Sky-Piercing Godhood, Turmoil Across the Land (Part Two)

The lingering might of the second Destruction Thunder Tribulation had yet to fully dissipate. The air was still thick with the stench of scorching and destruction. Li Yunming knelt on one knee in midair, supporting himself with the Sky-Piercing Divine Spear. He was drenched in blood, his aura weak to the extreme, like a guttering candle in the wind that could go out at any moment.

Yet the tribulation clouds above gave him no chance to catch his breath. The pitch-black mass that had swallowed all light now seemed to have transformed into a huge, slowly rotating vortex. At its center was no longer blinding lightning, but a deathly stillness that froze the soul...

There was no thunderous roar, no writhing bolts of lightning. Only a terrifying, invisible will that seemed capable of erasing all life and severing every karmic bond was gathering.

"The third tribulation... is the Soul-Severing Annihilation Tribulation!" Dongyue Hong's voice trembled as never before. He even could not help taking a step forward, his eyes filled with despair. "This tribulation does not harm the body. It strikes directly at the soul and its karmic connections! If he cannot withstand it, both body and soul will truly be annihilated, leaving not even a chance for reincarnation! Elder Yun Ming's... condition is far too poor!"

The moment those words were spoken, the hearts of everyone below who cared about Li Yunming sank into a bottomless abyss. Li Yuanhui's face went deathly pale, and his body swayed as though he could barely remain standing. Through the system, Li Xuansheng could clearly "see" that the light of Li Yunming's soul was like a candle flame flickering in a violent gale, feeble beyond measure. How could it possibly withstand a tribulation that specifically targeted the soul?

"Hahaha! Heaven is helping me!" Qiu Qianchen threw back his head and laughed wildly, his face full of delight. "The Soul-Severing Annihilation Tribulation! Li Yunming, you are dead for sure! Not even a remnant soul will remain!"

Xie Miaojiang also chuckled sinisterly. "It seems there is no need for us to act. What a pity. I will not get to personally refine him into a poison puppet."

Amid this atmosphere of despair, a gray, inconspicuous stream of air drifted silently down from the center of the vortex, as if crossing through time and space. Its target was Li Yunming's brow and sea of consciousness!

Wherever that stream passed, even light and sound seemed to be devoured and assimilated, leaving behind absolute nothingness.

Facing this strike, more dangerous than the previous two Thunder Tribulations and aimed directly at his very origin, Li Yunming slowly raised his head. The fighting spirit from before was gone from his face, as was fear. Only an absolute calm remained, along with a will to protect that finally transformed into utter resolve!

He glanced at the battered yet steadfast members of his clan below, at the worried Li Yuanhui and Li Xuansheng, and at the Dongyue Family allies who had fought beside him.

"I, Li Yunming, have never sought immortality in my life, nor coveted power. I only wish... to protect everything I wish to protect!"

He suddenly pulled the Sky-Piercing Divine Spear from the void. Rather than pointing it at the annihilating stream, he swung it around and heavily drove its butt into the air! At the same time, he abandoned all defenses and opened his sea of consciousness!

"With my broken body as the catalyst, with my undying will as the foundation! Sky-Piercing Will, condense!"

"Buzz—!"

The Sky-Piercing Divine Spear erupted with its final and most blazing platinum radiance. Yet that radiance transformed into an enormous, translucent barrier, turning the last remnant of his lifelong cultivation and unyielding will—the Sky-Piercing Will—into a shield! He intended to use his own soul to directly confront the annihilating tribulation!

"No—!" Li Yuanhui let out a heart-rending roar.

"Elder Yun Ming!" The Dongyue Family members' eyes nearly split with fury as well.

Li Xuansheng felt ice-cold all over. He understood that his master had chosen the most desperate method: either trade the annihilation of his own soul for a sliver of hope, or rise again after being driven into a dead end!

The gray annihilating stream sank into Li Yunming's brow without encountering the slightest resistance.

Time seemed to freeze at that moment.

Li Yunming's body instantly turned ashen. All life seemed to have been drained from him in an instant, while the light in his eyes rapidly dimmed like a burned-out star. His upright body began to sway slightly, as though it would collapse completely in the next moment and turn into dust in the cosmos.

Everyone held their breath, watching the scene in despair.

One breath... two breaths... three breaths...

Just as the last trace of life was about to be completely extinguished, and even Qiu Qianchen and Xie Miaojiang believed the matter settled and revealed victorious smiles—

A faint yet incomparably pure and resilient platinum light burst forth from the deepest depths of Li Yunming's nearly annihilated sea of consciousness, like a seed that had crossed endless darkness!

That light was his reluctance to part with his family, his hopes for his disciple, his promise to his allies, and his desire to protect all beauty and justice in the world! It was an Immortal Will that surpassed the fear of death!

"Crack!"

It was as though some kind of shackles had shattered!

The annihilating stream that had invaded his sea of consciousness encountered that Immortal Will born of protection and boundless love as though it had met its nemesis. It let out a faint cracking sound before being completely scattered and purified by the surging platinum radiance!

"Rumble—!"

The pitch-black tribulation clouds in the sky seemed to have completed their mission. They began to churn violently, then rapidly dispersed. At the same time, golden motes descended from the heavens like the sweetest nectar, containing vast vitality and the most fundamental blessing of heaven and earth. They precisely enveloped an area of a hundred meters around Li Yunming!

Sweet rain descended from heaven, divine grace bestowed blessings!

Bathed in that golden nectar, Li Yunming's once ashen body, on the verge of collapse, recovered at a visible rate! His cracked skin instantly healed and became lustrous as jade; his depleted Soul Power was not only replenished in an instant, but also underwent a qualitative leap, carrying a faint divine glow; his damaged meridians, dantian, and sea of consciousness became more expansive and over ten times tougher than before under the nourishment of that power!

More importantly, an entirely new aura of majesty, one that stood above the mortal world like an awakening primordial divine mountain, slowly emanated from within him!

He had succeeded! At the final moment, he had forcibly endured the most dangerous Soul-Severing Annihilation Tribulation with his Immortal Will, earning the recognition of heaven and earth. Sweet rain descended, remolding his divine body!

He slowly opened his eyes. It was as though suns and moons revolved within them, while stars were born and perished. The Sky-Piercing Divine Spear in his hand let out an incomparably joyful cry. The platinum patterns upon its shaft became more intricate and profound, faintly condensing into a brand-new divine rune representing the meaning of "piercing the heavens, standing upon the earth, protecting and purifying"!

Level 101 Divine Official—Sky-Piercing Spear God, Li Yunming!

"He succeeded... he really succeeded!" Li Tiancheng wept with joy, trembling all over with excitement.

"The Grand Elder has become a god! The Sky-Piercing Spear God!" Li Yuanhui's eyes brimmed with tears as he fiercely swung his fist. Every member of the Li Family erupted into deafening cheers choked with sobs!

Li Xuansheng let out a long, long breath. His taut nerves finally relaxed, and a relieved smile appeared on his face. Master... in the previous world, because the Divine Realm had vanished and its laws were incomplete, you possessed peerless talent yet could not take that final step. Now, this world's broader origin has finally given you this opportunity! Congratulations, Sky-Piercing Spear God!

In stark contrast to the wild joy of the Li Family and the Dongyue Family were the utterly ugly expressions on Qiu Qianchen and Xie Miaojiang's faces.

"How is that possible... How could he survive the Soul-Severing Annihilation Tribulation?!" Qiu Qianchen's face was livid. His fists clenched until they crackled, and his eyes were filled with unwillingness, fury, and a trace of... barely perceptible fear. The Li Family had a god too!

The poisonous mist around Xie Miaojiang churned violently, revealing his inner turmoil. He spoke hoarsely, his voice so gloomy it seemed ready to drip water. "Sky-Piercing Spear God... what a Sky-Piercing Spear God! This has become troublesome."

The two sides' top combat strength had returned to the same starting line because of Li Yunming's ascension! Dongyue Hong (Level 109) against Xie Miaojiang (Level 107), Li Yunming (Level 101) against Qiu Qianchen (Level 104)! Although Li Yunming had only just entered God Rank and was slightly lower in level, no one dared underestimate his bizarre purifying power and the terrifying will he had just displayed! Furthermore, he had become a god in full view of everyone through such a tragic and glorious method. His momentum was at its peak!

And at the very moment Li Yunming formally condensed his divine position and his aura spread in all directions—

Deep within Flower-Washing Valley in the east of the continent, an old woman tending to strange flowers and exotic plants slightly raised her head. A hint of surprise flashed through her eyes. "Oh? A new divine position, the Sky-Piercing Will? That is rather rare."

Within Bright Valley, a hidden sword intent rippled once before returning to calm.

In the ancestral land of the Flower Clan, the graceful and luxurious Flower God lightly inhaled the fragrance of flowers, the corners of her lips curling upward. "Interesting. It seems the east is about to become livelier."

The two deities who had just departed from the Astral Sect and Thunderstorm Sword Sect sensed this aura, and their expressions shifted slightly. "After two hundred years, a new deity has emerged in the east. Old gods are causing trouble, while new gods are being born. It seems chaos is coming."

At the same time, throughout the central five great dynasties, the major southern families, the northern snowfields... all across the continent, divine auras that had slumbered for countless years or silently watched the changes of the world stirred faintly because of this new god's birth. Some watched coldly, some were eager to challenge him, some remained indifferent and continued their slumber, while others hid in darkness, revealing greed and killing intent toward the newborn deity...

Li Yunming's ascension was like a massive stone thrown into a tranquil lake, completely shattering the balance that the continent had maintained for eight hundred years and sending out endless ripples. The crisis in Heavenly Phoenix City seemed to have been temporarily resolved, but the curtain had already risen on even more turbulent undercurrents and storms that would sweep across the entire continent!

Everyone's gaze focused once more on the newly ascended Sky-Piercing Spear God in the air and the two veteran Divine Officials opposite him, whose expressions kept shifting. How would this be settled next?