Above Tianmen Peak, Third Senior Sister held nothing back. The Immortal Dao Heavenly Eye, which she had not used even once in the Demon Domain, erupted the instant she saw Daoist Buyu!
*Boom!*
The Daoist Buyu manifested by the inner demon did not even have time to react before the golden beam from the Immortal Dao Heavenly Eye severed one of his arms! His combat power plummeted drastically!
Third Senior Sister pressed her advantage, her beautiful eyes turning blood-red—the telltale sign that the Immortal Dao Heavenly Eye had been pushed to its limit.
A beam of golden light, thicker and sharper than before, shot forth. The inner demon Daoist Buyu hastily rolled aside, but Third Senior Sister whipped her head around, pursuing him with unrelenting ferocity.
"*Hiss—*" Watching from below, Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou both sucked in a breath of cold air. Third Senior Sister was showing no mercy whatsoever.
"No wonder Third Senior Sister dared to venture through the Demon Domain all by herself. With a move like this, probably few cultivators at the Body Integration stage would dare take it head-on."
Behind them, the Fourth Elder sighed with emotion. "This is the benefit of being Ninth Brother's disciple. When facing an inner demon tribulation, there is absolutely no holding back.
"Back then, Ye Zijin crossed his the exact same way.
"Still, that Immortal Dao Heavenly Eye is truly formidable. A special constitution on par with an Immortal Physique is certainly not to be underestimated."
An inner demon tribulation was an immense hurdle standing before any cultivator, but as long as one became a disciple of Daoist Buyu, there was nothing to fear from it.
Sometimes parents would appear during an inner demon tribulation, but Third Senior Sister's parents were merely at the Golden Core stage. Having them display the strength of a Body Integration cultivator would be far too fake, making them ill-suited to serve as a trial.
Lu Yang: "..."
Now, he wasn't afraid of his master showing up during an inner demon tribulation—he was afraid that whoever showed up *wouldn't* be his master.
"To think Third Junior Sister's inner demon tribulation would be Master, just like Second Junior Brother's." Eldest Senior Sister's voice sounded right beside Lu Yang, giving him quite a fright.
"Eldest Senior Sister, why are you here?"
Eldest Senior Sister looked at Lu Yang with a slightly strange expression. "Third Junior Sister is undergoing her tribulation. Naturally, I had to come out and watch."
"Are you done interrogating the two half-immortals?"
"Not yet. Those two know many secrets, so the interrogation won't finish anytime soon. Still, we have already uncovered a great deal. For instance, the identity of the master of the Immortal Slaying Sword Array you learned has been found."
"Who was it?" Lu Yang recalled that Eldest Senior Sister had killed the array's master. Given the situation back then, taking him alive had been difficult, so she had simply slain him, leaving his identity a mystery.
"The founding Emperor Yu, Wu Yao."
"Wait, what?"
Lu Yang was stunned by this revelation.
Seeing that Lu Yang seemed not to have heard clearly, Eldest Senior Sister repeated it.
"The founding Emperor Yu, Wu Yao."
Lu Yang had heard her clearly, of course; his mind simply hadn't processed it in time.
The founding emperor of Great Yu had been killed by Eldest Senior Sister just like that, without a whisper of notice?
For an immortal, isn't that a bit too embarrassing?
Even the Immortal Fairy is better than you.
"Senior Brother Lu, Senior Brother Meng, it has been a long time." A melodious voice sounded, carrying a hint of delight. The two turned their heads to see Tao Yaoye.
"Junior Sister Tao, long time no see."
Indeed, it had been a long time. From their departure for the Demon Domain until the end of the battle in Chunjiang City, over half a year had passed.
*Time means nothing in cultivation* was truly no empty phrase.
Tao Yaoye had grown even lovelier. Graceful and poised, her charming smile radiant and gentle as water, she resembled a banished immortal maiden; merely standing there, she made a breathtaking sight.
"Did you achieve results in your comprehension of the Feathering Immortal Physique?"
Lu Yang remembered inviting Tao Yaoye before heading to the Demon Domain. Unfortunately, she had been at a crucial stage of comprehending the Feathering Immortal Physique back then and could not leave.
Looking at her now, she had not only successfully comprehended the Feathering Immortal Physique, but had also broken through to the Nascent Soul stage. Her entire disposition was noticeably different from before.
Tao Yaoye was delighted that Senior Brother Lu noticed her change, her eyes crinkling into crescents. "Yes!"
Ever since she heard that Senior Brother Lu had returned from the Demon Domain, she had wanted to see him, but had never found the opportunity. Only now, when Gan Tian was undergoing her tribulation and the disciples gathered, did she finally get the chance.
The Feathering Immortal Physique was a type of immortal constitution that could borrow power from one's future self. During the process, the cultivator's body would undergo a transformation, becoming as pure and holy as an immortal. At the dawn of the cultivation system, when possessors of the Feathering Immortal Physique borrowed power from the future, their light took the form of feathers, resembling an ascension to immortality. The ancients had called this process "feathering and ascending," hence the name Feathering Immortal Physique.
However, this feathering did not come without a price. Aside from falling into an extended period of weakness afterward, borrowing power from the future meant that the self at that exact moment in the future would become severely weakened. If one's future self happened to be in battle at that moment, it would mean certain death. Therefore, generations of Feathering Immortal Physique wielders would never use this move lightly.
"This lass has decent talent. I'd wager she's stronger than the Feathering Immortal Physique possessor this fairy once met."
*You've encountered a Feathering Immortal Physique too, Fairy?* On second thought, Lu Yang realized it made sense. In the ancient Golden Age, peerless geniuses had competed fiercely, and all kinds of constitutions had emerged.
"Of course! That brat was the holy son of some sacred ground, though I can't remember his name. He put on quite a gentlemanly air, but his conduct was utterly disgraceful. Seeing that this fairy had a grand reputation back then, he wanted to step on me to make a name for himself.
"In the end, he had more swagger than skill. This fairy beat him to a pulp. Seeing that he couldn't win, well, he got desperate and activated his Feathering Immortal Physique! Borrowing strength from his future self, his cultivation level skyrocketed from the peak of the Nascent Soul stage straight into the Void Refining stage!"
Lu Yang: "..."
Without needing the fairy to continue, he could already guess what had happened afterward.
While they were catching up, the inner demon manifestation of Daoist Buyu was defeated, the lightning tribulation dispersed, and Third Senior Sister's cultivation stabilized at the Body Integration stage.
She became the fifth Body Integration powerhouse among the disciples.
Seeing this, the crowd burst into congratulations.
Dai Bufan stepped forward with clasped hands, taking the lead to offer his congratulations. "Congratulations, Junior Sister Gan Tian! From now on, we can address you as True Monarch Gan!"
"Senior Sister Gan Tian is incredible!"
"Senior Sister Gan, you're amazing!"
"Senior Sister, your eyes can shoot beams!"
Third Senior Sister thanked each of them in turn, calmly and without vanity, before putting her blindfold back on.
Eldest Senior Sister stepped in front of Gan Tian and said, "All right. Third Junior Sister has only just broken through and needs peace to consolidate her realm."
Her voice was not loud, but who dared disobey her words? After offering their congratulations, the crowd obediently dispersed.
Seeing that Gan Tian had successfully crossed the tribulation without incident, the elders departed as well.
With the tribulation concluded, the river spirit closed the gap in the sect-protecting grand array.
"A pity about this zither." Third Senior Sister stroked the charred ancient zither with an aching heart. When she used it to face the inner demon tribulation earlier, it had been struck several times, snapping its strings.
"No matter. Since you have reached the Body Integration stage, I will find suitable materials later to refine a new one for you as a congratulatory gift," Eldest Senior Sister said calmly.
The two supremes had already divulged the locations of their hidden treasuries. How abundant were the collections of half-immortals? There would certainly be materials far more suitable for crafting an ancient zither.
In truth, the finest material for refining an ancient zither would have been Immortal Suiyue, but Eldest Senior Sister felt that doing so would be rather disrespectful to the senior's remains, so she refrained from bringing it up.
Chapter 687