Suddenly, thunderous booms could be heard from within the roiling black clouds that stretched out for 5,000 kilometers. A mult.i.tude of dancing lightning bolts could be seen within them. In addition, a terrifying aura suddenly appeared. It was an aura that wished to destroy everything, an aura that seemed to desire to wipe out all the people in Heaven and Earth.

Even if it meant destroying the land itself, everyone must die!

Meng Hao looked up at the vast, churning Tribulation clouds up above. It didn’t matter how strong he was, it seemed the Heavens would destroy and kill everything!

An intense golden light shone in Meng Hao’s eyes. There was something different about acquiring the Perfect Gold Core than the time he had acquired the Perfect Foundation. A change had occurred within him, as if a great Dao had opened up in front of him.

However, before anything else, he needed to transcend this Heavenly Tribulation!

“Dammit, Lord Fifth is gonna have to risk it all!” cried the parrot. “This master is different from the others and I can’t pull the wool over his eyes. His luck and fortune can’t possibly measure up to mine, but after all these years I haven’t seen anyone better! He’s the one. YOU’RE the one, kid! Lord Fifth is gonna go all out! Let’s delay this Heavenly Tribulation!” The parrot's eyes turned red as it suddenly shot forward. At the same time, it lifted its claws up to tie a black band around its head, covering its right eye.

As the parrot flew out, the lightning up above began to coalesce. The sheer amount of it vastly surpa.s.sed that from the Pill Tribulation. Furthermore, this lightning was red in color.

Meng Hao’s hair flew wildly around him, and his body shook violently. His eyes turned as crimson as if they had been ripped into pieces. The lake water beneath him boiled, rapidly transforming into myriad golden beads that slowly began to rise into the air.

“Parrot!” roared Meng Hao. At the same time, he began to use a technique the parrot had taught him to exercise control over his consciousness. In the blink of an eye, the golden light in his eyes vanished, as did all of the Qi he was emanating. His body suddenly seemed to wither, and his expression grew dull.

The parrot soared up into the air and let out a furious shout: “Deceive the Heavens!”

Along with the shout, its body exploded with countless multicolored beams of light. The nearby Cultivators trembled as wisps of Qi began to emerge from the tops of their heads. The strands of Qi floated up into the sky and merged together with the light to form a huge net.

In the middle of its descent, the red lightning suddenly hesitated, as if it couldn’t locate Meng Hao’s aura.

“Ultimate Vexation, get over and help, b*tch!” the parrot roared.

The meat jelly hesitated for only a moment. Then, a pop could be heard as its body suddenly transformed into a million illusory phantoms that shot up into the air to form a second net.

The Tribulation clouds in the sky seethed, and more lightning bolts writhed about, apparently searching for Meng Hao’s aura.

“Luckily you’re asleep, Heavens of Ji!” cried the parrot arrogantly. “Only a sliver of your will exists. Maybe I couldn’t fool your true self, but you think I can’t hoodwink a bit of your will? Lord Fifth is omniscient! Alright, all I have to do is hold on for three days, and this Tribulation can be delayed for sure!” As soon as the words were out of its mouth, the red lightning bolt descended. Being unable to find Meng Hao’s aura, it shot toward the first large net.

A boom could be heard as the illusory net shattered. The hundreds of Cultivators surrounding Meng Hao spat up blood and then, with the exception of the three Patriarchs, all of them… instantly exploded.

The three Patriarchs coughed up blood, and their bodies shrank and withered. Inside, cracks spread out across their Cores, as if they might collapse at any moment. After a moment, their eyes grew clear and their faces filled with astonishment and fear. They retreated at top speed, scalps numb. The only thing they could think about was running away!

“b.i.t.c.h! Why don't you keep searching for the correct will!” raged the parrot. “Instead, you’re just blowing random things up! You’re, you’re, you’re… you’re cheating! Fine, so can Lord Fifth! I’ll screw you to death! Tribulation schmibulation! Lord Fifth is gonna screw you to death! Ultimate Vexation, come help me, b*tch! Turn those clouds into my favorite Fluffy!” It seemed to feel its dignity had been severely challenged. With a howl of rage, it bit down on one of its own multicolored feathers, then whipped its head about and threw it down. Eyes br.i.m.m.i.n.g with insanity, its body suddenly grew larger and larger, and it shot up into the sky.

It flew at high speed directly into the Tribulation clouds!

At the same time, a beam of light shot out from the meat jelly net, seemingly a bit resentfully. It entered into the Tribulation clouds and spread out through all of them. Suddenly, the clouds began to twist and distort. Meng Hao gaped open mouthed as he saw the Tribulation clouds begin to change shape.

They changed into… a gargantuan, plump animal, covered with white fur.

The luxuriant furriness of this animal is difficult to describe. The fur draped off of the enormous creature which stretched out for thousands of kilometers in every direction, so large you couldn’t see from one end to the other.

As for the parrot, it gave an excited squawk as it dove into the fur. It emerged again in a moment, but showed no signs of being tired, instead diving enthusiastically back in from a different angle. This process repeated over and over again.

As Meng Hao watched on, his mind went blank. He could never have possibly imagined that the Tribulation clouds could be changed into this appearance….

What had previously been a very solemn and momentous occasion, had suddenly turned somewhat comical….

Meng Hao shook his head. Suddenly, the furry Tribulation cloud let out a ma.s.sive boom. The countless lightning bolts dissipated in all directions. Within the cloud, the parrot was visible, its body dark, but still stubbornly persisting.

“Fluffy, I’m gonna screw you to death. Wench! I’m definitely gonna screw you to death!” The excited parrot didn’t seem to want to stop.

However, the ma.s.ses of lightning in the area began to fall, accompanied by thunderous booms. They shot toward Meng Hao, seemingly without number, tens of thousands of them. Meng Hao’s scalp went numb. The Heavenly Tribulation when he had acquired his Perfect Foundation had seemed solemn and imposing in its desire to destroy all living things.

But this… the seemingly endless amount of lightning gave off an aura that made Meng Hao feel uneasy. It seemed that this Tribulation sent against his Perfect Gold Core had somehow changed, thanks to the interference of the parrot.

As the lightning descended toward Meng Hao, the meat jelly net let out a disgruntled howl and moved to cover over Meng Hao. A ma.s.sive boom sounded out, shaking the earth. The lightning slammed onto the meat jelly, causing Meng Hao to shake in trepidation.

A blinding light filled his eyes that made it impossible to see anything around him. After a very long time, the lightning and thunder gradually faded away. Meng Hao looked back up to find that the ma.s.sive ball of fur in the sky was gone.

His eyes widened and he took a deep breath. Everything looked placid, but Meng Hao knew that such ma.s.sive quant.i.ties of Tribulation clouds couldn’t possibly vanish like this. The sense of crisis he’d felt because of the Heavenly Tribulation had not departed.

The pitch-black parrot fell to the ground with a flopping sound. It struggled to its feet and then slapped itself roughly on the chest.

It was panting. Its expression was somewhat listless and its aura weak. However, its voice was as arrogant as ever as it said, “Is Lord Fifth bada.s.s or what? The Heavenly Tribulation has been delayed for you. Time to give your profound thanks. Without Lord Fifth, it wouldn’t matter if you had Ultimate Vexation here. The Heavenly Tribulation would just keep going on forever until he was smashed to pieces.

“Don’t get too excited, though. I went all out to delay the Heavenly Tribulation, but there’s no way to tell for how long. You need to get ahold of your Tribulation Transcending Life Form as quickly as possible. Alright, it’s time for Lord Fifth to rest up. Don’t be too moved. Oh, and don’t forget to find some more furry, feathered creatures.” With that, it fell flat onto its face. Its body transformed into gray ash which drifted away with the wind. However, along with the ash was a multicolored glow that flew into Meng Hao’s bag of holding.

Meng Hao’s mind and heart shook. He quickly checked the copper mirror inside the bag of holding. The parrot loved to brag, and wasn’t very reliable, but Meng Hao would never forget how much it had helped him just now.

Dispersing the Tribulation clouds had seemed simple, but seeing the parrot in the state it had been just now, Meng Hao knew that it had paid a high price for its actions.

“No need to check on it,” said the meat jelly languidly. Its body was tattered and listless. “It’s not going to die. After it rests for a few days it’ll be fine. Poor me, always struck by lightning. I like eating it, but sometimes I just get so full.” It transformed into a hat which settled onto Meng Hao’s head.

“You need to be careful,” it continued, its voice growing weaker. “That wicked parrot and I once helped a young girl delay Heavenly Tribulation. Later she got p.i.s.sed off and tried to kill us. She chased us for years and years. Repaid kindness with enmity. I really hate people like that.” Eventually it trailed off into a m.u.f.fled murmur, and then stopped talking.

Meng Hao sat there thinking for a long moment. He looked around, and then waved his hand, causing more than a hundred medicinal pills to fly out. They crumbled in mid-air as they shot toward the unconscious Cultivators that the parrot and the meat jelly had been protecting. After the medicine entered their bodies, the Cultivators trembled, and then slowly began to open their eyes.

After coming to their senses, they appeared somewhat confused. It didn’t take long for them to compose themselves and begin to look around.

The mountain, and everything around it, was gone. The medicinal cistern was gone, and the buildings they had constructed were now nothing but crumbled ruins. The lake that had formed was also gone; left behind was only a large crater.

They looked at it all silently, bitterness filling their hearts. They had gone to a lot of trouble to seek safety in this place, to find somewhere to practice cultivation in a convenient fas.h.i.+on. But now, everything was gone.

“The Immortal’s cave is gone,” said Meng Hao. “But I can find you another one!” The more than one hundred Cultivators lifted their heads up to look at him.

“The medicinal cistern is gone, but I can make you a new one!” This second sentence caused a bright glow to appear in their eyes. It seemed their resolve had been ignited.

“If you are willing,” said Meng Hao, his voice resonating loudly, “follow me! There is vengeance to be had! The time has come to kill!” He flicked his sleeve and shot up into the air. Behind him followed the more than one hundred Cultivators, their eyes flas.h.i.+ng with intense killing intent. These were Black Lands Cultivators, and they understood what it meant to exact vengeance!

Meng Hao’s Spiritual Sense spread out to track down the fleeing Patriarchs from the three great Sects.

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This chapter was sponsored by Torsten Neumer, Salim Mudrik Baraba, Tomislav Fistric, and Jacob Keaton