It turns out, they were the main characters.

Previously, Mu Zhian could only look at them but not touch them, but now... he can both look at them and touch them.

Wei Mengrou tiptoed slightly and pressed her soft red lips tightly against the boy's lips.

With a cool and soft touch, even though he was mentally prepared, Mu Zhian's consciousness was slightly dazed, and he subconsciously bit her cherry lips.

After an unknown amount of time, he heard Wei Mengrou's soft voice transmission in his ear: "Come back alive."

"Then... I can serve you however I want."

The room was dimly lit, and the beauty in my arms had already left the room, her fragrance wafting through the air. I could vaguely see her exquisite profile, and her crystal earlobes looked slightly warm.

Mu Zhian couldn't help but smile.

He took the Nine Cauldrons Refining Elixir and turned to leave the bedchamber.

A moment later, a fierce wind arose outside the palace, and terrifying thunder roared in the sky above the forbidden area, as bright as day.

……

Yunzhou.

A crescent moon hangs high in the night sky, and at the foot of the mountain lies a cold pool reflecting the starry sky. The occasional chirping of cicadas adds to the tranquility of the pool.

A beautiful woman, her face veiled by a light gauze, sat with her legs turned to the side by the cold pool, her eyes closed as if dozing. At this moment, a clear and melodious voice came from behind her: "Your Highness, His Majesty the Great Peng Emperor requests your presence in the main hall. It seems he has something to say to you."

The one who spoke was a young girl, who looked no more than thirteen or fourteen years old. She had a beautiful face, and her bright and captivating eyes were fixed on the beauty sitting by the cold pool with curiosity.

The girl was a child that the former princess found by chance in Yunzhou, and she has been cultivating and studying in an academy in Yunzhou ever since.

The recent changes in the rules of the Forbidden Land have kept everyone at the academy extremely busy, trying to figure out the reasons for the rule changes and worrying that Yunzhou will be completely covered by the rules of the Forbidden Land in the future.

Because of this, the students of the academy had to cultivate on their own.

Therefore, the girl took this opportunity to return to the palace first.

"We don't need to worry about the Great Roc Emperor for now. He's only contacting me because he's been unhappy about my power struggle with him these past few days, and he wants to test my thoughts."

The princess smiled mockingly, rose, casually removed her coat from her shoulders, and stepped gracefully into the pool.

The cool pool water gave people a feeling of complete relaxation, both physically and mentally. The beautiful married woman casually removed her veil, put her long hair up in a bun, and let the strands of hair hang down, adding to her charming and alluring style.

Seeing the girl remain silent, the princess chuckled softly and said gently, "I suppose in a few days, the Great Peng Emperor will be thinking about when Luo Tan will refine the elixir for him. The power in Yunzhou is not that important to him, so you don't need to worry that I will have any conflict with him."

The girl gazed at the princess's beautiful back and couldn't help but mutter enviously, "I feel like the princess is even more charming than before."

This charm isn't about becoming more beautiful or anything like that, but rather a change in one's aura.

If the princess of the past still had a somewhat 'naive' feel, then the current princess exudes a more mature and elegant charm, enough to make any young man who sees her involuntarily drawn to her.

The princess gazed at the waning moon high in the sky, cupped her hands in cool water, and let the water slide down her alabaster skin.

She glanced seductively at the girl standing not far away, about to speak.

Boom...

Just then, she suddenly heard a faint rumble of thunder in her ear.

At that moment, the princess seemed to realize something and subconsciously turned her head to look in a certain direction of Dongzhou.

The girl looked in that direction, but couldn't see anything. She couldn't help but ask, "What is Your Highness looking at?"

"The tribulation of enlightenment has begun..." the princess murmured to herself.

"An enlightenment tribulation? Someone has achieved enlightenment?"

The girl walked to the edge of the pool, squatted down with her knees drawn up, and said in confusion, "But this has nothing to do with Princess Consort, does it? We've had cultivators at the Enlightenment Realm before in Yunzhou."

The princess gave a soft "hmm": "You're right, it's really nothing to worry about."

But when I looked away, a sense of anticipation crept into my heart.

Previously, when Mu Zhian was in the Returning to the Void Realm, the spiritual energy of his innate furnace was already extremely tempting.

It's simply unimaginable... what kind of changes will occur in him after he attains enlightenment.

Perhaps by then, he will be able to make himself look terrible just by relying on the spiritual energy of his innate furnace...?

The woman recalled everything that had happened that night in Luo Tan's bedchamber, and a seductive smile involuntarily curved her lips as she murmured to herself, "I really want to taste it soon~"

The princess gently licked her moist, full red lips.

On this day, people all over the Nine Provinces were secretly watching the direction of the forbidden zone. Bai Ruoxi, far away in the Sword Palace, was also staring at the forbidden zone, subconsciously clutching the hem of her skirt.

She had never been this nervous when she was undergoing her ascension tribulation before; it was quite like a top student watching their own child go to the college entrance exam battlefield.

With considerable commotion outside, the restricted area was naturally even more bustling at this moment.

Even in the forbidden zone, there hasn't been a Heavenly Tribulation of the Enlightenment Realm for a long time, let alone the fact that the person undergoing the tribulation this time is Miss's man!

Countless tribesmen from forbidden zones gathered on a mountain peak, pointing in a certain direction and discussing in hushed tones.

Although they had not yet attained enlightenment, they knew that the difficulty of the enlightenment tribulation was determined by the talent and race of the person undergoing the tribulation.

Generally speaking, the Heavenly Tribulation for enlightenment is relatively simple for humans, while the Heavenly Tribulation for the Southern Wilderness Evil God and the Northern Continent Demon Cultivator is terrifyingly difficult, which is one of the reasons why there are so few enlightenment cultivators in the Southern Wilderness and the Demon Realm.

Of course, there are always exceptions. For example, it is said that when the Lord of the Forbidden Zone was undergoing his tribulation, he experienced nine tribulations of enlightenment, including the tribulation of inner demons, which shook the entire land.

In addition, there are rumors that when the Azure Emperor attained enlightenment, he also went through nine heavenly tribulations. If he hadn't used the Pure World Green Lotus to protect himself, he would probably have been completely obliterated by the enlightenment tribulation.

In short, the tribulations experienced by those powerful beings are almost all of the nine levels.

Even the weakest Heavenly Tribulation of Enlightenment has six levels, and each level of lightning strike is equivalent to a strike from a Dao-Merging Great Power without using any techniques.

For cultivators who have not yet reached the Enlightenment Realm, such a tribulation is simply despair-inducing.

At this moment, even the one behind the forbidden zone couldn't help but step out of his bedchamber and gaze up at a certain spot within the forbidden zone.

Even she was somewhat curious to see just how many tribulations Mu Zhi'an would face.

Not to mention these people, even Mu Zhian himself was somewhat looking forward to it at this moment.

No, it's less about anticipation and more about a self-destructive, reckless abandonment of hope.

As Luo Tan had previously stated, each powerful physique would double the difficulty of the Heavenly Tribulation, and theoretically, the highest difficulty of the Heavenly Tribulation should be the ninth level.

However, Mu Zhian already has more than nine physical attributes.

I wonder how the difficulty of this final enlightenment tribulation will be determined?

Feeling the effects of the Refining Void Pill flowing through his body, Mu Zhi'an floated in mid-air, silently closing his eyes, waiting for the Heavenly Tribulation to descend.

Boom!

Finally, the first clap of thunder sounded!

This means that the first tribulation has arrived.

On the distant mountain peaks, the tribespeople were excitedly discussing the young lady's Daoist partner.

"How many tribulations do you think Young Master Mu will face?"

"He's so young yet he's already comprehended the Dao, so his talent must be quite high. Maybe he'll face the Ninth Heavenly Tribulation like the clan leader," someone speculated.

"Nine Heavenly Tribulations? Doesn't that mean he also has the potential to merge with the Dao?" The clansman next to him denied this guess, saying, "Throughout history, there have been many geniuses, but those who can merge with the Dao are the most brilliant beings of their time. I think it would be good if he had seven Heavenly Tribulations."

"Even the Nine Heavens Tribulation does not necessarily guarantee the potential to reach the Dao Integration Realm. In the past, there have been many outstanding individuals who experienced the Nine Heavens Tribulation but never reached the Dao Integration Realm before their death."

An elder spoke up, his tone relatively gentle.

But it was almost as if it was being stated outright that no matter how talented Mu Zhian was, he could never compare to a Dao-Merging Grandmaster.

Within the forbidden area, some clan elders disapproved of the relationship between Ye Lingxuan and Mu Zhian, and this particular elder was one of them.

The other elders also chimed in, saying, "Indeed, Mu Zhian's talent is astonishing, but even the Nine Heavens Tribulation doesn't really prove anything. It just shows that Miss has a good eye for people, but that's all."

"Love can blind a girl, so let's keep quiet, lest the young lady gets upset when she arrives," an old man nearby sighed, shaking his head.

These elders are all high-ranking members of the forbidden zone and know some secrets that even members of the forbidden zone clan do not know.

Ye Lingxuan is the only one in the forbidden area with the opportunity to ascend to immortality, so the elders naturally have higher expectations and are worried that Mu Zhian will affect her future.

Boom...

As another clap of thunder sounded, an elder nodded slightly and said, "Judging from this, Heaven has determined that Mu Zhi'an has extraordinary talent and will probably send down a ninefold heavenly tribulation to test him."

"Seventh Brother, you lost. Remember to bring over the jade bracelet I asked for last time later," a wise old man with a sage-like demeanor said with a smile.

"I actually bet that Mu Zhian would be the Ninth Heaven Tribulation from the beginning, but you just chose him first."

The elder, known as "Seventh Brother," was so angry that he glared and puffed out his beard, clearly resentful.

"Why are you making another bet? If the First Elder sees this, you'll probably get a scolding again," the Third Elder warned.

"So what? Anyway, I'm determined to have that precious jade bracelet from Seventh Brother. My dear granddaughter has been eyeing it for a long time." The old man, with his sage-like demeanor, stroked his beard, his face full of delight.

"Quiet down, everyone. Miss is coming... We don't know if Mu Zhian will be able to successfully overcome the Heavenly Tribulation of Enlightenment this time," an elder whispered a reminder.

"Yes, the Nine Heavens Tribulation. Even I have only witnessed it four times in my life, and only one person has successfully passed through it." The third brother's tone became a little lower as he recalled the past.

"If he can truly pass the test of the Nine Heavens Tribulation, Mu Zhian can barely become a Daoist partner with Miss."

Upon hearing this, many of the clan elders nodded slightly.

Even among them, few are confident of passing the Nine Heavens Tribulation smoothly, let alone Mu Zhian, who has only been cultivating for a short time. Perhaps his realm is high, but his experience is ultimately insufficient.

"Speaking of which, don't you guys have a feeling that this heavenly tribulation doesn't seem to be fully brewing yet?" someone suddenly asked with concern.

Upon hearing this, some people couldn't help but shake their heads: "How is that possible? The Heavenly Tribulation of Enlightenment only goes up to the ninth level. This is a universally acknowledged fact and a rule of heaven and earth established by the Heavenly Dao. No one can rewrite it—"

Boom...

Before the words were finished, another clap of thunder sounded, and the discussions on the mountaintop fell into a deathly silence.

Even the expressions of many elders present were momentarily stunned.

The tenth clap of thunder?

Where did it come from?

According to past practice, each clap of thunder means that the Heavenly Tribulation of Enlightenment will increase by one level, and nine claps of thunder have already sounded.

Where did this tenth one come from?

However, before the elders could react, they heard another booming sound.

The eleventh clap of thunder!

“Something’s not right… Could there be a problem with this heavenly tribulation?” Finally, someone realized the seriousness of the problem, and their expression became more serious.