Boom!
The black mist swirling around Li Guanqi abruptly blew apart!
A powerful gust swept out in all directions, forcing the airborne experts gathered around to close their eyes.
Standing a thousand zhang away, Zheng Deyuan stared at the scene before him in sheer disbelief.
"Impossible!"
"He was already in that state! He should have drowned in the heart demon's illusion until he died!"
"Him?! How could he possibly—?!"
Yet what he believed impossible had truly happened.
Zheng Deyuan glared malevolently at the youth in the distance, clenching his teeth so hard that a trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
The coppery taste of blood filled his mouth, continually stimulating his senses.
His killing intent surged ever more violently as he muttered under his breath, "Good! Broken, and good riddance! This way, I can kill you with my own two hands!"
Behind him, however, the elder frowned slightly as he watched his son slip into madness.
He had cultivated the Dao for a thousand years now and had weathered countless storms in his long life.
Looking at the youth undergoing the tribulation, he felt a persistent unease in his heart.
Yet his grandson had been slain. No matter what, he could not stop now.
Glancing at the spectators gathered all around, a plan had already formed in the elder's mind.
Even if the other party was some favored scion of a major clan or faction, he would simply make sure to leave no loose ends when the time came.
When that happened, even if someone came looking for trouble, they wouldn't be able to trace it back to him.
Meanwhile, the watching crowd was in an uproar, excitedly babbling to those beside them about what they had just witnessed.
No one could believe that someone enduring that level of tribulation could actually wake up!
"Terrifying... He was already reduced to that state, yet he could still wake up!" exclaimed a burly man, marveling at the sight.
Behind him, a Nascent Soul realm elder spoke with visible shock, "A heart demon tribulation under the Nascent Soul realm, and one like that... Just how unyielding is his willpower?! Still... he is quite the ruthless, cold-blooded sort!"
Hearing this, the burly man in front turned to look at the elder, caught off guard for a moment before speaking up, "Old Gu! You're here too? And... what do you mean by ruthless and cold-blooded?"
The gray-haired elder's eyes flickered with an unreadable light as he said softly, "Hmph! A heart demon tribulation like that is bound to involve the boy's family bonds. And when it comes to family-bound heart demon tribulations, the only way to shatter the illusion is to slaughter one's own kin within it! Only then will the Heavenly Dao consider that the cultivator has seen through the heart demon and tempered an unshakeable Dao heart."
The burly man's heart jolted at those words. Looking at the youth slowly opening his eyes, he could not help but shudder.
If it truly was as the elder said, then this youth's temperament was indeed exceptionally ruthless!
As Li Guanqi opened his eyes, he did not know when tears had begun streaming down the corners of his face.
He treasured the three years he had spent in the illusion. They had allowed him to feel maternal love he had long missed, and a father's love he had never known.
The blissful life of a whole family reunited had completely captivated him.
Yet what filled his heart even more was a monstrous, towering fury!
In an instant, his purely white eyes became webbed with crimson veins, glaring up at the firmament like a pair of blood-red orbs!
The rage within his heart felt as though it would tear his chest wide open!
With a savage pull, he ripped off his robes, baring a torso covered in grotesque scars!
Then, before everyone's stunned gazes, Li Guanqi raised his sword toward the heavens.
With eyes stretched wide in fury, he glared at the lightning tribulation in the firmament and rasped hoarsely, "You had no right to profane my family!!"
Boom!
The primal energy within his body roared. The tremendous power forced his Core Formation golden core to violently crack!
A barrage of fracturing sounds, audible only to him, echoed ceaselessly.
In that single breath, his entire being underwent a world-shaking transformation.
Excruciating agony tore through him as his dantian cracked, while the Dao platform within his sea of consciousness expanded wildly.
With him at the center, the skies in midair wailed under gusts of roaring wind.
With a flick of his hand, Li Guanqi shattered ten full high-grade spirit stones. The dense spiritual energy condensed into an almost white mist, which he drew straight into his body.
Spiritual energy from a thousand zhang around was pulled into his orbit, surging frantically into him.
Provoked by his defiance, the heavenly tribulation churned its thunderclouds, erupting in continuous, deafening rumbles!
The terrifying pressure plunged heaven and earth into sudden gloom, and an ear-splitting thunderclap roared through the sky!
Three thick bolts of lightning crashed down in succession toward Li Guanqi in midair!
Li Guanqi's gaze was frigid. Free of any fear, he raised his sword and flew up to meet the lightning!
In an instant, three flashes of sword light erupted in sequence, cleaving the thick bolts of lightning apart in the blink of an eye.
Shattered arcs of lightning danced across his body, piercing through his flesh with every flicker!
Yet a thread of wondrous aura from the tribulation lightning seeped directly into his golden core.
Inside the cracked golden core, something seemed to be gestating.
However, the current energy was not yet potent enough to nurture a Nascent Soul from within the core.
By this point, the Dao platform in his sea of consciousness had completed its expansion, madly absorbing the spiritual power to strengthen his divine sense.
Li Guanqi could clearly sense that as his divine sense grew, the strength of his soul was also rising.
Covered in blood, Li Guanqi snapped his head up to the firmament. Glaring with wide, furious eyes at the heavenly tribulation overhead, he bellowed, "Is that all you've got?! Come on!"
Rumble!
This time, the heavenly tribulation gathered its power for even longer.
Everyone knew that the Nascent Soul heavenly tribulation consisted of eighteen strikes in total—double that of the Core Formation realm.
Its power also multiplied with each wave.
At this moment, the elder surnamed Gu could not help but narrow his eyes, muttering under his breath, "Why is he so enraged? And why provoke the heavenly tribulation? That is most unwise!"
Doubt rippled through the onlookers; clearly, none of them understood why he would provoke the tribulation so recklessly.
The tribulation in the firmament did not disappoint Li Guanqi. Five purple lightning bolts, each as thick as a man's thigh, abruptly tore through the void and plunged down!
Feeling the changes inside his body, Li Guanqi felt an inexplicable affinity with the surrounding space.
It seemed as though he could tear the space before him apart with a mere thought.
A brilliant golden speck of light suddenly flared within his golden core!
He knew he was only one final step away!
Buzz!
Just before that terrifying lightning descended, everyone watched in shock as endless lightning suddenly erupted around the youth!
In that instant, an area a hundred zhang around him transformed into what looked like a thunder pool!
A sword intent that struck terror into their hearts exploded outward!
The sword intent soared straight into the clouds. Immediately after, the onlookers saw the youth whisper under his breath, and the sword in his hand burst with a piercing crimson glow!
"Soul Release: Red Lotus!"
Boom!
The surrounding lightning seemed to boil, and a ruthless glint flashed through Li Guanqi's eyes.
His figure split into nine afterimages, shooting toward the sky in an instant!
Boom!
A hundred-zhang sword light slashed out with unstoppable force!
Before everyone's shocked gazes, the five bolts of heavenly tribulation lightning shattered with a tremendous crash!
Chapter 277