Chapter 29: Tribulation
You left the Great Qin Dynasty with Shangguan Lan, arriving at a mountain range with rather dense spiritual qi, and stopped there.
Your cultivation at the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment could no longer be suppressed. The spiritual power within your body stirred restlessly, ready to erupt at any moment and break through to Golden Core!
“You stay here and don’t wander off. Your Master will be back shortly.” You looked at Shangguan Lan and instructed her.
“Mm, I believe Master will definitely succeed!” Shangguan Lan had blind confidence in you.
A hundred li away, you circulated your cultivation art, raising your cultivation to its peak, and triggered the heavenly tribulation.
The sky instantly grew dense with dark clouds. As the thunderclouds grew thicker and thicker, your Three-Nine Heavenly Tribulation for breaking through to Golden Core finally arrived!
Boom!
The first wave of heavenly tribulation descended. With your current physique comparable to Golden Core, this kind of lightning tribulation was like a tickle, posing no threat to you at all.
You circulated the Heavenly Lightning Body-Refining Art on the spot, absorbing the power of the tribulation to continue tempering your body.
Letting the Heavenly Lightning strike down, you remained unmoved.
The three waves of Heavenly Lightning in the Three-Nine Heavenly Tribulation grew stronger with each wave. The entire time, you resisted purely with the strength of your body. All your clothes were reduced to nothing beneath the tribulation lightning.
Your Heavenly Lightning Body-Refining Art thus broke through as well, stepping into the second layer, the Minor Completion Stage. Your strength was now comparable to a sixth-layer Golden Core cultivator.
When all twenty-seven bolts of Heavenly Lightning had fallen, the tribulation clouds above still had not dispersed. Instead, they grew more and more intense.
You had witnessed Xiao Fan’s Tribulation Crossing, so you knew there would still be a bolt of Purple Heaven Divine Lightning appearing afterward!
And the spiritual power within your body was prepared precisely for this.
This time you waited a full quarter of an hour, yet the Purple Heaven Divine Lightning still did not fall.
Instead, because of the commotion caused by your tribulation, you drew the attention of nearby cultivators. Numerous cultivators stood outside the tribulation’s range, watching your Tribulation Crossing.
Among the crowd, you spotted disciples of the Azure Cloud Sect.
And the other party had clearly recognized you as well, beginning to send messages through their token. Soon, an Azure Cloud Sect Golden Core cultivator arrived.
The arriving Golden Core cultivator looked at the tribulation you had triggered, his brow furrowed tightly. He could sense the threat within the tribulation lightning!
“What kind of tribulation is this? Why is it that I, a Golden Core cultivator, can actually sense a wisp of death’s aura within it!” the Golden Core cultivator muttered to himself, then immediately sent word to the Azure Cloud Sect Master, a Nascent Soul Ancestor!
The other party’s movements were clearly visible in your eyes, but you did not stop them, because even you could sense the aura of death within the tribulation lightning.
“The power of this tribulation lightning is absolutely more terrifying than Xiao Fan’s Purple Heaven Divine Lightning back then!” you muttered to yourself. A tribulation lightning even more powerful than the Purple Heaven Divine Lightning — you had never heard of such a thing.
BOOM——————!
The long-awaited heavenly tribulation finally descended!
The crowd outside the tribulation was so frightened they hurriedly retreated, moving even further from the tribulation’s range.
In the distance, Shangguan Lan watched you with a face full of worry, silently praying in her heart.
Your expression was grave as you took out all your artifacts, standing ready!
Beneath this kind of tribulation lightning, you really would die!
The Profound-Rank High-Grade Artifact, the Azure Radiance Shield, turned to nothing the instant it touched the tribulation lightning!
The two Profound-Rank Low-Grade Artifacts could not block the Heavenly Lightning even for a second.
Your right hand gripped the Broken Sword tightly, all your spiritual power converging into it. A single move, Jinghong, howled forth! Your left hand met it head-on with the Heavenly Lightning Fist. You chose to clash directly!
Bolstered by the Immortal-rank Broken Sword, your Jinghong actually managed to contend with the Heavenly Lightning for a moment, while the Heavenly Lightning Fist struck from the side, weakening the tribulation’s power.
Three breaths later, this bolt of Heavenly Lightning had nearly half its power worn away by you. Sensing the mere fifty percent of spiritual power remaining in your body, you chose to endure it head-on.
With a bang, even at only half its strength, the Heavenly Lightning’s damage could not be underestimated. You were directly blasted to the ground, smashing out a huge crater.
The powerful Heavenly Lightning raged within your body, destroying your flesh without pause. You involuntarily circulated the Heavenly Lightning Body-Refining Art, absorbing the vitality brought by the tribulation’s power within you.
At the same time, a force surged from deep within your flesh, helping you restore your body.
Your blood and flesh were constantly being destroyed by the Heavenly Lightning’s power, and constantly being regenerated by the new force, tempered endlessly in the cycle of life and death, until the Heavenly Lightning within your body was exhausted.
At this moment, you were practically a man of blood. The ground was covered entirely in your dead flesh, destroyed by the tribulation’s power.
You staggered to your feet. In the next instant, a second bolt of Heavenly Lightning, even more terrifying than the Purple Heaven Divine Lightning, fell once more!
You could only take out that Broken Sword and once again unleash Jinghong to resist.
But to your surprise, this bolt of Heavenly Lightning far surpassed the first. You only resisted for a moment before being struck down again.
Am I going to die? Your consciousness fell into a blur. Such a powerful Heavenly Lightning directly left your just-recovered body heavily wounded once more.
There was not a single intact place anywhere on your body. A great gash had even been torn open in your abdomen, your internal organs clearly visible.
“Hiss, such tribulation lightning is unheard of! Even I would not dare endure it head-on!” In the distance, the Azure Cloud Sect Master, who had just arrived, happened to witness this scene. After sensing the power of this Heavenly Lightning, he was greatly alarmed.
“What? A tribulation lightning even a Nascent Soul cultivator cannot endure head-on? Is this really the Three-Nine Heavenly Tribulation for breaking through to Golden Core?” Someone recognized the Azure Cloud Sect Master and could not help but speak.
“That brat crossing tribulation, with his Foundation Establishment cultivation, is probably already scattered to the winds by now!”
The power of this Heavenly Lightning far exceeded your imagination. To survive, you could only use your final trump card.
The Immortal-rank cultivation art, the Boundless Longevity Art, aside from granting immortality, also possessed five great secret methods! Within them resided unfathomable power.
You forcibly drew a breath and unleashed one of the five great secret methods, the Life-Seizing Origin-Restoring Art!
A terrifying power surged from within your body. The spiritual qi of heaven and earth all around, as well as the vitality within the flowers, grass, and trees, were all forcibly stripped away by you, restoring your injuries at an unbelievable speed.
Soon, your internal injuries were restored to their original state. Even your nearly exhausted spiritual power was replenished to almost full.
You opened your eyes. Within a fifty-li radius, the spiritual qi was completely exhausted, the flowers, grass, and trees all withered, not a blade of grass remaining!
“This… what cultivation art is this!” The Azure Cloud Sect Master witnessed this scene with his own eyes, utterly shocked inwardly, a hint of greed revealed in his gaze.
Then, the Azure Cloud Sect Master looked at the surrounding cultivators, a flash of killing intent passing through his eyes.
This kind of cultivation art, this old man must have it! The Azure Cloud Sect Master immediately gave the order to slaughter the non-Azure Cloud Sect cultivators nearby!