Heart of Heaven's Scourge

Chapter 34: Heart of Heaven's Scourge

The Primordial World was gradually shrouded in darkness, and all living beings were utterly terrified.

The atmosphere grew increasingly oppressive. A sense of impending disaster filled the hearts of all the Primordial World's inhabitants.

Disaster was upon them!

"Your Majesty!" The twenty-five Demon Kings were all shocked by the drastic changes in the Primordial World. Though they had no idea what was about to happen, they sensed that something was wrong. They immediately thought of He Yu. In their eyes, He Yu possessed extraordinary powers and might know something.

"The changing of the ages, the evolution of the Primordial World, the sorrow of all living beings... Heh..." He Yu paid the Demon Kings no mind. Gazing at the completely darkened Primordial World, he murmured to himself.

"Take all the lesser demons and leave Demon King City immediately." The Tribulation of Heaven and Earth was about to begin. With the might of a Loose Immortal in the late stage, even all of Demon King City might not survive! In any case, the city would have to be abandoned after this tribulation, so it might as well be destroyed by the Tribulation of Heaven and Earth.

"Yes!" At He Yu's command, the Demon Kings respectfully acknowledged him. Then, unable to hold back their confusion, they asked, "Your Majesty, may we ask what is about to happen?"

He Yu glared coldly at them. Though they were in darkness, the Demon Kings still felt their scalps prickle, as if watched by wolves and venomous snakes. The oppressive feeling was more than ten times stronger than what the Primordial World itself had imposed upon them.

"Was my order unclear?" His voice rang out, icy and grim, freezing the hearts of the twenty-five Demon Kings and filling them with unease and terror.

"We deserve punishment!" The twenty-five Demon Kings trembled as they prostrated themselves on the ground.

"Carry out my order. Take all the lesser demons away from Demon King City—the farther, the better." He Yu spoke indifferently. By now, he could feel the terrifying aura of gods and demons descending from above Cangqiong. The power of the heavens was gathering all around them; the Tribulation of Heaven and Earth was brewing.

A hundred-mile radius... a thousand miles... ten thousand miles!

The area covered by the power of the heavens rapidly expanded, and the Tribulation of Heaven and Earth gradually finished brewing.

"We take our leave!" Sensing the terrifying power of the heavens, the Demon Kings quickly departed. Their awareness spread out, allowing them to move unhindered even in the darkness.

Rumble!

When the power of the heavens covered a hundred thousand miles, the Tribulation of Heaven and Earth had fully taken shape. Ten thousand miles above Demon King City, a black tribulation cloud a thousand miles across hung in the sky. Azure, red, purple, and yellow light mingled within it.

The tribulation cloud illuminated the land for thousands of miles, making it easier for the demons of Demon King City to flee. At that moment, every demon was horrified by the cloud. Its power to destroy everything nearly scared the wits out of them. Even the might of a late-stage Loose Immortal's tribulation was more than they could bear.

With He Yu's command and the terrifying might of the tribulation, every demon in Demon King City immediately fled. Demonic clouds blotted out the sky as Yun Su pushed his speed to the limit, scattering in every direction. A brilliant array of colors filled the sky; seen from above, the whole city resembled a blooming five-colored flower.

He Yu paid no heed to their departure. Considering how they had helped him during this time, he let them escape. Otherwise, they would have had no chance of surviving the tribulation. He Yu was no kind soul, but as long as his own interests were not affected, he knew how to repay kindness and settle grudges.

Rumble!

The thousand-mile tribulation cloud exuded immense might and gradually began to spin. As it revolved, the four colors of light began to blend. A vortex of four-colored tribulation clouds formed directly above He Yu, and with its formation, the boundless might of the heavenly tribulation bore down.

Crash!

Under the tribulation's might, all of Demon King City collapsed. Every building shattered, its stones strewn across the ground.

Whoosh!

The tribulation had taken shape, and He Yu no longer held back. The Primordial Avatar immediately left his body, and the Primordial Sword appeared in its hand. By now, the Primordial Sword had reached a fifty-percent bond with him, and its power was no small thing.

Rumble, rumble!

Sensing the Primordial Avatar's mid-stage Loose Immortal cultivation, the tribulation cloud spun twice as fast, and the might bearing down upon them grew even stronger.

"What terrifying power! It's even thirty percent stronger than a late-stage Loose Immortal!" The might of the tribulation cloud gave He Yu a slight shock. His eyes narrowed, and the Primordial Avatar shot upward with its sword.

Rather than wait for the tribulation cloud to attack, he would strike first and seize the advantage. As long as he destroyed the tribulation cloud, victory would be assured!

Crash! Whoosh!

The Primordial Avatar had only just risen into the air when the tribulation cloud launched its attack.

A hundred-zhang azure blade came crashing down with the force to smash through dead wood and shatter rotten logs. Countless wind blades whirled around it, shrieking as they tore through the air.

Whoosh! Crash!

Facing the azure blade, the Primordial Avatar dared not be careless. It swung the Primordial Sword with all its might, sending two fierce, sharp sword auras to meet the attack. They struck the azure blade with a thunderous boom. The sword auras dispersed, while the azure blade's power was halved.

Clang!

The Primordial Sword blocked the descending azure blade. With half its power gone, it posed far less of a threat, and the Primordial Avatar easily held it off.

Crash! Crash! Crash!...

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!...

As it fended off the attack, the tribulation cloud sent down more than a dozen hundred-zhang azure blades. The sight made He Yu's heart lurch. He had already experienced the blades' formidable power, and now there were so many of them.

I can't hold back anymore. I never expected to have to use this move so soon. The Primordial Avatar's aura surged, and the Primordial Sword blazed with golden-black light. The azure blades it had been blocking vanished within that radiance.

"Sword—Dragon—Break!" The Primordial Sword shot upward and transformed into a hundred-zhang golden-black dragon. Countless golden-black sword blades covered its body, whirling and tearing through everything. Its four claws and dragon fangs were also made of golden-black blades, their edges gleaming with deadly sharpness.

"Roar!" The Primordial Sword Dragon let out a dragon's roar toward the heavens and coiled through the sky, blocking and shattering every azure blade.

Rumble!

The tribulation cloud seemed to fly into a rage. Its vortex paused, then the thousand-mile cloud gathered and contracted until it was only a hundred miles across. Though its reach had shrunk, its might had grown even more powerful.

Whoosh! Crack! Rumble! Crash! Whistle!...

A sea of scorching flames poured down. Hundreds of purple bolts of lightning struck with a deafening roar. A hundred-zhang mountain of yellow earth crashed down, and surging waves came thundering after it...

Seeing this, He Yu nearly cursed the heavens. Was this any way to do things? Even a tribulation was supposed to follow the rules! The wind tribulation had only just passed, and now the fire, lightning, earth, and water tribulations had all descended at once. How was anyone supposed to survive?

An unprecedented crisis had unfolded. With the Four Tribulations striking together, their power to destroy everything was far beyond what the mid-stage Loose Immortal Primordial Avatar could withstand!

I have to go all out. There's no other choice. He Yu immediately recalled the Primordial Avatar and the Primordial Sword.

Two streaks of golden-black light returned to his body. After recalling the Primordial Avatar and the Primordial Sword, He Yu swiftly cast his most powerful defensive art, the Celebratory Cloud Green Lotus. But after fusing with the power of Taichu, it had changed completely. Gold, black, and azure blended perfectly, and tens of thousands of three-colored lotuses bloomed atop a three-colored celebratory cloud a mu in size.

The celebratory cloud and lotuses were utterly incomparable to what they had been before. Combined with the power of He Yu's Demon Core and Primordial Avatar, their defensive power was formidable. To maximize his defense, He Yu did not enlarge the cloud; he only needed it to protect him.

Rumble! Crash! Boom! Crackle!

The moment the celebratory cloud took shape, the Four Tribulations came crashing down one after another, pounding against it. He Yu unleashed the cloud's full power to resist. The cloud shimmered in three hazy colors, its light brilliant; the lotuses revolved without pause, and a three-colored haze billowed around them as their full defensive power came into play.

Scorching flames, crashing lightning, pounding earth, surging water...

With all four tribulations unleashing their might at once, the pressure on He Yu soared. He drove all twenty-five Demon Cores to their limits, and the Primordial Avatar gave everything it had. Even the Primordial Sword fused into the celebratory cloud and lotuses to strengthen their power. Only then could he barely hold out. Such was the terrifying might of the Four Tribulations striking together.

As time passed, the situation settled into a stalemate. Now it came down to whether the tribulation cloud or He Yu could last longer. As the standoff continued, the cloud kept contracting, shrinking from a hundred miles to ninety, eighty, then seventy...

Damn it, I can't hold out much longer. I never thought the tribulation would be this terrifying. How could this be the power of a late-stage Loose Immortal? It's probably not far from an early-stage Earth Immortal! Feeling his Demon Cores beginning to falter and the Primordial Avatar's energy draining rapidly, He Yu grew frantic. This was going badly for him!

It seems I have no choice but to use my last resort! He sighed helplessly, then began drawing on the power of the Plane Space within his body to reinforce the celebratory cloud and lotuses. Borrowing the power of the Inner World for his own use was certainly potent. However, He Yu's Plane Space was only a thousand meters across, so its power was very limited. Even if he borrowed all of it, it would only amount to the power of an early-stage Origin Spirit. It would also hinder the Plane Space's development, making it a terrible bargain. But now he had no other choice.

With the Plane Space's power bolstering them, the celebratory cloud and lotuses grew more powerful. The Four Tribulations gradually began to falter, and the tide started to turn in his favor. Victory was within reach.

Just as He Yu was drawing on the power of his Plane Space, the tribulation-cloud vortex above Cangqiong suddenly stopped spinning. As if it had sensed something, it gave a shudder. Even the Four Tribulations' power diminished greatly, and it continued to wane as time passed. It was clear they had lost the tribulation cloud's support.

Whoosh!

Amid a sharp whistle, a ray of nine-colored light suddenly descended from within the tribulation-cloud vortex, shooting straight toward He Yu's brow. It moved so quickly that even He Yu could not see it clearly. At the same time, the tribulation cloud collapsed in an instant, and the Four Tribulations completely dissipated.

The Tribulation of Heaven and Earth—he had passed it!

With a faint pop, the nine-colored light entered He Yu's brow and reached his sea of consciousness. In an instant, it merged with it completely, achieving a one-hundred-percent bond. Before He Yu could understand what had happened, his Plane Space abruptly changed. It rapidly grew taller and larger, evolving at astonishing speed, while a faint, mysterious aura filled it.

One thousand meters!

One thousand five hundred meters!

Two thousand meters!

Five thousand meters!

It continued to evolve until it reached five thousand meters, then stopped. He Yu was utterly dumbfounded. Everything that had happened was beyond his expectations—and his understanding.

Once the Plane Space finished evolving, a nine-colored halo the size of a winnowing basket floated at its highest point. A flood of information poured from within the halo into He Yu's consciousness, and in an instant, he understood it all.

"So that's how it is? If I'd known, why would I have gone to all that trouble? I could've just used the power of the Plane Space from the start!" Once he understood everything, He Yu felt deeply vexed. It turned out that what had merged into his Plane Space was the Heart of Heaven's Scourge, the source of the tribulation. It contained many rules. All the Primordial World's rules were held within it. Though the Heavenly Dao had yet to emerge and its rules were incomplete, they were still numerous. As the ages changed, the Heart of Heaven's Scourge had to reorganize itself as well. It understood this, but could do nothing to change it. This time, however, an opportunity had arisen. Sensing He Yu's Plane Space, it found a glimmer of hope and immediately merged with it. Though this diminished its own power, it would grow stronger as the Plane Space continued to evolve. Most importantly, the Plane Space had no rules of its own, so it could develop and fuse with the rules it contained. In time, it would become the Heavenly Dao of the Plane Space, with only one difference from the Primordial World: above this Heavenly Dao stood He Yu.

"Ah! This is bad—an aura of gods and demons?" He Yu was in a jumble of vexation and elation when he suddenly realized that now that the tribulation had passed, nothing was holding back the aura of gods and demons. He still had one more hurdle to cross.

"Hm?" Only then did He Yu notice that a nine-colored light shield had somehow appeared around his whole body. It stretched without end, holding back the boundless aura of gods and demons so completely that not a single trace could cross it.

"What is this nine-colored light shield? Could it be because of the Heart of Heaven's Scourge?" Since it could block the aura of gods and demons, the nine-colored light shield was clearly extraordinary. It was also nine-colored, just like the Heart of Heaven's Scourge, so naturally He Yu thought of it. But was that really the reason?