"How has the heavenly tribulation not ended yet?"
Yang Hong's consciousness automatically awoke after being struck by 182 bolts of tribulation lightning. This was a psychological cue he had given himself when fully guiding the law of time.
"You'll know if you use your divine sense to check outside," said the Xuan Yin Immortal Venerable, whose cultivation had regressed to the sixth layer of the Great Luo Profound Immortal realm, rolling her eyes at Yang Hong with a hint of exasperation.
Yang Hong immediately scattered his divine sense. His cultivation had advanced too rapidly, reaching the fourth layer of the Great Luo Profound Immortal realm, and his divine sense could now extend to a radius of 3,000 li.
As soon as he released it, he saw a large number of immortals gathered a thousand li away, spectating. By this time, there were already 28 Great Luo Profound Immortals. Below them, over a million Golden Immortals and tens of millions of Profound Immortals watched from a distance as the two of them underwent their tribulations.
"What? Are those guys outside playing dirty?"
"Mm-hmm. Every time we are about to successfully complete our tribulation, they throw in immortal beasts and demonic insects, preventing us from succeeding, forcing us to repeat the tribulation endlessly."
Yang Hong frowned, his brows knitting. "These fellows are truly wicked. Do you have any way to deal with them?"
"No, at least not for now. Unless I can break through to the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm, an assault from 28 Great Luo Profound Immortals would kill me quickly. Moreover, my cultivation has already regressed significantly due to the tribulation lightning."
"Uh... then let's speed up the refinement and absorption of the tribulation lightning energy, and strive to break through soon," Yang Hong said sheepishly. He began to move, and the Xuan Yin Immortal Venerable couldn't help but let out a soft gasp.
He hadn't dared to tell the Xuan Yin Immortal Venerable that the regression of her cultivation was not caused by tribulation lightning, but by him stealing it.
After the 290th bolt of tribulation lightning, the Xuan Yin Immortal Venerable's cultivation dropped again, regressing to the fifth layer of the Great Luo Profound Immortal realm. Simultaneously, Yang Hong's cultivation increased to the fifth layer of the Great Luo Profound Immortal realm, putting him on the same level as the Xuan Yin Immortal Venerable.
After 405 bolts of tribulation lightning, both of their cultivations rose to the sixth layer. After 739 bolts, they reached the seventh layer. After 1066 bolts, they ascended to the eighth layer, and after 1668 bolts, they both reached the ninth layer.
The immortals outside, though still present, were starting to lose their nerve.
"Cai Wei, do you know any techniques to conceal your aura?"
"Yes."
"After the next tribulation lightning strikes, we will both conceal our cultivation to the lowest possible level. As low as we can manage."
"Alright!"
The Xuan Yin Immortal Venerable had long ago discovered that Yang Hong's cultivation advancement also had the effect of enhancing cultivation through heavenly tribulation. She could now confidently say that she could defeat two of her former selves. Being struck by lightning truly could enhance one's cultivation and magic power.
...
Outside the layer of ice, Gao Yu, the Dragon King, who was seated on an immortal artifact pagoda, frowned and muttered, "Something's wrong. This script is off. How can anyone survive over a thousand bolts of tribulation lightning? Is Mo Fei that old witch a child of destiny?"
"But she doesn't seem like it either? Otherwise, she wouldn't still be a Great Luo Profound Immortal at over nine hundred thousand years old."
"Or perhaps she's a system owner? But what kind of system could withstand this kind of heavenly tribulation in the immortal realm? My own system was destroyed by immortal lightning."
"Strange, very strange. I should probably leave."
As he spoke, the Dragon King of Gao Yu formed a hand seal, and a faint shadow darted out from the shadow beneath his feet, disappearing in an instant. To outsiders, he still appeared to be there, but his true body had vanished, leaving behind only an illusory clone. However, the immortal artifact pagoda was real, still suppressing Lu Shao Shi and the other person.
The tribulation lightning continued. Those outside the ice were all focused on it, not noticing that the flowers, plants, and trees beneath their feet were growing at an accelerated rate, ten times that of the normal immortal realm.
Yang Hong had already begun integrating the rule of creation he had comprehended into the immortal crystals within his dantian and meridians. Because he had comprehended the rule of creation since the cultivation world and had spent his life cultivating spiritual plants, the integration was proceeding extremely smoothly. It was so smooth that the Xuan Yin Immortal Venerable opposite him was beginning to doubt her own existence.
"Yang Hong, are you a reincarnated and re-cultivated Immortal Emperor?"
"No, I am an ordinary person who ascended from the lower realm."
"Then how is it that your comprehension of this rule has already reached the level of law, and it's even more advanced than my rule of Yin?"
"I like farming. I've liked it since I was young, and I started comprehending the rule of creation from childhood."
"Heh heh~ You expect me to believe that?"
"Whether you believe it or not, I believe it."
"..."
The Xuan Yin Immortal Venerable rolled her eyes and simply closed them, focusing entirely on using Yang Hong's rule of creation to integrate her rule of Yin into her immortal crystals.
The next day, after the purple heavenly lightning descended, both of them completely concealed their cultivation and auras. Yang Hong's cultivation now appeared to be at the seventh layer of the Immortal realm, while the Xuan Yin Immortal Venerable, who had cultivated for over nine hundred thousand years, could only conceal her cultivation to the first layer of the Golden Immortal realm.
A false signal was sent out. The various immortals waiting outside immediately hurled tens of thousands of immortal beasts and immortal insects into the area of the tribulation clouds. Then, amidst cries of "Not good!" and "Quick, retreat!", all the immortals were pushed back hundreds of miles.
The tribulation clouds expanded again.
Rumbling and crackling. The new tribulation lightning was no longer purple but silver-white. With just one strike, both Yang Hong and the Xuan Yin Immortal Venerable's hair was incinerated, their skin scorched, their muscles cooked, and their bones glowed red. A single lightning bolt nearly killed them!
"Damn it, this is Immortal Lord tribulation lightning!"
"Focus your mind, circulate your energy!"
Yang Hong didn't think as much as the Xuan Yin Immortal Venerable. He desperately circulated the Pure Yang Immortal Codex, enveloping both of them with the law of time and directly activating a ten-thousand-fold time acceleration!
"Hiss~ You've also mastered the law of time? You really are a reincarnated Immortal Emperor!" the Xuan Yin Immortal Venerable exclaimed, quickly composing herself and circulating her own cultivation technique.
The immortal energy in heaven and earth formed a vortex under their absorption, drawing in more immortal energy. The immortals outside quickly employed their own methods, fully dispersing the gathered immortal energy. However, they all believed they saw hope. Silver-white tribulation lightning was the tribulation that immortals underwent when breaking through to become Immortal Emperors, the highest level of tribulation lightning in the immortal realm. The Xuan Yin Immortal Venerable was surely doomed.
Alas, they were to be disappointed.
"Come here, you old hag!"
After eight bolts of Immortal Lord tribulation lightning, the Xuan Yin Immortal Venerable broke through to the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm first. Before the ninth bolt of tribulation lightning descended, she suddenly erupted, unleashing her powerful divine sense to drag 27 Great Luo Profound Immortals into the tribulation cloud area. Yang Hong also struck instantly, his divine sense sword shooting out simultaneously, causing the 27 individuals to briefly lose their focus.
Boom!
Accompanied by a dazzling silver-white flash and a deafening thunderclap, the 27 Great Luo Profound Immortals were instantly obliterated, leaving only wisps of black ash drifting down through the air.
"Run!"
Someone shouted first, and the Golden Immortals and Profound Immortals immediately fled for their lives, streaking away into the distance. However, quite a few Golden Immortals were still dragged into the tribulation cloud area by Yang Hong and the Xuan Yin Immortal Venerable. Each time, it was over a hundred people. A total of over a thousand Golden Immortals were pulled into the tribulation cloud area, where they were directly crushed to the ground by the immense pressure of the heavenly tribulation, unable to move.
Everyone begged and wailed for a day, only to be struck by the silver tribulation lightning and reduced to ash.
Eighty days later, the tribulation clouds dissipated, and two Immortal Venerables at the third layer of the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm broke out of the ice, where they had been trapped for nearly five years. The Xuan Yin Immortal Venerable, clad in white robes, pointed a finger, and the ice within a thousand-li radius immediately transformed into rolling immortal energy, which she absorbed into her body. In just over ten breaths, the ice had vanished. With another wave of her hand, a golden pagoda flew into her grasp, and her two subordinates, who had been trapped beneath the golden pagoda, were freed.
"I'm going to kill that old loach and stew him!" The Xuan Yin Immortal Venerable's fury had not yet subsided, and she was about to seek out the Dragon King of Gao Yu for retribution.