At this moment, all the Southern Border Gu Immortals stationed far from Yitian Mountain looked up at the sky.
Even the mortal Gu Masters on Yitian Mountain felt a strange, inexplicable chill.
Rumble, rumble, rumble…
From the highest reaches of the sky, a faint rumbling could be heard.
After just a few breaths, the rumbling grew from soft to loud, as though hundreds of people were beating war drums in the distance.
Ever since ascending Yitian Mountain, Fang Yuan had been racing against time, burying himself in training and eagerly converting his battle intent. But now the commotion overhead grew too large to ignore. He had no choice but to pause what he was doing and crane his neck upward.
Far above, at a height of ten thousand zhang, a string of white points of light suddenly blazed to life.
There were countless of them, packed densely together, plummeting toward Yitian Mountain in a vast, overwhelming cascade.
"That's the Thousand Bead Light Tribulation!" one Gu Immortal cried out in alarm.
"No — the Thousand Bead Light Tribulation only carries about a thousand light beads. But this tribulation has at least a hundred thousand!"
"How could a tribulation just appear out of nowhere?" Many Gu Immortals were baffled.
"Could it be someone undergoing tribulation?" Most of the immortals immediately turned their gaze toward Yitian Mountain.
Fang Yuan's heart lurched. He raised his guard to the maximum.
Moments later, cold sweat trickled down his back as waves of detection pressure, solid as tangible force, swept over his entire body.
Though he possessed the Gu killer move Meeting Like Old Friends, the core Immortal Gu of this technique was only at the Sixth Transformation level. It could fool a Sixth Transformation Gu Immortal, but against the scouting of a Seventh or Eighth Transformation immortal, the risk of being exposed remained significant.
Fang Yuan held his breath in dread — and then let out a silent sigh of relief.
He had not been found.
"They couldn't locate anyone?" The Gu Immortals were incredulous.
They scoured the area around Yitian Mountain and found not a single Fifth Transformation Gu Master undergoing tribulation.
Just as they were about to search further, preparing to deploy even more powerful detection methods, the Thousand Bead Light Tribulation came crashing down upon all of them.
"Just to be safe — don't let the Heavenly Tribulation affect Yitian Mountain!"
"Agreed. Let's all strike together and block the tribulation."
Some Gu Immortals privately speculated whether this tribulation was connected to the Jinghong Chaotic Battle Platform.
The Southern Border Gu Immortals quickly reached a consensus.
According to the wager, if any threat appeared, all the immortals participating in the contest had to resist together and protect their interests.
Though the Thousand Bead Light Tribulation was vast, the Southern Border Gu Immortals had numbers on their side. Among them were four Eighth Transformation immortals, nine Seventh Transformation, and over a dozen Sixth Transformation.
The immortals struck out in unison. The tribulation was swiftly annihilated — not a single light bead touched the ground.
Some of the more attentive immortals even used techniques to pull layers of clouds across the sky above Yitian Mountain, preventing the mortal Gu Masters below from noticing any anomalies.
"Heh heh heh." The Eighth Transformation wandering immortal Peng Shilong stroked his beard and chuckled. "Whoever it is, to ascend to immortality right at this juncture — that takes nerve."
"Find them! Every one of us gathered here is an elite among the Southern Border Gu Immortals. Can we really fail to find a single mortal undergoing tribulation?" The Seventh Transformation Gu Immortal Ye Qingtang sneered. Being used as a human shield — serving as someone's tool for tribulation — left this proud and aloof immortal in a foul mood.
"The mortal undergoing tribulation — whose descendant are they? Just speak up now. Better to settle this calmly than to have an ugly confrontation when we find them," the Gu Immortal Wang Kai sneered coldly.
The immortals exchanged glances, but no one stepped forward.
The expression of the Eighth Transformation Gu Immortal Ren Haiyang darkened. He barked, "How ungrateful! Still trying to hide it? Do you think we're all fools?"
"Watch out — another tribulation is descending!" Suddenly, one of the immortals called out a warning.
High above, the sky turned dim and lifeless, as if a giant brush had smeared a vast swath of dark indigo across it.
The temperature plummeted. Cold radiated outward in all directions.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Countless shards of frost spun like blades, pouring downward in a torrential cascade.
Ye Qingtang's voice grew heavy as he called out in a low shout, "That's the Profound Yin Flying Frost!"
"Just who is undergoing tribulation to summon one of the Ten Great Calamities?"
"Something's wrong. Even among the Ten Great Calamities, this tribulation's scale is far too large — it's completely beyond the norm."
"It's here!"
"Block it!"
Rumble! Lightning crackled and fire roared as the immortals neutralized the flying frost.
The Profound Yin Flying Frost was no joke — it was listed among the Ten Great Calamities for a reason.
After this tribulation passed, many Gu Immortals were wounded. One of them, the immortal Gua Lao, was heavily injured. The thought of retreating began to stir in his mind.
"What's going on?! Is this because the Jinghong Chaotic Battle Platform is about to emerge? Is heaven sending down tribulations because of it? Forget this — I don't have any Immortal Gu on me. I'm not going to stand here like an idiot and take the hits. I'm getting out of this danger zone first!"
With that thought, Gua Lao immediately transformed into a streak of brilliant light and shot away.
"Ha! That guy sure runs fast!" Ye Qingtang sneered, clasping his hands behind his back as he hovered in place with an air of arrogance. The Profound Yin Flying Frost was powerful, but it was far from enough to humble him.
Yet more of the Sixth Transformation Gu Immortals began to follow Gua Lao's example.
Most of them were bottom-tier immortals without any Immortal Gu to their names, and nearly all of them were already carrying wounds.
But in the very next instant, Gua Lao's figure suddenly reappeared right in the very center of the Gu Immortal crowd.
He froze. How had he ended up here?
In quick succession, more Sixth Transformation Gu Immortals were teleported back as well, appearing alongside Gua Lao.
"It's a trap! Someone set up an enormous Spatial Path Gu formation on the perimeter!" One of the immortals quickly realized what had happened and cried out in alarm.