Heavenly Tribulation Descends

Two days later, Shi Jue came before Liu Shen wearing the equipment Shi Lin Hu had made for him.

"Pfft!"

"Little Jue, what kind of outfit is that?"

This time, Liu Shen could not hold back and let out a pleasant laugh, like immortal music playing. Even someone as serene as her had briefly lost control.

"Liu Shen, only this set of equipment can give me a greater sense of security," Shi Jue said in a muffled voice.

Shi Jue had originally looked quite adorable, fair and tender, with delicate skin that seemed to glow. He could be considered quite the cute little boy.

But now, Shi Jue was encased in a cylindrical piece of wood, with only openings for his eyes and breathing, making him look like some sentient tree demon.

The wood was extremely dry and hard, so it should not conduct electricity. It was an old tree trunk he had dug out from the Old Clan Chief's things, then had Shi Lin Hu carve to fit his size.

"Fine. If I can't block it, this should at least be somewhat useful." Liu Shen was speechless. If even she could not withstand the Heavenly Tribulation, what could this rotten piece of wood possibly block?

"Shi Jue, what are you doing?"

Little Dot quietly appeared behind Shi Jue and poked the tree trunk with a finger.

"Cough, cough. This is a concealment technique I came up with. It's not quite perfected yet, or you wouldn't have noticed me." Shi Jue spoke utter nonsense with a perfectly serious expression.

Little Dot nodded skeptically. He always felt that Shi Jue was fooling him, yet he could not find anything strange about it. He must have been too young.

"Little Dot, go back first. I still have something to do."

Liu Shen had not recovered much strength yet. Protecting Shi Jue alone was already her limit. Otherwise, the entire village, young and old, men and women alike, could have come to watch.

"Liu Shen, let's go to the Great Wilderness!" Shi Jue said firmly.

He feared that the Heavenly Tribulation he summoned would be too powerful and ultimately affect Stone Village. Even if he obtained Tribulation Liquid in the end, he would not be able to forgive himself.

The Great Wilderness was suitably far away, making it an ideal place.

"Alright!"

"Steady your mind. You might feel a little dizzy!"

Liu Shen responded. Gentle white light flickered and wrapped around Shi Jue, instantly shattering layer upon layer of space as they crossed into the Great Wilderness.

The Old Clan Chief and the others appeared afterward. Looking at the vanished charred willow tree and Shi Jue, they remained silent for a long time. They all believed that Liu Shen would protect Shi Jue.

"Bleurgh!"

The moment he arrived in the Great Wilderness, Shi Jue could no longer endure it. He felt as if his internal organs were churning violently, while his mind had turned to mush. The feeling was incredibly awful. Thankfully, he held it in. If he vomited inside that wooden shell, that would truly be amusing.

"How are you going to trigger the Heavenly Tribulation? It used to be quite simple, but in this era, Heavenly Tribulations have not appeared for many years, except when peerless heaven-defying geniuses emerge."

Thunder Pools could also be encountered during thunderstorms, but the odds were one in ten thousand unless one's luck was absurdly good.

"Just watch!"

Shi Jue paused to recover and suppressed the discomfort caused by crossing through space.

His body was still too weak. Otherwise, this would not have happened. It only made him want to temper his body and physique even more.

"Eternal..."

"Boom!"

Shi Jue looked up at the cloudless azure sky stretching for thousands of miles. The moment he spoke a single word, the sky suddenly darkened as though night had fallen. He could barely make out his surroundings, and his heart instantly leaped into his throat. It was his first time seeing such a sight.

The next second, black clouds appeared out of nowhere. Deafening thunder erupted within them, while streaks of golden lightning slithered through them. They were pure destructive lightning. At that moment, the air between heaven and earth was suffused with oppressive pressure, making even breathing feel much heavier.

"It really came..."

Even with Liu Shen's experience, she was somewhat stunned. Although she had believed him to some extent before, seeing him truly summon a Heavenly Tribulation still shook her soul.

This was no ordinary thunderstorm, but a Heavenly Tribulation descended by the laws of heaven and earth—a calamity every living being deeply feared.

"Liu Shen, can you handle this?"

Shi Jue asked shakily. He could feel a dense aura of death locking onto him. Only Liu Shen beside him gave him any sense of security; the wooden shell on his body could not block anything at all.

What he had wanted to say were the four words Eternal Severance. He had not expected the karmic consequences to be so immense. He had only spoken one word before such a terrifying Heavenly Tribulation descended to erase a little ant like him. It truly was worthy of the Desolate Heavenly Emperor's great feat.

"Little fellow, it seems you didn't finish what you were going to say. It carries immense karma. This time, it is only at Divine Fire strength, so I can still help you block it. But never mention it again afterward." Liu Shen's voice was incomparably solemn as she warned Shi Jue.

For cultivators, karma was the greatest taboo, unless one had become powerful enough to disregard it.

A single word could summon this kind of Heavenly Tribulation to destroy a little thing that had not even reached the Blood Moving Realm. One could imagine that if he said the entire phrase, what descended might not be merely a Heavenly Tribulation.

"I understand!"

Shi Jue swallowed. His heart was now filled with more reverence. In this world, one could not simply say whatever one wanted. The idiom "disaster comes from one's mouth" was no empty saying.

Liu Shen rarely became serious. Although she had not recovered the strength of the Divine Fire Realm, she had once been the Ancestor Spirit. A starving camel was still bigger than a horse; at most, this would make things a little troublesome for her.

From the charred trunk, that tender green willow branch swayed gently. Strands of soft radiance spread out, illuminating the surrounding darkness, while a gentle halo enveloped Shi Jue.

"Whoosh!"

The next second, the willow branch moved. It shot out swiftly like a divine chain, fast as lightning, and pierced straight into the dense black clouds overhead.

"Rumble!"

As though provoked, all the golden lightning in the clouds gathered together. The little snakes transformed into a giant python, and the deafening thunder shook the air as it collided with Liu Shen's branch.

Although the lightning python was terrifyingly imposing, even with only one branch recovered, Liu Shen remained immensely powerful. She broke through it with a single point, directly shattering it into Thunder Runes that filled the sky.

The tender green willow branch did not retract. It directly pierced through the black clouds, extending to an unknown place.

"Crack!"

"Huff!"

"Liu Shen, you set me up!"

The wooden shell split open, revealing Shi Jue inside. His entire body was blackened, his hair standing on end, and he gave off the scent of roasted meat. Only the whites of his eyes could be seen as he slightly opened his mouth and exhaled a black ring of smoke.

"Thud!"

After saying that, Shi Jue fell straight down. His vision went dark, and he fainted.

Because of the lingering lightning, Shi Jue's small body twitched from time to time, making him look as though he were convulsing.

"It seems this wooden shell was completely useless. At least it let me vent some frustration."

Liu Shen said with a faint smile. This little fellow often made people angry, and she had not disciplined him before. This happened to be such a good opportunity.

She had deliberately not destroyed all of the Heavenly Tribulation, leaving behind power roughly equivalent to the early Blood Moving Realm. It was a small lesson for Shi Jue: he should not be so afraid of death.