novelraw Chapter 154 : Do You Hear How Loud This Thunder Is
Chapter 154 : Do You Hear How Loud This Thunder Is
The spiritual energy accumulated in Chu Sang's body was already enough for her to break through to the Nascent Soul stage. However, for some unknown reason, despite having a Heavenly Spirit Root that should accelerate her advancement, each time she broke through to a new realm, it consumed far more spiritual energy than others. Although her strength after breakthrough was correspondingly higher than those of the same realm, the fact that it consumed more spiritual energy was undeniable.
Unless absolutely necessary, she didn't want to forcibly break through using pills. Fortunately, this Nascent Soul Pill in her hand was a prize from the sect competition, naturally of high quality, personally refined by the Patriarch of the Pill Condensation Sect. Unlike ordinary Nascent Soul Pills on the market, it not only had a high success rate for forming the Nascent Soul but also had almost no side effects.
The Vice Sect Leader immediately saw through her intentions and sneered, "Audacious fool, what a pipe dream!"
Knowing the vast difference in power between them, and that she couldn't win, she actually thought to use heavenly thunder to strike him?
The power of heavenly thunder was indeed formidable. In all his years, he had never seen anyone vainly attempt to defeat a powerful enemy using the power of heavenly thunder.
But even if she could successfully summon heavenly thunder, so what?
Was this person overestimating the power of her heavenly thunder? He, a mighty Unity stage cultivator, how could he fear a mere Nascent Soul stage lightning tribulation? It was simply laughable!
"Boastful fool, what can your tiny Nascent Soul lightning tribulation do to me? Haha..."
The moment the first bolt of heavenly thunder struck, the entire world fell silent.
That laughter that hadn't even fully emerged was abruptly cut off, turning into a coarse scream, which was quite jarring.
From the dense black clouds in the sky above, a bolt of purple-gold lightning tribulation, thicker than a person, descended, almost occupying the entire space, dazzlingly bright.
Just before the heavenly thunder struck, the highly capable Senior Brothers and Sisters received a message from Chu Sang in the "One Big Happy Sect Family" soul sea group chat. They quickly applied invisibility and concealment talismans, taking advantage of the Vice Sect Leader's attention being drawn by Chu Sang to evacuate the elders, disciples, and the Sect Leader from the area.
That terrifying heavenly thunder nearly affected them.
Tantai Ming, having experienced the Nascent Soul lightning tribulation himself, was almost annihilated in body and soul just by being grazed by the residual thunder. He couldn't help but curse, "Damn, is Little Junior Sister about to ascend?"
This is a Nascent Soul stage lightning tribulation??!
He would believe it if someone said Little Junior Sister was ascending on the spot.
In comparison, his own Nascent Soul lightning tribulation, which had nearly taken half his life, seemed as weak as a chicken. And this was just the first, weakest bolt of heavenly thunder. He couldn't imagine if Little Junior Sister could survive after completing the lightning tribulation.
Originally, he had doubted whether Little Junior Sister could really kill that old bastard with the lightning tribulation.
Now he believed it.
Little Junior Sister's lightning tribulation might really be able to kill that old bastard, but he feared Little Junior Sister herself might ascend on the spot.
⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱
In the ancestral worship grounds, only Chu Sang and the Vice Sect Leader remained. The Vice Sect Leader's face, which had been contemptuous and sneering, now looked somewhat unsightly. This heavenly thunder... was fierce.
Extremely fierce.
For a powerful Unity stage cultivator like him to give such a high evaluation, one can imagine how strong the power of this heavenly thunder was.
His gaze towards Chu Sang became increasingly uncertain. What was this person's identity? How could a mere Nascent Soul lightning tribulation be so ridiculously powerful!
At least the red-robed young girl opposite him was clearly in a worse situation.
After all, Chu Sang was only at the Golden Core stage. Facing such powerful heavenly thunder, she could hardly resist. Her robe was tattered, and this was just the first bolt of heavenly thunder. It had almost made her grit her teeth to stand up from the ground.
Seeing her miserable state, the Vice Sect Leader resumed his cold sneer, "As long as I kill you, the lightning tribulation will stop."
"Let's see whether you die by my hand first, or by this heavenly thunder first—"
Before he finished speaking, he moved.
His ghost claw directly rushed towards Chu Sang's vital point, but her figure suddenly vanished, appearing behind him. Her movements were so quick, not at all like someone who had just experienced a lightning tribulation. A lightning-attracting talisman was smoothly attached to the Vice Sect Leader's back, and the heavenly thunder abruptly changed course, directly striking the Vice Sect Leader.
"Boom!"
The second bolt of lightning tribulation hit the Vice Sect Leader squarely.
"Listen to this thunder, is it loud?" she said softly.
The first bolt of heavenly thunder was already terrifying, but the power of the second bolt was more than ten times stronger. The protective spiritual energy around the Vice Sect Leader was instantly shattered, and the terrifying lightning power poured into his entire body, through his limbs and organs, his dantian and meridians... His gritted teeth trembled as he spoke, "You're... seeking death!"
"Don't rush, there's still the third bolt. Please bear with it for me," Chu Sang took out dozens... no, hundreds of substitution talismans, stuffed them all into a gun, and fired them in a barrage.
As long as the Vice Sect Leader was touched by even one, the feeling would be ecstatic.
"Now for the fourth bolt," she continued counting.
After being struck by the previous three bolts of lightning tribulation, the Vice Sect Leader's speed was greatly reduced. He could barely keep up with Chu Sang, who had applied over a dozen speed talismans, pushing her movement technique to the limit. Seeing the young girl pull out another talisman gun, with talismans scattering like flowers from heaven, he became even more enraged and embarrassed. He used ghost energy to destroy all these annoying talismans.
But there were too many talismans, and they were too light, moving with the wind. Despite his efforts, one still landed on him. As the girl's five words fell, a bolt of heavenly thunder followed—
It struck him directly again?!
The power of the fourth bolt of heavenly thunder was stronger than the first three combined. This made the Vice Sect Leader, who had been comfortable for hundreds of years, experience once again the exhilaration of his Unity stage lightning tribulation. The pain that penetrated to his bones made his face twist even more hideously, like a fierce ghost.
The treasures in the young girl's hands seemed endless, with many heavenly and earthly treasures that even he had never seen before.
Each time she spoke, she was counting, sounding very much like the King of Hell reading from the Book of Life and Death.
The fifth bolt of heavenly thunder.
The sixth bolt of heavenly thunder.
The seventh...
After being struck so many times, the Vice Sect Leader's body formed a conditioned reflex. He no longer even focused on killing Chu Sang, but nervously looked up to check the heavenly thunder's movement every time she spoke, dodging miserably.
No one had ever seen a Unity stage cultivator in such a miserable state.
The Nascent Soul lightning tribulation for ordinary cultivators generally ends in two or three days. Even for exceptionally talented ones like Tantai Ming, it would take at most five or six days. But Chu Sang's lightning tribulation would definitely last more than five or six days.
She might not be able to see what was happening outside from the ancestral worship grounds, but the other Lingqing Sect members could see it clearly. Black thunder clouds covered the sky, turning the entire world into eternal night, as if time itself had frozen. Countless golden lightning bolts traversed the black clouds.
At the moment the heavenly thunder descended.
The sky lit up.
This heart-striking, shocking scene was simply indescribable in words.
The outside world had no idea how much time had passed. The only feeling was that it was extremely long.
Each bolt of heavenly thunder was thicker and stronger than the last. Even at such a great distance, each strike made one's heart tremble. It was hard to imagine what the scene at the center of the heavenly thunder was like.
The strength of the Unity stage was somewhat useful. Even after enduring so many bolts of lightning tribulation, he could still cling to life, refusing to die.
"Only one last bolt of heavenly thunder left..." The Vice Sect Leader spat out a mouthful of black smoke. Having cultivated the ghost path, he was truly about to become a fierce ghost.
He swore that after the last bolt of heavenly thunder struck, he would personally flay the young girl alive! Death would not be enough!
Chu Sang had also been hit by several bolts of heavenly thunder, and her condition was not much better. She focused her gaze on the final bolt of heavenly thunder gathering in the sky above.
The last bolt of heavenly thunder would be the strongest of the entire lightning tribulation.
Most cultivators who died in lightning tribulations died from this bolt.
If this bolt of heavenly thunder couldn't kill this old bastard, she would be the one to die.
"...Really trash," she said slowly, giving the sky above the middle finger. She grinned, her sarcasm at maximum, "I've never seen such a lousy heavenly thunder in my life, can't even kill a small Golden Core like me."
"Not even as comfortable as my last lightning tribulation."
"If you can't kill me this time, remember to bring different heavenly thunder next time."
"Utterly useless."
"Negative review!"
Her body was half-dead, but her mouth was full of low-quality words.
Under the Vice Sect Leader's confused, shocked, and fearful gaze, the heavenly thunder that had been slowly gathering suddenly became a hundred times more terrifying and powerful. Under the endless, thick black clouds, a bolt of heavenly thunder formed,
A super bolt of heavenly thunder that was red turning purple, purple turning black,
With a speed faster than the ear could catch, it struck down fiercely!
The entire black sky seemed to be torn open, revealing a huge abyss-like rift!
Damn.
In half a lifetime, he had never seen black heavenly thunder.
The range affected by the last bolt of heavenly thunder was too large. Neither of them could escape. In an instant, they were both engulfed.
But there was a well-known rule about heavenly thunder striking people—under heavenly thunder, those with higher cultivation would suffer more damage.
If one illegally entered a heavenly thunder that didn't belong to them, as a variable that disturbed the rules of heaven's way, the damage would be increased dozens of times on top of the original damage, in order to eliminate the variable.
Just the last bolt of heavenly thunder alone lasted for three days and three nights.
Everyone else was so shocked they couldn't speak. They had retreated along with the affected area of the heavenly thunder, and were now ten miles away, yet could still feel the power of that black heavenly thunder...
Now they really doubted whether Little Junior Sister was alive.
As soon as the lightning tribulation finally ended, they immediately went to collect the body... find the person!
This much time was also enough for the other Myriad Stars Sect members to recover their strength.
The Sect Leader gave them a deep look, naturally knowing that these disciples were not ordinary people. But now was not the time to dwell on these matters. She immediately led the disciples and elders to the ancestral worship grounds.
"Little Junior Sister, Little Junior Sister!"
Chu Sang really thought she was dead. She had no feeling in her entire body, and her vision was a blur of black and red, unable to see anything.
Someone grabbed her hand and fed her some pills. The gentle medicinal power that dissolved repaired her badly damaged limbs and organs.
Bones regenerated, flesh regrew.
She finally opened her eyes and managed to crawl up from the ground, alive.
Not far away lay the body of the Vice Sect Leader... or more accurately, his corpse.
Disciples had already gone to check. The Vice Sect Leader was completely lifeless.
Chu Sang was extremely weak now. Seeing that this old bastard had finally been struck dead, she let out a big sigh of relief and was about to faint again.
The others also thought the crisis was finally over.
The Sect Leader also burned the Vice Sect Leader's corpse to ashes.
But unexpectedly, a weak, almost transparent primordial spirit escaped from the corpse.
An ordinary cultivator would have been completely annihilated in body and soul long ago. This Vice Sect Leader had cultivated the ghost path early on. At the brink of death, he used a forbidden technique to leave behind a wisp of his remnant soul. Without a word, it rushed towards the sealing stone.
Die!
All of you die!
All those who disrupted his grand plan, all of you die!
Originally, this plan was flawless. He had painstakingly plotted for over a hundred years, over a hundred years! Yet unexpectedly, he not only lost his physical body, but the cultivation he had worked so hard on for a hundred years had also been reduced to nothing.
He was furious. The endless resentment further strengthened the power of this wisp of remnant soul. At this moment when the sealing power was at its weakest in a thousand years, it actually managed to break through this final layer of the seal.
"Hahaha, you, all of you die—"
Before this wisp of remnant soul could finish speaking, it was swallowed whole by a huge creature, becoming nourishment for that thing's awakening.
The towering ancestral worship grounds completely collapsed.
Beneath the altar.
A black vortex appeared.
The Lingqing Sect members who had come out of the third round of the sect competition knew all too well what this black vortex was—a space-time rift.
Beneath the Myriad Stars Sect, a space-time rift had actually been sealed!
A black, terrifying creature crawled out from the space-time rift.
No one could describe what it looked like.
It seemed to be the embodiment of fear, darkness, and disaster...
Black mist silently and rapidly spread in all directions from the Myriad Stars Sect as the starting point. Any area covered by it would fall into chaos and the fear of death.
This was the scene Chu Sang saw when she opened her eyes... So they had still failed...
"We absolutely cannot let it continue to expand, otherwise it will bring disaster to the entire cultivation world. Our Myriad Stars Sect will become sinners for all eternity!"
"Are you willing to join me in sealing 'Chi'!"
The Sect Leader took the lead, sacrificing her own soul. That white figure was incomparably sacred in the endless darkness.
Qiu Ping and his group all stood up, their voices resolute, "As disciples of the Myriad Stars Sect, we are willing to sacrifice ourselves for righteousness!"
"All members of the Myriad Stars Sect, hear my command, use all your power to seal it."
As the Sect Leader's figure gradually faded, other Myriad Stars Sect disciples, one after another, threw themselves into this resolute sacrifice, successfully sealing that thing again. To ensure the space-time rift would never open again, they also sank the entire sect into the yellow sand, never to see the light of day again, their bones intertwined, sleeping for eternity.
Chu Sang seemed to hear the silent lament.
It was the lament and weeping of the illusion.
"Thank you for giving the Myriad Stars Sect the best ending." A light sigh, and everything began to collapse. The Sect Leader's figure appeared before everyone's eyes again, but much weaker now, as if she could dissipate with the wind at any moment.
"This is the obsession before my death. I regret not seeing people clearly, regret not protecting the sect and disciples, and not protecting the people of this area, and also... letting that person succeed..."
She seemed both sorrowful and joyful as she grasped Chu Sang's hand.
Chu Sang felt a burning sensation in her palm. A blood-red pattern appeared on her palm. She was slightly startled. This pattern was...
"In the real world, he's not dead, he's still alive..."
"Please find him, save him, destroy it." The Sect Leader placed something else in her palm. "This is the reward for your successful trial, and also the payment for my request for your help."
Who is he?
And who is he?
How to find him?
Where to look??
Unfortunately, the Sect Leader didn't give them answers. Her figure disappeared along with the entire secret realm.
The group's vision became an endless expanse of yellow sand.
How could there still be living people in a sect buried deep under yellow earth, a lonely city where time had stopped for a hundred years?
Even if the memories were vivid, they were long gone, leaving only countless skeletons buried deep underground.
"Who was the person the Sect Leader asked us to find at the end?" Tantai Ming stood up, patting himself down.
"I may know who it is," Chu Sang also stood up, opening her palm. In her palm was a blood-red, translucent jade pendant, seemingly containing supreme mysticism.
The blood-red pattern on her palm grew increasingly vivid and eye-catching, seeming to have some kind of resonance with the jade pendant…