The parrot stared blankly at Meng Hao as he stood there surrounded by Heavenly Tribulation. Within the three thousand kilometer region, the ground had been completely transformed into ice crystals. The sky was thick with black clouds, and lightning fell down like rain, shaking Heaven and Earth.
Meng Hao was in the middle of it all, head thrown back as the brutal sound of his laughter rose up into the face of the Heavens. The parrot was breathing heavily as it recalled a figure it had seen once, also laughing in the face of Heavenly Tribulation. The only difference was that Meng Hao was on the ground, and the person in its memory was in mid-air.
Apparently infuriated by Meng Hao’s laughter, the clouds in the Heaven seethed, and another color appeared in addition to the red and black.
Green!
Shocking green lightning mixed in with the red and black. Three-colored lightning descended upon Meng Hao, twenty bolts at the same time!
The eight Nascent Soul Cultivators had lost even the power to curse. They were doing everything to fight back against the lightning. Amidst the booms, Meng Hao’s laughter rang out as slender, white strands began to fly about in the air around him. The lightning was completely incapable of breaking these strands, not even a bit.
Of the Cultivators in the three thousand kilometer area, only the eight Nascent Soul Cultivators could resist the three-colored lightning, as well as… the white-robed Cultivator from the Constellation Tribe.
All of the other Cultivators who had lasted up to this point were now dead.
The white-robed Cultivator’s heart filled with alarm. He had exercised utmost caution up to this point, and yet in the end, had been infected by Karma. He was now sucked into being part of the Tribulation. His eyes filled with venomous hatred, but there was nothing he could do about it.
“Dammit, how could it be three-colored Tribulation Lightning? Just what did this guy do to offend the Heavens to invoke legendary Tribulation Lightning like this!?!?”
A roaring sound rose up again as bolts of three-colored lightning continued to fall relentlessly. Meng Hao’s body shook. Silk swirled around him continuously.
The silk thread spit out by the Eyeless Larva is neverending, and is impossible to break!
The thread could be long or short; at the moment it spun to surround Meng Hao, creating layer after layer. When the lightning fell from the Heavens to slam into it, giant booms filled the air. The lightning seemed to be split into pieces by the silk, which was not breaking. However, the resulting reverberations slammed into Meng Hao.
He coughed up a mouthful of blood as sparks danced through the air around him and then slammed into the ground, only to ricochet back up and hit Meng Hao. Cracking sounds could be heard from his legs as shattered bones suddenly poked out through his skin.
Meng Hao’s vision was starting to grow dim. Blood filled his mouth, but he simply spit it out and then started laughing again. His eyes were filled both with determination, and a violet glow. Using the power of the Violet Pupil Transformation, and borrowing from his longevity, he healed himself. In the blink of an eye, he was back to normal.
As of this point, there was no land within the three thousand kilometer region which had not been crystallized; this led only to further injury for Meng Hao.
Given this situation, there was no reason not to simply… fly straight up into the sky!
This action caused the parrot’s eyes to grow wide. As of now, he was having difficulty separating the previous image in its memory with that of Meng Hao’s.
“This is my Gold Core Tribulation, and I’m gonna last until the end! No more hiding! No more fear and awe! If fear and awe exist in the heart of the Cultivator, then how can any great Dao be cultivated!? How can self-confidence be cultivated!?
“When I reached Foundation Establishment, I ran away. When I reached Core Formation, I hesitated. Well now… I will retreat no further!” A roar echoed up from deep within Meng Hao, filled with his determination to become powerful.
“When this Tribulation is over, I will be even stronger!” He held his head back and roared as he floated there in mid-air. His black hair danced around him, and his back was straight. His appearance was that of lofty heroism. The silk of the Eyeless Larva swirled around him, unbreakable by anything under the Heavens.
As Meng Hao roared, more three-colored lightning fell, heading directly for him. He laughed, his eyes s.h.i.+ning with confidence as he lifted his right hand, formed it into a fist, and directly punched the Heavenly Tribulation.
This was his first attempt to actually fight back!
Such resistance seemed simple, but few people would ever think to use this method to attempt to transcend Heavenly Tribulation. It was a rare thing for someone to attempt to actually destroy the Heavenly Tribulation.
Almost the same moment that Meng Hao’s fist slammed into the lightning, it was as if some new part of him were suddenly ripped open. His will and heart moved in accord, and his Cultivation base mobilized. As soon as he put to action his intent to fight back against the Heavenly Tribulation, his Cultivation base suddenly exploded up!
He was no longer in the mid Gold Core stage. He had broken through into the late Gold Core stage. Granted, he was not at the peak, but had without any doubt stepped into the late stage. Such willingness to undertake actions that can lead to grave consequence, and the resulting instant breakthrough, were shocking to the extreme!
Seemingly endless amounts of golden light radiated out from his body. His eyes shone with a dazzling golden brilliance. Without hesitation, Meng Hao produced an ultra high-grade Spirit Stone. The instant it appeared in his hand, he absorbed the spiritual energy within, then crushed it into dust. He roared, drawing upon the new power of his Cultivation base, the energy within the Spirit Stone, and the bizarre force in his right hand, to shoot directly up toward the Heavenly Tribulation.
A roaring sound filled the air and Meng Hao coughed up blood as one, two, three… five bolts of Heavenly Tribulation slammed into him, shoving him downward. Silk spun madly around him, and Violet Qi exploded in his eyes. The injuries he was sustaining were constantly being healed. Among the eight Nascent Soul Cultivators who remained in the three thousand kilometer region, three of them suddenly coughed up blood and then were killed by the lightning.
They had no magical items with which to defend against the Heavenly Tribulation, nor any experience standing up to lightning. Neither did they possess wild, stubborn determination; the only path for them was the one that led to death!
Even Nascent Soul Cultivators could not flee this Heavenly Tribulation; their bodies exploded into pieces.
Meng Hao’s body was shaking, and it seemed as if every inch of him was covered in blood. He shot down toward the ground, and yet even as he did, the Violet Pupil Transformation went to work. He quickly consumed a vast collection of medicinal pills; when he was a mere nine meters away from the ground, he suddenly stopped in mid-air. Shockingly, hoa.r.s.e laughter once again filled the air.
Suddenly, the sky above went black. Ten lightning bolts shot down, carrying with them all the pretentious dignity of the Heavenly Tribulation. They descended directly toward Meng Hao, and as they did, the sky above suddenly burst into chaos. The ma.s.sive clouds began to rotate to form a vortex. Shocking rumbling filled the air. If this scene could be painted onto a canvas, anyone who looked at it would never be able to forget it.
“Meng Hao is not the type of person to pa.s.sively take a beating!” laughed Meng Hao. He lifted his hand up and pointed toward the sky. Suddenly, the power of the Eighth Demon Sealing Hex poured out from Meng Hao. Ghost images sprang up everywhere as the power shot up toward the Heavens.
“Demonic Qi! Art of Righteous Bestowal! Eighth Demon Sealing Hex!”
Heaven and Earth shook. An aura visible only to Meng Hao himself surged up from the crystalline ground and shot toward him. The countless strands immediately congealed together to form a churning mist.
This Demonic mist surged out to completely surround Meng Hao, as if he was calling upon the very essence of the land, and it was following his direction. It shot toward the incoming ten bolts of lightning.
A ma.s.sive boom rocked everything above and below. The lightning descended, causing a shocking roar to fill the sky. It slammed into the Demonic Qi surrounding Meng Hao, causing it to shatter, layer by layer. As it did, the lightning slowly began to dissipate.
In the blink of an eye, only three of the ten Tribulation Lightning bolts remained. The Demonic Qi crumbled away, and the three remaining Tribulation Lightning bolts screamed toward Meng Hao. Immediately, the silk of the Eyeless Larva surrounded him, and yet, some of the lightning still managed to slip through.
A tremor shot through Meng Hao’s body, and a vast quant.i.ty of blood sprayed out of his mouth. His body shot down toward the ground like a meteor. A huge boom could be heard as he slammed into the crystalline ground. The ground shattered, cracks spread out, and a crater was suddenly visible.
The Tribulation Clouds up above churned, lightning dancing about within. Suddenly, the lightning began to congeal together, its color changing once again. Now the lightning had four colors. Peals of thunder crackled out.
Within the three thousand kilometer region, the remaining five Nascent Soul Cultivators coughed up blood. Two of them directly exploded. Their weakened Nascent Souls attempted to flee, but were obliterated by lightning.
Begrudged screams could be heard before they died. Now, there were only three Nascent Soul experts left in the area. Their bodies trembled and their eyes filled with despair. Hatred for Meng Hao filled their hearts; unfortunately for them, there was nothing they could do about it.
It was at this time that the four-colored lightning began to descend from within the churning clouds. It sped toward the crater, and yet, even as it neared its destination, a fist suddenly flew out from within to slam directly into the lightning bolt.
A huge explosion filled the air and everything trembled. Meng Hao emerged, his body scorched black, blood everywhere. However, the violet glow continued to s.h.i.+ne in his eyes, healing his body. He chuckled hoa.r.s.ely and then, heart filled with valiance, flew up into the air.
“Gold Core Tribulation. You’ve already let loose around a hundred lightning bolts. Please, feel free to bring on some more!” As his voice echoed out, madness glowed within his eyes.
The Tribulation Clouds up above seethed, roaring with thunderous superciliousness and fury. Suddenly, everything up above turned bright red; simultaneously, countless bolts of red lightning fell like rain toward Meng Hao.
They slammed into him, transforming into endless sparks. And yet, Meng Hao remained floating in mid air, his grandeur only continuing to grow.
Suddenly, another color appeared up above. Black!
The sky was half black and half red! The rain of lightning now included black lightning. Thunderous roars filled the sky. Next, green appeared!
Red, black and green. Three colors interlocked in the sky, and the rain of lightning was now that of these three colors!
It wasn’t over, though. A fourth color appeared!
White!
Four colors now could be seen in the sky. White-colored lightning now descended from this sky of four colors. The ground shook as the lightning slammed into it.
Amidst this four-colored lightning, Meng Hao floated, the silk of the Eyeless Larva spinning around him. He rotated his Cultivation base as he fought back against the Heavenly Tribulation.
It was at this moment that everything shook, as if some invisible person was roaring. Suddenly… a fifth color appeared in the sky!
Yellow!
Red, Black, Green, White, Yellow!
A Five-Colored Sky, and Five-Colored Tribulation Lightning. This was the final Heavenly Tribulation Meng Hao would face in his Gold Core Tribulation. He suddenly had the intense feeling that if he could transcend this lightning of five colors, then this Heavenly Tribulation would end.
“So, the final Heavenly Tribulation!” His eyes glistened with intense determination.