Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 667 - 650: Tribulation Crossing

Chapter 667: Chapter 650: Tribulation Crossing

"The cultivation circle received devastating news: Zi Su, a prodigy from the Xuanji Immortal Mansion, died from body explosion due to an overdose of Nine Dragon Elixirs and was removed from the Heavenly Pride List..."

"The cultivation circle received devastating news: The prodigy disciple of the Time Wheel Zen Sect, Bald Donkey, failed to survive a Nascent Soul Thunder Tribulation and perished, being removed from the Heavenly Pride List..."

Chen Tingquan silently turned off the latest episode of the disaster video, feeling emotional.

What joyous news this is!

When Instructor Ding experienced two consecutive body explosions, many "Reverse Heaven" players were still watching for fun.

But soon, the trend of body explosion deaths swept across all the major servers in the game, making it overwhelming for everyone.

There were frequent changes on the Heavenly Pride List.

Many familiar old names would suddenly disappear, or return after a long time.

For zero-spender players like Chen Tingquan, or rather pseudo Natural Immortal Cultivators, the concept of body explosion still felt quite distant.

But for the average whale, preparations for their first body explosion had already begun.

The zero-spenders were also quite pleased, thinking: You whales spend so much, but you still explode before us!

Naturally, the whales didn’t mind. They were nervous at first, but they became used to it after the first experience.

For the Tou Fangfang Cultivation Group, their focus at this time was not on body explosions, but on the lightning tribulations.

Li Wenhao sighed, "Hey, guys, are you all so chill?

"How come, as a zero-spender, I’m the first one in the group to face a tribulation, is this scientific? Is this reasonable?"

Chen Tingquan chuckled, "Who told you to get a Time Loan?"

Each of the three of them followed different paths, with Li Wenhao borrowing the most, directly advancing to the Foundation Establishment Stage.

After that, Li Wenhao maintained a normal cultivation pace, joining the others daily to fight demon beasts and mine in the Barbaric World, collecting materials at the auction house.

The leveling speed in this game wasn’t constant but had a special catch-up mechanism.

Simply put, the players’ cultivation speed was related to the server opening time.

At the game’s launch, although players were still at the Qi Refinement Realm, cultivation speed was not fast.

However, as the server aged, players even at the Foundation Establishment Stage or Core Formation Stage would not cultivate much slower than Qi Refinement Realm players.

Moreover, new players entering the game later could enjoy a special catch-up mechanism, gaining cultivation efficiency far surpassing that of old players during the Qi Refinement Stage.

This efficiency would be maintained until new players caught up to about 80% of the theoretical cultivation limit of the original server opening time.

Thus, after playing for a while, Li Wenhao naturally reached the Great Perfection of the Foundation Establishment Stage and could prepare to break through to the Core Formation Realm.

Compared to the thoughtless breakthroughs at the Foundation Establishment Stage, the Core Formation Stage came with a brand new test.

That was the Heavenly Tribulation.

According to the game’s setting, lightning tribulations began at the Core Formation Stage. After surviving it, the Golden Core would form. If not, then you would die.

And depending on the player’s cultivation quality during the Foundation Establishment Stage, i.e. various detailed attributes, the intensity of the lightning tribulation would be determined.

The stronger the lightning tribulation, the higher the risk of death, but the better the formed Golden Core would be.

The quality of the Golden Core determined future cultivation potential; in "Reverse Heaven," the Golden Core was a simple and brutal multiplication factor.

Based on the quality of the Golden Core, players at the Core Formation Stage would have four different multiplier levels of cultivation, which were 0.8x, 1.0x, 1.2x, and 1.5x.

If a player faced the strongest lightning tribulation during their tribulation crossing and survived, they would obtain a 1.5x Golden Core upon entering the Core Formation Realm. This would mean all their stats and attributes would be multiplied by 1.5 times.

Of course, achieving this condition was rather demanding.

Players had to meticulously plan during the Foundation Establishment Stage, ensuring their character attributes surpass other Foundation Establishment Stage players, refining their elixir plans, and maximizing their Magical Treasures.

Moreover, they had to ensure that they could withstand the strongest lightning tribulation.

If they couldn’t, their physical body would turn to ashes, which would equate to a body explosion death. They would have to start cultivating from scratch again, having to wait some time before they could attempt another tribulation.

From the Core Formation Stage onwards, every subsequent realm would require tribulation crossing, with increasingly powerful lightning tribulations.

From the special effects perspective, different lightning tribulations would manifest in various forms.

By scale, color of the thunderclouds, and shape of the lightning, they could be distinctively differentiated.

From a top whale’s experience, the Core Formation Stage’s lightning tribulation was the most friendly and mild among all lightning tribulations.

The whales on the Heavenly Pride List mostly faced the strongest lightning tribulations at the Core Formation Stage, hence naturally obtaining 1.5x Golden Cores.

But at the Nascent Soul Stage, these prodigies began encountering frequent failures.

For instance, in the earlier disaster video, the Time Wheel Zen Sect’s prodigy disciple, Bald Donkey, was struck dead by a Nascent Soul Thunder Tribulation.

This was likely because he used a Time Loan without building a solid foundation, making it susceptible to extreme Nascent Soul Thunder Tribulation.

At this moment, Li Wenhao also felt quite vulnerable.

Because much of his Foundation Establishment was also achieved through Time Loan, making him also somewhat fragile.

Although the Core Formation Stage’s lightning tribulation was the weakest in the game, and whales could easily pass it, Li Wenhao still felt immense pressure.

Not just because of his self-doubt, but also because a rebirth would cause all the Time Loan borrowed cultivation to disappear.

If he hadn’t borrowed from the Time Loan, even if he died from the lightning tribulation, he could cultivate for a few days to get back to his original cultivation and attempt the tribulation again;

But with the Time Loan, if he died from the lightning tribulation, he would either have to continue borrowing from the Time Loan or wait for a long time before attempting another tribulation.

"No worries, our Tou Fangfang group is all cheering for you!" Chen Tingquan encouraged.

Li Wenhao sarcastically replied, "Instead of cheerleading, why don’t you guys send me some money so I can buy Magical Treasures to reduce the lightning tribulation’s damage."

Chen Tingquan shook his head, "That’s a dishonorable way of thinking!

"As cultivators, we believe that our fate is in our own hands, not imposed by heaven. We can’t rely too much on external objects.

"Using Magical Treasures to withstand a mere Nascent Soul Thunder Tribulation will only get us laughed at."

Li Wenhao silently sighed, realizing he couldn’t rely on his brothers.

He could only rely on luck!

Li Wenhao rode his flying sword, leaving the sect and heading to the designated tribulation crossing point nearby.

This game was quite humorous. It even had designated tribulation crossing points like exam centers.

Yet, this setting seemed rather reasonable within the game’s narrative.

Tribulation crossing would attract heavenly lightning, so it was not something to be done within the sect. What if the heavenly lightning struck and hurt other innocent cultivators? Even if there were no innocent cultivators, it would still be bad to damage sect buildings and plants.

In most novels, tribulation crossing would typically be done in desolate wilderness.

But in "Reverse Heaven," every sect had designated tribulation crossing points nearby.

Of course, using these designated points was not mandatory; players could choose to cross tribulations in the wild if they wished.

However, these designated points had special formations that could slightly weaken the lightning tribulation’s damage, and if players were struck dead, the NPCs could collect their bodies quickly.

Thus, most players preferred using the tribulation crossing points.

The other members of the Tou Fangfang Cultivation Group followed along, eager to witness the grand tribulation crossing scene.

Before Li Wenhao had a chance to prepare, he saw another player dressed in the uniform of a different sect quickly approach him.

"Brother, do you want to check your tribulation crossing success rate?

"I have the materials here. You only need to pay 10 middle-grade spirit stones."

Li Wenhao paused for a moment, surprised at this offer.

He glanced at the player’s name above his head, "Overstreet Rat," and the title, "Inner Sect Disciple of the Life Star Pavilion."

"Life Star Pavilion? The sect related to tribulation crossing?"

Li Wenhao quickly realized that this person likely wasn’t a scammer, but was promoting a service.

Just like how disciples of the Time Wheel Zen Sect promoted the Time Loan, the Life Star Pavilion, related to heavenly tribulations, seemed to have some tribulation-related services too.

"Can you really check the tribulation crossing success rate?" Li Wenhao curiously asked.

Overstreet Rat eagerly explained, "Of course! It’s widely discussed on the forums. Haven’t you seen it?

"Our Life Star Pavilion has special Sect Secret Techniques, all related to heavenly tribulations.

"Before, everyone’s cultivation wasn’t enough, and no one was crossing tribulations, so our sect benefits were like a display. Now, business is finally coming.

"In short, one of our sect’s benefits is to be able to check a target’s tribulation crossing success rate, but it requires some materials to perform this spell.

"I’ve brought the materials. You just need to pay the material and manual fees. 10 middle-grade spirit stones, the price is consistent across all servers, no deception."

Li Wenhao hesitated for a moment.

middle-grade spirit stones amounted to 10 bucks, which was somewhat pricey. However, considering many materials in the game could be sold for money, spending more also meant earning more, so he could afford it.

Although using brought materials would be cheaper, since he was already at the tribulation crossing point, it wasn’t worth the effort.

For safety, Li Wenhao quickly logged out of the game and searched online for the Life Star Pavilion disciples’ tribulation crossing success rate checking fee. Most servers indeed charged around 10 middle-grade spirit stones.

Relieved, Li Wenhao believed that the person wasn’t a scammer.

He couldn’t be blamed for being overly cautious. Given the deceitful nature of people and the ease of account deletion, scammers were rampant in the game.

"Alright, check it for me."

Li Wenhao clicked on the player and traded 10 middle-grade spirit stones.

Overstreet Rat began casting a spell, with effects resembling stars and constellations appearing above his head, followed by a thin beam of light descending from the sky, piercing through the galactic pattern and hitting his forehead.

"Congratulations! Your tribulation crossing success rate is 87%." Overstreet Rat typed.

Li Wenhao was pleasantly surprised, "Oh? That’s quite high, isn’t it?"

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.