Ye Zichen was utterly furious. He never would have guessed they’d use even Xia Keke to place the Four Beasts Formation.
What made him even angrier was the fact that nobody had ever discussed the matter with him.
If he hadn’t discovered her just now, who knows how long they would have hidden this from him!
Spiritual energy flooded out of him, sending those around him flying. He stamped hard against the earth then shot into the air like a rocket, hurtling himself towards the Four Beast Formation.
Bang!
Draconic claws sent him flying backwards. Ye Zichen looked and saw Xia Hua hurriedly rushing towards him.
“Emperor Ye!”
The one who just sent Ye Zichen flying was none other than Xia Hua. He’d been keeping an eye on Ye Zichen since the moment he first entered Dragon City precisely because he feared Ye Zichen would react like this.
“Hah…..” Ye Zichen wiped the corners of his mouth and roared, eyes bloodshot, at the elderly dragon, “Xia Hua, you did an excellent job hiding your true intentions from me!”
“Emperor Ye, please understand,” Xia Hua sighed and lowered his head, “I didn’t deceive you on purpose.”
“It wasn’t on purpose?” Ye ZIchen licked his lips, pointed at Xia Keke, and shouted, “isn’t that your granddaughter? Xia Hua, I truly never would have guessed you dragons were so ruthless. Get Keke out of that formation immediately! Do it right now!”
“I can’t,” said Xia Hua, his voice low.
“Fine, then I’ll just have to save Keke myself.”
Ye ZIchen said nothing more. He simply glowered hatefully at Xia Hua, then shot towards the formation.
Xia Hua instantly transformed into an azure dragon. His draconic tail swung at Ye Zichen, roughly slamming him to the ground.
Xia Hua reverted to his human form and roared, “Emperor Ye, don’t cause trouble!”
Then, moisture glinting in his eyes, he continued, “If I could take her place, do you really think I’d let Keke sacrifice herself? Do you think I wanted this…..? The Four Beasts formation requires pure Sacred Beast bloodlines. I searched the whole clan for people with a pure Golden Dragon but only found the six of them.”
Xia Hua looked down at Ye Zichen, his aged face determined. “I’m unwilling to part with my granddaughter. Even so, for the sake of our clan’s future, she has to do this. Zhuge, Ol Lei, and Ol’ Tu have already perished. I’m the only Sacred Beast clan head left. I have to help both the Beast Region and our human allies grasp our final hope of turning things around. After a hundred years, we can reclaim the Three Realms and avenge our fallen comrades! Emperor Ye, if you want to shatter this formation, fine. Do it. If you do, you’ll shatter our final hope along with it. If you still want to act without regard for others, if you want to force the people of the Beast Region to follow you to the grave, go ahead and break it!”
Everyone in the surrounding area watched their discussion. The muscles of Ye Zichen’s face twitched uncontrollably as he stared intently at Xia Keke. She stood in the center of the formation, her face wracked with agony.
“Keke, can you hear me?”
Ye Zichen got up from the ground and looked directly at Keke in the middle of the formation.
“Tell me, was this your decision? If it wasn’t, tell me now. Nevermind the people of the Three Realms or the future…. I’ll break the formation and save you immediately, so long as you tell me: was this your decision?
What “citizens of the Three Realms?”
What “future of the people?”
That was nothing but dog farts!
Concern for the world was all well and good. However, if he couldn’t even save his woman at a time like this, could he even be considered a man?
Xia Keke didn’t even need to answer out loud. So long as she shook her head, he’d immediately break the formation.
Ye Zichen subtly started revving up his spiritual power. Even from a ways away, Xia Hua sensed his circulating spiritual power.
Then he watched as Xia Keke, even as her face contorted with unbearable agony, forced herself to smile comfortingly at him.
“I’m doing this of my own free will, Big Brother Zichen. Don’t blame my grandpa, this really was my decision.”
Ye Zichen clenched his fists.
Then relaxed them.
Then clenched them again.
And relaxed them again.
After repeating this process countless times, Ye Zichen looked at Xia Keke once more, then suddenly looked away.
When he saw Ye Zichen’s decision, Xia Hua finally let out a sigh of relief. At the same time, though, he felt a certain inexplicable disappointment.
For the sake of their clan’s future, he wouldn’t break the Four Beasts Formation. However, looking at it selfishly, he truly didn’t want to see Xia Keke sacrifice herself.
“Demons, Gu Li, I’ll destroy you sooner or later.”
Ye Zichen tightly clenched his fists then left without saying a word. He feared that if he stayed, he would lose control of himself, break the formation, and rescue Xia Keke.
Xia Keke watched Ye Zichen from within the formation. Her heart ached as well.
She’s disappointed him!
However, she truly didn’t want Ye Zichen to save her if it meant being cursed throughout the world!
Rumble! Crack! Boom!
At that moment, a sudden crack of lightning boomed in the skies above Dragon City, briefly startling its people out of their wits. Then they looked up and saw…..
Although no one knew when they’d gotten there, the sky was filled with dense layers of thunderclouds. The onlookers could dimly discern reddish-purple lightning crackling amongst the clouds.
They didn’t know when they’d gotten there, but the sky suddenly filled iwth dense dark layers of thunderclouds. THey could dimly sense reddish purple lightning () the clouds.
Boom!
There was yet another sudden crack of lightning. Purple flight flashed through the onlookers’ eyes as it lit up in the sky.
When he saw this, Ye Zichen couldn’t help but frown. This scene was awfully familiar. If he wasn’t mistaken…
Someone was undergoing Divine Tribulation!
Inside a small wooden hut somewhere in the mountains around Dragon City, Su Liu’er sat cross-legged on the floor.
After waking from her coma, she didn’t blame Ye Zichen or her sisters for what they’d done. She knew they’d done it for her sake.
In order to avenge Yuan Hong without their interference, she decided to simply take the initiative and connect with the tribulation lightning, calling it down to earth.
Crack! Crack! Boom!
Another bolt of lightning fell from above. By now, Su Liu’er had already endured three sets of nine bolts of heavenly lightning, twenty-seven bolts in total.
Each level of heavenly lightning lasted for nine bolts. This newest bolt was going to be many times stronger than what she’d endured earlier. Su Liu’er didn’t dare be negligent and put all of her spiritual energy into raising her defense.
Boom!
The lightning landed directly on Su Liu’er’s head. However, the lightning contained no material attack at all. Instead, after it landed, it turned into a red mist, enveloping Su Liu’er within.
“Big Sister Liu’er is undergoing tribulation?”
Ye Zichen, who’d hurried to watch the tribulation, saw Su Liu’er standing right in the center of it. He couldn’t help but frown.
When Su Liu’er saw him, she was briefly stunned. Then she bit her lip and nodded.
“That’s right. Zichen, just how long will this lightning tribulation last? It’s been so long. Why hasn’t she succeeded yet?”
“That…..”
Ye Zichen didn’t quite know what to say. At least, he’d undergone his tribulation….
The lightning fell without end.
To the side, Su Zhu frowned and asked, “Ye Zichen, you’ve undergone lightning tribulation before. Do you know what that bolt of lightning is doing? It has no offensive power at all. Also, it’s been a while since it landed, but no more lightning has fallen even after all this time……”
However, before she could even finish her sentence, she saw Su Liu’er, still sitting cross-legged on the ground, suddenly emit explosive killing intent.
Eyes red, scarlet mist filled the air around her. Her tails turned blood-red and her fingernails sharpened into claws before she started destroying the wooden hut in a mad frenzy, without even the slightest trace of rationality.
This…..
This type of heavenly lightning was the most secretive of all: Heart Demon Heavenly Lightning!
