“Don’t worry,” the old Daoist chuckled, his gaze landing on a tattered, blood-stained robe floating on the sea’s surface. He casually remarked, “Your tribulation won’t be nearly this strong. At most, it’ll be one-tenth of this power.”
Han Zhi’s lips twitched. Somehow, that wasn’t very reassuring…
The old Daoist pointed a finger, and instantly, the bloodstained robe burst into flames, turning to ash in moments.
“He left in a hurry and forgot something behind,” the old Daoist smiled. “Cleaning up after him a bit could be considered an act of goodwill.”
“Let’s go before any more high-level cultivators arrive to watch the spectacle. It’ll be troublesome to explain things.”
Han Zhi nodded lightly, taking one last glance at the dark, gaping crater beneath the sea before following her master toward the southeast.
“I wonder if anyone noticed the robe I left behind.”
Li Changshou mused as he propelled himself westward, using his remaining immortal energy to execute a high-speed water-escape technique.
When he sensed the approaching old Daoist and his disciple, he immediately abandoned his original plan to rest and heal. Instead, he took one last deep breath of spiritual energy and fled.
That bloodstained robe? It had originally belonged to a mortal soldier who had perished in battle. Li Changshou had taken it, soaked it in spiritual energy for a time, and left it behind as a decoy to mislead anyone attempting to track him.
—That soldier, at least, had received a proper recitation of funeral scriptures, ensuring his swift reincarnation in the underworld.
“Cough!”
The stream of water carrying Li Changshou trembled slightly as a trace of blood seeped out. Before it could disperse, the current quickly folded back, absorbing it once more.
At this moment, Li Changshou’s entire body was glowing with the radiance of immortality, but from his chest down to his abdomen, his immortal body was riddled with web-like cracks.
Truth be told, his physical body wasn’t in the worst condition—his Nascent Immortal Spirit was in an even sorrier state, utterly drained and lying motionless in his middle dantian…
“I understand the rules and all, but seriously…”
“Why… why were there ten lightning strikes instead of nine?”
“Cough! Cough!”
Li Changshou couldn’t suppress another couple of coughs. The pain racking his body was one thing, but the constant vomiting of blood was becoming increasingly inconvenient.
How many cultivators in history had managed to successfully pass their tribulation—only to end up in this miserable state?
He paused beneath the waves, inspecting the shattered fragment of his protective jade talisman marked with the Fire symbol, along with a few other small trinkets he had removed beforehand.
His vision swam slightly, his body swaying in the water.
Of course, he knew that the final purple lightning strike had been Heaven’s Punishment—retribution from the Heavenly Dao itself for his previous acts of obscuring fate and avoiding celestial detection.
And his current injuries? Almost entirely caused by that single bolt of divine punishment.
Fortunately, Li Changshou had reacted swiftly. The moment he sensed the descent of Heaven’s Punishment, he used every last one of his defensive treasures.
—After all, standard tribulation lightning could not be resisted by artifacts, but Heaven’s Punishment could, at least to some extent.
Though his defensive treasures were far from top-tier, they had absorbed just enough of the punishment’s force to give him a chance to escape…
As the purple divine lightning struck, Li Changshou felt an odd sense of relief.
At least now, he owed no further karmic debt to the Heavenly Dao.
“Pfft!”
A mouthful of fresh blood surged up his throat, but Li Changshou forcefully swallowed it back down.
His Nascent Immortal Spirit had sustained severe injuries—it was imperative that he find a secluded place to recover. Otherwise, the rapid spiritual energy absorption that had followed his tribulation breakthrough might lead to instability in his newly attained realm…
At the same time, his mind was flooded with countless profound insights from his ordeal—insights that would serve as the foundation for his future cultivation. He needed to process them as soon as possible.
Spreading his divine sense across the boundless ocean, Li Changshou searched. Soon, his lips curled into a faint smile as he darted toward the deep waters to the south.
Before long, deep within the sea, a series of low, rumbling sounds echoed. A massive, twenty-zhang-long sea creature suddenly abandoned the territory it had inhabited for centuries, swiftly swimming westward.
On its broad, ridged back, a faint shimmer of immortal light flickered occasionally. At times, even a delicate white jade lotus would momentarily bloom.
Yet within the beast’s body, Li Changshou remained completely undetectable.
Even in his heavily wounded state, he never forgot to maintain his Turtle Breathing Technique, masking his presence completely.
As for the poor sea beast, it had no idea what was happening—only that it felt an uncontrollable urge to swim westward, always maintaining a few hundred miles of distance from the shore…
Originally, Li Changshou had planned to heal himself within the beast’s body. However, after several days, his condition had finally stabilized, and both his immortal body and Nascent Immortal Spirit had begun their slow, natural recovery.
The moment he relaxed his mind, the accumulated insights from his tribulation flooded his consciousness, dragging him into an unfathomable state of enlightenment.
“This path is called the Way of Myriad Mysteries, and this realm… the Profound Profound Domain.”
Li Changshou found himself drifting in an ethereal state. He could still vaguely sense his surroundings and control the beast’s general direction, yet he had no way of waking himself up.
Immersed in profound Dao comprehension, he completely lost track of time.
However, a fragment of his divine sense remained outside the sea beast’s body, constantly monitoring the surroundings for any danger.
Time flowed on. The sea beast continued to swim westward for several months.
Then, one day—
THUNK! THUNK!
Two massive iron spears shot down from above, piercing straight through the beast’s chest and abdomen.
Li Changshou startled slightly but, sensing no immediate danger, did not withdraw from his enlightened state.
The sea beast was dragged aboard two large ships and hauled back to shore.
A group of muscular, primitive-looking men and women brought it back to their village—a settlement of considerable size.
Casually sweeping his divine sense across the area, Li Changshou noted that nearly all the inhabitants were ordinary mortals—only a handful possessed Qi Refining or Foundation Establishment abilities.
After the beast was butchered, Li Changshou felt himself sliding out from its back.
And then, the most ridiculous scene unfolded—
The villagers immediately knelt before him, performing intricate ritual dances in his honor, celebrating for several days as they worshipped him as a sea god…
—After all, when he had emerged from the beast’s back, his entire body glowed with immortal radiance, untouched by filth, looking every bit the part of a divine figure.
For the next two months, he remained in this mysterious state, enshrined in the village’s central temple.
A twelve or thirteen-year-old girl was chosen as his attendant, staying by his side day and night.
Half a month later, Li Changshou finally processed all his insights and regained control of his consciousness.
Sitting cross-legged, he conducted a brief self-examination. As the first rays of dawn illuminated the sky, he heard light footsteps approaching from the adjacent room.
Just as the person was about to enter, Li Changshou spoke aloud:
“My thanks, young mis—”
The door curtain lifted.
A massive, thigh-thick arm reached inside.
Li Changshou blinked.
Wait… was his perception wrong?
Wasn’t it supposed to be a young girl?
He quickly corrected himself:
“…My thanks, good sir!”
“Huh?”
A burly figure stepped inside—first revealing a delicate, beautiful face, followed immediately by a short, muscular body built like a fortress, with long, burly arms and legs.
The figure beamed with excitement.
“Divine One! Are you awake?”
“Divine One?”
Li Changshou keenly caught this small detail, and a slight sense of caution rose in his heart.
Based on how the fishermen had addressed him before, shouldn’t they be calling him a sea god instead?
wannaberecluse On SRTT Chapter 50.1