Chapter 102: The Dharma Deviation Heaven-and-Earth Tribulation

“The heavenly punishment that descended upon Qing Province was also detected by the Great Siming in the Sacred Capital.”

“It was not caused by the imperial bloodline. Rather, after Imperial Mausoleum Heaven returned to Great Qian, an error occurred during its integration.”

Fang Xun frowned slightly at Sun Chengyou's explanation.

“An integration error? What does that mean?”

Sun Chengyou paused, seemingly organizing his thoughts before slowly explaining.

“From the perspective of Imperial Mausoleum Heaven, your disciple was someone who should have been struck down by heavenly punishment. Yet that punishment never arrived. He must have used some method to evade it.”

“But when Imperial Mausoleum Heaven rejoined Great Qian Heaven, that unresolved punishment was inherited as well.”

“This time, however, the method he used to conceal himself failed.”

“And so...”

“Heavenly lightning descended.”

A glimmer flashed through Fang Xun's eyes, but his voice remained full of doubt.

“That... doesn't make any sense at all!”

“My poor disciple was only at the Mortal Physique Realm. What could he possibly have done to attract heavenly punishment?”

Sun Chengyou sighed.

“That is precisely what even the Great Siming cannot understand. Unfortunately, your disciple has already been reduced to ashes by the lightning tribulation. There is no way to investigate further.”

Fang Xun fell silent for a moment, still unwilling to let it go.

“It really has nothing to do with the imperial bloodli...”

Before he could finish, Sun Chengyou cut him off sharply.

“Insolence! How could the words of Great Siming be false?”

“The conclusion of this matter has already been decided. Anyone who continues discussing it shall be treated as a rebel. Think carefully. Do not ruin yourself.”

Hearing the icy menace in Sun Chengyou's voice, Fang Xun could only swallow his words.

“Starting tomorrow, an official announcement will be spread throughout the realm.”

“I still have important matters to handle in the Sacred Capital. I won't return for several more days. Make sure nothing goes wrong in Dongshan Town.”

The projection shattered into scattered light, and Sun Chengyou's voice vanished.

The unwillingness on Fang Xun's face, however, gradually faded away.

“Tomorrow...”

“Hmph.”

He looked toward the sealed-off ruins within Dongshan Town.

The brilliant lightning bolt from earlier seemed to flash before his eyes once more.

“I never thought there'd come a day when I'd be struck to death by lightning.”

“Could this really be what Elder Wei meant when he said it would be of tremendous help to my future cultivation?”

Fang Xun's face twitched.

Thinking back carefully, Wei Wuqi had not seemed to be joking at all when he gave those instructions.

“Perhaps Elder Wei simply didn't foresee what happened today.”

“That lightning tribulation... was it caused by the Mu Clan bloodline, or was it really...”

“An integration error?”

His expression shifted uncertainly.

“Fortunately, I still have one chance left to make a mistake.”

“What I didn't expect was that when the lightning descended, Li Qing actually tried to shield Li Shun with his own life.”

“Perhaps I can trust him a little more.”

Time passed slowly as he pondered.

Then, when that vast and mighty voice once again echoed through heaven and earth, time itself reversed.

The Second Reflection.

Twenty-Second Day of the Second Month.

Li Shun abruptly opened his eyes.

“At noon, Imperial Mausoleum Heaven will return to the Xuanhuang Heaven, and the heavenly lightning will descend.”

“I have roughly twelve hours to prepare.”

“The might of heavenly thunder is not something I can resist. Perhaps even Celestial Phenomena Realm cultivators cannot stand against it...”

“A direct confrontation won't work. I'll have to find some way to avoid it.”

His eyes flickered.

Taking advantage of the darkness before dawn, he immediately set out for the Imperial Mausoleum's sealed grounds.

Before he even reached the wall of the sealed earth, he spotted the figures of the Blood-Armored Guards standing watch.

Imperial Mausoleum Commandery no longer existed, yet the sealed earth grounds remained eternal and indestructible.

A large area outside the walls had already been cordoned off. It was said that a new mausoleum district would eventually be constructed there.

For now, however, all attention was focused on Imperial Mausoleum Commandery's reintegration into Great Qian, so construction had yet to begin.

When the Blood-Armored Guards noticed someone approaching through the darkness, they immediately shouted stern warnings.

But once they recognized Li Shun, their voices abruptly stopped.

“I need to go inside,” Li Shun said calmly.

The pressure emanating from the Qian Emperor's bloodline left them utterly incapable of resisting.

The guards silently stepped aside and opened a path.

A short while later, Li Shun arrived once more at the foot of the sealed earth mound.

Looking at Elder Mu, who still appeared to be slumbering, he quietly asked:

“Elder Mu, may I ask whether members of the Mu Clan bloodline will suffer heavenly punishment once they leave the Imperial Mausoleum?”

There was no response.

Li Shun persisted, asking several more times.

At last, Elder Mu slowly lifted his lowered head.

He appeared even older than before.

Staring at Li Shun, he spoke slowly.

“Why would you suddenly ask such a question?”

Li Shun's expression remained unchanged.

“Imperial Mausoleum Heaven is about to return to Great Qian Heaven, yet I feel a growing unease in my heart, as though some great calamity is about to descend upon me.”

Elder Mu let out a cold snort.

“Members of the Mu Clan bloodline suffer heavenly punishment?”

“If that were true, the Sacred Capital would be struck by endless lightning every single day.”

“Great Qian is still, in the end, Mu Wujiu's Great Qian.”

Apparently finding Li Shun's concern utterly ridiculous, Elder Mu shot him a disdainful glance before refusing to answer further.

Li Shun smiled awkwardly.

“Then perhaps I was overthinking things.”

After a brief pause, he asked another question.

“Elder Mu, do you know why the Qian Emperor suddenly decided to abandon the Imperial Mausoleum?”

Elder Mu remained as motionless as a stone statue.

There was no response whatsoever.

The result was not unexpected.

Li Shun said no more, bowed respectfully, and departed.

On his way back, his thoughts churned.

“Elder Mu has no reason to deceive me about something like this. After all, he's still counting on me to carry out tasks for him. It wouldn't make sense for me to leave the mausoleum only to be struck dead by heavenly lightning immediately afterward.”

“That means...”

“An integration error?”

“Heavenly punishment from Imperial Mausoleum Heaven?”

Instantly, Li Shun recalled the lifespan-reclaiming shadow he had encountered shortly after arriving in Dongshan Town.

“I've been using the Art of the Empty Vessel, Bereft of Self to evade that tribulation.”

“But tribulations don't simply disappear. They're merely recorded and left unsettled.”

“While I remained within Imperial Mausoleum Heaven, nothing happened. But once it returned to the Xuanhuang Heaven, my cultivation of the Empty Vessel, Bereft of Self Art had been too shallow. I could no longer conceal myself.”

“And so the heavenly lightning descended...”

“Could that really be the truth?”

His thoughts raced as he searched for a solution.

“Something still doesn't add up.”

“My two hundred years of lifespan were borrowed openly and legitimately through the Twelvefold Longevity Methods.”

“And now heavenly punishment descends because of that?”

“The lifespan was lent by Heaven, yet the lightning is also sent by Heaven.”

“That's a contradiction.”

“It feels as though Great Qian's Heavenly Dao developed a split personality because of Imperial Mausoleum Heaven's reintegration.”

For the moment, Li Shun could think of no solution.

“If only Elder Wei were still here.”

Then suddenly, his expression changed.

“Wait.”

“Elder Wei definitely knew that I borrowed two hundred years of lifespan.”

“He also knew in advance about the strange phenomena accompanying Imperial Mausoleum Heaven's return.”

“Yet he never warned me.”

“That means, in his view, this lightning tribulation shouldn't actually be fatal.”

Recalling Li Qing's unwavering attempt to shield him from the heavenly lightning, Li Shun immediately made a decision.

Returning home, he once again used the same approach as before.

He told Li Qing about Threefold Self-Reflection and the heavenly tribulation that was about to descend.

“I always felt there was some secret hidden on you, Brother.”

Li Qing did not appear particularly surprised, as though he had expected this all along.

“Heavenly punishment...”

He frowned in thought.

A moment later, he suddenly slapped his thigh.

“I know!”

“It's ‘The Heavenly Ordinance Flowing in Reverse, Delusions Accumulating into Tribulation!’”

The instant those eight words were spoken, Li Shun felt an invisible pressure materialize from nowhere.

It was as though he had once again been thrust into the midst of the heavenly lightning tribulation.

His body trembled instinctively.

A sense of impending doom engulfed him.

The feeling was so overwhelming that he immediately sprang to his feet, preparing to flee.

Seeing his reaction, Li Qing nodded knowingly.

“Judging by your response, that must be it.”

Li Shun took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the instinctive fear in his heart.

He carefully contemplated those eight words.

The Heavenly Ordinance Flowing in Reverse, Delusions Accumulating into Tribulation...

Merely reciting them silently filled him with an indescribable sense of terror.

“What exactly does that mean?” Li Shun asked.

“Elder Wei once said that this is a Dharma Deviation Tribulation caused when cultivators borrow lifespan from Heaven and then attempt to delay Heaven's collection through gold and silver.”

“The full explanation is extremely complicated.”

“But if we use your current situation as an example, it's actually quite easy to understand.”

Li Qing paused briefly to organize his thoughts before continuing.

“Think of the Xuanhuang Heaven and Imperial Mausoleum Heaven as the central government and a local province.”

“You borrowed two hundred years of lifespan through the Twelvefold Longevity Methods. From the perspective of the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao, everything is perfectly legitimate.”

“But...”

“Imperial Mausoleum Heaven existed as an independent world for thousands of years.”

“Within its understanding, borrowing two hundred years of lifespan exceeds the maximum it can comprehend.”

“So in its eyes, you're someone who stole lifespan and should be executed.”

“That is the source of the contradiction.”

“From the perspective of the central authority, you're legal.”

“But from the perspective of the local authority, you're illegal.”

“That's why you needed secret techniques to conceal yourself.”

“When the seal was removed and Imperial Mausoleum Heaven returned to the Xuanhuang Heaven, you should have regained your legal status.”

“However...”

“First, Imperial Mausoleum Heaven's judgment had already taken effect. Once it rejoined the greater world, that judgment was inherited by the Xuanhuang Heaven.”

“Second, and most importantly, you used the Art of the Empty Vessel, Bereft of Self to evade the lifespan-reclaiming shadow.”

“That constitutes resisting enforcement.”

By now, Li Qing had fully organized his thoughts and spoke increasingly quickly.

“The Xuanhuang Heaven recognizes the legality of your two hundred years of borrowed lifespan.”

“But it also received records from the local authority showing that you had once been judged guilty of lifespan theft and had successfully escaped punishment.”

At this point, Li Shun was beginning to understand.

His eyelids twitched slightly.

Li Qing continued.

“The reason the Xuanhuang Heaven sent down heavenly lightning wasn't because of your two hundred years of borrowed lifespan at all.”

“It was because you defied Heaven's judgment!”

Li Shun rubbed his throbbing forehead.

“Is there any solution?”

“Once the Xuanhuang Heaven determines that someone has defied it, heavenly punishment will pursue them relentlessly until death. Even if you survive once through sheer luck, you won't be spared forever.”

“Fortunately, Imperial Mausoleum Heaven hasn't returned yet.”

“There's still room to fix this.”

Hearing that, Li Shun finally let out a sigh of relief.

After thinking for a moment, he arrived at a conclusion.

“So all I need to do is formally face the lifespan-reclaiming shadow once?”

Li Qing nodded.

“When the lifespan-reclaiming shadow comes, living beings naturally struggle to survive.”

“Fighting for your life falls within the limits permitted by the Heavenly Dao.”

“It won't be judged as defiance.”

“Before the next lifespan-reclaiming tribulation arrives, Imperial Mausoleum Heaven will already have merged back into the Xuanhuang Heaven. Once the error is corrected, the lifespan-reclaiming shadow will no longer descend.”

Li Shun slowly nodded.

Then another thought occurred to him.

“You just said that The Heavenly Ordinance Flowing in Reverse, Delusions Accumulating into Tribulation is a [Dharma Deviation Tribulation]?”

The moment those words were spoken, Li Qing's expression turned extremely serious.

“That's right.”

“Because...”

“Every time a cultivator extends their lifespan using gold and silver, it can be regarded as the same kind of lifespan-collection evasion that you committed.”

“In other words...”

“It is an act of defiance against Heaven.”