CHAPTER 28: THE MAN THAT THE HEAVENLY DAO FEARS

Lu Chen stared at the dark clouds gathering overhead. The sky was brewing a second wave of tribulation lightning, and its force was clearly far more intense than the first.

Nantian Wan'er reminded Lu Chen, "Lu-gege, be careful. Grandpa once said the first few waves are meant to temper the body. It's the ones that come after that are truly dangerous."

Ever since their minds had merged, she could automatically sense what he was thinking.

Lu Chen kept his eyes on the thunderclouds, where the second wave of lightning was about to strike from. "I know, Wan'er. The second wave is coming."

The lightning struck. Its power had grown significantly, yet Lu Chen and Wan'er still withstood it with nothing more than their physical bodies.

One wave descended, then another... and another... Five waves of lightning came crashing down in quick succession. Each one struck faster, each one more powerful than the last.

When the sixth wave ended, Lu Chen and Wan'er descended from the sky, with arcs of electricity still crackling across their bodies.

"We'll have to take this seriously now. The lightning has gotten strong enough to injure us."

Lu Chen shook off the remaining lightning, drew his Hunyuan Greatsword, and braced for the next wave. Just then, the clouds above suddenly began to dissipate.

"Lu-gege, look! The clouds are gone!"

Lu Chen looked up. The sky had cleared completely, and not even a trace of the terrifying tribulation force remained.

"This doesn't make sense... The Qi Absorption Realm lightning tribulation is supposed to have twelve waves. That's a law set by the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, and it shouldn't change," he muttered, eyes narrowing in thought.

Off in the distance, Nantian Xiu had just turned to leave, thinking the tribulation was over. But before he could take a step, another strange phenomenon occurred.

A massive storm, far larger than the one before, began to form. Tribulation clouds spread across the entire secret realm, with Lu Chen right in the eye of the storm.

Cultivators all across the secret realm, who had been hunting for treasures, immediately stopped what they were doing and looked up. Speculation swept through the secret realm like wildfire, with countless cultivators trying to guess the origin of the lightning.

"Tribulation lightning? What level is this? The pressure from those clouds is insane!"

"Did some expert just break through to a higher realm nearby? Will the lightning affect us too?"

"Could it be that a rare treasure is about to emerge?"

Jun Laoye and Nantian Yijian had been searching for treasures in a nearby valley.

When they noticed the ominous clouds, they shouted at Jun Wudi, "Second Uncle! Do you think a rare treasure could be appearing over there? Should we go check it out?"

"We can't! This secret realm still houses ancient beasts from ten thousand years ago. The tribulation clouds must have already disturbed them. We need to find the herbs quickly and get out of here."

Nantian Yijian and Jun Laoye had been gathering treasures for days, and in the process, their cultivation had advanced significantly.

Nantian Yijian had already reached the eighth level of the Qi Absorption Realm. With the help of several valuable items, the spirit qi in his body had slowly started to condense into liquid form.

As for Jun Laoye, a drop of spirit liquid had already formed within him. He was only waiting for it to finish circulating before facing his own tribulation.

***

Deep within the valleys of the secret realm, high-level demonic beasts began to stir. They poked their heads out one after the other, eyes turning toward the tribulation clouds.

"The lightning is centered over the Fire Region... Flame Demon, don't tell me you've advanced again?"

From their respective territories, the leaders of the metal, water, fire, and earth domains spoke to each other through spiritual transmission.

"It's not me. A human has entered the realm and is undergoing tribulation. And it's far more terrifying than any we've faced during our own breakthroughs," the Flame Demon said slowly as it sensed the disturbance in its territory.

The other leaders were in disbelief. "What? A human? Are you sure? With how thin the spirit qi has grown in the world, how could a human emit such a strong presence?"

Flame Demon frowned. His territory bordered that of Wind Dragon, yet he could no longer sense the dragon's presence. "Where is Wind Dragon? Why haven't we heard anything from him?"

After some investigation, it growled, "His aura is gone... There must have been a major battle in his domain."

One of the beast chieftains growled, "It must be the humans! I'll drive them out of the secret realm!"

He then went silent as he began issuing orders to his subordinate beasts to drive out the human cultivators.

The remaining beast chieftians followed suit, organizing their forces to drive out the humans. "I'll go too. We can't let these humans damage the sacred land Lord Sixth left behind."

Within moments, the once-quiet secret realm erupted into chaos. The beasts across the secret realm began to go berserk and attack the human cultivators.

Low-level cultivators began fleeing in panic. "Run! Demonic beasts are coming! I'm not dying here!"

***

The thunderclouds above had grown thick and oppressive, with bolts of lightning weaving through them like writhing dragons.

Lu Chen didn't dare take this tribulation lightly. He donned his defensive enchanted artifact and raised the Hunyuan Greatsword with both hands, barely breathing as he waited for the lightning to descend.

Rumble!

The tribulation struck once again. A massive lightning dragon twisted and surged through the clouds, its brilliant light illuminating the entire secret realm.

"Wan'er, it's time."

Lu Chen soared into the sky.

"Haah! Green Sovereign Divine Tree! Silver Snake Emerges From Its Lair! Flood Dragon's Dive!"

He summoned a shield formed from the tendrils of the Green Sovereign Divine Tree above his head, followed by two layers of phantom barriers.

With a massive boom, the lightning dragon struck the shield formed by the Green Sovereign Divine Tree's vines, which shattered instantly. The two phantom layers followed, crumbling beneath its overwhelming force.

Another boom echoed as the dragon, now crackling with dark lightning, surged straight toward Lu Chen.

"Come at me!" Lu Chen roared. He raised the Hunyuan Greatsword and charged toward the lightning dragon.

Rumble!

In an instant, black lightning engulfed him.

"Hunyuan Greatsword! Slash!"

Lu Chen swung his massive sword within the storm of lightning, slashing again and again without pause.

Wind Dragon awakened from his slumber. He surged forth, his fierce aura wrapping himself around the Hunyuan Greatsword.

Gripping the sword with both hands, Lu Chen raised it overhead and brought it down in a thunderous strike. "Kill!"

Boom!

The blade, crackling with wild energy, cleaved the lightning dragon in half. The mighty beast split in two and dissolved into the sky.

Lu Chen landed steadily on the ground and looked down at the sword in his hands.

"What a treasure... It withstood the wrath of heavenly lightning without so much as a scratch."

Nantian Wan'er looked at him and asked, "Lu-gege, are you all right?"

She was clearly worried after seeing him face the lightning dragon head-on. Nantian Wan'er had always been frail. Even after stepping onto the path of cultivation, she was afflicted with cold poison and knew nothing about martial techniques.

"It's nothing. I can still take a few more hits. Just stay back and protect yourself," Lu Chen said with a faint smile.

He sat cross-legged where he stood and began restoring his spirit qi, preparing for the next wave of tribulation.

An hour passed. Above them, the clouds churned once more. Another lightning dragon began to take shape.

Lu Chen kept his eyes on it and noticed the new dragon's horns had turned crimson, radiating intense heat.

"A Heavenly Fire Lightning Dragon? That's impossible... How could such a powerful tribulation appear in the Qi Absorption Realm? Is the world afraid of me? No... that can't be. I'm only at the Qi Absorption Realm."

Lu Chen searched through the memories Feng Tiancheng had left for him repeatedly. Below the Core Breakthrough Realm, tribulations should only consist of ordinary heavenly lightning. The Heavenly Fire Tribulation only appeared during the Core Breakthrough Realm, when one cast off mortality and began the journey toward immortality.

Unlike the Heavenly Lightning Tribulation, the Heavenly Fire Tribulation was born of true fear. It was the heavens' desperate attempt to annihilate the one undergoing tribulation.

Lu Chen stood up, continuously gathering spirit qi.

The fiery lightning dragon descended with a booming sound, cloaked in blazing flames that dyed the entire secret realm crimson.

Nantian Xiu stared at it in disbelief. "The Heavenly Fire Tribulation? How could that be..."

He had transcended mortality and stepped into the realm of immortals eight hundred years ago. He had spent a thousand years preparing for his Heavenly Fire Tribulation, even mobilizing the full strength of the Nantian Sect to construct a grand formation. Despite that, he had barely survived. The memory of that ordeal still sent chills down his spine.

"This tribulation... it wants to kill them. Could it be that Lu Chen's talent has already reached such heights that even the heavens fear him at the Qi Absorption Realm?"

He clenched his fists, wanting to rush into the flames and help Lu Chen endure the tribulation. But he knew that with every additional presence, the power of the tribulation would only grow stronger.

With great difficulty, Nantian Xiu forced himself to remain still, suppressing the impulse to intervene.

***

Lu Chen fixed his gaze on the Heavenly Fire Lightning Dragon as it surged toward him. With a swing of the Hunyuan Greatsword, he soared into the air, unleashing the full force of his strongest defensive techniques.

"Wind Dragon, it's time."

"Let's go."

Wind Dragon merged with the greatsword, ready to take the brunt of the tribulation flame in Lu Chen's stead.

Rumble!

The Heavenly Fire Lightning Dragon came crashing down, and Lu Chen's carefully laid defenses crumbled in an instant.

The Green Sovereign Divine Tree was incinerated on contact; its manifested projection evaporated in a flash, and the barrier woven from spirit qi shattered like a fragile web. The Heavenly Fire Lightning Dragon was now less than a hundred meters away.

"Roar!"

The Heavenly Fire Lightning Dragon let out a thunderous cry, a roar that carried a sneer, as if mocking how pitiful Lu Chen's defenses had been.

"Little Lu, use your sword qi to attack from a distance and wear down the tribulation flames! Don't forget, the five elements counter and reinforce each other!"

"Got it!"

Lu Chen circulated the cold spirit qi from the Yin Ocean Pearl and launched waves of sword qi, each strike chipping away at the lightning dragon's blazing flames.

The lightning dragon came to a halt fifty meters above him, its massive body beginning to contract at an alarming speed. It shrank from several dozen meters long to about one meter before exploding into countless fireballs that rained down toward Lu Chen.

Seeing the scattered tribulation flames falling, Wind Dragon shouted, "Little Lu, the real Heavenly Fire Tribulation starts now! Use the Hunyuan Greatsword as a shield!"

Lu Chen dashed toward Nantian Wan'er, raised the Hunyuan Greatsword, and shielded her behind him. "Wan'er, stay close."

The black and white fish flew out from the Heavenly Pool and once again transformed into the Twin-Fish Medallion, attaching itself to the hilt of the greatsword.

"Spirit, awaken!"

Lu Chen quickly formed a seal with his left hand and pressed it against the medallion. This was the technique he had learned from Jun Laoye, which unified both the weapon and its wielder.

As the seal took effect, two streaks of light—one red, the other blue—shot out from the twin-fish pattern on the medallion, spiraling toward the sword's tip.

With the red and blue lights coiling around it, the Hunyuan Greatsword began to expand, growing wider and thicker until it fully shielded both Lu Chen and Wan'er.

The tribulation flames crashed into the blade, but not a single spark made it through.

Sizzle, sizzle!

The fire clung stubbornly to the surface, burning continuously, yet no matter how it raged, it couldn't leave even a scratch on the greatsword.

***

Time crawled by.

An hour later, the flames finally began to fade.

"Huff... Huff..."

Lu Chen retrieved the Hunyuan Greatsword and collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air. The Heavenly Fire Tribulation had finally been weathered.

"It's already the Heavenly Fire Tribulation... Who knows what the next two waves will bring?"

Rumble!

Before he could catch his breath, the dark clouds overhead began to churn once more.

Twin bolts of lightning burst from the left and right sides of the sky, crackling as they descended toward Lu Chen.

"A Heavenly Fire Lightning Dragon and a lightning dragon, coming at me at the same time without even a moment to breathe? Are they trying to kill me!?" Lu Chen shouted at the sky as he forced himself to his feet once more.