"Southern Jambudvipa has not produced an Earth Immortal in a thousand years!" Meng Liuguang, the Reflection Lightning Duke, stood beneath the vault of heaven and looked down upon the land below, his tone steeped in unspoken melancholy.
"Liuguang, you seem to have come from Southern Jambudvipa as well, haven't you?"
Shi Jinglei, the Command Lightning Duke, chuckled as he held the Heavenly Bureau Thunder Talisman and the decree for bestowing tribulation. He oversaw all matters of the tribulation ground, determining the number of lightning strikes and their final power. The Darksteel Lightning-Attracting Hammer and Thunder Chisel floated at his side, flashing with lightning.
"Yes, Commander!"
Meng Liuguang bowed slightly.
"Southern Jambudvipa is a world of boundless mortal dust. To have emerged from it, Liuguang, your fortune must be profound indeed!"
"Commander, if one had profound fortune, who would be born in Southern Jambudvipa?"
A Thunder Department strongman, with two Heaven-Shaking Thunder Drums hanging from his waist, grinned. He too came from Southern Jambudvipa and was on good terms with Meng Liuguang, the deputy leader, so he dared to make such a joke.
The Heavenly Court's Thunder Department was a clearly tiered Heavenly Path law-enforcement system. Lightning tribulations were not bestowed solely at the discretion of a single deity. Rather, based on the grade of the tribulation, the cultivator's realm, and the weight of their karma, they were carried out by Thunder Gods of the corresponding rank.
For an Earth Immortal lightning tribulation, there was a standard Thunder Department lightning-descent squad of twelve members. The two Lightning Dukes leading it were the Command Lightning Duke, the chief leader, and the Reflection Lightning Duke, the deputy leader.
Below them were ten Thunder Department strongmen!
They were divided into the Drum-Beating Team, Cloud-Spreading Team, Lightning-Carrying Team, Wind-Patrolling Team, and Merit-Recording Team, with two