Just like there were those who successfully cleared their cultivation ordeal, there were also those who fell to it. While the Phantasmal Space Ordeal was not the most frightening of the various cultivation ordeals, there were still plenty of cultivators who would fall to it each year. Besides, given the monstrous scale of the cultivation ordeal there, even if the young man was zapped to death, Yang shi would only be able to blame his beloved disciple for acting too arrogantly.
Of course, they would also have to make sure to put on a convincing act so as to not give themselves away!
Zhang Wuchen was silent for a moment before softly asking, “What should we do?”
While the First Elder’s actions infringed on the values that master teachers embraced, in order to protect the Zhang Clan, there was no other choice.
Zhang Xuan had only been in the Zhang Clan for a day so far, but he had brought great losses to them. If they allowed him to continue acting as he pleased, their entire heritage could very well be wiped cleanly away, and they would soon become a thing of the past.
“Seal his movements and render him incapable of dodging the lightning bolts. Given the current state he’s in, he won’t be able to withstand the might of the lightning tribulation,” the First Elder said coldly.
While Zhang Xuan wielded extraordinary prowess for a cultivator of his level, he was still far too weak to be dealing with such a powerful lightning tribulation. As long as they were to bind his movements and allow the lightning to ravage him, he would surely drop dead soon enough!
“We have to move quickly. If he summons the Netherworld Azure Dragon Beast and Inferno Qilin, we’ll lose our chance to strike!”
Those two saint beasts were both Saint 9-dan Macrocosm Ascendancy realm experts. Once those two noticed that something was amiss, they would surely cook up a huge commotion. While they would not have any problem suppressing them eventually, such an incident would surely produce doubts in Yang shi’s mind.
“I understand!” Zhang Wuchen nodded.
“I want you to operate our clan formation and grant the lightning tribulation greater power. Meanwhile, I’ll seal the space around Zhang Xuan so as to prevent him from fleeing!” the First Elder instructed grimly.
Zhang Wuchen shot a sweeping glance at the widespread destruction around him and heaved a deep sigh before slowly nodding his head.
As long as that young man remained alive, their Zhang Clan would not survive this calamity. Instead of waiting for their own doom, they might as well make the first move!
It’s been twenty years since our clan has faced such a catastrophe, Zhang Wuchen thought grimly as he flitted toward the central tower of the clan.
Twenty years ago, the wife of their clan head, Sword Saint Meng, had gone on a rampage and destroyed innumerable buildings, and more than half of the elders had been injured while attempting to subdue her. While the scale was much smaller this time around, and no elders had been harmed yet, there was no question that this incident had brought great shame to the Zhang Clan.
Boom!
Controlling the formation, Zhang Wuchen channeled the surrounding spiritual energy toward the storm clouds, and in just a few moments, the weakening storm clouds abruptly buffed up once more.
What’s going on? The charred Zhang Xuan noticed the anomaly with the storm clouds as well, and his eyebrows shot up in astonishment.
It was already difficult enough for him to cope with the lightning tribulation as it was, but why would abruptly buff up at this point once more?
Activating his Eye of Insight, he quickly scanned his surroundings and saw that the formation of the Zhang Clan was focusing its spiritual energy toward the storm clouds, causing the lightning tribulation to strengthen rapidly.
Is the Zhang Clan planning to make a move on me?
The truth was clear to Zhang Xuan, and his face immediately darkened. He hurriedly leaped up, hoping to dive into the lightning tribulation to avoid the lightning bolts, but in the next moment, he felt his body being held firmly in place. It was as if heavy chains were wrapped around him, binding him firmly on the spot, preventing him from making the slightest move.
Spatial Suppression… Zhang Xuan’s eyes widened in horror as he realized what was going on.
A formidable expert had sealed the space around him completely. Even though he had reached Phantasmal Space realm pinnacle, and his comprehension of spatial laws surpassed even that of Dimension Sundering realm experts, he was still completely helpless before this power!
The gap in their absolute strength was simply too great for him to defy the Spatial Suppression.
Hong long long!
With his body bound in place, Zhang Xuan could only watch helplessly as rumbling thunder crescendoed amid the storm clouds above him, a sign that another powerful bolt of lightning about to descend upon him.
There’s no way I’ll be able to survive such a powerful force, Zhang Xuan thought as he desperately attempted to struggle free of his bindings. However, even as veins popped up on his temples and sweat drenched his clothes, his body still would not budge at all.
His body might have reached a level of resilience comparable to Saint pinnacle artifacts, but what he was facing was a lightning tribulation surpassing the might of a Macrocosm Ascendancy Ordeal. If it really fell on him, not even an immortal would be able to bring him back to life!
It’s him… Zhang Xuan hurriedly turned his head around and saw the First Elder standing inconspicuously a distance away, looking at him with a frighteningly impassive expression.
There was no doubt about it—this First Elder of the Zhang Clan was prepared to kill him!
At this rate, I might really die here! I have to find some way to stall the lightning or at least slow down its charging! Zhang Xuan swiftly quelled the panic in his heart and began analyzing his situation calmly.
With his current strength, it would be impossible for him to free himself from the bindings of someone as powerful as the First Elder. The only thing he could do was slow down the buildup of lightning or possibly neutralize the main bulk of its force!
And there was only one way to go about doing that… frenziedly absorbing the lightning energy harnessed within the storm clouds!
My clone, gourd, and vine are currently still absorbing energy from the lightning tribulation, but they won’t be able to keep up with how fast the Zhang Clan’s formation is supplying energy to it, unless…
Knowing that there was no time to be wasted, Zhang Xuan could not care less about the consequences of his actions anymore. With a thought, he swiftly drew out his Primordial Spirit from his glabella.
Spatial Suppression was more effective on corporeal bodies than incorporeal ones. As such, his Primordial Spirit would likely able to gather sufficient strength to break free of the restraints that the First Elder had cast on his surroundings.
Hula!
As soon as Zhang Xuan drew out his Primordial Spirit, he immediately dived straight toward the storm clouds.
What’s that? A Primordial Spirit?
Controlling the space around Zhang Xuan, he immediately noticed the emergence of a foreign object within his sphere of control. He swiftly extended his Spiritual Perception to the area, and his eyes narrowed in astonishment.
No, that’s no ordinary Primordial Spirit. You… are a soul oracle?
Zhang Xuan had spent some time learning how to morph his Primordial Spirit to appear like that of an ordinary cultivator, but ultimately, there was still a fundamental difference between his soul and those of other cultivators due to him practicing soul cultivation techniques.
He might have been able to hide it from other cultivators without much of a problem, but to the First Elder, a 9-star master teacher, his disguise was clearly lacking.
Soul oracles had once betrayed humanity, and not even the Master Teacher Pavilion was able to tolerate their existence. Was that fellow not a master teacher, a direct disciple of Yang shi’s?
How could he possess the means of a soul oracle?
“Hold it right there!” the First Elder bellowed as he thrust a palm strike forward, hoping to knock the Primordial Spirit out of the sky.
Si la!
A dimension rift was immediately ripped open as a powerful surge of searing yang energy burst forth toward the Primordial Spirit.
Due to the nature of their occupation, soul oracles were extremely vulnerable to yang energy. Just exposure to an environment rich in yang energy was enough to weaken them considerably, let alone the condensed surge of yang energy that the First Elder had shot out.
However, Zhang Xuan’s Primordial Spirit was not even afraid of lightning, so how could it possibly fear yang energy? With just a slight shudder, he temporarily phased his Primordial Spirit out of existence, thus causing the burst of yang energy to shoot right past him.
Following which, he continued dashing straight for the storm clouds.
“This…” Not expecting that an attack of his full strength would fail to hurt the other party, the First Elder’s complexion turned awful.
The reason he had been unwilling to openly make a move against Zhang Xuan previously was because he was Yang shi’s student and a master teacher, but since it had been exposed that he was a soul oracle, there was no need for him to hold back anymore.
Si la!
With a tap of his finger, a surge of sword qi shot forth from his fingertip.
The space standing in its path was ripped apart as if it was just a flimsy sheet of paper. As if breaking through the barriers of time, the sword qi seemed to suddenly materialize right before Zhang Xuan’s Primordial Spirit, leaving him with a burning sensation.
Seeing how persistently the First Elder was biting at him, refusing to let him go, Zhang Xuan’s face darkened as well. Turning around, he used his finger as a sword to face the First Elder’s sword qi.
Ding!
The two surges of sword qi clashed with one another. While Zhang Xuan’s strength was far beneath that of the First Elder, he still barely managed to breach the gap through his deeper understanding of swordsmanship and redirected the opposing sword qi. As a result of the clash, the First Elder’s sword qi ended up being deflected right into the storm clouds.
Hong long!
Coming under the aggression of another cultivator, the lightning tribulation immediately grew in size. Following which, a thick bolt of lightning flowed down the trajectory of the sword qi to strike the First Elder.
“What!” The First Elder’s face twitched in horror.
