Chapter 247: Chapter 203: The 49-Day Heavenly Tribulation, All Beings After the Tribulation!_2
But when clusters of thunderfire fell on the earth, a massive crater instantly formed. Sword Qi struck the mountain peaks, slicing off half the mountain in an instant, collapsing one side entirely.
It seemed to destroy heaven.
Like obliterating the earth.
At the center stood Chen Jichuan. Originally, it was a valley surrounded by several hilltops. But as the tribulation thunder continued, peaks kept collapsing, and the earth shattered one fragment after another.
Even half of a mountain was blown away, landing in the Beiyin River, cutting off the flow of water.
Dark clouds pressed against the mountains.
Mountains crumbled, the earth fell apart.
The river ceased to flow.
It was truly an apocalyptic sight.
The martial artists around retreated again and again, fearing calamity without reason, lest they be victimized by the Heavenly Tribulation.
Vaguely.
They could only see a silhouette amidst it all, resembling a god, resembling a Sword Immortal, surrounded in golden light, controlling his sword to shatter the thunder.
"So powerful!"
"Truly a god-like demon!"
"As expected of a Supreme, even the calamity summoned by heaven cannot kill him!"
Everyone was shocked, their hearts stirred and captivated.
As time passed.
Thunder continued to strike from the heavens.
As dusk approached, the golden light suddenly retracted.
At the same time.
The thunder ceased, the clouds dispersed, and the rain stopped.
The setting sun fell in the west, casting the earth in dim light.
Chen Jichuan, clad in a simple cyan robe, holding a sword in his hand, walked out from the already devastated valley, each step mirroring the bloom of a lotus.
"He overcame it!"
As the crowd saw him, how could they not realize that Chen Jichuan had successfully endured the Heavenly Tribulation?!
In an instant.
Shock spread in all directions, some rejoiced while others despaired!
...
"Congratulations, Junior Master!"
Chen Jichuan emerged from the valley and came to the southern bank of the Beiyin River.
Wang Yan was the first to step forward, coming to Chen Jichuan’s side with a laugh, offering congratulations with her heart full of joy, her face brimming with smiles, as though she herself had endured the Heavenly Tribulation and ascended to Supreme.
"Were you worried sick?"
Chen Jichuan glanced at Wang Yan.
"Not really."
"I always guessed Junior Master would overcome the tribulation with ease."
Wang Yan replied with a smile, then added, "But watching the Heavenly Tribulation, I couldn’t help but have my heart pounding and my nerves on edge."
As she said that.
She looked up towards the distant valley, seeing peaks toppled, some left as mere remnants, while others were uprooted entirely, their whereabouts unknown.
Then she looked at the nearby Beiyin River.
The river’s flow had ceased.
The once-grand, several hundred-zhang-wide Beiyin River had spilled over its banks, flowing into the wilds. Fortunately, this area was sparsely populated, otherwise countless people would have suffered.
Witnessing this seemingly heaven-bending force.
Wang Yan couldn’t help but marvel.
"This is the Four-Nine Heavenly Tribulation, designed specifically to test martial artists. Seeing it, no wonder it inspires fear and trembling."
"But the ’Four-Nine Tribulation Sword’ you practice was precisely derived from it by the Sword Ancestor. If you studied the tribulation closely, it would have been beneficial for comprehending this swordsmanship."
Chen Jichuan walked back alongside Wang Yan, casually chatting.
"Four-Nine Tribulation Sword?"
Wang Yan shook her head upon hearing this and said, "I was too stunned to pay attention to comprehending swordsmanship."
When faced with the Heavenly Tribulation.
Especially with Chen Jichuan enduring it personally, Wang Yan had no thought of studying swordsmanship. Her entire focus was tethered to Chen Jichuan’s safety, unable to think of anything else.
"Didn’t watch it? No matter."
"Later, I’ll use ’Five Thunders True Skill’ on you; its effects won’t be inferior to the Heavenly Tribulation."
Chen Jichuan chuckled, the joy of his breakthrough to Second-order filling his heart, though he also felt a sense of worry for Wang Yan’s future.
The difficulty of Second-order was something he had experienced firsthand this time.
Even looking back, he still found it immensely challenging. For him to break through again might not be hard, but distilling all the experiences and insights gained into comprehensible wisdom was not easy. Even if he formed a ’Dao Fruit’ for Wang Yan to study, her path to understanding and achieving Second-order would still be fraught with difficulty.
Moreover.
Wang Yan followed the Qi Refinement path, while Chen Jichuan broke through via the Life Dao. The help he could provide her wasn’t much.
Not only that.
Wang Yan’s lifespan was only three to five decades left, and she was still stuck at Qi Refining Seventh Layer.
Many obstacles.
Wang Yan’s attempt to ascend to Second-order and reach the Enlightenment Realm was as formidable as climbing the heavens!
"Alright!"
"Junior Master battled the Heavenly Tribulation and remained undefeated. If you use Thunder Skill to strike me, the benefits surely won’t be worse than observing the Heavenly Tribulation."
Wang Yan’s voice was crisp, her tone lighthearted, her entire being radiating joy.
Chen Jichuan was also infected by her mood, burying much of his concerns deep in his heart.
...
Soon.
They returned to the Southern Bank Taixu Sword Sect’s formation, where Li Qingshan stepped forward first, his face beaming with smiles: "Congratulations, Junior Brother, for attaining Supreme strength!"
Following closely behind.
Wang Tuan, Sun Zhenshan, and others all cheered in unison: "Congratulations, Grandmaster!"
Though merely dozens of people, their combined cheers resonated like a tidal wave.
The sound waves rippled for miles.
The river surged with waves.
Their celebration was heartfelt.
In the Central Earth’s Seven States, a new Supreme had not been born for thousands of years. Today, their Grandmaster had ascended, signifying that the Taixu Sword Sect would become the only sect in Central Earth to have produced two Supremes.
It also heralded.
The Taixu Sword Sect was set to unify the world for the third time.
A single person’s ascension lifts all around them.
As disciples of the Taixu Sword Sect, they had faced hardships and survival together with the sect during its most difficult times. With this Grandmaster’s achievements, his guidance might even allow them to prove their Dao and reach Supreme themselves.
While unlikely.
Still, with the sect unified once more, they would surely enjoy significant benefits.
Moreover, the three Grandmasters each possessed longevity-secret techniques spanning a thousand years. Now that Grandmaster Wang Shan had achieved Supreme, he was set to shatter the void and transcend. He wouldn’t take those secret techniques with him, right?
Once imparted.
They stood as the most likely candidates to benefit.
Wealth.
Power.
Immortality.
The first two were guaranteed, and their chances for the third weren’t small either.
With this in mind, how could they not rejoice at Chen Jichuan’s ascension?
...
The Taixu Sword Sect was jubilant.
On the other hand.
The surrounding Jianghu figures were visibly exhilarated as well. Witnessing the birth of a Supreme was a sight worth an entire lifetime, even a lifetime’s boasting rights.
Yet the Yuezhou Six Great Sects and Central Earth’s Six Major Sects were far more distraught and fearful.
Each evinced struggle in their expressions.
Some had already fled, intending to abandon Central Earth entirely, regrouping with their sects’ elite and prodigies overseas to avoid confrontation with Chen Jichuan and the Taixu Sword Sect.
Others clung to faint hope.
Praying the Heavenly Tribulation would strike Chen Jichuan dead.
But now, with Chen Jichuan having successfully transcended the tribulation, escape was no longer an option.
They could only hope that Chen Jichuan, having once led the Taixu Sword Sect to unify the world, might no longer have the interest to do so again.
Moreover.
This Seven-star Sword Saint, now having ascended to Supreme, might not necessarily hold grudges against them.
Thus they approached—
"Congratulations, Sword Saint senior!"
"Congratulations, Sword Saint senior, on your ascension to Supreme strength!"
One by one, expressions twisted into hesitant smiles, they cupped their fists, bowed, saluted, and bent with respectful postures—even awkwardly stiff ones—that nonetheless conveyed proper deference.
Among them were Lu Li from the Xingyi Sect, Gu Chun from Huangtian City, and Li Buwei from the Sun-shooting Divine Mountain—peerless martial elites who were now forced to bow low.
These figures, once unparalleled in the realm.
Now humbled before someone who had achieved what only four others throughout history had attained: Supreme.
Chen Jichuan was the fifth!
His gaze swept across the crowd, reading their thoughts from their expressions, and he declared aloud: "Within three years, dissolve all sects and armies, relinquish dominions occupied. Whether you flee overseas or hide in the Arctic Ice Field or Eastern Extreme Wilderness, it’s up to you. In three years, the Taixu Sword Sect will send officials and troops to take charge. Any resistance will be met with ruthless consequences!"
As Chen Jichuan’s words fell, upheaval erupted throughout.
The decree was overwhelmingly domineering.
Eight hundred years ago, Taixu Sword Sect unified the world through war.
This time, he demanded the world give up willingly.
Some still clung to hope, thinking that Chen Jichuan might not seek to unify the Seven States all over again.
But now, their optimism was clearly misplaced.
While thoughts of rebellion stirred in some minds.
Revisiting the devastation wrought on the valley and remembering the terrifying Tribulation Thunder extinguished such notions immediately.
Only submission remained.
Looking back on centuries of struggle—
The grueling efforts.
The unyielding determination.
It all seemed absurd now.
With the rise of a Supreme, who could withstand the Taixu Sword Sect’s momentum?
Ultimately, generations’ worth of hard-earned gains, painstakingly fought for and consolidated territories, would now be surrendered in vain.
Everything reduced to vanity.
All was futile.
"Once unified, unifying again does not ensure longevity beyond a millennia—why bother with such effort?"
Some were incomprehensible.
Some were resentful but dared not express it.
As Chen Jichuan’s gaze swept over them, none could raise objections and instead lowered their heads silently, saying, "We’ll follow Sword Saint senior’s orders."
"Hm."
Chen Jichuan nodded and waved his hand, finally allowing them to disperse.
He then departed with Wang Yan, Li Qingshan, and the Taixu Sword Sect elites, returning to Pengshan City.
The Taixu Sword Sect’s group arrived with heavy hearts.
Now they departed ablaze with confidence and pride.
As they left.
The remaining crowd was abuzz with excitement for a long while, dispersing in groups of three and five.
Before long.
The Beiyin River, battered and tumultuous over many consecutive days, finally regained its tranquility.
...