"Heavenly Tribulation? This is actually a Heavenly Tribulation. Throughout history, only certain heaven-defying things and peerless prodigies could draw down a Heavenly Tribulation below the Severing Dao realm. Most cultivators could only come into contact with such heavenly might after reaching the Immortal Platform."
Above Ten Thousand Demons Valley, layer upon layer of thunderclouds filled countless demons with fear. This sort of power of heaven and earth restrained them far too greatly.
"Among our demon race, only a few legendary geniuses from ancient history encountered the tempering of a Heavenly Tribulation below the Immortal Platform. Who would have thought that Brother Li would attract a Heavenly Tribulation merely by refining a pill?"
Old Crane and Monkey spoke one after another. Second Valley Lord Spirit Cat was not particularly familiar with Yan Kuan and said nothing. However, as the one who carried Ten Thousand Demons Valley's highest inheritance, his knowledge was the most extensive, so he naturally understood just how extraordinary this situation was.
The dark clouds in the sky grew increasingly heavy. From afar, they seemed as though they were about to press down upon the earth itself, bringing an intensely oppressive feeling.
Silver lightning slithered through the clouds. Whenever it collided, it erupted with enormous peals of thunder, and that heavenly might made people tremble in fear.
Crack!
Amid the spreading clouds, an arm-thick streak of silver suddenly burst forth, its dazzling radiance lighting up the dim world.
Monkey swiftly rushed before the Medicine Cauldron, a Golden Staff appearing in his palm. This had also been part of their earlier deal with Yan Kuan. Yan Kuan's current strength was insufficient, and it would be rather difficult for him to face the lightning tribulation himself.
Boom!
The silver lightning within the clouds gathered more and more violently, and the entire sky became incomparably oppressive. Roughly a dozen seconds later, a crack suddenly split open in the dark clouds.
A silver bolt about half a foot thick and wide descended with a deafening roar. Like a massive silver python, it shot violently out of the clouds, its target being none other than the blood-red pill within Yan Kuan's Medicine Cauldron.
The silver lightning crashed down, only for a long staff carrying the sound of wind and thunder to collide with it. The strike scattered the lightning, and countless tiny arcs were flung out by the staff's shadow, densely filling the sky like little Silver Serpents.
"Hahaha, exhilarating!"
Monkey laughed loudly and swung his staff, smashing fiercely into the remaining silver lightning and splitting it apart.
"Come again!"
He slowly raised his staff and pointed it at the sky. Perhaps provoked by Yan Kuan's challenge, the pitch-black clouds churned ever more violently. Another sharp crack rang across the heavens, and silver lightning twice as thick as before shot forth.
"I haven't even undergone a lightning tribulation myself. Today, I'll get some payback from the heavens."
Monkey laughed as his Golden Staff danced wildly. Whistling staff shadows instantly shattered bolt after bolt of lightning, and vast silver radiance exploded across the sky like fireworks. With his final strike, the Golden Staff suddenly expanded countless times, nearly blasting apart the tribulation clouds with one blow.
"Third Valley Lord, well done!"
"Our king is incredible! Incredible!"
"Third Valley Lord, I want to bear your monkey babies!"
Cheers and screams rang throughout Ten Thousand Demons Valley. Lightning tribulations were a fear carved into the bones of the demon race, and any great demon capable of resisting one would naturally receive endless adoration. Even if this tribulation had not been triggered by Monkey himself, its power did not seem particularly strong.
The laws of Heavenly Tribulations in the Shrouding the Heavens universe were quite unique. They took special care of monstrous prodigies. At the very least, reaching the Four Extremes realm could draw down a Heavenly Tribulation. Even those lacking in talent could hardly avoid a Severing Dao tribulation as long as they had a chance to reach Severing Dao.
It also possessed another trait: the stronger one was, the stronger it became. If a powerful cultivator dared interfere recklessly with a weaker person's lightning tribulation, they would instead draw down a tribulation corresponding to their own realm. If their talent was insufficient to summon such heavenly might, their end would certainly be miserable.
When many gifted powerhouses were young, they could use this method to kill those shameless Old Undyings.
Monkey, Old Crane, and Spirit Cat were all considered exceptionally talented in this era. They had cultivated to the Transforming Dragon realm in merely a few centuries. In the Big Dipper, they would at minimum have reached the Immortal Platform and could be called Great Divine Power Experts.
Yet even talents like theirs had basically never undergone lightning tribulations. Compared to true prodigies, they ultimately lacked the necessary foundation. Thus, when he learned that he would be helping a pill overcome its lightning tribulation, Monkey could no longer restrain his excitement.
Watching Monkey smash apart the lightning tribulation strike after strike, Old Crane and Spirit Cat exclaimed in admiration, "Such heavenly might truly is magnificent!"
Spirit Cat silently glanced at Yan Kuan. "This Pill Tribulation Lightning differs somewhat from the Heavenly Tribulations recorded in ancient texts. It is more like a special method of refining pills through drawn lightning. It will not summon even greater heavenly might due to outside interference. What a marvelous path of alchemy!"
Old Crane glanced at Spirit Cat and said flatly, "Second, remember this. Brother Li is a friend of Ten Thousand Demons Valley."
Spirit Cat nodded. "Big Brother, I understand what you mean. I am not so shortsighted, and if what you told me is true, then Brother Li is no simple man."
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Bolt after bolt of tribulation lightning descended, only to be shattered by Monkey's staff again and again. The dark clouds seemed to grow even more enraged. Countless silver flashes flickered, and bolts of lightning broke free from the clouds like silver Pythons, crashing one after another toward the Medicine Cauldron and Monkey atop the stone platform.
As Monkey watched the densely packed silver lightning fall from the sky, a trace of madness flashed through his eyes. "Watch this Monkey King strike the heavens!"
Monkey gripped his staff in one hand and swung it. The enormous Golden Staff instantly erupted with shocking divine power, its overwhelming might seemingly capable of shaking heaven and earth as it smashed the dark clouds apart.
After withdrawing his staff, Monkey shouted to those around him, "Little ones, the Baptism of lightning tribulation is both calamity and fortune. Since ancient times, our demon race has had legends of transcending tribulations to attain the Dao. All demons, heed my command! Form the array and face the tribulation!"
The many demons stirred the demon clouds that shrouded the heavens, forming an astonishing formation. The endless lightning that fell instead became a means to temper their bodies. Some demons screamed as they fled through the lightning, but even more wore excited expressions as they grew stronger amid the pain.
"Monkey, retreat!"
Just when the demons thought everything had ended, even more powerful lightning descended from the sky. Heavenly might was as deep as an abyss; it had never been something anyone could control. Fortunately, Yan Kuan warned him in time. Monkey slapped all the demons away and leaped aside himself.
Several breaths after Monkey fled, a silver sea, a Thunder Pool, descended upon the plaza. Endless lightning engulfed Yan Kuan together with the Medicine Cauldron. The world became an expanse of silver. This was an ocean of lightning, and the terrifying phenomenon made countless demons tremble uncontrollably.
BOOM!!!
Above the plaza blanketed by the Sea of Thunder, gorgeous Empyrean Flame suddenly surged forth and instantly enveloped every bolt of lightning. Under the might of the Empyrean Flame, even Heavenly Thunder could be refined by it.
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