Demon Sword Sect’s Undercover
Chapter 388 - 388 387 Good Things Never Come Easy

388: Chapter 387: Good Things Never Come Easy 388: Chapter 387: Good Things Never Come Easy Hou Niao was about to engage the Purple Mansion to comply with this life cycle momentum.

At this moment, sudden fluctuations appeared inside the volcano’s crater, with intense spiritual shocks rolling with billows of thick smoke, as if something was happening inside the volcano?

Hou Niao felt a warning in his heart, knowing that the situation was not good.

The timing he chose to ascend to the Upper Realm coincided with the Core Formation celestial phenomena of Bamboo Lady.

Was this a coincidence?

Or a warning from the Heavenly Dao about his disruption?

He immediately stopped the communication with the Purple Mansion.

Although he had never experienced it before, he had seen enough from the experiences of countless forebears to verify that trying to fish in troubled waters while someone else was ascending was an incredibly foolish thing to do.

The Heavenly Dao had never been merciful to such thieves of the Dao, and allowing a minor Tongxuan cultivator like him to face the test of Golden Core Tribulation Lightning was simply unthinkable for him.

No sooner had he closed the projection of the Purple Mansion, than thunderclouds began to form in the sky, making him mutter about his luck.

How fortunate he was to have stopped in time, otherwise the thunderclouds enveloping him too would have been an inescapable predicament.

This old hag, what timing she’s got!

Not only did he feel it, but the other cultivators of Bamboo Island felt it as well; in fact, nearly everyone on the island, including mortals, felt it.

Because the disturbance at the volcano’s crater was like the prelude to a major eruption.

Several flying boats hovered in the sky, carrying all the islanders and their possessions from Bamboo Island—this was the result of another month of preparation.

They had already thought of contingencies: if their master successfully ascended, then fresh flowers and streamers, with songs of congratulations were ready; if the master failed and the volcano erupted, then they would flee to distant lands.

They watched from afar with trepidation.

The thunderclouds grew denser, and within them, faint flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder seemed to signify the fury of the Heavenly Dao.

When the clouds thickened, ‘crack,’ a thick blue thunderbolt flashed across the sky.

One end met the thundercloud, and the other struck straight into the volcano’s crater…

Hou Niao felt as if he was struck himself.

Although he wasn’t hit directly by the lightning, the scare was enough to shatter his thoughts of using the thunder forging to temper himself.

Perhaps it was better to be cautious, as the force of such a thunder was not something his minor Thunderbolt Dao cultivation could endure.

It was as if even the ground was shaking, and that wasn’t just the power of the thunder, but also a sign that the array binding the volcano’s crater was loosening.

If the first thunderbolt had such might, what level would the subsequent strikes reach?

Before the second thunderbolt could strike, a figure stood proudly amidst the dense smoke of the volcano’s crater.

Who else could it be but Bamboo Lady?

Her entire body showed clear signs of being struck by lightning; her Feather Robe was tattered.

Indistinct but still defiant, she sang to the heavens,

“…Ninety years a roaming Immortal, wields the wonders of nature at will.

Bamboo bears the essence of antiquity, flowers bloom to reveal fate anew!”

‘Crack,’ a second thicker blue thunderbolt struck down, its color deeper blue, its radiance more resplendent.

Bamboo Lady, transformed into the Nine-knot Bamboo, pushed up inch by inch, yet the thunderbolt forced her back foot by foot.

To the onlookers, the peril was terrifying; she seemed on the verge of being crushed by the thunderbolt, but as the duration passed and the pressure eased, she managed to withstand the ordeal.

However, what about the next time?

Even Hou Niao, with no experience in facing tribulations, could tell that Bamboo Lady was now at the end of her strength, as frail as a gust of Spring Rain.

This strike of thunder had left her Feather Robe utterly destroyed, her Taoist Body exposed to nature, but still she held her head high, her glare defiant against the heavens!

The Nine-knot Bamboo Dao Body was indeed her last resort.

At this moment, whether it was her body, mana, or spirit, all were extremely weakened, with only her will remaining firm, supporting her relentless perseverance.

Beneath the heavenly tribulation, where could one hide?

Hou Niao could hear the sound of weeping; these were several disciples distressed at their master’s tragic plight, but Bamboo Lady remained fearless.

“…My disciples, do not walk my path!

But if I could go back, I would still make the same choice!”

In her defiance, the third thunderbolt struck down, blue tinged with purple, now containing a hint of the power of the Great Dao!

Under such majestic heavenly might, the will of humans seemed laughably insignificant.

Bamboo Lady perished in the thunder, leaving not a trace behind.

…The tenacious mantis has bones to suspect, its neck tied to a ring yet it refuses to bend.

In the sky, the thunderclouds began to disperse, but the tremors on the ground grew increasingly severe.

The heavenly tribulation dissipated, and the calamity of man began.

The dense smoke from the volcano’s crater suddenly cleared, followed by a blaze that shot up into the sky, bringing with it an enormous cloud of smoke; the array failed, and Bamboo Island volcano, which had been suppressed for over a hundred years, finally erupted with full force.

In the sky, several flying boats hesitated before gradually moving away.

With such a volcanic eruption, Bamboo Island would no longer boast its former glory.

The island’s vegetation was incinerated by the lava, and not a single plant would survive in the suffocating air.

This was just another cycle of nature.

To restore its former appearance, without a decade or more and the diligent cultivation by cultivators, along with favorable environmental and climatic conditions, one could foresee that the island would return to its solitary state from over a hundred years ago.

Everyone had left, but there was one person who chose to stay!

Because the urge to reach a higher realm was still within him, and it had not faded in the face of the human tragedy before his eyes, but had instead grown stronger.

And he was certain that this was not a misjudgment by his heart demon—it was because he had arrived at the threshold of the Natural Realm, just one step away!

Even if he witnessed the failures of others, it could not shake his determination in the slightest.

Lady Bamboo was an ordinary member among the myriad beings of the Cultivation World, with acts that could be scorned, yet aspects that could be sung and wept for.

She knew what the righteous path was, hence she left it to her disciples.

She understood that to advance further, one had to defy the heavens, so she chose to face the challenge herself.

Without thinking, she had done no small number of bad deeds, scheming from start to finish, but that did not mean she was utterly unforgivable; at the very least, she knew what was good and what was evil.

Before starting on a new journey, she decisively severed her past, even though it would have been useful to her.

This was a cultivator who climbed up by any means necessary.

She was like this, and so was Hou Niao.

Billowing dust settled down, coating his hair, his clothes, and soon, from the sky downwards, his figure could no longer be distinguished.

Unyieldingly steadfast.

The volcanic eruption continued unabated, the underground force that had been repressed for a hundred years had finally found an opportunity to be released.

Under such a phenomenon, no living creatures could survive; those with wings could fly away, those with gills could swim away, but those creatures with only feet, and those with only roots, suffered.

There was no escape.

Days later, Bamboo Island, once brimming with life and covered in green, had completely changed—turned into a gray barren island with temperatures so high that no life could sustain itself.

Hou Niao was also buried in volcanic ash, a foot, several feet, more than ten feet deep…

no one knew that there was a devoted cultivator here.

He waited!

Waiting for the miracle of life!

Because he knew that life would always find a way to continue, such is the origin of life!

Day after day, month after month, year after year.

The volcano’s rampant eruption, once its force was spent, started to become intermittent and then fell silent once again, harboring the energy for the next eruption in its tranquility.

The sea breeze blew, the waves crashed, and with spring tides and autumn rains, the island’s temperature gradually fell.

After the initial shock of Bamboo Island’s drastic change, cultivators had come to investigate but gradually lost interest.

Three years went by, and after a spring rain, on a certain part of the barren island, a seed dropped by a migrating bird’s droppings quietly germinated underground…

At the same time, deep under the earth, several meters down, someone’s Purple Mansion also began to react, a connection from nature itself!

As the grass seedling pushed through the soil, Hou Niao opened his eyes—the Natural Realm had arrived quietly.

…

A life of relentless strife brought no ease; to appreciate nature is to be an Immortal.

Covered in dust on the ground, I’m too lazy to sweep; after the rain, I roll up the screen to watch the sky.