Director Zhi and the other Envoys all appeared in outer space one after another, though they stayed far away from Ah Da. Liu Ye and Fei Hua also showed up, as well as many more who were only Enlighters.
Watching someone pass through a stellular tribulation would be a great boon for Enlighters hoping to break through in the future.
Lu Yin also stepped into outer space, a solemn expression on his face as he quietly asked, “Liu Ye, in your opinion, will Ah Da be able to survive his tribulation?”
Liu Ye shook his head. “It’s difficult to say. It all depends on what form the tribulation takes, as everyone’s is different.”
“The strength of a stellular tribulation is supposed to be determined by the amount of stellular energy that one steals from the true universe, no?” Lu Yin asked.
Liu Ye nodded. “Breaking through to the Envoy realm requires one to form a vortex of stellular energy within their body, and the strength of that vortex is determined by the amount of star energy within the person’s body. The more star energy the person has, the more stellular energy their body will draw in, and this cannot be hidden from the true universe. Ah Da does not have an excessive amount of star energy in his body, so as long as he has properly prepared himself, he has a 20% chance of success.”
“Only 20%?” Lu Yin was startled.
Fei Hua mockingly replied, “Do you think that stellular tribulations are a joke? Out of ten Enlighters, it would be lucky for even one to become an Envoy. He needs to overcome his stellular tribulation. This is not a fight against others. No matter how the tribulation suppresses him, he has to break through, and if he is even the slightest bit careless, success will be impossible. A 20% chance of success is already a very high probability.”
“What about using external items?” Lu Yin asked in a low voice.
Liu Ye replied, “There are certain external items that can help a person pass through a tribulation—as long as they don’t have any stellular energy, of course, as otherwise, it would just aggravate the tribulation. However, tribulations are incomprehensible things, and not all items are useful. If an item from another person is used, it’s more easily detected by the tribulation, and if that happens, the tribulation will become much stronger. Then, there will be no hope of survival.”
“A stellular tribulation can sense if an item’s been borrowed?” Lu Yin was horrified. Was this tribulation sentient? No, this was beyond that. When Lu Yin used an item, nobody could tell if he had borrowed it or not.
Fei Hua rolled her eyes. “It’s not easy to deceive a stellular tribulation. Envoys have tried all sorts of things, but there’s nothing more to say. Any Enlighter breaking through to the Envoy realm would not have a stable tribulation if they stayed on that Aurora Fortress.”
Lu Yin pursed his lips. What the woman said made sense. In essence, Ah Da had not fled from Aurora Fortress because he was worried that the tribulation would sense the nearby Envoys, but rather because he had been worried that the tribulation would sense Aurora Fortress itself and react as though Ah Da was using the fortress as a defensive item.
“One more thing: the strength of a tribulation is almost entirely determined by the strength of the stellular energy vortex, and that is something that no item can influence,” Liu Ye warned.
Nearby, Director Zhi let out an emotional sigh. “It really does seem as though stellular tribulations are alive in some capacity. They can see through things that no living creature can, and no one can escape them, only survive them. Only by becoming stronger can a person hope to survive a stellular tribulation.”
Everyone stared at Ah Da and his solemn expression. The vortex was growing larger and larger above his head. Thunder cracked, and sharp flashes of lightning occasionally cut through the void, illuminating the spatial tears.
“It’s a knife. His tribulation will be related to a knife,” a stoic-looking Envoy from Aurora Enterprises commented.
“He should therefore be an expert with knives,” said Liu Ye.
The next moment, a violent explosion rang out that sounded like multiple knives clashing while sparks flashed in the void and illuminated the area. Right after that, two long knives formed and shot towards Ah Da. The first knife charged straight forward like an arrogant dragon as it unleashed a roar that shook space itself. On the other hand, the second knife flickered about unpredictably, constantly flashing as it was carried along by a strange power.
The tribulation was not just knives, but also battle techniques.
Star energy filled Lu Yin’s eyes. He saw nearly as many runes in the two knives as he did from Ah Da. No, there were two knives attacking, which meant that Ah Da had to survive two attacks that matched his own level of strength. This was a stellular tribulation.
Ah Da pulled out a long, grayish-white knife from his cosmic ring and slashed upward to clash with the first knife. The second knife flickered, and Ah Da’s chest was cut, coloring his clothes red with blood. He was not able to stop both knives at the same time.
A stellular tribulation was not some test, as it was the true universe putting forth a true effort to destroy an existence that had stolen from it. Such a thief was an unforgivable enemy.
Ah Da shoved the first long knife away and immediately tried to slash at the second knife, but the second blade contained a strange energy, and it blocked Ah Da’s blade.
Everyone watching sighed. The chances of him surviving this tribulation had fallen very low.
At this time, a third knife appeared above the man’s head.
Fei Hua shook her head. “He’s dead.”
Director Zhi similarly gave up hope. “This is a stellular tribulation.”
Lu Yin’s focus sharpened; sure enough, there was no way for Ah Da to survive.
Ah Da looked up and saw the third knife forming. Thunder echoed in his ears. He took out a strange item and other power vessels, but they were all useless. Nothing that he possessed was able to resist this stellular tribulation.
A crazed light entered Ah Da’s eyes when he saw that the first knife was about to attack again. Suddenly, a voice reached him, and his knife shifted to chop at the second blade of the stellular tribulation. The second knife’s movement was altered in an odd fashion, and it blocked the first knife’s attack. Ah Da grew excited, and he once again attacked the first knife. The continuous flashing attacks surrounded him and made things unclear to the watching Enlighters.
Not a single one of Ah Da’s attacks was the same as the previous ones, and each attack caused the tribulation’s knives to shift and move about differently. In particular, the strange energy carried by the second knife altered the first knife’s movements every single time.
Director Zhi and others were stunned; how could a person change so drastically?
Liu Ye and Fei Hua glanced at each other before staring at Ah Da in utter shock. “Every time he moves his knife, it cuts through the best path, and he is essentially using the second knife to block the first! How is he doing it? Given his skills with a blade, this should be beyond him.”
Nearby, Lu Yin was solemnly watching as he transmitted his voice.
He was the one helping Ah Da. Even if the stellular tribulation could sense when a person borrowed an item from another, it would not be able to sense when someone provided verbal help. After all, that was too far-fetched.
The stellular tribulations were sometimes able to sense if an item had been borrowed from another person, but it was impossible for it to pick up on help received through a sound transmission. This might be a possible lifeline provided by the tribulations.
If this particular tribulation had not been a knife, but instead another form, Lu Yin would not have been able to provide much assistance. However, since it was a weapon, he could. When he had received his inheritance from the Sword Monument, Lu Yin had learned how to use a scythe to destroy weapons, and he had experienced cutting down tens of thousands of opponents.
The time that Lu Yin had taken to receive his inheritance from the Sword Monument had even surpassed Bai Xian’er’s record.
Finally, there was a gentle sound as the tribulation’s second knife finally shattered. Ah Da let out a deep roar and attacked the first blade, shattering it as well.
He was panting heavily, and blood streamed down from his chest onto his hands. Ah Da looked up at where the stellular tribulation’s third knife was forming just as it fell towards him.
This knife contained no battle technique, and it directly attacked him.
Lu Yin’s pupils shrank. This was bad! The third knife had far more runes than the previous two. Lu Yin stared at Ah Da, but he was unable to help.
The power of this knife was not something that mere skill could overcome.
This was the end.
Director Zhi and other spectators all shook their heads. Ah Da had failed his tribulation.
Even the Enlighters watching were able to feel the terrifying power of this third knife, and Ah Da’s wounded state was clear for all to see. However, even in his peak state, Ah Da would not have been able to stop this knife.
Ah Da looked up and saw the knife fall towards him. At that moment, the long gray knife disappeared from his hand, and it was replaced by another that had the same shape. However, this new knife was sheathed, and that sheathe was Ah Da’s innate gift.
As the third knife fell towards his head, Ah Da’s eyes went wide. He clenched his knife in his right hand, pulled the blade free, and then slashed it overhead. At that moment, an incredible number of rune lines appeared, startling Lu Yin. Star energy surged, shaking everyone nearby.
This attack far exceeded the amount of star energy that Ah Da had in his body, and it was actually as powerful as if more than a dozen Ah Das had attacked at the same time. Ah Da’s knife smashed the stellular tribulation’s third knife, shattering it. It even continued on to slash at the vortex that was the stellular tribulation.
Everyone was shocked, and many people sucked in sharp breaths; how could Ah Da have released such an attack?
Even Director Zhi was startled, and he blurted out, “An innate gift related to drawing a blade? He’s Da Qiu!”
Lu Yin turned to look at Director Zhi. “You know him?”
The surprise still did not leave Director Zhi’s voice. “Yes. I should have remembered him before. Previously, he was one of the Hall of Honor’s enforcers, but there hasn’t been any news about him for decades.”
Lu Yin looked back at Ah Da; this man used to be one of the Hall of Honor’s enforcers?
Off in the distance, Ah Da sheathed his knife, and then it slowly disappeared. He remained standing where he was. No one was able to see anything, though Lu Yin could see the man’s rune lines continuously increasing. He had become an Envoy.
The vortex slowly disappeared from above Ah Da’s head, and everyone stared at the man with evident envy. He had survived his stellular tribulation.
Liu Ye commented, “That innate gift of his is quite good, but his skills with a blade are even better.”
“He was lucky. There was a good chance of him not surviving his tribulation,” Fei Hua said.
Everyone stared at Ah Da as his body started to occasionally disappear from view. He was entering and exiting the true universe. The Enlighters here were not able to see this, but the Envoys all knew what Ah Da was experiencing.
Weaker cultivators would not be able to see a person who had entered the true universe, and attacking such a person was even more impossible. This was the power of an Envoy, and they were practically gods to Enlighters.
The gathered crowd gradually dispersed, and Director Zhi also soon left. The birth of a new Envoy was certainly something worthy of his attention, but Ah Da was already someone who belonged to the Hall of Honor, and the Interstellar Supreme Court at that. Director Zhi had no connection with the new Envoy.
Director Zhi was not overly concerned about Liu Ye and Fei Hua, so there was no need to even mention a new Envoy.
Of course, there were also people who wanted to ask Ah Da about his tribulation.
Ah Da opened his eyes and looked down at his hand. Even though he was still seriously injured, it was not a huge issue at the moment.
He had survived his tribulation and formed a stellular energy vortex inside his body. He had become an Envoy. He quickly turned around and looked around for Lu Yin.
Lu Yin had not left yet, and so naturally, Liu Ye and Fei Hua had not either.
Ah Da approached Lu Yin and offered a very respectful bow. “Mr. Lu, thank you.”
Liu Ye and Fei Hua both gave the two odd looks.
Lu Yin smiled. “It was nothing, just a bit of help.”
Ah Da solemnly refuted, “It may not have been any great effort for you, but it saved my life. I, Da Qiu, wish to thank you.”
Lu Yin expressed his curiosity, “Da Qiu? Director Zhi mentioned that you used to be one of the Hall of Honor’s enforcers, right?”
Ah Da nodded. “I used to be, but I moved to the Interstellar Supreme Court after becoming an Enlighter, and I’ve changed my name until now.”
Lu Yin laughed. “I never expected my luck to be so good! I really chose the right person to be my guide!”
Fei Hua sneered. “Chose the right one? You just looked for the most powerful person available. Your shamelessness is embarrassing.”
Lu Yin was left speechless, as she had completely called him out.
Still, she was not wrong. When Lu Yin had visited the Arbitration World, he had chosen Ah Da because Lu Yin had seen that the man was on the cusp of becoming an Envoy, and everyone else had been much weaker.
“Since you were once an Enforcer, when you get back to Mt. Microcosms, will you become a Judicial Commissioner now that you’ve become an Envoy? Or will you leave the Interstellar Supreme Court?” Lu Yin asked.
OMA’s Thoughts
Translated By: OMA
Edited By: Neshi/Nyxnox
TLC’ed By: OMA
