Lu Chen stared at the dark clouds overhead. The clouds in the sky gathered once more, forming the second wave of Tribulation Lightning, its might clearly far greater than the first.
"Brother Lu, be careful. Grandpa said that the first few waves of Tribulation Lightning only temper the body. The later tribulations are the true danger."
Nantian Wan'er reminded Lu Chen. Ever since their consciousnesses had merged as one, she could know what Lu Chen was thinking without even needing to think about it herself.
"Wan'er, I understand. The second wave of Tribulation Lightning is about to arrive." Lu Chen watched the tribulation lightning that was about to descend from the sky.
The Tribulation Lightning fell, carrying far greater power than before. Lu Chen and Wan'er still relied on their bodies to withstand it head-on.
One wave, two waves, three waves...
Five waves of Tribulation Lightning fell in succession. The lightning descended faster and faster, its power growing stronger and stronger.
When the sixth wave of Tribulation Lightning ended, Lu Chen and Wan'er fell from the sky, arcs of electricity still winding around their bodies.
"Looks like we need to take this seriously. The Tribulation Lightning is already capable of harming our bodies."
Lu Chen dispersed the electric light around himself and took out the Primal Chaos Greatsword, preparing to confront the Tribulation Lightning. Just then, the dark clouds overhead suddenly scattered.
"Brother Lu, look! The dark clouds are gone."
Lu Chen looked up. The dark clouds in the sky had vanished completely, leaving not a trace of their previous tribulation might.
"That shouldn't be possible. The Qi Gathering Tribulation has twelve waves. This is a rule of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth—it can't possibly change." Lu Chen stared at the sky, pondering the reason.
Not far away, Nantian Xiu saw that the Tribulation Lightning had vanished and was about to leave when a sudden change erupted.
An even larger tribulation cloud gathered in the sky, covering the entire Secret Realm, with its center aimed directly at Lu Chen.
The people searching for treasures throughout the Secret Realm all put down what they were doing, raised their heads, and stared at the dark clouds.
"Tribulation Lightning? What realm's tribulation is this? The dark clouds' pressure is actually this terrifying."
"Could some great expert be breaking through in this area? Will the Tribulation Lightning affect us?"
"Could some rare treasure be emerging?"???
For a time, speculation ran wild throughout the Secret Realm as everyone cautiously guessed at the source of the Tribulation Lightning.
"Second Uncle, is some rare treasure emerging over there? Should we go take a look?"
Young Master Jun and Nantian Yijian, who were searching for treasures in a valley, noticed the tribulation clouds in the sky and called out to Jun Wudi.
"We can't go. There are demonic beasts from ten thousand years ago in this Secret Realm. The tribulation clouds must have awakened them. We need to find the medicinal herbs as quickly as possible."
Over the past few days, Nantian Yijian and Young Master Jun had been gathering treasures throughout the Secret Realm, and their cultivation had advanced greatly.
Nantian Yijian had already entered the eighth level of the Qi Gathering Realm. Supported by countless treasures, the spiritual energy within his body was beginning to show signs of liquefying.
A drop of Spirit Liquid had successfully formed within Young Master Jun's body. He was only waiting for the Spirit Liquid to finish circulating through his body before undergoing the Tribulation Lightning.
Deep within valleys throughout the Secret Realm, slumbering high-level demonic beasts were awakened. One after another, they poked their heads out and looked toward the Tribulation Lightning.
"The center of the Tribulation Lightning is in the Fire Prison. Could that old Flame Demon have advanced in cultivation?"
The leaders of the four regions—metal, water, fire, and earth—communicated through transmitted voices from within their own dens.
"It wasn't me who advanced. Humans have entered the Secret Realm. A human is undergoing tribulation, and it is even more terrifying than the lightning tribulations of our breakthroughs." Flame Demon slowly spoke as he sensed the aura within his territory.
"What... humans? You can't have seen wrongly, can you? With so little spiritual energy in heaven and earth, how could humans possess such a powerful aura?" The other leaders clearly did not believe him.
"Where is Wind Dragon? Why hasn't Wind Dragon sent any news?" Flame Demon was closest to Wind Dragon's territory, yet he could not sense Wind Dragon's aura.
"Wind Dragon's aura has disappeared. It seems a great battle took place over there." After investigating, Flame Demon hurriedly informed the other demonic beasts.
"Humans. It must be humans. I will drive them out of the Secret Realm." After saying this, one demonic beast leader fell silent and began directing the demonic beasts to drive out the humans who had entered the Secret Realm.
"I'm going too. We cannot let this group of humans destroy Sixth Ancestor's Secret Realm." The remaining demonic beast leaders also began organizing their demonic beasts to drive out the humans.
For a time, the demonic beasts throughout the Secret Realm went berserk and began attacking the humans who had entered.
"Run! The beast horde is coming! I don't want to die here!" The weaker cultivators began fleeing the Secret Realm.
The dark clouds in the sky had grown incredibly dense, and the lightning within them twisted like horned dragons.
Lu Chen did not dare underestimate this lightning. He put on his defensive treasure, raised the Primal Chaos Greatsword in both hands, and quietly waited for the lightning from the sky to arrive.
"Boom..."
The Tribulation Lightning descended once more. A massive lightning dragon coiled wildly through the air, its radiance illuminating the entire Secret Realm.
"Wan'er, here we go."
"Hah! Azure Emperor Divine Tree!"
"Silver Serpent Emerging from its Lair!"
"Dragon Descends to the Sea!"
Lu Chen shot into the air, forming a layer of Azure Emperor Divine Tree tendrils as the outermost defense above his head, then gathering two more layers of phantom defenses in quick succession.
"Boom... boom... boom..."
The lightning dragon struck the shield formed by the Azure Emperor Divine Tree. It only held for a brief moment before the lightning dragon shattered the Azure Emperor Divine Tree outright.
The two phantoms also failed to stop the lightning dragon and were shattered one after another beneath its bombardment.
"Boom..." The lightning dragon flashed with black beams as it charged at Lu Chen.
"Come!"
Lu Chen shouted, raising the Primal Chaos Greatsword as he charged toward the lightning dragon.
"Boom..." Black lightning instantly engulfed Lu Chen.
"Primal Chaos Greatsword, sever!"
Within the lightning, Lu Chen swung the greatsword again and again, continuously slashing.
Wind Dragon jolted awake from his unconsciousness and, carrying a violent aura, attached himself to the Primal Chaos Greatsword.
"Kill!"
Lu Chen gripped the Primal Chaos Greatsword tightly in both hands, raised it over his head, and gave a mighty roar as he brought it crashing down at the lightning dragon.
"Boom..."
Carrying that violent aura, the Primal Chaos Greatsword cleaved the lightning dragon in half from the middle, causing it to disperse between heaven and earth.
Lu Chen fell back to the ground and looked at the greatsword in his hand.
"This truly is a fine sword. It took a direct strike of heavenly lightning without leaving even the slightest mark."
"Brother Lu, are you alright?" Nantian Wan'er asked worriedly as she looked at Lu Chen, who had taken the lightning dragon head-on.
Nantian Wan'er had been frail and sickly since childhood. After stepping onto the path of cultivation, she had also been afflicted by Cold Poison. For her, Martial Skill cultivation was a blank slate.
"Just a minor matter. I can take a few more hits. Just protect yourself down there." Lu Chen sat cross-legged on the spot and began recovering his spiritual energy as he waited for the next wave of Tribulation Lightning.
A full hour passed before the lightning dragon began gathering in the sky once more.
Lu Chen stared at the lightning dragon in the sky and noticed that its horns had turned fiery red, radiating blazing heat.
"Heavenly Fire Lightning Dragon? How could this kind of Heavenly Tribulation appear in the Qi Gathering Realm?"
"Is heaven and earth afraid of me? That can't be possible. We're only Qi Gathering Realm cultivators."
Lu Chen repeatedly searched through Feng Tian's memories. Below the Chongtian Realm, tribulations only involved Heavenly Lightning Tribulation, while Heavenly Fire Tribulation only appeared when one transcended mortality and became immortal in the Chongtian Realm.
Unlike Heavenly Lightning Tribulation, Heavenly Fire Tribulation was a method used by heaven and earth when it was fearful, desperately seeking to kill the person undergoing tribulation.
Lu Chen stood and continuously gathered spiritual energy.
"Boom..."
The lightning dragon descended, surrounded by raging flames. The firelight dyed the entire Secret Realm red.
"Heavenly Fire Tribulation? How could a Heavenly Fire Tribulation appear?"
Nantian Xiu stared at the descending Heavenly Fire Lightning Dragon in shock. Eight hundred years ago, he had already transcended mortality and become immortal.
Back then, he had prepared for a thousand years to survive the Heavenly Fire Tribulation. Only after exhausting the entire Nantian Sect's resources to set up an array had he barely managed to endure it. Even now, whenever Nantian Xiu recalled his own tribulation, lingering fear still remained in his heart.
"Heavenly Fire Tribulation... this is trying to take their lives. Could Lu Chen's talent truly be so powerful that heaven and earth already fears him while he is still in the Qi Gathering Realm?"
Nantian Xiu wanted to rush into the Heavenly Fire Tribulation to help Lu Chen withstand the Tribulation Fire, but remembering that every additional person would make the Heavenly Tribulation stronger, he could only suppress the urge to charge in.
Lu Chen watched the Heavenly Fire Lightning Dragon rushing toward him. Wielding the Primal Chaos Greatsword, he soared into the air and unleashed his strongest defense.
"Wind Dragon, here we go."
"Let's go."
Wind Dragon possessed the Primal Chaos Greatsword. As he watched the descending Tribulation Fire, he had already prepared himself to block the tribulation for Lu Chen.
"Boom..."
The Heavenly Fire Lightning Dragon descended, and none of Lu Chen's prepared defensive measures had any effect.
The Azure Emperor Divine Tree was burned to ashes instantly, the conjured phantoms evaporated outright, and the barrier laid down with spiritual energy shattered like a silk net. The Heavenly Fire Lightning Dragon was less than a hundred meters away from Lu Chen.
"Roar..." The Heavenly Fire Lightning Dragon let out a roar, seeming to mock Lu Chen's weak defensive measures.
"Little Lu, use Sword Qi from afar to first wear down the Tribulation Fire's energy. Remember, the five elements generate and restrain one another."
"Alright."
Lu Chen gathered the cold energy within the Yin Sea Pearl in both hands and unleashed Sword Qi, continuously draining the Heavenly Fire Lightning Dragon's power.
The Heavenly Fire Lightning Dragon stopped fifty meters above Lu Chen's head, its body continuously shrinking.
"Bang!"
The Heavenly Fire Lightning Dragon condensed from dozens of zhang into a single meter, then exploded with a thunderous blast into countless flames that shot toward Lu Chen.
"Little Lu, the true Heavenly Fire Tribulation is about to begin. Use the Primal Chaos Greatsword as a shield to block it!" Wind Dragon shouted at Lu Chen as he watched the scattered Tribulation Fire.
Lu Chen flew toward Nantian Wan'er, raised the Primal Chaos Greatsword, and shielded Nantian Wan'er behind him.
"Wan'er, be careful."
The black-and-white twin fish flew out from the Heavenly Pool, transforming once more into the form of the Twin Fish Plate and attaching themselves to the hilt of the Primal Chaos Greatsword.
"Summon Spirit, go!"
Lu Chen swiftly formed hand seals with his left hand and pressed it against the Twin Fish Plate. This was the method of becoming one with a weapon, like a Celestial Being, that Lu Chen had learned from Young Master Jun.
Once the hand seals were complete, one red and one blue stream of light shot from the black-and-white twin fish, winding around the Primal Chaos Greatsword and pointing directly toward its tip.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
With the red and blue streams of light attached, the Primal Chaos Greatsword began to break apart and transform. Its blade grew larger and wider, covering Lu Chen and Nantian Wan'er completely.
The Tribulation Fire fell, only to be blocked by the Primal Chaos Greatsword. It did not touch Lu Chen and Nantian Wan'er in the slightest.
"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle..."
The Tribulation Fire clung to the Primal Chaos Greatsword and burned continuously, yet it could not harm the greatsword in the slightest.
An hour passed, and the Tribulation Fire slowly faded away.
"Huff... huff..."
Lu Chen withdrew the Primal Chaos Greatsword, collapsed onto the ground, and panted heavily. He had managed to deal with this Heavenly Fire Tribulation.
"It's already Heavenly Fire Tribulation now. Who knows what kind of Heavenly Tribulation the next two waves will bring."
"Boom!"
Before Lu Chen could recover from the Heavenly Fire Tribulation, the dark clouds overhead began stirring again.
"Boom... boom!"
Two streams of lightning burst from the dark clouds, one on the left and one on the right, charging straight at Lu Chen.
"One Heavenly Fire Lightning Dragon and one lightning dragon, without even time to catch my breath. Are you trying to kill me?" Lu Chen stood again and shouted at the sky.
Before you continue