Leng Qing held his sword in his hand as stellular energy returned to him. He stared up at the darkness within the vortex and took a deep breath. An unrestrained excitement and eagerness filled his eyes. He could feel it—the scream of a blade. This was the ultimate attack, and it was about to fall.
His blade suddenly shot upwards, releasing a slash. There was a bang as the void exploded.
Another sword appeared just beneath the vortex of the tribulation. It extended out from the void and slashed down at Leng Qing, only for him to slice through the attack.
That easy? Leng Qing stared into the darkness of the stellular tribulation, and his pupils suddenly shrank. An endless storm of blades fell upon him, the silver rain of blades forming a massive sword in space.
Lu Buzheng and several others shouted out, "Galaxy Sword Emperor?"
Cai Er’s face grew pale.
Hen Xin clenched a fist. Sure enough, Leng Qing was facing a truly terrifying opponent.
Lu Yin frowned. "Third Uncle, what is that?"
Lu Buzheng's voice dropped low, and Lu Yin could hear fear, nervousness, and sympathy in the man’s voice. "That is Galaxy Sword Emperor’s attack. That endless rain of swords that forms a river large enough to transform a portion of the universe belongs to Galaxy Sword Emperor, who was one of the most powerful people during our era. He was the most powerful cultivator from the Second Mainland and was one of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas."
Lu Yin's expression changed. So was this the power of one of the masters of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas from the Heavens Sect era?
Cai Er spoke up as well. "Galaxy Sword Emperor was a ruthless person, and he dominated all with his sword. After becoming a Progenitor, he confronted the Mavis family on his own to avenge some humiliation that he once suffered. He forced the proud Mavis family to apologize to him and show him respect."
"Didn’t the Mavis family have a Dao Monarch?" Lu Yin asked. During the Heavens Sect era, the Mavis family had ruled the Second Mainland, and they had been led by one of the Three Realms Six Dao. How could they have been intimidated by one of Nine Mountains and Eight Seas?
Lu Buzheng quietly replied, "Galaxy Sword Emperor earned their respect, and the incident that he was avenging was indeed the Mavis family’s fault. When you are wrong, you should admit it. Those were the words of Galaxy Sword Emperor. He was arrogant yet reasonable, even if his own reasoning did not always make sense to others. Even if it was impossible for him to face one of the Three Realms Six Dao, he was willing to fight to the death in order to seek justice for himself.
"Many people respected Galaxy Sword Emperor, but at the same time, many feared him."
"Leng Qing is a fanatical admirer of Galaxy Sword Emperor," Cai Er added.
Lu Yin looked back at the tribulation. This would be a difficult opponent.
This master of one of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas had lived during the Heavens Sect era and had been bold enough to draw a sword against a Dao Monarch. This was the person blocking Leng Qing’s way forward. Even if the man was not being forced to face Galaxy Sword Emperor’s full power at his peak, Leng Qing was facing the greatest power that Galaxy Sword Emperor had reached as a Semi-Progenitor. Could the man survive such a confrontation?
As the silver river of swords fell down, Leng Qing’s excitement seemed to be growing, and his eyes turned bloodshot. He was the most excited he had ever been, and he wanted to roar loudly.
After Leng Qing was released from the sourcebox, the most frustrating thing for him was that he would never be able to see Galaxy Sword Emperor again and challenge him. However, the man had now appeared in front of Leng Qing, and he could face Galaxy Sword Emperor’s power.
"Come on!" Leng Qing roared. Then, in a rare lapse of self control, he started to laugh maniacally as his sword rose up and slashed upwards. As he attacked, the man transformed into a sword and shot upwards, looking as though he intended to directly attack the river of swords.
Everyone watching realized at this moment what it meant to be one of the most powerful Semi-Progenitors in existence. Leng Qing's strength made people like Lan Xian to tremble. She knew that she would not be able to endure even a single one of the man’s attacks.
Blood dripped from Leng Qing’s eyes as he fought at his best, ignoring the risk of death. He rushed upwards, feeling that Galaxy Sword Emperor was inside the stellular tribulation’s black hole. Leng Qing wanted to challenge Galaxy Sword Emperor himself.
Since Leng Qing’s tribulation seemed to believe that the Semi-Progenitor Galaxy Sword Emperor could prevent Leng Qing from becoming a Progenitor, the man wanted to test that.
Leng Qing's body was constantly being attacked, and so much blood was spilling out that people could not bear to continue watching.
Leng Qing directly confronted the attack.
"Why doesn’t he use his inner world?" Some people felt puzzled, but others felt despair.
"Because the stellular tribulation has only just begun."
A gleaming light from the sharp sword lit up everyone's faces as Leng Qing finally broke past the silver sword river, surrounded by a sea of blood. Not a single part of his body remained whole, and he was trembling. His breathing had grown weak.
Lu Yin held his breath, though he watched calmly.
His own stellular tribulation had been freakish, but that did not mean that Leng Qing’s was unimpressive.
Galaxy Sword Emperor had been one of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas during the Heavens Sect era, and he had been bold enough to draw his sword against a Dao Monarch. This kind of courage reminded Lu Yin of Progenitor Chen. At this moment, Leng Qing was facing his era’s invincible Progenitor Chen, and seeing this made Lu Yin wonder what sort of opponent he would face during his own tribulation.
No one spoke as everyone stared into the distance.
The swords from the broken river swirled around Leng Qing, creating a sea of silver swords. This was the Galaxy Sword Emperor’s ultimate attack, and it was the equivalent of his own inner world.
Leng Qing clenched the hilt of his sword tightly as his blood dripped down the blade.
"Galaxy Sword Emperor, finally, we can duel!" Leng Qing muttered to himself. Eager to see the fight to its conclusion, a long sword appeared above his head as Four Arts: Celestial Blade appeared.
As if sensing something, the sea of swords rose upwards to contend with Four Arts: Celestial Blade.
Countless swords fell upon the Celestial Blade, and the clash of blades caused an endless amount of sword qi to scatter out, forcing everyone to retreat further away.
The black hole at the center of the tribulation had become a world of blades as countless swords and broken blades clashed, creating a world of death. Just entering this place would shred almost any Semi-Progenitor to pieces.
No one knew how Leng Qing was faring, as it was impossible to see or sense anything within the tribulation.
Lu Yin's mind churned. Leng Qing had always behaved very well. While he was a rather dour man with no real sense of presence, he had managed to rise up to become one of the Twelve Heavenly Gatemasters. Despite his station, he had never complained about being sent to oversee the Astral Beast Domain. Even though he was such a powerful expert, Leng Qing would be content serving wherever he was sent.
It would be such a pity for this man to die while trying to become a Progenitor. It would be a loss for humanity itself.
Why did the Origin Universe force cultivators to face stellular tribulations?
If the Origin Universe functioned in the same manner as the Cyclic Universe, then just how many Progenitors would there be by now? It would have been impossible for Aeternus to destroy the Origin Universe.
As Lu Yin considered this matter, the swords filling the region beneath the stellular tribulation slowly disappeared.
Leng Qing stood tall in the middle of the universe. His blood had congealed, but he had not been swept away by the sea of swords. His own Celestial Blade had prevailed.
Lu Buzheng and others heaved sighs of relief.
Cai Er’s pale face slowly regained a bit of color.
Leng Qing had just faced off against Galaxy Sword Emperor, someone who had stood at the peak of his own generation, and Leng Qing had been victorious in a contest of swords. This was impressive enough of an accomplishment for Leng Qing to become famous. Additionally, he had just fulfilled his own dream.
In that case, would the tribulation attack again during this phase?
Leng Qing looked up at his tribulation and saw that the sword qi had disappeared. He had managed to defeat the Semi-Progenitor-level Galaxy Sword Emperor. Unfortunately, the man must have died, or else Leng Qing would have tried to fight the man himself after becoming a Progenitor.