n

n

n

n

n*BOOM!!! Crackle, crackle… Rumble*

nThe flash was followed by an explosive sound, as if a Heavenly Beast roared in all its might, making the very Earth itself shudder.

nThe crackling sounds of lightning resounded as Wu Long stood amid arcs of electric currents, raising his right hand to meet the thick irregular lines of light connecting Heaven and Earth.

nThe lightning that struck him did not let off, remaining as a continuous current, smaller arcs hitting the ground around him haphazardly, his surroundings further turning into a crater filled with rubble and dust.

nThis struggling figure reflected in the eyes of an ordinary-looking young lady previously walking the streets of the capital, who for some reason drew Ye Ling’s attention, as she not only was the only one not kneeling, aside from those who came with Wu Long, but also for a split moment looked like she was about to leap forward.

nBut Ye Ling’s focus soon shifted from her as Wu Long stumbled a little before regaining balance, worry and helplessness filling her eyes as she turned back to look at him.

nThe young lady, meanwhile, also continued to look at Wu Long with wide eyes, and then disappeared from view of anyone around as her figure transformed into that of a goddess with eyes glowing gold.

n“He’s a madman…”, she spoke with astonishment, as she was about to intervene a few moments before, stopped by the look in his eyes as he gave the Heavens a challenge.

n‘Is he… is he trying to snatch the Fiery Sword of Heavens?’, a bewildered thought ran through her mind as she looked at this man.

nShe could see that he was struggling for control of the lightning with the Heavenly Daos, trying to wrestle away the very sword that came down to exterminate him.

nAnd although the Lightning of the Heavenly Punishment had the Law of Annihilation within it, he countered it with the laws and concepts that he wielded, expanding Domains of Sword, Spear, Saber, and so on at the same time, layering them atop one another.

nA corner of his left eye started bleeding from strain, and both eyes had bloody spots, his nose starting to bleed as well, as using so many Domains at once was beyond his means, at least for now, though it was quite hard to do with full powered ones even in his prime.

nA few small wounds appeared on his right arm holding back the Sword of Heavens, as well as on his shoulders and upper torso, turning his upper clothes around the wounds into shreds.

nThe hearts of his beauties tightened at the sight of him?bloody and receiving wounds, even if they were minor.

nXun Yawen also looked with worry.

nNo matter how fleeting this little adventure was for her, she still had grown attached.

nBut what she expressed along that worry were also shock and disbelief.

nShe lingered for a bit on the spot, not going forward, looking at him desperately fighting as a little bit of hope in the impossible woke inside her eyes.

nIt slowly started to look like he was gradually taking the upper hand.

nWu Long finally started gaining insight into the Concept of Annihilation, his vantage point of being targeted with it allowing a deeper perspective on it.

nIt was the only thing that made this lightning more powerful and deadly than the one he wielded apart from the sheer concentration and compression of electric energy which he also started to understand in more depth.

nHowever, after a few moments, when it looked like Wu Long was going to finally prevail, a powerful quake made the whole of the Three Continents shudder.

nXun Yawen’s eyes widened once more turning toward the Central Sea.

n“Now?! Why now?!”, she shouted with a bit of anger.

nThen a complicated and full of dissatisfaction expression appeared on her face, a teardrop of resentment at this unfairness formed in the corner of her eye as she turned to look at the young man she somehow grew fond of and thus was rooting for.

n“He was so close…”, she whispered with a lamentful sigh.

nWu Long soon felt the clouds above suddenly double and then triple in intensity.

n‘The link…’, immediately came to his mind as he understood that the Heavenly Daos of this Fractured World have reconnected with those in the Boundless Mortal World.

nUnlucky coincidence, or not, it was not clear. In any case it was something impossible to predict or control. Especially considering that it was far before the expected time.

nThe lightning he was struggling against then grew stronger as he was forced to slowly bend his arm, then torso, then knees under the tremendous pressure.

n“Quickly, conceal your cultivation”, Ye Ling spoke to those who already broke through half-step Essence Awakening, as she felt the change that he felt as well.

nIt was enough trouble with this unforeseen Heavenly Punishment, if members of the Dao Family started undergoing Heavenly Tribulation as well the consequences would be catastrophic.

nThey swiftly ensured that the Heavenly Daos could not detect their cultivation reaching above Mortal Transcendence, as it was something they naturally prepared for beforehand, as soon as Ye Ling reached that level.

nThey then turned their gazes to Wu Long again, whose right arm and shoulder were completely covered in burns, and more serious wounds than before could be seen all over his upper body.

n“Tch… how untimely…”, he clicked his tongue in frustration.

nBut the dice was rolled, so he did not linger on the thought, as his mind raced with countermeasures.

nHe started creating a network of microscopic cores within his blood vessels that he only theorized before, doubling the previous 108 to 216 as his current Runic Thunder Vein Body was not handling the burden.

nHe also started actively circulating the Chaos Refining Body Tempering Art, refining some of the Annihilation Lightning that his body could not bear, and sealing away the leftover he could not handle by refining, depositing them in small isolated charges throughout his body parts.

nHe was cooling down his body with the Cold Qi, and huge amounts of vapor started rising into the air as large volumes of sea water appeared from within his water-dedicated Spatial Ring and streamed upward, channeling some of the lightning away from him and exhausting some of the destructive energy on the way to him.

nThis water was super-cooled below freezing temperatures as he made every effort to diminish the burden on him.

nA tyrannical wind rose in the skies, disrupting the clouds above and thus weakening the flow of lightning further.

n“…?!!!”, Xun Yawen standing not far from him, unseen by anyone, was staring at him without blinking, her hand raised a bit as she was going to finally step in a bit earlier, only to freeze on the spot as she saw him starting to adjust to this predicament.

nThere was something within her eyes that slightly changed at that sight, as his bloodied, half-charred figure which was bent under pressure started triumphantly straightening upward again.

nAnd then finally, the moment came when his new Core stabilized after reformation.

nA new, much more powerful current of Spiritual Qi filled his body with strength, as his eyes flashed with profound light.

nThe new Spiritual Qi he turned into Lightning Qi with the Dao Rune suddenly began overpowering the current falling from above.

nHe did not have time to ponder on why it was so potent when the difference should not have been that great in theory.

nWu Long concentrated on perceiving the Lightning of the Heavenly Punishment instead, until…

n“Heh, got it!”, an excited exclamation fell from his bloodied lips as his hand raised high made a light grasping motion, a new Dao Rune within the skies pulled to him by an invisible force, and then was absorbed into his own.

nA giant current of lightning streamed from the sky to him, but did not hurt him at all this time as it disappeared without a trace within, as the clouds started immediately dissipating, and were blown away by the heavy winds he raised before.

nThose winds were also quickly calming down right after.

nAn enormous amount of water that was forming a dome above him, and continuously flowing toward the top part as it was completely disintegrated there, met with a big splash far above his head as the force keeping it apart disappeared.

nIt then did not spread around, only forming a huge stream that flowed toward him and started disappearing within the Water Ring on the raised relatively intact left hand.

n“Fuu~…”, Wu Long made a heavy sigh, slightly leaning forward from exhaustion, as for a moment even he thought that he would not make it.

nHis beauties first quickly and then carefully approached him, only held back from running up and hugging him because of his extensive injuries.

nThe members of the Frozen Garden Palace also had worried faces, but also vigilant appearances as they formed a large protective circle around him and the Dao Family.

n“M-my Clear Moon Pavilio~n~…!!!!”, resounded in the distance as a wealthy-looking man fell to his knees in tears looking at a once-beautiful private pavilion for private meetings of wealthy and powerful individuals, complete with an extensive, lavish, and carefully tended-to garden around it, all of it now resembling a place devastated by a meteor fall with not even one column of the outer wall or a single blade of grass to be found.

n