Chapter 162: Ascension?

Lu Ye was no fool.

The connection between the system and the Heavenly Dao—had never been severed, not even after time rewound. That much was obvious.

The only thing he didn’t know... was whether the current Heavenly Dao was governed by the true Heavenly Dao, or whether the system had taken over.

Who held the reins of power?

It was hard to say.

If it was in Shen Xitong’s hands, then the Heavenly Dao was nothing more than a wage slave.

If the Heavenly Dao still held sway, then Shen Xitong was the biggest rebel in existence.

But judging by the current state of things...

It seemed the control rested in Shen Xitong’s hands.

Boom!

A bolt of tribulation lightning came crashing down.

Silver-white lightning roared with heavenly might.

Lu Ye slashed it apart with a single sword—his Nine-Tribulation Undying Body greedily absorbing the power of the strike.

Boom!

The second bolt struck with a force equivalent to a full-strength blow from a First Layer Great Ascension cultivator.

But for Lu Ye? Child’s play.

The third. The fourth...

Silver serpents danced across the sky.

The earth trembled beneath the rain of lightning—within thousands of li, every living thing felt a dread beyond description.

Lu Ye crossed his tribulation in steady rhythm.

To be honest, in the First Heaven, no matter how powerful a tribulation was—how powerful could it really get?

In his last life, he’d crossed his tribulation after meticulous preparation.

In this one?

Whatever.

One strike.

Two.

Three...

The ninth bolt of tribulation lightning came crashing down.

A mountain-sized pillar of thunder collapsed from the heavens, blanketing the land in radiance. Within hundreds of li, lightning blazed across the sky.

Its terrifying might looked capable of shattering everything.

Lu Ye raised a single fist—and shattered it all in an instant.

A tremendous suction force surged out from within his body.

No good. Not enough.

“Make the tribulation clouds disperse slower,” Lu Ye said.

“Ding. Acknowledged!”

The clouds, which had begun to fade, halted their retreat.

Lu Ye’s aura surged—then vanished without a trace. Standing within the clouds, he formed a complex hand seal.

In that moment, the entire tribulation cloud boiled to life—countless strands of silver light poured toward Lu Ye, rushing into him.

His body glowed from every pore.

An immense amount of tribulation lightning fused into every corner of his physique.

The Nine-Tribulation Undying Body—second tribulation, complete.

His physical form had now reached a level where, even without mobilizing true essence, his body alone was tougher than most innate spiritual treasures.

He activated both the Heaven-Hiding Technique and the Dao-Hiding Technique.

In that instant, Lu Ye felt like someone who no longer belonged to this world—his presence erased entirely.

No sensation of ascension followed.

Lu Ye breathed a sigh of relief.

Even if Shen Xitong might be the Heavenly Dao now, Lu Ye still showed her respect.

He’d activated the hiding techniques all the same.

“Ding~ This Heaven-Hiding thing of yours is actually kind of fun. I really can’t find you.”

“You’re literally talking to me, and you’re saying you can’t find me?” Lu Ye raised an eyebrow.

“Mhm~ But really, I can’t. I’m the system, and the Heavenly Dao is the Heavenly Dao. If the Dao can’t find you, that’s none of my business!”

...Lu Ye.

This damn woman was so good at twisting logic.

Wait—

Someone’s coming!

Lu Ye’s figure vanished in an instant.

Back when he’d just stepped into the Tribulation Crossing Realm, he had already been unrivaled in the First Heaven. Now, he was at the First Layer of Great Ascension.

His true essence was undergoing rapid refinement.

After entering the Great Ascension Realm, the quality of one’s true essence would drastically shift—it would become immensely more potent.

That was precisely why Great Ascension cultivators were not allowed to remain in the First Heaven.

Of course, fully converting one’s essence would still take some time.

That was why Lu Ye had so easily one-punched that newly-ascended Great Ascension cultivator from the Eternal Teachings Sect.

Lu Ye cloaked his presence but didn’t leave.

"Such a massive spread of tribulation clouds—and clearly, the person succeeded in crossing. To create a tribulation that covers thousands of li across... in all of the Wildlands, there’s only one person it could be."

"Right—Lu Ye!"

"So then... Lu Ye has successfully crossed his tribulation and ascended?"

"By the rules, yes. We should report this to the Tongtian Pavilion in the Second Heaven—let them know Lu Ye has ascended!"

"Also, let’s sell this intel."

"And make sure to include all the bad blood between Lu Ye and Jiang Die, current head of the Jiang Clan in the Second Heaven. We don’t know what started it—but she used a Void Token and allied with the Eternal Teachings Sect. Even the Jiang Clan’s Ancestor came out. Clearly it’s a blood feud."

"If Lu Ye’s just entered the Second Heaven and gets immediately wiped out—that’s a huge headline."

"Anyway, Lu Ye’s already ascended. No point in hiding this. Let’s publish it. Let all of the First Heaven know."

"Got it!"

Lu Ye listened to the conversation—immediately recognizing these two as agents of the Heaven’s Secrets Pavilion.

During tribulations, Heaven’s fate grew muddled. The pavilion always sent agents to scout.

Jiang Die... had become the current Clan Head of the Jiang Clan in the Second Heaven?

It seemed that after her rebirth, her cultivation had grown even stronger.

She had likely already reached the level of a Celestial God.

True Person, Earth Immortal, Celestial God—these were the three realms of the Second Heaven.

To be a Clan Head in the Jiang Clan, Celestial God was likely the bare minimum.

So...

If he could reach the point of slaughtering Celestial Gods like chickens and pigs...

Then it would be time to officially ascend.

Before long, the news of Lu Ye’s ascension to the Second Heaven was spread far and wide by the Heaven’s Secrets Pavilion.

Bai Qiulan and the others soon received the news.

"So now it’s confirmed. Senior Brother has ascended. Wonder where that green tea bitch went."

"The young master is always good to those around him. If Shen Xitong was with him, he definitely brought her along when he ascended."

Yue Hongling ground her teeth.

"Unbelievable... so it was always the young master dragging us along for ascension!"

Even though they knew Lu Ye despised them—not even saying goodbye before flying up?

He truly didn’t care about them. No—he didn’t even see them.

Recalling their past life—when Lu Ye waited for all five of them, and they ascended together in a grand ceremony of six...

"We have to accelerate our cultivation. He’s already pulling ahead. If we keep dawdling and he reaches the Third Heaven, he’ll leave us behind completely. We won’t see him again until we’ve reclaimed our Emperor-level cultivation."

"At that point, we really will have no chance left."

"Bai-jie, do you have any Chaotic Yin Poison right now? Let me take a hit!"

Bai Qiulan: ...

"Sorry, not at the moment," she replied awkwardly.

"Then hurry up and generate some! We have to catch up, or the young master will be totally monopolized by Jiang Die!"

"Impossible!" Yue Hongling cut in.

"Jiang Die’s not even a match for that green tea bitch. Even if the young master went up—he’s still unrivaled, peerless across the entire Second Heaven. For all we know, Jiang Die will end up even worse than we did."

"Let’s hope so!"

"Now shut up and cultivate!"

The women, now certain Lu Ye had ascended, once again huddled together for warmth and motivation.

At the same time—

The Buddhist Order and the Netherworld Sect, in far-flung corners of the void, also received the news of Lu Ye’s ascension. They immediately jolted to alert.

“Amitābha... the Holy Light of the Buddha shall once again shine upon the Wildlands.”

“That demon star... finally gone.”

“Return.”