Tracing back the history of Little Chick’s breakthroughs, in both cases, it was nearly burned to crisp before it managed to make its breakthrough.
They did try experimenting with flames once and it turned out to be ineffective, but back then, they had stopped before Little Chick could be scorched black… Could Little Chick’s improvement really have something to do with the flames?
“Come!” Little Chick nodded as it looked at Zhang Xuan in determination.
It also desired to swiftly raise its strength so that it could regain its memories.
Zhang Xuan pondered for a moment before saying, “Your cultivation has already reached the level of the gods, so it’s unlikely that there are any flames on the Azure which could affect you… I’ll try summoning my cultivation ordeal now, and you can try and see how it is.”
There was no force in the world that could possibly be stronger than the divine retribution from the heavens. Zhang Xuan’s original intention was to conceal his breakthrough from the heavens till he got to the Firmament to avoid trouble, but since Little Chick needed it, he might as well just get it over and done with.
It would be a good chance for him to reinforce his cultivation anyway.
Thus, he swiftly released the seal he had placed on his cultivation, allowing his newfound divine energy to flow freely through his body.
Boom!
The sky immediately darkened. Lightning bolts, accompanied by pitch-black flames, began gathering at a ridiculous speed above him.
This was the God Ordeal!
An ordeal for the gods was bound to harness terrifying might. Zhang Xuan felt the full hostility of the Azure crushing down on him, attempting to smash him into bits.
Zhao Ya and the others sensed danger as soon as the God Ordeal began, and they had already fled thousands of li away to be safe.
Even though they had reached Heavenly Semi-Divinity realm, they knew that they could very well lose their life if they were to let their guard down around the God Ordeal.
It was not without reason that the Forsaken Continent revered anything that had the word ‘God1 within it!
The dark clouds grew thicker and thicker, and it felt almost as if the sky was going to collapse from the weight and crush the human and little yellow chick standing beneath it.
Looking at the overwhelming force gathered above him, Zhang Xuan was just about to make a move when the dark clouds above him suddenly began to billow. A sudden streak of lightning that harnessed the might of the dark heavenly flames bolted down and struck Little Chick squarely.
Tzzzzzz!
This zap caused the little yellow chick’s yellow fur to turn completely black, and a slight aroma began drifting in the area.
Witnessing this sight, Zhang Xuan’s eyebrows shot up in bewilderment.
Why would the cultivation ordeal he summoned strike the little yellow chick instead of him?
“The heck…” Little Chick was also completely flabbergasted by the abrupt situation too.
It raised its head to glare at the heavens in fury, but before it could finish cursing…
Kacha! Kacha!
Another few more streaks of lightning fell on its head, and the scent of the aroma deepened. This time, even Little Chick’s beak had been scorched black.
“Wow. Will that fellow who has survived the assault of Kong shi’s clone really end up being zapped to death by the cultivation ordeal?”
As the aroma in the air deepened, Zhang Xuan suddenly felt deeply regretful that he hadn’t brought any seasoning in his storage ring. With a deep sigh, he rushed over to where Little Chick was and stood right between it and the dark clouds, intending to protect it from the cultivation ordeal.
“Since I was the one who summoned you, why don’t you come after me instead?” Zhang Xuan roared as he wrapped his divine energy around his body to reinforce his defenses.
With a grim look on his face, he was prepared to withstand the might of the lightning strikes.
Kacha! Kacha! Kacha!
A series of lightning bolts fell at this moment.
Zhang Xuan swiftly channeled his sword qi to fend against the might of the lightning bolts, but even as several seconds passed after the thunderous rumbling, nothing was striking down on him at all.
Bewildered, he lowered his head, only to see the lightning bolts making a huge detour just to circumvent him and strike down on Little Chick, causing smoke to rise from the top of its head.
“AHHHHHH!”
A cry of despair, together with puffs of black smoke, escaped from Little Chick’s mouth.
Freak! Are you here to help me or to sabotage me?
Even when I was standing here alone, the force of the lightning bolts hadn’t been so strong!
“This is weird. However, there’s no need to worry. Since this is my cultivation ordeal, there should be a way to deal with it…” Zhang Xuan was also feeling a little flustered by the bizarre happenings.
Why would the cultivation ordeal he summoned choose to target Little Chick instead of him? This didn’t make sense at all!
Gathering his energy at the tip of his finger, Zhang Xuan sent a burst of sword qi right toward the dark clouds.
Since the cultivation ordeal refused to attack him, he would just have to be the one taking on the active role then!
Hu!
The dark clouds dissipated right in the face of the sword qi, but the attack went through so easily that it felt almost as if the dark clouds were evading his attack instead.
For some reason, despite the frightening prowess of the God Ordeal, it seemed to be terribly afraid of him.
Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! Kacha!
Yet another flurry of lightning bolts descended from the heavens, causing the innocent little yellow chick to convulse under the electrocution. It was shaking so hard that its fur was scattering all around the place.
If one were to look carefully, one would be able to see tears of sorrow brimming at the edge of its beady eyes.
Just what did I do to offend you? Why are you coming after me as if I was your sworn enemy?
“You still won’t come after me, huh? Let’s see how you deal with this then!”
Seeing that this plan still wasn’t working out, Zhang Xuan dashed right toward the sky, planning to pit his life against the dark clouds.
But before he could even get far, a tiny, trembling wing grabbed the corners of his robe tightly and pulled him down. “Don’t! I’ll really die if you continue to provoke it…” Little Chick cried out indignantly.
Bro, do some good over here and spare me, will you?
I am still a young hatchling! I don’t want to die yet!
Every time you provoke the dark clouds, the one who suffers is me… You can do whatever you want without facing any consequences, but can’t you see that I’m already around medium done?
I am already starting to wonder whether I should start sprinkling cumin over myself!
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Seeing the nearly roasted hatchling pleading so desperately with him, Zhang Xuan scratched his head awkwardly. In the end, he could only back down as he said, “Yeah, you should probably deal with it yourself…”
Then, he quickly retreated from the area.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
A furious onslaught of lightning bolts descended right after, electrocuting the little yellow chick to the point where its head was literally spinning around. Despaired, it turned to Zhang Xuan and cried, “Don’t go! Help me block the lightning, will you?”
Zhang Xuan.
In the end, Little Chick had to face 36 lightning bolts before the cultivation ordeal finally dissipated.
After the turmoil it had just been through, it was completely sapped of its strength.
“I’ll be heading back in to rest…”
Before Zhang Xuan could say a word, Little Chick had already dived into his dantian. Covering its head with its pitch- black wings, it swiftly drifted off into deep sleep.
Seeing that it was fine, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief.
Then, he pointed to the dissipating dark clouds in the sky and bellowed, “You, come over here!”
Hu!
Even though the dark clouds were already dissipating, it was happening at a relatively slow pace. However, as soon as it heard Zhang Xuan’s bellow, it immediately bolted away as swiftly as it arrived, clearing up the sky in a heartbeat.
Zhang Xuan clutched his hair in frenzy.
Wasn’t the God Ordeal a major tribulation all cultivators would have to face upon reaching godhood?
Why did the cultivation ordeal he summoned end up striking the Little Chick to a state of near-death before abruptly dissipating?
“Does this have something to do with my Pathos of Heavens?” Zhang Xuan wondered.
Unable to make sense out of the situation, he eventually descended from the sky and returned back to where Zhao Ya and the others were at.
“Here are seven ‘神（God)’, characters. Take the one you need and store it well in your respective sects. The subsequent generations shouldn’t face too much trouble reaching Semi-Divinity realm anymore,” Zhang Xuan said as he took out seven books.
As long as a cultivator were to follow the poses and their sequencing in the books strictly, he would be able to draw in the lingering Aura of Semi-Divinity that was found on the circular platforms along the Azure Bridge. That would mean that there was a good chance they could reach Semi-Divinity realm without challenging the Azure Bridge!
“Thank you, Sect Leader Zhang!” Han Jianqiu and the others accepted the books with trembling hands.
This was what the predecessors of their sects had been striving for, only to fail again and again over the past several thousand years. Who could have thought that their present sect leader would actually successfully get seven of the ■神 (God)’ characters at once…
Zhang Xuan shook his head and said, “Don’t address me as your sect leader anymore. You can either take back the position yourself or appoint someone eligible. I’ll be leaving the Forsaken Continent very soon.”
He could sense it after reaching the level of the gods. The world couldn’t suppress him anymore. As long as he willed so, he could tear apart the fabrics of space and ascend to a higher world.
He had never been interested in becoming the head of a sect, and the only reason why he eventually agreed to take on the position was either because he needed to tap into the connections of the sect or to unite the sects against Kong shi’s clone.
However, with Kong shi’s clone defeated and his business in the Azure resolved, there was no need for him to continue holding onto those positions anymore, especially when he was going to leave very soon.
“We understand!”
The crowd nodded, but a hint of reluctance could be heard in their voices.
There had been quite a bit of controversy when they had decided to nominate this young man as their new head. They had chosen to forcefully go ahead with it despite significant opposition from elders and disciples within the sect. However, from the looks of it now, that was probably the wisest decision they had made in their life.
If they hadn’t nominated him, there was a good chance that they might have ended up walking down the same path as the Blackmirror Citadel and the Evanescent Immortal Sect.
Even though the young man had only been their head for a very short period of time, his lectures had benefited the disciples and elders greatly, significantly increasing the average level of cultivation within their respective sects. Not to mention, he had even bestowed upon them a complete ‘神（God)’ character!
It could be foreseen that the number of experts in their ranks would only continue to increase, and the four sects would grow more and more prosperous in time to come.
“Palace Master Du, I need you to accompany me to the City of Collapsed Space.”
After settling the affairs regarding the four sects, Zhang Xuan quickly headed to the City of Collapsed Space together with Du QIngyuan.
After achieving godhood, the air of degeneration lingering in the City of Collapsed Space no longer posed a threat to him anymore. It took him a mere ten breaths to return back to the area where he had found the altar previously.
“Huh? Where is the altar?” Zhang Xuan murmured in astonishment.
The two of them quickly searched the area, but the altar was nowhere to be seen at all. It was as if it had never appeared before.
Zhang Xuan released his Spiritual Perception as far as he could in order to scan the surroundings, but he wasn’t able to find anything at all.
“It seems like the black skeleton has hidden the altar to prevent others from finding it,” Zhang Xuan shook his head and said.
Given his current level of cultivation, even if the altar had shifted position, he should still be able to track it down through its trail of movement. The fact that he was unable to find any traces of it could only mean one thing.
The black skeleton didn’t want him to find it.
But why would that be the case?
Based on what he had heard, the altar had been in the same place for thousands of years. Kong shi’s clone seemed to have visited the area on multiple occasions before too, which likely meant that the black skeleton didn’t fear detection. Why would it choose to only hide the altar from him then?
Was it because he had successfully made a breakthrough to godhood?
Zhang Xuan searched around for a bit longer, but he still wasn’t able to find any clues. In the end, with a deep sigh, he swiftly returned to the Starchaser Palace with Du Qingyuan.
The two of them entered an isolated chamber together. There, he turned his gaze to Du Qingyuan and asked, “Tell me what you know about Ruoxin.”
There were simply too many matters he had to attend to after saving Du Qingyuan from the Ethereal Hall headquarters that he hadn’t had the opportunity to talk to her yet.
Thousands of years ago, when the City of Collapsed Space fell from the heavens, we lost contact with the Spirit God as well. Despite so, we chose to devoutly observe our traditions and continue worshipping of the Spirit God. It was all in order to convince the other sects that we were still in contact with the gods, thus making them dare not to make a move on us,” Du Qingyuan explained with a bitter smile.
It was for this reason that she would immediately lose her temper and even resort to violence in order to divert the topic whenever other powers spoke about the Starchaser Palace’s links with the gods.. It was through putting up such an act of short-temperedness and eccentricity that she was able to avoid incurring the suspicions of others.
The Starchaser Palace had always been different from the rest of the Six Sects, be it the characteristics or the origin of their people. Such differences could easily be exploited by the greedy to rally the other sects against them.
It was due to this that the entire Starchaser Island had remained terribly hostile to outsiders so as to ensure that this secret wouldn’t be leaked.
“But four months ago, while we were conducting our annual ritual, we received a message from the Spirit God. She told us that she intends to descend to the Forsaken Continent through a ritual, and she instructed us to make preparations in advance,” Du Qingyuan said.
“She relayed the procedures of the ritual to us, and since it was an order from the Spirit God, we had to obey her orders.”