Well, that was rather awkward.

Sage Monarch Winter Melon, who was a real Eighth Stage Sage Monarch, could sense the voices of all the practitioners in the universe to a certain extent.

F*ck, what is this? All the practitioners in the universe already know about the modernization of the heavenly tribulation?

How could this be?

Right when I was filled with excitement and wanted to tell everyone this top secret news… it turned out that every single person in the universe already knew about it, and I was the only one who believed it to be a secret.

This feeling was simply too embarrassing.

Sage Monarch Winter Melon frowned––he had taken on the heavenly tribulation for exactly three years. Towards the end, there was a change in the sea of heavenly tribulation. All the remaining power of the heavenly tribulation condensed together and evolved into the powerful Modernized Heavenly Tribulation Army that brought with it a wave of explosive attacks, which ended the three-year-long heavenly tribulation.

Even for Sage Monarch Winter Melon, who had great defensive power and self-recovery abilities, it wasn’t easy to resist the attacks of the Modern Heavenly Tribulation Army and become a Profound Sage. With that said, the change in the heavenly tribulation clearly wasn’t something that took place long ago.

But why do all of the practitioners in the universe know about it?

Wait, could it be that when the first Sage in a thousand years transcended his tribulation, he also experienced the modern heavenly tribulation? Then, when he held his Profound Sage Speech, he revealed the news to all the practitioners in the universe?

Well, it all makes sense if that is the case.

Thinking about this, Sage Monarch Winter Melon held his golden sword, and said in a deep voice, “It seems that Profound Sage Tyrannical Song has already told everyone about the modern heavenly tribulation. Then I shall not waste time discussing the Modern Heavenly Tribulation Army. Now, I shall talk about the path of defense. It has always been said that ‘the strongest defense is offense’, but I feel that this statement is too extreme. So what if your attacks are very strong? If your defense is as thin as paper, how will you be able to survive when facing the attacks of the Modern Heavenly Tribulation Army? When the guns, the tanks, and fighter aircraft come, would your great attack be able to stop their advance? Furthermore, during my long journey on the path of cultivation, those who believed that ‘the strongest defense was offense’ have all died already. Only I, who stayed on the path of defense, have been able to travel farther and farther, and today, I was finally able to transcend the Profound Sage-rank heavenly tribulation after three years and become a Profound Sage! Defense and offense… Which one is strong and which one is weak is something that can be seen at a glance!”

When the practitioners in the universe heard what Sage Monarch Winter Melon said, they displayed confusion on their faces.

A great portion of the practitioners said doubtfully, “Modern Army attack? Wait, didn’t we just see a barrage of guided missiles?”

Then, there were some people who replied, “Wasn’t there also a nuclear bomb? I don’t know much about modern weapons, but the size of that nuclear bomb was especially big, so it should be stronger than ordinary nuclear bombs, right?”

The practitioners all over the universe might have used different languages and ways of communicating to express their thoughts, but what they were trying to say was nevertheless one and the same.

At the same time, some young cultivators who watched the movie ❮Apocalypse War❯ and became diehard fans of Ling Ye heard the Sage Monarch saying that it took him three years to transcend the heavenly tribulation of the Eighth Stage, and so couldn’t help but worry. “The Profound Sage-rank heavenly tribulation is unexpectedly so terrifying that it takes three years to transcend it? Heavens, could it be that our lord Ling Ye will be under the onslaught of guided missiles and nuclear bombs for three years? Will he be able to remain safe? We shall pray for our Ling Ye.”

“Senior Brother Gao Sheng must die!”

“Wait, Senior Brother Gao Sheng is already dead…”

“Then he can die another time!”

“There’s a problem. The power of the heavenly tribulation gets stronger after every wave, so if the white-robed Venerable started off with guided missiles and nuclear bombs… after three years, how terrifying would his modern heavenly tribulation have become?”

Similar statements were raised all over the universe.

Sage Monarch Winter Melon, who was in the ‘Profound Sage Speech’ state, was at a loss for words once again.

Guided missiles? Nuclear bombs? Hydrogen bombs?

His heavenly tribulation had modernized only towards the end, and the remaining power of the sea of tribulation wasn’t much at that time, so it was understandable that the only variation that had appeared was the Modern Heavenly Tribulation Army.

Therefore, it was understandable that the completely mutated heavenly tribulation was stronger…

But, could the heavenly tribulation of the Eighth Stage Profound Sage really bring out things like hydrogen bombs?

From the feedback he was getting from the practitioners all over the universe, Sage Monarch Winter Melon knew that the reason the practitioners were able to know of the modern heaven tribulation so early was due to everyone having seen a white-robed Venerable transcending the tribulation not long ago. Moreover, that white-robed Venerable’s daoist name seemed to be Ling Ye?

Transcending the tribulation wasn’t like the show of divinity in front of the masses… so why did all the practitioners in the universe know about it?

Furthermore, that white-robed cultivator started out having to face attacks of the hydrogen bomb level? That was too terrifying!

Sage Monarch Winter Melon, who suffered the attack of the Modern Heavenly Tribulation Army, naturally knew how terrifying the modern heavenly tribulation was. The waves of bullets of the Modernized Heavenly Tribulation was already at the level of the attack of a peak Venerable. As for that hydrogen bomb… Could that white-robed cultivator have been facing the heavenly tribulation of the Ninth Stage?

Lastly, who’s this Senior Brother Gao Sheng? Why do so many people mention him while gnashing their teeth? Even if he’s already died, there are still so many people who hate him and wish him to die again…

What kind of evil deeds did he commit?

❄️❄️❄️

Inside a classroom in Jiangnan University Town.

Song Shuhang asked, “During the Profound Sage Speech, this Sage Monarch Winter Melon could get feedback from all the practitioners in the universe…?”

True Monarch White Crane in its female form rolled its eyes, and said, “You ask me such things, but how can I know? I haven’t shown my divinity in front of the masses. Furthermore, were you not able to hear the voices of the practitioners in the universe when you held your Profound Sage Speech?”

“I didn’t hear anything at all,” Song Shuhang said.

“That’s normal. After all, you’re just a fake. In fact, the fifth Sage in a thousand years is the real ‘first Sage in a thousand years’. There could only be a single reason as to why you were not able to get feedback from all the practitioners in the universe––you aren’t strong enough,” True Monarch White Crane said with a laugh.

Song Shuhang couldn’t find anything to say—Senior White Crane had a good point.

Loli Shi, who was nearby, said curiously, “Then, wouldn’t Sage Monarch Winter Melon be able to hear our current conversation? If he can hear our conversation, he might discover where Senior Brother Song is from our conversation and directly come here on the next full moon.”

Song Shuhang: “…”

It couldn’t be so exaggerated, right?

If Sage Monarch Winter Melon was really able to pick out their single conversation from the feedback he was getting from all the practitioners in the universe while in his ‘Profound Sage Speech’ state, that’d be too overpowered.

If the conversations between the various practitioners in the universe were like a barrage of text, the whole screen would be flooded. It was likely that Sage Monarch Winter Melon could only see the important messages. As for the ability to choose out specific conversations, that would already be something beyond the capabilities of a Profound Sage.

“In theory, he shouldn’t be able to. Moreover, I’ve set up a formation, making the possibility that the other party could intercept our conversation very low,” True Monarch White Crane said.

At this critical time, True Monarch White Crane was surprisingly quite reliable.

Su Clan’s Sixteen frowned, and said, “But it can’t be ruled out that someone might intentionally provide him with Shuhang’s coordinates… If someone wanted to mess with Shuhang, but no longer dared to do so after seeing him show his divinity in front of the masses and earn the reputation of ‘first Sage in a thousand years’, then they could take advantage of the current situation to send Sage Monarch Winter Melon a message saying where Shuhang is.”

“Heavens.” Song Shuhang’s expression turned bitter.

He could only hope that such a thing wouldn’t happen.

❄️❄️❄️

In the world, there was something called the ‘Murphy’s Law’, which was a royal pain in the ass. The law was typically depicted with the line: “If there is something that can go wrong, it will go wrong.”

Moreover, if you were to analyze the law more carefully, you would find that it could truly be quite a pain in the ass.

When you travel with a partner, the less you wanted to be seen by others, the more likely it was that you’d chance upon an acquaintance.

When you were worried that your in-game teammates might be primary school students… it was very likely that your teammates would end up being even more useless than primary school students!

When Song Shuhang was worrying whether there would be people deliberately selling information on him… it had already happened.

In the mysterious world at the bottom of the sea.

Millions of sea urchin warriors were kneeling on the ground as they looked up toward the sky.

The faces of the sea urchin warriors were all serious.

The sea urchin warriors were divided into a great number of square-shaped battalions, with each battalion shouting something in a certain language as it faced Sage Monarch Winter Melon’s frame. “Sage Monarch, Profound Sage Tyrannical Song is in China, in the Jiangnan area! Sage Monarch, Profound Sage Tyrannical Song is in China, in the Jiangnan area!”

The sea urchin warriors grasped a good variety of languages, knowing Chinese, English, Arabic, German, Japanese, Russian, French, Spanish…

After all, every single adult sea urchin warrior had to go through 20 years of compulsory education. As such, each sea urchin warrior was fluent in three or more languages.

The huge eyeball of the Sea King spun in circles on the altar.

With how things were, it refused to believe that the newly ascended Profound Sage ‘Sage Monarch Winter Melon’ couldn’t hear the voices of the sea urchin warriors.

As long as Sage Monarch Winter Melon got the message that Profound Sage Tyrannical Song was in China’s Jiangnan area, they would be able to witness the battle between the fifth Sage in a thousand years [Sage Monarch Winter Melon] and the first Sage in a thousand years [Profound Sage Tyrannical Song].

Profound Sage Tyrannical Song, on the next full moon, your true strength will be revealed, the Sea King thought to himself.

The silver glove was still with Song Shuhang, and it definitely had to get it back. Therefore, he wanted to create a chance to measure the depth of Song Shuhang’s strength and wait for an opportunity to take the glove back!

In addition to the screen flooding of the sea urchin warriors, there was also a great number of puppets all over the world that came out of hiding.

Like the sea urchin warriors, the puppets faced the frame of the Profound Sage Speech and began flooding it with the news that Profound Sage Tyrannical Song was in the Jiangnan area.