Tribulations

Tribulation is used with different meanings in the text such as referring to challenges one faced. The tribulations here are the ones the System or the Heavens hands down directly for progressing down the path of cultivation or breaking its commandments. It does **not** refer to other tribulations the System can send to test a cultivator of faction, like Incursions or Beast Waves.

## Ideal

Heavenly Tribulation was the Law of Balance manifest. He'd taken something from the Heavens, breaking his mortal shackles to steal power and longevity far beyond what any human should hold. As such, he needed to pay the price. **Chapter 1,058**

## Class Evolution to E-Grade

This is a System-sent tribulation sent to everyone that is evolving to E-grade.

* He knew there was a tribulation waiting for him when evolving. It was the final test before reaching E-grade, and he would normally be completely confident in passing. **Book 5, Page 469**
* The information crystals I have only mentioned the three tribulations,” Zac asked. “Heart, Body, and Soul. It said that using treasures to pass is impossible and that you have to rely on your own prowess. Then it just went on to say that one should have an elder nearby in case of a mishap.” **Book 5, Page 482**
* “It tests you in one of three ways, depending on where the Ruthless Heavens feels you are lacking. The tribulation will strike at your weakness, and either you pass or you fail.” **Book 5, Page 483**
* “You will have a minute or so before the tribulation descends.” **Book 5, Page 495**

### Difficulty

* “It’s only Uncommon classes; the tribulation they have to endure is nothing much,” Ogras said with a nod. **Book 3, Page 592**
* “Perhaps Epic and higher have different trials apart from the normal three; I wouldn’t know,” the demon slowly said. “But they will no doubt be more dangerous. Each increase in rarity means a sharp increase in difficulty that accompanies the tribulation.” **Book 5, Page 484**

### Preparation

* Then again, he certainly understood why most warriors waited to consolidate their gains before evolving, some taking years to ready themselves for the tribulation. He hadn’t been prepared for just how perilous it would be. **Book 5, Page 518**

### Body Tribulation

* “The Body Tribulation is essentially the Ruthless Heavens beating you up, and you just have to bear it. It is to test that you have created a foundation sturdy enough to keep building upon. I doubt you’d get that one, considering your monstrous constitution,” the demon said with an envious glance. “It is the most common trial for Dexterity- and Intelligence-based classes.” **Book 5, Page 483**

### Soul/Spirit Tribulation

* “Next there is the Spirit Tribulation,” the demon continued. “Your soul is attacked in a way that neither skills nor items can protect you from. You need to use your soul and Dao to defend yourself. The soul is the connection to the Heavens, and it needs to be strong enough to withstand the weight of the Dao,” Ogras said. **Book 5, Page 483**

### Heart Tribulation

* “Finally, there is the Heart Tribulation. You will be thrown into illusions and temptations, and you will need to break free. The Heavens test your conviction and mental fortitude. A sturdy body and soul is needed to walk the path of cultivation, but a resolute heart might be even more important,” the demon continued. **Book 5, Page 484**

### Failure

* “Anything from mild wounds to death, depending on how badly you performed and whether someone could disperse the tribulation for you.” The demon shrugged. **Book 5, Page 483**

## Class Evolution to Hegemony

* Technically, the tribulation for forming a boundless Cosmic Core was the same as forming Dao Branches. **Chapter 1,057**

## Class Evolution to Monarchy

* Even cultivators walking Heaven’s Path would cause quite a scene when forming their inner world. It was an event somewhat similar to the Dao Apparitions in the Tower Of Eternity, where their understanding of the Dao was put on display. Unfortunately, the Orom teleported people away when they broke through as a security measure, placing them in some different compartment of its body. **Chapter 811**

## Four Desolates Tribulation

* Tribulation Lightning holding punishment of the cardinal laws was called the Four Desolates Tribulation. It wasn't something a Hegemon should come in contact with, at least not with how cultivation currently worked. Zac wasn't even sure if Monarchs had to defend against the laws. **Chapter 1,149**

## Boundless Path

* The bolt looked absolutely terrifying, but it was also extraordinarily beautiful. It felt like it was condensed from the purest Dao, and Zac felt that limitless insights were just out of his reach. **Book 6, Page 401**
* That purple lightning was far less mysterious and a lot more terrifying when it was bearing down on him. **Book 6, Page 402**
* The bolt looked completely different compared to the lightning that the System had conjured in the Tower of Eternity when he summoned the Chaos Pattern. For one, it was purple instead of blue and gold. **Book 6, Page 402**However, some things were the same as during the tribulation. His skills, talismans, and even Daos seemed utterly incapable of impeding the bolt. **Book 6, Page 403**
* Whatever the purple bolt of lightning was made of seemed to be something different. It would be more apt to call it a messy mix of countless different Daos. **Book 6, Page 404**
* “This is Heavenly Lightning! Ancient Tribulation!” Triv said with horror in his eyes as he flew away from Zac once more. **Book 6, Page 408**
* *‘It’s the punishment of the Heavens, the result of embarking on the Boundless Path,’ Triv’s voice said.* **Book 6, Page 409**
* “The further you walk down this path, the greater the suppression of the Heavens. Not only will you be forced to withstand the true tribulations of the Heavens, the ones aimed at murder rather than training, but even the System will turn its back on you. **Book 6, Page 411**
* For a boundless cultivator, simply surviving the punishment was all the benefit you could expect. And most were left bedridden for months, sometimes years, after getting blasted by the Heavenly Lightning. **Book 8, Page 553**
* He wasn't too worried about the Tribulation Lightning either. Most missives talked about them with extreme dread, but he hadn't felt that way at all when getting zapped. **Chapter 781**
* Ultimately, the Old Heavens didn't care about minor breakthroughs like evolving Dao Branches, and it wouldn't come down at him with Tribulation Lightning until he formed an Earthly Dao. However, at that point, each step would draw a tribulation as long as he stayed on the Boundless Path. **Chapter 975**

### Minor Tribulations

* Normally, an ascension into monarchy would be a grand event, especially for someone like Pavina who likely walked the boundless path of Pure Death. Boundless cultivators were beset by the Grand Minor Tribulation. The name was a bit odd, but taking that step would summon the most powerful of the minor tribulations. There were two weaker stages as well, one upon reaching E-grade and one when becoming a Hegemon. By the point Zac became an E-grade cultivator, he was still cultivating the Heavenly Path without any real sense of direction, but he would have to withstand the old Heaven’s punishment upon trying to form his core. **Chapter 811**

### Two-Cycle Tribulation

* The tribulation will only target the puppet. Saeward isn't defending his Dao, so it should be a Two-cycle tribulation [*two sets of three bolts*] that targets his inner world. **Chapter 1,035**
* He'd heard a few things of tribulations among Monarchs. It wasn't much different from previous ones, except that it was the Inner World that was mainly targeted. Like with other tribulations, one could hide from or defy the Heavens. By fully taking on the tribulation lightning, you could temper and expand your Inner World. Of course, that was incredibly dangerous. **Chapter 1,035**

## Breaking System Commandments

* Before Zac even had a chance to worry about getting slapped with a tribulation punishment for bringing contraband to the Twilight Ocean, a ten-meter rune rushed toward him, completely undeterred by the chaos, and passed through his body. **Book 8, Page 97**
* The world of darkness became illuminated by a golden hue as the sea turned into one of lightning. An aura of vast power, far eclipsing that of the snake, descended. **Book 8, Page 438**
* Thousands of golden lightning bolts rained down on the snake, its gargantuan scales splintering one after another from the impact. **Book 8, Page 438**
* The thunderstorm raged with greater and greater intensity, but Zac sensed the amount of tribulation lightning the System had conjured was limited, prompting him to swear in exasperation. **Book 8, Page 439**

## Surpassing

* After all, only 5% of people who directly shouldered a tribulation survived. **Chapter 822**
* He had done his research on how to best surpass a tribulation. **Chapter 822**
	+ There were many ways, Zac had found out, but directly attacking the lightning was not one of them as far as Zac could tell.
	+ In reality, there were two ways to go about the breakthrough; to hide from the heavens and to Defy the Heavens.
* This was the true way to withstand a tribulation, to anneal your Dao in Heaven's Mandate. **Chapter 822**

### Hiding

* Hiding from the Heavens meant figuring out ways to weaken the tribulation or make it spread its focus. **Chapter 822**
* The most famous faction who hid from the heavens were no doubt the Technocrats, who had supposedly perfected this technique. From what he’d gathered, they were able to weaken the tribulation by more than 70%, depending on their individual tech. **Chapter 822**
* The downside was pretty punishing as well, though. Your breakthrough could barely be considered successful, though Zac wasn't too sure this applied to the Technocrats as well. **Chapter 822**

### Defying

* In fact, there were benefits to directly taking the lightning bolts of the old Heavens, benefits that not even the System could provide. **Chapter 822**
* As long as warriors properly withstood the punishment of the Heavens, they could absorb small wisps of the Heavens themselves. For cultivators, it was an opportunity to marginally increase their affinities. Having the lightning pass through their Dao Fields also helped stabilize your Dao, saving you months of hard work. **Chapter 822**

## Earthly Immortals

* ... you will be assaulted by increasingly ferocious Heavenly Tribulations every ten thousand years," Iz explained. **Chapter 958**
* "I've never heard of an Earth Immortal who managed to break more than three chains before a tribulation annihilated them." **Chapter 958**

## Commentary

* The sight of a battalion of demons fighting tooth and nail against a horde of mutated ants made them realize that their trials and tribulations on the last island were nothing compared to what they were witnessing. **Book 1, Chapter 110** [*Only use in Book 1*]
* It was more likely that this was a large sect that had fallen due to some sort of tribulation. **Book 2, Page 729**
* If they hadn’t captured a couple of the living to gain access to their Ladder, Adriel would have thought that the man was wounded after enduring the tribulation. But he was clearly still at level 75, proving he hadn’t taken that step just yet. **Book 3, Page 193**
* The pain was well beyond what he had expected for a tribulation, though; it was almost up there with other terrifying ordeals such as his dip in the Cosmic Water pond. **Book 5, Page 497**
* He didn’t know exactly what had changed, but he somehow felt stable, like he could face anything with a calm heart. Was this a hidden benefit of succeeding against the Heart Tribulation? **Book 5, Page 508**
* “Before the System, all cultivation went against the Heavens. It was to steal the essence of the Dao to attain immortality. But the universe wouldn’t give in just like that, and it would send a tribulation down on the cultivators.” Triv sighed. “This all changed with the arrival of the System. “Cultivation no longer goes against the Heavens; it is now Heaven’s Mandate. The only tribulations now are the trials that the System has envisioned to weed out the weak and train the strong. **Book 6, Page 409**
* “I’m no expert on methods of unorthodox cultivation,” Triv reiterated. “Though my impression was that both the F-grade and E-grades were safe from true tribulations.” **Book 6, Page 413**
* His mother had actually used Thea as a lightning rod to divert and exhaust the tribulation. **Book 7, Page 559**
* It was because of him being close to you that the Tribulation Lightning descended. **Book 7, Page 568**
* After these tribulations and the one when reaching D-grade, it might be centuries before he was presented with this opportunity again. **Chapter 819**
* It was large. Very large. During his last tribulation, he had been pretty out of it, but he was certain this Tribulation Cloud was larger than last time around. Its diameter was at least thirty percent wider, which Zac could only assume would translate into a harsher punishment. His fears were all-but-confirmed as he sensed the intangible presence hidden within, the boundless wrath of the Heavens. **Chapter 821**
* However, Zac hadn’t expected a minor Lightning Tribulation to arrive because of this. Then again, it was undeniable that **[Love’s Bond]** was an unorthodox weapon, no matter if you talked about its origins or what it had fed on. ... Unfortunately, just like Alea's defenses grew stronger, so did the bolts of lightning, and the second tribulation left deep cracks across the whole lid. Luckily, there should only be one more to go, and Zac was relieved to see the lid open a third time. **Chapter 836**
* “It is just as young miss says. The reason it’s called a curse even if it increases your talent is the tremendous fell karma it carries. It is like an unrelenting Heart Demon that eventually turns most of the members mad. Even those who can resist will find their personalities gradually get twisted,” the golem explained. “The curse will also cause them to be beset by terrifying tribulations." **Chapter 882**
* This was the expected outcome [*upon evolving a Branch to Mid*] since you wouldn't get blasted by Tribulation Lightning because of a minor breakthrough, but Zac could never be completely certain which conventional rules applied to him and which didn't. **Chapter 938**