remember this: hope for a better birth in your next life," the skinny man standing by the pit said, looking down at Yuntian with a cold sneer while holding a shovel.

Hearing this, the corners of Yuntian's mouth curled up slightly. "Next life? I will live longer than your Prince Yun. As for your Prince Yun, I'm afraid he won't have a next life."

"Heh... the brat has gone crazy, still talking in his sleep at a time like this!" Sneering aloud, the skinny man waved to the few others. With the whistling of shovels, the pit was quickly filled in, and Yuntian was buried alive.

After the skinny man and the others left, Yuntian, who had closed his eyes beneath the soil, allowed his heart-force to spread outward. He felt the surrounding darkness, feeling the sense of helplessness as if he had merged with the earth and become trapped within it. For a moment, his experiences over the years surged into his mind one by one. Gradually, Yuntian felt as though he had found a glimmer of light in the darkness, and his heart suddenly trembled uncontrollably.

Hum... The earth trembled. The next instant, Yuntian burst directly out of the soil. The corners of his mouth turned upward as his eyes grew moist—that was the excitement of "hearing the Dao in the morning, one can die content in the evening." Yuntian had never realized that the power of the heart could be so magnificent. When the heart is infinitely vast, anything is possible.

I was originally a speck of dust in the mortal world, yet my heart aspires to the heavens! At this moment, Yuntian finally comprehended the words Ji Ning spoke when his heart-force broke through the mortal realm. Even if one is merely a speck of dust in the mortal world, as long as one harbors hope, there will eventually come a day when one can stand shoulder to shoulder with the heavens. Even if one's power is minuscule and weak, the heart is infinitely vast, and the power of the heart is likewise infinitely infinite. This realm is far more transcendent and powerful than even the Dominion realm.

"If I can break through, I must thank Qingfang. It was her words that awakened me," Yuntian muttered to himself. With a flick of his will, his divine sense released, enveloping the entire royal city, and his expression changed drastically.

The next instant, with a flash of his figure, Yuntian vanished instantly. When he reappeared, he was already inside a pavilion within the Prince Yun Mansion.

In the pavilion reeking of blood, a naked Qingfang lay in a pool of blood, her breath already extremely faint. However, the trace of unwillingness and the yearning for life in her heart kept her persevering, hanging on to her last breath. Even in the face of death, this soft-woman was desperately fighting for a final shred of survival. For she understood that once dead, truly nothing would remain, and everything would become empty.

With a wave of Yuntian's hand, a dense surge of green vital energy descended abruptly, sinking into Qingfang's body and causing her injuries to recover rapidly.

A few days later, at the exit of a karst cave halfway up a mountain in the deep mountains, Yuntian, dressed in black, stood with his hands behind his back, gazing into the distance at the rolling mountain ranges.

"Yun... Yuntian!" Amidst soft footsteps, Qingfang, dressed in white purer than snow, walked out from the cave and came behind Yuntian.

Turning to look at Qingfang, Yuntian saw her nervous and apprehensive expression and could not help laughing. "What, didn't you hope an immortal would come to save you? Now that you've seen one, you're so tongue-tied you can't even speak properly. If I told you I was going to ferry you across to become an immortal, would you be so happy you'd faint?"

"You... are you really going to ferry me to immortality? Yuntian, you... you aren't joking with me, are you?" Qingfang stared at Yuntian with wide, beautiful eyes, feeling excited, nervous, and unable to believe it.

Yuntian smiled and shook his head. "Ferrying you to immortality is a bit of an exaggeration. In truth, even I cannot currently be considered a truly eternal immortal. However, I can teach you cultivation, allowing you to possess the greatest power in this world. When that time comes, in this world, you will be the immortal."

"You're truly willing to teach me? I can really cultivate?" Qingfang looked at Yuntian with burning eyes, still unable to keep from asking with lingering apprehension.

Nodding slightly, Yuntian then said, "Teaching you cultivation is not difficult, but what level you can reach in the future, and whether you can truly become an immortal who never grows old, will depend upon your own fortune."

A half-month later, inside the cave, upon a smooth stone platform, Qingfang sat cross-legged with her eyes closed, slowly absorbing the pure vital energy mist drifting gently from the jade bottle before her. Suddenly, her entire body trembled, and in an instant, the thin vital energy in the surrounding void rapidly and crazily surged into her body, causing the speed at which she absorbed the primordial liquid to abruptly skyrocket.

After a long while, Qingfang exhaled softly and slowly opened her eyes with a joyful expression. Her beautiful eyes were filled with excitement. "The Purple Prefecture! I have finally opened my Purple Prefecture and become a Purple Prefecture cultivator!"

"Yuntian, I must go tell Yuntian this good news," Qingfang said, hastily getting up and running outside. In truth, the reason she had cultivated so quickly was because Yuntian had used various spiritual fruits and elixirs to cleanse her marrow and alter her bones, combined with dual cultivation to help her comprehend realms and sense the profound mysteries of the Dao.

Having just run out of the cave, Qingfang could not help but cast a surprised and astonished gaze at the dim sky outside. "Why has it grown dark? Hm, what terrifying thunder and lightning—it actually struck that mountain! Oh? That mountaintop... is that Yuntian?"

Rumble... Low thunder rumbled. Within a thunder vortex as black as thick ink, streaks of tribulation lightning formed, striking down one after another toward Yuntian on the mountaintop below. That terrifying might turned Qingfang's pretty face pale with fright. Even feeling the might of that lightning from a distance left her heart trembling with fear.

Time slowly passed. The pale-faced Qingfang counted silently. There had already been more than seventy bolts of heavenly lightning, yet the tribulation thunder showed no signs of stopping; more and more streaks of heavenly lightning continued to form and strike down...

"The seventy-third bolt of heavenly lightning is about to arrive. Is this truly the Ninety-Nine Heavenly Tribulation?" Narrowing his eyes to watch the terrifyingly powerful heavenly lightning converging in the tribulation vortex above, Yuntian took a deep breath. With a flick of his will, nine supreme immortal-grade immortal swords flew out, arrayed in a nine-palace formation above his head. Their powers erupted, mutually assisting one another to form a potent Nine-Palace Sword Formation. "Let's hope I can hold on!"

The heavenly lightning struck down bolt after bolt, growing increasingly powerful. At first, the Nine-Palace Sword Formation was able to withstand it, but gradually, by the later stages, the formation began to sway precariously. By the eightieth bolt of heavenly lightning, it shattered completely, and the immortal swords plummeted downward, losing much of their spiritual intelligence.