Compared to the Golden Core cultivators present, the young cultivators still at the Qi Refining stage were as immature as chicks that had just pecked their way out of their eggshells. Yet even they could tell that the duration of this Heavenly Tribulation seemed far too abnormal.
"Master."
Qi Jianzhu, the eldest among the Five Elders of Huayang, could not help looking at True Person Qingyang before him. In a low voice, he asked, "Why has the second layer of thunder tribulation lasted even less time than the first?"
To know was to know, and not to know was not to know. Especially before one's own master, if one did not understand, then naturally one had to ask.
But the key was that True Person Qingyang did not know either.
"Perhaps it is because this Exotic Thunder Tribulation is far more powerful than ordinary thunder tribulations, and because Old Ancestor responded appropriately, resulting in this..." True Person Qingyang hesitated at first, but the more he considered it, the more he felt this was the only possibility.
"Yes, that must be it. Old Ancestor must have seen through the Heavenly Secrets and responded appropriately, dismantling the very foundation of the tribulation lightning. That is why the tribulation lightning could only last for such a short time."
His eyes instantly lit up.
This was absolutely not empty self-praise.
Because at that moment, more than half of the cultivators present had arrived at the same thought.
What were the Heavenly Dao laws?
They were supreme laws that stood above all else.
The Heavenly Dao laws would not change. Therefore, if the duration of the tribulation lightning had shortened, the cause could only lie with the cultivator undergoing the tribulation.
Even if they could not make sense of the process, the result was right before their eyes.
The result now was that two layers of Exotic Thunder Tribulation had passed, yet Old Ancestor Tong Hui had not lost even a single hair. The number of magic treasures he had expended was only a fraction of what an ordinary Golden Core cultivator undergoing tribulation would use, and he had not even consumed much True Essence.
So Old Ancestor Tong Hui was not some mediocre talent at all, but a true peerless genius?
At that moment, the Blood-red Tribulation Lightning had completely vanished. Low rumbles of thunder rang out one after another from within the golden tribulation clouds. Then, with a sudden crack, a streak of golden light tore through the clouds and descended.
"Sure enough, another Exotic Thunder Tribulation."
Seeing that the golden light was formed from numerous arm-thick strands of Golden Lightning, like an enormous golden Dharma Sword, Old Ancestor Tong Hui was no longer particularly surprised. Without overthinking, he flicked a finger. Corrupted Lightning surged from the Yin Thunder Umbrella covering his head, actually forming a black skull. It let out a shrill, ear-piercing screech, opened its great jaws, and bit toward the golden light.
The golden light rushed into the foul black lightning, producing only soft hissing sounds. Great billows of thick smoke poured from the skull's seven apertures, carrying an intense stench of blood and rot.
The black skull formed from Corrupted Lightning lasted only several breaths before completely collapsing, but the golden light formed by the tribulation lightning had clearly grown much smaller, and its power had obviously been worn down considerably.
Old Ancestor Tong Hui was immediately overjoyed. He did not know what sort of Exotic Thunder Tribulation this Golden Tribulation Lightning belonged to, but since the Yin Thunder Umbrella could effectively diminish its power, he had a chance of enduring this layer of thunder tribulation.
The shrill, piercing screech rang out again. Corrupted Lightning on the Yin Thunder Umbrella once more formed a black skull, which bit toward the visibly diminished golden light.
The second black skull tangled with the golden light in midair for a moment before the two nearly collapsed at the same time.
Immediately afterward, low thunder rumbled again from the golden tribulation clouds, and another streak of golden light descended.
Old Ancestor Tong Hui followed the same method. The Yin Thunder Umbrella erupted with power twice, dissipating that golden light in midair.
When the third low rumble of thunder sounded and the third streak of golden light appeared, Old Ancestor Tong Hui was already wild with joy.
The golden light formed by this Golden Tribulation Lightning seemed to follow a strict pattern. Though its power was formidable, the next one seemed to appear only after the previous one had vanished. In that case, if this third layer of thunder tribulation did not last excessively long, the Yin Thunder Umbrella alone seemed sufficient to carry him through with ease.
After that, the golden light formed by the Golden Tribulation Lightning showed no change in either its pattern of appearance or its power, and its duration differed little from the second layer of thunder tribulation. When Old Ancestor Tong Hui used the Yin Thunder Umbrella's Yin Lightning to dissipate the ninth streak of golden light, the bottom of the golden tribulation clouds above silently turned red. The aura filling the sky changed completely. Clearly, the third layer of thunder tribulation had ended, and the Heavenly Dao laws were already brewing the fourth.
At that moment, the vast majority of Golden Core cultivators present looked at the center of the Heavenly Tribulation where Old Ancestor Tong Hui stood with eyes entirely different from before.
Because the tribulation for Golden Core cultivators advancing to Nascent Soul had already exceeded the protective capacity of most sects, the death rate among those facing the seven layers of thunder tribulation was extremely high. Among all Golden Core cultivators who failed their tribulations, only thirty percent made it past the first three layers.
In other words, seven out of ten Golden Core cultivators had already exhausted all their magic treasures, their True Essence, and the spirit medicines that could rapidly replenish True Essence during the first three layers of thunder tribulation.
Even among the thirty percent of Golden Core cultivators undergoing tribulation who survived the first three layers, few had done so as easily as Old Ancestor Tong Hui.
To deal with the tribulation lightning correctly time after time, dissipating it at such a tiny cost—if that was not genius, then what was? "He actually made it to the fourth layer of thunder tribulation?"
Old Ancestor Tong Hui himself found it somewhat unbelievable.
Even if a bolt of tribulation lightning directly struck him dead now, it seemed he would not disgrace the Huayang Sect or make others think the Huayang Sect truly amounted to nothing.
But although even he did not understand how he had muddleheadedly passed through three layers of thunder tribulation already, he naturally could not give up resisting now.
"Should I keep using the Yin Thunder Umbrella to withstand it head-on?"
He raised his head to look at the bottom of the golden tribulation clouds, which seemed to have been heated red, and this thought naturally arose in his heart.
After all, they were all Exotic Thunder Tribulations with unknown properties. Judging by the experience of the first three layers, it seemed that simply taking out whichever magic treasure was at hand and using it might actually allow him to survive the tribulation.
But in the very next breath, his thinking changed at once.
Thunder boomed.
The fourth layer of thunder tribulation officially began.
The bottom of the golden tribulation clouds blanketing the sky looked as though countless iron pots had been burned through. From the glowing red holes, a mixture of fire clouds and thunderforce continuously fell, truly resembling viscous molten iron.
Thousands upon thousands of such mixtures of fire clouds and thunderforce poured down upon Old Ancestor Tong Hui like a rainstorm spilling across the earth.
In an instant, the air was filled with the unique Golden Core pressure of Golden Core cultivators.
Countless faintly visible glows of Golden Cores darted through the void, constantly forming profound golden threads of light and incomprehensible runes.
"Danxiao Tribulation Lightning?"
True Person Baixi, who had long since stopped lecturing the group of Immortal Seedlings behind him, deeply furrowed his brow.
He felt that Old Ancestor Tong Hui's Heavenly Tribulation had taught him a proper lesson as well, broadening his horizons. He felt that when pondering matters in the future, he would no longer be as narrow-minded as before.
After the first three layers of Exotic Thunder Tribulation, this Heavenly Tribulation seemed to have suddenly returned to the proper path. What fell now was the Danxiao Tribulation Lightning familiar to the Cultivation World. This was tribulation lightning that descended when the Heavenly Dao laws sensed the Golden Core laws of the cultivator undergoing tribulation. Yet in a normal Heavenly Tribulation, Danxiao Tribulation Lightning appeared in the fifth layer, not the fourth.
"This Heavenly Tribulation is practically deranged."
Wang Li said that from the bottom of his heart.
The moment the words left his mouth, he suddenly thought of something and sharply turned to look at his senior sister beside him.
He looked at the female cultivator's exquisite face, particularly those seemingly somewhat unfocused eyes, hoping to find some useful answer within them.
"Mm." But the female cultivator still only sent him that single word through voice transmission.
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