A Girl's Thoughts

Two lightning dragons descended in an instant, one transforming into a sky full of tribulation fire, the other into a sky full of tribulation lightning.

"Boom... Boom... Boom"

Before Lu Chen could react, the heavenly tribulation had already struck him, directly shredding his clothes and revealing the defensive magic treasure gifted by Nantian Xiu.

"Tch." Lu Chen spat out a mouthful of blood: "This is more than a little stronger than the previous heavenly tribulations."

"Spirit Summoning!"

The Primal Chaos Greatsword enlarged again, helping the two of them resist the falling heavenly tribulation.

"Boom..." A bolt of tribulation lightning struck Lu Chen.

"No, the heavenly tribulation's range is too wide. The Primal Chaos Greatsword's coverage isn't enough."

"Boom... Boom..."

In the time it took to speak, Lu Chen was already covered in wounds. The lightning strike wounds were then burned by the tribulation fire, emitting a charred smell.

"Brother Lu, don't worry about me anymore. If you face the heavenly tribulation alone, you might still succeed."

Nantian Wan'er, protected behind Lu Chen, had basically sustained no injuries. Seeing Lu Chen's constantly charring wounds, she felt extremely guilty. If Lu Chen hadn't been protecting her, he wouldn't have been so severely injured.

"Wan'er, don't worry. I promise I won't abandon you and run away alone. I promised Grandpa Xiu that I would always protect you."

Lu Chen glanced back at Nantian Wan'er, raising his hands to hold the massive Primal Chaos Greatsword, continuously channeling spiritual energy into it.

"I... I'm sorry, Brother Lu. It's all my fault for being useless, always needing you to protect me."

Tears streamed down Nantian Wan'er's face. Ever since she contracted the Cold Poison, everyone except her grandfather and brother, and everyone in the Nantian Sect, had avoided her like the plague.

It was precisely because she couldn't accept this feeling that Nantian Wan'er had followed her grandfather out to find a solution.

This was also the first time she had been protected by a man, who had even declared he would risk his life to ensure her safety.

At this moment, Nantian Wan'er's feelings became more delicate. Her feelings for Lu Chen were no longer just curiosity; it was more of a heartfelt admiration.

"Brother Lu, I like you. I will definitely marry you."

Nantian Wan'er stood behind Lu Chen, starlight flickering in her eyes as she stared intently at Lu Chen's face. She whispered into his left ear.

"Boom..." A massive bolt of lightning struck in front of Lu Chen, its sound echoing through the heavens and earth.

"What... Wan'er, what did you just say? I didn't hear you." Lu Chen asked.

"Ah... It's nothing, Brother Lu, be careful, tribulation fire is falling."

"Boom..."

Tribulation fire and tribulation lightning fell all around. Lu Chen could only focus on dealing with them, daring not to be distracted.

An hour later, the heavenly tribulation grew increasingly powerful.

Lu Chen's aura weakened, and the defensive magic treasure on his body had long been shattered by the heavenly lightning.

There was almost no part of Lu Chen's body that was intact; they were all festering wounds severely burned by the tribulation fire.

The Wind Dragon stared at the heavenly tribulation continuously falling from the sky and began to condense its origin power.

"Little Lu, let go of the Primal Chaos Greatsword, let go. I'll deal with the heavenly tribulation."

"Roar..."

A dark green dragon shadow flew out from the greatsword. Dark green scales and fur appeared one by one, condensing into a colossal dragon body.

The Primal Chaos Greatsword automatically detached from Lu Chen's hand, attaching itself between the Wind Dragon's horns, the blade pointing directly at its nose. The berserk aura from the Primal Chaos Greatsword poured into the Wind Dragon's body continuously.

This was a special technique left behind by the Wind Dragon, allowing it to unleash its peak power by borrowing the Primal Chaos Greatsword in times of crisis.

"Roar..."

The Wind Dragon soared into the sky, stirring up violent gales around Lu Chen, blocking the tribulation fire and tribulation lightning. After the Wind Dragon displayed its peak strength, the heavenly tribulation's power was gradually resisted by it.

"It's the Wind Dragon's aura! The Wind Dragon is in the tribulation zone."

Several leaders in the Secret Realm exclaimed as they looked at the colossal dragon shadow appearing in the sky. Although this dragon shadow was very different from the Wind Dragon, they could confirm that it was indeed the Wind Dragon.

Throughout the Secret Realm.

Those fleeing the Secret Realm noticed the dragon shadow rising into the sky and confronting the heavenly tribulation, their escape speed increasing.

"Hurry up! The slumbering Demonic Beasts in the Secret Realm have been awakened. We need to quickly find treasures and withdraw," Jun Wudi, Yao Buting, Zi Long, and other Sect leaders urged their disciples to speed up.

Within the heavenly tribulation area.

The eleventh wave of heavenly tribulation was nearing its end. The heavenly tribulation and the Wind Dragon paused, both accumulating energy for their final assault.

"Boom..."

The Wind Dragon collided with the tribulation fire and tribulation lightning. The tribulation fire and tribulation lightning scattered like fireworks, illuminating the entire Secret Realm.

The Wind Dragon's colossal dragon body vanished, its phantom returning to the Primal Chaos Greatsword as it descended from the sky.

Lu Chen flew up and caught the Primal Chaos Greatsword. At this moment, the greatsword's color was somewhat dim; the red and blue flowing lights had disappeared, and the black and white twin fish had returned to Lu Chen's Celestial Pool.

"How are you, Wind Dragon?"

"I'm fine. These old bones aren't dead yet, just a little weak. I can't come out of the sword recently," a weak voice came from the greatsword.

"For the final tribulation, you'll have to rely on yourself. No matter what method you use, as long as you survive the last Heavenly Thunder, you'll receive the blessings of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth. This power will be enough for us to recover our physical strength." After speaking, Wind Dragon grew weak and could no longer continue talking.

"Brother Lu, are you alright?" Nantian Wan'er quickly took out pills from her storage space to treat Lu Chen's injuries.

"I'm fine. Wind Dragon just blocked more than half of the Heavenly Thunder for us. I can still withstand the remaining tribulation."

Lu Chen took the pills. The powerful recovery ability of the Azure Emperor Bloodline was displayed, and his physical injuries healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"There's only one last wave. I wonder what kind of Heavenly Thunder it will be," Lu Chen stared at the dark clouds in the sky, his face filled with worry.

At this moment, the final wave of Heavenly Thunder in the sky was delayed, as if giving Lu Chen a chance to catch his breath.

"Sizzle sizzle"

The dark clouds in the sky began to condense and shrink continuously.

An hour later.

The dark clouds in the sky had shrunk to less than ten meters, but the power within the clouds was thousands or hundreds of times more concentrated than before.

"It's coming."

Lu Chen stared at the final wave of Heavenly Thunder descending from the sky. It was just a very ordinary Heavenly Thunder, lacking the might of the previous eleven waves.

However, the energy within this Heavenly Thunder gave Lu Chen an irresistible sense of oppression.

Lu Chen felt a sense of despair. He wanted to open the Twin Fish Plate space and send Nantian Wan'er inside, but he found that the connection to the Twin Fish Plate had already been suppressed by the power of the Heavenly Thunder.

"Are we really going to die here today? But I haven't found Grandpa yet, I still carry the hope of the villagers, and I promised Grandpa Xiu that I would definitely protect Wan'er and live!"

"Brother Lu, as long as it's not the last moment, we still have a chance to turn things around," Nantian Wan'er reached out and grabbed Lu Chen's hand.

"Right! We still have a chance. I'm not convinced! I still want to live, and I still want to find my own path of cultivation!"

"I, Lu Chen of Qingtian Workshop, will definitely, definitely live."

"Ah... Come on!"

Lu Chen shouted at the sky, and a powerful force of will shot out from his body, pointing directly at the heavens.

"Bang"

A small bolt of lightning shot down from the depths of the sky, directly at Lu Chen, entering his Celestial Pool. At this moment, Lu Chen seemed to have received the recognition of heaven and earth, and the Heavenly Thunder could no longer oppress him.

A deep voice echoed from an unknown depth within Lu Chen's body: "Heaven and Earth are positioned, mountains and marshes communicate, thunder and wind clash, water and fire do not oppose each other, the Eight Trigrams intertwine. The Innate is formed, the Acquired is born."

"Azure Emperor Divine Tree!"

A robust Azure Emperor Divine Tree appeared from the void, its branches spreading out to form a giant umbrella protecting Lu Chen and Nantian Wan'er. The falling Heavenly Thunder turned into the energy of the Azure Emperor Divine Tree, unable to cause any harm to the two of them.

A profound chanting sound emanated from heaven and earth.

The Innate Five Elements accumulated in Lu Chen's Celestial Pool flew out, forming Zhen as thunder in the northeast, Xun as wind in the southwest, Li as fire in the east, and Kan as water in the west.

Lu Chen and Nantian Wan'er stood in the black and white fish eyes of the Tai Chi diagram in the center, with the Azure Emperor Divine Tree at the core.

An Innate Eight Trigrams Diagram emitting a blue light formed on the ground beneath the Azure Emperor Divine Tree, gradually expanding outwards.

Lu Chen looked at the Innate Eight Trigrams Diagram forming beneath his feet. He now understood that the elements within his body had appeared in special positions within the Azure Emperor Divine Tree, which should be the prototype of the Acquired Eight Trigrams Diagram.

"Boom..."

The Heavenly Thunder continued to fall, striking the Azure Emperor Divine Tree, with all its energy being absorbed and purified.

Part of the energy was used to perfect the Innate Eight Trigrams Diagram outside, and part flowed into Lu Chen and Nantian Wan'er's bodies to perfect the Acquired Eight Trigrams Diagram within them.

"The Heavenly Thunder was blocked just like that? And... and our Celestial Pools have become so powerful. I've never seen such powerful Celestial Pools before."

Nantian Wan'er, who had been prepared for death as the tribulation lightning fell, was very surprised that the oppressive tribulation lightning was easily blocked by the suddenly appearing giant tree.

"Hoo... It should be, we should have passed this lightning tribulation."

Lu Chen let out a long sigh, feeling the transforming aura within his Celestial Pool. Although he didn't know why the Azure Emperor Divine Tree had appeared, a feeling told him that this Azure Emperor Divine Tree was of the same lineage as him and would not harm him.

Nantian Wan'er quietly took Lu Chen's hand, seemingly relieved to have survived this ordeal. Her eyes were fixed on Lu Chen, filled with admiration.

Lu Chen glanced back at Nantian Wan'er and tightened his grip on her hand slightly, giving her a sense of security.

Girls liked strong men, especially when that man was willing to risk his life for them. At this moment of survival after the tribulation, Nantian Wan'er's heart was completely linked to Lu Chen.

Not far from where Lu Chen was undergoing his tribulation, Blind Lu was watching Lu Chen and Nantian Wan'er.

"My lord, it seems someone is interfering with our plan. There shouldn't be a second Azure Emperor Divine Tree in the world."

Blind Lu watched the Innate Eight Trigrams evolution process happening on Lu Chen, constantly pondering who was interfering with their plan.

"Indeed, someone is interfering, and their strength is far greater than ours. But it doesn't matter. Aren't all the people on this continent just chess pieces from outside the domain? All we need to do is make the Young Master stronger."

"But my lord, the Young Master was already feared by heaven and earth when he was in the Qi Gathering Realm. Next, I'm afraid..." The man in black was interrupted by Blind Lu before he could finish.

"So what if heaven and earth fear him? Didn't we also make heaven and earth fear us back then? We were suppressed by the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth every day, unable to cultivate, but in the end, didn't we rely on the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth to recover our severed memories of the ancient era?"

Blind Lu thought for a moment and then said, "Let Little Lu handle it himself."

The man in black pointed at Nantian Wan'er. "What about this woman, born from the Yin Sea Pearl? In this situation, it's impossible for her to be sacrificed now."

Blind Lu looked at Nantian Wan'er. When the Innate Eight Trigrams Diagram formed beneath their feet, he already understood that Nantian Wan'er was no longer suitable for sacrifice.

"The original plan remains unchanged. You will now create an opportunity for Nantian Wan'er to go to Fengtian Prefecture with Lu Chen."

The man in black asked, "Yes, sir. Then, should the trial subject for the Young Master entering the Breath Regulation Realm make his appearance?"

Blind Lu replied, "You can arrange that yourself. However, what's more important now is to go meet the demonic beast leaders left behind by the Sixth Ancestor."