Divine Tang Era

Chapter 132 Heavenly Tribulation

The immense thunder was a calamity descended by the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth because Rui Wu Ni attempted to save the deceased Jiu Niang, a heaven-defying act; this was the thunder of the Great Dao.

To confront the Great Dao's lightning is tantamount to confronting the Great Dao itself, and the supreme will of this world. Therefore, this lightning bolt came with overwhelming force, its immense power seemingly capable of devouring everything, unstoppable and invincible.

The Great Dao Thunder, carrying the boundless power to annihilate the world and cleanse impurities, crashed down, instantly reaching above the Eight-Sided Vajra Pestle.

Lin Qing's eyebrows twitched as he watched, but he still gritted his teeth and used the Demon-Subduing Pestle to resist.

The originally dazzling Buddhist light, enhanced by his magical power, became even more brilliant and intense. Vast and boundless, it brought endless light to the endless darkness. Unfortunately, the moment it encountered lightning, the seemingly vast and boundless Buddhist light was mercilessly shattered.

The Buddhist monk, who had been sitting cross-legged on his staff chanting sutras, suddenly stood up, pointed at the lightning bolt, and roared, "Stop..."

Unfortunately, before he could finish speaking, the Buddha was struck down to ashes by a violent bolt of lightning and vanished into the world.

The Great Dao Thunder continued to mercilessly strike the Eight-Faced Vajra Demon-Subduing Pestle. The Eight-Faced Vajra revealed its true form from the Demon-Subduing Pestle, turned it upside down, and pushed the Demon-Subduing Pestle, which had transformed into a length of over thirty feet, towards the Great Dao Thunder.

Thunder roared and lightning flashed.

The whole world seemed to be enveloped by this dazzling yet terrifying light.

Before the Great Dao, all resistance is futile. The moment it touched the lightning, the Vajra Pestle was melted away by the lightning, and the Eight-Faced Vajra also vanished into thin air, as if it had never existed.

Lin Qing, the master of Yinlong Pavilion, never imagined that the Eight-Sided Vajra Demon-Subduing Pestle, which he had obtained with great difficulty, could not even withstand the attack for a moment. He couldn't help but curse inwardly. Looking at the powerful and terrifying thunder, he felt that he could no longer stay in this place and hurriedly fled.

Li Zhu and Zhu Yuxian did not expect Lin Qing's magic weapon to be so useless, not even having time to stop the thunder.

Immediately, they hurriedly joined forces with the other immortals to fuse the Seven Treasures Ruyi and the Primordial Yin-Yang Umbrella to jointly resist the Great Dao's thunder. After all, relying solely on the power of a single magical artifact would hardly be enough to withstand the overwhelming might of heaven and earth.

Their idea was quite correct. The fusion of the Seven Treasures Ruyi and the Primordial Yin-Yang Umbrella barely managed to block the tribulation lightning, but it was immediately and mercilessly destroyed by the power of heaven and earth.

"Sigh, we've done our best," Zhu Yuxian sighed, his eyes filled with helplessness.

"What else can we do? Are we going to risk our lives, sisters?"

Li Zhu said, "In the end, the one who faces this heaven-defying tribulation must bear it; the help from outsiders is merely external. Besides, our help is ultimately limited. Smaller ones are like scratching an itch through a boot—useless; larger ones will cause the tribulation to evolve and become even more terrifying, so in the end, it's all the same."

"It seems all we can do is wish her well."

Zhu Yuxian gazed into the distance, a hint of worry in his eyes.

After the Great Dao Thunder obliterated the Seven Treasures Ruyi and the Primordial Yin-Yang Umbrella, it continued downwards. This time, nothing could stop it. The Great Dao Thunder, like a raging dragon, roared and howled, carrying a deadly aura of annihilation and destruction, as it lunged downwards with its claws outstretched.

"Boom!"

Just as Rui Wuni was about to step forward, she saw the lightning strike and quickly took out something and threw it upwards.

This is the magic weapon she prepared to deal with the heaven-defying lightning tribulation—the lightning-splitting cone.

The heaven-defying lightning tribulation was far too powerful, and she wasn't confident she could withstand it. So, she took a different approach, splitting the tribulation in two. This way, the power of the tribulation would be weakened, making it much easier to deal with.

The lightning bolt shot into the sky and disappeared into the vast thunder.

Thunder resembled a piece of paper sliced ​​in two, truly split in two. But not as Rui Wuni had imagined; rather, it was one large and one small.

The smaller half struck the mountain where the two men had landed, instantly vanishing into nothingness. The two men watching from afar turned deathly pale, their legs nearly giving way, their hearts filled with boundless terror.

The other half of the Great Dao lightning continued to strike downwards, and Rui Wuni took out a Thunder Hammer and threw it upwards.

The hammer, normally only the size of a head, transformed into a gigantic hammer upon reaching the air, striking the lightning.

The momentum of the Great Dao's lightning strike paused for a moment, but the continuous power coming from behind quickly eliminated this resistance. Although the Thunder Hammer was harder than the Eight-Sided Vajra Pestle, it was still melted away by the immense power of the lightning after blocking for a moment.

Seeing that the Thunder Hammer had been destroyed, Rui Wuni took out another item.

A giant shield, resembling the Chaos Shield Xu Dan had recently acquired, appeared in his hand, though its patterns and colors differed. In the center of this shield was a Taotie pattern, its color like jade, a chillingly green.

Of course, what Rui Wuni brought out was different from what Xu Dan brought out.

The giant shield used by the secret army of the previous dynasty had already been refined and upgraded by her, and had entered the ranks of treasures. It was specially used to deal with the heaven-defying lightning tribulation.

Rui Wuni threw the shield upwards.

A gluttonous beast emerged from the shield, leaping through the void towards the descending lightning. As it charged, it opened its massive maw to devour the lightning and strengthen itself.

Before long, the Taotie that had just emerged from the shield had grown to the size of a mountain, majestic and awe-inspiring, with a ferocious aura that filled the sky.

The Taotie roared and ran to the foot of the lightning, opening its massive maw to swallow it whole. However, the killing lightning tribulation descended by the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth was no ordinary thing. In just a moment, it cleaved the Taotie's soul into oblivion, annihilating the world along with its shield and magical artifact.

Rui Wu Ni kept taking out treasures to deal with the heavenly tribulation lightning, but unfortunately the tribulation lightning was too powerful. These things could only block it for a moment before being struck down, without weakening the power of the lightning in the slightest. The treasures were used up more and more, and were gradually exhausted, leaving only the life-bound artifact, the Nine Virtues True Phoenix Qin.

Rui Wuni made a snap decision, grabbed the instrument, and tossed it into the air.

The zither soared into the sky, transforming into an ancient phoenix that spread its wings and soared into the heavens. The nine virtues flowing within the zither strings transformed into an ancient sage, carried on the back of the ancient phoenix, flying towards the Great Dao Thunder.

Beneath the descending lightning, the ancient sage, formed from the essence of the Nine Virtues, proclaimed: "Gentle..."

Gentleness is soothing, gentleness is warming, gentleness is mild, gentleness is tenderness, and gentleness can overcome rigidity.

However, this ancient sage, formed from the Qi of the Nine Virtues, seemed to have overestimated his own power. While softness can overcome hardness, this is only true when the strengths are roughly equal; otherwise, it's like a paper cutter and paper—both will simply be sliced ​​off.

"boom"

The deafening thunder drowned out the sage's voice, followed by a bolt of lightning that struck the ancient true phoenix.

"Eek!"

A mournful phoenix cry pierced the sky.

The ancient phoenix was struck by a massive bolt of lightning and plummeted downwards, its colorful feathers falling piece by piece under the bombardment. Its body was riddled with holes, each wound oozing jade-like blood, yet it still proudly raised its head.

Descendants of the ancient phoenix, they fought against the heavens and the earth, never yielding to anyone, not even the heavenly tribulations.

Those wings, once soaring freely, were now tattered and mangled by the lightning, yet they stubbornly unfolded. Every feather trembled, not from pain, nor from a desire to retreat, but from gathering its last strength.

"Boom!"

The lightning continued to strike, the blinding flashes almost tearing its body apart.

The ancient phoenix let out a mournful cry, yet amidst this pain, it suddenly flapped its wings and soared into the sky against the thunder. Its figure appeared so tiny in the vast天地 (heaven and earth), like an ant trying to shake a giant elephant, so small it was heartbreaking.

But there was no fear in its eyes, only determination.

Even with its body broken and its power weakened, it would let the world know that the Phoenix Clan would never yield! Every drop of its blood was boiling, every feather was burning, turning into a blazing flame, charging headlong into the all-destroying thunder of the Great Dao.

When Rui Wuni saw the ancient phoenix flapping its wings and charging into the thunder, tears streamed down her face.

You'll develop feelings for any dog ​​you've had for a long time, let alone your beloved pet that accompanies you through every day and every month.

"Boom!"

How could the Great Dao Thunder tolerate such provocation from fleas and bedbugs? With a deafening roar, carrying the might of the vast heavens and earth, it directly obliterated the ancient True Phoenix artifact spirit and the Nine Virtues True Phoenix Zither.

"puff"

The artifact was destroyed, but the soul remained connected.

Rui Wuni couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood from her heart, and her whole body became weak and swaying precariously.

Nothing could stop it. The Great Dao Thunder, carrying overwhelming killing intent, struck down from the sky towards the young woman in her prime who was defying the heavens in the golden coffin. However, just as it reached the airspace above the golden coffin, a seal suddenly flew out from inside the coffin, briefly blocking the attack, but it was quickly destroyed by the lightning.

Rui Wu Ni recognized the object; it was the honor bestowed upon Jiu Niang as a royal princess, which contained the destiny of the Divine Tang Dynasty.

However, after so many years, the national fortune of the Divine Tang Dynasty should have been taken back, leaving only the essence of the acquired Gui water absorbed over the years.