Lan Hua asked, "Yue'er, how long have these Heavenly Tribulations usually lasted?"

Zi Yue thought for a moment and said, "About a month!"

"This is also my first time experiencing the Heavenly Tribulation. I have only heard my father say that the tribulation would last for such a long time."

"A month?"

Lan Hua fell into deep thought, and after a long while, she said, "In that case, this calamity is indeed extraordinary."

"Yue'er, do you know when the great calamity began? Has it existed since ancient times?"

"It doesn't seem so."

Zi Yue shook her head and said, "It seems to have appeared 30,000 years ago, and only four cycles have appeared so far."

Furthermore, upon closer examination, this great calamity seems to have occurred several decades earlier than expected, not strictly a cycle of eight thousand years.

"It's ahead of schedule? It seems so. Wong Yuk-long did mention the time to me back then."

Lan Hua carefully reviewed the timeline.

"Twenty thousand years ago, the four emperors fought over the so-called Emperor Pill, which caused the Xuan Yu Yu Huang Continent to be pierced and turned into a continent of death."

Thirty thousand years ago, the Great Calamity of the Heavenly Realm began, and the Pill Emperor disappeared for tens of thousands of years.

Lan Hua asked curiously, "Yue'er, do you know when the last time the Pill Emperor ascended to the second level of the Heavenly Realm was?"

All he knew was that this time must have been 20,000 years ago, or even 30,000 years ago.

Zi Yue did some calculations and said softly, "It seems to have been around 30,000 years ago, which is probably several thousand years earlier than when the Great Calamity of the Heavenly Realm first occurred."

"Yue'er, this matter is not simple."

Lan Hua analyzed, "When the Heavenly Emperor was alive, the Heavenly Domain was fine."

The Heavenly Emperor Dan Tian has vanished, and the Great Calamity of the Heavenly Realm has followed. I have a feeling that this calamity is orchestrated by a mastermind behind the scenes.

Zi Yue's beautiful eyes widened. "You mean, someone orchestrated the Heavenly Calamity?"

Lan Hua nodded slowly, "Yes, this great calamity is specifically aimed at celestial beings below the Emperor level. Even Venerables cannot last long. It can easily harvest celestial beings below the True Rank."

Moreover, it occurs once every eight thousand years, which is just enough time for tens of thousands of celestial beings to ascend to heaven.

It's clear that this great calamity was highly targeted; the so-called calamity was actually a massive conspiracy!

Upon hearing this, Zi Yue's pretty face changed slightly, clearly indicating that Lan Hua's explanation had convinced her.

"Who could it be, Xiao Hua Zi?"

"I don't know. Only an emperor could pull off such an incredible feat."

Lan Hua then said, "Yue'er, did you notice that the auspicious clouds earlier had a somewhat familiar aura?"

Zi Yue exclaimed in surprise, "It possesses a faint trace of royal power!"

“That’s right. If we were just ordinary celestial beings, even quasi-emperors, we would never be able to sense that aura.”

Because the power of an emperor is hidden too well, but it can never escape the emperor's divine sense.

Zi Yue's expression suddenly changed drastically, and she said, "Then why didn't the emperors of the Heavenly Realm notice this calamity after it happened so many times, yet they didn't find out who was behind it and allowed that person to launch the calamity? Why is that?"

"Yue'er has hit the nail on the head."

"There are only two possibilities: either the mastermind behind the Heavenly Calamity, or all the emperors of the Heavenly Realm were involved."

Either the emperors knew who had started the calamity, but turned a blind eye and tacitly approved of it all.

Zi Yue asked, "Which possibility do you think is more likely?"

Lan Hua shook her head. "They're pretty much the same."

Zi Yue glanced at the sky and said, "That auspicious cloud has disappeared. Should we remove the talisman?"

"No, the auspicious clouds came and went in a strange way. With so many celestial beings gathered here, we cannot be careless."

A month passed quickly, and even though Lan Hua was patient, many of the Celestials could no longer contain themselves.

"Emperor Lan, thank you for saving us. If you summon us, we will respond."

Now that a month has passed and the great calamity has long since passed, please allow us to depart!

Lan Hua said calmly, "The great calamity happened suspiciously; it would be best if everyone waited a little longer."

"We won't wait any longer. If another great calamity comes, we will accept our fate."

Lan Hua remained expressionless. "Since that's the case, then I'll grant your wish!"

With a gentle wave of his right hand, the character for "trapping" opened a crack, allowing the celestial beings to leave.

However, half of the celestial beings remained.

After all, the emperor himself pointed out that the great calamity was extraordinary, so how could anyone disobey the emperor's words?

Sure enough, only a day after everyone left, another strange phenomenon occurred in the sky, and auspicious clouds reappeared.

"As expected, someone deliberately manipulated this calamity. How despicable!"

Most of those who left have already gone far away. Lan Hua only managed to save a small number of them; the rest have perished.

A great calamity suddenly occurred, taking away tens of thousands of rogue cultivators and celestial beings once again.

Everyone was utterly terrified, and no one dared to leave without a word, obediently hiding inside the trapped character.

Just when everyone thought they were extremely safe under the talisman, the auspicious clouds in the sky began to move and converge on the sky above the Worry-Free Realm.

Lan Hua hummed in agreement and snorted, "Is it because my actions ruined everyone's plans that you're targeting me?"

Zi Yue also sensed something was wrong and said, "Xiao Hua Zi, it looks like someone is trying to get us."

"That's right, I still have tens of thousands of Celestials here. This is a big fish, no one would be willing to give it up."

As they spoke, a terrifying radiance descended from the auspicious clouds in the sky once more, striking the enormous character for "trapped".

Two terrifying forces clashed, scattering countless streaks of light.

The character "困" (trapped) began to fluctuate and become unstable due to the impact of the auspicious cloud's power, causing the barrier's radiance to waver.

"Lord Lan, save me!"

"I've worked so hard to become a celestial being, I don't want to die such a pathetic death!"

"Exactly, how can there be such a terrifying calamity in the Heavenly Realm? I should have known better than to have ascended and stayed in the mortal realm."

"..."

Everyone was terrified.

If these people were placed in the lower realm, wouldn't they all have been outstanding figures in their respective realms? They could stomp their feet and make the sects in the lower realms tremble.

But now that they have met with disaster, they are no longer as powerful as they once were, and no more than 20% of them can remain calm.

"Don't worry, with me here, I won't let the calamity harm a single hair on your head."

Lan Hua struck out with her palm, unleashing a surge of powerful runic energy that reinforced the barrier containing the Trapping Character.

In just a short while, the power of the descending auspicious clouds increased dramatically, forcing Lan Hua to use her full strength.

Zi Yue frowned, realizing something was wrong.

"Little Hua, with your strength, even if two veteran emperors came, you would only be able to fight to a draw."

But you're still a talisman master. Even two emperors couldn't break through your binding seal. For you to exert your full strength, isn't the mastermind behind this one person?

Lan Hua's expression was serious. Zi Yue was right. The power behind these auspicious clouds was at least that of three emperors.

Therefore, there are at least three people behind the so-called great calamity of heaven and earth.

Lan Hua is, after all, an emperor. Why is Xiang Yun targeting him instead of other super powers? It's obvious they're making things difficult for him.

"Hmph, since that's the case, I'll break this great calamity!"

"Xiao Hua, let me do it!"

Just as Lan Hua was about to make a move, Zi Yue had already attacked, unleashing a ten-thousand-foot-long sword beam from the Xuanyuan Sword.

The sword's edge struck the auspicious cloud, but failed to disperse it.

"Hmph, I am an emperor, after all. Let me show you what I'm made of."

Zi Yue raised her sword to the sky, unleashing a vast power from it—the energy of Yin and Yang—which transformed into a gigantic Yin-Yang diagram that rushed toward the auspicious clouds.