He originally thought the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation would be a difficult bottleneck for Yinian to pass, but now it seemed he had underestimated the latter. With his current power, crossing the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation was only a matter of time.

  Gu Longyu knew he couldn’t delay his own ascension to immortality, but before he could, he had to enhance his potential as much as possible.

  When he left the immortal grotto, Gu Longyu told no one of his encounter. With the Rising Dragon Sect’s capabilities, he did not believe any of them could snuff out Yinian unless it was the monarch-level elders.

  He didn’t return to the Dragon Spine Mountain Range. He embarked on a journey to find more of his clones. Although he was injured, killing the clone did improve his potential. Even if it was only a percentage or two, for his current talent, every little bit added up.

  Granted, Gu Longyu didn’t know how high his chances were, so he set a time limit. He didn’t want to remain a Mortality Shedding Saint the next time he met Yinian, who had already become a true immortal.

  To Gu Longyu’s surprise, he actually found more of his clones after this incident. It was as if they had randomly sprouted out of nowhere like mushrooms.

  Gu Longyu naturally searched for a reason, but he could only ultimately pin it on the strange new world. After all, it was a completely new and foreign world on a planet with no realms.

  He could only attribute the strange phenomenon to his clones awakening near the time he was born. Of course, Gu Longyu would not leave this mystery unsolved. He was simply too weak, and only when he gained enough power would he investigate the truth behind everything.

  In the end, Gu Longyu discovered a total of fourteen clones, including the first one. With them, he felt that the ease of comprehending the worldly laws increased by around eleven to twelve percent. After that, the time limit he had set for himself had come.

  It was a bit of a pity, but Gu Longyu knew he couldn’t delay any longer.

  Besides, just because he became an immortal didn’t mean absorbing his clones would no longer be effective—just that the gains from each clone would diminish drastically. If it was a one percent improvement before he entered the Immortal Realm, then it would diminish to a hundredth of a percent. Even one-thousandth of a percent wasn’t impossible.

  The difference between an immortal’s and a mortal’s soul was vast. Even if Gu Longyu waited until his clones entered the Immortal Realm to kill them and absorb them, the improvements still would not reach a full percentage. Maybe one-tenth at best.

  Gu Longyu didn’t know the real reason, but he suspected it was the transformation the heavens bestowed onto the soul that caused this change.

  And it wasn’t as if he could continue to improve infinitely if he stayed below the Immortal Realm and waited to absorb his clones. Each absorption improved his soul and talent, but the improvement from each clone did not scale with his current talent and soul. And there was a diminishing effect the more he absorbed. It didn’t mean there would be no effect, just less.

  For these reasons, Gu Longyu underwent the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation immediately upon returning to the Dragon Spine Mountain Range. Dragon Horn Peak Master Gu, his father, originally wanted him to delay it until his foundation was more stable.

  Although Gu Longyu expressed his confidence, Peak Master Gu was still worried. After all, Gu Longyu had not even experienced a tenth of a mortal cultivator’s peak lifespan. In his eyes, rushing to undergo the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation was foolish at best.

  Each cultivator could undergo the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation only once in their entire life. If they failed, they might not even have the chance to reincarnate. Deciding to undergo it just because of confidence was too risky.

  Gu Longyu naturally knew of his father’s concern, so he suggested a sparring match. After the match, Peak Master Gu looked like he doubted his life. He was a true immortal, but his expertise did not lie in combat. Not that he wasn’t proficient in it, but compared to all the immortals, he could only be described as average at best.

  However, his sullen mood did not last long, and he looked at Gu Longyu with a wistful sigh. “I knew you would surpass me one day, but I never expected it to come so soon.”

  “But, Father, you’re an alchemist,” Gu Longyu said, attempting to cheer him up.

  Peak Master Gu shook his head. “So what if I’m an alchemist? It’s not an excuse. I’m still a true immortal who has lived for over ten thousand years. No need to comfort me. It gives me great pride to see your growth and excellence. But remember, never let that pride turn to arrogance. The more talented you are, the more difficult your heavenly tribulation will be. I’ve seen many geniuses—though none as talented as you—fail their heavenly tribulation where weaker saints have succeeded.”

  Gu Longyu nodded, his eyes still calm. “I understand, Father.”

  Peak Master Gu said no more. In his eyes, he didn’t think Gu Longyu took his words to heart, but it was understandable. If he had the same strength as his son before the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation, he would only be more arrogant.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Neither Gu Longyu nor Peak Master Gu revealed to the public that he was going to undergo the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. Of course, the sect master still had to be informed. An Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation was extremely powerful. If the location was not right and someone accidentally entered, the heavenly tribulation could spiral into a catastrophe. For this reason, most cultivators chose secluded locations or asked someone to guard the perimeter.

  It was a jaw-dropping heavenly tribulation that spanned countless kilometers and lasted nine days and nine nights.

  Even the sect master felt the danger from the tribulation lightning on the last day. Although Gu Longyu had only just become a true immortal, he had a gut feeling that Gu Longyu had the capability to kill him despite immortal monarchs supposedly being impervious to all those who had not mastered a worldly law.

  Still, it was a good thing in the end. The stronger Gu Longyu was, the more powerful the Rising Dragon Sect would become.

  The sect master had originally been immensely dissatisfied with Gu Longyu regarding the Tianyi and Daoyi scandal. In his eyes, Gu Longyu had chased away two potential true immortals. Even when he became a transcending mortality saint, his attitude did not change. A fast cultivation speed did not represent or guarantee success in overcoming the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation.

  That changed today. No matter Tianyi or Daoyi’s potential, it was just that—potential. How could two potential true immortals compare to a bona fide true immortal?

  Gu Longyu didn’t take it to heart and treated the sect master as usual. This didn’t mean that he didn’t hold a grudge. To hold a grudge, one had to care about the other person. Gu Longyu didn’t. In his eyes, the sect master was someone who had already reached the limit of his potential. Why bother with a mere immortal monarch? He was the man who was going to reach the Divine Realm.

  He wanted to hide his successful ascension to the Immortal Realm, and his father and the sect master agreed. They probably thought that their enemies would view Gu Longyu as a danger and do their best to eliminate him before he could reach the Seamless Immortal Realm.

  Unknown to them, Gu Longyu wanted to hide his successful ascension not because he wanted to guard against them, but to give Yinian an enormous surprise.

  Disregarding the miscommunication, Gu Longyu’s request wasn’t difficult. Although it wasn’t exactly wrong to say that the Rising Dragon Sect did not take those below the Immortal Realm too seriously, they still had an abundance of saints at the threshold of crossing their Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. Most of them were in secluded cultivation, making preparations. Because of the long time, many people would forget them, at least until they succeeded or failed.

  It wasn’t just the Rising Dragon Sect; other forces had similar situations. So unless many people watched the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation or the sect announced it, few would immediately connect the successful heavenly tribulation with Gu Longyu. After all, he was someone who had not even cultivated for three hundred years.

  Unfortunately for Gu Longyu, he could not find any traces of Yinian. Rather than finding Yinian, he wanted to lure the latter out, so he had been purposely encountering those geniuses of the older generation. A few might ignore him, but many more wanted to test their mettle against him.

  Gu Longyu heard many rumors and legends. The most prominent one was the black storm clouds that lasted nine days and nine nights. At first, he thought some mortals or weak cultivators had seen his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation and spread the word, but the more he heard, the more he realized that wasn’t the case.

  The location of the heavenly tribulation was different—too far away from the Dragon Spine Mountain Range. In other words, another cultivator’s heavenly tribulation had lasted nine days and nine nights while affecting countless kilometers. Depending on the level, heavenly tribulations had limits, and one spanning such a large area was obviously an Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation.

  Yinian’s face immediately popped into his mind. His plan of luring Yinian before he reached the Immortal Realm had failed, but that didn’t mean his plan of catching Yinian off guard wouldn’t work. So, Gu Longyu continued his encounters with those geniuses.

  Although he would sometimes pretend to show some effort, he always came out on top. Gu Longyu’s fame spread across Dragonsleep Planet once more.

  To Gu Longyu’s disappointment, Yinian did not attack him. Although spreading his fame was a good way to attract Yinian, repeating his actions too much might make it seem too deliberate. So he slowed down the encounters with his so-called rivals. Instead, he focused on finding his clones in order to absorb them.

  While hunting, an absurd thought crossed Gu Longyu’s mind. What if the reason Yinian wasn’t hunting him was to eliminate his clones? Although Yinian didn’t know the truth behind his clones, any regular person who saw so many people with the exact same face would become suspicious.

  Gu Longyu dismissed the idea. Anyone with a modicum of intelligence wouldn’t choose to do that unless they knew the truth. Compared to hunting down clones with unknown connections, Yinian would obviously prefer just to kill him.

  Most of the clones Gu Longyu encountered were already at least in the Core Formation Realm or its martial equivalent. Grandmasters weren’t uncommon either. Most had not grown to the venerable level. Strictly speaking, if Gu Longyu wanted to reap the most benefits, he should wait until they reached the Immortal Realm, but by then, the appearance and disappearance of so many true immortals with the same face would be too conspicuous.

  The only exception Gu Longyu made was when he encountered a clone at the Mortality Shedding Realm. It wasn’t one that had just entered that realm either. Perhaps this clone was lucky and had stumbled upon an immortal’s inheritance and legacy. Thanks to this, the clone was ready to undergo the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation much faster than his other clones despite being a loose cultivator.

  Since it was only a little longer, Gu Longyu decided to wait. Sure enough, the clone underwent the heavenly tribulation eighteen months later. Compared to his own Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation, it was lacking, but it was near the level of his original Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation before he became the Dragon Emperor.

  When the clone was immersed in the joy of successfully transcending his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation, Gu Longyu struck. He appeared in front of the clone, and the Dragonbone Saber flashed. The clone’s head separated from his body, a joyful smile still etched onto his face.

  It was at this moment that Gu Longyu felt a chilling sensation around the nape of his neck. Far from showing shock or fear, he wore an expression as if saying, “I knew it,” and “Got you!”

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