Wang Lin shook his head, the tribulations of Xuan, he knew not how others weathered them, but for him, the Snow Tribulation could not shatter his true form, and the Wind Tribulation could not break his mortal coil.

Even if this Wind Tribulation lasted for centuries, it could not rend his body as it now stood.

His flesh was no longer what it had been. By the green-robed elder’s craft, it was made exceedingly strong, possessed of an unimaginable resilience. This fusion of resilience and strength meant the Wind Tribulation could not move Wang Lin one whit!

Raising his left hand, Wang Lin grasped at the hurricane swirling around him, and with that grasp, he casually tore outward! A cacophony of sound erupted as, in Wang Lin’s tearing, the hurricane collapsed layer by layer, from the first to the ninth. The nine winds exploded, sweeping outwards like a tempest, until they were utterly dispelled.

The wind subsided. Wang Lin sat, drinking his wine. His Five Element True Body stood behind him, coldly regarding the heavens, unmoving.

The sky was a somber hue, like a face contorted in anger. Gradually, a cloud of tribulation materialized, enveloping the heavens and writhing slowly. Within its depths, peals of thunder echoed, and bolts of lightning danced, illuminating the land in fleeting flashes.

Miles away, the dozen or so cultivators from Green Devil Continent witnessed the collapse of the Snow and Wind Tribulations, now struck dumb and silent.

The thunder grew more violent, and the cloud of tribulation grew larger, completely obscuring the sky, hanging heavy and oppressive. Within it, the lightning multiplied, its bolts of illumination exuding madness and brutality.

Yet, all of this failed to stir Wang Lin. He calmly drank his wine, glancing at the cloud of tribulation and its lightning. He chuckled softly.

“Lightning?” Wang Lin gazed at the cloud, at the thunder and the lightning, and shook his head again, lowering his head to take another sip of wine.

As he shook his head, a deafening roar echoed from the clouds. The cloud stirred, and a bolt of lightning, like a celestial tether, plunged toward Wang Lin. This bolt carried an earth-shattering force, swiftly drawing near, as if to slay Wang Lin with thunder!

“You dare!” Wang Lin roared, looking up!

His roar surpassed the thunder, drowning out all sounds of heaven and earth. It rose sharply amidst the lightning, and within that roar, a thunderous will exploded from Wang Lin’s very being. This will was the master of all thunder in heaven and earth!

The immense tribulation lightning, moments from striking, recoiled violently, as if in fear of Wang Lin. In its recoil, it not only ceased its attack but flew back towards the clouds from whence it came!

“Since my mastery of Thunder was achieved, only I deliver tribulation by lightning!” Wang Lin raised his left hand, grasping at the clouds. At his touch, the clouds trembled violently, the lightning within emitting a sound of unbearable agony. Countless bolts of lightning flew from the cloud, making for Wang Lin.

Before his left hand, the countless bolts of lightning coalesced in a frenzy, forming a colossal ball of pure lightning. Wang Lin flung it upwards, and the ball shot towards the clouds of tribulation, colliding in a blinding flash.

The deafening roar that followed shook the very foundations of existence. The cloud of tribulation instantly shattered, scattering without the slightest resistance, dispelling the gloom from the sky in a single instant!

Three tribulations of Xuan, each utterly vanquished!

The dozen or so cultivators miles away could not see Wang Lin, yet they felt the passing of these three tribulations, passed with an ease that defied belief!

It was said the first three tribulations were of lesser power, and any cultivator with enough courage could withstand them, albeit with a great expenditure of strength. To emerge from the onslaught meant a doubling of the power of one’s Primordial Spirit.

But to overcome them with such effortless ease was a sight rare indeed!

“It must be the Green Devil Lord! None other could achieve such a feat!”

“The Green Devil Lord’s cultivation, having endured such tribulations in the past, allows him to face them with such composure!”

The eyes of the cultivators shone with reverence as they gazed at the tribulation grounds miles away, awaiting the emergence of their Green Devil Lord.

Wang Lin sat upon the tail of the scorpion, gazing at the heavens. The first three tribulations had left him disappointed. Now, he awaited the arrival of the fourth, hoping it would prove more magnificent.

To witness the fleeting beauty of tribulation was not merely words, but an act to be realized. And Wang Lin, with his composure, sought to see the beauty of this trial.

“What manner of tribulation will the fourth be?” Wang Lin sipped his wine.

Suddenly, ripples formed in the serene sky. Amidst the rippling, the heavens resembled a surface of water disturbed.

From the rippling, an aura of pressure emanated, engulfing the surroundings and causing the earth below to tremble. A vast drum, a thousand yards in size, slowly coalesced and descended from the heavens.

The surface of the drum was of an unknown material. As it descended, it emitted no sound, yet a feeling of ancient desolation pervaded the air.

As the drum appeared, Wang Lin, with his wine flask in hand, gazed upon it intently.

“Intriguing…” he murmured, his eyes flashing with a sharp light.

At that moment, an unseen force struck the drum, and a muffled, earth-shattering sound reverberated through the heavens. The drumbeat was a deep “Dong,” echoing countless times and seeming to be struck by innumerable beings from every direction, coalescing into a tidal wave of sound.

As the drum’s sound echoed, Wang Lin’s flesh, bones, and meridians all trembled. He felt the sound, which permeated the heavens, not issuing from the drum itself, but from inside his very body!

This caused Wang Lin’s eyes to shine, and as the drum sounded in his body, an irresistible force manifested, immobilizing him!
As the drumbeat echoed within Wang Lin’s very being, a spectral transformation unfolded in the heavens above. Beyond the gargantuan drum, a dense fog coalesced from thin air, taking the form of a colossal, ethereal blade. The blade was insubstantial, almost unreal, yet its appearance heralded a surge of overwhelming bloodlust.

This potent malice swirled within the fog-blade, intensifying with its raised form. Drawn by this fierce energy, the blade lunged towards Wang Lin, descending upon him in a merciless strike aimed not at flesh or bone, nor at his nascent soul, but at the very nexus that bound his physical form to his spirit. Should this blow land true, Wang Lin’s essence would be irrevocably severed from his mortal shell, forever unable to reunite. The severance extended beyond mere connection, severing the very threads of blood that linked body and soul, rendering them forever incompatible.

The aim was to force the soul from its spiritual home, banishing it from the mortal coil.

This was the first trial of the inner tribulation, the Severance Calamity. The great drum served as the catalyst, its sound marking the commencement of this perilous trial. This tribulation was treacherous, claiming countless aspirants throughout the ages. Failure meant not only spiritual and physical separation but also the disintegration of both body and spirit to the drum’s relentless rhythm.

The fog-blade moved silently, yet the malice it carried roared like a tempest. A swirling vortex of dark energy cloaked the blade as it hurtled towards Wang Lin, an ominous harbinger of doom. Countless millennia had witnessed this very blade shatter the aspirations of those who dared to transcend into the realm of the Void, severing their spiritual anchors and leaving them adrift.

Now, the blade descended upon Wang Lin.

Wang Lin neither knew nor needed to know the elaborate preparations undertaken by others who had faced this trial, the cautious steps, the desperate searches for life within the looming death. He would meet this challenge in his own way. As the drumbeats vibrated through his flesh and bone, threatening to immobilize him, they could not restrain the beating of his heart. Accelerating into a thunderous rhythm, his heart ignited a sonorous storm within him, its resonating power countering the drum’s oppressive influence. Freedom returned to his limbs just as the malicious fog-blade descended. With a serene expression, Wang Lin released his grasp on the wine gourd. His right hand rose, a sudden pain blooming within his palm as a bone-white, serpentine dagger materialized. The Ossuary Blade radiated a glacial aura, transforming the world around him into a frozen wasteland.

“Well met!” Wang Lin roared, remaining seated as he swung the Ossuary Blade towards the descending fog-blade in a sweeping arc.

Blade met ethereal blade in a cataclysmic clash. The fog-blade shuddered violently, cracks spider-webbing across its form before it shattered in a deafening explosion. The malice it carried, loath to retreat, surged forward in a desperate attempt to engulf Wang Lin in the wake of the blade’s destruction. But Wang Lin lifted his gaze, unleashing a wave of murderous intent that dwarfed the fog-blade’s darkness. The ethereal malice recoiled, overwhelmed by Wang Lin’s killing intent, fleeing in chaotic retreat.

The first trial, the Severance Calamity, was vanquished! As its remnants dissipated, the great drum in the sky thundered out its second, even more deafening beat.

The reverberation was magnitudes stronger than before, unleashing sonic waves that echoed across the heavens, rippling across thousands of leagues like a herald of destruction.

At the instant the sound permeated the air, Wang Lin finally stood. He snatched the wine gourd, taking a deep draught. Then, with a blur of motion, he ascended towards the heavens.

“I will shatter this drum and see what beauty remains within the tribulations!”