Rumble—
A sudden clap of thunder drew everyone's attention. Due to the overwhelming yin qi of the Yin Corpse Mountain Range where the Corpse Driving Sect was located, there had never been thunder there since ancient times.
Yet today, roaring clouds spanned the sky above the mountain range, lightning weaving together into a blinding sheet of pure white electricity that blanketed the entire area. It was as though the world was returning to its primordial dawn, teeming with vibrant vitality.
"All Corpse Driving Sect disciples, evacuate!" Elder Gai organized the disciples to evacuate the sect grounds. Sect Master Lu was breaking through faster than anticipated; the Corpse Driving Sect was in extreme danger right now, with an immense probability of being struck by heavenly lightning.
The lightning tribulation for breaking through to the Tribulation Transcendence stage was not something ordinary disciples could endure; catching even the slightest wisp of it meant instant death!
The three on Provincial Governor Lü's side and the two on Wu Youdao's side reached a tacit understanding and ceased fighting.
Near a lightning tribulation of this caliber, one had to avoid releasing energy fluctuations; otherwise, the heavenly tribulation might mistake them for someone interfering with the tribulation process and target them directly.
Provincial Governor Lü and his two companions seized this chance to swiftly nurse their injuries and prepare for the battle ahead.
They rejoiced in the fact that with Sect Master Lu joining the fray, the scales of victory would once again be balanced. The outcome of their battle against the Great Yu cultivators remained to be seen!
Zhao Po was ecstatic. Had it been nine thousand or ten thousand years since the Corpse Driving Sect had produced a Tribulation Transcendence cultivator? Having fallen from a super-rank sect to a first-rank sect, was a Tribulation Transcendence cultivator finally about to emerge today, restoring their title as a super-rank sect?
This was precisely the difference between the Five Great Immortal Sects and super-rank sects. The condition for being a super-rank sect was possessing a living Tribulation Transcendence cultivator, but cultivators would eventually fall, at which point a super-rank sect would decline into a first-rank sect.
In contrast, even during their darkest days of decline, when the Five Great Immortal Sects faced a generational gap and failed to produce a Tribulation Transcendence cultivator for several generations in a row, the immortal sects still retained methods rivaling the Tribulation Transcendence stage, preserving their renown as immortal sects.
Fifty thousand years ago, the Dao Seeking Sect had endured just such a period—a generational gap where not a single Tribulation Transcendence cultivator arose for two thousand years. That predicament persisted until the emergence of the ancestral restorer, Daoist Lord Hanhai.
Throughout those two thousand years, the Dao Seeking Sect had remained one of the Five Great Immortal Sects.
The lightning tribulation continued to brew in the sky. Only a few stray bolts struck down, shaking heaven and earth, yet they were not even considered a prelude.
Crack—!
Dark clouds roiled and pressed down relentlessly. Arcs of brilliant white lightning flashed, and then the tribulation erupted completely, engulfing the Corpse Driving Sect. Tens of thousands of years of yin qi accumulated in the Yin Corpse Mountain Range began to dissipate.
A long, resonant cry rang out, faintly contending against the lightning tribulation. A Daoist clad in robes burst forth from his secluded cultivation and soared into the sky, summoning magical treasures one after another in vigilant preparation. Clearly, he had prepared extensively.
"So this is undergoing a lightning tribulation," Lu Yang marveled. He had long heard that cultivators had to endure lightning tribulations, but this was the first time he had witnessed one in person—and it was a lightning tribulation for breaking through to the Tribulation Transcendence stage, incomparably formidable.
Even half a Hanshui City away, he could feel heaven and earth trembling, showing just how terrifying the lightning tribulation above the Corpse Driving Sect truly was.
"This lightning tribulation is pretty mediocre," the Immortal Fairy said with a curl of her lips, unimpressed.
If it were her, she could breeze through it while yawning, without any need to prepare so many things.
"Is there some kind of story behind this tribulation?" Lu Yang recalled that when it came to lightning tribulations, the Immortal Fairy was an expert.
After all, today's lightning tribulations all originated from Immortal Ying Tian's Tribulation Responding Dao fruit.
"Immortal Ying Tian created lightning tribulations to temper cultivators, not deliberately to strike people dead. The stronger the tribulation, the greater the talent it reflects. Look at this lightning tribulation—it looks all blustery and impressive on the surface, but anyone actually facing it would know its power is quite ordinary.
"This tribulation is called the White Emperor Dragon Transformation Tribulation, and among lightning tribulations, it ranks on the lower end of power."
The white lightning converged into a dragon sovereign, its whiskers thrashing and scales gleaming. With claws bared and jaws gaping, it moved as though inhabited by the soul of a true dragon, having developed its own sentience!
With a mighty roar, the white dragon sovereign collided head-on with Sect Master Lu, blasting clean through his physical body. The ghastly white bones exposed in the wound reeked of dense death energy!
"Is Sect Master Lu about to die?!" Lu Yang gasped in shock. Could Sect Master Lu have failed so quickly?
"No, that's a living corpse. His true body is hiding underground. Pretty smart of him—knowing the first wave of tribulation lightning was too strong to withstand, he used a living corpse to take the hit for him." The Immortal Fairy saw through Sect Master Lu's little trick at a glance.
Sure enough, just as the Immortal Fairy had said, the living corpse was blasted to pieces, and the real Sect Master Lu broke through the earth to face the tribulation.
Having spent its force on the initial strike, the white dragon sovereign's might was noticeably diminished.
Boom!
The white dragon sovereign struck again. Sect Master Lu cried out in agony as excruciating pain wracked his body; white arcs of lightning etched burn marks across his form, scorching both his flesh and soul.
In haste, he fished a jade bottle from his robes and swallowed an elixir. But no sooner had he taken one pill to recover his body than the remaining pills, along with the jade bottle, were erased into nothingness amidst the vast tribulation lightning.
The white dragon sovereign was unstoppable, shattering the void and subjecting Sect Master Lu to relentless, grueling tempering.
Eventually, the heavenly tribulation dispersed. The oppressive pressure dropped sharply, and the turbulent spiritual energy gradually settled.
Sect Master Lu's body was charred black like a piece of charcoal. He plummeted to the ground with a dull clang.
"Did he fail?" A sinking feeling gripped the hearts of everyone in the city, and anxious chatter erupted into a clamor.
If Sect Master Lu failed his tribulation, no one left would be able to fight the Great Yu cultivators.
"Look, quick! The sect master's body moved!"
Thump, thump, thump—
A powerful heartbeat resonated as the internal injuries healed and hidden wounds vanished.
Then came a cracking sound. Sect Master Lu's skin split open, and a layer of charred, blackened dead skin sloughed off, revealing glistening, translucent new skin beneath. His entire appearance looked more than ten years younger.
"There is vitality hidden within lightning tribulations! The lightning has cleansed the sect master's body, and his physical form must be several or even ten times stronger than before!" Elder Gai said excitedly, recalling descriptions in the sect's records of ancient Corpse Driving Sect forebears breaking through to the Tribulation Transcendence stage.
Sect Master Lu snapped his eyes open, his gaze flashing like lightning that pierced through the clouds.
He stood upright, radiating vibrant vitality—a complete contrast to his wretched struggle during the tribulation. He was entirely renewed, brimming with confidence.
Evidently, he had weathered the lightning tribulation and become a Tribulation Transcendence cultivator!
Cheers erupted throughout the city. Whether it was Provincial Governor Lü's trio or the common folk within the city walls, seeing Sect Master Lu succeed in his tribulation finally allowed their suspended hearts to rest.
Only Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou felt no joy. During the lightning tribulation just now, Sect Master Lu's clothes had been shredded by the heavenly lightning. The two of them stared fixedly at Sect Master Lu's right wrist, their scalps tingling and chills running down their spines.
There were three interlocking rings, with the character for "Ghost" written in the center!
This was the very mark found on the wrist of the ownerless living corpse they had encountered when spending the night upon arriving in Huangzhou. At the time, the village chief had explained:
"An ownerless living corpse can only mean one of two things: either its master has died, leaving the living corpse without control to wander aimlessly forever; or the master voluntarily released their control over the living corpse; or perhaps the corpse turned on its master and devoured them."
A living corpse could block a lightning tribulation; Sect Master Lu could not have voluntarily released control over it.
Sect Master Lu was still standing right here, so the living corpse had not devoured its master either.
That left only the first possibility—Sect Master Lu had already died, and his living corpse had wandered to Jianshi Village, where the village chief found it!
Since Sect Master Lu was already dead, then who was the person currently controlling Sect Master Lu's body?!
The two exchanged a glance, a horrific possibility instantly dawning upon them.
"A Great Yu Tribulation Transcendence cultivator seized Sect Master Lu's body!"
Chapter 442