"Wasn't it said that the River God of Aolai River had already ascended? How can someone else be undergoing the Lightning Tribulation?" the Heavenly Envoy of the Heavenly Court asked with a puzzled look.
Had Honghong not attained the Human Immortal Realm, she wouldn't have been able to inherit the position of River God, let alone take over Aolai River without someone stepping in to stop her.
However, since she had already ascended—and done so by surviving the Lightning Tribulation—the Heavenly Court could not afford to let such a person slip away.
The Ministry of Thunder in the Heavenly Court monitored all thunder activity across the realm. It was precisely because of this department that the Heavenly Court learned the River God of Aolai River had survived the Lightning Tribulation and attained immortality, possessing the potential of a future Great Immortal. Consequently, they dispatched an envoy to extend the Heavenly Court's greetings and pacification.
In the present era, most immortals achieved immortality by employing methods to evade tribulations, dodging the Three Disasters and Nine Calamities to secure peace.
Among them, the Three Disasters were inevitable ordeals every immortal had to face, while the Nine Calamities were tied to incense deities.
When an incense deity grew to a certain stage, they were bound to confront the calamity of the Nine Calamities, something even the position of Celestial Emperor could not evade.
Figures like the Jade Emperor, Emperor Ziwei, and Emperor Gouchen had all undergone the tribulation of reincarnation, which was inextricably linked to their identities as incense deities.
Those in the world who could survive the Lightning Tribulation to become immortals were either blessed with extraordinary natural talent and heaven-defying comprehension, or possessed immense karmic merit.
Regardless of which category they fell into, they were worthy of the Heavenly Court's attention.
The Heavenly Court rose to prominence after the Conferment of Gods precisely because they mastered the informational advantage of the entire realm, allowing them to recruit the finest talents first.
"I am unaware of this as well. However, according to information from our Dragon Palace, a Cold Silkworm demon has an exceptionally close relationship with the River God of Aolai River, and its true strength remains unknown. Perhaps it is that Cold Silkworm undergoing the Lightning Tribulation. As for the rest—the mountain gods, earth deities, Demon Cultivators, and Daoist practitioners of Huaguo Mountain—none of them have any possibility of experiencing the Lightning Tribulation!" the old turtle beside the Heavenly Envoy spoke, revealing some of the intelligence he had gathered.
The old turtle of the East Sea Dragon Turtle was a subordinate of the Prime Minister of the Turtle Clan. Residing in the East Sea, they were naturally exceptionally well-informed about the entire region's affairs.
They stopped atop a towering mountain on Huaguo Mountain, gazing with inscrutable expressions at the Patching Stone before fixing their eyes on the tribulation clouds gathering in the sky.
Before long, a tiny, jade-white Cold Silkworm flew out from beneath the waterfall of Huaguo Mountain.
It was none other than Li Qi's true form.
Observers noticed that Li Qi's body bore a moon-shaped mark, exuding an intense chill as if it were about to freeze the surrounding realm.
Li Qi flew toward a relatively barren mountain peak, landing upon a massive boulder atop it to face the Lightning Tribulation directly.
Upon landing on the rock, he spat out a breath of cold air, forming layer upon layer of icy barrier shields to withstand the might of the Lightning Tribulation.
In total, he deployed nine layers of extreme frost barriers.
Each barrier bore a moon-shaped mark—a trace of the profound essence of the cold moon that Li Qi had comprehended through his continuous moon-worship cultivation in recent years.
By imprinting this essence of the cold moon onto the ice barriers, he could channel a fraction of power from the Lunar Star beyond the realms to help him resist the might of the heavenly thunder tribulation.
"To think one could actually witness a Lunar Moon Cold Silkworm here, which only ever appears on the Lunar Star!" The Heavenly Envoy was clearly exceptionally knowledgeable.
"No, that fellow isn't a pure Lunar Moon Cold Silkworm. Rather, he looks like an ordinary mortal insect that awakened the Cold Silkworm bloodline, continuously elevating it step by step until it finally underwent a metamorphosis into this Lunar Moon Cold Silkworm!"
The Heavenly Envoy had actually managed to discern the origin of Li Qi's bloodline.
Yet this realization did not elicit contempt from the envoy; instead, it only heightened his regard.
After all, a Demon Cultivator who grew step by step in this manner could walk much further along the path of immortal cultivation than ordinary individuals.
To true powerhouses of the immortal path, a strong bloodline ultimately ceased to be an aid and became a massive shackles.
Why did so many powerhouses choose to reincarnate as humans and experience Samsara?
Their purpose was precisely to shed their old bloodlines and return to mortal vessels, allowing them to walk further and higher on the true path of seeking the Dao.
Only those ancient deities of antiquity whose bloodline power had penetrated their very foundations and could no longer be altered chose not to do so.
"Huaguo Mountain truly lives up to its reputation as a place blessed by heaven and earth. Not only did it produce a River God of Aolai River, but now it has also produced a Lunar Moon Cold Silkworm, and in the future, a supreme immortal is destined to be born. Ah, looking at us, our futures are already clear at a single glance!" Hearing the envoy's words, the old turtle looked with envy at Li Qi, then at Honghong watching anxiously from the water's surface, and finally at the Patching Stone atop the peak of Huaguo Mountain, unable to help uttering a sigh.
Both he and the envoy beside him had achieved immortality by evading tribulations.
They had attained the fruit of longevity, yet lost all possibility of further advancement along the Dao.
The moment they confirmed that Li Qi possessed the bloodline of the Lunar Moon Cold Silkworm, they understood that Li Qi's chances of surviving the Lightning Tribulation exceeded fifty percent!
Moreover, Li Qi's aura was deep and unfathomable, yet as beings of the immortal realm, both of them could naturally sense the solid and steady foundation of his Dharmic power.
Clearly, this Cold Silkworm had laid an exceptionally rock-solid foundation!
With his bloodline combined with such a deep and steady foundation, Li Qi's probability of surviving the Lightning Tribulation reached seventy percent.
Toward someone like Li Qi, they felt genuine envy and jealousy, lamenting that while their own futures were already set, his future held infinite possibilities.
For immortals, a predictable future gradually rendered the state of mind lifeless, turning longevity into a curse.
Those whose mental states failed to pass the test would inevitably go mad out of boredom with a god's immortal existence once they lived to a certain point.
Some immortals needed to seal themselves and descend to the mortal world to undergo tribulations precisely to overcome this poison of longevity.
Those who had not experienced longevity yearned for it, yet those who attained it would go on to suffer from its most terrifying venom.
If the mind gradually hollowed out, one would become no different from a corpse.
Hearing the old turtle's words, the Heavenly Envoy's expression darkened for a fraction of a second, and his envy toward the three figures within Huaguo Mountain deepened.
Yet he was far steadier than the old turtle.
Unlike the two of them, the River God Honghong currently stood upon the water's surface, observing Li Qi's tribulation from afar via a water-mirror spell.
It wasn't that she didn't want to fly closer; rather, beneath the crushing might of the Lightning Tribulation, she simply dared not fly.
Her current strength was merely at the threshold of the Human Immortal Realm.
Above the Human Immortal Realm lay the Earth Immortal, Heavenly Immortal, True Immortal, and Mystic Immortal realms.
If she were to fly into the air right now, the might of the heavenly lightning would likely cause her to plummet straight down.
The Dragon Palace old turtle and the Heavenly Envoy only dared to stand upon the mountaintop to watch, not daring to fly directly into the sky.
Flying at close range near the Lightning Tribulation made one an easy target for its wrath, as it could be perceived as a challenge to the Heavenly Dao.
In the Primordial World, the Heavenly Dao reigned supreme and its majesty was inviolable.
Having survived the Lightning Tribulation herself, Honghong knew all too well how terrifyingly difficult it was; had it not been for the assistance of karmic merit from the Heavenly Dao back then, she would never have made it through.
Countless Demon Cultivators existed in the Primordial World, yet many suppressed their realms at the peak of Refining Void to Integrate with Dao, not daring to advance further until they found a method to evade tribulations.
As for those who risked the tribulation, fewer than one in a hundred survived.
The reason Honghong felt such deep concern despite knowing Li Qi possessed Heavenly Dao merit was that Li Qi's tribulation cloud was nearly three times larger than the one she had faced!
This signified that Li Qi possessed greater strength and a more stable foundation, prompting the Heavenly Dao to deem him worthy of an even more formidable Lightning Tribulation.
She worried that facing a tribulation cloud three times larger, Li Qi might not survive.
Meanwhile, aside from the three of them, various city gods and mountain gods dared not face the aura of the Lightning Tribulation directly; instead, they hid deep underground, using specialized arts to observe from afar.
Among these deities, the city gods dreaded the Lightning Tribulation the most, for they were deities born of ghosts.
Even as gods, they could still be classified among ghostly entities.
And ghostly entities feared the might of thunder above all else.
The thunderous might of the heavenly tribulation also possessed a powerful suppression and restraining effect on the mountain gods, many of whom were Demon Cultivators.
They could only hide underground, using the sheer thickness of the earth to insulate themselves; otherwise, the aura of the Lightning Tribulation would injure them.
The mountain gods and city gods were knowledgeable figures. Seeing that Li Qi's tribulation cloud was nearly three times larger than that of a normal cultivator undergoing the ascension tribulation, they all understood that this friend of the Aolai River God was also a prodigy of the immortal path, possessing the qualifications to become a top-tier powerhouse.
Yet, even they remained uncertain whether Li Qi could survive this tribulation.