“Eighth Stage Profound Sage, showing divinity in front of the masses…” Young Master Hai gazed at the void, squeezing out these words.

　　This simply went against the principles of cultivation!

　　That ‘Stressed by a Mountain of Books’ hadn’t even completed his Hundred Days Foundation Establishment when they first met. Back then, Young Master Hai could have killed him with one finger, and simply hadn’t put him in his eyes.

　　But now, the opposite party was already an Eighth Stage Profound Sage?

　　What kind of joke was this?!

　　“Wait a moment… is this an illusion?” Young Master Hai closed his eyes. At the same time, he stretched out his hand and held a new magical treasure, activating it.

　　It was the magical treasure he had prepared to deal with that ‘cursed nightmare’ that would torment him from time to time. When this magical treasure with the capacity to break illusions and remove nightmares was coupled with the mental-type treasure that Young Master Hai already had, it could greatly weaken the effects of the ‘curse’ afflicting his body.

　　After the magical treasure was activated, Young Master Hai felt refreshed.

　　Then, he opened his eyes and looked at the void again.

　　In the void, the divinity show had yet to end. In the picture, Song Shuhang had his eyes closed, and with the golden lamia serving as contrast, he gave off the aura of a great expert.

　　It wasn’t an illusion, and it wasn’t a dream, either… it was cruel reality! That salted fish called ‘Stressed by a Mountain of Books’ had already advanced to the Eighth Stage Profound Sage Realm!

　　“How is this possible?! How?!” Young Master Hai said, gritting his teeth.

　　Next to him, Zheng Neng rested his hands on his wooden sword, his expressionless calm.

　　Demon Monarch Anzhi furrowed his brows, and likewise gazed at the ‘divinity show’ in the void. After a while, he said, “This new Profound Sage looks somewhat familiar.”

　　Demon Monarch Anzhi wasn’t human. Therefore, he had always had trouble telling humans apart. Even if he had seen someone a few days ago, he might not recognize them when meeting them the next time.

　　“It’s that fellow called ‘Stressed by a Mountain of Books’,” Zheng Neng said calmly.

　　“What? That salted fish? Impossible!” Demon Monarch Anzhi was shocked. A few months ago, he had casually grabbed that ‘Stressed by a Mountain of Books’ and almost killed him. Now, that very same guy was showing his divinity in front of the masses? What a huge joke!

　　“This is undoubtedly the truth.” Zheng Neng calmly closed his eyes. “Perhaps he was an expert trying to experience a normal life in the mortal world, and he ended up meeting us by coincidence. Now that his experience has come to an end, he naturally advanced to the Eighth Stage.”

　　Many powerful seniors would choose to conceal themselves among ordinary people at intervals of a few hundred years, living like normal people. This experience could further strengthen their will and heart.

　　Then, there were also some seniors that would decide to experience a normal life in the mortal world right before breaking through to the next realm. This experience could clear their hearts and worries, allowing them to face the tribulation in perfect condition.

　　This ‘Stressed by a Mountain of Books’ was probably one of the latter.

　　“…” Demon Monarch Anzhi. Stressed by a Mountain of Books was a senior experiencing a normal life in the mortal world? His heart felt truly stifled.

　　Young Master Hai closely watched the picture in the void. That guy was experiencing the life of a normal person? It seemed this was the only reasonable explanation as to why ‘Stressed by a Mountain of Books’ had advanced to the Eighth Stage Realm in just a few months, showing his divinity in front of the masses.

　　After a short moment, Young Master Hai closed his eyes, and said gravely, “Regardless of what is happening, it’s no longer possible to solve the contradiction between Stressed by a Mountain of Books and I. Now, let’s forget about everything else and concentrate on advancing to the Fifth Stage Realm and condense a Golden Core Realm with seven or even eight dragon patterns. That’s the only way we have to participate in the great plan of the Limitless Demon Sect. Our future achievements won’t be inferior to those of a Profound Sage. We’ll go even one step further, reaching the Ninth Stage Tribulation Transcender Realm, and perhaps even becoming Immortals!”

　　Since stepping on the path of cultivation, he had had only one objective—reaching immortality.

　　Everything he had done was for the sake of becoming an Immortal.

　　He had two options now: either die while walking on the path to immortality, or reach the Immortal Realm. There was no third option.

　　Young Master Hai took a deep breath, and used a meditation technique to calm himself.

　　He couldn’t keep watching or thinking about this matter. Otherwise, that Stressed by a Mountain of Books might become his Inner Demon while advancing to the Fifth Stage!

　　❄️❄️❄️

　　In the depths of the Pacific Ocean.

　　The eye of the Sea King was also closely watching the divinity show.

　　“The first Sage in a thousand years,” it said gravely. Its tone was somewhat bleak.

　　The sea urchin warriors kneeling below were trembling. Whenever the Sea King used that tone, it meant that he was in a really bad mood.

　　Each time this happened, the sea urchin warriors would see a bloody scene.

　　After a while, the voice of the Sea King settled down.

　　After another long while, the Sea King said gravely, “Do you still want to deal with the first Sage in a thousand years?”

　　Next to the Sea King, that rough-looking wooden puppet didn’t reply.

　　“Was this your plan? Even after using that ready-to-die cultivator to bring down the heavenly tribulation, you weren’t able to injure the opposite party in the slightest. Instead, you made him break through and show his divinity in front of the masses. Hehehe…” The Sea King sneered.

　　“I refuse to believe that he has already reached the Eighth Stage Realm,” the rough puppet said in a grave tone.

　　The Sea King replied, “You still refuse to believe? Ahahaha! Then, what is that picture above your head? Do you want to tell me that he’s not showing his divinity in front of the masses? The name ‘Tyrannical Song’ was engraved in our consciousness, and won’t disappear for the next year. Isn’t this the Sage Seal?”

　　“I’ll use my means to investigate this matter and get to the bottom of it. I don’t believe this to be true,” said the puppet.

　　After saying this much, it threw to the ground the right leg piece of the silver armor, gradually melding into the darkness and disappearing.

　　The Sea King picked up the silver shinguard, slowly looking at the picture of the first Sage in a thousand years above its head, falling into deep thought.

　　❄️❄️❄️

　　With the whole world watching, Song Shuhang stood straight.

　　He had been standing like this since the very beginning, not moving in the slightest. It wasn’t that he was trying to act cool, but he was still breaking through from the Third to the Fourth Stage Realm.

　　When a cultivator was in the Third Stage Realm, they had to break through their four mysterious meridians. Each time they opened a meridian, their strength would greatly increase for a short period. Then, after reaching the Fourth Stage Realm, the constitution of the cultivator would get 4-10 times stronger, and the meridians in their body would always be open, allowing them to benefit from ‘Body of the Battle King’ all the time. Every single one of their moves would have the same strength as that of a cultivator of the Third Stage giving their all.

　　Song Shuhang’s constitution had already reached the Fourth Stage, and after his body got tempered by that super heavenly tribulation—added to the boost he received after breaking through—his constitution was directly pushed to the limit of the Fourth Stage!

　　Other than their constitution getting stronger, the liquid ‘true qi’ inside the body of a cultivator would transform into ‘innate true yuan’ after advancing to the Fourth Stage. Innate true yuan was the ultimate form of true qi, and after going one step further, it was possible to transform innate true yuan into ‘spiritual energy’, advancing to the Fifth Stage Realm and condensing a life-bound Golden Core.

　　What Song Shuhang practiced was the ❮Thirty-Three Divine Beasts’ Technique❯, and the ‘pseudo innate true qi’ inside his body transformed into ‘innate true yuan’ very quickly. However, the amount of true qi in his body was far higher than that of other cultivators of his level. As such, the time it took him to complete the process didn’t really change that much in the end.

　　After true qi of a cultivator had changed into ‘innate true yuan’, it would finally be able to keep up with the energy consumed to ride a flying sword. At the same time, the fact that the ‘Body of the Battle King’ was constantly active guaranteed that the body of the cultivator wouldn’t suddenly break due to being too weak while riding their flying sword.

　　At this time, Song Shuhang was somewhat excited. He had finally practiced to the realm where he could ride a flying sword! Once he had familiarized himself with the saber-riding process, his acrophobia would definitely turn for the better!

　　Around 30 breaths later, all the true qi in Song Shuhang’s body had transformed into high-quality innate true yuan.

　　Afterward, he entered the last phase of the breaking through process—all the innate true yuan in his body flowed back into his original dantian, starting to condense there. An illusory ‘true yuan core’ would condense in the original dantian of each cultivator of the Fourth Stage. Cultivators called this true yuan core ‘Illusory Core’, and it had a certain relationship with the life-bound Golden Core one would condense after advancing to the Fifth Stage.

　　However, there was already a ‘core’ in Song Shuhang’s original dantian. It was precisely the projection of the great whale that came to be after those ’33 beasts’ had fused together. Now, as his innate true yuan flowed back into his original dantian, the true yuan merged with the projection of the great whale.

　　At the same time, the ‘Sage Seal’, which represented Song Shuhang’s status, also did its part, pushing its way into Song Shuhang’s original dantian.

　　The Sage Seal with the words ‘Tyrannical Song’ written on it floated right above the projection of the huge whale. Soon after, the huge whale was quietly empowered by the Sage Seal, with its shape starting to change again.

　　Under normal circumstances, the Illusory Core inside the body of a cultivator should be round, but now, the huge whale in Song Shuhang’s body had replaced the Illusory Core.

　　After transforming, the huge whale had changed beyond recognition. It was fat, had a huge mouth, horns on its head, scales all over the body, and claws attached to its belly…

　　It didn’t look like a whale at all. On the contrary, it looked more like a draconic beast. However, it was still somewhat different from dragons.

　　Song Shuhang also didn’t how to describe the fat whale inside his body.

　　This Illusory Core isn’t going to give me problems, right? Song Shuhang thought to himself.

　　The heavenly tribulation he had transcended wasn’t the ordinary tribulation of the Fourth Stage. As such, he didn’t know if the ‘Fat Whale Illusory Core’ in his original dantian was something all those who practiced the ❮Thirty-Three Divine Beasts’ Technique❯ had, or if it was some kind of mutated item.

　　Whatever… I’ll just ask Venerable White after leaving the Heavenly Tribulation Realm, Song Shuhang thought to himself.

　　After completing the break through, Song Shuhang opened his eyes.

　　Now, how to leave the Heavenly Tribulation Realm?

　　Just as this thought flashed through his mind, a piece of information was transmitted to his mind.

　　After an Eighth Stage Profound Sage had shown their divinity in front of the masses and condensed a Sage Seal, no person in the world wouldn’t know their name.

　　But after showing their divinity in front of the masses, there was still another thing the Eighth Stage Profound Sage had to do…

　　They had to give the ‘Profound Sage Speech’. After advancing to the Profound Sage Realm, they had to hold a speech in front of the myriad practitioners in the universe.

　　This rule had been there since ancient times, and it was very likely something the First Wielder of the Will had set after taking controll of the Will of the Heavens.

　　…Heavens, what to do now?