bdsm-fiction Chapter 296 Golden Core Tribulation
Chapter 296 Golden Core Tribulation
The lingering power of the first tribulation lightning had not yet completely dissipated. The tribulation clouds in the sky not only failed to dissipate, but instead surged and gathered even heavier, their color changing from inky black to dark purple, as if brewing an even deeper rage. The destructive pressure increased exponentially, causing the three people, including the Array Master, far away at the edge of the array to feel a sense of unease.
After a long period of preparation, the first lightning tribulation of the second stage finally descended in an unexpected manner—
Instead of transforming into a thick pillar of lightning, it split into thousands of incredibly refined purple lightning swords amidst a deafening roar! Each lightning sword was about three feet long, its blade crackling with electricity, carrying a sharp edge that could pierce the sky, like a well-trained army, raining down on Lin Yan like a tidal wave!
Faced with this terrifying rain of swords powerful enough to flatten mountains, Lin Yan felt a chill rise uncontrollably in his heart for the first time. His newly advanced third-stage Body Refining Realm physique was absolutely insufficient to withstand such a dense and sharp attack.
"We can't tough it out!"
In a flash, he activated the defense without hesitation.
The set of defensive magic treasures nurtured within his dantian was instantly activated, materializing and covering his entire body, from helmet to boots, completely enveloping him. Runes flowed across the surface of the armor, radiating a solid spiritual light.
At the same time, he rapidly formed hand seals and uttered a low shout: "Immovable as a mountain!"
The essence of earth activated the true energy within his body, and six incredibly thick rock walls, engraved with profound earth-elemental spiritual patterns, instantly rose around him. These rock walls cleverly formed a complete spherical shield, protecting him from all angles.
However, this tribulation lightning seemed to possess sentience. The hundreds of lightning swords did not attack indiscriminately, but paused slightly in the air. Then, as if under unified command, the tips of all the lightning swords instantly adjusted their direction, carrying unparalleled sharpness, like high-speed rotating drills, frantically converging to pierce the same point on the stone wall directly above Lin Yan's head!
"Holy crap! This lightning tribulation can even break through the surface from a single point?!" Lin Yan sensed this scene inside the protective barrier and couldn't help but curse in his heart. He could clearly "hear" the ear-piercing sound of the stone wall being frantically drilled and torn apart, and see the stone wall above his head being covered with spider web-like cracks at a visible speed, with fragments of stone falling down in a flurry.
The spherical stone wall formed by "Immovable as a Mountain" could only withstand the highly targeted and concentrated attack for less than ten minutes before collapsing completely with a "boom" amidst an unbearable groan, turning into countless fragments of stone that scattered in all directions!
The moment the stone wall shattered, the torrent of lightning swords that had converged into a single point slammed relentlessly into the magical armor covering Lin Yan's body!
"Buzz—!"
The armor erupted with intense starlight and dazzling golden light, forming a solid light shield that fiercely clashed with the thunder sword. The ear-piercing sound of metal scraping and cutting was teeth-grinding, and countless electric snakes exploded and crawled on the surface of the light shield. Lin Yan frantically poured his true energy into the armor to support its defense, while simultaneously guiding the armor's power to continuously wear down and neutralize the terrifying energy contained within the thunder sword.
The process was long and agonizing, each second feeling like dancing on a knife's edge. An unknown amount of time passed, seemingly an eternity, before the torrent of thunder swords finally weakened and completely dissipated.
"Hoo—ho—ho—" Lin Yan knelt on one knee, breathing heavily, his forehead covered in cold sweat. Although the armor on his body had withstood the attack, its spiritual light had dimmed to the extreme, and its surface was covered with fine cracks, clearly indicating that it had lost its spiritual power.
With a thought, the magical artifact, having fulfilled its mission, turned into ordinary iron like a candle flame that had burned out, clattering off his body and falling onto the scorched ground.
Without daring to delay, Lin Yan immediately swallowed a top-grade Rejuvenation Pill. The pure medicinal power quickly dissolved, replenishing his true essence. At the same time, without hesitation, he activated a second identical set of Golden Core stage defensive magic treasures, instantly covering his entire body and radiating perfect spiritual light, ready for battle.
He raised his head and looked at the tribulation clouds that were gathering in the sky again, their power even greater, his eyes solemn and resolute.
This second tribulation of lightning has only just begun.
Before the residual power of the first lightning sword had completely dissipated in the air, a muffled war drumbeat resounded from within the tribulation clouds. Countless electric snakes converged into nine solidified purple lightning spears, their tips spinning and tearing through space, locking onto Lin Yan in a nine-square grid formation.
"Well done!"
This time, Lin Yan no longer passively defended; the second set of armor shone brightly. He formed hand seals, and "Immovable as a Mountain" transformed into three layers of ring-shaped barriers, each layer's spiritual patterns being several times more complex than before.
"boom--!"
The first lightning spear shattered the outermost barrier, the second pierced through the middle layer, and as the third lightning spear hurtled towards them, Lin Yan suddenly withdrew his last defense. The star-like phantoms emanating from the breastplate on his armor collided head-on with the lightning spear.
The blast wave ripped away the surface rock, and Lin Yan used the impact to slide backward for more than ten zhang (approximately 33 meters), his boots carving deep furrows in the rocks. When the lightning dissipated, the breastplate was covered in cracks, but the main body of the armor remained intact.
"We're even." He wiped the blood from his lips and discovered that after being tempered by the Thunder Spear, his understanding of the essence of earth had deepened even further.
The clouds suddenly fell into an eerie silence, a silence more chilling than thunder. Amidst the churning clouds, a gigantic claw composed entirely of lightning slowly emerged, its five fingers wreathed in the Daoist aura of destruction.
Immediately afterwards, a dragon's head, a lion's body, and phoenix wings appeared in succession—it was actually the form of the ancient thunder beast "Kui Niu"! Although only thirty percent similar, those eyes, entirely composed of heavenly punishment lightning, caused the distant Elder Fu to exclaim in shock: "The Heavenly Dao manifests!"
Lin Yan's pupils contracted sharply, and without hesitation, he summoned the third set of magical artifacts. This time, the armor changed form; dragon heads extended from the shoulder armor, and tiger claws transformed from the knee armor. The entire set of equipment seemed to come alive, emitting a deep hum.
"Roar!"
The thunder beast swooped down, distorting space in its path. Lin Yan neither dodged nor evaded, channeling all his true energy into his armor. Instantly, a phantom image of a starry river appeared on the surface of the armor.
Most astonishingly, the essence of gold condensed into the sharp horns of a Qilin on the helmet, which slammed fiercely into the forehead of the Thunder Beast!
"clang--!!!"
Like two golden mountains colliding, the blinding light turned the entire island into daylight. As the light gradually subsided, Lin Yan knelt on one knee, his third set of magical artifacts shattering inch by inch. Meanwhile, the phantom of the thunder beast in the sky slowly dissipated from its forehead.
He looked up at the sky, panting, and saw that the clouds of the second tribulation were slowly rotating—the final six lightning bolts were likely to descend simultaneously.
An eerie silence descended upon the world. The tribulation clouds ceased to churn, instead writhing and contracting like living things. After an hour of gathering momentum, the clouds suddenly split open, creating two slits that stretched across the sky.
The roar of dragons and the cry of phoenixes resounded throughout the heavens!
From the gap in the clouds on the left, a dragon's head emerged, formed entirely of deep purple lightning. Its eyes resembled two small, blazing suns, and its body undulated, each scale imprinted with celestial runes. On the right, a thunder phoenix spread its wings, blotting out the sky, its tail feathers crackling with black arcs of electricity, each flap of its wings unleashing a devastating storm.
This dragon and phoenix were clearly the fusion and manifestation of the remaining six lightning tribulations of the second stage! Their power far exceeded the sum of all the previous lightning tribulations!
Lin Yan's pupils constricted sharply, and his hair stood on end! This was something that could not be withstood by magic weapons or physical strength alone!
Without further hesitation, his hands moved like butterflies flitting among flowers, instantly unleashing hundreds of spiritual incantations. He shouted in a deep voice, "Five Directions Heavenly Array, activate!"
Om-!
The array bases set up throughout the island simultaneously lit up with divine light soaring into the sky! Five pillars of light—gold, cyan, blue, red, and yellow—pierced through the heavens and earth, converging above Lin Yan's head.
"Roar!" From the azure light in the east, the phantom of an azure dragon coiled out, its claws tightly gripping a blue array flag embroidered with the stars of the heavens.
"Screech!" In the crimson light of the south, the Vermilion Bird spread its wings and cried out, holding a crimson battle flag burning with the Southern Ming Fire in its beak.
"Roar!" Within the white light of the west, the white tiger roared to the sky, its jaws gripping a white array flag imbued with the killing energy of Geng metal.
"Roar!" Under the black light from the north, Xuanwu appeared, riding the waves, its tortoise head holding a black array flag flowing with Xuanming True Water.
"Clang!" In the center of the yellow light, the Qilin stood proudly, with a yellow array flag carrying the essence of the earth floating above its head!
The five illusory divine beasts each took their positions, simultaneously waving their array flags! Five-colored divine light intertwined, instantly condensing into a semi-transparent light shield flowing with countless ancient runes, firmly protecting Lin Yan within. Above the light shield, the five illusory divine beasts moved erratically, radiating an indestructible and impervious aura of power!
At that very moment, the Thunder Dragon and Thunder Phoenix, carrying the will to annihilate everything, crashed into the five-colored light barrier!
"Boom—!!!"
A deafening roar, beyond description, erupted! At the center of the collision, space shattered like a mirror, revealing a pitch-black void. Violent energy turbulence swept across the entire island; had it not been for the protective array, the island would have already sunk!
The protective barrier trembled violently, and the runes flickered. The Azure Dragon array flag drew upon the life force of the Wood element, continuously repairing the gap torn by the Thunder Dragon; the Vermilion Bird array flag spewed forth fiery flames, annihilating the seven-colored electric arcs of the Thunder Phoenix; the White Tiger array flag unleashed the sharp energy of the Metal element, severing the invading lightning; the Black Tortoise array flag mobilized the True Water of the Dark Netherworld to neutralize the terrifying impact; and the central Qilin array flag remained as stable as Mount Tai, harmonizing the four directions and maintaining the foundation of the great array!
This is a clash between Tao and Law, a contest between the might of Heaven and Earth and the ultimate power of humankind!
The thunder dragon roared, its tail lashing fiercely against the light barrier like a divine whip, leaving deep ripples. The thunder phoenix cried out, its claws tearing, each strike carrying away large swaths of runic light.
Although the grand formation was powerful, it showed signs of weakness in the face of the combined attack of the dragon and phoenix, which incorporated the six tribulations of lightning. The light of the protective shield dimmed at a visible speed, and the phantoms of the five divine beasts began to sway slightly.
Lin Yan, standing within the formation, wore a grave expression. He knew that this was the limit of the defenses the Formation Master could set up; if the formation were to be broken…
The Thunder Dragon's claws tore at the protective shield, and the sparks that flew up evaporated a huge hole in the sea surface. The Thunder Phoenix cried out, and wherever its seven-colored tail feathers swept, the flames that the array flags had conjured were actually refined in reverse.
"Yin and Yang Revolve!" Lin Yan bit his tongue, spitting his blood essence into the array's core. The five divine beast phantoms suddenly shifted positions, the Azure Dragon and White Tiger merging into a blue-white vortex, the Vermilion Bird and Black Tortoise transforming into red and black twin fish, and the Qilin sitting in the center, absorbing and exhaling chaos. The protective shield instantly transformed into a constantly rotating Tai Chi diagram, continuously dissolving and reducing the power of the lightning tribulation.
The thunder dragon suddenly coiled into a ring, its head and tail intertwined to form a thunderous inferno. The thunder phoenix scattered into countless thunder feathers, each one transforming into a new miniature thunder tribulation. The great formation emitted a mournful cry of unbearable strain; the illusory azure dragon shattered first, followed by the vermilion bird, which dissipated with a mournful cry.
Just as the formation was about to collapse, Lin Yan re-embedded a batch of top-grade spirit stones into the formation plate. He formed hand seals and activated the eight major concepts to reconstruct the defense on the basis of the broken formation.
The essence of metal condenses into a tangible sword aura, the essence of water transforms into countless gentle waves, the essence of wood gives birth to ever-renewing vines, the essence of fire ignites the true fire of rebirth, the essence of earth builds up towering mountains, and the three essences of wind, thunder, and ice intertwine to form a chaotic vortex.
The newly formed composite defense collided violently with the remaining lightning tribulation, illuminating the entire North Atlantic. When the last wisp of lightning dissipated, the Five Directions Heavenly Array had turned into dust, while Lin Yan, his clothes torn to shreds, still stood in the center of the scorched earth.
He finally survived the second tribulation of lightning.