As a demonic aura descended over the scene, all of the North Sea darkened from his arrival.
In response, the human demon warily materialized within Dusk Province while the desolate willow of the Skandha Range grew to thirty thousand meters tall, howling furiously and waving its branches at the demon god in the North Sea.
In Destiny City, Silverlight blurred into a streak of light and instantly returned to Levitating Island. A thick layer of light shimmered around her form in midair as she stood poised for battle.
In the Dark North Sword Sect of Ingress Island, the young man with a sword on his back and the shepherd boy also flickered into existence.
The demon god forming a divine body out of the sacrifices of the demons was a tremendous disaster for the entire world of immortals and had to be dealt with.
……
This was Lu Yun’s third time facing the Diabolical Tribulation of World Refinement. The first had been when he stood guard over the resurrecting Dao Flower and the tribulation had descended with the momentum to end all life. He’d beaten that back with thirty-six summons of a bean soldier.
The second had occurred when Zhao Wushuang underwent her tribulation, and that instance had taken form as mountains of thunder and lightning. Countless imprisoned demons and fiends threatened her, but the sudden appearance of Sword Divine Dongfang Hao had caused a divergence and changed it into thunder and lightning of purest black.
If it hadn’t been for their unwelcome visitor showing up, Lu Yun wouldn’t have been able to devour the heavenly thunder with his Thunder Palmstrike. The Diabolical Tribulation of World Refinement was a unique thunder tribulation that his death art couldn’t devour, but anything else could easily be handled by the Thunder Palmstrike.
And this time… the tribulation reared its head again when Qing Yu’s refinement of the Central World mandate reached a critical moment.
The skies of the Central World were carpeted by blackish-red tribulation clouds; endless demons howled and tore the ground within them, slowly accumulating the power to end all living beings.
“There’s a third transformation to it…” Xing Chen and Lu Yun lifted their heads at the same time to look at the skies above. “The occurrence this time is even stronger than when the Dao Flower bloomed or Zhao Wushuang underwent her trial. Though those two were devastating, there was still a chance for survival. This time… it’s just pure destruction!
“Just who is it undergoing their tribulation in the Central World?!” Lu Yun took a deep breath, his face flickering rapidly through various changes.
The thunder tribulation encompassed all of the local immortals and cultivators with its range. Once it descended, everyone in the vicinity would be torn to pieces. Most importantly… Qing Yu’s tribulation was at hand. With the presence of the Diabolical Tribulation of World Refinement, it would shift her timetable forward as well.
“I can’t swallow this particular tribulation with the Thunder Palmstrike, nor can I deflect it with a lightning rod.”
The latest developments affected Qing Yu as well. Her brow was tightly furrowed as her nascent spirit stirred restlessly; a small wisp of smoke floated over her head—initial signs of a heavenly tribulation descending.
“This can’t be allowed to continue. I need to find the bastard attempting his tribulation here and kill him before it starts!”
Lu Yun departed from the emperor’s tomb, leaving Xing Chen standing guard at Qing Yu’s side. Activating the Wandering Step, he covered five hundred thousand kilometers with each stride, darting through the Central World in search of the cultivator in question. The tribulation clouds had just gathered and were still brewing their might—he could still turn things around.
The immortals in the Central World were all going mad as well. Most of them fought and pushed each other to get onto the Path of Ingress, then ran helter-skelter out of the realm. However, there were a few also like Lu Yun, furiously searching for the cultivator before the tribulation truly began.
“Who is it, just who is attracting a Diabolical Tribulation of World Refinement? Zhao Wushuang summoned it because she possessed the heart of the Sword of Chaos. The Sword of Chaos bears the will of the ancient divine court—a great enemy of the immortal dao, hence the immortal dao wanted to decimate it.
“When the Dao Flower bloomed, this tribulation descended because it wanted to protect the flower. If all life was destroyed, then the flower wouldn’t be controlled by any singular entity…
“Then… following this logic, the cultivator this time must threaten the immortal dao. Can it be… him?!” Lu Yun shook. “Ahh, so that’s what’s going on here! What a nice trick of pretending to go down one path while secretly advancing along another! I really would’ve fallen for it if I wasn’t here in person!”
He suddenly came to a halt and summoned the luopan, then injected the slightest demonic wisp into it. The wisp of energy came from the demon god, collected at the moment of its birth when it’d been restrained beneath Mount Exalted.
The compass indicator spun furiously before stopping in one direction.
“Aha, so his primary body really is here! The demon god that appeared in the North Sea was just his replica!”
Whoosh!
Lu Yun deployed the Wandering Step again and shot in the direction indicated by his luopan at full speed.
……
Innumerable fur seals shrieked and howled next to a bottomless chasm in the western reaches of the Central World. The soil around it was dyed the bright crimson of fresh blood, in which severed limbs littered the landscape. An untold number of immortals had plainly met their end here.
An egg as tall as a person and dark as night hovered quietly above the chasm. A dense cloud layer had enveloped the Central World, and the presence emanated by the egg grew stronger by the second. It seemed to be nurturing a terrifying demonic entity.
“I didn’t think you’d transfigure yourself into an egg so you could use the tribulation to temper your body.” Lu Yun’s appearance was announced by a tremble in the air; he sized up the egg and denounced it coldly.
“You’re too late, kid,” a ponderous response came from the egg. “This divinity’s heavenly tribulation is forthcoming, and you are already an immortal. The moment it descends is the moment of your death.”
The demon god’s true spirit was once the true spirit of the Exalted Divine emperor, and his true cultivation realm was far beyond the level of the heavenly tribulation. No matter how strong the tribulation might be, it wouldn’t harm a single hair on his head.
“Is that so?” a snigger came from the air.
Wham!
Golden-blue light flashed through the void, closely followed by a great physical seal as large as a mountain. It bore down inexorably on the egg.
The Skyturning Seal.
“Auooooogh!!” The tide of fur seals around the chasm seemed to lose their minds and flung themselves at the Skyturning Seal without reservation.
Blackish-red blood showered through the air and globs of mashed seal blubber plopped down to the ground. The ancient treasure proved its might, but the fur seals seemed to possess a mysterious power that affected it as well. Its glow grew fainter, and it, too, started to sway in the air.
“Someone comes bearing gifts as soon as this divinity is about to emerge in the world. Well then, it would be quite rude to refuse such a tribute,” sounded the demon god’s carefree tones, hardly worried about the attacks on its doorstep.
Hum.
A sword howled fiercely as an enormous pagoda materialized in the void. Tremendous sword energy coalesced into an enormous light curtain that trailed down and stirred up a tornado of blades. The tornado churned toward the egg, displaying the full might of the Sugato Sword.
At the same time, the skeletal form of the Venerated Sacrosanct Demon Sovereign appeared and grabbed the Skyturning Seal hovering in the air, leaping up to smash it down on his opponent.
