Time flew by. Eight years had passed since the disaster befell the Wu family. In a pitch-black region of the starry sky where demonic qi raged, a youth sat. He looked only about twelve or thirteen years old, yet he exuded an incredibly terrifying aura, unexpectedly reaching the peak of the Sixth Heaven of the Divine Realm! Inside his body, his dantian was constantly rumbling and exploding as if it were about to burst. He was forming the embryonic form of a small world—this was the sign of breaking through to the Divine Lord realm.
"BOOM..." Six hours passed, and a loud explosion echoed from within his body. The aura he exuded became even more terrifying; he had broken through to the Divine Lord realm. Following this, he opened his eyes. His eyes were pitch-black at first, but then they gradually brightened, returning to a state of clarity. Surprisingly, his cultivation level dropped all the way down to the God-Communication Realm!
"Ha, I've finally refined all the demonic qi in this starry sky... Huh, the Divine Veins actually cultivated on their own to the God-Communication Realm..." Wu Tianjun opened his eyes, looked around, and muttered. "Oh, has the Old Demon still not returned?" He looked around again, but still did not see that dark figure.
"Haha, kid, you must have absorbed all the demonic qi! That fellow Wu Tianyuan took seven years to absorb all the demonic qi and become a Divine Lord. I wonder how long you took?" The Old Demon's voice echoed from the void. "Ah! Kid, there's no need to look for me. I no longer exist; what is left here is merely a recorded voice. After you absorb all the demonic qi here, this small world will soon collapse, and you will be teleported to the outside world. Be careful. I have already told your father, Wu Xingchen, and the others that if they want to awaken your mother and Wu Shenpo's group, they need to find the Nine-Colored Holy Lotus and the Nine-Leaf Flower. You must also do your best to search for them in the future. Furthermore, you must be careful of the Primordial Beings. At the end of the Archaic Era, the great war between the Primordial Beings and the various Archaic races shattered the Universe into many star domains, forcing many to sever their original bodies to await rebirth. Currently, the star domains are merging. Once they are capable, the Primordial Beings will definitely be reborn. They will be enemies to you and those carrying Primordial bloodlines, so you and Wu Tianyuan should be careful. Ah, I've already warned Wu Tianyuan. Haha, if I have a chance to be reborn, we shall talk again." As the Old Demon's voice faded, this world also became unstable, and numerous cracks began to appear.
"Rest assured! I will do my best to resurrect you one day! This is my, Wu Tianjun's, promise to you," Wu Tianjun said resolutely, his eyes glistening with tears. Although they had not known each other for long, in a way, the Old Demon was his master. The small world whose demonic qi he had absorbed was likely a fragment of the Old Demon's small world from when he was alive.
Yuanmu Star Forest.
Since the merger of the star domains eight years ago, many new primal lands had formed, and numerous small worlds had emerged and integrated into the cosmic starry sky, creating many different environments. The Yuanmu Star Forest was one of them. Demonic beasts ran rampant here, but there were also many kinds of natural treasures, attracting numerous cultivators to come here to practice and search for treasures. On this day, in the Yuanmu Star Forest, space shattered, and a figure fell through, causing the surrounding powerful cultivators and demonic beasts...
Startled and terrified, they wondered which mighty figure had appeared. Tearing through the void required at least a God Realm powerhouse, and moreover, one at the Third Stage of the God Realm or above. This person was indeed Wu Tianjun, who had just been ejected from the shattered minor world.
"Where is this?" Wu Tianjun looked around blankly, seeing nothing but trees. Right at that moment, a black shadow lunged at him. Before Wu Tianjun could even strike back, the black shadow crashed into his body.
"Hiss..." The black shadow bounced back. Wu Tianjun remained standing still, looking strangely at the small beast in front of him. It was a small green snake, yet it possessed a peak Pulse Opening Realm cultivation.
"Oh, little guy, you actually dare to attack me? Pulse Opening Realm, haha, just in time, I'm hungry." Wu Tianjun waved his hand and caught the little snake. The little green snake was completely unable to resist and was caught in his hand. "Eh? It actually has a Primordial lineage..." Through his conversations with the Old Devil, he had learned a bit about the lineages of the powerful Primordial clans. This little fellow probably possessed a trace of the Primordial Dragon Clan's lineage. "Hmph, consider yourself lucky..." He looked at the little green snake with amusement. The little green snake's intelligence had not yet awakened; it could only look at him in terror out of sheer instinct.
"Sigh, I really don't know where this is... I'll just take it one step at a time." He then expanded his spiritual sense to search around, feeling hungry. In truth, with his Divine Vessel cultivation at the Spirit Communication Realm, he shouldn't have felt this hungry. However, a sudden change occurred. Dark clouds gathered in the sky, and thunder rumbled... He actually felt that a lightning tribulation was about to descend upon him!
"Huh? Is this my lightning tribulation? It doesn't seem like anything special." Wu Tianjun looked at the sky and said. He had seen his father and Wu Tianyuan undergo tribulations before. Although this tribulation cloud looked powerful, at most, it only corresponded to Wu Tianyuan's Earth Core lightning tribulation. This was merely his speculation, as he had not yet witnessed Wu Tianyuan reach the Earth Core Realm.
"Huh? Human Core lightning tribulation? What is going on?..." Wu Tianjun seemed to sense the lightning tribulation. "Earth Core lightning tribulation? Heaven Core lightning tribulation? Spirit Communication lightning tribulation? Overlapping tribulations?!?" Wu Tianjun said in disbelief. He had just received information from the lightning tribulation, and according to it, the tribulation was constantly growing stronger. In the blink of an eye, it had almost reached the level of the Divine Tribulation that Wu Shichen had undergone more than ten years ago! "Run, as fast as you can! I'll find you later." Wu Tianjun hastily wrapped the little green snake in demonic qi and threw it far away.
"A powerhouse is breaking through to the God Realm..." someone in the distance speculated upon seeing the descending lightning tribulation.
"Judging by the intensity of this lightning tribulation, that person must be an unparalleled monster, a peerless genius! I was once fortunate enough to witness the Holy Son of the Reincarnation Sacred Land undergo his Divine Tribulation, and I'm afraid it wasn't even a fifth of this one's power." A powerhouse said in shock. Didn't this mean that the person currently undergoing the tribulation was five times stronger than that Holy Son?
"How is this possible? I wonder which power nurtured him. Once he grows up, he will surely become a titan of his generation." A God Realm powerhouse remarked. Comparing his own Divine Tribulation to this person's was truly like comparing a minor wizard to a great magus.
The cultivators who saw the tribulation clouds spoke in terror, then quickly fled, fearing that their auras would be contaminated and they would also be targeted by the lightning punishment. Similarly, the demonic beasts instinctively fled deeper into the Yuanmu Star Forest.
*Whoosh...* A black feather drifted down from the sky, slowly floating toward Wu Tianjun.
"What kind of lightning tribulation is this..." a powerhouse muttered in confusion.
"Lightning Rain... it's Lightning Rain!" Someone recognized this heavenly tribulation. "How is this possible? Doesn't legend say that only supreme experts who have surpassed the God Realm can trigger Lightning Rain?" the person said, utterly terrified.
"A tribulation that surpasses the God Realm?!" Everyone was shocked.
"Everyone, run quickly! Once the Lightning Rain descends, its range is limitless. Run as far as you can!" the one who recognized the Lightning Rain Heavenly Tribulation shouted. He had only been fortunate enough to read a little about the Lightning Rain Heavenly Tribulation. This kind of tribulation was essentially an absolute death tribulation. Even in ancient times, a peerless expert had encountered it, and despite his unparalleled cultivation, he had failed to survive. Thus, he did not believe the person currently undergoing the tribulation could survive it.
"Something's not right! This person is only undergoing the God Tribulation... His aura has absolutely not surpassed the God Realm. What is going on with the Lightning Rain? Could this only be a Minor Lightning Rain...?" The man fled rapidly while constantly pondering.
"Fellow Daoist, could you please clear up our confusion?" a God Realm expert asked him.
"Just run first! The Lightning Rain has absolutely no boundary. It could even extend to a tenth of the Primordial Wood Star Forest!" he said hurriedly.
"Didn't Your Excellency just say that this is a tribulation only encountered by mighty figures who have surpassed the God Realm? He clearly hasn't reached the God Realm yet," a God Realm expert pointed out. Those who could reach this part of the Primordial Wood Star Forest were basically at least at the Heavenly Dan Realm, so sensing this was not too difficult for them.
"I understand that too. However, it is much weaker than what the legends describe. Still, I am certain this is the Lightning Rain. Look!" He pointed to the sky. Following his finger, everyone saw the tribulation clouds continuously expanding, followed by countless streaks of lightning falling like rain.
"Run, quickly!" the crowd shouted.
Ever since the Lightning Rain began to fall, Wu Tianjun had been watching with a wry smile. His father had hoped to encounter the Lightning Rain, but he certainly didn't want to. His father possessed the Calamity-Crossing Heavenly Physique; no matter how strong his heavenly tribulation was, it would only strengthen him and certainly wouldn't kill him. But Wu Tianjun was different. He didn't have the Calamity-Crossing Heavenly Physique. It seemed his debut in the world would be a miserable one.
"Since you're here, bring it on! I really want to see just how terrifying you are..." Wu Tianjun allowed the Lightning Rain to fall freely onto his body. But the moment he made contact with the Lightning Rain, he realized just how overconfident he had been. A single strand of Lightning Rain, no thicker than a finger, carried power no less than the full-force strike of a First-stage God Realm expert. Not only that, but it also carried an incomprehensible Dao rhyme that struck Wu Tianjun's body.
"Ahhh!" Wu Tianjun screamed in agony, his body instantly buckling. The lightning rain that touched his arm actually vanished into his body, wreaking havoc inside him. The incomprehensible Dao rhyme made him unable to move, leaving him to passively endure this single strand of lightning rain.
"How is this possible? Why can't I use my power? How is this even undergoing a tribulation? This is just a one-sided beating!" Wu Tianjun said in anger.
"You cultivate both the God-Devil Meridians, so it is understandable that you only face a Heavenly Tribulation when both meridians reach a certain realm. However, the Heavenly Dao does not tolerate us..." the Cursed Soul sitting in his Sea of Consciousness said.
"Hehe! How about you let me handle the Lightning Rain?" the Demonic Infant said with a cackle.
"I'm afraid that won't work! Previously, when I cultivated the Divine Meridian, even though it was terrifying, I didn't face a Heavenly Tribulation. Now that I am cultivating the Demonic Meridian at the same time, the Heavenly Tribulation has appeared, and it is only the Deity-Communing Tribulation. It makes sense; the Divine Meridian has just reached the Deity-Communing stage..." Wu Tianjun's soul said.
"Are you saying we should use both the Divine Meridian and the Demonic Meridian at the same time?" the Primordial Soul and the Demonic Infant asked. Although they shared the same body, their essences were fundamentally different.
"Hmph, this rain of lightning is just the beginning. The real lightning rain will probably arrive soon," Wu Tianjun said, looking up at the sky. Although he was confident, being hit by the lightning rain once had severely injured him. However, relying on the regenerative power of the Primordial Demonic Meridian, he had quickly recovered. Yet, at this moment, he had no other means to resist the lightning rain. He didn't even have a single magic treasure and could only rely on his physical body to undergo the tribulation. He had to risk it! "Both of you, activate the Demonic Meridian and the Divine Meridian at the same time. Let me control them," Wu Tianjun said urgently. Since he couldn't move, he had to find a way to overcome this obstacle.
Sure enough, this time the lightning rain fell like raindrops from the sky. A pitch-black sheet of lightning rain was gradually heading toward Wu Tianjun. As he activated both meridians, the veins on the surface of his body bulged like little snakes slithering all over him. His forehead was drenched in sweat as he threw his head back and roared toward the heavens, "Ahhh... I don't believe your lightning rain can kill me!!!"