Purple Firmament Divine Thunder, All Sages Astonished!

Clearly, after he drew the Three Xiao Sisters into the Dinghai Divine Pearl and intervened in the lightning tribulation,

the original Four-Nine Heavenly Tribulation was rapidly transforming into a Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulation. The descending lightning grew ever more terrifying in power.

An ordinary person would likely have been terrified out of their wits by now.

Yet when Zhao Gongming, whose heart was set on opening a world, saw this scene, not only did he feel no fear whatsoever—he grew even more excited.

"Primordial Origin Creation, Four Spirits Suppress Heaven, clear and turbid divide, all living things arise—world, open!"

Zhao Gongming formed seals with both hands and chanted under his breath. Waves of vast mana continuously poured into the Sea-Calming Pearl, driving the evolution of the world within.

At this moment, the Three Xiao Sisters inside the Sea-Calming Pearl gradually noticed that something was amiss.

"Big Sister, look! Doesn't that resemble the legendary act of splitting Heaven and Earth apart?"

Bi Xiao transmitted excitedly. Upon hearing her, Yun Xiao and Qiong Xiao immediately saw terrifying lightning striking wildly within the Dinghai Divine Pearl. Thunder dragons slithered through the space, endlessly expanding the world, as though cleaving open the originally stifling and oppressive Primordial Chaos bit by bit.

"It really does seem to be evolving a world. This is far too unbelievable! Since when did Big Brother possess such means?"

Qiong Xiao's voice brimmed with astonishment. Though she was merely in the form of a cloud, the shock rising from the depths of her being was impossible to miss in her tone.

"Big Brother truly is formidable. Such a Creation Profound Technique is simply inconceivable."

Yun Xiao could not help sighing as well, though a trace of doubt was mixed into her words.

In her recollection, her eldest brother Zhao Gongming had indeed been powerful, but not so powerful that he could split Heaven and Earth apart.

While the three sisters were overwhelmed with shock inside the Sea-Calming Pearl, Zhao Gongming outside, after a brief burst of delight, could not help but turn solemn.

"The Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulation is here!"

As that thought fell, the Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulation, a hundred times stronger than the Four-Nine Heavenly Tribulation, instantly descended.

Rumble!

Terrifying thunder shook the eight directions. Lightning like silver dragons shot straight toward the Sea-Calming Pearl.

"Hah, the Heavenly Dao truly cannot be provoked. But this is perfect. The Four-Nine Heavenly Tribulation alone could never help me open the Twenty-Four Heavens!"

Muttering to himself, Zhao Gongming poured ever more surging mana from within his body into the Sea-Calming Pearl, guiding the world's evolution.

In a corner of the Sea-Calming Pearl, the Three Xiao Sisters watched the intermittent lightning and could not help letting out long breaths of relief.

But just as Qiong Xiao was about to speak, lightning power a hundred times more violent than before came crashing in.

The three sisters, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, felt their hearts leap into their throats.

Even across boundless space, they could clearly sense the aura of destruction radiating from that lightning.

That surging, violent power made all three of their souls tremble.

Had they stood beneath that lightning tribulation, they would have been torn to pieces by it in mere moments.

"H-how could this happen? Wasn't the lightning tribulation over? Why has it begun again? And its power seems more than a hundred times greater than before!"

Qiong Xiao's voice was full of panic, while Bi Xiao was so frightened that she could not utter a word.

Though Yun Xiao barely maintained her composure, she too felt a trace of fear at this moment.

"Don't be afraid. Big Brother must have interfered with the lightning tribulation, causing its power to multiply. But since it still hasn't affected us, that proves Big Brother should be safe as well."

Hearing this, Qiong Xiao and Bi Xiao's tense emotions eased considerably. Bi Xiao even could not help cheering, "Big Brother is so strong!"

Yet Zhao Gongming, who had been praised by Bi Xiao, was suffering in silence.

The Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulation was peerlessly powerful. Though he stood outside the heavenly tribulation, even its mere aftershocks were enough to make his soul tremble without end.

Fortunately, he had previously comprehended a trace of Thunder Law, greatly increasing his affinity with the heavenly tribulation.

Otherwise, even without standing beneath the heavenly tribulation itself, he likely would not have been able to withstand the aftershocks emitted by the Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulation.

"Sixty-nine, seventy, seventy-one!"

Lightning tribulations fell one after another. Zhao Gongming sensed the changes within the Sea-Calming Pearl while silently counting in his heart.

He could feel the Twenty-Four Heavens within the Sea-Calming Pearl continuously expanding. As waves of powerful lightning energy fused into them, the area of the Twenty-Four Heavens expanded madly as well.

They had now reached the foundational level of a Lesser Thousand World. Their expanse was vast and boundless, evolving countless planes, lands, planets, stretching beyond sight.

The foundation of a Lesser Thousand World was already sufficient to give birth to living beings at the Golden Immortal Realm level.

And as the lightning continued to fall, the foundation of the Myriad Heavens World still swelled at an astonishing pace.

"A Middle Thousand World!"

Very soon, as all eighty-one bolts of the Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulation descended, the foundation of the Twenty-Four Heavens Worlds had stabilized at the level of a Middle Thousand World.

Such a world could even give birth to and nurture experts at the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal level, containing countless Lesser Thousand Worlds within it.

And each Lesser Thousand World, in turn, contained countless planes, greater worlds, smaller worlds, star systems—layer upon layer of vastness, almost endless.

"At this time, I am merely in the Mystic Immortal Realm. To use the lightning power of the heavenly tribulation to open the Twenty-Four Heavens Worlds ahead of time is already astonishing beyond measure!"

Zhao Gongming muttered, joy already appearing on his face. Ran Deng, after all, possessed Quasi-Sage cultivation and had expended endless worlds before opening and evolving the Twenty-Four Heavens Worlds. Yet he, at the Profound Immortal Realm level, had used the source power of heavenly tribulation lightning to open the Myriad Heavens World ahead of time. If word spread, even Heavenly Dao Sages would likely be astonished.

With that thought, he raised a hand, intending to retrieve the Twenty-Four Heavens Worlds.

But just then, Zhao Gongming discovered in astonishment that the dark clouds overhead had not dispersed. Instead, they had become black as ink.

An invisible oppression filled Heaven and Earth. The Thunder Law around the lightning tribulation grew increasingly violent, as though brewing something.

The instant Zhao Gongming saw this, his heart gave an involuntary jolt.

"This is... Purple Firmament Divine Thunder?"

The Three Xiao Sisters inside the Sea-Calming Pearl were in an even worse state. The three clouds huddled together, completely curled up in a corner.

Though they hid within the Sea-Calming Pearl, they were still ultimately shrouded beneath the heavenly tribulation.

Thus, the instant the heavenly tribulation transformed into Heavenly Punishment, the Three Xiao Sisters felt their souls freeze, not daring to release even a thread of divine sense beyond their bodies.

"B-Big Sister, what is happening? I feel so terrified, as though something is about to descend! Big Brother will be all right, won't he?"

Bi Xiao's voice was thick with tears and terror. Though Yun Xiao was frightened to the extreme as well, she had no choice but to comfort her younger sister.

"Don't worry. Trust Big Brother. He'll be fine."

The three sisters clung together for warmth. Outside the Dinghai Divine Pearl, the lightning tribulation in the heavens finally completed its transformation.

The originally ink-black tribulation clouds had, at some unknown moment, been stained with a faint layer of purple.

And that wisp of purple continued deepening, making the atmosphere ever more oppressive.

On Kunlun Mountain, Primordial Lord of Heaven was expounding the Great Dao. The Twelve Golden Immortals seated beneath him listened, utterly enthralled.

Suddenly, the Dao voice that had filled the air came to an abrupt halt. Primordial Lord of Heaven turned toward the Eastern Sea and could not help letting out a startled sound.

"Purple Firmament Divine Thunder? Since when did the Primordial World produce someone with such immense Karmic Power?"

A trace of puzzlement entered his voice. Primordial Lord of Heaven instinctively calculated the Heavenly Secrets, only to find them obscured and unfathomable. Even he could derive nothing at all.

In the Eastern Sea, within the void not far from Zhao Gongming, Tongtian Cult Leader, carrying the Green Duckweed Sword on his back and seeming to have been waiting there all along, casually muddled the Heavenly Secrets. As he watched the evolving Twenty-Four Heavens Worlds and the Purple Firmament Divine Thunder gathering in the sky, the expression on his face became rather remarkable as well.