At the edge of the Northern Abyss, inside Kunpeng Nest.
A sinister gaze suddenly opened, piercing endless space to look toward the place where the Lightning Tribulation had erupted.
"Hmm? Such heavenly might... It's coming from that Old Turtle's direction? He's taking human form? How strange!"
Before the words had faded,
a dark shadow shot into the sky, transforming into a roc whose body blotted out the heavens. With a single beat of its wings, it covered ninety thousand miles, reaching the edge of the Lightning Tribulation in an instant.
Kunpeng drew in his form and stood in the air, watching Shen Gui withstand the heavenly might at the heart of the lightning. His Dao Body had already taken the form of a young man in gray robes.
Deep astonishment flashed in his eyes.
"That Old Turtle has lain dormant in the North Sea for countless epochs, trapped by baleful energy and his Origin Foundation, unable to take human form.
"Why today...? And why would an Innate Being face such a fierce Lightning Tribulation just to take human form?"
He was an Innate Sacred, wise and perceptive. But when he tried to make a divination, he found the Heavenly Secrets shrouded in chaos. A dense fog enveloped the Black Tortoise's fate, making it impossible to discern the truth.
Yet as he watched the Magnificent Heavenly Lightning, which seemed determined to strike until its target was dead, Kunpeng began to form a faint suspicion.
"Could it be... that he couldn't take human form not merely because of the baleful energy and his inheritance, but because he bears some overwhelming karmic burden?
"Now he's forcing himself to take human form, trying to overturn his predetermined fate. Is that why he's brought down this karmic backlash?"
At the thought, a hint of helplessness flashed in Kunpeng's eyes.
He lived beside this Black Tortoise. They weren't close friends, but they had both been born in the Northern Abyss.
If not for the constraints holding him back, the Black Tortoise should long ago have become one of the Primordial World's most powerful Great Spiritual Power Users.
Now, seeing him try to defy fate and change his destiny, Kunpeng felt a pang of grief for a fellow cultivator of the Northern Abyss, like a hare dying while the fox mourned.
"Defying heaven's will is no easy task..."
Kunpeng sighed to himself.
He could see that Shen Gui's Protective Spiritual Power was incredibly profound, allowing him to withstand such a Lightning Tribulation. But this tribulation contained the Heavenly Dao's killing intent, relentless and unending. How could mere defense wear it down?
Without anyone to help him, the Old Turtle would likely still fall to karmic backlash in the end, his efforts ruined just before success.
At that moment,
at the heart of the Lightning Tribulation, Shen Gui felt the pressure on the Great Protective Technique's barrier grow stronger with each wave, yet his gaze grew ever sharper.
He looked up at the sky as if staring down some unseen presence.
"Damn heavens, you think this is enough to strike me dead?
"The Heavenly Monarchs and Immortal Kings who surrounded me at the Gate of Eternal Life were far more dangerous than this!"
But Shen Gui knew that defense alone probably wouldn't be enough to overcome this tribulation.
The next moment,
the energy within Shen Gui shifted abruptly. He was no longer simply holding his ground.
"Great Chaos Technique!"
Shen Gui called out in his heart, and the Great Chaos Technique from the Eternal Life World erupted instantly.
It transformed into bolts of lightning, dark and deep as an abyss, yet containing the potential to create heaven and earth!
The Great Chaos Thunder Method!
The supreme thunder method the God Clan relied upon to create heaven and earth and reestablish wind, fire, water, and earth!
"Rumble—!"
He was no longer merely enduring the attack. He was fighting back!
Countless gray Chaos Divine Lightning bolts burst from Shen Gui's body.
Unlike the grand, righteous purple lightning of the Heavenly Tribulation, which brimmed with destructive intent, these bolts were restrained and profound.
Yet with every flash of lightning, a miniature Chaos world seemed to be born and destroyed. Space warped wherever the bolts passed, and the laws gave way.
The Chaos Divine Lightning surged upward, crashing into the purple bolts of the Heavenly Tribulation as they descended from the sky!
There was no earth-shattering explosion, as one might have expected. Instead, something even more terrifying occurred: annihilation.
The moment the Chaos Divine Lightning touched the tribulation bolts, it was not a simple exchange of energy.
It was like cold water poured into boiling oil, or Yin and Yang colliding, setting off a violent clash of laws that devoured one another.
The purple lightning was ensnared by the gray Chaos Qi, torn apart and assimilated, until it finally vanished into nothingness.
The Chaos Divine Lightning was also consumed in the process, but new bolts continued to surge from Shen Gui's body without end.
For a time,
the place where Shen Gui stood became a battlefield of lightning. On one side were the destructive purple bolts sent down by the Heavenly Dao.
On the other was the lightning of chaos. The two sides clashed furiously, turning the entire sea into a forbidden zone of laws where even light and sound warped and were devoured.
"This... What is this?!"
In the distance, Kunpeng had been watching intently, but now he could no longer remain composed. In his sinister eyes, a look of utter disbelief blazed.
He stared fixedly at the gray lightning holding its own against the Heavenly Tribulation.
"A thunder method? How could he possibly be so proficient in such a wondrous thunder method?!"
Kunpeng's mind was thrown into turmoil.
"That Old Turtle's Origin Foundation is the North Sea Black Tortoise. By nature, he is aligned with the Great Dao of Water, which governs defense and endurance. He belongs to the utmost Yin and stillness!
"Even if he takes human form, at most he should be able to develop his naturally formidable defenses to their fullest.
"How can he wield such violent lightning?"
This completely defied the laws of Innate Inheritance in the Primordial World.
Origin Foundations were determined by heaven. Innate Sacred beings were born close to certain Great Daos.
It was a gift, but also a kind of shackle.
Take Kunpeng himself. He was born with mastery over the Great Daos of Wind and Water.
He advanced rapidly in those two Great Daos. But if he tried to study the Great Dao of Fire or the Great Dao of Metal, which opposed them or had no connection to them, he would have to work twice as hard for half the results. It would be as difficult as ascending to heaven.
But this Black Tortoise before him...
Not only had he wielded a thunder method utterly at odds with his Origin Foundation,
but its level was enough to make even Kunpeng's heart tremble!
It far surpassed his current Taiyi realm.
"Could he have come across some heaven-defying opportunity, allowing him to break free of his Origin Foundation's constraints and comprehend laws of the Great Dao that completely oppose it?"
Kunpeng's gaze flickered as his thoughts raced.
"Or has he spent all these countless epochs in seclusion not in vain, secretly comprehending such astonishing methods?"
But Shen Gui, battling the heavenly lightning, frowned. He could feel the power within his body being rapidly drained.
The speed was alarming.
And yet the lightning showed no sign of stopping. The meaning was clear: unless he changed back into a turtle, this tribulation would never end.
"Damn it, do I really have to give up? What a pity I can't use the Great Destiny Technique. Otherwise, I could temporarily alter my own Heavenly Mandate with it.
"That would be enough to survive this tribulation. Once I could truly break through to Daluo, I wouldn't fear this so-called Heavenly Mandate!"
Shen Gui had no choice.
In the Eternal Life World, only Fang Han and Fang Qingxue could use the Great Destiny Technique.
The former was the Gate of Eternal Life itself, while the latter had entered its deepest reaches and gained the right to use it.
Shen Gui knew of the Great Destiny Technique, of course. After all, he was the Epoch Gate's deputy sect master, and Fang Han had never been stingy with his own people.
But Shen Gui simply couldn't use it!
Then, as his thoughts shifted, he noticed his power draining away at an astonishing rate.
"Wait, I entered the Gate of Eternal Life. Maybe that's exactly why I can use the Great Destiny Technique."
The next moment,
mysterious auras gathered around him, converging into a surging river.
In an instant, Shen Fei's perspective was lifted high above the world. The North Sea gradually shrank in his field of vision.
At last, a vast river appeared before him, without source or end, boundless and ancient.
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