Looking at the naturally formed Heaven-and-Earth Formation below, Lu Qing directly activated his spiritual power and began deducing and comprehending.

The reason he had told the white flood dragon and Xiaoli to leave the valley was precisely because he intended to use this formation, spanning a thousand miles, as preparation for his upcoming Nascent Soul Tribulation.

Originally, his plan was to find an even stronger Heaven-and-Earth Formation.

That way, he could also avoid destroying the white flood dragon’s dwelling place.

But now, with only ten days left to prepare, time was too tight. He could only make do with what was here.

He would have to modify this vast formation and turn it into a weapon for his tribulation.

With Lu Qing’s current mastery of formations, deducing a Heaven-and-Earth Formation was naturally not difficult.

It wasn’t long before he had already deduced the most suitable scheme for himself.

After working out the plan, Lu Qing descended back into the cave, summoned the Li Huo Cauldron, and took out large amounts of refining materials to begin forging the formation cores.

Seven days later, once all the cores had been completed, he began rushing across the land.

Within the thousand-mile Heaven-and-Earth Formation, he followed the deduced scheme and set down the dragon-pillar-like nodes at every critical point.

Whoosh!

Two days later, when Lu Qing finally drove the last dragon pillar into the depths of the earth, his divine sense linked to the formation. Instantly, the thousand-mile formation was completely under his control.

“Done.”

A smile appeared on Lu Qing’s face.

This grand formation could be said to embody all his current mastery over formations.

Not only did it incorporate many arrays recorded in the Divine Rune Sect, but even knowledge from the Zhou Tian Star Formation had been merged into it.

Although its defensive power could not compare to the Zhou Tian Star Formation that the Gongshu Clan had cultivated for countless millennia, when compared to the protective arrays of many great sects, it was not the least inferior—in fact, even stronger.

With this Heaven-and-Earth Formation backing him, his odds of surviving the tribulation would increase by at least thirty percent.

After finishing the array, Lu Qing turned into a streak of light and returned to the valley.

“Ah Qing, did you finish setting up the formation?”

In the valley, Xiaoli was chatting with the white flood dragon. When she saw Lu Qing return, she immediately jumped up.

“Master.”

The white flood dragon also greeted Lu Qing respectfully.

But its body no longer trembled. After a few days of observation, it realized that Lu Qing was not nearly as terrifying as it had first imagined.

“Yes, it’s finished. There’s still one day left. I need to adjust my state. You all must be ready—if I notify you, leave the valley immediately and go as far as you can.”

“Got it!”

After giving his instructions, Lu Qing returned to the cave to meditate.

As for Xiaoli and Wuxing, their faces were filled with excitement.

Lu Qing was finally going to face the Nascent Soul Tribulation. Once he passed it, they could return home.

As for whether he would succeed, they had never doubted it.

To them, Lu Qing had slain Nascent Soul cultivators as if chopping vegetables back when he was only at the Golden Core Realm.

Crossing the Nascent Soul Tribulation should be nothing more than a formality.

Only the white flood dragon, upon seeing Xiaoli and Wuxing’s joy, revealed a trace of sadness in its eyes.

It knew that once Lu Qing succeeded, Xiaoli would have to leave.

And then, it would part with the only friend it had ever made.

Time trickled by in this strange atmosphere within the valley.

Meanwhile, ten thousand miles away, two figures slowly flew through the sky.

One was a middle-aged man holding a compass-like artifact, seemingly searching for something.

“Senior brother, every few years you come to this Myriad Beasts Mountain Range. Are you sure that white flood dragon is really here?”

The young cultivator beside him asked helplessly.

“There’s no mistake. Back then, that old white flood dragon was gravely injured by our master. Even its reverse scale was torn out. But in the end, it used a secret technique to escape, taking its young daughter with it.

“And the direction it fled was toward this mountain range.”

The middle-aged man answered while studying the compass.

“But that was a hundred years ago. How could that flood dragon still be hiding here? Maybe it escaped into the Monster Domain long ago,” the youth argued.

“Impossible. It was heavily wounded and forced to use a secret art. It had only a few years of life left at most.

“Besides, it was expelled from the Monster Domain. Returning would be a dead end—it would even doom its daughter to be devoured.

“The Monster Domain follows the law of the jungle, far harsher than our human race.

“The greatest chance was that it hid the young flood dragon somewhere here in the Myriad Beasts Mountain Range.”

The middle-aged man spoke with absolute certainty.

“But we’ve searched for so long. If it really was here, shouldn’t we have found it already?”

The young cultivator still doubted.

“Actually, more than twenty years ago, when I was searching this range, this Beast Compass reacted once. This compass was forged by Master, using the old flood dragon’s blood and reverse scale.

“As long as it or its bloodline appears within a million miles, the compass cannot fail to react.

“But strangely, it only pulsed once before the signal vanished. I didn’t have time to pinpoint the location.

“Still, I’m sure—the old flood dragon or its daughter must be hiding somewhere within this million-mile region.”

“Then, senior brother, do you plan to search inch by inch like this?”

“Exactly. Master said the old flood dragon and its daughter possess true dragon blood. Their potential is limitless.

“With proper guidance, reaching the Nascent Soul Realm would be certain.

“If I can enslave it as my life-bound spirit beast, it would become my greatest strength.”

The middle-aged man’s eyes glowed with feverish light.

That was why he had spent decades tirelessly searching.

Their sect, the Myriad Beasts Sect, possessed a secret art—enslaving spirit beasts. The stronger the beast, the more power the master gained, even absorbing its potential.

If he could enslave a flood dragon with true dragon blood, then reaching the Nascent Soul Realm would be trivial.

Even surpassing his master and becoming a great Nascent Soul powerhouse of the Three Tribulations was possible!

Compared to his senior brother’s excitement, the young cultivator felt nothing.

To him, his brother was already obsessed.

The flood dragon had been missing for too long. Most likely it had long since left.

That supposed compass reaction? Probably just a delusion from his brother’s obsession.

Otherwise, after searching half the Myriad Beasts Mountain Range, how could they not have found a single clue?

Still, he knew persuasion was useless. Only when his brother scoured the entire range would he finally awaken.

As he yawned, thinking about where to rest for the night, his senior brother’s compass suddenly blazed with light.

“Senior brother, what’s happening?”

“The white flood dragon has appeared!”

The middle-aged man’s face lit with ecstasy.

He formed a hand seal and spat a mouthful of qi onto the compass. It spun rapidly, then the needle locked onto the east.

“East—about ten thousand miles. Junior brother, let’s go!”

With shining eyes, he slapped his waist pouch.

A gray light burst out, transforming into a huge bird. It landed before them.

The middle-aged man stepped onto its back.

With a sharp cry, the bird turned into a streak of lightning, rushing eastward.

The young cultivator quickly summoned his own bird and followed close behind.

Neither knew that a looming danger was about to fall upon the white flood dragon.

At that moment, the flood dragon was still chatting with Xiaoli in the valley.

Suddenly, Lu Qing’s voice rang in their minds.

“I’m beginning the tribulation. Get out—retreat at least a hundred miles.”

“Xiao Bai, let’s go!”

At his transmission, Xiaoli dared not delay. She called to the white flood dragon and flew up into the sky.

Wuxing followed immediately.

The white flood dragon hesitated, but then also rose into the air.

Even the weakest among the three, Wuxing, was at the fourth transformation of the Golden Core Realm.

Their speed was incredible. Soon they were a hundred miles away.

Once Lu Qing sensed they had left, he too stepped out of the cave, slowly ascending until he stood atop the mountain peak above the valley, gazing at the heavens.

By now, he had adjusted his state to perfection.

Above his head, the invisible pressure of the Heavenly Dao grew heavier and heavier. The tribulation was on the verge of descending.

“Master is finally attempting the Nascent Soul Tribulation.”

Inside the Li Huo Cauldron, Yan watched with excitement.

It had never imagined that the youth who once needed to threaten it just to refine the cauldron would truly come this far.

And it could already sense that once Lu Qing succeeded, his transformation would be terrifying beyond imagination.

After all, even at the Golden Core Realm, he could slay Nascent Soul experts with ease.

“I wonder what kind of tribulation Master will face.”

Yan still remembered the five-colored clouds that had appeared when Lu Qing underwent his Golden Core Tribulation.

That power had been far beyond anything it had ever seen.

What kind of Nascent Soul Tribulation would come this time?

One thing was certain—the might would be unimaginable.

Boom!

Amidst Yan’s excitement and nervousness, the world itself trembled.

With Lu Qing’s divine sense reaching upward, he finally stirred the vast, unseen force of calamity. The Nascent Soul Tribulation had begun.

The sky changed color. Heavenly might descended.

Where moments ago had been clear blue skies, now the void twisted. A whirlpool of tribulation, spanning a hundred miles, slowly took form.

“Ah Qing is facing the tribulation!”

High above, Xiaoli felt her heart jolt, then her expression changed drastically.

“This is bad! The tribulation is too powerful, its range too vast—we must retreat further!”

She pulled the flood dragon and Wuxing another several hundred miles back before finally stopping, still trembling as they gazed behind them.

There, high above the valley, the massive tribulation whirlpool spun, radiating boundless authority.

The oppressive might made all creatures within thousands of miles tremble.

Beasts near the valley, under the shadow of death, fled in madness.

Even Xiaoli and Wuxing were shaken to their core.

They had always expected Lu Qing’s tribulation to be frightening.

But when they saw the whirlpool, they realized they had underestimated it.

Compared to this, their own Golden Core Tribulations were laughable.

If their tribulations had been candles, this was a blazing furnace.

Both were tribulations, yet not even on the same scale.

“How can Master’s Nascent Soul Tribulation be this terrifying?”

The white flood dragon trembled even more.

It stared blankly at the colossal whirlpool, disbelief in its eyes.

As a royal bloodline of the Monster Domain, it had heard countless tales of the Nascent Soul Tribulation.

It had even personally witnessed its father undergo it.

At the time, it had thought its father’s tribulation was shocking enough.

But compared to the might Lu Qing had summoned, it was laughably weak.

The difference was like a quiet pond versus the endless ocean. Not even the same realm.

“What’s happening ahead?”

At the same time.

The two cultivators thousands of miles away abruptly felt an indescribable dread.

They halted their gray birds, staring in disbelief.

Or rather, at the colossal whirlpool hanging in the distant heavens.

“It’s tribulation qi! Someone is transcending before us! Human—or beast?”

Having experienced their own Golden Core Tribulations, they instantly recognized it.

But then they were even more stunned.

The whirlpool was far too vast. Its might shook their very souls even from thousands of miles away.

What kind of existence could trigger such a tribulation?

“In the Myriad Beasts Mountain Range, someone is undergoing tribulation?”

“Who dares attempt this here!”

“Come, let’s take a look!”

The commotion was impossible to hide.

The vast whirlpool not only drew the attention of every hidden cultivator within the mountain range.

Even the other side, within the Monster Domain, countless spirit beasts and monsters looked up at the spinning calamity cloud that hung in the sky.

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