Chapter 49 Part 4

Boom!!!

At that moment, a heaven-shaking, earth-cracking roar erupted. The ground under Lian Yunzhi’s feet split in two, and the entire Near Heaven Tower was about to collapse!

The Venomous Snake’s form stagnated in the air for an instant. Lian Yunzhi seized the opportunity, bound it firmly with vines, and wielded his sword to shatter it completely!

Green spiritual mist exploded once more, but this time, the vines captured and devoured it entirely at the first moment.

The Near Heaven Tower collapsed with a resounding boom. Dust billowed, mist filled the sky. Lian Yunzhi soared above the clouds on his Imperial Sword Flight, his spiritual power surging wildly within him. Dark clouds gathered above his head, heralding the impending Ascension Tribulation!

The lightning of the Ascension Tribulation was no ordinary bolt—it smashed toward Lian Yunzhi like a massive thunderball! He held his sword to block the first one. The long sword shattered into pieces, his palms split open and bled profusely, but Lian Yunzhi paid it no mind. He gritted his teeth and used both palms to block the second!

At that moment, a familiar figure appeared beside him and reached out to help block the second thunderball!

“Mu Cheng?!”

“It’s me!”

Lian Yunzhi’s eyes instantly turned red, his heart pounding wildly. He desperately wanted to embrace Mu Cheng tightly, but he simply couldn’t free his hands—the third thunderball was already crashing down.

“Why did the Near Heaven Tower collapse?!” Lian Yunzhi shouted while resisting the thunderball. “Does it have anything to do with you?!”

Mu Cheng replied, “The Blood Yin Secret Realm has vanished! Fu Qing told me that no one had ascended from the Near Heaven Tower in over a hundred years. Just now, I finally detected a strand of malice directed at you atop the Near Heaven Tower, so I extracted the malice and destroyed it!”

Lian Yunzhi was no longer satisfied with just hugging Mu Cheng—he wanted to kiss him fiercely too. But he still couldn’t free his hands, so he could only shout, “Get away first! You can only face the Ascension Lightning Tribulation yourself!”

Mu Cheng stared intently at the increasingly massive thunderball. “Dual Cultivation Dao Companions are meant to ascend together, so they can naturally face the lightning tribulation together too!”

Lian Yunzhi had never seen this in any books, but it made sense upon reflection, so he stopped urging Mu Cheng to leave. Instead, he asked for help. “My meridians are badly blocked. Free up a hand and help me clear them first!”

Mu Cheng used one hand to resist the lightning tribulation while wrapping the other around Lian Yunzhi’s waist and kissing his lips, channeling spiritual power into him. His spiritual power flowed skillfully through Lian Yunzhi’s meridians. Though the power it pushed this time was unfamiliar, the meridians themselves were ones he knew well.

Lian Yunzhi instantly felt much better. The power he could wield nearly doubled, and he swiftly obliterated the fifth thunderball.

The sixth lightning tribulation lingered without falling. Lian Yunzhi seized the moment to press his forehead against Mu Cheng’s and performed Divine Soul Dual Cultivation with him. The remaining blocked meridians cleared instantly, his stagnant Divine Soul Force relaxed, and he let out a refreshing breath of relief. Feeling invigorated, he welcomed the next thunderball.

Mu Cheng, however, hovered dazedly in midair, receiving an overwhelming wave of bone-deep longing as dense as ink, piled up like a mountain of Message Paper Cranes.

The lightning tribulations grew ever larger, thunder rumbling across the entire sky. But the final bolt required facing it with one’s true body, so Lian Yunzhi reverted to his original form and leaped forward to meet the thunderball. The massive Spirit Capturing Grass was enveloped by it, turning the entire sky blinding white!

Lian Yunzhi first felt numbness, then pain. Every leaf and branch trembled violently. But suddenly, a brilliant, fiery power erupted within him, clashing against the thunderball. That power incinerated the thunderball and reshaped his every scorched leaf and branch. When Lian Yunzhi transformed back into human form, he clearly sensed power surging into his parched Dantian like a nourishing irrigation. Only then did he realize that this power was Immortal Power.

He had successfully passed the tribulation.

The tribulation clouds dispersed, and the sky erupted in radiant multicolored light spanning ten thousand zhang. Endless Immortal Power drifted down from the heavens, transforming into Immortal Cranes and auspicious clouds that surrounded him. His body suddenly felt feather-light as it shot straight toward the Ninth Heaven!

Lian Yunzhi hurriedly grabbed Mu Cheng’s hand.

The upward pull halted abruptly, then carried Lian Yunzhi and Mu Cheng upward at a slightly slower speed.

Lian Yunzhi and Mu Cheng exchanged a glance and burst into delighted laughter.

【Mu Cheng! I took you with me on my ascension!】

【Master is so amazing.】

Lian Yunzhi rubbed against him and hugged Mu Cheng tightly.

It had been sixteen years since he last saw Mu Cheng—his longing had nearly driven him mad.

Mu Cheng also reached out and embraced him.

The colorful auspicious clouds strained slightly as they bore the ascending Immortal and his Evil Demon Dao Companion toward the Heavenly Realm. The Evil Demon’s eyes fixed unblinkingly on the Dao Companion in his arms, curving into gentle, harmless crescents like the fading moon at heaven’s edge.

At that moment, dawn had just broken.