The Marvelous Uses of the Nine Heavens Thunder Invocation Art!

Everyone was stunned, their faces as if they had seen a ghost.

Whether it was the Underworld Envoys, the City God, or the two ghosts Lin Xiao and Fei Luo, their eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.

"By the Nine Heavens' profound mystery, be transformed into divine thunder. O mighty heavenly might, guide it with my sword!"

Fei Luo, who had been swallowed by the lightning tribulation, was suffering as his flesh split and tore. His consciousness, which he had sent out, sensed that the two Underworld Envoys and the City God were in danger, and he immediately panicked.

How could he let them die right under his nose?

In that instant, Fei Luo's thoughts raced, and he recalled the incantation for the Nine Heavens Thunder Invocation Art.

Silently chanting it in his heart, he swept the Flowing Cloud Sword through the air.

"Lin Xiao, have you laughed enough?"

Fei Luo looked like a god bathing in thunder. The tribulation lightning, imbued with majestic heavenly might, strangely parted on either side and automatically gathered around the Flowing Cloud Sword in his hand.

It was as if Fei Luo had cleaved the divine thunder apart with his sword, or as if his sword and the tribulation lightning were two magnets. The lightning was guided by his sword, scattering through the air ahead.

But the tribulation lightning lingered without dissipating. Though it struck into the empty sky, it still blazed brilliantly.

"Run!"

The Phantom Ghost King was so terrified he nearly lost his wits. His body turned into a phantom, and without a second thought, he darted back the way he had come.

Lin Xiao seemed to have been scared witless. He froze for a second.

Run, run, run!

Lin Xiao took off, his expression filled with utter terror.

With a thud, the two Underworld Envoys hit the ground. The City God, Li Ru, also lay there, his body trembling uncontrollably.

It was the trembling of one faced with heavenly might.

The majestic heavenly might contained in the tribulation lightning seemed capable of shattering his golden body with just a sliver of its power, leaving his soul utterly destroyed.

"You showed off, and now you think you can run?" Fei Luo grinned and thrust the Flowing Cloud Sword into the air.

The strike was utterly ordinary.

But what followed was terrifying.

Boom!

Boom!

The tribulation lightning split in two, like arrows loosed from a bow. With flashes of light, it shot toward the distance.

On a far-off mountaintop, two shrill screams rang out. A hundred-zhang-wide pit appeared on the slope.

It was as if a giant shovel had scooped out a chunk of East Mountain, sending dirt flying in every direction and surging into the sky.

"This..."

The two Underworld Envoys were dumbfounded. The City God, Li Ru, was dumbfounded too.

He could control tribulation lightning?

What kind of heaven-defying technique was this?

Everyone knew that the Three Tribulations of Wind, Thunder, and Fire were punishments produced by the Heavenly Dao, meant to break cultivators' dreams of defying heaven and fighting for their lives. These tribulations could not be controlled.

And what had they just witnessed?

The fearsome tribulation lightning had been used by this handsome, jade-faced man before them to kill his enemies?

Even the Phantom General, a Solid Core Realm cultivator, had no chance of surviving lightning like that.

"Sorry. I nearly put you all in danger." Fei Luo looked at the three before him and spoke softly.

"Not at all, not at all. Young master, you truly are a divine being." The City God and the two Underworld Envoys rose to their feet and answered him with deep respect.

"Young master, don't waste this opportunity. Quickly use the energy left behind by the tribulation to break through." The City God looked at Fei Luo and reminded him.

Fei Luo murmured, "Mm," then sat down on the ground.

Before long, a mysterious energy descended from the sky. Unlike the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, this was the energy of creation, a reward bestowed by the Heavenly Dao upon those who survived a lightning tribulation.

The Heavenly Dao was merciless, bringing down tribulations to stop cultivators from fighting heaven for their lives. Yet those who overcame a tribulation became heaven's favored children.

Only before the next tribulation would heaven and earth once again bring down a tribulation to stop the cultivator.

Fei Luo tipped his head back and swallowed several pills. The magical power within him instantly reached its peak, and the remaining power surged toward the dark-gold False Core.

"Condense!"

Fei Luo controlled the magical power within him. The False Core spun continuously, faster and faster.

Boom!

In the blink of an eye, everyone saw that the aura around Fei Luo had changed completely. He had entered the Solid Core Realm.

The greatest difference between the Solid Core Realm and the False Core Realm was the ability to release magical power beyond the body.

Before reaching the Solid Core Realm, magical power could only be gathered in the limbs or channeled into a weapon to repel enemies. But a Solid Core Realm expert could send magical power flying beyond the body like a hidden weapon.

It was a qualitative change.

That Phantom General could release his innate Ghostly Wall at the same time precisely because he was a Solid Core Realm Ghost King.

Before long, Fei Luo opened his bright eyes and stood, looking at the stunned crowd. "Thank you all for risking your lives to save me today. I'm deeply grateful."

"Congratulations, young master."

The two Underworld Envoys and the City God did not accept Fei Luo's thanks. Instead, they bowed to him and expressed their gratitude.

"You two are too polite. It was only the smallest of heavenly tribulations." Fei Luo waved his hand, signaling them to rise.

"Young master, you may not know this, but you're the first person in seven hundred years to undergo a tribulation in the False Core Realm. Seven hundred years ago, there was another expert who overcame a heavenly tribulation, but he only did so when advancing to the Golden Core Realm." The Underworld Envoy named Zhang Wu told Fei Luo about some strange events from history.

Fei Luo was greatly surprised. "You mean Golden Mountain Temple? Was that person called Fa Hai?"

"That's right, young master. I didn't know you'd heard the story too." Zhang Wu laughed.

The group chatted and laughed as they made their way to the City God Temple.

After discussing things for a while, Fei Luo also learned that the Underworld Envoys were mainly responsible for capturing wandering ghosts.

As for the Ghost Kings roaming the mortal world, those were beyond their jurisdiction.

As they talked, Fei Luo also learned a great deal about the Netherworld.

Inside the City God Temple.

"Everyone, do you know anything about the Azure Sky Ghost Venerable?" Fei Luo sat in the temple hall. After receiving a batch of system rewards, he looked at the two Underworld Envoys and the City God with a serious expression.

He had just killed the Phantom General and Lin Xiao. Though he hadn't received much experience, he had been rewarded with plenty of pills to aid his cultivation.

Now Fei Luo was filled with murderous intent. He thought of the power behind the Phantom General.

"Hmm?"

"Hmm?"

All three were startled, their faces showing indescribable shock.

The Azure Sky Ghost Venerable was a powerful ghost who ruled over five counties and had reached the Golden Core stage.

Fei Luo was a once-in-a-millennium, once-in-ten-thousand-years genius, but he was only in the Solid Core Realm.

Could Fei Luo be planning to pick a fight with the Azure Sky Ghost Venerable?

"Young master, what are you..." The City God, Li Ru, swallowed and asked in a trembling voice.

Fei Luo took in all their expressions and smiled. "Everyone, the Azure Sky Ghost Venerable has gathered a whole band of monsters and ghosts. He must have committed no shortage of heinous deeds. Since we've already made an enemy of him, I should pay him a visit today and have a little discussion."

By the end, Fei Luo's voice had grown cold, and the sharp killing intent made the three shudder.

"Young master, the Azure Sky Ghost Venerable is a vicious ghost who has cultivated for over a century. We don't know what he looks like. We only know that he was a woman from Azure Heaven Town when she was alive. As for why she became a vicious ghost, or how she reached Golden Core strength in just a hundred years, we have no idea." The City God, Li Ru, spoke and looked at Fei Luo.

"Azure Heaven Town, huh."