Chapter 1339: A Simple Lightning Tribulation

After consuming three bottles of Cold Ice Spirit Liquid, before he could begin refining it, Master Fei came to talk with him, and then his brother-in-law brought him here. On the way, although he had dissolved part of it, most of the power remained in his body.

Just sitting cross-legged on the ground was not a big problem, but as soon as he tried to use his power to break the formation, it immediately caused a backlash.

His face turned pale, his body trembled incessantly. Zhang Xuan felt as if his internal organs had turned into ice lumps, all frozen together, and even his true qi seemed somewhat uncontrollable.

"Don't think about breaking the formation for now... Otherwise, you might freeze to death here!"

His heart tightened.

Originally, he had thought about how to break the formation and show it to Luo Xuanqing to leave a good impression, but now it seemed impossible.

If he didn't refine the spirit liquid in his body as soon as possible, wasting all these good things would be a minor issue; worse, it could cause hidden dangers and lead to uncontrollable changes in his body.

"Refine!"

Knowing there was no time to delay, he took a deep breath. The just-condensed Heavenly Dao true qi immediately gathered again, using the surging icy spiritual power to charge at the cultivation bottlenecks.

Heavenly Dao true qi, without any attributes, could not only neutralize all poisons in the world but also perfectly mimic the killing true qi of the Alien Race, making it undetectable even by the Green Leaf King and Golden Leaf King back then.

Because of this ability, the Cold Ice Spirit Liquid, which even the Ice Plain Palace feared, was nothing to him.

Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle!

True qi rapidly circulated, and his originally stiff body began to thaw. The vigorous true qi fiercely charged at the bottlenecks.

Crack! Crack!

The shackles of the mid-stage Nascent Soul realm were instantly torn apart. True qi continued to surge, and his power climbed again.

With ample spiritual energy and having studied the breakthrough methods for the Nascent Soul realm for countless years, Zhang Xuan was well-versed. Heavenly Dao true qi rolled like a snowball, growing larger over time. Within less than five breaths of breaking through to mid-stage Nascent Soul, the bottleneck for the late stage was also smoothly breached.

After ten breaths, he had already reached the peak of the Nascent Soul realm!

Whoosh!

Having broken through three minor levels in succession, the spiritual power of the Cold Ice Spirit Liquid finally dissipated slowly, completely exhausted and losing its potency.

"Success..."

Letting out a sigh of relief, Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up.

As expected of a treasure from the Ice Plain Palace, something even Chen Leyao was unwilling to give up. Using it for breakthroughs was indeed twice the result with half the effort, advancing smoothly.

"Since I've broken through, I might as well undergo the lightning tribulation directly!"

Having reached the peak of the Nascent Soul realm, Zhang Xuan did not hesitate.

Boom!

The thunderclouds were attracted, radiating a ferocious power.

Upon reaching the Nascent Soul realm, as long as one did not deliberately conceal their cultivation, they could attract the lightning tribulation. The magnitude of the tribulation would vary according to the cultivator's strength.

The stronger the cultivator, the more terrifying the lightning tribulation.

...

"Luo Xuanqing, since you hold this Zhang Xuan in such high regard, guess how long it will take him to break Bi Hongyin's formation plate?"

The fat man lifted his belly to keep it from sagging and looked over with a smile.

"Bi Hongyin's formation plate is at the mid-grade eight-star level. To break it... might take some effort!"

Pausing, Luo Xuanqing said, "I estimate it will take at least half an hour."

Breaking formations is simpler than setting them. Being able to set up an eight-star formation in just a few breaths, even the lowest level, indicated a very high understanding of formations. Even if Bi Hongyin's formation plate was formidable, he thought it should be doable.

However, encountering such a powerful formation plate for the first time, it would still take at least half an hour, or even longer.

"Half an hour? You have a lot of confidence in him... But I think it's very difficult!"

With a sneer, the short man shook his head. "You know Bi Hongyin's formations. They are laced with demonic sound and soul attacks. Trapped inside, one can't even concentrate. How could breaking the formation be so simple! Even some high-grade eight-star formation masters would need two or three hours to succeed. This guy, even if he's as good as you say, can't do it in less than an hour!"

"You two still have a lot of confidence in him. I think he might not even succeed!" The fat man shook his head.

As a Saint Domain Seventh Layer powerhouse, he had seen much and knew many powerful formation masters, understanding the limits of their abilities.

Bi Hongyin was not only at the peak of demonic sound but also extremely skilled in formations. Combining the two, although her formation plate was only mid-grade eight-star, its power was much greater than even some high-grade ones.

Encountering it for the first time, it was hard to say whether he could even escape, let alone completely break it in one or two hours.

"This..."

Hearing their words, Luo Xuanqing also lost his previous confidence.

Setting up formations quickly could involve many factors. It might be due to innate talent, being able to deduce the nodes of a formation upon seeing it and succeed in one go.

It could also be due to repeated practice. He had never seen that eight-star beginner formation before, but that didn't mean the other party hadn't encountered something similar.

If he had experienced it before and practiced many times, it would be natural for him to set it up quickly.

Boom!

Just as he was full of worry, he felt the formation before him shake violently, as if a huge mass of energy was rapidly rising.

After about twenty breaths, the sky darkened, and a heart-stopping thunderous power descended from the heavens.

The situation inside the formation could not be seen through the mist, but the thunderclouds hovering overhead made everyone's hair stand on end.

"What's going on?"

Bi Hongyin, who was maintaining the formation, was also stunned.

She was just maintaining the formation to test the other's ability to break formations. She hadn't made any major mistakes or done anything evil, so why... was she about to be struck by lightning?

Wasn't that too harsh!

While maintaining the formation, she was only channeling true qi into the formation plate and hadn't carefully observed what was happening inside. She didn't know that the young man inside had gone from the early stage to the peak of the Nascent Soul realm in just over twenty breaths, nor did she realize the lightning tribulation was attracted by him.

"Damn it!"

After a moment's hesitation, seeing the thunderous power heading straight for her formation plate, ready to shatter it at any moment, the woman clenched her fists and fiercely attacked.

Boom!

Before her power could reach the black clouds, a lightning bolt as thick as a person's waist came straight down.

Crack!

With infinite power and an aura that pierced the sky, it crashed down. The lightning instantly devoured her attacking force.

Zzzzzz!

In an instant, Bi Hongyin was electrocuted, her body stiff, hair standing on end, face blackened, all traces of her former charm gone.

Although her strength had reached the Saint Domain Seventh Layer, it was still insufficient in the face of such a natural force.

After releasing such immense power, the dark clouds in the sky seemed to dissipate somewhat, on the verge of dispersing.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Bi Hongyin felt fortunate, but then she sensed another special force surging from within the formation. Upon sensing this aura, the dark clouds in the sky went wild, gathering again, doubling in size within a few breaths.

"What's happening?"

Her scalp tingling, Bi Hongyin was about to explode, feeling like she was going mad.

Luo Xuanqing's people were also dumbfounded, not knowing what was happening.

Crack! Crack!

Time did not give them much to consider. As soon as the clouds gathered, lightning struck down from the sky.

This time, it was even larger, with a diameter of over two meters.

Her legs trembling, Bi Hongyin's face turned pale.

However, knowing she couldn't dodge, she could only endure. Gritting her teeth, she raised her arms, using all her strength to attack upward.

Crack!

The lightning struck her again. The woman was completely blackened, her body emitting a burnt smell, white smoke rising continuously.

Her internal true qi was scattered by about seventy or eighty percent, and she couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood.

"I've withstood it..."

Though she was about to explode with frustration and her knees were weak, Bi Hongyin still breathed a sigh of relief.

The lightning just now was powerful, but judging by the appearance of the dark clouds, after two strikes, its power was exhausted and it should be about to disperse.

No sooner had the thought ended than that special force came again from within the formation.

Rumble!

The dark clouds that were about to dissipate gathered again, becoming even stronger and more vigorous.

If before the dark clouds covered only a few hundred meters in radius, now they had expanded to two or three kilometers. Even before resisting, one could feel the immense thunderous power, like a dragon rolling and roaring within, seemingly ready to break free at any moment and tear the entire earth to pieces.

"Why?"

Her legs gave way, and Bi Hongyin nearly fell to the ground.

The previous lightning tribulation had almost struck her dead on the spot. This one was several times stronger. If it really came down, she couldn't possibly withstand it.

Why was it striking her?

And it seemed relentless, never stopping until death?

"Don't just watch the excitement! Come and help!"

Knowing she couldn't resist alone, she couldn't help but shout.

"Alright!" Luo Xuanqing and the others also realized the severity of the problem and rushed over hastily.

Clatter!

Everyone struck out simultaneously.

The combined power of the four experts tore a rift in the sky.

The seven-colored light clashed with the lightning, the sound echoing for a hundred li, leaving a brief crack on the ground.

Luo Xuanqing and the others felt their faces flush, their blood boiling as if about to explode. Their faces were blackened, hair standing on end, and they all spat out blood.

Although their strength was formidable, the lightning in the sky was too terrifying. Even united, they only managed a draw.

Fortunately, they were all scions of major powers, each with their own life-saving methods. Otherwise, from that one strike, they would have been either dead or severely injured, bedridden for months.

Outside the formation, everyone was being struck by the lightning tribulation until they almost vomited blood. Inside the formation, isolated from sound and divine sense, Zhang Xuan sat on the ground, looking up at the sky with a confused expression.

"After breaking through, I released my power, which should have attracted the lightning tribulation... Why hasn't it come after all this time?"

He had been waiting here for the lightning tribulation for quite a while, but there was no sign of it. Could it be that he was releasing his power incorrectly?

Whoosh!

He released it again.

No response.

He released it once more.

Still no response!

"Could it be... that last time the tribulation was too simple, and even the lightning was too discouraged to come?"

Rubbing his forehead, Zhang Xuan kept releasing his power, looking displeased. "I thought the Nascent Soul tribulation would be as difficult as the Saint Ascension tribulation. It's too simple..."

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Outside, Luo Xuanqing and the others were again electrocuted stiff, smoke rising from their heads in unison...