Chapter 1846: Facing Tribulation
Zhao Han’s primordial spirit was wounded. He felt waves of stabbing pain in his head and he couldn"t dodge in time.
Endless sword ki poured down, and he did his best to defend himself with a golden barrier. Even so, he had been seriously injured, and then his primordial spirit had been injured by the Immortal Beheading Knives, leaving him in his weakest state yet. Thus, that golden barrier was far from as strong as it usually was. Soon, it could no longer withstand the attacks of the endless sword ki and exploded.
Following that explosion, light flickered around Zhao Han’s entire body. It came from his protective treasures activating to stop all the sword ki. However, there was just way too much sword ki. The body-protecting treasures around him broke one after another.
In the end, Zhao Han’s body was. .h.i.t by the sword ki. After the first hit came a second, and then a third…
When all of the sword ki disappeared, Zhao Han’s body was dripping with blood. It was hard to tell whether he was even still alive. However, Zu An didn’t dare to show any carelessness. How could Zhao Han be defeated that easily? The fact that he was still floating in the air was a sign of that.
Even so, he couldn"t help but ridicule Zhao Han. The emperor was the world’s strongest, and yet he still had so many protective treasures on him. He really was scared of death. The only fortunate thing was that after that concentrated barrage of sword ki, all of his body-protecting treasures had already been used up.
Suddenly, there was a low and m.u.f.fled laugh. Then, it became louder and louder. Zhao Han slowly raised his head. His hair was scattered messily across his face from the sword ki, and there were traces of blood on his face as well. He no longer looked high and mighty the way he normally did; instead, he looked like a mad demon.
“Just how many years has it been? Ever since I made tremendous breakthroughs in my cultivation, there has never been anyone who could injure me to this extent,” Zhao Han seemed muttered to himself. “Even on Violet Mountain and in the decisive battle earlier against the libationer, I was never left in such a sorry state. You really can be proud of yourself.”
Zu An didn’t reply; instead, he frowned. Zhao Han’s aura already reached its weakest point, and yet it was actually rising again; it was getting faster and faster, too. Just what was going on?
Zhao Han’s entire body suddenly rose slowly. There was no more anger in his eyes when he looked at Zu An. Instead, his expression gradually returned to normal as he said, “I do not know what kinds of methods you used earlier, but there were many laws and skills that were able to affect me. I also sensed a threat to my life several times. But now, all of that is over.”
The sky was previously clear and boundless, yet now, dark clouds appeared everywhere, flashing with lightning. They all appeared above Zhao Han. Zu An had a confused expression. Why had the world suddenly changed like this? On top of that, it seemed to be closely related to Zhao Han.
Suddenly, two figures rushed over from the distance, one white and one red. They were none other than Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue. Even though Zu An and Zhao Han were too fast, the two had quickly chased after them. Furthermore, the terrifying blast waves coming from this direction had served as the best guide. The two ladies followed the source of the chaos and just happened to see the scene unfold.
Both women cried out to warn Zu An, “Be careful! He’s preparing to undergo tribulation!”
Zu An’s expression darkened. Even though he had seen tribulations from the media he was exposed to, he had never heard of anyone needing to go through tribulation in his current world, even though it was a realm of cultivation. That was why he hadn’t immediately reacted to what was happening.
Yun Jianyue and Yan Xuehen were sect masters, so they naturally had a deeper understanding of cultivation theory. Countless seniors had tried to find the path ahead, so they had studied the ancient legends of tribulation in depth. That was why they were able to immediately recognize what was happening.
Zhao Han roared with laughter, saying, “As expected of Sect Masters Yan and Yun. You are right; I will experience tribulation and break through soon.
“To be honest, I should be thanking the libationer for bringing me to this world. The world’s natural ki is much more abundant than our previous one. Besides, after experiencing Immortal Ruler Baopu’s power earlier, as well as all of these hardships, my cultivation rank, which previously remained stagnant for a long time, is showing signs of advancement.
“I planned to properly recover before attempting the breakthrough, but I didn’t expect to be forced to this extent by all of you.”
Zhao Han’s voice carried pride, and he sounded as if he were looking at a group of clowns. It was as if he thought, I was just playing along with you guys; time to get serious.
Yun Jianyue and Yan Xuehen flew over to Zu An’s side, their eyes full of worry. They said, “This is bad. If he succeeds in his breakthrough, no matter how weak he is right now, he won’t be someone we can deal with afterward.”
They had seen how Immortal Ruler Baopu had dealt with the Ghost King using a single look earlier. That kind of power was already beyond their imagination. They wouldn’t have even a trace of hope in defeating him.
As he looked at the lightning flickering in the distance above them, Zu An said gravely, “I’ve heard that tribulation is extremely dangerous. In his current state, is it possible that he might just fail and die?”
The two women both shook their heads and said, “That only applies for cultivators with unstable foundations. However, he has been stuck at the earth immortal rank for many years and should already have broken through a long time ago. It was just that our previous world’s origin power was insufficient, so he was held back. Now that he has arrived in this world, one full of natural ki, and he even received stimulation from various sources, his breakthrough should happen smoothly.”
The two had followed Zu An through the Xia Dynasty secret dungeon, and now they had experienced this secret dungeon. They also understood now why their world hadn’t produced any immortals even after so many years.
Zu An quickly understood. Zhao Han was well prepared for this, so he had a really high chance of succeeding in his tribulation. After some thought, he said, “Tribulation should be an extremely ferocious process. Would we be able to increase his chances of failure by attacking him at the crucial moment during this tribulation?”
“You absolutely cannot!” Yan Xuehen quickly warned him . “Once the tribulation begins, it launches an indiscriminate a.s.sault on everything around the one facing it. Furthermore, the more people there are, the stronger the power of lightning tribulation becomes. Zhao Han has an earth immortal rank body, so whether it is his flesh or his primordial spirit, they are both extremely powerful and can barely fend off the lightning. However, if we enter the radius of the lightning, we will immediately be blasted to dust by the lightning tribulation.”
Zu An became a bit dejected. He wondered, “Then, do we have to just watch as he breaks through and wait for him to come kill us?”
Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue both frowned. However, no matter how they thought to themselves, they couldn"t find a solution.
Meanwhile, something was happening. A streak of lightning came crashing down directly on Zhao Han. However, he raised his palm and directly scattered that streak of lightning. Electricity flickered, and the thick bolt of lightning actually disappeared just like that.
“The tribulation has begun!” Yun Jianyue exclaimed.
In truth, she still felt a bit of admiration for Zhao Han. That strike, both in terms of his eyesight or technique, could make one gasp in amazement. After all, tribulation lightning was countless times stronger than ordinary lightning, and yet he had dealt with it so casually.
Seven or eight more streaks of lightning gathered again in the sky, then rained down on Zhao Han. Every streak of lightning was thicker than the last. Their power was clearly also on an entirely different level.
However, Zhao Han’s expression didn’t change. He unfolded his hand, then grabbed one of those streaks of lightning. The electricity wriggled frantically in his hands like a white snake. Then, he flung that streak of lightning to the side into the other bolts, causing those other ones to break in half. They quickly dispersed in a shower of electricity.
In the end, a streak of lightning flew at his head. His hands were already preoccupied, so he couldn"t react in time at all. However, he looked up and suddenly opened his mouth. He actually swallowed that tribulation lightning in a single gulp!
Zu An and the women were stunned.
What the h.e.l.l? He just ate the tribulation lightning? It didn’t do a thing to him either?
Zhao Han roared with laughter and exclaimed, “I have already seen the path! As expected, nothing was wrong with me. I should already have broken through a long time ago!”
His voice was full of happiness. He had previously been trapped by heaven and man deterioration, so even though he was already without equal in his world, he had still spent his days in fear and trepidation. He had searched everywhere for an elixir of immortality, or a method of immortal ascension. When he came to this world, he had always sought after the Baopu Sutra too.
Now, however, it seemed as if he didn’t need those things at all. What he had studied on his own was already enough for a breakthrough. It had been nothing more than that weak world that was restricting him. As long as he successfully broke through and became a true immortal, all others would be little more than ants.
As she sensed his aura become stronger and stronger, Yun Jianyue’s expression was grave. She said, “Let’s hurry and run, or else it’ll be too late later.”
Yan Xuehen sighed and replied, “Sure, we can run, but where would we go? Even if we can escape this time, we won’t be able to next time.”
“We can’t just remain here and wait for our deaths, right? At worst, you can just follow me back to the Holy Sect. We still have some strong people there. He might not be able to win against all of us,” Yun Jianyue said, sounding a bit ashamed. “Or we can go to the Fiend races’ side. This brat is the Regent and the Fiend races have quite a bit of power. He might not be able to do whatever he wishes there.”
As she listened to those words that sounded bold, but were actually full of resignation, Yan Xuehen felt a bit dejected.
Zu An suddenly said, “I have to confirm this with the two of you one more time. Does the power of the tribulation lightning really become greater the more people there are in the vicinity?”
“Of course,” Yun Jianyue said, stunned. She then asked, “Don’t tell me you want to go in? You absolutely can’t! Even though your body is tough, you’re still too far from the peak of the earth immortal rank. You can’t endure lightning tribulation of that rank at all!”
Zu An gave Zhao Han, who was currently undergoing tribulation, a look. His expression became firm as he said, “I have a plan!”