The mountains and rivers trembled everywhere, and the heavens and earth shook. Immortals reappeared, and eighteen immortal pillars pierced through the heavens and earth. This was an unprecedented event in the two hundred years since the founding of the Great Ming Dynasty.
However, even so, there were still some people with ulterior motives, who did not intend to ascend to immortality at this time.
Hum—
Ji Xiang inhaled and exhaled the essence of the world, his mind being guided.
One, two, three...
"Someone is ascending to immortality. More than ten people are taking the Golden Core path, and none of them have undergone the demon trial. However, their human path has reached its end. Now they have been guided to take on an immortal form, and only the last step remains."
These people seized the opportunity to ascend to the heavens by using their achievements as Demon Kings. Although the Demon Kings had returned to their positions, they had also broken through the restraints of the demon heavens. They no longer needed to undergo the "immortality examination." It could be said that they were like dragons breaking free from their confines, no longer restricted...
Were they truly no longer restricted?
Hum—
Ji Xiang's hands turned golden, and purple clouds flowed from the gaps between his fingers.
Golden true jade light, purple patterns, the Great Law of the Northern Emperor for Dispelling Demons.
The fifteenth lesson, the Chapter of Guidance, was complete. His title as Demon King had been decided when he rushed into that demon heaven!
Along with this title, an hidden name was born, known only to Ji Xiang. It was concealed by the Northern Feng Demon Heaven when he ascended to the position of Demon King and entered the blood-red demon heaven.
All Demon Kings have hidden names, because they are all transformations of Divine Kings or Immortal Emperors. What the gods of the world fear most is their hidden names being known. If others speak their hidden names, a great deal of their power will be borrowed, causing them to deplete their own strength.
The descent of a new name represents the true form of this Demon King, which contains immense power. Therefore, after Ji Xiang was elevated, he did not merely condense a "Demon King form."
There was also another "Immortal Emperor form," unknown to the world, whose hidden name was never spoken, and which would never manifest.
This hidden name could not be heard by ordinary people, because Demon Kings are inherently "hidden emperors." In Taoism, after Yuanshi Tianzun created the heavens and earth during the Longhan era, he ruled the three realms. Countless natural spirits ascended to true immortality through cultivation. To those who manifested, they were Immortal Emperors, primarily responsible for bestowing blessings and educating. To those who remained hidden, they were Demon Emperors, primarily responsible for guarding and punishing.
As the sound entered their ears, it immediately transformed into different characters.
Thousands of thoughts, more than ten streams of immortal light, were at this moment entering the final step of ascension.
Some had even completed their ascension and were following closely behind Ji Xiang, about to complete their transformation!
However...
The Demon Kings of all heavens had already noticed those immortals using the opportunity to ascend. But they were unconcerned, because the next task was what Ji Xiang was about to do.
Among them, this task was not originally prepared for them.
As long as there were people in the world with unfulfilled desires, and as long as more and more people cultivated the Golden Core Dao, even without Ji Xiang, over time, a "Great Demon" would gradually emerge to specifically restrain those who achieved immortality.
Now, it was simply because Ji Xiang had cultivated into a Demon King, the only human to have ascended to demonhood in history. That Great Demon, which should have emerged from the unseen, dissipated into nothingness, its position being made available for Ji Xiang, and its destiny naturally being bestowed upon Ji Xiang.
Therefore, a new Demon King, a new task, and a new method of restraint had already taken shape.
A blood-red sky curtain was summoned by Ji Xiang. This sky curtain originated from the Shangqing realm and simultaneously manifested at the locations of those who were about to truly become immortals. In the world where they were located, it reflected the same blood-red sky!
The voices of praise descended from the sky curtain, for the new Demon King's title!
Yuanshi Demon King!
Yuanshi Demon King, is the praise of the True Wushang Book, born within the Hongdong, flying in the Shiqing heaven.
Along with this title spreading out, only a limited number of people could hear it. These were precisely those immortals who had just ascended, who were still in a state of excitement, wanting to swallow the four seas and shake the eight directions!
The imposing immortals from before suddenly paused.
"Although you have crossed the immortal gate, you are not necessarily safe!"
"After becoming an immortal, there is still a Demon King!"
"To survive in heaven and earth, and to do all things, one needs to think more."
Ji Xiang's voice resounded like thunder above the heads of many ascendants. Like the roar of heavenly thunder, they suddenly looked up and saw that their names had already been inscribed in that blood-red sky curtain!
"What is this thing?"
"Red... sky?"
The old Taoist priest from Chongyang Palace was quite happy. He was about to die and had entered the immortal ranks almost at the last moment before being buried. Unexpectedly, such a blood-red sky curtain appeared above his head, covering the entire land and mountains where Chongyang Palace was located, and even taking his true name within it.
That rumbling thunderous voice seemed to be issued by a Demon King, and the words made people's hearts tremble.
"The sky is as red as blood, the sky is as red as fire. Is it a sign of imperial rejuvenation, or a sign of disaster and war for the world? But why does it manifest above me, an immortal? Could it be that I am destined for war?"
"A red sky, the Taiqing realm's Dharma realm is also called the Great Red Heaven. Could it be that the Great Red Heaven is reflecting the lower realm?"
Since the Golden Core Dao was established and the demon trial was initiated, passing the Demon King's examination would lead to recommendation and the acquisition of a Heavenly Emperor's form. Although this time the immortal gate was crossed without a demon trial, as long as one ascended to immortality, one would have an immortal form. If the Heavenly Emperor's form could not be obtained, it could not be obtained. It was like adding flowers to a brocade – happy if you have it, and not upset if you don't.
However, they had never heard of crossing the immortal gate and facing a demon king tribulation!
"Who is this? How have I never seen such a thing in ancient texts?"
On Mount Lao, in the East Sea, an immortal was bewildered. He stared intently at the blood-red sky, and after a while, he even summoned immortal light, attempting to disperse the blood-red sky curtain.
There was more than one immortal behaving in this manner!
How could their true names be reflected in the hands of external objects? They had already achieved immortality. That kind of pride, "I will ascend to the peak and behold all the mountains and rivers," made them unwilling to be controlled by some "unknown thing"!
However, some people seemed to have thought of something. Looking at the characters appearing in the red sky, the immortal in Qingcheng Mountain narrowed his eyes. His age was even older than the old Taoist priest of Chongyang Palace, but his cultivation was profound, so he was not as frail as the old Taoist priest of Chongyang.
The red sky, some called it the blood sky, some called it the fire sky, it could be ominous or auspicious. But with the descent of the Demon King's heavenly voice, this might be a great tribulation for the immortals. And such a thing, contrary to what one might think, there were indeed similar descriptions in ancient texts, but they were legends, or could be understood as something that would appear in the future, but had never been seen by the world.
Red script, jade characters, flowing fire heavenly court.
This was a description that appeared with the birth of Yuanshi Tianzun, something that emerged during the Wei and Jin dynasties.
The Taoist religion has five great tribulations, and the beginning of the Crimson Bright Tribulation began with the sudden appearance of several inscribed characters in the dark sky.
"At that time... the Taoist energy condensed in the darkness, and a scripture suddenly appeared in the sky, with characters one zhang square, and light emanating from the eight corners. Yuanshi Tianzun saw it and knew that the time for the tribulation had arrived. He immediately placed this jade character in the Flowing Fire Heavenly Court above the Great Luo Heaven for smelting. It immediately emitted a red light, hence it was called the Red Script."
"The Red Script Jade Characters transformed into the Yuanshi纲纪 of the heavens, called the Yuangang. The text of the Red Script Jade Characters is the root and sprout of heaven and earth. Its text flowed in all directions, descending in thirty-two places, thus giving birth to thirty-two heavens, and evolving into thirty-two Heavenly Emperors."
"After this, Yuanshi Tianzun took out a divine book and spread it in each era of the great tribulation. This divine book had five chapters, corresponding to five great tribulations and five different eras. It is said that the cultivation methods in those eras were all passed down from these five divine books."
"The people of Wei and Jin were arrogant and presumptuous."
The old immortal from Qingcheng Mountain muttered to himself.
Unaware, behind him, a person enveloped in golden light appeared, also looking at the red text in the sky.
In another realm—
"What demon dares to impersonate a Demon King! Come out, this immortal!"
Some immortals even uttered arrogant words, their voices causing the earth to shake and the earth's energy to surge upwards, wanting to compete with the heavens.
More than one immortal rushed towards the blood-red sky curtain. But even if they could split their Yang Shen avatars into twelve thousand, even if they ascended thousands of miles into the sky in an instant, resisting the strong winds of the heavens, they still could not completely disperse the blood-red sky curtain. On the contrary, their actions triggered a warning.
Vast demonic energy condensed within the blood-red sky curtain. This blood-red sky curtain was a part of the Northern Feng Demon Heaven. The birth of the new Demon King injected new power into the demon heaven, something that had never happened before in history. In the eyes of the immortals, the blood-red sky curtain was rapidly expanding, to the point where the entire world was dyed red.
Ji Xiang, located in Shangqing Maoshan, could overlook all the immortals with his demonic thoughts, because these people had not undergone the demon trial and were registered in the Northern Feng!
Then.
The fourteenth lesson, the Chapter of Divine Power, is the method of heavenly demon attack.
The fifteenth lesson, the Chapter of Guidance, is to be ranked as a Demon King and obtain the divine ability to dispel demons.
What follows then?
In Ji Xiang's eyes, rows of text appeared.
[Yuqing Hidden Book (Sixteenth Lesson) — Chapter of Trial of the Dao!]
[Only those ranked as Demon Kings can elevate and guide those who study the Dao in the world, recommending their words to help them achieve immortality. Each Demon King's trial of the Dao position, trial of the Dao rules, and trial of the Dao methods are all different!]
The text in his eyes changed again:
[Chapter of Trial of the Dao — Yuanshi Demon King Chapter!]
[Northern Feng Ascension Rules, Part One: All who have ascended to immortality without undergoing the Demon King's examination, all such beings, regardless of life or death, shall undergo the trial of Yuanshi Demon King.]
[Northern Feng Ascension Rules, Part Two: All who have ascended to immortality without undergoing the Demon King's examination, their true names shall be reflected in the Crimson Heaven. Only after passing the Yuanshi Demon Trial can they retrieve them! Before that, if they commit great evil deeds, their true names will be destroyed, and their immortal bodies will suffer great damage. They will need to accumulate one hundred thousand and five thousand good deeds, or convert one hundred people to become Earth Immortals, to offset it.]
[Yuanshi Demon King Chapter (First Level): Complete the ascension and examination of three immortals. The good deeds they perform must be over ten thousand, before they can undergo the demon trial. Otherwise, their names will be reflected in the Crimson Heaven and cannot be released. If, among the ten thousand good deeds, they commit one evil deed, all previous merits will be forfeited.]
[Red Script Jade Characters — Crimson Bright Chapter · Part One: Scripture of Life Guidance — Three Generations of Heaven-Opening Tribulation Method.]
Ji Xiang reached out. The immortals who had rushed into the blood-red sky found their surroundings changing. The blood-red sky enveloped them, and then the heavens and earth began to show illusions of great tearing!
Even their immortal bodies and immortal forms were about to be torn to shreds!
Achieving immortality is difficult.
The immortal tribulation is difficult to pass!
Those immortals fell from the sky, and a grand voice echoed in their ears and hearts:
"Considering that you have just achieved immortality, your merits are not yet established, and you have just seen this seat, your hearts are not yet settled."
"This time, it is only a minor punishment."
"No further pursuit!"