A Slimmed-Down Tang Ru: His True Power!

Boom! Yet another terrifying bolt of lightning crashed straight down! Li Guanqi's brow twitched. He could clearly feel the ferocity of Tang Ru's heavenly tribulation—its intensity was already comparable to what he had faced during his own breakthrough... This stirred deep turmoil within Li Guanqi. Beneath his white robes, his fists clenched tightly, his eyes filled with worry. Boom! Lightning pierced heaven and earth, instantly knocking Tang Ru's body straight down from the void! "Fifth Brother!" "Fatty Tang!" "Son!" Everyone looked with utmost concern toward the earth in the distance, where thick plumes of dust were billowing into the sky. Li Guanqi clutched his fists. Beside him, Cao Yan and the others were already ready to charge in. Yet right at that moment, Li Guanqi reached out and held them all back. Looking up at the firmament, he said in a heavy voice, "Don't move, none of you! Trust him... The heavenly tribulation hasn't dissipated, which means he isn't dead yet." The moment his words fell, Gu Li spoke up anxiously, "But... this heavenly tribulation isn't even halfway through! If this goes on, he'll die!" Li Guanqi gritted his teeth, his blazing gaze fixed on the heavenly tribulation raging across the distant sky. In a slightly trembling whisper, he said, "Sometimes, every single one of us underestimates Tang Ru's perseverance. And what's more... for this breakthrough into the Mahayana realm, he yearns to step into this realm more than any of us!" His words rang like a deafening bell in everyone's ears. Behind him, tears streamed down Tang Wei's weathered face. He stood motionless, his eyes fixed on the distance in deep worry. Li Guanqi took a deep breath and stared at the distant smoke and dust, saying in a solemn voice, "Perhaps none of you know the history between Tang Ru and me... Back when we first met, he renounced his sect identity to give me century-old stalactite jade marrow liquid so Yu Sui'an's life could be saved. Later... if he hadn't delivered medicinal herbs to me, my master Li Nanting would have died at that fellow Cang Lu's hands long ago... And the things he brought me were originally meant for him to break through his own bottleneck and extend his life." Everyone was stunned to hear this. Only Ye Feng had known a little about these matters. For the rest, this was their first time hearing of it, and only now did they realize how deeply loyal and affectionate Tang Ru truly was. Back then, the moment Tang Ru sat on the perimeter wall and stripped off his sect robes, Li Guanqi had known that he was someone with his own convictions and bottom line. A slight smile touched the corner of Li Guanqi's lips. "Tang Ru has carried tremendous pressure walking beside us. As Uncle Tang's son, he was a proud prodigy from childhood. But when facing us, his inner pride and self-esteem made him suffer deeply... because the gap between us was simply too wide. That was why I sent him to Yu Shan back then! And true to our hopes, the leap in his strength has been the greatest among all of us! Without question! I know how hard those three years were for you all, but I am certain that the one who suffered the most was Tang Ru! So... during this breakthrough, even if he dies beneath this heavenly tribulation, I will not stop him! Because this is Tang Ru's own pride!" Li Guanqi's voice grew louder and more resounding as he spoke. Staring into the churning clouds, he roared toward the charred silhouette lying in the deep crater on the ground, "Did you hear that, Fatty Tang?!" Down in the crater, the severely wounded Tang Ru's eyelids trembled. Lacerations covered his body, flesh torn outward, while charred wounds gave off a burnt stench. Yet the moment Li Guanqi roared those words, Tang Ru's eyelids quivered, and he forced his eyes open. The corners of his pudgy lips curled slightly upward... Climbing out of the crater with great difficulty, Tang Ru was battered and bloody from head to toe, one arm broken, his mind hazy with exhaustion. Staggering to his feet from the pit, Tang Ru kept his back turned to the crowd, as if unwilling to let them see him in such a wretched state. Tang Ru spat out a mouthful of blood and muttered hoarsely, "Leave it to you... You really know me best..." Tang Ru did not look back. He was afraid that turning around would mean seeing their expectant eyes... After all, he had no absolute certainty of surviving this breakthrough either. Buzz! Potent medicinal efficacy suddenly began to circulate through Tang Ru's body. In an instant, his aura surged frantically upward! Bang! The robes on Tang Ru's upper body burst apart, revealing... a solid layer of pale blubber... Cao Yan's lips twitched. "Tsk, fairer than even that pretty boy Xiao Chen..." The others also began bantering in turn. Rumble! As thunderclouds churned, Tang Ru raised his hand, unleashing nearly three hundred thousand defensive inscribed talismans in one go! The dense cluster of talismans surged around him like an ocean tide. Even before breaking through to the Mahayana realm, his divine sense controlled such an immense number of talismans with effortless ease. Gu Li shrugged. "That guy's divine sense reserves are absurdly high too. He's bound to be terrifyingly strong once he reaches the Mahayana realm!" Before his voice had fully faded, Tang Ru unexpectedly advanced rather than retreated, surging straight toward the firmament surrounded by shimmering inscribed talismans! For some reason, perhaps influenced by Li Guanqi, these sworn brothers never had the word 'retreat' in their vocabulary, no matter what heavenly tribulation they faced; they knew only to charge straight forward with swords pointed at the sky. Tang Ru's gaze was sharp as a blade. Raising his hands, he wrapped layer upon layer of inscribed talismans overhead! Rumble! Boom! Boom! Boom! Six consecutive tribulation thunderbolts crashed down. The skyful of inscribed talismans shattered to pieces, the sound of breaking barriers ringing out without pause, falling thick and fast like a torrential downpour. Yet before the onlookers' astonished eyes, Tang Ru formed hand seals, and the illusory forms of his abacus beads shattered apart at this very moment! A phantom Bagua array plate spanning a hundred fathoms manifested in midair! Immediately following that, Chaos Flame ignited within Tang Ru's body! Forming hand seals, Tang Ru incanted in a measured chant: "Heaven and Earth align, the Eight Trigrams manifest; heavenly secrets appear, the wheel of fate turns! Heaven and Earth take their places, mountain and marsh exchange their qi, thunder and wind clash together, water and fire do not extinguish each other! One Qian, two Kun, three Zhen, four Xun; five Li, six Kan, seven Gen, eight Dui; Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams, heed my command!" A mysterious power seemed to gather between heaven and earth, and a colossal Taiji diagram appeared in the sky! It then divided into eight cardinal directions, each displaying a symbol representing the Eight Trigrams. Next, these symbols radiated brilliant light, accompanied by the apparition of the wheel of fate turning slowly. A profound sense of order spread between heaven and earth—the sky sat high above, while the ground carried all things in steadfast quietude. Immediately after, currents of air seemed to pass between the mountains and lakes, forming a harmonious cycle of qi. Lightning intertwined within the mist and violent winds whipped up, yet neither conflicted with the other. Murmuring streams coexisted with blazing flames, untroubled by their heat, presenting a wondrous sight of mutual restraint and harmonious balance. As Tang Ru chanted his incantation, a cosmic phenomenon manifested! Tang Ru's body seemed to burn with some form of energy, an energy that he had accumulated within himself... Under everyone's stunned gazes, bolstered by the medicinal strength within, Tang Ru's aura climbed almost entirely into the Mahayana realm! And what was more... Tang Ru's body was slimming down at a speed visible to the naked eye! His originally bloated frame grew robust, muscles bulging beneath his skin, while the baby fat on his face melted away. His facial features became sharp and defined. Though he had monolid eyes, he possessed an unexpectedly handsome bearing... Li Guanqi muttered, "Is that damn fellow really Tang Ru??" Cao Yan looked at Tang Ru, then turned to look at Xiao Chen, who was touching his own face. "He feels even handsomer than Xiao Chen..." Xiao Chen mumbled to himself, "This... my reputation as the pretty boy is in jeopardy!" Gu Li was also stunned, staring blankly at Tang Ru's broad back and sharp profile. "This... this change is way too huge!" Just as his words fell, Gu Li's talisman barrier shattered completely. The penultimate wave of lightning crashed down with a thunderous roar! Tang Ru treaded the profound Daoist astral steps, chanting softly: "Primordial Bagua, Secrets of the Manifest; Yin and Yang converge, heavenly secrets serve my will!" The phantom Bagua beneath his feet slowly rotated, and a misty pillar of light shot out instantly! The pillar collided with the thunder, and the tribulation lightning shattered on the spot! The scattered lightning energy was absorbed by Tang Ru, making his aura grow even more formidable! Looking up at the tribulation lightning still swirling overhead, Tang Ru was filled with supreme confidence. "Is that all? Then it's my turn!!" Boom! A terrifying pressure erupted from Tang Ru's body as he chanted softly: "In change there is Taiji, which gives birth to the Two Modes; the Two Modes generate the Four Images; the Four Images generate the Eight Trigrams; the Eight Trigrams evolve the myriad things, and the myriad things return to the One Origin. Where Tiangang points, Disha opens the way; the stars guide, open the Bagua Formation!" Boom! The Bagua diagram burst with blinding radiance. Rotating slowly, Tang Ru hovered in midair and guided his hands forward! A black-and-white Taiji Yin-Yang diagram appeared before Tang Ru, spanning a full hundred fathoms and slowly turning. Facing the final wave of the lightning tribulation, he chose to face it head-on! Powerful currents of energy converged within the Yin-Yang diagram, blocking every single bolt of lightning several fathoms thick! Behind the Yin-Yang diagram, Tang Ru stood completely unharmed! Boom! The frenzied lightning poured down, dimming the sky across the entire Northern Region of Qingyun Continent. Yet against such a terrifying heavenly tribulation, Tang Ru held up a Taiji Yin-Yang diagram with a single hand, absorbing it all... Buzz! Celestial radiance illuminated the world, and Tang Ru broke through into the Mahayana realm like an invincible conqueror!