C793 The Thunder Tribulation!

The voice of the Initial Spirit Ghost King rose as if from the deepest pits of hell, an invisible thunderclap echoing in the souls of both humans and ghosts, leaving them trembling and ashen-faced.

To form a Yin God is to invite the Great Dao's balance and endure a baptism of lightning?

Behind Cao Jiaze, the Yin God experts from the Heavenly Source Continent exchanged bewildered and astonished glances, their spirits in a haze. They had all attained the Yin God Stage, many even reaching the Soul Wandering Stage.

Yet, who among them had faced the Great Dao's restraint or the cleansing of lightning?

Not even the Heaven Defying Cultivators from the Quietus Continent, such as those from the Devil Palace, Red Devil Sect, or Blood God Cult, often encountered the Great Dao's constraint or suppression upon forming their Yin God.

Ancient legends told of human cultivators ascending to the heavens and breaking through formidable realms, facing the rare chance of a Heavenly Tribulation's baptism.

But legends are just that—legends. In today's age, such sights are nearly unheard of.

The Great Dao knows neither good nor evil; it is cold and impassive, not swayed to suppress whether one's path is righteous or wicked.

Have we not seen those who devour children and lay waste to cities still smoothly advance to the Yin God Stage, even the Unrestrained Stage?

Throughout the long Time River, every cultivator from the Devil Palace who achieved the Primordial Spirit bore hands stained with blood. Were they ever oppressed by the Great Dao?

Upon hearing that Yu Yuan faced a lightning tribulation the moment he formed his Yin God, cultivators from all corners, unacquainted with such tales, stood dumbfounded, their hearts filled with disbelief.

"In other expanses of the Boundless Land, such events might never occur. And if they do, they are exceedingly rare," Cao Jiaze inhaled deeply, his voice grave. "But here, in the most perilous reaches of the Horror Land, where the Yin Qi is at its peak—its most potent and concentrated!"

"You all know, throughout history, the Yin Qi of the Horror Land has never been as refined and thick as it is now!"

"At such a remarkable juncture, Yu Yuan formed his Yin God, and thus he was met with the Great Dao's balance!"

With these words, a spark of understanding ignited in the eyes of many. They all shared a moment of enlightenment.

Chu Yao of the Medicine God Sect paused briefly before saying, "This trial... it's not going to be easy for him to overcome, is it?"

Cao Jiaze's eyes lingered on Ann Ziqing, whose soul was still reeling from the shock. "She probably never imagined that the Ice Thunder Mark she wrested from Xie Binn would become the deadly blade to slay Yin God Yu Yuan," he mused.

Chu Yao couldn't help but chuckle, "What fate decrees, we must accept."

"I, I..."

Ann Ziqing, known for her razor-sharp wit and seldom bested in verbal sparring, found herself at a loss for words, hovering in her purple armor.

The small Ice Thunder Mark simultaneously intercepted shards of the Ice Soul Crystal and unleashed soul-destroying lightning bolts.

All of the lightning poured into the gaping hole.

She was flustered, unsure of whom to turn to for an explanation.

At that moment, the cauldron soul within the Evil Cauldron offered no response to the skeleton that had merged with the Cold Abyss Ghost King's icy body.

And the Ice Concubine? She was merely an Evil Demon...

To whom could she plead her case?

Above and deep below the ground, the spirits and ghosts, drawn by the sudden upheaval, shifted their focus from the clash between the white bones and the Cold Abyss to the now-exposed cavern.

Thanks to the Initial Spirit Ghost King's clarification, everyone came to understand the truth — Yu Yuan was not lurking in the Evil Cauldron but was instead cultivating in secrecy beneath the earth, having just condensed his Yin God.

"What will he do?" Ann Ziqing, her brow furrowed, sought answers from the Initial Spirit Ghost King through a secret method.

"He will either survive the lightning tribulation and earn the favor of Horror Land, becoming the darling of this realm, or he will perish, his soul shattered with no hope of survival," the Initial Spirit Ghost King declared, his tone detached as he presented the two stark outcomes.

Life or death.

Ann Ziqing's mind was adrift in uncertainty.

High above, Luohou shone with the refined brilliance of a rainbow, while the Initial Spirit Ghost King lurked in the shadows. The Black Staff, nestled within a vast expanse of dark clouds, and Qianjie, atop an ordinary Dark Mountain...

The four Ghost Kings momentarily diverted their attention from the ongoing battle between the white bones and the Cold Abyss, now keenly observing the trajectory of the lightning.

The Ghost King only then grasped the gravity of enduring the lightning tribulation in Horror Land.

Yu Yuan had forged his Yin God, setting off a cosmic equilibrium that beckoned the myriad bolts of lightning within the Ice Thunder Mark to converge upon him. The Styx ceased its flow, and the Yin Qi, emanating from the subterranean Yin Vein's wellspring, no longer nourished Dark Mountain. This spectacle overshadowed even the fierce skirmish between White Bone and Cold Abyss.

For even the four esteemed Ghost Kings had merely heard of such an event.

They had never truly witnessed it!

"Hu!"

In an abrupt shift, the Ice Concubine ceased her collection of Ice Soul Crystal shards and hastened back to the Evil Cauldron!

The once-grounded Evil Cauldron soared aloft, plunging down the gaping chasm that led underground!

It was an artifact's shield!

The actions of the Evil Cauldron alerted all onlookers, both spectral and living, to the direness of the predicament.

Yet, the rampant lightning within the Ice Thunder Mark was the natural nemesis of soul artifacts like the Evil Cauldron. Could it withstand the thunderous might raining down, or would it be reduced to nothing more than dust?

The onlookers were skeptical of the Evil Cauldron's protective gambit.

Within the luminescent silver circle, Yuan Lianyao, immersed in refining pure Yin Qi with her Yin God, snapped to alertness.

"What's happening?"

She watched in horror as arm-thick bolts of lightning, some a ghastly green, others a brilliant silver, snaked through the silver circle unimpeded, piercing into the silver-gray microcosm where Yu Yuan presided.

"Didn't the Ghost King claim that not even their kind could tread there?"

Her soul quivered with the onset of deep concern for Yu Yuan's well-being and a growing sense of dread.

The soul-shattering lightning seemed oblivious to her presence, but the mere brush of its energy against her Yin God instilled a terrifying premonition of obliteration should she make contact.

"With such formidable lightning at play, how will Yu Yuan cope?"

Yuan Lianyao's inner cries echoed, her impulse to rush back to that silver-gray sanctuary overwhelming.

Regrettably, as she poised to act, a surge of ice-blue lightning cloaked the fissure leading inward.

The force within that lightning could effortlessly scatter her Yin God to the winds.

She stood helplessly before the crevice, her heart aching with sorrow, powerless to change her fate.

Deep within the stone fissure.

Yu Yuan, who had been sitting motionless by the banks of the Styx, abruptly opened his eyes.

With a single glance, his gaze illuminated the darkness!

He had just been in his Consciousness Little World, refining strands of spiritual sense from his Earth Soul into soul thoughts, completing the metamorphosis of his soul. His Earth Soul had undergone a profound transformation into a Yin God, and he could feel countless soul thoughts coursing through his spirit like streams of water. But then, he was jolted awake.

Before he could fully explore the wonders of his new Yin God form, he was overwhelmed by a potent killing intent, so strong it nearly choked him!

Instinctively, he knew something was out to end his life!

How could he not fight back with everything he had?

The silver-gray expanse of his small world was thick with swirling Yin Qi.

It seemed to naturally gravitate towards him, ready to be harnessed at will, easily merging into his body.

With a mere thought from his soul...

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Vast waves of Yin Qi flooded into his chest, filling the seven apertures opened by the essence of the Yin Sunflower.

Streams of refined Yin Qi, like strands of silver, seeped into his bones, sinews, and blood, infusing his entire being with a gentle, chilling strength.

Suddenly, a blinding bolt of lightning, accompanied by a thunderous roar, shattered the silence of this tranquil realm!

In the previously quiet silver-gray world, a thunderous boom reverberated, sending a tremor through Yu Yuan. He sharpened his focus and saw a thick, eerie green lightning bolt emerge first.

And it was hurtling directly towards the acupoint on his forehead!

This fearsome lightning bolt seemed intent on obliterating his Consciousness Little World, aiming to annihilate the Yin God within, now at its most vulnerable.

In the instant the lightning struck, a thought from the origin of the Yin Meridians sprang forth in this small world.

"Lightning Tribulation!"

Yu Yuan's face paled, and without a moment's hesitation, he drew his sword sheath and, with a tingling scalp, lunged at the green lightning with his "Fallen Moon Slash!"

The crimson sword light, brimming with an unyielding sword intent capable of severing the moon and cleaving the heavens, met the lightning.

The dazzling green bolt, filled with countless twinkling lightning crystals and the profound essence of the lightning's Great Dao, was cleaved by the crimson sword light, scattering its brilliance throughout the silver-gray space like the explosive radiance of a sunburst.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

Hundreds of frigid ice crystals and minuscule flashes of lightning peppered Yu Yuan's body.

His flesh, tempered a thousand times to rival the hardness of divine iron and gold, now felt as though it was being devoured by an endless swarm of insects under the onslaught of the ice and electric fury.

In a flash, Yu Yuan's skin was laced with fine cracks and beaded with droplets of blood.

Boom!

The microcosm of blood and Qi within him began to churn autonomously.

The Life Altar, as if sensing the dire straits that could determine his fate in the blink of an eye, sprang into action without a word from him.

For years, the Life Altar had feasted on his rich blood and Qi, and now it surged to life with all its might!

At the altar's rim, a trail of crimson light sparked to life, channeling pure, heaven-sent life energy through his meridians and into every limb and bone.

In that moment, Yu Yuan felt as if he were bathed in a rejuvenating elixir, his entire being suffused with ease.

The battered flesh healed in the blink of an eye, restored to its original state!

His skin was now smooth as jade, translucent and radiant, a testament to the miraculous.

Yet, his clothes had been reduced to ashes, leaving him bare in this enigmatic microcosm.

"I will do my utmost to hold back the barrage of Heavenly Thunder. As your Yin God has been forged in the Horror Land, I shall offer my protection!"

The consciousness from the source of the Yin Meridian echoed once more.

It assured him that, having formed the Yin God within the domain of the Yin Meridian's source, the Heavenly Dao's balancing oppression would be met with resistance. As the master of this realm, it would lend its strength.

"The lightning tribulation is upon us; let the battle commence!"

Yu Yuan grunted, narrowing his eyes to see the crevice he had passed through now teeming with boundless Yin Qi, which had swiftly coalesced into thousands of minuscule worlds.

These tiny realms acted as barriers, seemingly delicate as threads but as formidable as pythons, ensnaring the myriad bolts of lightning.

The lightning, piercing through the crevice, darted across the Yin Qi-crafted worlds.

The assault on him was slowed, navigating through the labyrinth of these diminutive universes.

"I am determined to prevent even the slightest spark of lightning from reaching the sanctuary of my Consciousness Little World!"

No sooner had the thought arisen than he had time to ponder further when two more bolts of lightning, like dragons on the hunt, struck at his head, one after the other.

"The lightning—it originates from the Ice Thunder Mark!"

In that moment, Yu Yuan discerned the distinct chill and eerie essence within one of the bolts, sparking a sudden epiphany.

"Even without that mark, other bolts of lightning would still find their way to the Horror Land, seeking you out."

The consciousness of the Yin Meridian's source drifted through the multilayered small worlds, each born from the accumulation of Yin Qi.

It also meandered through every cluster of Yin Qi, perceptible to every strand of Yu Yuan's soul consciousness.

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