I Can Weaken the Lightning Tribulation by 'a Little'!

Hearing Snow Empress's question, Zhang Qingxuan immediately understood her intentions.

"To be honest, the cultivation method I practice can indeed resonate with the lightning of heaven and earth," he admitted frankly.

Before these two rulers of the Far North, concealment was hardly wise—he could still fight Ice Empress, but before Snow Empress, he stood no chance at all.

Besides, Xiao Bai was with him, and he was standing within the territory they had ruled for hundreds of thousands of years. The odds of forcing his way out were minuscule.

At his words, an almost imperceptible disappointment flashed through Snow Empress's ice-blue eyes.

What she needed was not ordinary lightning power, but an extraordinary means capable of interfering with a lightning tribulation.

Yet Zhang Qingxuan's next words made her gaze abruptly freeze.

"However, if it is only a matter of reducing the lightning tribulation's power by 'a little,' I might be able to do it."

"Reduce the power of a lightning tribulation?!" Ice Empress's voice suddenly rose, her heart violently shaken.

A lightning tribulation was the manifestation of Douluo Planet's laws of heaven and earth, a sword hanging above the heads of all Soul Beasts.

Since ancient times, no one had ever heard of anyone being able to interfere with the might of a lightning tribulation.

And now this human claimed that he could weaken a Heavenly Tribulation. It simply overturned the understanding all Soul Beasts had held for hundreds of thousands of years!

"Are you certain?" Snow Empress's voice remained cool, but Zhang Qingxuan could hear the undercurrents hidden beneath her calm tone.

"I am." Zhang Qingxuan nodded.

This was no empty boast. The two Thunder-Swallowing Beasts within him absolutely loved lightning tribulations.

Rather than painstakingly searching for scattered lightning tribulations everywhere, why not simply wait beside these Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts that were destined to trigger one? The efficiency was more than ten times greater.

Snow Empress stared at him before slowly speaking after a moment. "How will you prove it?"

This concerned a lightning tribulation. There could be no carelessness whatsoever. One wrong step would mean utter destruction of body and soul.

"If there is a Soul Beast in the Far North close to reaching a hundred thousand years, I can demonstrate it on the spot."

A sharp glint flashed through Ice Empress's emerald compound eyes. "Sister, isn't there an Ice Soul Demon Tiger three hundred li northeast of here that is about to reach a hundred thousand years? Its bloodline is ordinary, so it has no chance of surviving the Heavenly Tribulation on its own. It is perfect for a test."

Snow Empress pondered briefly, then raised her slender hand and lightly tapped the air.

Bzzz—

An indescribable ripple spread outward from her fingertip, forming some profound resonance with the entire frozen plain of the Far North.

Even the wind and snow seemed to freeze in that instant. The ice elements between heaven and earth gathered around her as if bowing before their sovereign.

Zhang Qingxuan's heart trembled violently.

Power of Heaven and Earth! And so pure!

As expected of a spirit of heaven and earth born from the Far North. Her control over the world of this region has reached such a level...

A powerful yearning rose in his heart.

Ever since entering Qi Refining into Spirit, comprehending and controlling the Power of Heaven and Earth had become the key to breaking through his bottleneck.

Yet Douluo Planet's consciousness of heaven and earth was weak, causing the Power of Heaven and Earth to rarely manifest. He had never found a way in.

Now that he had personally witnessed Snow Empress casually draw upon the origin power of an entire region, how could he not long for it?

About the time it took to drink a cup of tea later, a gigantic tiger that looked as though it had been carved from ice crystals strode through the snow.

It was more than five zhang long, its entire body covered in translucent ice-blue scales. Each step left deep footprints in the snow.

Arriving before Snow Empress and Ice Empress, it respectfully lowered its body and spoke in human words. "Greetings, Lord Snow Empress. Greetings, Lord Ice Empress."

"How long until you reach one hundred thousand years?" Ice Empress asked directly.

The Ice Soul Demon Tiger did not dare conceal anything. "In reply to Lord Ice Empress, under normal cultivation, it will take roughly another two years."

Snow Empress turned her hand over and produced a fist-sized crystal radiating intense cold.

The crystal was dark blue throughout, with what seemed like liquid cold light flowing within. It was precisely the rare treasure of the Far North—the Millennium Profound Ice Marrow.

"We have discovered a method that may weaken the lightning tribulation. Consume this, then immediately attempt to break through to the hundred-thousand-year realm."

The Ice Soul Demon Tiger froze at first. Once it clearly saw the Mystic Ice Marrow in Snow Empress's hand, an unbelievable light burst from its tiger eyes.

For Soul Beasts like it with ordinary bloodlines, one hundred thousand years was nearly the end of the road in cultivation, while a lightning tribulation was a perilous chasm with only a sliver of hope for survival.

Now, Snow Empress was not only granting it a treasure that could help it break through early, but also promising to find a way to weaken the lightning tribulation. How could it not be excited?

As for whether Snow Empress might be trying to harm it?

That thought flashed through its mind and vanished at once—if she truly wanted its life, why go through such trouble? A single strike from Ice Empress would be enough to kill it.

Without hesitation, it swallowed the Mystic Ice Marrow. Surging ice-element power instantly erupted inside its body.

The Ice Soul Demon Tiger threw back its head and roared. Thick ice mist rose around it, its aura steadily climbing at a visible rate as sounds of its cultivation barrier loosening and shattering echoed from within.

Snow Empress and Ice Empress exchanged a glance, and their figures drifted backward at the same time. In the blink of an eye, they were already several li away.

If they remained within the lightning tribulation's range, the heavenly laws would sense the pressure of two ferocious-beast-level existences, and the lightning tribulation's power would multiply. It would no longer be a trial, but an execution.

"Xiao Bai, move farther away as well." Zhang Qingxuan turned to remind her, only to discover that the girl had already vanished. A trembling cry drifted faintly through the wind and snow.

"Young Master, I believe you can do it! I-I'll retreat first!"

Zhang Qingxuan helplessly shook his head.

Ever since they had first met, this girl had possessed an instinctive fear of Heavenly Tribulations. She always ran away the fastest.

By then, the Ice Soul Demon Tiger had completely refined the Mystic Ice Marrow. It suddenly opened its eyes, only to see Zhang Qingxuan standing alone amid the wind and snow, and immediately panicked.

"Lord Snow Empress? Lord Ice Empress? W-where have you two gone?!"

"W-what am I supposed to do now... You can't set a tiger up like this!"

It anxiously paced in circles, its crystal-like tiger claws carving deep furrows into the frozen ground.

As for the seemingly ordinary human beside it, it had no time to care—in the face of a hundred-thousand-year lightning tribulation, what use could a human possibly be?

Rumble—!

The sky suddenly darkened. Heavy tribulation clouds converged from every direction, black as ink, sealing the entire sky without a gap.

Deep within the clouds, blazing white lightning rolled and writhed like dragons. A destructive aura pressed down over everything, and even the howling cold wind froze beneath its pressure.

The hundred-thousand-year lightning tribulation had descended.

At the very instant the tribulation lightning's aura completely locked onto the Ice Soul Demon Tiger,

Zhang Qingxuan clearly sensed that the two long-dormant fellows deep within his sea of consciousness had begun to stir frantically like sharks smelling blood, transmitting an almost greedy craving for heavenly lightning.

Unhurriedly, he flew to the Ice Soul Demon Tiger's side and reached out to pat its slightly trembling back.

Its ice-crystal scales felt freezing to the touch, yet they faintly carried the distinctive energy fluctuations of a breakthrough.

"Tiger brother, do not panic. Why lose your composure over a mere lightning tribulation?"

"With me here, I guarantee you will safely overcome this hundred-thousand-year trial."

Zhang Qingxuan spoke calmly, as though the heavenly might gathering before him was not capable of destroying the world, but merely an ordinary storm.

"Human, you..." Hearing his tone, the Ice Soul Demon Tiger's whiskers twitched. Just as it was about to berate this ignorant boy who did not know the immensity of heaven and earth—

Rumble!

Above the heavens, the first tribulation lightning had already condensed into shape!

Blazing white electricity as thick as a water barrel churned and shrieked within the clouds. Its destructive aura made every Soul Beast within a hundred li instinctively hide.

This time, Zhang Qingxuan had learned his lesson.

Before those two troublemakers could start causing a commotion inside him, a thought crossed his mind, and dazzling lightning burst from his body.

Eight Soul Rings rose beneath his feet, with the two scarlet hundred-thousand-year Soul Rings among them especially dazzling.

His Martial Soul Avatar activated instantly. His entire body transformed into a phantom of lightning wreathed in white electricity, shooting into the sky and charging directly toward the tribulation clouds above!