48: Bathed in heavenly tribulation, madly seeking death

Boom!

That purple Divine Thunder, as thick as a water bucket, carrying the unquestionable Divine Might of the Heavenly Dao, struck precisely and accurately!

The lightning swallowed the tiny figure.

There was no scream.

No struggle.

Not even a ripple of energy was stirred.

In that blinding purple light, Lin Gou's entire being, from his hair to his toes, including his bones, flesh, and Divine Soul, was instantly vaporized in a millionth of a second, disintegrating into the most primitive particles.

He was completely erased from this world.

Not even dust remained.

Below the mountain peak, there was dead silence.

An absolute, heart-stopping silence.

All the Disciple watching were rigidly maintaining their skyward gaze, as if their Souls had been collectively drawn away.

Zhao Linger's heart was clutched and crushed by an invisible hand in that instant.

Her vision went black, and her delicate body swayed violently, almost falling from the sky.

"After all... he was too reckless..."

High in the sky, a Grand Elder's Divine Sense undulated with endless regret and sighs.

A true Dragon that had not yet taken flight, was thus cut short.

However.

The next second.

Just as the purple Heavenly Tribulation dissipated in mid-air, in that empty void.

A figure, without any warning, appeared out of thin air.

He was still shirtless, his skin as smooth as new, his bronze muscles flowing and powerful, and not even a single strand of hair was out of place.

He stood there completely unharmed, and his aura seemed even a bit more solid than before he was struck dead.

The entire world seemed to have been paused.

Time and space were completely frozen at this moment.

After a full three breaths.

Among the crowd below the mountain, someone, using a hoarse voice like a gander whose neck was being squeezed, let out a heart-wrenching, distorted scream.

"Holy crap!"

"He's alive!"

Boom—!

One stone stirred up a thousand waves!

The entire venue completely erupted.

Everyone's expressions completed an epic transformation from regret to shock, and then to extreme horror as if they had seen a ghost.

"How is this possible?! Am I seeing things?"

"No... no! He really came back to life! Unharmed!"

"What kind of Heaven-Defying secret art is this? An illusion? Or a top-tier substitute Puppet?!"

"Impossible! Under the mighty Divine Might of the Heavenly Dao, any illusion and Puppet would be instantly crushed to dust! This defies logic!"

The Cultivation common sense that countless Cultivator had built up throughout their lives was shattered and tottering at this moment by the unreasonable scene before them.

Lin Gou, in mid-air, completely ignored the commotion below.

He comfortably stretched his limbs, feeling the slight surge of Qi and blood within his Physical Body, and a very satisfied expression appeared on his face.

"Not bad, this first lightning strike, the appetizer's strength was just right."

He looked up, provocatively gazing at the still churning dark tribulation clouds in the sky, extended his right hand, and gently beckoned to it.

"Hahaha, again!"

This gesture was filled with unparalleled arrogance and disdain.

As if to say, is this all you've got? Are you tickling me?

Rumble!

The tribulation clouds in the sky churned violently with unprecedented intensity.

The Heavenly Dao is ruthless, inherently without joy or anger.

But at this moment, everyone felt that this Heavenly Tribulation seemed to be completely enraged by the provocation of this ant!

Three purple Divine Thunders, thicker and darker than before, no longer descending one after another, but in parallel, like three world-destroying purple Dragons descending from the sky, let out deafening roars and crashed down!

"Good timing!"

Lin Gou laughed loudly, not retreating but advancing.

A carnival of death officially began.

He was like a mad butterfly dancing gracefully in the lightning, repeatedly jumping between the three Divine Thunders, actively seeking death.

Boom!

With a difficult backflip, he was grazed on the shoulder by the Divine Thunder on the left, half his body instantly charred black, then annihilated.

The next instant, he revived on the spot, unharmed.

Boom!

He faced the middle Divine Thunder head-on in a spread-eagle posture, was cut in half at the waist, and both his upper and lower body simultaneously turned to dust.

The next instant, he revived on the spot again, full of vigor.

Boom!

He even tried turning his back to the lightning, using his backside to meet the Divine Thunder on the right, and his entire body exploded into a dazzling ball of electric light on the spot.

The next instant, he appeared again, even stroking his chin with interest.

"Hmm... as expected, being struck dead head-on still gives a higher reward rating."

He was struck dead.

Revived.

Struck dead again.

Revived again.

He enjoyed it immensely, even beginning to research which death was more artistic, and which posture yielded more rewards.

In his mind, the System's cold, mechanical notification sound had already become a dazzling light curtain.

"Ding! Struck dead head-on by Heavenly Tribulation! Rating: A! Congratulations, Host, Thunder Spirit Saint Body (embryonic form) experience +10%!"

"Ding! Struck dead by a side graze of Heavenly Tribulation! Rating: B! Congratulations, Host, you have comprehended the incomplete movement technique "Lightning Phantom Body"!"

"Ding! Struck dead by Heavenly Tribulation piercing through the heart from the sole of the foot! Rating: A-! Congratulations, Host, you have gained special insight: "Thunder Body Tempering Experience"!"

"Ding!..."

At the same time, the progress bar representing the System upgrade was also rapidly increasing at a visible speed.

50%... 70%... 90%... Deep within the Qingyun Sect's Deliberation Hall.

Several Grand Elder had already gone from initial shock to complete numbness.

An old man with white hair and beard, his Divine Sense undulated with confusion, he muttered to himself, as if asking others, and as if asking himself.

"I have Cultivated for eight hundred years, I have seen Disciple fail in Undergoing Tribulation and perish, and I have seen those who barely made it through with Magic Treasure and Medicinal Pill..."

"But today I learned that Heavenly Tribulation... can be Undergoing Tribulation like this?"

Another Elder remained silent for a long time before replying in an extremely dry voice.

"Perhaps... it wasn't that the Heavenly Tribulation was wrong, but that we... Cultivated incorrectly from the beginning?"

"What we feared like vipers, was his supreme Opportunity... my Dao Heart is in disarray."

The Heavenly Tribulation continued.

When the regular purple Divine Thunder could no longer pose any threat to Lin Gou, the color of the tribulation clouds began to change.

Strands of ink-black electric light began to intertwine within it.

That was the legendary "Heart Demon Tribulation Lightning"!

It does not harm the Physical Body, only destroys the Divine Soul!

For any Cultivator, this was a dead-end situation even more terrifying than Physical Body destruction!

"Be careful! It's Heart Demon Tribulation Lightning!" The Sect Head's voice anxiously boomed in Lin Gou's ears.

However, when Lin Gou heard these four words, the excitement on his face grew even more intense.

"Heart Demon Tribulation Lightning? Good stuff!"

Others feared this, but he did not!

Having Cultivated the "Soul Forging Divine Art," his Divine Soul was far stronger than others at the same stage.

This Tribulation Lightning, which directly attacked the Divine Soul, was simply the best top-tier Divine Soul tonic delivered right to his doorstep!

Boom!

An ink-black lightning bolt silently struck down, directly entering Lin Gou's glabella.

Lin Gou's body suddenly stiffened, and his eyes momentarily became vacant.

Immediately after, he showed an intoxicated expression, as if he had just enjoyed a top-tier Divine Soul massage.

"Ding! Divine Soul struck dead by Heart Demon Tribulation Lightning! Rating: S! Congratulations, Host, "Soul Forging Divine Art" First Layer Perfection! Divine Soul strength greatly increased!"

"Awesome!"

Lin Gou couldn't help but let out a long howl to the sky.

"Again!"

After enduring eighty-one strikes of Heavenly Tribulation, mixed with purple Divine Thunder and black Heart Demon Tribulation Lightning.

Lin Gou's spiritual Qi within his Physical Body had been compressed and refined to an unprecedented extreme.

Within his Dantian Qi Sea, a crystal-clear, flawless Dao foundation, even flowing with faint lightning, was slowly forming.

Breakthrough was imminent.

Above the sky, the tribulation clouds that had churned for so long finally stopped unleashing lightning.

It began to contract and condense towards the center at an alarming speed.

All the dark clouds, all the lightning, all the Divine Might, were compressed into a single point at this moment.

A point of light emitting the color of Chaos.

Within that point of light, there was a world-destroying Divine Might powerful enough to make heaven and earth lose their color and all things wither!

Its power even surpassed the scope of Foundation Establishment, enough to instantly kill a Cultivator in the Early Stage of Golden Core!

This strike was the Heavenly Dao's final wrath, and also the Heavenly Dao's final test.

Below the mountain peak, everyone felt the threat of death, as if once that Divine Thunder fell, the entire Qingyun Sect would cease to exist.

However, the man suspended in mid-air.

The madman who had been dancing wildly in the lightning for half the day.

He looked at the Chaos Divine Thunder, powerful enough to destroy everything, and instead of retreating, he slightly bent his legs, adopting a charging stance.

In his eyes, Battle Intent and excitement burned to their peak.

Not retreating but advancing.

He was going to charge at this final strike!