Chapter 539: Death Either Way

Chapter 539: Death Either Way

Chapter 539: Death Either Way

The thunderclouds and rumbling thunder hadn't dissipated, meaning the tribulation wasn't over yet. The fact that no lightning had struck down only indicated it was still gathering strength.

"The Heavenly Dao is truly merciless!" Xiao Feng glared at the sky with a grim expression.

The Three Corpses merger was considered the most promising path to immortality, producing immediate results by breaking through the world's limitations to elevate one's cultivation to the Quasi-Immortal stage. He had watched Real Person Jade Compassion survive eighty-one heavenly tribulations and was just beginning to feel relieved for her when the thunderclouds refused to disperse!

This was outright murder!

No wonder no cultivator had successfully ascended in thousands of years. How could anyone survive this?

Tu Shan Yue also wore a dark expression. As a Great Ascension Stage cultivator who had passed three tribulations, she still had considerable lifespan remaining, but it wasn't eternal. She too longed for immortality. She'd come to observe the ceremony specifically to witness whether severing and merging the Three Corpses could lead to ascension.

In the Cangyun Realm, the Three Corpses merger was universally acknowledged as the most viable method for achieving immortality.

Yet cultivators capable and willing to sever their Three Corpses were exceedingly rare.

Second, merging the Three Corpses wasn't simple fusion—it involved three consciousnesses entangling and competing for dominance.

Thus, a cultivator after merging might become completely different in temperament, virtually a different person despite retaining the same memories.

Who could definitively say whether they remained the same individual? That's why many virtuous cultivators throughout history chose not to sever and merge their Three Corpses.

After all, who would want to completely disappear and become someone else?

Real Person Jade Compassion had shown tremendous courage in making this decision, fully prepared to cease being herself. When immortal qi began manifesting around her, even Tu Shan Yue thought she would succeed.

But now, despite all her sacrifices, the Heavenly Dao still refused to let her go.

If even someone as virtuous as Jade Compassion faced such merciless treatment from the Heavenly Dao...

What hope did a demonic cultivator like herself have of surviving even one round of heavenly lightning?

"Hah, damnable heavens..." Tu Shan Yue paled, shaking her head with a bitter smile as her once-firm Dao Heart wavered.

She wasn't alone in this despair. Xiao Feng, Burning Heaven the monk, and Real Person Yuyao all seemed equally lost and confused.

What was the point of continuing to cultivate?

Whether one died from depleted lifespan or was obliterated by heavenly tribulation—death awaited either way.

With a deafening roar, the golden Thunder Eye within the clouds expanded further, intensifying the already suffocating heavenly pressure to unbearable levels.

After her brief moment of despair, Real Person Jade Compassion had regained her composure. Calmly, she draped a plain robe over her battered body, preserving what dignity she could.

Immortal qi still descended from the heavens, forming a protective shield before her—though the once-torrential flow had dwindled to a trickle.

The immortal qi earned through virtue wasn't infinite. Once her virtue was exhausted, the qi would dry up completely.

"Master... the tribulation isn't over yet?" Li Qingran stared at the sky, her lovely face pale and voice trembling. "Disciple remembers the Ascension Tribulation only having thirty-six, forty-nine, or eighty-one lightning strikes. Eighty-one was supposed to be the cruelest, reserved for the most gifted cultivators..."

Chen Huaian frowned deeply.

Indeed, no cultivator in history had ever faced more than eighty-one tribulation strikes.

Most were struck down before reaching that number, while the few who endured them all successfully ascended.

This included several who, like Jade Compassion, had merged their Three Corpses. Why was the exceptionally virtuous Jade Compassion being mercilessly barred at the threshold?

"I'm afraid Jade Compassion will face even more tribulation strikes," Chen Huaian sighed, comforting her gently. "Don't worry, let me calculate—"

"Master, perhaps you shouldn't." Li Qingran grabbed his hand. "With the tribulation ongoing and celestial mechanisms in chaos, what if the Heavenly Dao notices you..." Though concerned about Jade Compassion, her master's safety took priority.

"It's fine." Chen Huaian shook his head. "Rest assured, this master has special methods to avoid heavenly detection."

With that, he opened the game customer service center.

Actually performing divination was out of the question—he'd never learned such abilities.

Even if he could, he wouldn't.

Such arts drained one's fortune at best and damaged one's foundation at worst.

The system's Heaven's Calculation was far cheaper, safer, and painless.

"Heaven's Calculation: Can Real Person Jade Compassion pass the Ascension Tribulation?"

Since this system could predict the future, he might as well ask directly.

[Calculating celestial mechanisms. This is your first divination today—no charge.]

The thunderclouds churned violently above.

Predicting a Quasi-Immortal's fate clearly caused significant disturbances.

Chen Huaian watched as the Thunder Eye—previously fixed on Jade Compassion—suddenly twitched, then seemed to glance in his direction.

"Huh?" Rubbing his eyes, Chen Huaian thought he'd imagined it.

But when he looked again, the Thunder Eye had returned to its original position.

[Calculation complete. Based on current conditions, Real Person Jade Compassion has only a 10% chance of successful ascension.]

So low?

Chen Huaian was stunned.

"Then... what about other cultivators' chances?"

[This is your second divination today! Deducting 0.1 top-grade spirit jade!]

[Calculation complete. Other cultivators' ascension success rate: zero!]

"What about me?"

[Your ascension success rate is... is...]

The system stalled for an unusually long time.

Then fell silent.

"Well? Spit it out!"

[System updating. Please try again later!]

Chen Huaian: "..."

Fine, whatever.

Judging by the system's responses, the Heavenly Dao wasn't specifically targeting Jade Compassion—it targeted all cultivators equally. That Jade Compassion still had a 10% chance might actually make her the most likely candidate.

The Dragon Spring Mountain Range now lay in ruins.

Within a lightning-scarred crater, Real Person Jade Compassion sat cross-legged, prepared for death.

After prolonged brewing, the Thunder Eye finally released a blood-red sphere of lightning brimming with ultimate destructive energy from the funnel-shaped clouds.

The spherical lightning measured nearly a thousand feet across.

Its mere presence silenced all observing cultivators before it even descended.

"Retreat!" Xiao Feng shouted urgently, leading the Heavenly Demon Sect disciples away from the summit.

Tu Shan Yue withdrew halfway down the mountain.

Real Person Yuyao, already distant from the main peak, reinforced her protective barriers.

Burning Heaven the monk retreated despondently, having glimpsed his own future in Jade Compassion's plight.

The Thunder Eye seemed to deliberately allow time for evacuation.

Only when everyone had reached safety did the crimson sphere finally strike.

BOOM—!

The world flashed white.

Then drowned in an endless sea of blood-red devastation.