The Golden River Peak, located in the southwest of Taiping Continent, was quite lively at this moment.

A lot of people gathered here, roughly three to four hundred. If it were three to four hundred ordinary people, regular cultivators, this wouldn’t be considered "lively." But a closer look reveals that even the least powerful among them were at the Early Stage of Integration, most were at the Late Stage of Integration, some were in the small Mahayana, and quite a few were Mahayana cultivators.

These powerful figures, who usually keep a low profile, now gathered at Golden River Peak, indeed making it quite lively.

The difference between a radish meeting and a gathering of heroes is right here.

People stood in small groups, warmly chatting with long-time friends or introducing themselves and making new acquaintances. At first glance, it could be mistaken for a summit of top leaders discussing the Dao. But in reality, they were all temporarily here to observe a powerful cultivator crossing the celestial tribulation.

These cultivators who draw from heaven and earth all hope to reach the day of crossing the celestial tribulation themselves. Therefore, observing beforehand to gain some insight and experience is quite necessary.

At this moment, not far in the sky, tribulation clouds were brewing. Below, a long-haired, ethereal old man sat cross-legged in the air, eyes closed, quietly waiting for the heavenly tribulation to come.

By a cliff edge on Golden River Peak, Scholar Yingqiu glanced at the tribulation clouds on the horizon and then turned to ask his friend, Venerable Minxue,

"Minxue, what do you think are Wenlun Ancestor’s chances?" 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Venerable Minxue, a white-haired, youthful-looking female cultivator, with icy blue lips as her most striking feature, thought for a moment and said,

"I remember Wenlun Ancestor’s path is the Cloud Path, right?"

Scholar Yingqiu brushed the hair from his shoulder, "Yes. Cloud Path, without a Terminal Daoist."

"Then it does not look optimistic. Why would Wenlun Ancestor choose a path without a Terminal Daoist?" Venerable Minxue was quite puzzled, "Doesn’t he know that a path with a Terminal Daoist faces a weaker heavenly tribulation?"

"You haven’t interacted much with Wenlun Ancestor, so you might not understand." Scholar Yingqiu’s gaze was piercing, "About two hundred years ago, during his seclusion, I once discussed the Dao with him for seven days. His words still leave a deep impression on me."

"Oh?" Venerable Minxue knew her old friend well, from a prestigious background, his cultivation path extraordinarily smooth, there were few in Taiping Continent up to his standards.

Scholar Yingqiu said, "Wenlun Ancestor once said to me: ’Nowadays, everyone loves to take shortcuts, cultivate with sheer profit in mind, trying every method, exploiting opportunities, all for the sake of gaining a once-in-a-century, once-in-a-millennium reputation. The vast majority of people stick to the paths with a Terminal Daoist because such paths allow faster comprehension and quickest progress, even if the path chosen is not suitable for them. But there are three thousand innate daos in the world, and nine hundred ninety-seven Terminal Daoists occupy the majority of the fortune and blessings. Others think of relying on the shade, following the will of heaven, yet wasn’t the very start of the path of cultivation a challenge against the will of heaven?’"

"Did he truly say that?" Venerable Minxue was a bit surprised.

Scholar Yingqiu laughed, "Could I possibly lie to you? Wenlun Ancestor could have chosen a path with a Terminal Daoist, but in the end, he gave it up, choosing the untrodden Cloud Path. He said, this world lacks vitality, the majority are obsessed with fame, strength, wealth, long having forgotten that the original reason ’cultivation’ came into being was to challenge nature, to make the world a better place."

Venerable Minxue wasn’t quite able to understand, "Why risk everything?"

"Everything..." Scholar Yingqiu slightly narrowed his eyes, "Minxue, what do you think your everything is?"

"Naturally, the cultivation and divine skills acquired over three thousand years."

"So, people can’t stand new things, can’t stand things beyond their understanding." Scholar Yingqiu said, "Just like the Long-lasting Continent’s Sky Killing Tribulation that was sensational twenty years ago. Do you still remember the attitude of the cultivation realm when the Sky Killing Tribulation first appeared?"

Venerable Minxue nodded, "Of course, I remember. Everyone believed that the one who triggered the Sky Killing Tribulation would surely be executed by the Heavenly Dao."

"But when everyone learned the whole story, they were relieved that he eventually died, weren’t they?"

"That’s only natural."

"But have you considered what would happen if that cultivator named Fan Wubing survived?"

Venerable Minxue paused, she never considered this possibility, now thinking it over, "The whole world might go crazy trying to uncover everything about him."

"Exactly, this world cannot accept such a thing. If heaven wants to kill you, how could you possibly not die?" Scholar Yingqiu’s gaze became distant, "But... why is it, if heaven wants to kill me, must I die? And since when did the idea of ’Heaven killing, death is inevitable’ become ingrained in people’s minds? Why doesn’t the True Demon that truly harms the world suffer the sky killing, but the almost do-gooder Fan Wubing must suffer it?"

Venerable Minxue felt her old friend became somewhat unfamiliar, "What are you really trying to say?"

Scholar Yingqiu laughed, "I just want to say, sometimes, we must really break the usual mindset, try to view and accept new things."

Suddenly, a rumbling sound came from the tribulation clouds in the sky, interrupting everyone’s conversation.

Everyone turned to look towards Wenlun Ancestor’s direction.

The Wenlun Ancestor, sitting cross-legged in the air, slowly opened his eyes, with a tranquil and calm look, like a cold pool in an empty valley. It seemed as if there were eyes within the tribulation clouds scrutinizing him, or a will questioning him, asking why he chose such a path?