Chapter 2467: Tranquil Like Water
Just like that, the headmaster’s eighth stellular tribulation completely vanished.
The tribulation had ended, which meant that the crazy headmaster had successfully passed his eighth stellular tribulation. Normally, a majestic tide of stellular energy would pour down, and the cultivator would absorb it into their body, allowing them to arrive at the peak of the Envoy realm. Their next step would be to break through again to the Semi-Progenitor realm. However, the stellular energy dissipated before fully appearing and then reappeared again shortly after. This abnormal behavior was clearly related to the oddities of the stellular tribulation itself.
Regardless, the crazy headmaster just let out a hysterical laugh. He showed no intention whatsoever of absorbing the stellular energy.
Old Cai muttered to himself, "I don't know if he's lucky or unlucky. Given the problems with his tribulation, it's a miracle that he even managed to survive. However, he also didn't receive any benefits from passing his eighth stellular tribulation."
"It's a good thing that he didn't. If he had absorbed that stellular energy, it would have killed him as soon as it started flowing in reverse," the Rainmaster commented.
"This is bad!" The Trialmaster looked up at the sky. Where had that Semi-Progenitor gone to?
The old woman was already inside Astral-10. With the stellular tribulation gone, she intended to seize the opportunity and destroy the Stargazing Deck.
Suddenly, an indescribable chill shot up her spine. She looked up to see another stellular tribulation’s enormous vortex hovering above Astral-10. The vortex completely filled the entire sky.
At this moment, the insane headmaster was not the only person within the stellular tribulation’s range, as the entirety of Astral-10 was also included, along with the old woman.
Her face grew pale. What was going on? Another stellular tribulation?
Elsewhere beneath the massive vortex, Old Cai and the other mentors were similarly staring upwards in confusion. Where had this stellular tribulation come from?
"It’s the Headmaster! He’s trying to break through to the Semi-Progenitor realm!" the Trialmaster said incredulously, his eyes growing wide.
Everyone’s initial reaction was pure disbelief. The crazy headmaster had just finished his eighth tribulation, so his stellular energy vortex could not have possibly reached the pinnacle of the Envoy realm. Even if he had, it was never easy to break through to the Semi-Progenitor realm, as it required a cultivator to transform their stellular energy vortex into an inner world. The difficulty of this requirement was on a completely different level from all earlier breakthroughs. How had the man triggered this tribulation so easily? He was attempting to cross two breakthroughs at once!
Lu Yin was also surprised, as he was observing the situation from a distance. A stellular tribulation? Who was undergoing it? This tribulation was quite large. Hang on, were people from the Fifth Mainland even capable of facing stellular tribulations at this point in time?
Right as that thought occurred to Lu Yin, the stellular tribulation’s vortex changed in size. It started expanding and contracting randomly, almost as though it was messing around.
From the Heavens Sect era to the current era—from the time of the very first stellular tribulations, this was the first time that such a bizarre tribulation had ever appeared.
The crazy headmaster's stellular tribulation engulfed everyone. In particular, the old Semi-Progenitor woman’s presence caused the tribulation to grow to a jaw-dropping size. Everyone was being forced to face the tribulation with the headmaster. However, due to the problem with the true universe, the vortex was unable to send down any trials. It simply hung above everything, undergoing several transformations. Everyone craned their necks to look upwards, their hearts palpitating wildly. Only the headmaster continued to laugh. However, his laughter had changed, and he no longer repeated his same rants.
As he laughed, tears started to fall. His laughter seemed to contain an entire lifetime of ups and downs.
Anyone who heard the laughter could not help but shed tears themselves as they experienced their entire life flashing before their eyes.
The old Semi-Progenitor was no exception. She could not understand why such overwhelming sadness was filling her heart. At this moment, numerous doubts drifted through her mind; had all the people that she had killed during her life as a cultivator truly deserve to die? Had her previous actions been right or wrong? What was she doing at the moment? Questions assaulted her mind.
The headmaster looked up into outer space and laughed heartily. There was no downpour of vast amounts of stellular energy. Instead, numerous columns of water fell from the sky. It was as though it was raining in outer space.
The Astral-10 students stared at the falling water columns in stupefaction. The water splashed down in front of the students, spraying them with mist before rising up once again to form lakes with unfathomable depths. Each lake seemed like an isolated region of space, and each lake held an image.
The lakes extinguished the fires that had been constantly ravaging Astral-10. For the first time in a long while, Astral-10 was clean.
One student reached out and touched a column of water. He then witnessed a man’s entire life, from when he had been full of vigor, to the time he went insane. It was the headmaster's life.
His life experiences formed the odd columns of water that had fallen from outer space and created countless lakes.
As the columns of water appeared, the black vortex of the stellular tribulation silently vanished from up above.
It had appeared and disappeared with equal suddenness, despite being a stellular tribulation.
The old Semi-Progenitor woman was shocked to see the endless columns of water. "Is this a phenomenon?”
Off in the distance, Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed. "A phenomenon?"
The universe was never fair. Absolute fairness simply couldn’t exist. Innate gifts varied between each individual who possessed one. Some people would only ever achieve average results, and they would never cause any phenomena to appear regardless how difficult their tribulation might be or what level their cultivation reached, including even the Progenitor realm. However, for some, even passing a minor tribulation could cause the colors of the sky to change and a phenomenon to appear.
For example, Lu Yin had triggered phenomena during his breakthroughs to become an Explorer, Enlighter, and even an Envoy. At this moment, the crazy headmaster’s breakthrough had similarly triggered a phenomenon.
It was hard to determine whether the Headmaster had actually passed or failed his stellular tribulation. The stellular tribulation had indeed appeared, but then it had mysteriously disappeared. The only reasonable answer was that the headmaster had successfully broken through without facing any trials during his two tribulations. However, this also meant that he had not reaped any benefits from successfully breaking through. Still, he seemed to have passed, as even a phenomenon had appeared.
"Tranquil like Water,1" murmured the Starmaster.
Those who heard him were puzzled.
The Starmaster continued, "Only those who have achieved enlightenment can attain the state of tranquil like water. Through the Stargazing Deck, the headmaster saw his own past, but he was unable to move past it. That was the cause of his mental disorder that lasted for so many years. However, it also acted as a sort of mental tempering. Just now, the headmaster has reawakened with a true understanding of the universe. He has reached the state of tranquil like water, while also stepping into the Semi-Progenitor realm."
"How do you know this?" Old Cai asked, a bit confused.
No answer came. Everyone was staring at the headmaster. He was no longer laughing. Rather, he was standing at the center of endless columns of water, drowning in an ocean of memories.
Inside Astral-10, the old woman suppressed her aura as much as possible and then started moving in a certain direction. She knew that making any commotion at this moment would definitely attract the attention of the Forsaken Land’s powers. She no longer had any intention of destroying the Stargazing Deck, and instead, she simply wanted to leave as soon as possible. The madman gave her the chills, and it was possible that he posed a threat to her. He was the strangest cultivator she had ever seen. Who passed a stellular tribulation without facing a single trial and then even triggered a phenomenon? She had to leave as soon as possible.
"Guest from afar, why are you leaving in such a hurry?" a gentle voice called out, echoed through the region.
The old woman froze before turning around. There was a clear pair of eyes staring at her from the depths of outer space. They were like a calm sea that lacked even a single ripple.
Old Cai and the others all stared at the old woman.
A fierce light flickered across the old woman's eyes. "Do you think that you can stop me after you just became a Semi-Progenitor? I suggest that you understand your limits, or else, while you may have passed your stellular tribulation by luck, you still might not live past today."
Even as she spoke, the Semi-Progenitor prepared to leave.
The headmaster's expression never changed, but he raised his left hand and lightly tapped a finger. The movement seemed to travel through space to touch a distant column of water. A single droplet shot out from the column to instantly appear behind the old woman.
The old woman became furious. "You're courting death!"
As she yelled, the halo that was her inner world appeared once more, and this time, it pressed down upon the headmaster and all of Astral-10. She was attempting to destroy the entire warship with her inner world.
However, while she could ignore the people in Astral-10, she could not disregard the Heavens Sect or Lu Xiaoxuan. Thus, there was no hesitation as the old woman fled from Astral-10.
She did not even notice that the drop of water had easily passed through her inner world and touched her back.
Drip.
The sound of dripping water rang out, clear and pleasant, even to the old woman’s ears. Her eyes slowly lost focus, and her movements slowed. Her body only continued moving forward out due to its previous momentum. No one stopped her as she drifted away.
"Headmaster," Sandmaster couldn't help but call out.
The headmaster looked away, and the old woman's inner world disappeared as though it had never even existed. "Everyone, you have worked hard for these many years."
Old Cai and the others were overjoyed. "Headmaster, you're awake?"
"Has the headmaster awakened?"
"Has the headmaster awakened!"
…
In Astral-10, both teachers and students rejoiced.
The Rainmaster and some of the other mentors were still a bit uneasy. The headmaster had occasionally regained clarity over the years, so who knew how long his clarity would last this time? Also, what had just happened?
The headmaster slowly descended.
All of the mentors instinctively surrounded the man, carefully examining him.
The headmaster smiled slightly as he looked around. "See to the students first. As for my matters, we'll talk later."
The man then looked upwards. "He's finally here."
Lu Yin had arrived outside Astral-10 with the old Semi-Progenitor woman dangling from his grip.
Lu Yin slowly descended and looked at the headmaster. "Headmaster?"
The man laughed. "Young man, have you made up your mind? Are you willing to leave your name on Boundless?"
Lu Yin was overjoyed. "Headmaster, have you really recovered?"
The headmaster just smiled before turning his attention to the old woman. "What was the point of bringing her here? That’s nothing but a husk now."
Lu Yin let go of the old woman, and she fell to the ground. Her eyes were filled with confusion, much like a babe who had never interacted with the world before. Drool dribbled from her mouth, and she was unable to control her body.
Seeing the woman’s condition, Old Cai and the other mentors felt a sharp chill, and they all looked at Lu Yin as though he were a monster, but Lu Yin just shrugged. "Don't look at me. This was all the headmaster's doing. I just brought her here."
They all turned to stare at the headmaster, who shrugged as well. "She brought it upon herself. She had the chance to leave, but chose not to take it. So be it."
Lu Yin remarked, "Headmaster, you just broke through to the Semi-Progenitor realm, and yet you can already easily defeat another Semi-Progenitor. That is truly impressive. This junior congratulates you on your awakening."
"We also congratulate you, Headmaster, on your awakening," Rainmaster and the others echoed with absolute sincerity.
The headmaster let out a long breath and then bowed low to everyone. "I, Shao Chen, would like to express my heartfelt gratitude for your constant companionship. Also, thank you all for helping Boundless."
At this moment, the old woman was already a complete invalid, so Lu Yin left her for Astral-10 to handle. He had hurried over to protect Astral-10’s Stargazing Deck, but fortunately, the headmaster had reawakened at a critical juncture. If not for that, Lu Yin would have lost all means of dealing with Bai Xian'er.
The four ruling powers truly could not be underestimated. They had eventually uncovered exactly how Lu Yin had injured Bai Xian'er.
However, Lu Yin was no longer concerned about that. Between Arch-Elder Zen and the Astral-10’s headmaster, Lu Yin finally saw hope for the Fifth Mainland to rise up once again.
Every era had its own heroes. The Heavens Sect era had heralded the Three Realms Six Dao, the Daosource Sect era had seen the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas, and the other eras had to have had powerful individuals of their own, even if they had been similar to Progenitor Ku, who had never been famous despite his indomitable strength. The current era had its own fair share of impressive talents, with the likes of Hen Xin and the other gatemasters of the Heavenly Gates, Astral-10’s headmaster, Arch-Elder Zen, Lu Yin, and other youths. Given enough time, the Ten Arbiters would reach their full potential as well.
This was the strength of the Fifth Mainland.
[1] This is a reference to Chapter 8 of Dao De Jing by Lao Zi: 上善若水(the highest form of goodness is like water) is found in the first sentence of the chapter.
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