The thunderclouds in the sky became denser, connecting into one. They seemed to be able to destroy everything. Strong winds blew on the ground, making whooshing sounds.
A terrifying pressure fell from the sky. Zang Jian felt it for a moment and felt his heart palpitate. It was as if a cold light was piercing his back, and his mind rumbled. He had a faint premonition that the Heavenly Disaster would not be simple.
Of course, it was not simple. Ou Yangming had the bloodlines of the Dragons and the Phoenixes, after all. If the Heavenly Thunderbolts he would encounter were simple, then the disaster would be child’s play if others wanted to survive it.
When Ou Yangming was an Advanced Spiritualist, he was able to force a Venerable One to defend with all his strength and even split open his hand.
How terrifying was the Heavenly Disaster for such a figure? Zang Jian did not dare to guess. Just thinking about it made his scalp go numb.
He shifted his gaze to Ou Yangming, only to see that the young fellow was calm and unperturbed.
Zang Jiang sighed and wondered, ‘As expected of a great mountain that’s blocking in front of the younger generation. After today, even the older generation won’t be able to stop his rise, right?’
The thunderclouds became lower as if they could be touched as long as one jumped up. They directly covered an area of several kilometers.
They were 3 times more majestic than when He Jiian was transcending the tribulation, which was probably the case.
Generally speaking, the Heavenly Thunderbolts’ powers were constantly stacked. For example, the third Heavenly Thunderbolt’s power was the sum of the first and second powers, and the fourth Heavenly Thunderbolt’s power was the sum of the first, second, and third powers, so on and so forth. It was because of this that the more thunderbolts there were, the higher one’s probability of dying, but the greater the benefits one could obtain after successfully overcoming them.
Under the thunderclouds, Ou Yangming gently exhaled a mouthful of turbid air.
He took out the Thunderbolt-resistant Suit from his interspatial bag and put it on. With a wave of his wrist, 1,008 Earthly Formation Boards spread out and covered a 333-meters area.
Ou Yangming felt the pressure on his shoulders but did not care at all.
His eyes were bright, and his majestic battle intent swept in all directions. He exhaled and shouted, “Today, I’ll surely become a Venerable One! In the future, I’ll suppress all enemies in the world!” His voice was not loud, but it was straightforward and sounded heavier. It gave people a sense of determination. It seemed that he could indeed suppress all enemies in the world if he wanted to.
The black clouds surged and kept pressing down. The light in the sky seemed to have been absorbed by the black clouds, thus it was pitch-black.
All of a sudden, lightning flashed, and numerous bolts of lightning fell from the sky, tearing the sky into pieces. The lightning bolts as thick as buckets descended out of thin air.
Zang Jian’s heart beat faster, and he screamed, “This… The first thunderbolt’s already a rain of thunderbolts?”
Ou Yangming breathed in and out, adjusting his Qi. He raised his hand and pointed. Under the guidance of his mental power, the Earthly Formation Boards turned into white light spots, fusing and changing, and they eventually turned into a black-and-white formation map out of thin air.
From afar, the formation map seemed to be separated by a curved arc from the middle.
One side was Yin while the other was Yang; one was black and one was white. They were distinctive.
Ou Yangming pushed his right hand outward and yelled, “Go!”
The formation map continued to rotate. Instead of retreating, it advanced and pounced toward the thunderbolts.
With that, the thunderbolts struck the formation map like a torrential downpour. They were fast and urgent like a rainstorm hitting pear blossoms. Nonetheless, the formation ma[ absorbed all of them and emitted a deafening muffled sound. At the same time, a majestic airwave swept out in all directions. It rolled out in circles and wherever it passed, all life was gone.
When Zang Jian saw this, his expression changed, and he retreated about 333 meters away.
He raised his head and stared at the sky, looking at it from his angle.
The Yin-Yang Fish formation crashed into the sky, blocking all the thunderbolts, but there was still no sign of its collapse.
In Ou Yangming’s hands, the Earthly Formation Boards seemed to have turned into something magical. It exploded with unimaginable power.
At the spur of the moment, something strange happened. The hundreds of lightning bolts gathered and turned into a qilin. It was 20 to 23 meters tall, and it flickered with lightning. It lit up the sky and crashed down like a mad beast.
“A sudden change?” Ou Yangming muttered.
Even so, he did not look surprised. He lifted his sleeve in the air.
The formation map shrank and became more solid, pressing down horizontally.
Consequently, the white jade qilin only lasted for a breath before it was crushed.
The whole world fell silent again, leaving only the whimperings of the winds. The pressure coming down from the clouds became greater. It was as if there was a magnanimous mountain pressing down on one’s heart, making it difficult for one to breathe.
Under the thunderclouds, Ou Yangming’s white clothes were like snow, and he looked calm and unhurried. His long hair fluttered behind his back, giving him an extraordinary temperament.
After about 8 minutes, the second thunderbolt descended.
Ou Yangming communicated with his dantian and poured boundless spiritual power into the formation map, causing pure spiritual power to surge.
“Boom…” The two collided, and the electric arcs scattered. The formation map released a muffled sound as if it was about to collapse.
Ou Yangming made gestures with his hands as he wished, such that his hands turned into afterimages. He later pushed outward, and the power of the second Heavenly Thunderbolt collapsed. The world returned to tranquility.
Nevertheless, black smoke also rose from the formation map. It was pitch-black, and there were a few cracks in several places. From the looks of it, it would only be able to withstand one more Heavenly Thunderbolt at most.
“Crackle, crackle…” Another bolt of lightning descended. The formation map flashed and in the blink of an eye, it was covered with densely packed cracks.
“Explode!” Ou Yangming pinched his fingers and shouted coldly.
The formation map exploded, and the thunderbolt collapsed at the same time.
Even top-grade Spiritualists would not dare to touch the airwaves that were stirred up.
“3…” Zang Jian exhaled a mouthful of turbid air and uttered in a low voice.
He was envious. After all, this was the Heavenly Disaster that was equivalent to taking the big leap.
The world became increasingly silent, and the gales that were whimpering stopped. Only rolling thunderclouds remained in the world.
‘It’s here!’ After a long while, Ou Yangming thought to himself.
The thunderclouds in the sky flashed with lightning, and a faint red glow could be seen. It forcefully tore out several white horned dragons that were formed from a Thunderbolt Power, and they pounced out.
A domineering look flashed across Ou Yangming’s eyes, and he leaped up. With both hands clasped in front of his body, he took the initiative to meet the horned dragons.
His eyes lit up, and he took advantage of the situation. He grabbed the neck of one of the horned dragons with his right hand and with a strong grip, he quickly killed it. Lightning scattered like rain, by which it turned into electric arcs and dissipated.
At the same time, he flashed away and from an unbelievable angle, he kicked the head of another horned dragon, knocking it back into the thunderclouds.
His fingers stroked the Thunderbolt-resistant Suit, and he thought to himself, ‘Wearing the Thunderbolt-resistant Suit really makes it much easier to pass the Heavenly Disaster.’
Seeing this, Zang Jian could not even close his mouth. He shook his head and said, “What a freak.” Despite that, there were not many comparisons that he could make.
5, 6, 7..
Ou Yangming was unperturbed. He countered every move he faced. The spiritual power in his dantian turned into spiritual liquid, and his dantian was already showing signs of turning into a lake. It was vast and contained an indescribable amount of energy.
“Clack, clank!”
At this moment, faint sounds were heard.
The sounds were weak, but they seemed to be able to penetrate one’s body and enter one’s soul. They could make cold air grow from one’s bone marrow and spread from one’s Tianxue acupoint to all parts of one’s body. One would feel like one had fallen into an icy lake 33 kilometers deep.
Zang Jian’s head thudded as if he was being stared at by a ferocious beast. He did not even dare to breathe loudly.
He slowly raised his head and saw that the thunderclouds in the sky had turned dark red.
Red threads started to form in the thunderclouds. They were like threads, thin and dense. The color kept changing. It was sometimes red, sometimes dark, and sometimes purple. The color became indescribable. With one glance, one would feel as if one had fallen into hell and lost all thoughts.
Zang Jian only felt a buzzing sound in his head. His eyes became dull. He took a deep breath and used the last of his strength. He said softly, “The Heart-tempering Tribulation?”
At that moment, a roar came down from the thunderclouds. It was filled with a monstrous resentment that distorted the air around it.
It was as if anyone who heard the roar had to submit to it. If one did not submit, one would die.
The roar grew louder and came from afar. The entire sky was wailing. It became the only sound in the world, and it exploded in Ou Yangming’s ears.
Despair, panic, fear, unease—all kinds of negative emotions drifted in his mind.
Ou Yangming took a deep breath, straightened his back, and laughed wildly. “I may die, and I may lose, but my soul will never yield! Heart-tempering Tribulation—what right do you have to refine my heart and ask about my path?” At this moment, he thought of Xu Aoran crushing the Heavenly Disaster and the clouds with his bare hands. Given the young fellow’s cultivation base, he could not do that, but the arrogance and tyranny that he had with him were similar to that of Xu Aoran.
He no longer cared about the sky that had been pressing down on the people for hundreds of millions of years.
His eyes flashed, and a domineering intent swept out in all directions.
He exhaled lightly and uttered, “The Solitary Thought Skill, the Voices of Gods and Demons…”
As his voice spread out, a powerful tearing force burst out. It reversed into the sky and tore the roar into pieces, turning it into nothingness.
After the disaster was gotten rid of, Ou Yangming felt as if his mind and spirit were clear. The dust in his heart dissipated, and white mists spread out from every pore in his body. It was as if he had ascended to immortality. This wonderful feeling was not something that could be described with simple words.
When Zang Jian saw this, he noted softly, “It’s possible to defy heaven, but it’s impossible to go against yourself. What a domineering intent… Brother Yu, just what kind of person are you?” At this time, Ou Yangming’s figure overlapped with that of the Daoist disciple who was screaming madly outside the Barren Desert. He was shining and looked incredibly proud.
The eighth Heavenly Thunderbolt had passed!
Once again, the sky fell silent. It was just like the calm before a storm.
The black clouds became more solid, and the thunderbolts in the sky became lower. Even the whimpering of the wind seemed to have stopped.
It was at this moment that all the clouds in the sky gathered and transformed into a black bolt of lightning. This was the purest and deepest type of black, which was a black that made one’s heart palpitate. At first glance, one would feel as if one’s mind was lost in it.
“Boom!”
The black thunderbolt tore the sky apart.
It descended from the sky and turned into a black dragon. It was lifelike and fast.
Ou Yangming laughed arrogantly and let out a long whistle. He poured all the spiritual Qi in his body into the Thunderbolt-resistant Suit. As such, the patterns on the suit connected, carrying a magnanimous power.
With a domineering attitude that could split Heaven and Earth, Ou Yangming crashed into the thunderbolt!
“Boom…”
The whole world shook, the mountains collapsed, and the ground sank.
It was like the end of the world, and all life was destroyed.
Despite Zang Jian’s cultivation base, he fled outside. There was only one thought in his mind. ‘What kind of thunderbolt was that? It actually had the power to destroy the world?’