The Azure Feather Dao Sect's rules: anyone could slay devil cultivators and evil cultivators.
For the first time, Ye Xuan agreed with this rule.
Slaughtering villages and exterminating cities to practice evil techniques and devil cultivation methods violated the harmony of heaven, as well as the justice in Ye Xuan's heart.
Perhaps Ye Xuan did not consider himself a purely good person deep down, but neither did he think he would become an utterly evil one.
Those not of our kind must harbor different hearts.
Had the Blood Shadow Ancestor absorbed the blood of wild beasts, Ye Xuan might have spared him. But he had also absorbed the blood of ordinary people, even slaughtering an entire village. That shriveled figure in its swaddling clothes had deeply jarred Ye Xuan's nerves.
Thus, Ye Xuan had no intention of sparing the Blood Shadow Ancestor. He even wanted to torment him a little longer.
"Damn it, are you really going to fight me to the death over those mortals?"
The Blood Shadow Ancestor was furious. Before long, his other arm was gone too, leaving him able to evade Ye Xuan's attacks only through his movement method.
Gradually, he also realized that Ye Xuan did not intend to kill him immediately. This gave the Blood Shadow Ancestor hope.
"I'm willing to give you everything I have. I even know of a Nascent Soul cultivator's cave abode. That cultivator is dead, and only I know where the cave abode is. As long as you let me go, I'll tell you its location."
Dodging a Sword-Ray, the Blood Shadow Ancestor hurriedly shouted.
But Ye Xuan turned a deaf ear to the Blood Shadow Ancestor's temptations, swinging Waning Moon again and again, leaving wounds deep enough to expose bone on the Blood Moon Ancestor's body.
"Damn it!"
The Blood Shadow Ancestor was no fool. By now, he naturally realized that Ye Xuan was tormenting him, and a glint of red flashed through his eyes.
"Brat, I'll remember you!"
With that, the Blood Shadow Ancestor detonated himself, sending countless droplets of blood shooting in every direction.
Blood Shadow Clone Great Method.
By anchoring his soul to droplets of blood, he could use them to be reborn. The more he split himself, the slower his cultivation recovered. Last time, the Blood Shadow Ancestor had taken a full hundred years to recover.
He had never expected to encounter a harbinger of doom just after recovering his cultivation, someone who attacked him without another word.
Azure Feather Dao Sect!
The Blood Shadow Ancestor ground his teeth. After fighting for so long, he naturally recognized the swordsmanship Ye Xuan used.
He had never expected that both times he used the Blood Shadow Great Method, it would be because disciples of the Azure Feather Dao Sect had forced his hand.
Watching the Blood Shadow Ancestor turn into a skyful of bloody mist, Ye Xuan's expression did not relax. He could sense that the Blood Shadow Ancestor was not dead.
Focusing his mind, Ye Xuan soon detected the Blood Shadow Ancestor's presence within the surrounding droplets of blood.
On the ground, on the mountain peaks, in cracks between rocks, Ye Xuan tracked down these droplets one by one and annihilated the souls within them.
It was over.
A long while later, Ye Xuan rose into the air. Looking at the silent Mount Qi and Qi Village, he summoned the Azure Wood Lamp into his hand. Azure flames descended from the sky and landed on Mount Qi, becoming a roaring blaze that soon engulfed the entire mountain.
Such an enormous fire naturally drew the attention of the disciples in Yu City.
Ye Xuan had long since restored his appearance and waited at the foot of the mountain for the Yu City disciples who came to investigate.
He had already prepared his story.
There had been a spirit creature in the mountain that liked to devour blood. Everyone in Qi Village had died at its hands, and even the animals on Mount Qi had not escaped.
As for Ye Xuan, he had just arrived at Mount Qi and discovered the devastation here, then entered the mountain to fight the spirit creature to the death. He had slain it with great effort, igniting a mountain fire.
Whether the Yu City disciples believed him or not, Ye Xuan left. He still remembered that his most important purpose in leaving the sect this time was to forge his Golden Core.
Concealing his tracks, Ye Xuan headed east.
The farther he traveled from the Azure Feather Dao Sect, the more sharply the concentration of Spiritual Qi fell.
After flying for two days straight, Ye Xuan stopped in a valley.
There were no villages within a hundred li, nor any demon beasts nearby. The location was remote, making it just right for his breakthrough.
Choosing a spot at random, Ye Xuan sat cross-legged and began adjusting his condition. Although he did not fear the heavenly tribulation, he still had to accord it the utmost respect.
"System, claim the reward!"
Late at night, Ye Xuan opened his bright eyes and claimed his earlier sign-in reward.
A surge of Spiritual Qi appeared out of nowhere and poured into Ye Xuan's Dantian.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
His already overflowing Dantian immediately began to boil. The Spiritual Qi within it went wild, and Ye Xuan's presence steadily climbed.
Above him, dark clouds gradually gathered, obscuring the flawless moon.
The tribulation clouds spread to nine li in an instant.
"A Golden Core Lightning Tribulation, nine li of tribulation clouds!"
This was the description Ye Xuan had heard most often. He had even sounded Zheng Huaiyuan out about it.
Every Golden Core Lightning Tribulation consisted of nine li of tribulation clouds and nine bolts of heavenly lightning. The greater one's talent and strength, however, the more powerful the lightning tribulation would be.
"My strength is already comparable to that of some cultivators at the mid Golden Core stage. I'm afraid my lightning tribulation will be terrifying."
Ye Xuan stood with his hands behind his back, looking up at the sky with a smile. Within the fully formed tribulation clouds, lightning flickered and waves of oppressive might rolled out.
But what puzzled Ye Xuan was that, despite having formed long ago, the tribulation clouds still showed no sign of releasing heavenly lightning.
"The tribulation clouds are shrinking!"
Suddenly, Ye Xuan's eyes widened. Watching the rapidly shrinking tribulation clouds, he was somewhat at a loss.
He had never heard of such a thing. Were the tribulation clouds going to disappear?
"No, the tribulation clouds are compressing!"
In the sky, the tribulation clouds had shrunk to just one li across. Their color was much darker than before, and their oppressive might had grown heavier.
One li seemed to be their limit. The tribulation clouds stopped shrinking and began rapidly expanding, but their oppressive might had doubled compared to the first time.
Ye Xuan put away his smile and took the tribulation clouds seriously for the first time.
The tribulation clouds' transformations were not over. On the second cycle, their oppressive might doubled again.
Ye Xuan clenched both hands, his expression solemn.
On the third cycle, their oppressive might continued to double.
Ye Xuan drew a deep breath, his gaze grave.
On the fourth cycle, their oppressive might doubled. The tribulation clouds were already pitch-black, and even the lightning could scarcely be seen.
Ye Xuan took out Waning Moon and held it in his hand.
The fifth time! The sixth! The seventh! The eighth! The ninth!
"You thieving heavens, you want me dead!"
Ye Xuan burst into curses. He had never seen or heard of tribulation clouds like these. Their oppressive might was over five hundred times stronger than when they first formed. The pressure leaking out alone had already killed the animals within a radius of more than ten li.
By now, Ye Xuan had raised his presence to its utmost, and the galaxy within his Dantian erupted with dazzling light.
Crack!
Thunder sounded within the tribulation clouds, but the thunderclouds were as black as ink, revealing not a single glimmer of lightning. Yet the lightning spilling out from within already made Ye Xuan's hair stand on end.
"It's coming."
In an instant, Ye Xuan sensed an attack locking onto him through the Unseen. He believed that no matter how he dodged, he would be unable to escape it.
This was the Heavenly Dao's lock!
Boom!
The first bolt of heavenly lightning descended from the sky, reaching the space above Ye Xuan's head in an instant.
Ye Xuan roared in fury. Waning Moon in his hand also moved like lightning, thrusting toward the heavenly lightning above his head.
A bolt of purple lightning!