“You…” The First Elder would have clawed his hair from the insanity that was happening before his eyes if his hands had not been too preoccupied with dealing with the lightning bolts.
This is your freaking lightning tribulation!
I’m here to kill you, not to help you fend off your tribulation!
The First Elder was seething with so much fury that he was even contemplating the possibility of casting aside his defense just to kill that b*stard young man, but before he could make up his mind, another bolt of lightning was already heading his way.
It was a much larger one this time around, and before he could even come close, the overpowering energy harnessed within it was already threatening to tear him apart.
Thus, he had no choice but to continue focusing his strength into dealing with the lightning bolts.
Swiftly, his body grew more and more charred, and his aura was beginning to wither as well.
This lightning tribulation was even more powerful than the Macrocosm Ascendancy Ordeal. While the First Elder had already reached a level surpassing the Macrocosm Ascendancy realm, it was still extremely difficult for him to deal with something of this caliber.
It did not take long before he felt his blood beginning to sizzle from the lightning that had bypassed his defense and seeped into his body, and even his internal organs sustained some degree of damage as well.
“First Elder…”
At this point, Zhang Wuchen returned from the command tower as well. He had expected to find a dead Zhang Xuan lying on the ground upon his return, but contrary to his expectations, not only was the young man still alive and jumping, it was the First Elder instead who was struck till he was on the verge of death.
This sight left him frozen on the spot, unsure of what he should do.
“Don’t bother with me, hurry up and kill that Zhang Xuan! Once he’s dead, the lightning tribulation will dissipate!” the First Elder shrieked anxiously as he defended against yet another bolt of lightning.
“Y-yes, I understand!” Knowing that the situation was urgent, Zhang Wuchen quickly turned his gaze to Zhang Xuan.
At this moment, the latter was already sitting on the ground. As if a drunk man, his body swayed uncontrollably on the spot, and from time to time, a spasm would run through his body in the form of a shudder. It was a truly bizarre sight to behold.
“Quick, kill him!” the First Elder urged.
Upon hearing the command, Zhang Wuchen gritted his teeth and dashed over.
Kacha!
Before Zhang Wuchen could reach Zhang Xuan or even comprehend what was happening at all, he found himself abruptly collapsing powerlessly onto the ground, his body charred from head to toe. A bolt of lightning had fallen on him too.
“Argh! Just what the heck is going on here!” the First Elder howled in frenzy.
Really, why did it feel like the lightning tribulation was protecting that fellow?
In normal cultivation ordeals, the lightning tribulation would be dying to eradicate the cultivator who had summoned it… so why in the world was the lightning tribulation protecting this young man so desperately? It was obvious that it was striking down on anyone who dared make a move on him!
And this was not all…
While the lightning tribulation tortured us with its unending barrage of lightning bolts, it actually left you to rest leisurely on the ground… what the heck is this?
Zhang Wuchen was caught off guard by the abrupt assault, but he swiftly recovered and continued dashing toward Zhang Xuan. He knew that he had to kill the young man for everything to end. However, before he could get to the latter, yet another bolt of lightning fell on him once more, crushing him back down to the ground.
Not only that, as if it was frightened that he would get back up, the lightning tribulation sent countless bolts of lightning down upon him in rapid succession, such that in the blink of an eye, Zhang Wuchen’s body had already scrunched up together, and an aroma was wafting from his barbecued body.
“…”
The First Elder’s clawed at his hair.
The lightning tribulation was definitely doing it on purpose—definitely!
“First Elder, Third Elder…”
At this moment, the commotion had already drawn in another dozen Zhang Clan elders, and when they saw the sight before them, their mouths opened in shock.
The First Elder’s face paled upon seeing them, and he hurriedly bellowed, “Don’t come over…”
Unfortunately, his warning came too late. Before the group of elders could grasp the First Elder’s warning, a cluster of lightning had already fallen on them
And just like that, the group of elders fell helplessly from the sky onto the ground, forming a particularly miserable sight.
“Why? Why!”
Looking the collapsed elders around him, and then the utter ruination that extended to the horizon, the First Elder screamed in deep agony.
Twenty years ago, Sword Saint Meng had gone on a rampage and caused great damage and injured many of the elders, but compared to what was happening at that moment, the destruction back then was nothing at all.
Something of this caliber could no longer be termed as destruction—it was annihilation!
“Zhang Xuan, our Zhang Clan will never forgive you for this! I will never forgive you for this!” the First Elder shrieked furiously as a mouthful of blood spilled out of his mouth.
The spewed blood seemed to have alleviated the stifled sensation in the First Elder’s chest significantly, and he immediately pushed against the ground and flitted in Zhang Xuan’s direction.
Even if I die from the lightning tribulation today, I swear that I’m going to rip you apart!
Hulala!
In the midst of his movements, lightning continued falling relentlessly on the First Elder’s body. In response to that, the First Elder scrunched his body as tightly as possible to protect his vitals and reduce the area of contact with the lightning bolts. He would still sustain severe injuries despite so, but with his cultivation, he would still be able to last for a quite a while.
Regardless of how severe the injuries that he sustained were, he was determined to kill the young man and terminate that madness!
Once the young man was killed, everything would be resolved!
That fellow…
On the ground, the giddy-headed Zhang Xuan watched as the desperate First Elder placed his life on the line in order to get to him, and he could not help but shake his head.
Has that old fellow lost his mind?
In truth, Zhang Xuan was in a bad state as well. If the First Elder really got to him, he was in no position to retaliate.
In order to curb the lightning tribulation, he had ended up absorbing far too much lightning energy into his Primordial Spirit. While he still did manage to fit his Primordial Spirit back into his body through the Heavenly Art of Dimension Unravel, the imbalanced power between his Primordial Spirit and his body still left him with near-intolerable vertigo, such that even standing up was a difficulty for him.
“Netherworld Azure Dragon Beast, Inferno Qilin, go and ward him off for me!”
Knowing that he was in no state to escape, Zhang Xuan rubbed his glabella in frustration as he issued an order to his tamed beasts.
Hu hu!
The two beasts materialized from the Myriad Anthive Nest and swiftly charged toward the First Elder in order to stop him in his tracks.
“Don’t block my way, or else I’ll show you two no mercy either!” The First Elder glared at the two saint beasts with eyes even colder than the most cold-blooded of beasts.
He tapped his finger forward, and two massive palm prints immediately fell toward each of the two saint beasts.
Geji! Geji!
The Inferno Qilin and Netherworld Azure Dragon beast did not back down from the First Elder’s offense. With the strongest attacks they had, they collided head-on with the two palm strikes, and a sea of flames swiftly engulfed the surroundings with an explosion.
Huala! Huala!
With the widespread destruction that was happening, even Zhang Jiuxiao, who was currently recuperating from his wounds, was jolted awake. The room that he was in was one of the very few buildings that were still standing due to the powerful formation protecting it, but when he walked out of the room and saw countless heaps of rubble replacing the majestic buildings that had once towered in their very exact spot, he immediately fell into a daze.
Teacher… A thought suddenly came to Zhang Jiuxiao’s mind, and he immediately rushed for the center of the commotion.
Very soon, he saw a pale-faced Zhang Xuan sitting on the ground, wobbling feebly on the spot, and he hurriedly dashed over to support the latter’s body.
“T-this… Teacher, are you fine? What happened?” Zhang Jiuxiao asked worriedly.
While he was a member of the Zhang Clan as well, he had always been belittled and neglected as a mere offspring of the side family. The Zhang Clan had never seemed to consider him as one of their own, and in reciprocation to that, Zhang Jiuxiao had never strongly identified as a member of the Zhang Clan. His loyalty toward the Zhang Clan could only be considered shallow at best.
As such, while the magnificent city being reduced to rubble did leave him rather appalled, what he was more concerned about was the feeble state that his teacher was in.
“I’m fine. It’s just that I’m a little unaccustomed to this… I’ll be alright after some rest.” Zhang Xuan waved his hand weakly.
A soul too powerful would have problems fusing back with its body; this was something that he had realized a long time ago. For this reason, he had been careful to avoid taking in excessive spiritual energy into his soul.
Had it not been an emergency, he never would have resorted to such a course of action.
Hearing that his teacher was fine, Zhang Jiuxiao heaved a sigh of relief and said, “Teacher, I’ll protect you!”
“Thank you.” Zhang Xuan nodded before closing his eyes. He swiftly drove the Heavenly Art of Dimension Unravel in order to reduce the pressure that his Primordial Spirit was exerting on his body.
But even so, the splitting headache that felt as if his brain was being grated still refused to subside. Realizing that it would be difficult for him to recover in the short run, he shook his head and opened his eyes once more.
He knew that it would not be so easy to resolve this problem. Otherwise, he would not have fainted from this issue back then.
“Zhang Jiuxiao, given everything that has happened, there’s unlikely to be any room for reconciliation between me and the Zhang Clan anymore. Thus, there are some matters that I will have to entrust to you in advance,” Zhang Xuan said grimly.
“Teacher, please speak!” Zhang Jiuxiao replied.
“Given the purity of your bloodline, I reckon that the Zhang Clan will likely send you to marry the little princess of the Luo Clan. If that happens, you mustn’t accept it at any cost,” Zhang Xuan said.
“I understand!” Zhang Jiuxiao nodded. After which, he waited for his teacher to continue, but the latter did not continue speaking. Perplexed, he asked, “Teacher, is that all? If I may ask, why can’t I marry the little princess of the Luo Clan?”
His teacher had used such a grave tone just to inform him of such a minor matter.
“Why? That’s because…” Zhang Xuan looked at Zhang Jiuxiao intently before continuing.
“The little princess of the Luo Clan is your teacher’s wife-to-be!”
