Chapter 51: Devouring the Heavenly Tribulation, Reforging the Divine Artifact
The Far North Land, the edge of the Core Circle.
The Ice Empress flicked her crystal-clear scorpion tail with some impatience, the diamond-like hooked tip shimmering with a cold light in the dim surroundings.
Before her, Huo Yuhao was fully concentrated, his hands pressing down in the air as his Soul Power carefully connected to the Ice Empress's massive body, performing a "Skill Imprint."
At that moment, the Ice Empress sensed something and suddenly raised her head, looking toward the sky deep within the Core Circle.
The originally hazy horizon had begun to gather heart-palpitating deep gray clouds at some point. These were no ordinary rain clouds; they were as dark as ink, and as they churned and rolled, purple-red lightning flickered and darted within them like dragons and snakes.
An indescribable heavenly pressure was spreading at a terrifying speed, as if the entire firmament of the Far North Land was about to collapse.
"So soon?" A hint of surprise flashed in the Ice Empress's diamond-like eyes, followed by realization. "Is the Xue Di already starting to break through the 800,000-year threshold and triggering the Tribulation Lightning?"
This pressure was so vast that even from a great distance, it made her heart race with fear.
The 800,000-year Tribulation Lightning was far more powerful than the 400,000-year tribulation she had experienced before.
She couldn't help but recall the scene from over half a year ago when that Plane Master had effortlessly blocked the tribulation for her. Her heart eased slightly, but she still couldn't help but worry.
Withdrawing her gaze, the Ice Empress looked at Huo Yuhao, who was still working hard on the imprinting, and spoke with a hint of urgency: "Human brat, are you done yet? Stop dawdling!"
Huo Yuhao was startled by the sudden reprimand. Fine beads of sweat broke out on his forehead as he hurriedly said, "Right away! Senior, it'll be done right away! The last soul skill model is almost finished imprinting!"
He didn't dare to be the slightest bit negligent, desperately circulating his Soul Power with intense Spiritual focus.
Finally, after a few breaths, the Soul Power around him fluctuated, and two embryonic Soul Rings shimmering with blood-red light slowly took shape beneath his feet. Although the light was still somewhat unstable, the imprinting was clearly a success.
"It's done!" Huo Yuhao let out a long sigh of relief, his face showing the joy of a heavy burden being lifted.
Seeing this, the Ice Empress didn't bother to say more, only giving a cold snort: "Consider yourself lucky. This place is not safe to stay. Under the Tribulation Lightning, even the aftershocks are more than you can handle. Leave quickly!"
Before her voice had even faded, her massive scorpion body had already transformed into a streak of jade-green light. Tearing through the wind and snow, she sped toward the core where the tribulation clouds were gathering at an incredible speed, vanishing into the vast blizzard in an instant.
Huo Yuhao didn't dare to linger either. Feeling the increasingly terrifying pressure in the sky, he bowed respectfully toward the direction where the Ice Empress had gone and toward the deeper area where that mysterious Plane Master might be. Then, he turned and ran toward the outer reaches of the Far North Land.
...
The core of the Extreme North, above the Ice Palace.
Lei Chen stood with his hands behind his back, suspended in mid-air. He looked up at the vast tribulation clouds that had completely shrouded the sky above the Far North Land, thick as lead and dancing with electric snakes.
The destructive energy contained within the cloud layers caused the laws of this space to tremble slightly. The gale whipped the ice and snow, letting out howls like ghosts and wailing gods.
"The 800,000-year Tribulation Lightning is indeed extraordinary." Lei Chen felt the terrifying energy gathering in those tribulation clouds, which had infinitely approached the God Rank, and a look of anticipation appeared in his eyes.
Inside the Ice Palace below, the Xue Di's aura had already climbed to its peak. Her 800,000 years of cultivation were released without reservation, echoing the tribulation clouds in the sky as she prepared to face this life-and-death trial. However, with Lei Chen here, the nature of this trial had already changed.
Boom-crack—!
The long-brewing first bolt of Tribulation Lightning finally tore through the dark clouds. It was a massive purple-red lightning pillar over ten meters in diameter, like a Spear of Judgment from a heavenly god, carrying a majestic heavenly power that could annihilate everything as it crashed down toward the Xue Di!
Everywhere it passed, space distorted, leaving behind charred trails.
Just as the destructive lightning pillar was about to strike the Ice Palace, Lei Chen moved.
He did not take any defensive or offensive stance. He simply raised his right hand calmly. At the tip of his index finger, a tiny, barely perceptible spark of purple-gold electricity, which contained the supreme Thunder God Origin, quietly lit up.
In the next moment, that terrifying Tribulation Lightning, which was enough to kill an ordinary Ferocious Beast, seemed to be drawn by some irresistible force. It actually veered in mid-air at a bizarre angle, abandoning its original target, the Xue Di, and like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, it all hammered into Lei Chen's seemingly tiny body!
Buzz—!
A seven-colored halo flashed slightly around Lei Chen's body, and that violent purple-red lightning was like a clay ox entering the sea, instantly sinking into his body without causing the slightest ripple.
This pure and majestic power of thunder was being greedily devoured, absorbed, and refined by the Thunder God Origin at the center of his brow.
"As expected, the energy level is close to the God Rank; the effect is far better than before," Lei Chen thought to himself.
He had previously devoured the Xue Di's 700,000-year Tribulation Lightning, which had a volume equivalent to a Demi-God, and the Ice Empress's 400,000-year Tribulation Lightning, which was equivalent to a Limit Douluo. This had already allowed the Thunder God Origin, which had been dormant for ages, to recover quite a bit of vitality.
As long as he completely devoured this Tribulation Lightning, combined with the accumulation from the previous two times, the total amount of Thunder God Origin power he gathered would officially break through that critical point and reach the level of a complete God Rank!
This meant that the Thunder God Position, which had been shattered for an unknown number of eons, would complete its preliminary reconstruction in his hands!
And this Thunder God Origin power, which had reached the God Rank level, was precisely the perfect material for refining a Thunder God exclusive divine artifact!
Thinking of this, the look of anticipation in Lei Chen's eyes grew even stronger. He no longer waited passively and began to actively circulate that ever-growing ball of purple-gold Thunder God Origin within him, starting its preliminary tempering and shaping to prepare for the subsequent artifact refining.
Boom! Boom-crack—!
While Lei Chen was tempering the Thunder God Origin, the bolts of Tribulation Lightning in the high sky fell one after another without pause. Each was thicker and more violent than the last, and their color gradually changed from purple-red to deep purple and then dark gold, their power increasing exponentially.
But no matter how fierce the Tribulation Lightning was, the outcome remained the same. Lei Chen always stood suspended in the air like a bottomless pit, drawing all the Tribulation Lightning aimed at the Xue Di toward himself to be devoured and absorbed.
The purple-gold lightning pattern at the center of his brow became brighter and clearer as the Tribulation Lightning continuously poured in, even beginning to emit a faint pressure. It was a sign that the authority to command the thunder of heaven and earth was awakening.
And the Thunder God Origin within his body, under the infusion of this massive amount of high-quality thunder power, was like divine iron thrown into a great furnace, constantly being purified and strengthened. Guided by Lei Chen's will, it slowly began to condense into a specific form.