Chapter 50: The Realm of Profound Immortality
On this day, at Mount Tianqing.
The sky was overcast, heavy dark clouds acting like a thick curtain, shrouding the firmament.
*Boom!*
Thunder roared like a gigantic beast, shaking both heaven and earth.
All beasts fell silent, and countless demons prostrated themselves.
"What kind of ghost weather is this? Why did it change so suddenly?"
"Damn it, it was clear and sunny just a moment ago, and now it's pouring rain out of nowhere."
Suddenly, an aged demon’s expression changed drastically, and he lowered his voice to say:
"This isn't rain... This is a heavenly tribulation!"
"What?"
Before the other demons could recover from their shock, a black shadow had already soared into the sky.
That figure was indistinct and blurry.
Yet vaguely, countless members of the demon race seemed to see a gigantic black bird spreading its wings, plunging straight into the depths of the heavy dark clouds.
In an instant, lightning flashed brilliantly, resembling countless silver snakes dancing wildly.
The thunder grew increasingly deafening, sounding like an ancient roar from the dawn of time...
An aura capable of destroying heaven and earth permeated the entire realm.
...
Time slowly drifted by, and none knew how long had passed.
The tribulation clouds in the sky finally dissipated.
A single figure now stood quietly in the sky.
Standing deep within the cloud layer.
It was Yu Qiye.
Instead of choosing to hide or evade the tribulation, he had chosen to meet it head-on.
"So this is the Profound Immortal realm."
Yu Qiye carefully perceived every subtle change within himself after stepping into the Profound Immortal realm.
It was hard to imagine that he had previously been able to fight evenly against Profound Immortals while he was still a True Immortal.
As for others, Yu Qiye could not say for sure.
Yet he dared to guarantee that absolutely no True Immortal could cross realms to fight him.
Ordinary True Immortals—he was confident he could slap to death with a single palm.
Relatively powerful True Immortals might require three palms.
"Perhaps my Profound Immortal realm is different from everyone else's."
This was the only way Yu Qiye could understand it.
First, he had proactively welcomed the tribulation.
Second, his foundation was already immensely profound.
Now, having successfully survived the tribulation, his countless accumulations had finally transformed into true Profound Immortal heritage.
To say nothing else, his demonic power alone had surged more than tenfold.
Not only that... at the very moment he broke through to the Profound Immortal realm, he had entered an extremely wondrous state, gaining a profound comprehension of countless arts and divine abilities.
[Ding! You have advanced to the Profound Immortal realm. Your physical body has been tempered by the lightning tribulation, and your resistance to lightning arts has further increased. The trait "Impenetrable as Gold and Stone (Red)" has progressed...]
[Ding! You have advanced to the Profound Immortal realm. Your physical body has been tempered by the lightning tribulation, and your physical strength has further increased. The trait "Capable of Uprooting Mountains and Rivers (Red)" has progressed...]
...
Prompt after prompt sounded, indicating that many of Yu Qiye's old traits had advanced.
However, none of them underwent a qualitative transformation.
Most of them were lower-tier red traits upgrading to mid-tier or even upper-tier red traits, granting a substantial boost.
In addition to these, Yu Qiye had gained two brand-new traits.
[Demonic Power Profound (Red) — Through repeated tempering via the heavenly tribulation, your demonic power is several times purer than that of ordinary Profound Immortals. You are better attuned to heaven and earth, able to draw spiritual essence directly from the world to replenish your own demonic power.]
[Five-Colored Divine Light (Red) — A five-colored radiance blooms behind you, greatly enhancing your speed in absorbing various spiritual essences and out-of-hand amplifying the might of your arts and abilities.]
The first new trait was acquired only after Yu Qiye survived the lightning tribulation.
The second new trait originated from the Five-Colored Cloud Deer.
It was quite extraordinary.
According to Yu Qiye's estimation, if he were to unleash the Five-Colored Divine Light, raising a halo of light behind him, the might of his wind-type arts could be boosted by a staggering thirty percent.
Thirty percent might not sound like much.
Yet considering that Yu Qiye already excelled in wind-type arts,
that enhancement could be described as exaggerated to a "monstrous" degree.
For instance, previously Yu Qiye could condense one hundred thousand wind blades in an instant.
Now, he could condense one hundred and thirty thousand wind blades.
"Many great Buddhist figures have halos of light behind them; could all of them be used to amplify arts?"
Yu Qiye muttered to himself.
...
Just at that moment, a voice drifted softly into Yu Qiye's ears.
It was the voice of Qingqiu Xue.
"Congratulations, Great King! Felicitations, Great King, on making further progress!"
Saying this, Qingqiu Xue abruptly changed the subject and continued:
"However, a major event has occurred during this recent period."
"What event?"
Yu Qiye asked with curiosity.
"The Eight Great Demon Kings have sworn a golden oath of brotherhood, stirring up the winds and clouds. All major factions are reacting to the news."
"Sworn a golden oath of brotherhood..."
Yu Qiye chuckled in spite of himself.
So they still walked the path of sworn brotherhood after all.
Wait, though?
Why were there eight Demon Kings?
Yu Qiye's expression shifted slightly, a faint sense of foreboding rising within him.
"Which eight Demon Kings?"
Yu Qiye asked, holding onto a shred of anticipation.
"Ranked first is the Great Sage Equaling Heavens—no, the Mighty Spirit-Splitting Bull Demon King... renowned far and wide, shaking the mortal world."
"Ranked second is the flood dragon who styles himself the 'Lord of Fresh Water' in the North Sea..."
"Ranked third is the Peng Demon King, hailed as 'The Ultimate Speed of Heaven and Earth'..."
...
Listening quietly, Yu Qiye said nothing.
The first few matched his memories.
"Ranked seventh is the Handsome Monkey King from the Water-Curtain Cave of Flower-Fruit Mountain."
"As for the last one..."
Qingqiu Xue subconsciously looked toward Yu Qiye.
"Speak."
Yu Qiye was concise and to the point.
"The eighth is none other than the most mysterious Sky Crow King—which is you, Great King."
As these words fell, the entire sky shook violently.
A terrifying tempest instantly swept outward from Yu Qiye as the center, raging across tens of thousands of miles.
Even the countless clouds were blown to shreds.
"You damned monkey."
Even with Yu Qiye's temperament, he couldn't help but curse aloud.
Aside from that fellow, he couldn't imagine any other Demon King daring to pull such a stunt.
He wasn't even there, yet they still managed to include him in the brotherhood?
"Sigh..."
With a sigh, Yu Qiye composed his emotions.
Things had already reached this point; there was nothing he could do.
Slowly raising his gaze, Yu Qiye's eyes seemed to pierce through time and space, landing upon a certain corner of the cosmos.
There stood the lofty Heavenly Court.
There dwelt the myriad immortals and gods.
"Let us hope we can remain at peace with one another."
"Otherwise..."
The corners of Yu Qiye's lips curled upward into a cold arc.
The other Demon Kings, like the Macaque King or the Lion-Camel King, might be easy to deal with.
But he was certainly not one to be trifled with.
To put it bluntly, the moment he stepped into the Profound Immortal realm, relying on his various traits, he was already on par with the Bull Demon King.
"In terms of speed, even the Peng Demon King lags behind me by three parts. In terms of strength, I am not much inferior to the Lion-Camel King."
"As for诡异 (weirdness) and arcane arts, I am not the least bit behind the Macaque King or the Flood Dragon King..."
...
Yu Qiye's eyes flickered, his self-awareness crystal clear.
Right now, what he lacked was time and accumulation.
"When the Monkey King creates havoc in the Heavenly Palace, I will seize the opportunity to take some flat-peach immortal fruit, divine wine, and elixirs. Then, I will usher in a true qualitative transformation."
...
Meanwhile, within the Hall of Miraculous Mist, figures stood quietly across the grand hall.
"My lords, what are your views on the Eight Great Demon Kings of the lower realm?"
The figure suspended high above the firmament asked calmly.
"Reporting to Your Majesty..."
An elder with white hair and beard stepped forward and said:
"Although the Eight Great Demon Kings have sworn brotherhood, they are ultimately engaging in petty antics and cannot amount to much. Among them, only the Bull Demon King and that other one... are worth paying some attention to."
"Indeed."
Nodding slightly, a figure holding a precious pagoda also stepped out:
"If Your Majesty is concerned, I, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, can lead the heavenly soldiers and generals to pacify these demons."
"There is no need."
The figure suspended high in the firmament waved a hand and added:
"However, Heavenly King Li, dispatch men to thoroughly investigate the backgrounds of all Eight Great Demon Kings."
"As you command, Your Majesty."