The Face-Slapping Journey of a Sword Cultivator Male God (QT) Chapter 001: Prologue - Ascension

In the Cultivation World, the Heavenly Ascent Mountain stood towering.

The Heavenly Ascent Mountain, a thousand feet high, jutted upwards like a proud, stalwart sentry. Its pinnacle, sharp and straight, was as if a spear was thrusting into the heavens.

Renowned as the tallest peak in the Cultivation World, the mountain was equally notorious for its exceptional steepness and the hazards it presented.

The summit was shrouded in a blanket of thick, ominous clouds, within which purple lightning roamed, sporadically illuminating the darkness. These thunderclouds hung oppressively over the peak, adding such weight to the atmosphere that it seemed the entire mountain was on the verge of collapse.

These menacing clouds were known as the Thunder Tribulation clouds, signaling that a tribulation was in progress. Judging by the scale and intensity of these tribulation clouds, it was clear that this was an Ascension Thunder Tribulation.

The Cultivation World was on the brink of witnessing another cultivator's ascension—an event of great significance to the entire domain.

Perched atop the Heavenly Ascent Mountain, beneath the brooding tribulation clouds, was a cultivator whose presence was as commanding as a lance. Garbed in a black Daoist robe, a long sword strapped to his back, his imposing yet icy demeanor was akin to a keen-edged blade thrusting into the sky beneath the capricious purple lightning.

His name was Xuan Yuan, the paramount sword cultivator of the Cultivation World, who was currently undergoing the Ascension Thunder Tribulation. His remarkable looks, coupled with his profound cultivation base, positioned him as the foremost figure of the Sword School Sect, the premier sect in the Cultivation World. A formidable powerhouse revered throughout the Cultivation World, Xuan Yuan was a figure of awe and admiration for many cultivators.

The heavy, rumbling clouds descending from the peak of the Heavenly Ascent Mountain and the prowling Thunder Tribulation seemed incapable of causing him even the slightest discomfort. He stood beneath the tribulation clouds, a paragon of cool tranquillity, seemingly unaffected by the raging Thunder Tribulation.

His power was staggering. The Ascension Thunder Tribulation appeared utterly impotent against him.

Despite the thunderous tumult of the tribulation overhead, his serenity remained undisturbed, as if he were standing amidst a gentle breeze rather than a tempest.

"Today, I confront the Thunder Tribulation." As the tribulation clouds gathered at the precipice of the Thunder Tribulation's onslaught, Xuan Yuan, from his vantage atop the mountain, suddenly lifted his gaze and declared. His eyes, as piercing as swords, scanned the cultivators encircling the Heavenly Ascent Mountain, all in anticipation of his tribulation's successful conclusion.

Being the mightiest in the Cultivation World, nearly all influential beings from across the domain had gathered to witness Xuan Yuan's tribulation. For it had been a millennium since any cultivator in the Cultivation World had successfully navigated the Ascension Tribulation, prior to him.

As to whether Xuan Yuan could triumphantly navigate the tribulation? Not a shadow of doubt clouded the minds of the cultivators present, nor those across the vast expanses of the Cultivation World. They held an unwavering belief that Xuan Yuan was fated to succeed, having already attained a level of strength that invoked their awe and admiration. To countless cultivators, the Ascension Thunder Tribulation seemed a trivial jest in the context of his power.

The Ascension Tribulation, which had thwarted billions of cultivators in the Cultivation World over a millennium, was perceived by many as incapable of inflicting any harm to Xuan Yuan. This was not the sentiment of a select few but a widespread belief shared across the whole Cultivation World.

Boom!

At last, the Thunder Tribulation had escalated to its zenith and launched its assault. A gleam of resolute determination flickered across Xuan Yuan's extraordinarily handsome visage. He lifted his gaze to the tribulation clouds above, a glimmer of yearning visible in his eyes. Having reigned as the paramount powerhouse in the Cultivation World for so long, he was left without adversaries. His eagerness for his ascension to a new world was unparalleled.

The Thunder Tribulation finally descended, one bolt succeeding another, each more gargantuan and terrifying than the last. These were tribulation bolts potent enough to annihilate a mountaintop. Yet, they all evaporated instantly under a single swipe of Xuan Yuan's sword, leaving not even a whisper of their existence behind.

Confronting the Thunder Tribulation, Xuan Yuan hadn't so much as shifted his position, nor had he unsheathed the long sword at his back. He merely directed his intent, transforming his finger into a sword. With a few swings of this ethereal blade, he shattered the terrifying, sky-engulfing Thunder Tribulation.

As the oppressive tribulation clouds scattered and brilliant golden sunlight bathed the terrain, Xuan Yuan stood with his hands clasped behind him atop the Heavenly Ascent Mountain. The breeze stirred, causing his robes to ripple. From his vantage atop the highest peak of the Cultivation World, he swept one last gaze over the magnificent rivers and mountains of the domain, severing the final thread of lingering affection in his eyes.

"I... am departing!" He proclaimed in a clear, sonorous voice. Suddenly, a beam of light cascaded from the heavens, appearing like a celestial stairway, welcoming his departure. Xuan Yuan followed the beam of light, soaring towards the sky, his voice growing fainter, his figure diminishing.

Xuan Yuan's disappearance into the beam of light from the Cultivation World signified his successful ascension. The vicinity of the Heavenly Ascent Mountain plunged into silence instantly. All the cultivators who had witnessed Xuan Yuan's effortless passage through the Ascension Tribulation were left speechless, with only the resounding silence as their response.

Even though it was widely acknowledged that Xuan Yuan was the top powerhouse in the Cultivation World, the mightiest of all, his nonchalant traversal of the Thunder Tribulation left everyone in deep awe.

The silence, which had enshrouded the area around the Heavenly Ascent Mountain for an indeterminable duration, was finally broken. An anonymous cultivator was the first to regain his voice, his tone thick with relief, "At last... Master Xuan Yuan has achieved his ascension..."

This lone sentence stirred the silent crowd like a stick prodding a hornet's nest, immediately followed by a chorus of voices laden with relief, ease, and jubilation: "The Great Demon Lord who had been looming over us has finally achieved his ascension."

"He has finally ascended to torment the cultivators of other worlds," one of the cultivators even shed tears of sheer joy.

Indeed, Xuan Yuan was the number one powerhouse in the Cultivation World. However, as a sword cultivator, his frosty and unyielding demeanor had caused the entire Cultivation World to shudder under his sword's influence during his reign.

As a sword cultivator, Xuan Yuan subscribed to the doctrine of quelling chaos through eradication. How to resolve disputes in the Cultivation World? One word: eradicate!

When Xuan Yuan exerted his authority over the Cultivation World, his sword swept through the entire domain, imposing an impeccable order.

And now, this sword cultivator who had surpassed everyone in the Cultivation World, causing the entire domain to quake with his solitary power, had finally overcome the Ascension Tribulation and departed after breaking through the void.

This was indeed a reason for celebration.

While the Cultivation World was steeped in celebrations, Xuan Yuan, who had ascended along the beam of light, found himself in a space of chaotic darkness. Here, time and space blurred into indistinguishability, and apart from the obscurity, there was nothing else — a realm of sheer desolation.

This place resembled both the genesis of everything and the end of all entities, a domain of chaos and obscurity where heaven and earth were yet to split.

Even in such an environment, Xuan Yuan's extraordinarily handsome features retained their frosty composure. His chilliness and resoluteness echoed the millennia-old glacier crowning the mountain peak.

"Present yourself," Xuan Yuan gradually unsheathed the long sword from his back, his sword-like eyebrows arched subtly as he issued the frosty command. His sword targeted an area of void and chaos, indistinct from the rest, yet he stood unflinching, his sword steady. His penetrating gaze seemed to slice through the nebulous chaos.

Silence expanded, abruptly disrupted as a beam of light suddenly gleamed from the chaotic space at which Xuan Yuan was pointing. Silver-white, mechanical light spots materialized, "Would you like to bind with system 0617?"

Xuan Yuan's eyebrow arched, yet he remained wordless, allowing this peculiar entity to conduct its monologue.

However, this silver-white, mechanical light point was not sentient. Before Xuan Yuan could fully activate it, it demonstrated only a mechanical and rigid line of thinking, "Would you like to bind with system 0617? If you refuse, obliterate!"

As Xuan Yuan remained non-reactive, when this mechanical entity spoke again, it added another sentence. The final word of its speech, 'obliterate', was delivered with a mechanical coldness and seemed unyielding.

Xuan Yuan chuckled inwardly, thinking that if something was daring enough to threaten his life, it should first try to withstand the sword he wielded. At first, he intended to dismiss it. However, as if struck by a sudden thought, a spark flashed in his eyes, and he surprisingly nodded in agreement, "Yes."

In his mind, Xuan Yuan contemplated if this was what the world looked like after the ascension. Could he possibly encounter more formidable beings? Or should he say, did everyone who achieved their ascension need to bind with such a... system?

Table of Contents - Next Chapter