Despite the level of Meng Hao’s cultivation base, the ma.s.sive lightning hand that descended caused him to feel a sense of impending doom. Almost as soon as it began to fall from the sky, Meng Hao’s eyes glinted with madness. He raised his hand, and the Blood Demon Grand Magic surged with full power. Rumbling filled the air, and his entire body radiated magical light.

In the blink of an eye, all existence was illuminated by the glow of his magic.

At the same time, the Blood Demon Grand Magic vortex roared like a beast from ancient times. All the cultivators in the Violet Fate Sect could clearly see a red horn protruding from the middle of the vortex.

Next, a gigantic head appeared, the head of a Blood Demon that then hurled itself directly toward the glittering lightning hand.

When they met, the resulting explosion caused all creation to shake violently. The Blood Demon head’s horn shattered, after which, the entire head collapsed into pieces. The blood-colored vortex shattered, as did Meng Hao’s Dharma Idol.

As for the lightning hand, it was also shaken. One finger after another collapsed, until all that remained was a single finger that continued to jab viciously down toward Meng Hao.

Just when it was about to slam into him, Meng Hao’s body began to s.h.i.+ne with boundless golden light. He became a golden roc, which flapped its wings, sending him speeding off into the distance. As the palm raced after him in pursuit, Meng Hao rotated his cultivation base and then unleashed another divine ability. He pointed directly toward the incoming palm.

BOOM!

A huge crash could be heard, and the lightning palm vanished. Blood sprayed from Meng Hao’s mouth, and he staggered backward to a position nearly three thousand meters away. After coughing up seven successive mouthfuls of blood, he finally came to a stop.

His face was pale, and his body was wracked with trembling. Sparks of electricity continued to dance around his body, and he had lost more than half of his qi and blood. There was a ma.s.sive wound in his chest, which burned with intense pain.

Meng Hao gritted his teeth and looked up; his eyes shone with a boundless, intense light.

He had completely surpa.s.sed the Tribulation Lightning’s punishment!

As of this moment, all of the Southern Domain cultivators who had come to act as Dharma Protectors for Pill Demon were left in complete and utter shock. What they had just witnessed exceeded anything they had ever seen before in their lives.

They had the impulse to rush to help Pill Demon in his true Immortal Tribulation. However, the ma.s.sive pressure that weighed down not only filled them with awe, it made it impossible for them to even fly into the air.

They could only look on as Meng Hao acted, and his intense strength only deepened their impression of him.

In the Violet Fate Sect, all of the disciples’ minds were shaken. Everything that Meng Hao was doing caused their gratefulness to him to become even more intense.

Were it not for Meng Hao’s presence, Pill Demon might still have been able to avoid death during this tribulation. However, it definitely would have been much more difficult to acquire the true Immortal destiny. And if he had failed… he would have perished and his soul would have been dispersed.

Meng Hao wiped the blood from his mouth and looked up into the sky. He saw his master Pill Demon, standing on the damaged statue of Reverend Violet East, once again combining the power of two lifetimes to strike the Door of Immortality.

Once, twice, three times….

He struck the door again and again, and it continued to open wider and wider. At the same time, more Immortal Tribulation Lightning descended, with increased intensity. By now, all of Pill Demon’s magical items were in use, and the Immortal Tribulation had reached a shocking level of intensity.

The Violet Fate Sect’s grand spell formation was activated to the fullest extent to help Pill Demon fight back against the Immortal Tribulation. However, the Immortal Tribulation was growing more intense, and the Door of Immortality was only forty percent open! There was still another sixty percent to go!

“Fellow Daoist Pill Demon, use this magical item of mine!”

“Senior Pill Demon, take my magical item!”

“Pill Demon, this is a treasure I prepared to help you transcend the tribulation!”

Many among the crowds down below began to produce various magical items. They severed their own connection with them and then tossed them up into the sky.

The magical items transformed into countless beams of glowing light that shot toward Pill Demon and then swirled around him. These were all lightning-resisting items, and all of them were extremely valuable.

At this moment, they didn’t hesitate for even a second to give them to Pill Demon. Pill Demon trembled, and his heart filled with appreciation. Now was not the time for words, though. He took a deep breath, clasped hands to the crowds below, and then waved his arm, causing the hundreds of magical items to emit a boundless glow that fought back against the Immortal Tribulation!

Meng Hao hovered off in the distance, watching the scene. He also waved his hand, sending a magical item out, his beast claw. It emitted an incisive glow that, when it joined the other magical items around Pill Demon, transformed into a bizarre light.

Meng Hao’s eyes gleamed with the antic.i.p.ation of being able to bear witness to his master becoming a true Immortal.

RUUMMMMBLLEEEE!!

Bolt after bolt of Immortal Tribulation Lightning slammed down, without end. Soon, they were so numerous that they became a lake of lightning. It was almost as if a hole had been ripped into the sky, and lightning was falling like rain in a violent downpour.

Pill Demon’s figure was submerged in the lightning to the point where onlookers couldn’t see him clearly. Only Meng Hao was just barely able to see him.

The blasts against the Door of Immortality continued. Fifty percent. Sixty percent….

The magical items surrounding Pill Demon were beginning to shatter. In the instant that the door opened by sixty percent, even Meng Hao’s beast claw collapsed into pieces. By the time all of the magical items were destroyed, Pill Demon was like a flickering lamp about to be extinguished. He laughed bitterly, and looked up at the Tribulation Lightning, then at the Door of Immortality, which was only sixty percent opened. Then, he sighed.

“True Immortality really is a challenge….” he said, his voice filled with pain. “A chance that comes once in ten thousand years, and is incredibly difficult…. Despite my best efforts, I fell short by forty percent.” The sky rumbled, and the lake of lightning screamed. It seemed to cover everything, filled with destructive power as it bore down onto Pill Demon, who stood in front of the Door of Immortality.

However, at this moment, Meng Hao’s eyes glittered, and he smacked his bag of holding. The meat jelly appeared, and Meng Hao threw it into the air before it could even react. It shrieked as it became a beam of prismatic light that shot toward Pill Demon and the Heavenly Tribulation.

“Master, keep battering that door!” yelled Meng Hao. As soon as the meat jelly reached the lake of lightning, it let out a curse and then opened its mouth. It began to inhale, and the lake of lightning trembled, then began to move toward the meat jelly.

Popping sounds rang out from the meat jelly, and it turned completely black in the blink of an eye.

“Meng Hao you b.a.s.t.a.r.d, you bully! You’ve gone too far! Y-y-you…! Lord Third is gonna convert you!”

Pill Demon trembled, but didn’t hesitate for a moment to lash out toward the Door of Immortality with all of his power. The meat jelly continued to consume the lake of lightning, and currently, no more Immortal Tribulation Lightning fell. Pill Demon went all out, combining two lives’ worth of good fortune to break open the Door of Immortality!

Seventy percent….

Eighty percent!

When the door opened by eighty percent, a boundless glow of Immortal light spilled out, as well as thick Immortal qi. Instantly, the sky became like an Immortal paradise, and the air filled with the music of great Daos, as well as the sound of scriptures being chanted.

The cultivators down below, and the disciples of the Violet Fate Sect, were bathed in the light of Immortality. Their cultivation bases instantly began to rotate as they acquired good fortune.

However, it was in this moment that the meat jelly let out an agonized shriek. It trembled, and countless rips spread out across its body. Although it was capable of consuming Immortal Tribulation Lightning, it could only withstand so much. Finally, it screamed and flew away, unable to hold on any longer.

The lake of lightning once again rumbled down, enveloping Pill Demon. Pill Demon roared and caused his cultivation base to explode at full power to fight back. His entire body shook violently, and the statue of Reverend Violet east was starting to collapse.

Meng Hao was getting very worried. However, something suddenly occurred to him, which caused him to take a deep breath. Without any hesitation, he summoned his second true self. He extended his hand and pointed, and his second true self began to tremble. His eyes grew dim as his soul flew out of the top of his head.

This was… a true Immortal’s soul!

In the past, Patriarch Blood Demon had mentioned that this soul would be strangely effective when transcending tribulation, most especially when reaching true Immortal Ascension.

Meng Hao wasn’t sure if the soul of the true Immortal would be of any help in this situation; no matter how he had contemplated it or observed it in the past, it didn’t seem useful for anything. Having no other options, Meng Hao extracted the soul itself.

In the instant in which the true Immortal’s soul emerged, all of the lightning that was striking toward Pill Demon suddenly stopped in place. Then, it abruptly left Pill Demon and shot toward Meng Hao, or, more accurately speaking, toward the soul of the true Immortal.

This soul… could actually attract Immortal Tribulation!

Rumbling filled the air as the lightning shot forth. It rapidly surrounded the true Immortal’s soul, as if it violated some Heavenly decree, and deserved to die a horrific death at the hands of the lightning.

With no lightning striking him, Pill Demon, his eyes completely bloodshot, went all out. Both he and the Dharma Protecting cultivators below had expended all the resources they could. This was the critical moment. If there was no success now, the result would be death!

Pill Demon roared, and his body burst into flames. He was burning his life force, as was the statue of Reverend Violet East beneath him. This was the power of two lives’ worth of cultivation base.

Within the flames, Pill Demon turned into something like a shooting star that sped toward the Door of Immortality. He would blast into it with all of the power of his life force.

A huge boom rattled out through the entire Southern Domain, and, in fact, through all the lands of South Heaven, as the Door of Immortality was knocked open even more.

Ninety percent!

Ma.s.sive rumbling could be heard as the statue of Reverend Violet East collapsed. Pill Demon had aged dramatically, and he looked as if he were at the very end of his life. However, he was not willing to give up. Roaring at the top of his lungs, he used the power of his life force to once again strike against the Door of Immortality, like a moth drawn to the flame.

BOOM!

The sound shook all of Planet South Heaven, and even rolled out into the starry sky, to be heard by all of the people outside who were trying to fight their way past Meng Hao’s father.

When they heard the sound, everyone felt as if… their minds were reverberating with the tolling of bells.

The Door of Immortality… was ninety-five percent open. Only a tiny sliver… and it would be completely open!

However, it was in this moment that the sky churned, and a wind sprung up in the seething mists!!

This was a Spirit Extermination Tribulation Wind, the second stage of tribulation that came after the Tribulation Lightning!

When the wind blew, Pill Demon, who was already like a sputtering candle, whose statue of Reverend Violet East had already been destroyed, began to fade away.

He had failed.

In this moment, all the lands went quiet, and everyone who was watching the scene felt waves of sorrow rise up in their hearts. The sound of wailing began to drift out of the Violet Fate Sect.

Pill Demon’s body began to rapidly vanish. Behind him, the Door of Immortality started fading away….

It was ninety-five percent open, with only a tiny bit left to go!

Pill Demon sighed. He felt no bitterness. However, his reluctance to part with the world could be seen on his face. He did not wish to leave the people he knew down below. He did not wish to say goodbye to his apprentice. Nor did he wish to abandon his Dao. But he had reached the end.

Pill Demon wanted to say something, but by this point, he couldn’t speak. His body was growing illusory, and half of it had already transformed into ash and been destroyed. The rest of his fleshly body was now continuing to turn into ash. His skin fell off, and he began to vanish into the air.

He could only use his gaze to offer his blessings to all of the crowds of people down below.

Meng Hao was trembling, and his eyes were shot with blood. Seeing that the Door of Immortality was fading, and that Pill Demon was on the verge of death, he couldn’t hold back. He shot forward.

“Master, I’m coming to help!”