Chapter 2425: Preparations For A Stellular Tribulation
“Brother Bai, what’s going on?” Wang Fan asked.
Bai Wangyuan quietly replied, “Stellular liquid will soon appear in that location.”
Xia Shenji grinned as he looked down. “It appears Lu Xiaoxuan already knew about the two old rats hiding there. No matter what, we can’t allow him to obtain that stellular liquid without doing anything.”
“Naturally.” Bai Wangyuan’s anger was continuing to simmer. Every last bit of stellular liquid that came from that crack in the Mother Tree was supposed to belong to his Celestial Frost Sect. He had intended to use it to help Bai Qi’s cultivation, potentially allowing her to reach the Progenitor realm. With Lu Yin exposing it, there was no way the other three families would allow such a thing to occur. The Celestial Frost Sect had just lost a massive amount of a truly invaluable resource, and the Progenitor’s hatred for Lu Xiaoxuan grew deeper than ever.
“Let’s first chase Lu Xiaoxuan away.” Xia Shenji raised a hand and pressed it down, causing a blade to plummet.
Before it fell more than halfway, Mu Xie eliminated the attack. “What are you trying to do?”
“Mu Xie, this has nothing to do with you. We’re just chasing Lu Xiaoxuan away. This isn’t a breach in the agreement,” Bai Wangyuan said while preparing to attack as well. With the threat of Aeternus resolved, they were no longer restricted to the Dominion Realm.
Down below, Lu Yin looked upwards. Chase me away? What a joke!
He tore through the void to appear right in front of the crack in the Mother Tree. Veins filled with stellular liquid could be seen running just beneath a thin layer of bark. He stretched out a hand and ripped the bark open.
“Lu Xiaoxuan, stop!” Bai Wangyuan roared. The volatile stellular liquid could only be absorbed through a unique method, and with how Lu Yin was doing things, the vast majority of the stellular liquid would simply dissipate.
The Progenitor believed that Lu Yin was aiming for mutual destruction, intending to prevent anyone from getting their hands on the stellular liquid if Lu Yin himself could not absorb any of it.
However, Lu Yin had no such intentions; he was planning to take all of the stellular liquid for himself.
The moment the bark was torn open, Lu Yin instantly started absorbing the stellular liquid. Within just a few breaths, a black vortex appeared directly above him. He was about to face his fifth stellular tribulation.
It had only been a short while since he had passed his fourth stellular tribulation, but the stellular energy within his body had already reached the limit for a four-tribulation Envoy. Another breakthrough was hardly surprising.
The sight of Lu Yin’s fifth stellular tribulation did not surprise anyone watching. After all, he was already powerful enough to rival Semi-Progenitors. While improving one’s cultivation did raise their overall strength, there was no surprise that Lu Yin’s strength had never stopped improving. Seeing him face another stellular tribulation would not shock anyone.
Lu Yin’s strength meant that he could have increased his cultivation realm long ago. Compared to any of his peers, Lu Yin’s cultivation speed was beyond absurd.
His fifth stellular tribulation descended, which prevented Bai Wangyuan and everyone else from attacking for the moment. While a person’s fifth stellular tribulation was not a major tribulation, no one knew what might happen if other people interfered in the tribulation. It was possible that they might be drawn into it.
“Wait for his tribulation to end before attacking,” Bai Wangyuan said. He was determined to chase Lu Yin away from the crack. How dare he use that stellular liquid to make a breakthrough! Fortunately, only a small portion of the available stellular liquid had been used up so far. The vast majority of it was still untouched.
They simply needed to wait for the stellular tribulation to end.
/p>“We can’t allow him to pull us into a lose-lose situation. We need to attack the moment his tribulation ends,” Wang Fan cautioned.
Beside the Mother Tree, Lu Yin easily passed his fifth stellular tribulation. However, given the fact that he possessed four stellular energy vortices, he had to pass four tribulations for each breakthrough. He took the same actions as before in order to prevent anyone from discovering his secret.
Mu Xie appeared a short distance away from Lu Yin and calmly observed.
His appearance caused disgruntled frowns to appear on the faces of Bai Wangyuan and the other Progenitors. Even though Mu Xie was alone and incapable of stopping the four of them from chasing Lu Xiaoxuan away, he could provide Lu Xiaoxuan with enough time to react. If Lu Xiaoxuan let the stellular liquid evaporate, they would be helpless to stop him.
“Mu Xie, are you certain that you can face the consequences of making us your enemies?” Xia Shenji threatened.
Mu Xie did not even bother answering. He simply stared at the stellular tribulation over his head. How strange. Why is there more than one tribulation for his fifth tribulation? Junior Brother’s tribulation is very unusual.
At this moment, Lu Yin called out, “Relax, I won’t allow the stellular liquid to evaporate.”
Bai Wangyuan glared daggers at Lu Yin. “Since you’re stealing that stellular liquid, you clearly must be prepared to break your truce with us, Lu Xiaoxuan.”
Lu Yin’s smile disappeared. “Just a short time ago, I forced Aeternus to retreat. I was the one to destroy their cosmic door. I led the forces of the fourth array base to blaze a path through the New World. I took the initiative to open up the entrance to the Starfall Sea in order to relieve your burden. Are you people really so ungrateful that you intend to attack me already?”
The four Progenitors hesitated for a moment. This was not the right time for them to break the truce. Even if they were confident that they could gain complete control of the Perennial World and the Fifth Mainland, they would not be able to stop dissenters from speaking up, as it was impossible for them to deny what had happened.
No matter what excuses were given for breaking the truce, at this point in time, everyone would assume that the four ruling powers were merely trying to completely exterminate the Lu family. They could not afford to take such a blow to their reputations. Of course, reputation was just one aspect to consider. In truth, no one knew exactly what would happen once the truce was broken.
How many of the Perennial World’s Progenitors would help the four ruling powers? How many would support Lu Xiaoxuan? There were rumors that when the Progenitor of Secret Arts had attacked the Fifth Mainland, Xia Shang’s blade had appeared. There were many variables to consider.
The four ruling powers wanted to gain complete control of the entire Perennial World first, and at the same time, also verify exactly who supported Lu Xiaoxuan before eliminating all of them in one go. It was not time to get rid of the young man yet.
If they acted too soon, it would just cause all sides to suffer mutual losses. At the very least, the four ruling powers were certain to lose a few Progenitors, which was a loss that they refused to accept.
With their cosmic door?destroyed, Aeternus could no longer launch a large-scale invasion on the Perennial World or the Fifth Mainland, but the Seven Skygods and Progenitor-level corpse kings could still attack them. If the Perennial World was weakened too much, they would end up in dire straits when Aeternus’s powerhouses returned later on.
“I’m not sure how the Python Ancestor is doing. It’s time to pay it another visit,” Lu Yin quietly added.
The expressions of Bai Wangyuan and the other three instantly grew ugly. Right, they also needed to consider the Python Ancestor.
Lu Yin was the one who had asked the Python Ancestor to cooperate with them after Undying god had been captured. That was something that was beyond even Progenitor Long’s abilities. When they attacked Lu Xiaoxuan, who would the Python Ancestor help? That was yet another variable to consider.
No one spoke as the stellular tribulation dissipated above Lu Yin’s head.
Mu Xie looked up toward the Dominion Realm.
Wu Yao, Bai Qi, and everyone else simply waited.
The jiao snarled and pranced about while looking up at the Dominion Realm.
“Lu Xiaoxuan, we can give you a portion of the stellular liquid, but before the issue facing the Fifth Mainland’s cultivation is resolved, you will not be allowed to return to the Perennial World.” Bai Wangyuan offered a compromise.
Lu Yin turned away and pressed his hand against the Mother Tree, continuing to absorb stellular liquid.
“Lu Xiaoxuan!” Bai Wangyuan roared.
Mu Xie stepped forward and turned up to face the Dominion Realm.
“What’s all this racket? Who has the audacity to absorb stellular liquid?” Progenitor Smoke’s voice cut through everything.
Through the void, Lu Yin saw the furious expression on Bai Wangyuan’s face, as well as the looks of irritation on Wang Fan and the others. “Excuse me while I face my sixth stellular tribulation. This bit of stellular liquid seems to be sufficient.”
Stellular liquid flowed into Lu Yin’s body in an unending stream, rapidly filling his four stellular energy vortices.
Bai Wangyuan came down. “You’ve gone too far!”
He threw an attack, only to be blocked by Mu Xie. Xia Shenji, Wang Fan, and Progenitor Long all appeared as well, and so did Progenitor Smoke. The jiao roared. A battle between Progenitors was about to erupt.
Hiding his right hand behind his back, Lu Yin stretched out his index finger, and his die slowly stopped spinning. One pip: Pilfer. Useless.
“Do you really think that we can’t touch you? Lu Xiaoxuan, you’re the one who started things this time! Prepare to face the consequences!” Xia Shenji laughed coldly as his Shenwu World filled the region and blades rained down. All of the man’s repressed anger was released with this attack.
Lu Yin tapped again.
“Xia Shenji, stop!” Progenitor Smoke blocked the attack and then turned to frown at Lu Yin. “Lu Xiaoxuan, you better stop right now! Stellular liquid must not be absorbed!”
The die stopped on four pips: Timestop. Lu Yin let out a breath of relief as he entered his Timestop Space.
He had indeed managed to absorb a large amount of stellular liquid, but it was a mere fraction of what he actually needed. He intended to compensate what he was missing with what he had received from Sapling. In this manner, he would be able to limit how much stellular liquid he took from the Mother Tree, while also hiding how much stellular energy he actually needed for his own cultivation.
It took time to process stellular liquid after it entered one’s body. It was not instantaneous.
This was also why Bai Wangyuan and the others had started by threatening Lu Yin rather than instantly attacking him. However, they could have never imagined that Lu Yin was able to freeze time and cultivate there until he completed the entire process.
Almost a year passed in an instant. Lu Yin could sense that all four of his stellular energy vortices were just about to reach the limit, which would trigger his sixth stellular tribulation. He only needed to absorb a small bit more. This was the result of nearly a year dedicated solely to cultivating.
The scenery changed before his eyes, and time resumed its normal flow. Only a single second had passed in the outside universe.
“Lu Xiaoxuan, step back right now, or else you can’t blame me for what I’m about to do!” Progenitor Smoke was truly furious with Lu Yin this time. She refused to allow anyone to absorb the Mother Tree’s stellular liquid. That included both Bai Wangyuan’s group as well as Lu Yin.
Lu Yin met Progenitor Smoke’s gaze. “Senior, you are right. Stellular liquid must not be absorbed. Anyone who does so is not acting responsibly towards the Mother Tree or the entire Perennial World. My Lu family will stand firm with Senior’s position, and I will personally punish anyone who dares absorb stellular liquid. Senior, let’s work together and do our best.”
He then pointed at Bai Wangyuan’s group. “You had better not think of taking advantage of the Mother Tree!”
Progenitor Smoke was left utterly speechless. Lu Yin was talking as though he was not the one currently absorbing stellular liquid. Just how was she supposed to respond? How had she managed to change his mind so quickly?
Mu Xie also found Lu Yin’s sudden change of attitude very strange. Progenitor Smoke had not said much.
Bai Wangyuan’s anger flared. “Lu Xiaoxuan, right now, you?are the one absorbing stellular liquid!”
Lu Yin blinked twice, then coughed. “I’ve already stopped absorbing it. From now on, no one is allowed to absorb stellular liquid. I will personally ensure that anyone who absorbs stellular liquid will receive a beating. Senior, am I right?”
Progenitor Smoke arched a brow. “You promise to stop right now?”
Lu Yin was about to reply, but he was cut off by a crack of thunder. Everyone looked up to see that an enormous black storm had appeared from nowhere, and it was rapidly growing larger. It was a stellular tribulation.
“I’m about to face my stellular tribulation. Would you like to join me?” Lu Yin asked. His sixth stellular tribulation had arrived.
The moment everyone heard the words “stellular tribulation,” they instantly scattered and disappeared.
Mu Xie looked at Lu Yin in confusion. How had his junior brother’s cultivation risen so quickly?
Progenitor Smoke glanced at the stellular liquid within the Mother Tree. Only a small bit had been absorbed, and there was no way that such a small amount of stellular energy was enough for this particular young man. Besides that, he had only just passed his fifth stellular tribulation. There was no logical reason for his sixth stellular tribulation to arrive so quickly. It took time to convert stellular liquid within one’s body, after all.
Bai Wangyuan and the others were equally confused as to why Lu Yin’s sixth stellular tribulation had arrived so soon.
A sixth stellular tribulation was incomparable to a fifth tribulation, as there was a qualitative difference between the two.
Chapter 2425: Preparations For A Stellular Tribulation
“Brother Bai, what’s going on?” Wang Fan asked.
Bai Wangyuan quietly replied, “Stellular liquid will soon appear in that location.”
Xia Shenji grinned as he looked down. “It appears Lu Xiaoxuan already knew about the two old rats hiding there. No matter what, we can’t allow him to obtain that stellular liquid without doing anything.”
“Naturally.” Bai Wangyuan’s anger was continuing to simmer. Every last bit of stellular liquid that came from that crack in the Mother Tree was supposed to belong to his Celestial Frost Sect. He had intended to use it to help Bai Qi’s cultivation, potentially allowing her to reach the Progenitor realm. With Lu Yin exposing it, there was no way the other three families would allow such a thing to occur. The Celestial Frost Sect had just lost a massive amount of a truly invaluable resource, and the Progenitor’s hatred for Lu Xiaoxuan grew deeper than ever.
“Let’s first chase Lu Xiaoxuan away.” Xia Shenji raised a hand and pressed it down, causing a blade to plummet.
Before it fell more than halfway, Mu Xie eliminated the attack. “What are you trying to do?”
“Mu Xie, this has nothing to do with you. We’re just chasing Lu Xiaoxuan away. This isn’t a breach in the agreement,” Bai Wangyuan said while preparing to attack as well. With the threat of Aeternus resolved, they were no longer restricted to the Dominion Realm.
Down below, Lu Yin looked upwards. Chase me away? What a joke!
He tore through the void to appear right in front of the crack in the Mother Tree. Veins filled with stellular liquid could be seen running just beneath a thin layer of bark. He stretched out a hand and ripped the bark open.
“Lu Xiaoxuan, stop!” Bai Wangyuan roared. The volatile stellular liquid could only be absorbed through a unique method, and with how Lu Yin was doing things, the vast majority of the stellular liquid would simply dissipate.
The Progenitor believed that Lu Yin was aiming for mutual destruction, intending to prevent anyone from getting their hands on the stellular liquid if Lu Yin himself could not absorb any of it.
However, Lu Yin had no such intentions; he was planning to take all of the stellular liquid for himself.
The moment the bark was torn open, Lu Yin instantly started absorbing the stellular liquid. Within just a few breaths, a black vortex appeared directly above him. He was about to face his fifth stellular tribulation.
It had only been a short while since he had passed his fourth stellular tribulation, but the stellular energy within his body had already reached the limit for a four-tribulation Envoy. Another breakthrough was hardly surprising.
The sight of Lu Yin’s fifth stellular tribulation did not surprise anyone watching. After all, he was already powerful enough to rival Semi-Progenitors. While improving one’s cultivation did raise their overall strength, there was no surprise that Lu Yin’s strength had never stopped improving. Seeing him face another stellular tribulation would not shock anyone.
Lu Yin’s strength meant that he could have increased his cultivation realm long ago. Compared to any of his peers, Lu Yin’s cultivation speed was beyond absurd.
His fifth stellular tribulation descended, which prevented Bai Wangyuan and everyone else from attacking for the moment. While a person’s fifth stellular tribulation was not a major tribulation, no one knew what might happen if other people interfered in the tribulation. It was possible that they might be drawn into it.
“Wait for his tribulation to end before attacking,” Bai Wangyuan said. He was determined to chase Lu Yin away from the crack. How dare he use that stellular liquid to make a breakthrough! Fortunately, only a small portion of the available stellular liquid had been used up so far. The vast majority of it was still untouched.
They simply needed to wait for the stellular tribulation to end.
/p>“We can’t allow him to pull us into a lose-lose situation. We need to attack the moment his tribulation ends,” Wang Fan cautioned.
Beside the Mother Tree, Lu Yin easily passed his fifth stellular tribulation. However, given the fact that he possessed four stellular energy vortices, he had to pass four tribulations for each breakthrough. He took the same actions as before in order to prevent anyone from discovering his secret.
Mu Xie appeared a short distance away from Lu Yin and calmly observed.
His appearance caused disgruntled frowns to appear on the faces of Bai Wangyuan and the other Progenitors. Even though Mu Xie was alone and incapable of stopping the four of them from chasing Lu Xiaoxuan away, he could provide Lu Xiaoxuan with enough time to react. If Lu Xiaoxuan let the stellular liquid evaporate, they would be helpless to stop him.
“Mu Xie, are you certain that you can face the consequences of making us your enemies?” Xia Shenji threatened.
Mu Xie did not even bother answering. He simply stared at the stellular tribulation over his head. How strange. Why is there more than one tribulation for his fifth tribulation? Junior Brother’s tribulation is very unusual.
At this moment, Lu Yin called out, “Relax, I won’t allow the stellular liquid to evaporate.”
Bai Wangyuan glared daggers at Lu Yin. “Since you’re stealing that stellular liquid, you clearly must be prepared to break your truce with us, Lu Xiaoxuan.”
Lu Yin’s smile disappeared. “Just a short time ago, I forced Aeternus to retreat. I was the one to destroy their cosmic door. I led the forces of the fourth array base to blaze a path through the New World. I took the initiative to open up the entrance to the Starfall Sea in order to relieve your burden. Are you people really so ungrateful that you intend to attack me already?”
The four Progenitors hesitated for a moment. This was not the right time for them to break the truce. Even if they were confident that they could gain complete control of the Perennial World and the Fifth Mainland, they would not be able to stop dissenters from speaking up, as it was impossible for them to deny what had happened.
No matter what excuses were given for breaking the truce, at this point in time, everyone would assume that the four ruling powers were merely trying to completely exterminate the Lu family. They could not afford to take such a blow to their reputations. Of course, reputation was just one aspect to consider. In truth, no one knew exactly what would happen once the truce was broken.
How many of the Perennial World’s Progenitors would help the four ruling powers? How many would support Lu Xiaoxuan? There were rumors that when the Progenitor of Secret Arts had attacked the Fifth Mainland, Xia Shang’s blade had appeared. There were many variables to consider.
The four ruling powers wanted to gain complete control of the entire Perennial World first, and at the same time, also verify exactly who supported Lu Xiaoxuan before eliminating all of them in one go. It was not time to get rid of the young man yet.
If they acted too soon, it would just cause all sides to suffer mutual losses. At the very least, the four ruling powers were certain to lose a few Progenitors, which was a loss that they refused to accept.
With their cosmic door?destroyed, Aeternus could no longer launch a large-scale invasion on the Perennial World or the Fifth Mainland, but the Seven Skygods and Progenitor-level corpse kings could still attack them. If the Perennial World was weakened too much, they would end up in dire straits when Aeternus’s powerhouses returned later on.
“I’m not sure how the Python Ancestor is doing. It’s time to pay it another visit,” Lu Yin quietly added.
The expressions of Bai Wangyuan and the other three instantly grew ugly. Right, they also needed to consider the Python Ancestor.
Lu Yin was the one who had asked the Python Ancestor to cooperate with them after Undying god had been captured. That was something that was beyond even Progenitor Long’s abilities. When they attacked Lu Xiaoxuan, who would the Python Ancestor help? That was yet another variable to consider.
No one spoke as the stellular tribulation dissipated above Lu Yin’s head.
Mu Xie looked up toward the Dominion Realm.
Wu Yao, Bai Qi, and everyone else simply waited.
The jiao snarled and pranced about while looking up at the Dominion Realm.
“Lu Xiaoxuan, we can give you a portion of the stellular liquid, but before the issue facing the Fifth Mainland’s cultivation is resolved, you will not be allowed to return to the Perennial World.” Bai Wangyuan offered a compromise.
Lu Yin turned away and pressed his hand against the Mother Tree, continuing to absorb stellular liquid.
“Lu Xiaoxuan!” Bai Wangyuan roared.
Mu Xie stepped forward and turned up to face the Dominion Realm.
“What’s all this racket? Who has the audacity to absorb stellular liquid?” Progenitor Smoke’s voice cut through everything.
Through the void, Lu Yin saw the furious expression on Bai Wangyuan’s face, as well as the looks of irritation on Wang Fan and the others. “Excuse me while I face my sixth stellular tribulation. This bit of stellular liquid seems to be sufficient.”
Stellular liquid flowed into Lu Yin’s body in an unending stream, rapidly filling his four stellular energy vortices.
Bai Wangyuan came down. “You’ve gone too far!”
He threw an attack, only to be blocked by Mu Xie. Xia Shenji, Wang Fan, and Progenitor Long all appeared as well, and so did Progenitor Smoke. The jiao roared. A battle between Progenitors was about to erupt.
Hiding his right hand behind his back, Lu Yin stretched out his index finger, and his die slowly stopped spinning. One pip: Pilfer. Useless.
“Do you really think that we can’t touch you? Lu Xiaoxuan, you’re the one who started things this time! Prepare to face the consequences!” Xia Shenji laughed coldly as his Shenwu World filled the region and blades rained down. All of the man’s repressed anger was released with this attack.
Lu Yin tapped again.
“Xia Shenji, stop!” Progenitor Smoke blocked the attack and then turned to frown at Lu Yin. “Lu Xiaoxuan, you better stop right now! Stellular liquid must not be absorbed!”
The die stopped on four pips: Timestop. Lu Yin let out a breath of relief as he entered his Timestop Space.
He had indeed managed to absorb a large amount of stellular liquid, but it was a mere fraction of what he actually needed. He intended to compensate what he was missing with what he had received from Sapling. In this manner, he would be able to limit how much stellular liquid he took from the Mother Tree, while also hiding how much stellular energy he actually needed for his own cultivation.
It took time to process stellular liquid after it entered one’s body. It was not instantaneous.
This was also why Bai Wangyuan and the others had started by threatening Lu Yin rather than instantly attacking him. However, they could have never imagined that Lu Yin was able to freeze time and cultivate there until he completed the entire process.
Almost a year passed in an instant. Lu Yin could sense that all four of his stellular energy vortices were just about to reach the limit, which would trigger his sixth stellular tribulation. He only needed to absorb a small bit more. This was the result of nearly a year dedicated solely to cultivating.
The scenery changed before his eyes, and time resumed its normal flow. Only a single second had passed in the outside universe.
“Lu Xiaoxuan, step back right now, or else you can’t blame me for what I’m about to do!” Progenitor Smoke was truly furious with Lu Yin this time. She refused to allow anyone to absorb the Mother Tree’s stellular liquid. That included both Bai Wangyuan’s group as well as Lu Yin.
Lu Yin met Progenitor Smoke’s gaze. “Senior, you are right. Stellular liquid must not be absorbed. Anyone who does so is not acting responsibly towards the Mother Tree or the entire Perennial World. My Lu family will stand firm with Senior’s position, and I will personally punish anyone who dares absorb stellular liquid. Senior, let’s work together and do our best.”
He then pointed at Bai Wangyuan’s group. “You had better not think of taking advantage of the Mother Tree!”
Progenitor Smoke was left utterly speechless. Lu Yin was talking as though he was not the one currently absorbing stellular liquid. Just how was she supposed to respond? How had she managed to change his mind so quickly?
Mu Xie also found Lu Yin’s sudden change of attitude very strange. Progenitor Smoke had not said much.
Bai Wangyuan’s anger flared. “Lu Xiaoxuan, right now, you?are the one absorbing stellular liquid!”
Lu Yin blinked twice, then coughed. “I’ve already stopped absorbing it. From now on, no one is allowed to absorb stellular liquid. I will personally ensure that anyone who absorbs stellular liquid will receive a beating. Senior, am I right?”
Progenitor Smoke arched a brow. “You promise to stop right now?”
Lu Yin was about to reply, but he was cut off by a crack of thunder. Everyone looked up to see that an enormous black storm had appeared from nowhere, and it was rapidly growing larger. It was a stellular tribulation.
“I’m about to face my stellular tribulation. Would you like to join me?” Lu Yin asked. His sixth stellular tribulation had arrived.
The moment everyone heard the words “stellular tribulation,” they instantly scattered and disappeared.
Mu Xie looked at Lu Yin in confusion. How had his junior brother’s cultivation risen so quickly?
Progenitor Smoke glanced at the stellular liquid within the Mother Tree. Only a small bit had been absorbed, and there was no way that such a small amount of stellular energy was enough for this particular young man. Besides that, he had only just passed his fifth stellular tribulation. There was no logical reason for his sixth stellular tribulation to arrive so quickly. It took time to convert stellular liquid within one’s body, after all.
Bai Wangyuan and the others were equally confused as to why Lu Yin’s sixth stellular tribulation had arrived so soon.
A sixth stellular tribulation was incomparable to a fifth tribulation, as there was a qualitative difference between the two.