Inner Demons

Chapter 63: Entering the Tribulation

Liu Ling said this and walked straight out.

Li Yunxin looked at her back and thought for a moment, then sighed.

"Showing off what," he muttered.

If another version of him were present, he would surely deduce an extremely complex emotion from that statement.

To be honest, that sentence had struck a nerve.

He was born into this world and learned about magical techniques, and that there might even be true immortals. Fortunately, his parents were both masters—he didn't know how high their level was before, but now he knew they were at least above the Manifestation Realm. So he could learn Immortal Daoist Arts from them—from two senior cultivators.

He avoided many detours, and he was intelligent, so at the age of a teenager, he entered the Manifestation Realm.

Staying in the mountain village, he didn't feel this realm was particularly remarkable, but coming to the mortal world, he probably knew where his level stood. Cong Yunzi and Pu Nanzi, who were so arrogant in Weicheng, were merely at the Illusory Realm. The two Sword Cultivators who had hunted him before, and then Huainanzi, were also at the Illusory Realm.

In terms of fighting methods and experience, he was inferior to them—the Dao of Painting at this time was not known for fighting. But he grew rapidly after being expelled from that mountain village, and a series of life-and-death crises quickly awakened his previously sealed memories. Now, facing Kangcangzi and Chisongzi again, he had many ways to eliminate them right in that courtyard.

His current realm, in this mortal world, was quite powerful.But the problem was...

He was about to stop making progress.

He had no parents, no master. His parents probably thought the three of them could hide in that small village for a very long time, long enough for them to have ample time to consider whether or not to formally guide their son onto the path of cultivation.

Therefore, just like the step-by-step education system in his previous world, they would only discuss matters of one realm at a time, never expanding or extrapolating.

The advantage of this was that his foundation was extremely solid, possibly far surpassing his peers. But the disadvantage was that once the guide was gone... it would be very difficult for him to continue forward.

Even the cultivators from the Grotto-heaven School found it extremely difficult to cultivate alone—this wasn't something where you could just be given some cultivation technique manual, read it, and comprehend it.

A secret manual is not a textbook.

From the day they were created, they were already designed to prevent "falling into the hands of ill-intentioned people."

For example, he cultivated Water Cloud Strength in the Manifestation Realm. He also found another cultivation method in the Painting Saint's Lucid Jade Slip that seemed suitable for his continued cultivation, named "Following Cloud Energy."

The contents of the Painting Saint's secret texts must be precious techniques. But the problem was that "Following Cloud Energy"...

It only had twenty-five characters in total.

—The body has nine orifices of Yin and Yang, and also five cities and twelve towers, a golden hall and a jade palace, emerging from the aperture and following the clouds.

What the hell is this... who can understand it?

When he cultivated Water Cloud Strength, even a single "然" (ran symbol=> "thus" or "so") could be explained for three days and three nights, and then slowly comprehended. But when he stared at those twenty-five characters again, he only felt that each character contained infinite information—but he couldn't decipher it.

The more profound the cultivation, the more obscure and difficult it became. Old Daoist Liu might be able to self-teach the basic methods of the Dongxuan Sect. But at his realm, without a guide, self-cultivation was almost impossible.

So he somewhat regretted that his parents hadn't given him a reference system earlier, and... he was jealous of Lingkongzi.

She was going to cultivate her Dao Heart.

At the peak of the Manifestation Realm, when moving towards the True Realm, one must cultivate a Dao Heart.

Manifestation Realm cultivators have mostly overcome the Passion Tribulation, and as they cultivate further, they will soon face the most treacherous tribulation for cultivators—the Vacuum Tribulation.

In this world, the Vacuum Tribulation is also known as the Heavenly Tribulation.

It's not that rolling heavenly thunder is trying to strike you in various ways; rather, at this time, people get lost. Emotions and rationality can be in a "vacuum." You still maintain a clear mind, you can still talk and laugh with people, you can still fight with others, but you simply... lose the motivation to continue cultivating.

There are no obvious signs, and many people in the midst of the tribulation don't even realize it until the day they die, only then knowing that they have succumbed to the tribulation.

To overcome this tribulation, one needs a Dao Heart.

In fact, in Li Yunxin's view, this Dao Heart is a "obsession" that is beneficial but can also be actively relinquished. It doesn't even have to be a single thought or an item; it can be anything.

If you are attached to it, and it gives you positive motivation without becoming an unhealthy obsession, it can become your Dao Heart.

The strangest Dao Heart he knew of was told to him by his parents.

A certain Daoist Orthodoxy cultivator raised a frog.

This was an ordinary frog, found in a pond, placed in a clay pot, and kept in his room.

The Manifestation Realm Taoist priest was married and lived on a small mountain peak of his sect. Also living with him were his cultivating wife and a son who had just learned to walk.

One day, the Taoist priest felt a premonition, believing that he was about to face the Vacuum Tribulation. He also felt vaguely that he seemed to have a Dao Heart. So he searched diligently.

He didn't find it within the sect, so he bid farewell to his wife and son and went to the mortal world to search.

He left for four years. In those four years, the child grew up and became more mischievous.

One day, he ran into his father's room to play and accidentally broke the clay pot. The frog then escaped.

The child, afraid of his mother's scolding, rushed to catch the frog. But by accident, he strangled it to death.

Three months later, the Taoist priest returned. His demeanor was serene and content, as if he had been liberated. He only told his wife that he had seen many things more clearly, no longer obsessed with the Great Dao of Heaven, and intended to enjoy life fully. He was a Manifestation Realm Taoist priest, already over eighty years old, and still had over two hundred years to live.

So everyone, and the Taoist priest himself, knew that he had suffered the Vacuum Tribulation.

But there was nothing they could do.

Because it was said that the moment the frog was accidentally strangled by his son, the Taoist priest, thousands of miles away, clutched his chest and cried out, "Oh dear!" He frowned and sighed for a short while, then smiled again.

That frog was his Dao Heart.

Now Liu Ling was also going to find her Dao Heart, overcome the Vacuum Tribulation, and ascend to the True Realm.

Li Yunxin wanted to as well.

Before, when he hadn't seen cultivators of a higher realm than himself, this thought wasn't so strong. But today, he saw Liu Ling—so young and already seeking her Dao Heart; he also met great demons like Young Master Nine and Bai Yunxin, and his own survival was threatened.

These things combined made him want it very much.

He wanted to continue realizing the Dao, wanted to Transcending Tribulation, wanted to find his Dao Heart, wanted to step through the threshold of the True Realm.

He wanted to handle everything with his own strength, instead of carefully expending his efforts.

So five minutes after Liu Ling left the courtyard, Li Yunxin realized...

He had entered a tribulation.

The "Delusion Heart Tribulation."