Song Shuhang was puzzled. At first, he’d thought he was having auditory hallucinations at the point of death, but after hearing the name ‘Almighty Merchant’, he finally came to his senses.

　　Venerable Seventh Cultivator of True Virtue had told him about this ‘Almighty Merchant’ in the past. During that one-month trip in space, Venerable hinted him to prepare a large number of spirit stones so that he could buy the things he wanted after discovering the whereabouts of the Almighty Merchant.

　　Song Shuhang’s original plan was to buy the cure to Li Yinzhu’s disease from that Almighty Merchant, and this was also the reason he had borrowed all those spirit stones from Venerable White. With such a huge number of spirit stones, it shouldn’t have been a problem to get the cure. Then, if he had some extra spirit stones left, he could use them to buy whatever interesting treasure the Almighty Merchant had to offer.

　　Since Venerable Seventh Cultivator of True Virtue never contacted him, Song Shuhang thought that he had yet to find the whereabouts of the opposite party.

　　But now, the mysterious Almighty Merchant contacted him on his own even though he was in the Heavenly Tribulation Realm.

　　One had to remember that not even Song Shuhang’s Inner World was working here. Yet, the Almighty Merchant had managed to contact him regardless.

　　What was the origin of this person?

　　An ordinary Ninth Stage Tribulation Transcender shouldn’t be able to do all this. As such, was the opposite party an ‘Immortal’?

　　Thoughts were constantly welling up in Song Shuhang’s mind, but he quickly cast them aside. He had no time to waste right now!

　　“Senior, I want a treasure that can help me transcend the heavenly tribulation!” Song Shuhang said hurriedly. “If possible, make haste, Senior. Otherwise, I’m going to die in the Heavenly Tribulation Realm.”

　　At this time, Song Shuhang didn’t even consider whether the Almighty Merchant could deliver the treasure to the Heavenly Tribulation Realm. He was just a desperate man grasping at every straw.

　　After hearing these words, the mysterious Almighty Merchant paused for a moment, and then said, “What? You are in the Heavenly Tribulation Realm? But, Seventh Cultivator of True Virtue said that you were still at the Third Stage Realm…”

　　“I don’t have time to explain, I’m going to die soon! Senior, I have a spatial treasure full of spirit stones, what kind of tribulation-transcending magical treasure can you give me in exchange? Help me pick up a magical treasure that can assist me in transcending the heavenly tribulation of the Ninth Stage rank. Quick, quick, quick!” Song Shuhang said in a hurry. He had no time for useless talk, he had to seal the deal as soon as possible.

　　“No wonder the signal was so bad, so you were in the Heavenly Tribulation Realm. I usually try to stay away from that place, but I directly barged into it today,” the mysterious Almighty Merchant said.

　　“Senior, I’m going to die at this pace! Look, you can take all the spirit stones I have if you want!” Song Shuhang said. If he died under the heavenly tribulation, all the magical treasures and spirit stones he had with him would be reduced to ashes. He really didn’t have the time to bargain right now.

　　“Human beings die in the pursuit of wealth, just as birds die in the pursuit of food. Open the restriction of your magical treasure and let me take a look at the number of spirit stones inside,” the mysterious Almighty Merchant said.

　　Song Shuhang issued a mental order, and the spatial magical treasure he had borrowed from Venerable White opened, revealing the myriad spirit stones of the Eighth and Ninth Stage inside.

　　“You have quite a bit of spirit stones there… but still not enough to buy something that can help you transcend a heavenly tribulation of the Ninth Stage,” the mysterious Almighty Merchant said.

　　How could it be that easy to transcend a heavenly tribulation of the Ninth Stage? If that was the case, the world would be filled with Ninth Stage Tribulation Transcenders!

　　While they were discussing, something akin to spiritual sense swept past Song Shuhang.

　　“A high-quality puppet from the Jet-Black Sect? What a pity, had I come a little earlier, I could have given you something that would have allowed you to transcend the tribulation of the Ninth Stage if matched with that high-quality puppet. But now, your puppet is too damaged…” the Almighty Merchant added.

　　“Senior, quick! I’m dying!” Song Shuhang said.

　　“Don’t be impatient,” the Almighty Merchant said calmly.

　　Song Shuhang’s heart sank. This guy isn’t waiting for me to die and collect all my spirit stones before I turn into ashes, right…?

　　“Don’t project your dirty thoughts onto my noble person. I’m known as the Almighty Merchant, and although I might be a little bit of a profiteer, I attach great importance to fair deals,” the Almighty Merchant said.

　　It feels as if this powerful expert has a mind-reading ability or something of the sort…

　　“I indeed have a mind-reading ability. People of my level all have similar tricks at their disposal,” the Almighty Merchant said.

　　F*ck, I hate mind-reading abilities the most!

　　“Anyway, I just happen to have a treasure that can help you. I’ll count to three, and the transaction will be considered completed at that time. After that, you’ll have to quickly take out this item I’m going to send you from your ‘spatial magical treasure’. You’ll have to be quick and precise. If you are one second late, you might be reduced to ashes,” the Almighty Merchant said sternly.

　　Next, the Almighty Merchant said hastily, “1, 2, 3!”

　　He was very quick, and counted to three in the blink of an eye. In the next moment, Song Shuhang felt his body become light.

　　“F*ck!” Song Shuhang stretched out his hand into Venerable White’s spatial magical treasure to take out the item the Almighty Merchant had sent over.

　　In the next moment, a golden ‘ mianguan ¹ ‘—also known as ‘flat imperial hat’—appeared in Song Shuhang’s hand. The hat was shining and glistening.

　　The only problem was that this ‘mianguan’ wasn’t emanating any energy fluctuations, and it was no different than an ordinary imperial hat. No matter how he looked at it, it wasn’t a magical treasure.

　　Had he been cheated?

　　This thought flashed through Song Shuhang’s mind.

　　Nonetheless, Song Shuhang gritted his teeth and decided to wear it on his head.

　　If that Almighty Merchant had been someone without credibility, Venerable Seventh Cultivator of True Virtue wouldn’t have spent so much time looking for him.

　　But just as he prepared to wear the ‘flat imperial hat’, Song Shuhang discovered that his head was extremely slippery. He was a baldy at this time, and he didn’t have a single strand of hair left on his head. Therefore, it was somewhat inconvenient for him to wear this flat imperial hat. Without hair, he couldn’t make use of the jade hairpins attached to the hat to secure it to his head, and he could only rely on the chin strap to keep it in place.

　　Moreover, wearing a ‘flat imperial hat’ on a bald head would give birth to a scene too dazzling to the eye.

　　Just as the ‘flat imperial hat’ was tottering on Song Shuhang’s bald head, on the verge of falling down, two slender hands stretched out and supported the hat.

　　It was the virtuous lamia. At this time, her body had the size of an ordinary person, and was floating behind Song Shuhang, using her hands to support the ‘flat imperial hat’ on his head.

　　Song Shuhang relaxed, and prepared to firmly latch the ‘flat imperial hat’ onto his head.

　　But right at this time, the virtuous lamia put some strength into her hands and pulled the ‘flat imperial hat’ away from Song Shuhang’s head.

　　“…” Song Shuhang.

　　My dear elder sister, now is not the time to have fun! My life is at stake here!

　　The virtuous lamia raised the flat imperial hat, and placed it on her own head. She then coiled her long hair up and properly wore the hat, skillfully inserting the jade hairpins into her long hair.

　　The fringe of pearls in front of the ‘flat imperial hat’ dropped down, gently swaying alongside the movements of the virtuous lamia. At this time, both her eyes gave off a feeling of extreme power.

　　Is it possible that the flat imperial hat wasn’t for me, but for the virtuous lamia? Song Shuhang thought to himself at this time.

　　The virtuous lamia gently pushed the ‘flat imperial hat’, and a huge amount of power of virtue exploded from it, merging with the body of the lamia.

　　In the next moment, the magnificent projection of a golden imperial robe appeared in midair, draping over her shoulders. The womanly imperial robe was very long, and it covered even her tail.

　　There were nine dragons moving about on the imperial robe, looking very lifelike. The robe had been directly condensed with the power of virtue.

　　At this time, the lamia was like an empress ascending to the throne.

　　This type of elegant clothing very much suited the virtuous lamia. The phoenix robe and phoenix crown she wore the last time as well as the flat imperial hat and golden empress robe this time greatly increased her imposing manner.

　　She was simply born to wear this type of clothing.

　　The body of the empress-like virtuous lamia started to change again, instantly reaching the size of ten or so meters. Afterward, she bent slightly, wrapping up Song Shuhang, the crumbling high-quality puppet, Palace Master Seven Lives Talisman, Horizon, and Eternity with the left sleeve of her imperial robe.

　　Then, she used her right hand to grab at the air, condensing a tyrannical and cold saber intent in her hand, which then transformed into a ‘saber’. Perhaps due to Song Shuhang’s influence, the saber she condensed was straight and slender. It looked both like a saber and a sword.

　　After the saber intent materialized, it was dyed with the thick golden light of virtue.

　　Song Shuhang gazed at the current appearance of the virtuous lamia, and couldn’t help but recall when she was rolling on the ground earlier, screaming and playing dead.

　　Were the lamia from before and this empress-like lamia wearing an imperial robe the same person?

　　The virtuous lamia shot a glance at Song Shuhang. After that, she used the straight saber in her right hand to fiercely slash at the horizon.

　　Dignified imperial saber intent slashed toward the explosion of the hydrogen bomb.

　　After the saber slash swept past the surrounding area, the heavenly tribulation, the explosion of the hydrogen bomb, and the mushroom cloud all disappeared!

　　The dark Heavenly Tribulation Realm was now filled with golden light. The slash of the virtuous lamia had turned into a golden sun, hovering in the middle of the Heavenly Tribulation Realm.

　　The heavenly tribulation had thoroughly disappeared, and this time, it didn’t upgrade again.

　　The reason was that the virtuous lamia wasn’t a foreign aid, but one single entity with Song Shuhang!

　　“Buzz, buzz, buzz~”

　　In the next moment, the whole Heavenly Tribulation Realm started cracking. The energy there split into four streams that fell on the bodies of Song Shuhang and the others.

　　Palace Master Seven Lives Talisman, Horizon, and Eternity immediately broke through to the next realm.

　　Palace Master Seven Lives Talisman, who was advancing from the Fourth to the Fifth Stage, ended up condensing a Golden Core with a whole eight dragon patterns! His wish to condense a Golden Core with eight dragon patterns had been fulfilled just like that!

　　Song Shuhang also started to break through, advancing from the Third to the Fourth Stage. The true qi in his body gradually transformed into ‘innate true yuan’.

　　Song Shuhang’s breakthrough was especially long. Palace Master Seven Lives Talisman and the others had already finished, but he was still breaking through.

　　However, something far more shocking than them advancing to the next realm took place at this time…

　　All the practitioners in the universe, regardless of their system, raised their heads and started looking at the sky!