The Dragon's Head Parts the Clouds!

Faced with the surging lightning of the heavenly tribulation, Chen Xiaotian did not choose to take the offensive. His strength had not yet returned to its peak; he still needed time. The array plates he had laid around himself were meant precisely to buy him that time. Hum! The scattered array plates burst with brilliant light in that instant, erecting layer upon layer of defensive barriers. Boom! Under the lightning's bombardment, violent ripples spread across the barrier. Fortunately, this first bolt of tribulation lightning was held at bay. Suspended in midair, Chen Xiaotian finally breathed a sigh of relief. It looked as though the barrier could withstand a few more strikes. He circulated his cultivation technique furiously, drawing in the dense spiritual energy that permeated the air around him, while the medicinal pills he had swallowed gradually took effect. Boom! Boom! Boom! Crack! After a mere four or five bolts of lightning, a crisp cracking sound suddenly rang out from the surrounding array plates. Immediately afterward, a dense web of fractures crawled across the barrier, and thumb-wide cracks split through the plates themselves. Bang! The very moment the barrier shattered, Chen Xiaotian lunged forward with his sword. Facing a bolt of tribulation lightning as thick as a bowl, he did not retreat—he advanced. His aura surged turbulently as he began a frantic assault on the threshold of the Soul Formation Realm. With resolute eyes, Chen Xiaotian swung his sword in a savage slash! The sword light split the lightning, but the shattered bolts instantly pierced through Chen Xiaotian's body! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Bloody blossoms sprayed forth, splattering crimson across the young man's face. Yet throughout it all, his expression remained completely detached. Even as the lightning bored through his flesh and bones, he merely let out a muffled grunt. Pulling back, Chen Xiaotian began greedily absorbing the lightning's power. The agony of the lightning invading his body was excruciating, pushing him to the brink of death. Yet he knew this was a rare, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to temper himself. If he did not risk his life now, he would never even survive the heavenly tribulation. The searing pain caused the flesh of his face to twitch involuntarily beyond his control. Still, he gritted his teeth and persevered. Before long, the next wave of tribulation lightning arrived. Chen Xiaotian exhaled a mouthful of turbid air and swung his longsword, unleashing a barrage of impenetrable sword light! Crisscrossing Gengjin sword qi sliced through the air, violently tearing apart three successive lightning bolts. Yet the final bolt still descended along its path. Chen Xiaotian's eyes flickered, and he forcefully shifted his body two inches to the side! Boom! The lightning tore straight through his left shoulder, sending him plummeting from the sky to crash heavily into the earth. Crash! A deep crater was gouged into the ground, and fresh blood stained the soil red. Chen Xiaotian did not even have time to tend to his injuries before launching himself back into the air, because the heavenly tribulation was far from over. After enduring several harrowing clashes that brought him within a hair's breadth of death, he looked utterly disheveled and battered. Yet this ruthless grit and unyielding willpower only made Wu Zhengjie all the more exhilarated! Only a man like this could become a true expert! Moreover, possessing a will as solid as bedrock made him all the more aligned with his expectations. A cold, sinister gleam flickered in Wu Zhengjie's eyes, and he stuck out his tongue to lick his lips. Hidden in midair, Li Guanqi watched it all in silence. He had seen plenty of people like Wu Zhengjie before. But those who were such utter egoists, so devoid of human feeling, were rare even in his experience. By contrast, Zhou Xing was much more like an ordinary cultivator of the Six Domains. Looking at the young man fighting desperately beneath the heavenly tribulation, Li Guanqi could not help but sigh with emotion. "The young lad from back then has truly grown up..." Before long, the churning tribulation clouds showed signs of subsiding. Chen Xiaotian, soaked in blood, stood suspended in midair. Seeing this, the onlookers gathered throughout Moon Shadow City cried out in astonishment. "What terrifying strength..." "Indeed. Despite being wounded after fighting the two great clans' consecrated elders, he can still display such ferocity beneath the heavenly tribulation!" "Just who is this man? Someone from an outer domain?" "What a shame. Even if he transcends the tribulation and breaks through to Soul Formation, he still won't escape death..." An elderly cultivator let out a regretful sigh. For a moment, many of the cultivators fell silent. They were about to witness the birth of a Soul Formation Realm cultivator, yet he was destined to perish shortly afterward. By now, Chen Xiaotian's vision was blurred with blood. His entire body was charred black, with scarcely a patch of intact skin remaining. The lightning had almost shattered every bone in his limbs. Yet through this lightning-tempering of his body, his physical constitution had also achieved a tremendous leap. The tribulation clouds had not yet dispersed; the final life-or-death tribulation bolt remained! Meanwhile, beyond the boundary of the tribulation, those two men glared at him like ravenous beasts. Rumble! A muffled thunderclap shook the heavens, and a terrifying bolt of lightning as thick as a man's thigh came crashing down! Heaven and earth plunged into darkness, only for the lightning to tear the blackness apart. Chen Xiaotian gritted his teeth, even though his vision was already blurred beyond recognition. The primal energy within him was nearly exhausted, and his body was pushed to its absolute limit. Yet he knew he could not give up! If he gave up now, he truly would not have the slightest chance left! "How... how could I possibly stop here?!" "My ambition reaches for the ninth heaven—how can I halt my steps?!" Boom! A dazzling golden brilliance erupted. Fueled by his fierce willpower, his sword intent coalesced into something far more solid and profound. Chen Xiaotian took a fierce step forward. A mist of blood burst from the arm holding the sword as he struck with all his might! "River-Severing Sword Slash!" Boom! A brilliant sword light spanning ten zhang erupted, the Gengjin sword light surging straight into the firmament. Infused with his profound sword intent, it sliced the terrifying bolt of lightning cleanly in half! The instant the lightning shattered, Chen Xiaotian's aura erupted violently—he had stepped fully into the Soul Formation Realm! His Nascent Soul transformed into an origin spirit, and the primal energy within him surged like a raging sea. The heavenly blessing poured into his body, rapidly repairing his injuries. Suddenly! A dark-green venomous serpent, a zhang long and thick as a man's wrist, shot forth like an arrow! Wu Zhengjie had made his move! Chen Xiaotian shifted his gaze slightly; he had long anticipated an ambush. The scroll he had been gripping tightly in his blood-drenched left hand was instantly shattered. Hum! Silver light enveloped his entire body as dense spatial fluctuations rippled outward. It was a long-distance random teleportation scroll. Chen Xiaotian was willing to abandon the heavenly blessing he was receiving just to seize this fleeting chance of survival. Wu Zhengjie's expression hardened, his eyes brimming with ridicule as he sneered, "Heh. You think a mere teleportation scroll will let you get away? Overestimating yourself..." Beside him, Zhou Xing drew his sword and charged forward in an instant, tossing out a cluster of black shadows with a flick of his wrist. The shadows scattered, revealing a swarm of densely packed, gnat-like insects. Seeing them, Chen Xiaotian was stricken with horror! "Spatial stemborers!" With a flicker of his figure, he shot backward. Yet the swarm of insects was even faster, overtaking Chen Xiaotian in the blink of an eye. The spatial fluctuations from the scroll were devoured clean in an instant. At the same time, the light of the city-protecting barrier overhead sealed shut once more. Chen Xiaotian's heart sank, his expression turning exceedingly grim. "It's over..." Boom! Boom! Fierce sword light whistled toward Chen Xiaotian. The venomous snake emerged from nowhere, instantly coiling around his arm and constricting with savage force. Crack! "Ugh!" Chen Xiaotian's left arm was snapped into a grotesque angle, jagged white bone piercing through his skin. The viper reared back, opening its jaws wide to strike straight for his neck! Flanking him from the left and right, Zhou Xing and Wu Zhengjie released terrifying spatial barriers that clamped down upon him, leaving him unable to move. Chen Xiaotian still tried to struggle, but under the absolute suppression of their power, it was entirely futile. A glint of deathly resolve flashed across his eyes... Wu Zhengjie's gaze burned with excitement, while Zhou Xing's eyes were filled with murderous intent. With bloodshot eyes, Chen Xiaotian raised his hand and severed his own left arm to tear himself free from the snake's coils! Yet the instant he moved, a cold, gleaming sword had already pierced the skin of his back... As the icy, sharp sting registered, a trace of bitterness surfaced on Chen Xiaotian's face. Suddenly! The barrier covering the sky over Moon Shadow City shattered with a thunderous crash, and a terrifying, deafening dragon roar resounded across the heavens! Everyone looked up in sheer terror. A terrifying, heavenly pressure descended in an instant! This aura was so immense that the firmament for a thousand zhang around shattered and collapsed, exposing the hideous void and a raging storm of primal chaos. Wu Zhengjie, Zhou Xing, and the others were instantly slammed from the sky down into the earth! A massive dragon's head slowly emerged from the clouds above. Its golden vertical pupils glinted with majestic awe, and the overwhelming pressure sent everyone falling to their knees, trembling in absolute terror! Only Chen Xiaotian, tears welling in his eyes, stared blankly up at the colossal dragon.