Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World

Cries rang out, and the Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains trembled. Boundless spiritual energy erupted from the earth. All the mortals turned their heads at the same time, looking out beyond the firmament. There, Wei Yuan was gazing down upon this world. At that very moment, all the immortal plants, mortals, and even every creature endowed with spirituality underwent an inexplicable, subtle transformation. At this instant, the sea of spirituality across the Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains began to boil. Wei Yuan's sea of consciousness opened, and specks of spirituality spilled forth, beginning to commune with heaven and earth. Suddenly, dark clouds gathered from all directions, turning day into night in the blink of an eye. The dense leaden clouds sank lower and lower, nearly brushing against the mountain peaks on the ground. The cold, unfeeling will of heaven and earth gradually manifested, locking onto Wei Yuan. Wei Yuan's heart stirred. He knew his heavenly tribulation had arrived, and the time for his dharma idol had come. Looking up at the tribulation clouds in the sky, their momentum was even greater than the last time he had summoned a dharma idol heavenly tribulation with a single remark, giving him a faint sense of foreboding. Deciding without hesitation, he notified the cultivators of the Palace of Grand Beginning to take precautions, then flew toward the north. At this moment, a colossal dragon head suddenly emerged within Wei Yuan's consciousness, with more than a dozen eyes on each side, all glaring at him at once. Its aura felt both familiar and unfamiliar: familiar because Wei Yuan had encountered it twice before; unfamiliar because this time it was far more tangible, loftier, and vastly more terrifying. Were this dragon head alone to manifest physically, it would be hundreds of zhang across! "You have one last chance," the dragon head said. "What's in it for me?" Wei Yuan asked. "Without my help, you will not survive this heavenly tribulation. Even a Dharma Idol cultivator cannot withstand this tribulation, let alone a petty Dao Foundation like you." Wei Yuan sneered. "Cultivating into your dharma idol—wouldn't that make me your puppet? And aren't there plenty in the Great Treasure Radiance Pure Land who are more formidable than you?" "Hmph! How can those nondescript clowns compare to me? As for your first concern, you need not worry. I perished long ago. Even if I were resurrected through your strength, your meager power would only be enough to restore a sliver of my spirituality. Yet for bringing me back from nothingness into being, you will receive an extra reward." "Such as?" Wei Yuan never listened to empty promises. "I will capture three more True Dragon scions for you." Wei Yuan was indeed slightly tempted, but alas, he had already comprehended the path he was meant to walk, and there was no reason to change it now. Sensing Wei Yuan's determination, the dragon head grew furious and roared, "Let us see how you cross this heavenly tribulation!" By now, Wei Yuan had arrived at his destination. Having made preparations here long ago, he landed with hearty laughter. The ground here was covered in black or green crystals, and the earth was scorched soil filled with countless tiny crystal grains. Surrounding Wei Yuan were three Thunder Crystal Wood trees—one large and two small—arranged in a triangle around him. Further out stood four massive metal rods, tens of zhang high, connected to cables as thick as a bowl. The cables ran into a small lake, at the bottom of which lay piled large quantities of metallic ore. After laughing heartily, Wei Yuan said to the dragon head, "Never heard of a lightning rod, have you? With a divine tool like this, why should I fear lightning tribulation?" The dragon head was momentarily stunned. Inspecting the surrounding setup, it seemed to grasp what was happening, then let out a cold sneer and vanished. Wei Yuan felt its attitude was somewhat bizarre, but with the heavenly tribulation looming directly overhead, he had no time to ponder it. He activated the array formation he had set up beforehand and placed various restorative pills into the array nodes. This would keep the pills from being destroyed, for under a heavenly tribulation, no spatial storage magical treasure could withstand the onslaught. As if that were not enough, Wei Yuan opened his mouth wide, tipped several bottles of medicinal pills into his cheeks, and held them there, ready to swallow whichever he needed as the situation arose. Preparations complete, Wei Yuan straightened his robes and hair, quietly awaiting the descent of the tribulation lightning. Typically, when advancing from Dao Foundation to Dharma Idol, those of high grade would face one to three lightning tribulations, which were not difficult to deal with and were also called minor heavenly tribulations. Cultivating a dharma idol to completion required crossing the purple lightning heavenly tribulation, which Wei Yuan had experienced firsthand in full brutality. This time, Wei Yuan anticipated that the heavenly tribulation would once again be relentless. Thus, he had prepared early, planning to let it temper his body before extinguishing the tribulation with Counter-Slay. Now, Qingming's mortal karmic luck was far superior to what it had been before, which filled Wei Yuan with absolute confidence. Just then, a speck of red light reflected onto Wei Yuan's face, and the ambient temperature began to rise. Taken aback, Wei Yuan looked up toward the sky, only to find that the tribulation clouds had parted to reveal a massive, raging fireball within. This was no ordinary fireball, but a burning solar star at close range! Wei Yuan was dumbfounded! What had arrived this time was not a lightning tribulation at all, but the Great Sun Divine Flame True Fire Tribulation! This tribulation specifically targeted mindscape worlds. Regardless of its sheer power, every single preparation Wei Yuan had made against lightning tribulation had now become completely useless. If anyone claimed heaven and earth were not deliberately targeting him, Wei Yuan would never believe them for a second. From the edge of the great sun in the sky, a drop of flowing fire dripped down like water. The heavenly tribulation had begun. Wei Yuan had no other choice. Drawing his loaded propellant cylinder gun, he fired three consecutive shots, blasting that droplet of True Fire of the Sun apart. But immediately after, a second drop and a third drop fell. In northern Qingming, gunfire roared incessantly as fire droplets fell from the sky like rain. Wei Yuan struck back with bullets and flying swords formed from his Dao Foundation, locked in a war of attrition against the heavenly tribulation. As the heavenly fire accumulated, the surrounding temperature soared. Wei Yuan's robe was the first to yield, bursting into flames, quickly followed by his hair, beard, and eyebrows. In the blink of an eye, the True Fire of the Great Sun in the sky was pouring down in vast sheets, and flames were spontaneously igniting across many parts of the Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains. The mortals all gathered around the objects of their respective beliefs. Wei Yuan quickly issued an order directing the mortals around his own statue and the Jade Toad statue to evacuate toward the Bingli Divine Wood. In this true fire tribulation, both the Bingli Divine Wood and the celestial laurel tree countered the True Fire of the Sun, but the Bingli Divine Wood was clearly far more effective. Meanwhile, Wei Yuan's own statue was genuinely of little help right now. The edges of the Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains were already ablaze, with tracts of land continuously reduced to white ash and scattered into nothingness. The True Fire of the Sun differed from the pale fire of the Karma Great Curse: it was pure, scorching, extreme heat that first liquefied the earth into glowing magma before incinerating it completely. The True Fire of the Sun fell faster and heavier, virtually pouring torrents of fire straight downward. Beyond the firmament, numerous grand, lofty wills had turned their gazes toward him. Seeing such a heavenly tribulation, some were visibly moved. "Back when this old man was merely a petty Scenery Command cultivator, I could never have withstood such ferocious heavenly fire." "This heaven and earth is growing increasingly intolerant." "Perhaps it is not intolerant of us, but intolerant of him..." ... After an unknowable length of time, Wei Yuan could no longer hear any sound. His skin and flesh were beginning to melt. Heavenly fire raged across the Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains, blending into a single sea of flames. All the immortal plants and living beings had taken refuge near the Jade Mountain. From the Gate of the Many Realms blew wisps of formless, intangible soul wind, each wisp snuffing out vast stretches of heavenly fire. Relying on the soul wind, the spirituality within the Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains was barely preserved, but the sea of spirituality was scalding hot, gradually threatening to boil over. Wei Yuan's vision had grown blurry; he no longer knew what day it was. Through hazy sight, he vaguely saw a strip of flesh peel from his head, burning to cinders before it could even hit the ground. His consciousness was beginning to waver as lingering figures flashed across his mind. Never had he imagined the true fire tribulation would be so terrifying; this extreme heat was almost impossible to withstand. Suddenly, murmurings of human voices echoed in Wei Yuan's ears, sounding as though countless people were devoutly praying. At this moment, throughout Qingming, people had put down their work. Guided by the cultivators of the Palace of Grand Beginning, they were praying devoutly, offering the wish power and karmic luck of the mortal realm to help Wei Yuan resist the heavenly tribulation. Having survived the Karma Great Curse, the people had not shrunk back; instead, they were resolved like never before, uniting their strength against the tribulation, unafraid even if it meant taking the tribulation upon themselves! Led by the longtime residents of Qingming, those who had joined recently, though initially hesitant, now also prayed with all their hearts. Boundless teal light and wish power rose from all directions, converging into Wei Yuan's sea of consciousness. Once again, it was a confrontation between Heaven and Man. Amid the heavenly fire, vast swathes of teal karmic luck burned and vanished into nothingness. The shadow in the moon seemed restrained by the true fire, remaining dormant and motionless inside the full moon, quietly enduring the tempering of the true fire. Just then, a tiny figure dashed through the sea of fire and cast a small stone onto Wei Yuan. The moment the pebble landed, it dissolved into nothingness, causing the temperature around Wei Yuan to plummet drastically and snuffing out broad swaths of true fire. Yet in doing so, true fire ignited upon the tiny figure as well. Screaming in agony, it vanished, only to return a moment later carrying another pebble in its mouth and casting it onto Wei Yuan. At this juncture, Wei Yuan suffered the agony of true fire consuming his body with every passing breath, yet he clung tenaciously to those few figures in his heart, refusing to relinquish the last sliver of clarity in his spiritual altar. So long as his spirituality remained unclouded, the Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains would keep resisting the heavenly fire. ... How much longer had passed, no one knew, when Wei Yuan suddenly felt a coolness settle around him. The heavenly fire receded, and vital energy suddenly surged between heaven and earth. Countless fresh sprouts burst from the scorched earth, vying to enter this new world! Across Qingming, countless people suddenly noticed figures walking back and forth beside them—some entering and exiting shops, others browsing among street vendors and haggling relentlessly over goods worth a few copper coins, while others hurried along with quick steps. The streets familiar to the residents were now superimposed with the scenes of another neighborhood. Yet the people of this other street seemed oblivious to the world of Qingming, even passing straight through the bodies of Qingming's residents. At this moment, it was as if two mortal worlds had overlapped, interlacing yet never truly intersecting. Such wondrous phenomena manifested all throughout Qingming. That world, with its scattered lamplight and curling kitchen smoke, was even more bustling and prosperous than Qingming was now. Tangdu, Golden Chime Hall. The young Emperor Xuan sat upon the dragon throne, listening to memorials presented by the civil and military officials. Suddenly, the great hall shook violently, the dais collapsed, and the dragon throne toppled! In the second year of Tianqi of the Great Tang, Wei Yuan endured nine days of heavenly tribulation. Consumed by the True Fire of the Sun without falling, he forged his dharma idol: [Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World].