The entire ice field of the Extreme North was shrouded beneath the pressure of this Heavenly Tribulation.
Even the air grew heavy, as though it were about to crush everything to pieces.
The four present—
Ice Empress, A-Tai, Xiao Bai, and Ling Xiao—all felt that terrifying pressure at the same time.
Ice Empress's face instantly turned pale. "Th-this... what kind of Heavenly Tribulation is this?"
Ice Empress's Heavenly Tribulation had already been terrifying, but compared to Snow Empress's, it still fell short.
Ling Xiao clenched his teeth, his perception amplified to its limit at that moment.
He clearly sensed the Divine Realm Sealing Law and the Dragon God Shackles Law.
Laws unique to Soul Beast Heavenly Tribulations.
The higher a Soul Beast's origin, bloodline, and years of cultivation, the stronger the suppression of its Heavenly Tribulation.
Its essence was to completely cut off the path for Soul Beasts to ascend and become gods.
Because of Dragon God's own mistake, all Soul Beasts had to endure punishment for generations!
Ling Xiao could not help clenching his fists.
The Heavenly Tribulation officially began.
The first tribulation lightning descended.
Dark golden lightning, like a giant dragon plunging from the heavens, carried an aura capable of destroying everything as it struck directly toward Snow Empress.
However, Snow Empress was worthy of being Snow Empress.
After restoring her origin, even a seven-hundred-thousand-year Heavenly Tribulation posed little difficulty for her.
No wonder she had said those things.
Snow Empress merely raised her hand slightly, and an ice shield appeared, instantly catching the lightning tribulation.
The dark golden lightning exploded against the ice shield, covering it in cracks in an instant.
Yet Snow Empress casually repaired it.
The second, third... bolts of Heavenly Thunder fell upon Snow Empress one after another.
Each carried sealing power, suppressing and strangling Snow Empress on the level of laws.
But Snow Empress remained utterly composed.
Later on—
Snow Empress slowly revealed her true form. The Heavenly Snow Woman gradually appeared in the sky.
That figure looked exactly like Snow Empress, but she stood dozens of meters tall.
Her long hair flowed like a true waterfall, and her eyes resembled two frigid stars in the heavens.
Using the power of her Heavenly Snow Woman true form, she directly withstood the Heavenly Tribulation's bombardment head-on.
Bolt after bolt of tribulation lightning descended, only to be blocked by the Heavenly Snow Woman's true form.
At this rate, Snow Empress would pass this Heavenly Tribulation without difficulty.
However, the Heavenly Tribulation, which had been about to subside—
Because of the predetermined causality from the original work, began trying to correct Snow Empress's existence.
Thus, the Heavenly Thunder gathering next completely exceeded Snow Empress's expectations.
A lightning tribulation mixed with the power of causality crashed down directly from the tribulation clouds.
"Boom~!"
The Heavenly Thunder instantly struck the Heavenly Snow Woman, who immediately shrank back to her normal size.
"Pfft~!"
Snow Empress spat out a mouthful of blood.
Her body swayed sharply in the air, as though she might fall at any moment.
The thunderclouds gave her no chance to catch her breath, slowly gathering an even stronger bolt of Heavenly Thunder.
Just as she seemed unable to endure any longer, a figure stepped directly in front of her.
His hair danced in the lightning, and the thunder pattern between his brows glimmered faintly.
It was Ling Xiao.
He was no longer a little thing. He had grown into a handsome young man.
However, something happened that no one had expected.
The Heavenly Thunder actually turned.
Just before striking Ling Xiao, it traced a bizarre arc through the air.
It directly bypassed Ling Xiao, who stood before it, and blasted toward Snow Empress behind him.
"What?!"
Ling Xiao's pupils contracted sharply. The moment he realized what had happened, he rushed toward Snow Empress.
Caught off guard, Snow Empress was struck directly by the turning Heavenly Thunder.
"Pfft~!"
Another mouthful of blood spilled from her lips.
Her body completely lost balance and fell straight from the sky.
In the distance, everyone who witnessed this froze in place.
None of them had expected that the lightning tribulation would actually turn.
Causality's target was Snow Empress. No matter where Ling Xiao stood, the Heavenly Thunder would bypass him and carry out the causality it was meant to judge.
At this moment, the Heavenly Thunder continued, as though it intended to correct the outcome of Snow Empress's inevitable death.
"Rumble..."
The thunderclouds brewed even stronger Heavenly Thunder. The next bolt would be stronger than the last.
"Mom!"
Ling Xiao charged forward.
He rushed straight to Snow Empress's side and caught the falling Snow Empress in his arms.
Ling Xiao directly released the Thunder Spirit Origin, completely enveloping Snow Empress in lightning.
That lightning of causality crashed down, directly striking the two of them.
The power of a seven-hundred-thousand-year Heavenly Tribulation made the process of devouring and absorbing it even more agonizing than before.
Ling Xiao clenched his teeth, using his own body to shield Snow Empress from the erosion of causality.
The power of causality within it also slowly merged with Ling Xiao.
The Heavenly Thunder continued bombarding them.
Bolt after bolt.
As though it intended to annihilate them both together.
"Xue'er! You little burden!"
"Snow Empress!"
"Mom!"
The cries from Ice Empress and the other two were instantly drowned out by the endless thunder.
Ling Xiao frantically devoured everything within the Heavenly Thunder, including the causal entanglements contained within it.
The Heavenly Thunder surged madly into his body. His cultivation began rising once more, his origin became purer, and his understanding of laws grew deeper and deeper.
As the final bolt of tribulation lightning descended, everything gradually returned to calm.
The tribulation clouds slowly dispersed.
The sky returned to its normal color.
Sunlight streamed through gaps in the clouds, illuminating the ravaged ice field.
But no one knew whether Snow Empress and Ling Xiao inside were still alive.
Just as Ice Empress was about to fly over and inspect the scene, a figure emerged from the clouds.
Ling Xiao.
He slowly walked down from the summit of the clouds.
A trace of blood hung from the corner of his mouth, and his robes were covered in scorched marks.
And in his arms—
Snow Empress was held securely in a princess carry. Other than the streak of red at the corner of her mouth, she bore no other wounds.
Clearly, Ling Xiao had protected Snow Empress well during the final lightning tribulation.
Countless bolts of lightning lay beneath Ling Xiao's feet as he slowly descended from the sky.
Looking back over these three Heavenly Tribulations—
The Four-Element Law, Seven-Element Law, Spatial Law, Divine Realm Sealing Law, Dragon God Shackles Law, and Causal Judgment Law.
Ling Xiao had gained a sufficiently deep understanding of the Thunder Origin Law and the Soul-Annihilation Law.
More importantly...
Among all those laws, within the depths of ultimate Destruction, he had fully comprehended one word.
Kill!
The Ultimate Annihilation Law!
Locking down space was for annihilation.
Sealing the God Realm was for annihilation.
The polar opposites of light and darkness were for annihilation.
The elemental laws simply found different ways to kill.
Causal judgment was ultimate annihilation.
All laws ultimately had only one purpose: kill!
The essence of Heavenly Tribulation was annihilation.
As an Innate Chaos Thunder Spirit, feeding on Heavenly Thunder and taking lightning as his origin, the first law Ling Xiao comprehended was: kill!
Heavenly Tribulation was not gentle purification, and lightning was not merciful salvation.
It was merciless killing!
Having watched these earth-shaking Heavenly Tribulations, Ling Xiao had comprehended only one word—kill!
This first insight into the Thunder Law would completely change Ling Xiao's path of cultivation.
Before you continue