The Bell of Ten Thousand Tribulations

While every cultivator in the world of cultivation pursues immortality, I alone ring the death knell day and night. Each toll mourns the passing of a fallen genius. Until one day, the bells fall silent. It’s my turn to die.

Cultivation System: Nine Tribulations to the Dao

The core of this novel’s cultivation system is not absorbing spiritual energy, but surviving tribulations. There are nine great tribulations between heaven and earth. Each time a cultivator survives one, they undergo a complete transformation. Only after completing all nine can they attain the Dao.

Tribulation | Realm | Meaning | Lifespan

First Tribulation: Mortal Dust Tribulation | Transcend the mortal body and enter the path of cultivation | 300 years

Second Tribulation: Love Tribulation | Sever worldly ties and achieve a heart as still as water | 500 years

Third Tribulation: Karmic Fire Tribulation | Burn away karma without being tainted by sin | 800 years

Fourth Tribulation: Heavenly Lightning Tribulation | Temper the body and reshape the bones | 1,200 years

Fifth Tribulation: Heart Demon Tribulation | Face your true self and dispel delusions | 2,000 years

Sixth Tribulation: Life and Death Tribulation | See through life and death and understand reincarnation | 3,000 years

Seventh Tribulation: Karma Tribulation | Settle all karma and escape the cage | 5,000 years

Eighth Tribulation: Spacetime Tribulation | Master spacetime and revisit the past | 8,000 years

Ninth Tribulation: Tribulationless | No tribulation remains to be crossed; exist as one with the Dao | 10,000+ years

Protagonist: Zhong Li Du

· Age: 18 at the beginning; 21 at the end of Volume One

· Identity: The lowest-ranked death kneller in the Office of the Dead in Qingliu Town

· Personality: Quiet and taciturn, seemingly cold, but tenderhearted within. Having witnessed death so often, he has a reverence for life beyond his years.

· Appearance: Slender, with a persistent weariness between his brows. Years of ringing bells have left his fingers thick and calloused.

· Catchphrase: (Silence)