Boom!
After gathering for so long, a thunderbolt shot out of the black clouds.
Under the terrifying impact, even the mighty Wolf King was blasted out of the air. A full half minute passed before he rose again, his skin split and flesh torn, looking utterly wretched.
The sight of a magical beast undergoing a tribulation was rare, but there were few flashy tricks involved. Most relied on their exceptionally powerful bodies to endure it head-on.
The Wolf King was struck down again and again, yet rose to meet the lightning each time. His condition visibly deteriorated, and it took him longer and longer to get airborne. Stark white bones lay exposed, and his agonized howls echoed endlessly through the forest.
The raging lightning battered him for roughly an hour before gradually fading. The black clouds withdrew, revealing the bright disc of the moon.
"Did he fail?"
After quite some time without sensing the Wolf King's aura, the Snow Demon Heavenly Ape murmured in a rumbling voice.
Though the ape had absolutely nothing to do with the Wolf King, witnessing his fate still stirred the sorrow of a fox mourning a rabbit's death.
Without a powerful bloodline to support them, ordinary magical beasts found crossing this threshold every bit as difficult as humans trying to become Dou Zong powerhouses.
At that thought, the Snow Demon Heavenly Ape became even more convinced that following Chen Cang had been the right choice. Had the ape remained in the mountains playing king, reaching the sixth tier would have been the absolute limit, with no hope of ever taking human form.
Now, however, there was hope.
"No, he succeeded. The lightning tribulation left him half dead, but he made it through all the same."
The Snow Demon Heavenly Ape could not sense it, but