Against the Gods (Web Novel)

Chapter 1239 - Heaven’s Fury

“What is going on here?”

Those around the Conferred God Stage were completely filled with panic as the sky got darker and darker. Even with the eyesight of these experts, they were still unable to see their hands clearly. Meanwhile, an incomparably oppressive and stifling feeling seemed to come pressing down from the skies, getting heavier and heavier as time went by, making everyone feel like their souls were shaking uncontrollably from being suffocated.

It gave off a terrible feeling, as if the whole sky was on the verge of caving in, and swallowing up all life.

The people around the Conferred God Stage all stood up, raising their faces to the sky, their hearts and souls all shocked. Forget about the young profound practitioners present, not even the god emperors nor the Dragon Monarch had ever seen this frightening way of filling up the skies with dark clouds in a split second.

“Mo Yu, Mo Wen, Mo Zhi, have you ever seen such an unusual sight before?” the Eternal Heaven God Emperor asked the three elders from Heavenly Mystery Realm, his eyebrows tight and sunken.

However, the three elders had no answers to the Eternal Heaven God Emperor’s words. The trio stared blankly into the darkened skies, the shock in their eyes ten times greater than any others present.

As the Heavenly Mystery Three Elders , they were the closest to the heavenly law than anyone else in the God Realm, spending their lives seeking out the mysteries of heaven, seeing countless worldly phenomena. Yet, within the Heavenly Mystery Realm’s Heavenly Mystery God Canon, which contained a recording of all the mysteries of the God Realm, there were no records of such a mysterious event. And what made them inconsolably shocked, was precisely this power that seemed so close to the heavenly law.

Denizens of the Heavenly Mystery Realm had a naturally short life span as they constantly and forcefully peeked into heavenly mysteries, facing certain heavenly wrath. Though they were able to peer into the mysteries of heaven, they revered the heavenly law more than anyone else. However, they had never in their lives felt the existence of the heavenly power as clearly as at this very moment.

What originally looked like some vague heavenly power was currently rolling around over their heads in the skies, as if one could just reach out and touch it.

Thud…

The three elders suddenly dropped heavily on to their knees at the same time, then prostrated themselves on the floor, their bodies shuddering endlessly.

The sudden movements from the Heavenly Mystery Three Elders slightly startled the Eternal Heaven God Emperor. Then, his body flashed with profound light. As he listened to the sound transmission, his face sharply changed colors as he quietly roared, “What did you say!?”

For someone in Eternal Heaven God Emperor’s position to be making such a shocked voice, the various god emperors and the guardians around him couldn’t help but look over. The Dragon Monarch asked in a low voice, “What happened?”

The Eternal Heaven God Emperor’s chest heaved heavily for a while, before he answered in an incomparably gloomy tone, “These strange dark clouds are not just appearing in my Eternal Heaven Realm, from the east’s Divine Sea and the west’s Flying Star… anywhere that can be reached by transmission, their skies are covered in black clouds too! Nothing else can be seen!”

“How can this be possible!? The entire Eastern Divine Region… has already been covered with black clouds!”

“What!?” the Eternal Heaven God Emperor’s words caused all those at the Conferred God Stage to be shocked.

“This… What exactly is happening? Dragon Monarch, you are three hundred and fifty thousand years old, have you ever heard of such a phenomenon?” the Brahma Heaven God Emperor asked in a low voice.

“…” the Dragon Monarch slowly shook his head.

“It’s the heavens… It’s heaven’s fury!” Bent over the floor, Master Mo Yu yelled through his clenched teeth, every word accompanied by a tremble that came from his bones

Boom boom boom———

Black clouds continued to roll in, constantly thickening and forming a dense mass over everyone’s heads and hearts. The throbbing in their hearts caused by this unresistable oppression made them feel suffocated.

The entire Eastern Divine Region was caught up in the middle of chaotic panic. They looked up at the pitch-black sky, where endless black clouds seemed to portend the coming of judgement day.

Under the shock and horror of their current situation, everyone had long forgotten where they were, forgotten that this was the last match of the Conferred God Battle.

Bathump…

Bathump…

Thump…

Thump.

Thump!

Thumpthumpthumpthump…

Yun Che’s eyes were dimmed, his consciousness clearly extinguished. But for some reason, his heart beats were incomparably clear.

The profound energy within his profound veins were initially completely used up, even the profound veins could not be detected. Yet at this moment, he could suddenly feel wisps of profound energy surging in from nowhere. However, while this profound energy clearly originated from him, it felt incomparably foreign. It continuously stirred and expanded restlessly like a fearsome wild beast that had been locked away in a cage, one that could only violently struggle, unable to escape.

At the same time, a gust of bizarrely pressuring might encompassed his entire body. His consciousness had already become incomparably weak, yet he could still feel that, mixed in with this incomparably frightening and pressurizing power, were wrath, astonishment, irritability… and dread?

What… is… that…

Yun Che’s dimmed eyes blankly looked overhead at the pitch-black skies.

Standing not ten steps in front of Yun Che, Luo Changsheng’s body, pupils, soul… His entire body, from every one of his nerves to every strand of his hair, madly shivered.

Being closest to Yun Che, he didn’t need to do much to be in front of Yun Che in a flash. Yet, his body stood stiffly there, the half step that he took shuddering in midair, unable to move forward… Because an unknowingly frightening feeling told him that, if he took this half step forward, he would definitely fall into the deep abyss of death, unable to free himself forever.

In his crippling fear, he started to retreat. With every step back that he took, the sense of horror would lighten a little. He quickened his pace of retreat, until he was able to distance himself from his panic. However, his body still did not stop shivering.

What’s this? What is going on here?

“What heaven’s fury? What exactly does that mean?” God Emperor Shitian asked in a heavy voice. Although he tried to keep the tone of his voice steady and calm, his eyes were filled with uncertainty.

Rrrmmbb——

A beam of purple light suddenly flashed.

In this oppressively dark world, this flash of purple light obviously attracted everyone’s attention immediately, causing everyone’s gaze to fall upon its origin. Right where they were looking, where two pieces of dark clouds came into contact, the bright streak of purple light left a trace of lightning. Then three, five, ten, one hundred… countless lightning traces converged together to form a humongous lightning domain.

“This… This is!?”

To the powerhouses gathered here, the sudden formation of a lightning domain from the convergence of lightning traces was not something unfamiliar.

Because… This was the prelude to the lightning tribulation that each profound practitioner had to experience during their Divine Tribulation Realm bottleneck breakthrough!

Mortals cultivating to become gods would inevitably meet heaven’s wrath. Aside from the king realms that possessed special “inheritances” passed through the generations to aid their descendants into instantaneously ascend to the heavens, be it humans, demons, beasts, or spirits, if one wished to break through from the Divine Tribulation Realm, they would need to submit to the punishments of the heavenly law. If this encounter were to be successfully endured, they would successfully advance to the Divine Spirit Realm. If not, at best, they would get away with being crippled for the rest of their lives. At worst, they would meet a violent end.

In the God Realm, there were already many profound practitioners experiencing lightning tribulations on a daily basis. As a result, tribulation lightning had long become a common occurrence in the upper echelons of the God Realm and was hardly an unusual thing.

But…

Within the understanding of the experts in the God Realm, lightning clouds would gather in a small area over the head of the practitioner who wished to breakthrough, just before the tribulation lightning, before eventually forming a lightning region, dropping down the tribulation lightning. A normal practitioner would usually condense about five kilometers worth of lightning clouds and no more than a few tens of kilometers. At the very least, no one had heard of any profound practitioner condensing lightning clouds that exceeded fifty kilometers.

Yet, the clouds hanging overhead were omnipresent, encapsulating the entirety of the Eastern God Region within it, as if portending a great calamity that would end the world. So how could it possibly be the clouds from a lightning tribulation?

Therefore, once these thoughts flashed through the minds of everyone present, they were thoroughly quashed in the next instant… Even though it was quite similar, it definitely could not be the prelude to a lightning tribulation.

If that was the case, what exactly was this purple colored lightning region that appeared in the midst of these all-encompassing black clouds?

As the black clouds started expanding lower, so too did the lightning region. And as the lightning region became lower and lower, the might of heaven grew heavier by the moment, pressing heavily on the hearts of the crowd. Gradually, people were astonished to discover that Yun Che was right underneath the center of the lightning region!

Yun Che was barely breathing, unmoving. Yet, his entire body was completely bathed in the purple light of the lightning region. In this completely dark world, it appeared to be a glorious sight.

Everything about this was completely the same as the prelude to tribulation lightning.

Yun Che’s profound strength… just happens to be at… the peak of the Divine Tribulation Realm…” God Emperor Shitian mumbled, “Could this… Really be….”

“No, it definitely can’t be,” the Moon God Emperor raised his heads to the skies, “How could this be just a lightning tribulation? Even if it’s the Primordial Devil God reincarnated, it wouldn’t…”

Screech!

An earth-shattering crack suddenly echoed from the skies whilst a bolt of lightning streaked across, as if it wished to split the heavens above into halves. A clear purple ray of lightning suddenly started condensing within the lightning region and began to emit horrifying sounds.

“Heaven…. Heavenly tribulation lightning!?”

Countless practitioners started crying out in alarm at this. Even the various Divine Masters at the scene had terror on their faces, their eyes rigid with fear.

This sort of unusual lightning and thunder brilliance, this extraordinary type of lightning and thunder atmosphere… It was precisely the heavenly tribulation lightning that they were all too familiar with!

“Real…. Really… Really…. It’s really tribulation lightning?” a middle realm king stammered as he asked.

“No! That’s not possible! This kind of universally shocking phenomenon, how could it be just tribulation lightning… This tribulation lightning ought to have simply coincided with the phenomenon!”

“Right! Right Right! That must be it! Eh? That’s not right! Yun Che clearly suffered heavy injuries to his body, his profound energy all drained. Clearly, this was the most impossible time for a breakthrough! How could he attract tribulation lightning at this time?

“For a lightning tribulation to fall in these conditions, wouldn’t he be unquestionably dead?”

The black clouds that had encapsulated the entire Eastern God Region… suddenly appeared in the lightning region above Yun Che’s head…

They would never put these two situations together no matter what, nor did they dare to.

“Dragon Monarch, in your opinion…. these black clouds… could they be lightning clouds?”

God Emperor Shitian asked, his voice incomparably slow.

“…” the Dragon Monarch looked towards the sky, not responding for a long time… or perhaps, he did not dare to give an answer.

As the lightning region hung lower and lower, the light of the heavenly tribulation lightning that condensed in its midst also grew richer and richer. All of the brilliance and atmosphere were firmly concentrated on Yun Che’s body.

Members of the Snow Song Realm were completely rooted to the spot, blankly staring Yun Che, who was completely covered with purple light. At this point, Mu Bingyun’s face finally changed color, “Oh no!”

“Yun Che!” She called out in a low voice and started moving forward, but was quickly obstructed by Mu Huanzhi. “Don’t go over there! If that really is Yun Che’s lightning tribulation, you should know that no one can prevent it, nor intervene!”

To those cultivating to become gods, heavenly tribulation lightning was their penalty, and a form of a test. Before going through the lightning tribulation, one could prepare for it with high quality spirit medicine, profound artifacts, profound formations, and other kinds of methods. This was also why upper star realms had a higher chance of passing lightning tribulations… The challenger was not allowed to depend on interference from others. Not only would it not help at all, the person who interfered would also receive heaven’s wrath.

Mu Bingyun said urgently, “Sect master has repeatedly stated that Yun Che’s aptitude is extraordinary. If he breaks through the Divine Tribulation Realm, he will attract many stages of tribulation lightnings. As such, he should not initiate a breakthrough himself. He needs to rely on her to personally make complete preparations for him. How could… how could he… at this sort of time, suddenly…”

Crack!

Rays of lightning exploded as startling thunder roared through the skies. A streak of heavenly tribulation lightning ripped the skies apart, striking straight towards Yun Che.

The Conferred God Stage was filled with countless startled voices. Within the knowledge of the God Realm’s profound practitioners, heavenly tribulation lightning usually flashed for about a hundred breaths. It was akin to a form of mercy that the heavens bestowed upon profound practitioners, giving them a crucial chance to prepare for a hundred breaths! Yet, this sudden strike of heavenly tribulation lightning only flashed for the very short space of five breaths!

“Yun Che!” Mu Bingyun’s pupils shrunk, yelling out in a startled, high pitched voice.

“Changsheng, retreat!!” Luo Guxie also let out a roar.

Honorable Qu Hui’s reaction was extremely fast. He instantly removed the barrier atop the Conferred God Stage and sent Luo Changsheng far into the distance with a brush of profound energy.

Boom!!

When the heavenly tribulation lightning struck down on Yun Che’s body, a three thousand meter long purple ray of light exploded open with Yun Che at its center, releasing the untouchable, undeniable power of the heavens.

“Yun… Yun Che..” Mu Bingyun’s beautiful face lost its color, her delicate body unable to even collapse.

His life was already hanging on a thread, how could it still withstand this heavenly power? His only ending was ashes and smoke…

Crack!!!!

Before the audience had yet to react, another thunderous explosion suddenly rang out across the skies as two streaks of heavenly tribulation lightning from the lightning region struck down towards Yun Che at the same time.

Boom———

The heavenly tribulation lightning covering Yun Che had yet to show even a sign of dissipating. Once again, it exploded in an even more dense, more horrifying purple brilliance.

“Wha… What!”

“This… second stage of tribulation lightning?”

“This… This… What is this exactly?”

The higher the talent, the stronger the tribulation lightning one had to suffer. Normal profound practitioners would only have to suffer through one round of tribulation lightning. Being able to experience two different stages of tribulation lightning meant that one was an outstanding talent. It was incredibly rare to find individuals who have experienced three stages of tribulation lightning, every one of them were regional shocking talents. Individuals who have seen four stages were few and far between, and, if they didn’t meet a premature end, they were likely to become Divine Sovereigns or Divine Masters. As for those who have experienced five stages of tribulation lightning, that was something one might not see once in a millennium. And those who have seen six stages of tribulation lightning, in the entire million year history of the God Realm, there was only ever one.

With Yun Che’s outstanding performance on the Conferred God Stage, if he experienced three, or even four stages of tribulation lightning during his breakthrough, no one would find it strange. Even if he experienced five stages of tribulation lightning, it would also not cause any alarm.

However, in the case of multiple stages of tribulation lightning, there would always be a breather that lasted around ten breaths between each stage. Although it was not a long period of time, it was still a precious and important chance to catch a breath.

However, the difference between Yun Che’s second and first stage was only half a breath’s time before it suddenly struck down!

Before everyone’s bewilderment went away, right after the explosion from the second stage of tribulation lightning, the sky was once again split apart by rays of lightning. In front of everyone’s haunted looks, the heavenly tribulation lightning struck down once again… but this time, it was four full rays of lightning!

Third stage of tribulation lightning!

In a breath’s time, there were three stages of tribulation lightning, seven streaks of heavenly tribulation lightning!

The heavens usually showed mercy to mortals.

Yet, in this moment, it seemed like the heavens were irritably, and angrily, wishing to obliterate this life.