Why had the Chaos Green Lotus fallen apart back then?
It was because its existence defied the natural order too much, exceeding the Heavenly Dao's limits of tolerance.
Although this Twenty-Four Petal Creation Green Lotus was now only a Xiantian Supreme Treasure, it contained the complete origin of the Chaos Green Lotus.
If it continued absorbing Qi of Creation and growing in the Primordial World, then given enough time, there was a very good chance it would transform and ascend, becoming the next Chaos Green Lotus to transcend the Heavenly Dao's control.
As the keeper of order in the Primordial World, the Heavenly Dao absolutely could not tolerate an anomaly that could threaten its operation and escape its control.
So, the moment the Creation Green Lotus emerged, the Heavenly Dao sent down Purple Heaven Divine Lightning, seeking to destroy it.
And Tianlu, as the Creation Green Lotus's master, naturally became a target of the Heavenly Dao as well.
The Heavenly Dao had sent down divine lightning with the intent of reducing both him and the lotus to ashes.
But as luck would have it, the Heavenly Dao had run into Tianlu, the Primordial World's greatest oddball.
Tianlu was not only the first Pixiu, an Auspicious Beast, between heaven and earth, but also the Pet of the Great Dao and the Child of the Great Dao.
His existence was a special manifestation of the Great Dao's rules in the Primordial World.
Although the Heavenly Dao governed the Primordial World, it still stood beneath the Great Dao.
If the Heavenly Dao forcibly sent down divine lightning to kill Tianlu, it would be openly defying the Great Dao's will and inviting backlash against its own operating rules.
Even the Heavenly Dao could not bear the price of such a backlash.
That explained the ridiculous scene from just moments ago.
The Heavenly Dao wanted to strike the Creation Green Lotus, but the lotus was in Tianlu's hands.
The Heavenly Dao wanted to strike Tianlu along with it, but the rules forbade it from harming the Child of the Great Dao.
So the Heavenly Dao could only resort to this awkward approach, raining Purple Heaven Divine Lightning down furiously all around Tianlu.
It was trying to intimidate and threaten him with this world-destroying display of power, hoping fear would force him to hand over the Creation Green Lotus.
After thinking it all through, Tianlu finally understood his situation completely.
"Hahaha! I really am the Pet of the Great Dao, the true Child of the Great Dao!"
Tianlu rolled around on the Cloud Treasure, delighted, his golden tail sticking high in the air.
He felt the Creation Green Lotus, safe and sound in his Abdominal Space, then looked at the Tribulation Cloud churning overhead, powerless to do anything to him. An unprecedented sense of self-importance swelled in his heart.
He had all these absurdly overpowered Innate Divine Abilities, carried the Primordial World's finest Xiantian Supreme Treasure, and even the lofty Heavenly Dao dared not singe a single hair on his head.
If that didn't make him the Child of the Great Dao, the Pet of the Great Dao, then what did?
He was practically carrying a death-immunity token and strutting through the Primordial World!
And so, faced with the Heavenly Dao's threats and intimidation through its Purple Heaven Divine Lightning, Tianlu showed not the slightest fear or willingness to yield. Instead, he let himself go completely.
He sprawled on the Cloud Treasure, a mid-grade Xiantian Spiritual Treasure, crossed his legs, and hummed an obscure little tune. Controlling the cloud remotely, he wandered recklessly through the vast, boundless Kunlun Mountain beneath the thunderous sky.
High above.
Seeing that Tianlu not only ignored its authority but acted as though he were watching a show, the Heavenly Dao seemed to feel profoundly humiliated. It erupted in fury.
"Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!"
The Tribulation Cloud above all of Kunlun Mountain expanded more than tenfold, blotting out the sky and sun and turning tens of millions of miles into a lightless thunderous hell.
Bolts of Purple Heaven Divine Lightning as thick as water vats poured down like a torrential storm. Thunder boomed, shaking the nine heavens, while the surrounding space split into black rifts.
This terrifying celestial phenomenon instantly alarmed countless living beings hidden throughout Kunlun Mountain.
"What a terrifying lightning tribulation! A heaven-defying treasure must have appeared!"
"Purple qi surges into the sky, and lightning becomes a sea. It must be an Upper-Grade Xiantian Spiritual Treasure—or maybe even a Supreme-Grade Xiantian Spiritual Treasure!"
When many Primordial Unity Golden Immortals and other Xiantian beings saw the lightning filling the sky, greed was their first reaction.
They assumed an unparalleled Numinous Treasure bred by Kunlun Mountain had appeared, triggering a Heaven's jealousy tribulation. They turned into streaks of light and raced toward the center of the thunder sea, forcing their way through the immense pressure to seize this tremendous opportunity.
But when they neared the edge of the thunder and saw that what raged within was no ordinary lightning tribulation, but Purple Heaven Divine Lightning representing the Heavenly Dao's will to destroy, their greed was instantly replaced by boundless terror.
"Madness! That's Purple Heaven Divine Lightning! Is the Heavenly Dao trying to destroy the world?!"
"Run! Even a trace of cause and effect with this will end in our bodies and souls being destroyed!"
The Primordial World's living beings, who had arrived in force to hunt for treasure, were scared out of their wits. They abandoned all thoughts of claiming the treasure, scrambled to their feet, and fled toward the outskirts of Kunlun Mountain with every ounce of strength they had, afraid the lightning's aftershock would catch them if they were too slow.
Meanwhile, Tianlu, right at the center of the thunder sea, was enjoying a one-of-a-kind lightning bath.
"Boom!"
A bolt struck from the left, bearing an aura that could destroy all things, but a foot away from him it abruptly veered aside and shattered a mountain peak.
"Crack!"
Another bolt erupted on the right, transforming into a ten-thousand-zhang thunder dragon that roared toward him. But just before it could bite his tail, it let out a mournful cry, turned aside, and crashed into a lake, instantly vaporizing its waters.
Lying on the Cloud Treasure, Tianlu watched the lightning's repeated near misses on either side and sighed helplessly.
He slowly sat up and looked toward the churning Tribulation Cloud above. "Hey, Heavenly Dao, that's enough, isn't it? It's just one Numinous Treasure. Do you have to be so stingy?"
"I picked up this treasure fair and square. Why should I hand it over to you?!"
Tianlu's teasing, mocking words only made the already furious Heavenly Dao blaze with even greater anger.
"RUMBLE—!!!"
An earth-shattering boom unlike any before exploded beside Tianlu's ears.
The Heavenly Dao seemed to have been angered into losing its reason. A faint, blood-red hue appeared within the Tribulation Cloud.
Bolts of Purple Heaven Divine Lightning surged down like a raging flood, striking with a hundred times the density as before. They nearly turned the entire space around Tianlu into solid lightning crystal.
But rules were rules.
Because he was the Child of the Great Dao, the Heavenly Dao's furious, stormlike attacks still dodged him by force the instant they touched him, just as before.
The space around Tianlu had been blasted into the Void, yet not one of his golden hairs had been singed.
Faced with the Heavenly Dao's relentless persistence, refusing to take no for an answer, Tianlu was beginning to feel helpless.
"This Heavenly Dao really is a cheapskate."
"It's only a Creation Green Lotus. Does it have to chase me around like a resentful wife, striking me without end?"
Tianlu grumbled to himself.
But there was nothing he could do. Although he was the Pet of the Great Dao and the Heavenly Dao couldn't strike him, he still had no way to disperse the Purple Heaven Divine Lightning that embodied the Heavenly Dao's will.
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