Ancient Heavenly Tribulation Dao Patterns

Seeing that the Great Exorcist had lost his cultivation, Tao Shou Sì Mìng instantly lost interest in him and charged at Li Yan instead.

Beneath White Jade Capital, the unceasing thunder in the heavens also drew Longyue and Ao Jiao's concern.

Any cultivator with a decent level of cultivation could sense the drastic upheaval coming from White Jade Capital.

The continuous peals of thunder meant someone was undergoing a tribulation.

Everyone within the Abyss of the Netherworld, including some reclusive immortals of the cultivation world, released their Spiritual Sense to investigate.

Longyue and the others could clearly sense that at the very center of the lightning tribulation stood their master, Li Yan!

For a moment, everyone grew worried about Li Yan's condition.

Just then, the fourth bolt of heavenly lightning fell. Li Yan immediately raised his hand to receive it, then blasted out the converted power of the lightning tribulation with a punch.

Yet Tao Shou Sì Mìng made an unexpected move, his mouth splitting open to an absurd extent.

With a Devour Heaven and Earth move, he created a siphoning force! The power of the lightning tribulation Li Yan had unleashed was all sucked straight into Tao Shou Sì Mìng's body.

His cheeks puffed up like a toad breathing in and out, and the lightning within his mouth could be seen clearly through his skin.

Seeing Tao Shou Sì Mìng's smug expression, Li Yan said, "What a fine appetite. But I wonder how many bolts of lightning tribulation Tao Shou Sì Mìng can swallow for me?"

Tao Shou Sì Mìng, who had been breathing out, changed expression. "This brat can actually make the lightning of heavenly tribulation bypass him?"

When others underwent tribulation, they relied on gathering all kinds of Magic Treasures to withstand the lightning strikes.

But when Li Yan underwent tribulation, he was using the Sì Mìngs to take the lightning for him?

Realizing this, Tao Shou Sì Mìng roared, "Brat, don't even think about it!"

But Li Yan had no intention of indulging him. The fifth lightning tribulation crashed down in response.

With every descending bolt of lightning tribulation, each one became more violent than the last, and they fell faster as well.

Before Tao Shou Sì Mìng could even approach Li Yan, purple lightning descended from the clouds!

From the initial pale violet, the lightning's color grew ever deeper!

As the fifth lightning tribulation fell, Li Yan took a deep breath, converted its power, and blasted it toward Tao Shou Sì Mìng.

Tao Shou Sì Mìng had no choice but to open his blood basin of a mouth and swallow every last spark of lightning. Lightning could be seen dancing in his belly, while electric light crackled and spilled from the blood vessels beneath his skin.

"Something's wrong!"

After swallowing two lightning tribulations, Tao Shou Sì Mìng began to realize something was amiss.

Lightning tribulations should not have been transferable to someone else. This heavenly tribulation was meant for Li Yan.

Could Li Yan really redirect the lightning tribulation onto him without limit?

Yet every time he tried to close in on Li Yan, Li Yan would blast him away with the power of the lightning tribulation.

Tao Shou Sì Mìng clenched his teeth and muttered, "Without the Bloodline Dao Pattern, why is it so difficult relying solely on my physical strength?"

"Why has my True Immortal Realm strength deteriorated so severely?"

Tao Shou Sì Mìng discovered that without the Bloodline Dao Pattern's enhancement, he could not use the Bloodline Art to make his muscles erupt with power.

And he himself possessed very little spiritual energy. In the past, he had always relied on the power of Dao Patterns, but now all he had left was a body full of brute strength.

If his physical body had truly become sanctified, he should not have been this weak.

But the cultivation Tao Shou Sì Mìng had gained through devouring, once deprived of Dao Pattern enhancement, instead turned him into a clumsy ball of flesh.

Originally, he could use Dao Patterns to make the fat all over his body erupt with force. But now... without their enhancement, his bloated body instead slowed him down.

Tao Shou Sì Mìng kept trying to close in on Li Yan, but Li Yan faced Tao Shou Sì Mìng with effortless ease, continually opening space with the Void Breaking Claw to widen the distance.

Using the Void Breaking Claw to teleport, Li Yan could cross ten thousand miles in an instant!

Conversely, Tao Shou Sì Mìng, having lost his Dao Patterns, found it difficult to keep up with Li Yan's teleportation speed.

As Li Yan moved continuously, the corners of his mouth curled upward. "Tao Shou Sì Mìng's physical body is incredibly formidable. Meeting him head-on would be no different from facing a tank made of flesh and shells."

"But without the enhancement of Dao Patterns, his movement speed cannot keep up with my spatial teleportation at all."

"I only need to wear him down slowly."

"And with this heavenly lightning falling nonstop... heh."

The energy consumed by continuous teleportation could be replenished by a single bolt of heavenly lightning.

Li Yan simply released the excess energy with a punch, placing little burden on his physical body.

Meanwhile, as Tao Shou Sì Mìng relentlessly pursued Li Yan, the moment he caught up, Li Yan rewarded him with a lightning-filled punch.

The sixth bolt, the seventh bolt, the eighth bolt...

Tao Shou Sì Mìng consecutively took five of Li Yan's lightning punches, and his belly was already swollen full of rolling heavenly lightning.

Previously, he could have used the Bloodline Dao Pattern to digest the lingering might of the heavenly lightning in his body. But having lost the Bloodline Dao Pattern's enhancement, Tao Shou Sì Mìng's absorption ability was far inferior to before.

His belly had visibly swollen open. The lightning inside it would sooner or later... burst him apart.

This bald, big-bellied man gradually came to understand fear.

"No, I can't keep chasing him."

"Without Dao Patterns, I'm truly nothing but trash!"

Relying on his True Immortal Realm cultivation, Tao Shou Sì Mìng had thought he could easily crush Li Yan.

He had never expected that after losing his Dao Patterns, his strength would become so unbearably weak.

Unlike the others, Tao Shou Sì Mìng had relied on the power of Dao Patterns since the beginning of his cultivation. He had been among the first followers of the Bloodline Emperor Lord in the cultivation world.

Having occupied a lofty position for so long, he had become accustomed to relying on Dao Pattern power to suppress other cultivators, swallowing people whole at the slightest provocation.

For tens of thousands of years, Tao Shou Sì Mìng had never known defeat. Everyone who fought him had been swallowed in a single bite.

Long-term invincibility had taught him that whenever he encountered an enemy, he only needed to devour them, fattening Tao Shou Sì Mìng into a bloated fool.

Fanatically trusting in devouring, he believed that no matter what opponent he faced, all he needed to do was swallow them.

But when he truly lost the power of his Dao Patterns, Tao Shou Sì Mìng finally realized...

It turned out that what had been powerful was not him, but the Dao Patterns that had granted him the power to devour flesh and blood.

"Wait! Li Yan, wait!!"

For the first time, Tao Shou Sì Mìng felt fear.

He had never considered the feelings of those he devoured.

Seeing Tao Shou Sì Mìng turn and try to flee, Li Yan sneered. "Do you know you were wrong? No, you know you're about to die!"

"You casually devour living beings every day. Don't you enjoy holding the power of life and death in your hands, eating whoever you want?"

"Come. Today, I'll let you eat your fill of lightning tribulation punches."

How could Li Yan possibly let him run now?

What a joke!

The side effect before him was turning positive, and it was prompting Li Yan.

[The host has consecutively endured eight lightning tribulations and is comprehending the Ancient Heavenly Tribulation Dao Patterns.]

Perfect. He could use Tao Shou Sì Mìng for some practice. If he could comprehend the Ancient Heavenly Tribulation Dao Patterns, wouldn't that be wonderful?

Looking again at Li Yan's fist, lightning Dao Patterns flickered in and out of sight, while his entire right arm crackled with electric light.

Li Yan had never imagined that undergoing tribulation could feel this good.

Others would lose at least a layer of skin during tribulation. Once he finished all seven times seven, forty-nine bolts of lightning tribulation, he would likely leap directly onto a new level.

All he could say was, thank nature for its gifts!

"Ninth lightning tribulation, go!"

Li Yan's fist rubbed against the air, producing a string of crackles. A purple lightning fist blasted through the air, knocking Tao Shou Sì Mìng away as though he were a ball.

The violent power of the ninth lightning tribulation formed into a fist and smashed viciously into Tao Shou Sì Mìng.

Li Yan's sleeve shattered, revealing his solid right arm.

Breathing slightly heavily, Li Yan looked at the Ancient Heavenly Tribulation Dao Patterns flickering over his arm.

"The ninth lightning tribulation already has such power. Wouldn't the final lightning tribulation be able to blast apart the Bloodline Emperor Lord's avatar?"