novelraw Chapter 783 - 782 - Progenitor Tribulation
Chapter 783 - 782 - Progenitor Tribulation
Kilna had died. She was certain of it. Her soul had been shattered and darkness closed in. She was more humiliated than angry at Aldar's betrayal but she was angry at herself. She prided herself on seeing the weakness in all foes.
Even in a simple duel for fun she took it seriously.
Yet Aldar had slipped past her until the last moment. The man was meticulous and sharp even at his advanced age. She had hoped to be there at the end and give him a warrior's death.
Yet when she had sought him out due to the unbelievable effects of the tribulation, she hoped to see him breakthrough. It was the best time but he was not where he was supposed to be.
He was in fact supposed to be in a tent monitoring the reports coming in yet it was empty. His disciples knew nothing and they tried to reach out to the other ancestor with them but nothing worked.
They found her corpse not long after and then found Aldar carefully moving towards Lind Frey!
The very moment she laid eyes on him, she knew. The way he moved was wrong and instantly had her instincts screaming at her.
She still hesitated and many died because of it. He was not called the Living Blade for nothing. He did even draw his sword as he quickly killed everyone around her.
By the time she chose to engage, he was ready to face her.
Their fight was at the peak of their skills but she realized he had been hiding more secrets. His skill was far more vicious and she could not keep up!
Her arm was lost before Xian finally arrived.
It was only when the pain started in her body that she knew Aldar had killed her with his last strike and held off to catch Xian off guard.
All of it to betray them.
Her final thought at the time was regret she had not killed him when she had the chance! That initial moment had been her one shot.
An unknown amount of time later the world came back and the sky had changed. She saw 18 dragons made of lightning plus one of flesh. Despite how powerful an Immortal she was, she felt tiny in front of them.
"The spirits love you, old friend." Xian was bleeding but alive.
"What happened?" She felt weaker than she ever had in her life. She also noticed golden sparks but it was not karma! Just what in the world was going on?
"Damned if I know but that tribulation is now deadly to anyone foolish enough to sneeze. I think it took from Aldar and gave to you as well. As he got weaker, you got stronger." That made no sense!
She had been dead! She had danced with death most of her life and had no compunction about accepting her fall into it. How was she even alive at all? How did her memories return?
[Divine Progenitor invoked the justice of Heaven, little demon. Be grateful your final spark still lived or nothing could have been saved. Do not scorn the new life granted by the destruction of a violator of the Dao.]
A voice boomed in her head but Xian had no reaction so she knew it was only for her. The moment it stopped she also felt a restriction fall in place on her. She could not speak of it to anyone!
"If you are able to move, we should go. We do not want–" Xian was about to continue when a roar snapped both their heads to the sky.
Lind Frey was now flying among the dragons! They were no longer his allies, but his trial!
Was he going to face them all at once?
The 2 Immortals froze in place as it began. The 6 natural Qi dragons began to merge to become a very familiar color. It was his harmony!
It was also massive. It easily filled the air for kilometers but was pure lightning. It dove at the much smaller Lind but he sneered as his emerald flames exploded out of his mouth. His fangs and teeth glowed with power as he directly fought the dragon.
The other 12 circled around but Kilna narrowed her eyes. They were not idle. The demonic Qi was interacting with the 6 she did not recognize to empower the attacking emerald lighting one.
Lind was facing all 18 at once!
At first, he seemed to hold up well with just his flames and some dodging but the emerald began to be streaked with the demonic and strange Qi. It did not get bigger but it did get stronger!
Lind was no longer able to simply dodge and he was getting hurt. Scales were sliced off by the lighting and it clearly slowed him down too at that time.
Kilna felt like she knew nothing as the power she felt was far beyond anything even Valkyrie had ever shown her! How could a newly minted Immortal survive that?
The sands began to glass over as the attack shockwaves swept outward but she noticed an oddity.
Not a single corpse or they were bothered at all. Her eyes narrowed as she saw why. Lind was doing it. Despite the pressure he was under, he was protecting them!
He was in fact suffering from doing that.
"Idiot." Xian nodded but could hardly complain. They were alive only because of Lind's action to protect them.
"I am not sure they will listen but let's ask the spirits nicely if they could let him overcome this trial." Xian was not joking but neither held out hope.
[Spirits of Heaven and Earth, we are being protected because we could not escape after fighting the Dao oathbreaker. Could we safely leave with the corpses of our fellow Daoists?] Kilna chose telepathy over spoken words as it was too loud to hear much beyond never ending thunder.
It was a slim hope but both were shocked at what happened next.
The world shifted around them in a very familiar way. Teleportation without an array and no tears in space! What kind of power was that?!
They were now surrounded by the corpses of the dead Hellfire and Divine Sword Sect disciples with Valkyrie looking on in shock.
"Wha–" Before the question could be asked, they all felt a shift in the tribulation. Based on the plan, they should be almost 100 kilometers away from the heart of it, but it was getting stronger!
"Good luck, boy." Kilna offered a heartfelt token and passed out. The rest was up to him.
⬧⬧⬧⬧
The sudden disappearance of the others alarmed Lind but he then felt their presence reappear much farther away. Wherever the tribulation reached, he could sense.
It was getting stronger the more he fought the manifested emerald dragon. Emerald was no longer the totally correct term as it was much like his sun used to be only far more profound. The level of power he senses was far beyond anything that should be possible in the Heaven Realm lands.
[Thank you for the mercy, now let's dance.] With the distractions gone his speed and power increased but it seemed the tribulation had been accommodating his worry too. It became a blur to his senses!
He also found a weakness of his dragon body. While all the Qi was available, it seemed he had neglected to adapt his dragon body to the 2 other elemental systems! He was only able to fully draw on his natural Qi!
Physically, his dragon body was an improvement in every way, but in Qi, it was far weaker than his human form!
Yet, he could not afford to transform or he would be spattered across the sky!
His enemies may get him killed yet.
He shot across the sky. Hiding from the dragon had become impossible. The only thing he could do was dominate it directly!
He was like an ant attacking a mountain but it was not a true physical battle. He instead felt the energy try to rip him to shreds from the inside out. His scales ruptured and blood fell like rain at that moment.
Yet, he did not falter.
He understood what the current tribulation was about. The very weakness of his dragon body he had identified!
[I will not bend!]
The 18 dragons were now one. All 18 varieties of Qi were now one but it was not his dantian nor his elemental control that was on trial.
It was his very existence!
The energy began to ravage his body, transforming it, but he could only consume the very Qi inside him to survive!
The lightning raged inside and outside his body. He held on until all his Qi was gone and only the body power remained! It was then he truly saw how hollow his dragon form was.
It had power, but he never trained it. It had the form but he had never truly mastered it. He simply followed instincts and mimicked Ethry, but it was not the path that had formed back in the Law Binding.
He had only put a foot on the path and now he paid the price for his complacency.
Pain ravaged him and he felt disdain from the clouds, yet his emerald eyes never lost their stubborn glint. He roared in defiance of death, judgment, and dismissal.
[I WILL NOT BEND!]
His body may be lacking, but his heart was not. It had been forged in many trials and overcame many heart demons. His body was running out of blood but he held onto his mind. If he lost consciousness, he would most certainly die.
He simply focused on the energy and guiding it or deflecting it as he could with the dregs he had left. Many would have given up but many had not had to struggle with each step of their cultivation as he had.
After an eternity, he saw the black clouds boiling again with no lightning dancing around him. His body was shredded. Blood stained the sand and glass everywhere. His once majestic main was mere tatters, an eye was missing, and all of his legs were just mush.
The fact he was alive at all in such a mangled state was a miracle, but Lind still summoned one more roar and a bolt of pure white light slammed into him.
His once mangled body swelled with vitality as his Qi also recovered. The sliver, barely formed in his dantian, was now far more sturdy but Lind knew even as he healed, it was not over.
Heaven celebrated his ascension, his path as a progenitor was passed, but he had forged a new sun and sliver. Heaven was fair and would not let him simply skate through. He would now face the next round of tribulations as far as he could. The final battle was still on the horizon.