The clouds of the Nine Heavens churned, and ten thousand bolts of thunder roared in unison.
A massive rift tore open across the sky. Purple-black tribulation lightning howled like furious dragons, coiling and crashing through the void.
The entire cultivation world lifted its gaze heavenward. Countless cultivators halted atop mountain peaks, their expressions a mix of awe and trepidation.
—This was the ascension tribulation of Sword Venerable Gu Qing.
He had slain the Demon Venerable, shattered ancient formations, and quelled the chaos of the Demon Realm by his own strength alone. Long ago, he had already become the number one sword cultivator of his era.
Now, as all ninety-nine layers of heavenly lightning descended together, it marked his imminent ascension to the Immortal Realm—transcending reincarnation itself.
At the Platform of Oblivion, radiant light gathered from all directions. The Demon Emperor and the Ghost Sovereign both appeared to witness the event. A spectacle unseen for a hundred years, all for him alone.
“If Gu Qing ascends, the Dao of the Sword may enter a whole new era.”
“Ninefold heavenly lightning descending at once—unprecedented… and he hasn’t retreated even half a step!”
Under the gaze of all, Gu Qing stood at the peak of the thunderclouds. His white robes were like snow, his long hair like ink, his expression cold and austere.
Sword raised to the heavens, his sword intent pierced straight through the clouds. Sword qi clashed head-on with the thunder, fearless and unyielding.
And yet—
At the very instant the ninety-ninth tribulation lightning struck, a sudden anomaly erupted.
A terrifying suction force appeared within the rift in the sky. All lightning froze mid-descent. Before everyone’s eyes, Gu Qing vanished into thin air, as though some unseen existence had plucked him directly from heaven and earth.
The thunderclouds dispersed. The threads of fate were severed. The cultivators were left horrified.
—
As his consciousness blurred, Gu Qing felt the world turn upside down. His limbs felt hollowed out, his bones emptied. Spiritual energy vanished, replaced by an unfamiliar force that surged like ocean tides, slamming into his soul and leaving him gasping.
It was as though he were falling into an endless galactic abyss. Around him churned nebulae and glittering stars, a strange realm poised between dream and reality.
Time was disordered. Space unstable.
This was clearly not a domain any cultivator could set foot in.
Suddenly, an extremely faint sob echoed from deep within the silver radiance—soft as a mosquito’s buzz, yet cutting straight into his sea of consciousness.
“W-waaah… you finally came…”
Gu Qing’s swordlike brows knit slightly as his gaze locked onto the source of the voice.
Within the silver glow floated a small, indistinct ball of dim light.
It hovered there, trembling faintly, like a child abandoned by heaven and earth, unable even to maintain its own glow.
“And you are… what, exactly?” Gu Qing asked, his voice carrying an oppressive weight that brooked no disregard.
The little light orb seemed startled by his presence and shrank back, but still mustered the courage to speak in broken fragments. “I am… the Heavenly Dao… of another world…”
“You pulled me out of my tribulation just now,” Gu Qing said coldly. “What is your purpose?”
“I… I just wanted to ask for help… my world is about to be destroyed… you’re so strong, you can definitely save it…” The orb whimpered.
“Your reason,” he said flatly.
“I really don’t know… when I woke up, the whole world was already full of cracks… no matter how I try, I can’t fix them…” It grew more frantic as it spoke, nearly breaking down in tears. “I can’t even remember why I exist anymore…”
Facing such a weak, nearly transparent “Heavenly Dao,” Gu Qing’s gaze darkened. This Dao’s spiritual awareness was immature, its memories fragmented—there was an overwhelming chance that something catastrophic had happened to the world it belonged to.
If it were anyone else, they would have already seized it to mend their own soul, or even forcibly taken its position. But Gu Qing possessed his own pride. He disdained taking advantage of another’s misfortune.
He stared coldly at the seemingly ignorant, powerless existence.
“Why should I help you?” he asked calmly.
The little light orb blurted out urgently, “You were originally going to lose half your primordial spirit to the ninety-ninth lightning strike, but I can keep your soul intact and ensure your ascension… You help me, and I’ll protect you!”
Gu Qing said nothing, merely scrutinizing it with icy detachment.
Seeing him unmoved, the little orb spun anxiously in place. “I really don’t have the strength to pull anyone else here anymore… please…” Its glow flickered wildly, on the verge of dispersing.
After a long silence, Gu Qing finally let out a soft sigh. “…Very well.”
The little orb was overjoyed and flew straight toward him, trembling as it asked, “Y-you’re agreeing?”
“If you dare deceive me—” Gu Qing’s eyes flashed with killing intent, “—even if you are the Heavenly Dao, I will still cut you down.”
The little orb shuddered but nodded rapidly. “I swear! I’ll also make sure you arrive safely in the interstellar world—we’ll land smoothly, and I’ll even get you a proper identity so you can move safely!”
A cold glint passed through Gu Qing’s eyes. “I will remember your promise.”
As his words fell, the starry sea trembled. The little orb branded a trace of its core mark into Gu Qing’s sea of consciousness, forming a contract. With the contract complete, a name surfaced clearly in his mind:
Little Tuanzi.
From that moment on, only he could see it, only he could sense its existence.
The galaxy collapsed. Space tore apart. The Heavenly Dao’s passage swallowed them whole.
But as they crossed the barriers of time and space, chaotic currents surged like rampaging dragons. Gu Qing was already badly injured from his tribulation; now, his meridians shattered inch by inch, blood spraying violently from his mouth.
“Damn it—!” Gu Qing gritted his teeth.
Little Tuanzi screamed in panic beside him. “This is bad, bad, bad! It’s way more chaotic than I thought! Hold on, please hold on!”
The storm only grew more violent, and Little Tuanzi’s light dimmed rapidly.
Then, amid a violent wrenching that sent the world spinning, Gu Qing slammed heavily into a land of utter desolation.
The sky was dull and gray. The cracked ground was barren of all life. The wind carried pale gray dust mixed with the stench of rusted metal. This was a resource-depleted planet, long abandoned—a desolate star.
Gu Qing’s body lay embedded in the ground. His spiritual meridians were shattered, his energy sea in chaos. His cultivation plummeted directly from the tribulation stage to early Foundation Establishment—barely above a mortal.
Little Tuanzi clung close to him, its light flickering weakly, its voice trembling like a kitten on the verge of tears. “W-waaah… this was supposed to be an interstellar city! I calibrated the coordinates, I swear… m-maybe just a tiny deviation? Who knew that shortcut would be so unreliable, QAQ!”
Gu Qing lay sprawled on the ground, blood soaking through his white robes, unable to respond.
Suddenly, he felt the ground vibrate faintly.
His heart tightened with a sense of danger. Bracing himself against the earth, he slowly forced himself to stand. Agonizing pain tore through his meridians as though they were breaking all over again. Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, his breath heavy with the metallic taste of iron.
Even so, his gaze remained as sharp as a blade. He stared straight at Little Tuanzi and asked in a low voice, “Is there… something here?”
Little Tuanzi’s light flickered as it spoke with forced confidence. “Sword Venerable, don’t worry! This place is super safe! At most… there might be some small wild creatures? D-rank or E-rank ones, the fluffy and cute kind! They’ll definitely run away the moment they see us!”
Gu Qing fell silent, then said quietly, “…When you say ‘fluffy and cute,’ do you mean the thing behind you with its mouth open?”
“Huh?” Little Tuanzi froze, then slowly turned around.
The next instant, its entire light orb went rigid in midair, as though time itself had stopped.
From within the swirling dust, a colossal beast emerged.
It was several zhang long, its physique somewhere between a bull and a feral monster, muscles bulging. Twin horns crowned its head, sharp and deadly, its crimson eyes gleaming with lethal intent. Metal wings beat against its back, stirring violent gusts of air. It opened its gaping maw, reeking of rot, as if proclaiming that a slaughter was about to begin.
Little Tuanzi trembled violently, its words tumbling out at breakneck speed. “Ah-haha, this—this must be one of those—uh—well-evolved E-ranks! Yeah! Definitely—wait, wait, wait, those horns? That aura?? Holy crap, this is an A-rank Redsteel Winged Beast!!”
It nearly burst into tears, flickering like it was about to explode. “We’re doomed, we’re doomed—who said this place was safe?! Oh right, that was me—take it back! I take it back, okay?!”
Gu Qing was silent for two seconds, then said quietly, “…Run.”
“Huh? You mean—”
Before Little Tuanzi could react, Gu Qing was already dragging his battered body into a desperate sprint.
“Sir, don’t run so fast! I have short legs!”
“…You don’t have legs.”
“Oh right!! Then I’ll just float faster, aaaah!!!”
Gu Qing’s breathing grew ragged. His gaze swept the surroundings—endless barren plains, not a blade of grass in sight. In the distance stood a stretch of black forest, layers of shadowed trees overlapping.
Little Tuanzi hovered beside him, trembling nonstop. “That forest… should be safe! Energy readings are super low—doesn’t look like there are any high-level beasts!”
Gu Qing shot it a cold glance. “Are you sure?”
“I swear! So low I thought that forest was basically lifeless!”
“…That makes it even more suspicious.”
“H-hey, don’t doubt my sincerity this time—I’m serious! Totally reliable!!”
A thunderous boom erupted behind them. Electricity gathered between the Redsteel Winged Beast’s horns, forming a crackling sphere of lightning that screamed through the air.
Little Tuanzi wailed as it flew. “It’s catching up! It’s charging, it’s charging—it’s firing a lightning ball!!”
Gu Qing twisted sharply aside. The lightning grazed past him and exploded into a deep crater in the ground. The scorching shockwave nearly knocked him over. He steadied himself with sheer will and rushed straight toward the forest.
On his third step into the woods, his chest suddenly tightened.
—It was too quiet.
The sound of wind, the rustle of leaves—everything had vanished. It was as though the air itself had been sucked away. In that deathly stillness, the sound of his own heartbeat felt unbearably loud.
The tree trunks around him were pitch black, their leaves dull and lightless. Beneath his feet, the soil subtly undulated—as if alive.
With a wet squelch, countless black vines burst from the ground, shooting straight for his ankles.
As it floated along crying, Little Tuanzi screamed, “Why does every navigation I do come with a free hell-mode start?!!”
Gu Qing dodged, sword intent erupting as he severed several vines in a flash. The cut vines writhed on the ground. Using the momentum, he leapt and landed atop the nearest thick tree trunk.
At that moment, a deafening roar shook the forest.
The Redsteel Winged Beast burst through the trees, its wings whipping up violent winds and clouds of dust. Its eyes locked onto the human figure perched above.
Gu Qing noticed the razor-sharp edges of the leaves. Gathering a trace of sword intent, he flicked his fingers lightly.
Several black leaves transformed into flying blades, shooting straight for the beast’s eyes. It let out an ear-splitting howl. Gu Qing pressed the attack, the leaves slicing relentlessly into its flesh. Blood sprayed everywhere, dripping onto the black vines below.
Instantly, the vines swelled and intertwined into a massive net, lunging toward the wounded beast, binding its limbs and neck.
Hidden high among the branches, Gu Qing watched the chaotic battle below and said calmly, “Let them fight first.”
Little Tuanzi stared in shock. “Sir… are you a genius, or just lazy?”
“Energy-efficient.”
Before long, vines and beast’s blood flew everywhere. The entire forest turned into a scene straight out of hell.
Just as Gu Qing thought they had gained a moment of safety, the forest trembled once more.
Thicker, more numerous black vines surged out from the depths of the woods, rapidly weaving into a netlike barrier that sealed off all escape routes. Beneath the ground, something enormous began to rise, accompanied by dull, heavy rumblings of shifting earth.
“No way, no way—this stage has a boss too?!!” Little Tuanzi was on the verge of tears.
Gu Qing looked ahead.
From the ground slowly emerged a massive, long-legged flower bud, several zhang tall. Its legs were slender yet brimming with strength, each step steady and heavy, exuding a chilling pressure. The black vines covering the forest all extended from its body, writhing like living creatures in search of prey.
“…Is that a plant?” Gu Qing asked coldly.
Terrified, Little Tuanzi shrank against Gu Qing’s shoulder and neck, its voice barely a trembling whisper. “Sir… this is… an S-rank aberrant beast—the Steelthorn Devouring Bloom. The kind that can swallow an entire forest… Oh my god, are we cursed or something?!”
The next instant, the Devouring Bloom’s vines lashed out. The Redsteel Winged Beast let out a single scream before being dragged straight into the flower’s maw and swallowed whole.
Little Tuanzi completely broke down. “It ate an A-rank! An A-rank!! So what are we—dessert?!”
“Shut up!”
Even so, the flower bud’s attention shifted to Gu Qing.
Black vines surged violently toward the tree he stood on, crushing it instantly. Splintered wood flew everywhere. With no choice, Gu Qing leapt to another tree.
The flower bud quivered with excitement at the appearance of new prey. Countless vines shot out like venomous snakes. Gu Qing twisted midair, sword intent forming in his hands as he severed vine after vine. At the same time, he darted nimbly between trees, his figure elusive as a shadow.
The flower’s excitement soon turned to irritation. It began spewing thick, corrosive fluid, dissolving several trees into scorched sludge and cutting off Gu Qing’s retreat. The vines rapidly closed in, forming a tightening encirclement.
Gu Qing scanned his surroundings and found no escape route. Calmly, he calculated—there was only one option left.
Little Tuanzi trembled beside him, shouting in fear, “Sir… I—I can’t analyze an escape path anymore… if we have to fight, I’ll fight with you.”
Gu Qing took a shallow breath and forced the last remnants of spiritual energy in his body to circulate. It tore through his shattered meridians like countless blades carving bone, pain so intense it nearly knocked him unconscious.
He merely pressed his lips together.
Slowly, he raised his hand.
A thread of golden light surged from his palm, rapidly expanding and condensing into a formless sword. A resonant sword cry shook the air, like the roar of a dragon.
In an instant—
The blade flashed, piercing straight through the flower’s gaping maw. Its force was like a world-cleaving edge. With a thunderous explosion, it detonated.
Petals and scorched roots flew amid the stench of blood. Thick smoke and dust billowed upward like a collapsing mountain.
Gu Qing’s body fell from the air, rolling before landing steadily on the ground. He was covered in blood, his eyes half-closed, his breathing faint—but he still stood upright.
Little Tuanzi flickered with excitement, flying to his side. “We did it! We really did it!”
But Gu Qing’s injuries were far too severe. He was at the end of his strength. Little Tuanzi hovered anxiously around him, calling his name again and again.
His vision blurred, yet he struggled to focus on what lay ahead. There was only one thought left in his mind—
He could not die here.
But his body no longer obeyed him. His strength drained away bit by bit.
Just as his consciousness was about to scatter completely—
A silver-white figure descended from the sky, wrapped in an overwhelming presence, landing before him. Dust billowed on impact, and at the tip of Gu Qing’s nose, he faintly caught the scent of something cool and sharp, like roses in frost.
Little Tuanzi bristled in panic, trembling violently. “Sir—there’s a stranger approaching! Y-you have to wake up!”
Gu Qing tried to respond, but he could no longer speak.
The world collapsed into darkness before his eyes.
In the final fragments of his awareness, he vaguely felt—
Someone had caught him, steady and sure.