Chapter 450: Chapter 446: Dead or Alive?
Damn it!
’Then what’s the use of you, my system?! Where’s the protagonist’s halo you promised me???’
Initially, Tu Xiao’an hadn’t taken crossing the tribulation for his Rank Three of Enlightenment very seriously, because his strength already surpassed that of an ordinary Rank Three Demon Spirit.
He had assumed that Crossing the Tribulation would be an incredibly easy task for him.
However, he hadn’t expected that the nobler a creature’s bloodline and the stronger its power, the greater the difficulty of the Celestial Tribulation would be.
Tu Xiao’an was given quite the honor; the Heaven and Earth Law had directly sent down the legendary inescapable Celestial Tribulation upon him.
But even so, Tu Xiao’an remained composed. He had even stolen the Celestial Might inherent within the Celestial Thunder and Celestial Fire. He imagined that once he successfully achieved his Enlightenment, he would be able to unleash Celestial Thunder and Celestial Fire with a mere flick of his wrist and a single thought.
’So domineering, so badass.’
’He could unleash a Celestial Tribulation at will, making him practically invincible. Anyone who fought him would first have to endure a tribulation of their own.’
’Just ask yourself, wouldn’t you be terrified?’
What Tu Xiao’an didn’t know was that if it weren’t for his arrogant use of the Heaven Stealing Power, the inescapable Celestial Tribulation would not have become so excessive and relentless.
It was supposed to strike bolt by bolt, and if you were truly tough enough to endure, it would have let you live.
But since he had stolen its Celestial Might, his death was now guaranteed.
How could the Heaven and Earth Law allow a Snake possessing Celestial Might to successfully achieve enlightenment?
As time quietly passed, Tu Xiao’an’s towering serpentine body had already shrunk to ten meters in size. Moreover, this shrinking trend was intensifying, becoming even more rapid.
From large to small, from existence to nothingness—this was the ultimate move of the inescapable Celestial Tribulation.
"No! I have to hold on! I have to hold on! I can’t let my body shrink any further!"
Tu Xiao’an roared madly, trying to make his body expand once more, but under the majestic power of the Celestial Tribulation, it was as if his physical strength had been completely drained.
He struggled to open his eyes, but he couldn’t see anything. Amidst the deafening roar that filled his ears, he could only feel the world itself about to shatter.
’Can these heavens truly not tolerate a Snake like me?’
’Or perhaps, they cannot tolerate a Snake possessing a human soul.’
Tu Xiao’an’s heart filled with rage. He had come so far, completed ninety-nine steps of the journey, only to be denied the final one.
From the day he was reborn as a snake, every step he took had been difficult. At first, Tu Xiao’an could only hide in dark corners, terrified of being caught by some Snake Catcher. He fought to survive as a snake, growing stronger step by step, and eventually became the Snake King revered by everyone in Bai Town.
It truly hadn’t been easy for him to reach this point. Attaining the Rank Three of Enlightenment meant transcending the mundane and gaining the power of Transformation. As both snake and man, he could finally, just barely, return home openly and start his new life.
’No! My fate is my own, not for the heavens to decide! I must survive!’
Tu Xiao’an focused his mind and calmed his Qi. His drooping eyes snapped open, and a sharp light burst forth, as dazzling as the bright moon in the sky, impossible to look at directly.
’Destroy me?’
’I’m going to be shameless and keep on living, just to spite you!’
Tu Xiao’an’s powerful Consciousness Power enveloped his continuously shrinking body.
Once the power of this Celestial Tribulation descended, it created a vast expanse of white. It could only be endured and counteracted until the power was finally exhausted and dissipated.
Therefore, all Tu Xiao’an could do was persevere—persevere until the power of the Celestial Tribulation vanished before he did.
meters...!
meters...!
meters...!
Until he was only one meter in size.
For convenience, Tu Xiao’an had often kept his serpentine body at a length of one meter. But now, as a one-meter-long snake, he was filled with terror and unease.
’I can’t get any smaller. Any smaller, and I’ll become dust.’
Tu Xiao’an frantically mobilized every ounce of power he could muster to protect his serpentine body.
’Alive. He had to stay alive. He must live.’
......
「Bai Town!」
"Yue’er, I’ve been terrified and restless all day. My right eyelid won’t stop twitching. Does it mean something bad is about to happen?"
The middle-aged woman clutched her chest, her face extremely pale and completely drained of color.
In the backyard, their normally well-behaved black dog was growling low and incessantly, making everyone even more anxious.
Tu Xiaoyue’s heart was filled with desolation, but she forced a calm smile onto her face and comforted her, "Mom, everything’s peaceful at home. What could possibly happen? You must be worn out today. You’ll feel better after some sleep."
"I can’t sleep. I keep feeling like something has happened to your brother. But... your brother is clearly already..." She couldn’t continue, her mind consumed with the thought that her youngest son might be suffering in the afterlife.
"Mom, please don’t let your imagination run wild," Tu Xiaoyue said with a smile, taking her mother’s hands. The moment she did, her heart sank. Her mother’s hands were so cold, so icy, without a trace of warmth.
Her own heart trembled. It wasn’t just her mother who was restless; how could she not be? Even the strongest people have a weak point—one that aches at the slightest touch and shatters on contact.
For the two women of this small family, that weak point was painfully obvious: they were both worried about the younger son, the little brother they shared.
’Little brother, have you really gotten into trouble? Your big sister is waiting for you to come back. Mom is waiting for you to come home, too.’
Tu Xiaoyue was now filled with regret. She regretted how her heart had softened and she’d agreed when her brother, now a snake, said he wanted to venture out into the world.
’So what if he was a snake? What did it matter? Even those who seem immune to all poisons were once hopelessly lost. Only after losing a loved one do you truly understand the warmth of blood being thicker than water.’
"Sis, I have to go. When I return, it will be time for our family to reunite."
On the night he left Bai Town, Tu Xiao’an had desperately tried to persuade his sister.
Having once been human, how could he be content to live out his days as a snake? The Rank Three Dao was the only path for him, for Tu Xiao’an.
.......
Monkey Mountain was enveloped in a vast, boundless expanse of white. This Snake Spirit Crossing the Tribulation had shattered the worldview of countless creatures.
Those Spirit Monsters who were desperately in Cultivation, hoping to cross their own tribulations, were now filled with endless terror. If achieving enlightenment was this difficult and Crossing the Tribulation was this terrifying, it was simply a dead end.
It was better to just live a good life at the Spirit Monster level. After all, it’s better to live a humble life than to die a glorious death. Besides, a Spirit Monster that engaged in Cultivation could live for several hundred years.
What was the point of achieving enlightenment? This path was blocked. It was a road to certain death.
"This is bad! I can sense Master’s aura fading rapidly. It’s disappearing so quickly that I can barely sense it anymore!"
As Tu Xiao’an’s Battle Companion, the Bull Demon King shared a spiritual connection with him.
If the soul aura of one party were to disappear completely, it would signify their death.
Leaves rustled and fell from the Tree Spirit’s body like leaves in an autumn wind. Finally, Charlie said in terror, "I can’t sense him anymore. Could it be that Master has already been turned to ash and smoke?"
’Could Ben Charlie’s luck really be this good? I just lost my freedom, and now I’m getting it back already?’
But why was it that neither the Bull Demon King nor the Tree Spirit felt any sense of joy?
The bull and the tree both tried to peer through the vast expanse of white, hoping to see that familiar serpentine silhouette, but they could see nothing, not even a single scale.
In different areas of the Yaoling Mountain Range, several Super level Creatures were prostrated on the ground, trembling with anxiety.
For creatures like these, who were already transcendent despite not yet having reached Rank Three, to feel such unease... one could only imagine the shadow that had been cast over their hearts.
.......
My mentality was a bit broken yesterday, sorry about that. It’s mainly because the book’s performance has dropped sharply recently. The number of subscribers has fallen so low that it could very well mean the end of this book. Right now, Qing Bai’s mood is just like the protagonist’s—utterly desperate. I know my updates aren’t fast, but two or three Chapters a day is a normal update speed. Most authors update at this rate, as we all have other things to do. I often ask fans in the group chat, "Has the book become boring recently? Is the plot badly written?" They all say it’s still good and they can keep reading. But my subscriptions just keep dropping and dropping, hitting rock bottom. Qing Bai sincerely hopes that friends who like this book can avoid reading pirated versions. Please subscribe if you can. If the book gets canceled, then no one will have anything to read. I write, you read. That’s the unspoken agreement between us. I hope this relationship can continue for a long time.
