CHAPTER 1278: STRANGE TRIBULATION (1)

Yang Qing didn’t spend too much time dwelling on the matter of immortality or immortal treasures. Yes, he had a curious mind, and yes, immortality had come up in one of his many musings—as it likely had for many cultivators out there—but when it came to the idea itself, he was rather measured.

Though he enjoyed indulging in imagination and seeing how wild it could go, his thoughts on immortality were more tempered. His curiosity didn’t push him to go out of his way seeking clues about it... at least not with his current strength.

If immortality did exist, then he wanted to find it the normal way—by increasing his cultivation realm and refining his understanding of the Grand Dao. The pursuit of the Grand Dao was said to be endless, and he was certain that by following its river, if immortality truly existed, he would find it there.

To him, that was a much safer and better path to pursuing immortality than roaming across the continent in search of immortal treasures or other so-called opportunities—especially as a Palace Realm expert.

The continent had already proven itself to be an extremely dangerous place. If the Green Fog Region contained a zone capable of petrifying a soul formation expert for two months from a single glance, then how much more perilous would a place hiding the secrets of immortality be? He was better off pursuing that mystery the old-fashioned way by following the path of the Grand Dao—rather than risking a route with a much higher mortality rate.

While he had little interest in the immortality aspect, he was definitely intrigued by the matter of spiritual qi density. It was well known that the Southern Continent was rich in resources and spiritual qi, a fact often cited as the reason why cultivators from organizations beyond its borders had dared to invade when it was weakened by war.

He had never considered that the spiritual qi density might be increasing. Then again, he had always holed himself up within the Order, which was already a spiritually dense area, and rarely left it if he could help it. In that case, it was no surprise he hadn’t realized—or even caught a hint—that the continent’s spiritual qi was on the rise.

Or maybe the phenomenon had already stopped. After all, he still wasn’t sure when Song Quan had written this particular publication. If he judged it by the age of the parchment it was written on—which looked just as aged as the journal about mythical creatures—then going by that, the study was likely made over five thousand years ago. Yang Qing even bet it was likely to be more.

The reason for that was simple: if this Song Quan was the same as the Soul Formation expert Song Quan who created the map of the Green Fog Region, then these journals were definitely much older—because that map came out four thousand years ago.

But the Song Quan who wrote these journals didn’t sound like a Soul Formation expert. The flavor of the writing lacked that powerful, refined feel one would expect from such a figure. Instead, it felt more youthful—full of passion, adventure, and a little bit of blissful ignorance.

Granted, the author did say he had been wandering the continent for about 1,400 years by the time he wrote that journal about mythical creatures. But still, as long as that sounded, if he were only at the Palace Realm or Domain Realm at the time, then 1,400 years would barely make him of age.

After all, a regular early-stage Palace Realm expert had a lifespan of 30,000 years, while an early Domain Realm expert had four times that. To them, 1,400 years was basically a nap.

If the author wasn’t a Soul Formation expert when he wrote those journals, then they had to have been created quite some time ago. As for how far back, Yang Qing wasn’t sure—but it had to be far back. If they were truly one and the same person, then the fact that Song Quan eventually reached the Soul Formation realm already proved him to be a legendary cultivation genius, since only the best of the best ever reached that stage.

That being said, Ren Shu and the others had mentioned that when breaking through to the Soul Formation realm, it wasn’t unusual for cultivators to linger at the peak of the domain realm for at least 10,000 years—purposefully staying there to refine and deepen their cultivation through doing all manner of things.

Some immersed themselves in silent meditation that stretched for thousands of years. Others traveled the continent in search of areas with special phenomena they could study—places like the Millionsfold Treasure Ocean, grottos, or regions where natural treasures or other manifestations of the Grand Dao were densely concentrated.

There had even been cases of cultivators who didn’t cultivate at all during that time, instead choosing to address regrets, debts, or lingering wishes they had long postponed. Some started families, others took disciples, or suddenly developed an interest in improving their sect or clan. Some roamed the continent to fulfill promises they had made long ago and forgotten, while others simply followed their musings.

At the Institute, the Senior Instructors used to tell them that when walking about outside, for every hundred people you came across with no cultivation base, engaged in something mundane, one of them was likely to be a peak Domain expert in disguise.

At the time, Yang Qing had just chalked it up to the instructors’ scare-mongering to keep them from becoming big-headed when they eventually roamed the continent during their duties. It was only later, when Ren Shu was explaining the preparations one needed to make before breaking through to the Soul Formation realm, that he realized those instructors had actually been telling the truth.

Ren Shu explained that the reason many took such a substantive amount of time before attempting the tribulation to the Soul Formation realm was that its tribulation was a peculiar one. The realm had three tribulations: one tested one’s power of comprehension, another tested the heart, and the last tested the spirit.

He didn’t go into specifics—only telling Yang Qing that if he truly wanted to know, he’d have to go through it himself and find out. What he did reveal, however, was that the repercussions of failure were particularly strange when it came to the Soul Formation realm.