Volume One: The Celestial Cloud Palace Chapter 82: The Tribulation of the Golden Immortal

Chapter Eighty-Two: The Tribulation of the Golden Immortal

Once the essence of solar fire enveloped Zhou Hao, forming a cocoon of golden light, the blazing torrents and whirling eddies of the pool began to calm. Within the cocoon, Zhou Hao remained seated in meditation, though his hands no longer formed seals. His eyes, twin golden pupils, shone brighter than lanterns, perfectly concentric circles radiating an indistinct light that seemed to pierce the cocoon’s walls.

“My master once said the realm of the Golden Immortal requires the body to be tempered, forging an indestructible form immune to all evils, while the immortal soul must be cleansed to a state of pure clarity, able to perceive truth and falsehood. Now, I shall use the Divine Sun Palm to harness the solar fire essence, refining my body and soul,” Zhou Hao recalled Yun Fang’s careful guidance, quietly activating the immortal martial arts within him once more.

In that instant, Zhou Hao’s entire being was suffused with golden brilliance; he appeared like a sun radiating boundless light, sacred and awe-inspiring as a deity descended to earth. The solar fire essence surged towards him, seeking release, its scorching heat reddening his face, yet it did not reduce him to ash.

With a roar, the solar fire essence transformed into dragons of flame, leaping at Zhou Hao and burning his skin. The protective golden aura around him was devoured, but inexhaustible golden light replaced what was consumed, again and again. It was a relentless forging, as if his flesh were a stone and the solar fire essence a whetstone, determined to polish the stone into a mirror.

Clearly, this process would not be brief…

Meanwhile, above the pool in the depths of the Dragon King’s treasury, the aftermath of battle had left the vaults in ruin. Immortal blood stained stone walls and pathways, flowing into both the boiling fire pool and the cold, silent ice pool.

At the dividing line between the Yin-Yang Eyes, a pure white crystal coffin lay open, its lid absent. Inside were various treasures of the immortals: jade swords, golden vessels, jars and bottles of miraculous elixirs. Most conspicuous was a black brocade box placed at the coffin’s center, from which faint dragon roars emanated—so subtle that one had to listen intently to hear.

Before the coffin stood a man, tall and slender, clad in luxurious robes. His features were striking and beautiful, his fingers long and delicate, the very image of an aristocrat.

Cai Lingzi, his brow tightly knitted, stared at the black box for a long time before muttering to himself, “Strange… Why can’t I open this box? Is it because my cultivation is too shallow?”

Ever since Cai Lingzi had slain all disciples of the four great factions, he had tried every method to open the box, yet it remained sealed, leaving him frustrated.

“With the Dragon Pearl before me, I cannot retrieve it. Am I to carry this box back to the Immortal Hall for orders?”

“No, impossible. I will never return. I want to rule for myself. Why should I be constrained by the Immortal Hall, why listen to that despicable man, that degenerate whose every woman can be his? One day, I, Cai Lingzi, will stand at his height—I will defeat him, I will kill him, I will claim the throne of the Immortal King!”

“Master Cai Xiang, you extravagant, rotten-hearted man! If not for you, would I have lost my mother, grown up as a ridiculed bastard? You even preyed upon a gentle immortal maid—your appetite knows no bounds. If not for my extraordinary talent, how could I have earned your trust and come to this great immortal cave seeking fortune? Hmph, now I possess the greatest secret of the Crystal Palace treasury; all its treasures will be mine. With this fortune, and my talent, surpassing you is only a matter of time. If I absorb the Dragon Pearl’s essence, I will ascend directly to the Great Immortal realm. Then, you can wait to be destroyed by me—I will avenge my mother! Hahaha…”

Cai Lingzi sneered, recalling his childhood and the secret buried deep within his heart. Only in this empty tomb did he dare speak his mind.

He resolved to raise his cultivation swiftly and attempt to open the box, using the treasures within the crystal coffin to accelerate his training. In no time, he squandered all the artifacts within.

Meanwhile, in the depths of the ice pool, another drama unfolded. Su Qing had not perished; she seemed unaffected by the cold, wandering aimlessly through the vast pool dotted with small icebergs, their surfaces hard as iron.

After drifting for a long time, she discovered a well, its depths dark and foreboding. A mass of black radiance nearly caused Su Qing to lose her mind, as if her soul might be frozen.

Clang!

A sword of shimmering silver scraped against the icebergs as Su Qing probed the well’s depths, plunging her immortal blade within. Unexpectedly, the black radiance at the bottom wrapped itself around the sword, freezing it into a block of ice.

“This is the essence of the lunar shadow—it can freeze anything!” Su Qing realized, dropping the sword just in time before the black radiance could entangle her hand.

With a thud, the frozen sword fell to the pool’s bottom, and the black radiance followed. Instantly, the temperature plummeted, filling the pool with icy breath—a thousand miles frozen.

Su Qing desperately tried to escape, but in the cold pool she could barely swim. On the verge of being frozen herself, she made a reckless decision, charging toward the mass of lunar essence…

At the bottom of the fire pool, inside the cocoon of solar essence, Zhou Hao finally rose from his seated meditation. Now, his spirit was vibrant, golden light bursting skyward. The fire dragons forged his body completely; every bone and drop of blood now gleamed with brilliance, a sign of rebirth. Indeed, during that hellish tempering, his flesh had been destroyed by the solar fire essence, leaving only a necrotic shell. New bones and flesh replaced them, and after thousands of cycles, his body was as strong as steel. As for his immortal soul, it had grown ever more resilient through repeated agony, though achieving absolute purity required one final step.

“It’s here. Young man, can you overcome it?” Deng Tu Lang watched the distant golden cocoon and whispered, “Will you perish before birth, or emerge as a butterfly? It all depends on this last great golden immortal tribulation—can you survive?”

Boom!

Suddenly, thunder shook the pool’s depths. The sea of fire recoiled, lightning weaving through every inch of space. Zhou Hao found himself trapped in a net of electricity, unable to move. The agony wracked his body and soul, blood streaming down his chest and legs—his original clothes long since incinerated by the solar fire essence. But he had no time for shame; the golden immortal tribulation was upon him, and only total effort would save him from annihilation.

“Come! If this is all the tribulation has to offer, then the golden immortal realm I’ve pursued is too weak!” Blood trickled from Zhou Hao’s lips, yet he let out a cold laugh, mocking the tribulation itself.

As if some unseen force heard him, two fierce serpents of lightning tore through space, splitting the fire flow, striking Zhou Hao’s ribs. His chest collapsed, bones shattering with crackling sounds.

With a heavy blow, Zhou Hao struck the electric net and cocoon with his glowing golden fists, sending ripples of lightning outward. Yet the net held firm. He never anticipated such a bizarre tribulation: lightning forming a net in the void, filling the entire fire pool and trapping everything.

“Divine Sun Palm, break for me!”

A golden sun appeared in Zhou Hao’s palm, and he struck downward. A tremendous force erupted, the net wailing, and a vast handprint appeared on its surface.

Elated by his success, Zhou Hao unleashed both palms, each bearing a golden sun with destructive power. The net was continually broken, but the lightning above only grew denser, like the source of thunder, birthing world-destroying laws.

The tribulation of the golden immortal continued to intensify…