Wan Lei heavily crashed to the ground, his momentum unbroken, creating several large craters. Fang Xiaoyu appeared, a gust of wind energy surrounding him, stabilizing his form.
"Has... has he ascended?"
Fang Xiaoyu's gaze was solemn, his eyes filled with apprehension.
"We were a step too late. Qiong Ku used their blood essence to break the final shackles for Liu Naiweng, allowing him to successfully breakthrough to the Immortal Realm.
He always spoke of the demon race having a fallback, making us believe it was tied to them. In reality, their fallback was Liu Naiweng."
Qian Niao, not far behind Wan Lei, heard this and, though about to speak, merely shook his head.
He wondered if Wan Lei could survive this ordeal first.
Wan Lei looked up at the dark clouds in the sky. The terrifying lightning contained within them made even him feel a sense of dread.
Wan Lei's first thought was that Liu Naiweng had killed too much, triggering a heavenly tribulation. However, upon closer inspection, he realized it wasn't as he imagined.
The tribulation clouds and lightning here lacked the familiar aura of the Heavenly Dao, the familiar scent of heavenly tribulation lightning. They were even different from the lightning he had crossed when breaking through his own cultivation.
Both the lightning and the aura were entirely different.
These tribulation clouds appeared more vast, profound, and majestic, inspiring no thought of resistance.
Then, Wan Lei understood.
Liu Naiweng had broken through to the Immortal Realm; this was an Immortal Tribulation, different from any heavenly tribulation before. An Immortal Tribulation originated from the Immortal Realm, a symbol of the Immortal Realm's will.
The Lei Feng Realm was merely a small, intermediate-level plane. It was difficult for even one immortal to emerge from it, and its plane will was very weak. The demon race could even send one or two demon lords to alter its universe heart.
But the Immortal Realm was different. The Immortal Realm was the strongest realm among the endless universes of the Prime Planes, capable of nurturing Saints, and even Immortal Venerables, a title Wan Lei had never heard of. How could its plane will compare to that of the small Lei Feng Realm?
Looking at the vast tribulation clouds in the sky, and at Liu Naiweng's formidable pressure and invincible posture in the distance, millions of troops in the Thunder Emperor Alliance felt a wave of powerlessness wash over them.
They had united, fought desperately, counterattacked with all their might, and sacrificed so many comrades, lost so many allies, to finally annihilate the enemy and achieve victory.
But in the end, the enemy... had become an immortal!
Were all the efforts they had made now leading to an irredeemable fate?
Even with their millions of troops, their more than a dozen Tribulation Transcending experts, and their status as the most powerful alliance in the Lei Feng Realm, how could they fight against an immortal?
In the distance, Liu Naiweng looked up at the sky and laughed heartily.
He had lived for nearly ten thousand years, his lifespan nearing its end. He had devised countless methods, but none allowed him to ascend to immortality.
He was unwilling. His talent was peerless, he had been invincible for an era, he was the strongest in the Lei Feng Realm, a favored son of heaven. How could he simply fade away, be forgotten by the world, and be submerged in the long river of time?
But he had no other recourse. No matter how indignant or unwilling he was, even if he wanted to kill everyone in the world out of frustration, it would be useless. He still could not become an immortal.
Until a most fortuitous event, the demon race descended, and he participated in the battle.
Whether he acted out of righteousness to save all living beings, no one could truly say. Perhaps he initially thought so, or perhaps not.
But when he suppressed the Demon Commander, Qiong Shen told him that he had a way to help him ascend.
Liu Naiweng was tempted. But after all, he was a cunning old fox who had lived for nearly ten thousand years. How could he agree to release them without any proof?
He extracted Qiong Shen's blood and demonic energy to conduct his own research. When he discovered that his cultivation, which had been stagnant for thousands of years, began to loosen, he was stunned. He was excited, he saw hope, and he became obsessed.
He used demonic energy to research divine abilities and used his own clansmen as test subjects, having them cultivate demonic energy. He indeed observed that demonic energy could strengthen those Liu family disciples.
Ultimately, he reached an agreement with Qiong Shen. He would help Qiong Shen, allowing the demon race to descend, and in return, the demons who entered would help him ascend.
All plans proceeded in an orderly fashion. Although there were several mishaps along the way, he ultimately succeeded.
In fact, Liu Naiweng felt somewhat grateful to Wan Lei.
The first time, if not for Wan Lei and Fang Xiaoyu's decisive battle causing delays, the demon race would have successfully invaded on a large scale. Liu Naiweng might have already perished at the hands of a demon lord.
The second time, another demon lord descended. Liu Naiweng worried that after the demon lord descended, they would discard him once his usefulness was over. After all, the demon race had successfully descended, and Liu Naiweng was no longer of significant use to them.
But fortunately, Wan Lei intervened at a critical moment, eliminating the demon lord and leaving behind hundreds of thousands of demon reinforcements.
Liu Naiweng was initially dumbfounded, but then, ecstatic.
With the demon lord gone, he had the leverage to balance the demon race. The demon race could not do without Liu Naiweng, so they had to help him.
At that moment, Liu Naiweng even wanted to catch up to Wan Lei and thank him properly.
Not only did Wan Lei help set up formations, but he also helped get rid of the demon lord. If he didn't know that Wan Lei wasn't colluding with him, he would have thought Wan Lei had come specifically to assist him.
As for the subsequent massacre of the Wu Zhou Dun families, the slaughter of the citizens within his territory, and even the massacre of his own Liu family clansmen after the war, Liu Naiweng didn't care.
As long as he could ascend to immortality, nothing else mattered. All sacrifices were worth it.
Most importantly, all the Demon Commanders were dead.
This was what made him happiest. The Lei Feng Realm was his, and he no longer had to guard against those Demon Commanders or worry about them making any moves.
This was the third time Liu Naiweng thanked Wan Lei.
Therefore, now, Liu Naiweng looked at Wan Lei with a mixture of admiration and gratitude.
Wan Lei was bewildered. What did that look mean?
"Wan Lei, I am very pleased to see you again."
Liu Naiweng stood in mid-air, gazing at Wan Lei.
"You're celebrating too early."
Wan Lei retorted without thinking.
"Oh? Do you have any other means that can deal with me?"
Liu Naiweng was not in a hurry at all. He had already ascended to the Immortal Realm and completely controlled the situation. No matter how great Wan Lei's talent or battle prowess, he could absolutely not bridge the gap between mortals and immortals.
Moreover, he was currently undergoing his Immortal Tribulation. He didn't have time to eliminate these insignificant insects. Since he had nothing else to do, he might as well chat with Wan Lei for a while.
Of course, he could not say, "Wan Lei, thank you! Thank you for helping me three times." If Wan Lei then said, "You're welcome, just spare my life," what would he do?
Therefore, while they chatted, he couldn't reveal too much. After he finished his Immortal Tribulation, he would then eliminate these insects who had opposed him.