Shrouding the Heavens: The Ultimate Daoist Venerable

Chapter 2 Overcoming the Tribulation
A vast sea of ​​lightning surged, its immense pressure sweeping across the heavens and myriad realms, illuminating vast stretches of the starry sky with endless lightning. Countless stars were swept into the sea of ​​lightning, silently turning to ashes, while distant stars were shattered into pieces by the thunder. Fortunately, this place was in a vast, uninhabited area on the edge of the universe; otherwise, countless lives would have been lost.

The sea of ​​lightning continued to expand, eventually forming three layers: upper, middle, and lower. This was an unprecedented occurrence, with three great heavenly tribulations appearing simultaneously. Even though it was a single person attaining enlightenment, three top-tier heavenly tribulations descended upon him, demonstrating the extraordinary nature of his Dao fruit. The uppermost layer was the Thirty-Three Heavens Creation Immortal Tribulation, within which countless celestial palaces stood tall, and thirty-three Heavenly Lords sat guard within the Thirty-Three Heavens, permeated with immortal energy.

The lowest level is the Avici Hell, a hellish inferno filled with vengeful ghosts and vengeful spirits, teeming with deathly energy. Countless figures bearing Liang Yu's face are dismembered by various instruments of torture, emitting mournful howls. Eighteen demon kings sit in the midst of this hell, exuding a chilling demonic aura.

The middle layer is simple and direct, with human figures floating in the sea of ​​thunder. These are projections of the great Daoists since the mythological era, including the Moral Celestial Venerable with the Taiji diagram above his head, the Spiritual Treasure Celestial Venerable who wields the Four Swords Killing Array, and seven other Celestial Venerables who have already been born.

An aura surged within the restricted area, and countless figures, like demons, appeared.

"This generation's enlightened one seems extraordinary. Could it be that he, like those of Daode and Lingbao, has achieved the supreme Dao fruit in a certain key area?"

"The divine body proves the Dao. Can such a physique reach such a level of power after reaching its peak? Perhaps only the Chaos Body can surpass it."

"The Path to Immortality will open in a few hundred thousand years. If we could obtain his divine blood..."

The supreme beings remained silent.

Liang Yu took a deep breath, and the stars within a radius of countless billions of miles instantly dimmed. His five great secret realms shone brightly, each containing countless runes forming wondrous shapes, sometimes manifesting as yin and yang, sometimes rotating the five elements, sometimes constructing reincarnation, sometimes transforming into the universe…

His body was also extraordinary; with his divine blood boiling, countless ancient gods lay dormant within every inch of his skin, emitting bursts of divine sounds. Under the overwhelming divine might, a towering figure, seemingly the master of all things and the head of all gods, appeared behind him.

If someone were to observe, they would notice that this divine emperor's extraordinary appearance has no back; from any angle, it can only be seen facing directly.

With a wave of his hands, the God Emperor caused countless divine palaces and celestial pavilions to rise from the ground, and the shadows of various gods appeared, constructing an eternal and indestructible divine kingdom out of thin air.

The extraordinary phenomena of the God Emperor and the Eternal Divine Kingdom are the result of Liang Yu's ultimate deduction and transformation of the divine body.

With a flash of lightning, Liang Yu's true form appeared in the eighteenth level of purgatory. Demonic sounds rang out, throwing his mind into chaos. Countless instruments of torture were applied to his body, as if to slowly torture him to death.

Instead of summoning the two great phenomena of the God Emperor and the God Kingdom to save him, he sent them flying upwards to collide with the Thirty-Three Heavens.

Countless runes of laws appeared around Liang Yu, evolving into various spells. With a flick of his hands, a Heaven-Opening Seal descended, filled with chaotic energy. He seemed to transform into a giant, wielding a giant axe to split the heavens. This vast inferno formed by the sea of ​​lightning was cleaved open by his single strike.

Enraged, the eighteen demon kings let out shrieks and charged towards Liang Yu. Liang Yu formed hand seals again, his left hand holding the Sun God Seal and his right hand the Moon God Seal. The two seals combined to form a Tai Chi diagram that suppressed the eighteen demon kings.

He unleashed the Heaven-Sealing Seal, locking the entire Thunder Sea Purgatory within a cage. Then, he opened his mouth and inhaled, swallowing the Thunder Sea like a gluttonous beast.

The lightning continued to dissipate, but it was ultimately refined by him.

The Qiankun Creation Tower rose and fell with him in the purgatory, and eighteen ferocious demon kings appeared on its walls. At this moment, his two extraordinary phenomena were also at their limit. Liang Yu stepped forward and withdrew the phenomena, then unleashed another Heaven-Opening Seal at the shattered Thirty-Three Heavens, shattering and obliterating countless celestial palaces.

The Thirty-Three Heavenly Lords surrounded them, forming a special formation. Instantly, the power of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth condensed into a Heavenly Treasure Seal, which pressed down fiercely.

Liang Yu moved swiftly, forming a void seal, his entire being seemingly merging into the void, becoming untouchable. Then, he instantly appeared behind one of the Heavenly Lords, and a Star River Seal descended, like the waters of the Milky Way pouring down, shattering that corner of the formation.

The Qiankun Creation Tower flew out and landed in the center of the sea of ​​lightning. Countless bolts of lightning surged back and were absorbed into the tower. Liang Yu then unleashed the Reincarnation Seal, the Divine Emperor Seal, the Killing Seal, and the Annihilation Seal in turn, shattering the Heavenly Lord one by one.

After absorbing all the lightning, the pagoda returned to Liang Yu's head. Although Liang Yu's body was stained with blood after these two battles, his aura was even stronger, and his Dao was becoming increasingly intertwined with this universe.

The lightning in the center finally stopped changing, and twenty-four figures emerged, while an unknown number of figures failed to materialize. These were most of the Dao-proving individuals since the Tribulation-Transcending Celestial Venerables of the Mythical Era. Among them, eight figures were the most mysterious. Besides the seven Celestial Venerables, there was another figure, shrouded in corpse energy, with what appeared to be pure white reincarnation marks within its body.

This is the Underworld Lord! He is a spirit of the corpse of the Transcending Tribulation Celestial Venerable Emperor, who attained enlightenment a second time. Because of this, his methods spread widely, and were imitated and experimented upon by countless supreme beings, ultimately leading to the corpse calamity that swept across the entire universe hundreds of thousands of years ago. Fortunately, the Spirit Treasure Celestial Venerable attained enlightenment and suppressed the chaos with the Four Swords of Immortal Slaughter. Even so, the Underworld still stands firm, becoming a forbidden land.

His figure actually existed simultaneously with that of the Tribulation-Crossing Celestial Venerable, and his aura even seemed to be superior to that of his predecessor.

Fortunately, the twenty-four figures did not advance at the same time, but instead engaged in a relentless, step-by-step battle.

Liang Yu activated the Dou Zi Secret Technique and charged forward, fighting with reckless abandon. Every time he shattered one figure, a second one would immediately attack.

He fought hard for a long time and finally managed to disperse most of the figures. But the remaining eight figures were the most difficult to deal with.

The Transcending Tribulation Celestial Venerable stepped forward and, facing Liang Yu's Heaven-Opening Seal attack, directly activated the Nine Secrets Descent. The terrifying attack, capable of cleaving through the universe and splitting the heavens and earth, was directly blocked without causing any harm.

Liang Yu couldn't help but sigh, truly worthy of being called the Tribulation-Crossing Celestial Venerable. His Tribulation-Crossing Heavenly Art uses worldly tribulations as trials; as long as one survives countless tribulations, one can achieve immortality. This "Lin" character secret is his supreme achievement, the strongest defensive technique. Once used, it makes one impervious to all magic and grants immortality.

Strictly speaking, this secret technique counters Liang Yu's "Fighting" secret technique. One is the strongest offensive method, and the other is the strongest defensive method; it's like a classic reenactment of the sharpest spear and the strongest shield.

But Liang Yu remained confident. The cultivators in the world of Shrouding the Heavens are characterized by overflowing self-confidence, always stubbornly refusing to admit defeat until they are truly crushed, such as the Stone Emperor's famous saying, "Let Wushi come."

But there's nothing wrong with that. If an enlightened being doesn't even believe in their own path, what else can they believe in?

"Celestial Venerable of Tribulation Crossing, the Secret of the Character 'Lin', I have long admired your name. Today I will test whether your defense is stronger or my attack is more powerful. I only hope that this mark can truly replicate your former strength."

(End of this chapter)