Chapter 146: Only After Destruction Comes Rebirth!
"A battle between two divine bodies, and in the end, it was the Scarlet Flame Divine Body that emerged victorious. Unbelievable!"
"The Scarlet Flame Divine Body is indeed powerful, but that last move from Li Xun was just as terrifying. I wonder what kind of divine technique that was… and what kind of intent it contained."
"Could the Champion Marquis be dead?"
"Not yet. He's just been severely wounded. If he doesn't have any hidden trump cards left, he probably won't even survive the nine lightning calamities tribulation."
"The Champion Marquis, a well-known powerhouse for years, has suffered a crushing defeat this time. He had planned to use the heavenly tribulation to prevent others from interfering, but now look—there was indeed no interference, yet he himself is on the verge of being killed."
"Shh! Keep your voice down. The other marquises of the Great Chu Dynasty all have grim expressions. Do you still dare to say such things?"
Outside the tribulation, a massive crowd had gathered, especially the people from the Great Chu Dynasty. Each of them had darkened expressions.
If not for the heavenly tribulation acting as a barrier, they would have already rushed in without hesitation.
The Champion Marquis was the only divine body of the Great Chu Dynasty. If he were to fall here today, the Great Chu Emperor would surely be enraged beyond measure.
And when that happened, none of them would be able to bear the consequences.
"The era of the Champion Marquis hadn't even fully begun… and yet, it has already ended."
A marquis from the Great Chu Dynasty spoke with a deep sigh.
This person was none other than Marquis Mang Huang, who had previously encountered Li Xun at the Yunzhou territory border. Standing beside him was Marquis Wei Yuan.
The two had rushed here the moment they heard that Fazhao had appeared.
But they never expected to witness such a scene.
"Marquis Mang Huang, do you think the Champion Marquis will really die here?"
Marquis Wei Yuan secretly transmitted his voice.
They were unaware of the Champion Marquis' plans. Their primary duty was to guard the Yunzhou territory border, and his survival was not directly relevant to them.
However—
They had personally witnessed Li Xun stepping into Yunzhou territory… and now they had personally witnessed Li Xun defeating the Champion Marquis.
It was almost unbelievable to see it with their own eyes.
"I don't think so. Li Xun still has to face the nine lightning calamities tribulation. Once it passes, powerful figures will intervene to rescue the Champion Marquis."
"But the real problem now is… with the Champion Marquis already so severely injured, he probably won't survive the nine lightning calamities tribulation."
Marquis Mang Huang pondered for a moment before responding through voice transmission.
Just as he finished speaking—
Boom!
The entire sky turned crimson red.
Thunder roared as blood-colored lightning spread across the heavens like a vast ocean of fire. The scene was more than several times grander than before.
The legendary nine lightning calamities tribulation had finally descended.
This tribulation was like the end of the world itself.
Even those watching from outside the tribulation felt a chilling terror creeping up their spines.
They couldn't even begin to imagine what it would be like to stand within it.
Crack!
The blood-colored lightning transformed into heavenly dragons—not just one, but tens of thousands of them.
Each dragon was as massive as a mountain ridge, writhing wildly in the void.
Li Xun, after shattering a few bolts of lightning, suddenly had a flash of realization in his eyes.
"The Life and Death Realm…"
He murmured to himself.
"Only after destruction comes rebirth."
Gritting his teeth, Li Xun stopped resisting altogether.
He sat cross-legged in the void, and in that instant—
The sea of lightning completely engulfed him.
Endless bolts of thunder struck his body, instantly shattering large chunks of his flesh, revealing his gleaming white bones.
The sight was utterly horrifying.
Fortunately—
Li Xun had previously refined thousands of Blood Essence Stones, granting him an insane regeneration speed.
Every time his flesh was obliterated, it would regrow within moments, returning him to his original state.
He began attempting to channel the lightning into his body.
Li Xun wanted to truly understand the Law of Destruction—to experience its essence firsthand.
Although the heavenly tribulation was thunder-based and should belong to the laws of lightning, the destructive aura contained within it was the most abundant among the Three Thousand Great Daos.
The moment the blood-colored lightning entered his body, Li Xun's meridians shattered inch by inch, as if ten thousand primordial beasts were rampaging through his veins.
It was an agony akin to being torn apart by a thousand blades.
Even with Li Xun's extraordinary mental fortitude, he couldn't help but let out a muffled groan.
He felt as if his internal organs were being affected as well—almost to the point of being completely obliterated by the lightning.
At the last possible moment, however, he managed to endure it.
As time slowly passed…
The nine lightning calamities tribulation raged on for an unusually long period.
Li Xun continuously drew the lightning into his body, and in return, his body was repeatedly destroyed and reborn.
Through this process, his entire being seemed to be undergoing a profound tempering from within, radiating with an ethereal divine glow.
By the end, his body had become so refined that he could withstand multiple lightning strikes without being destroyed.
"So this is the nine lightning calamities tribulation? Why is the final stage lasting so long? This is insane!"
Someone muttered in shock as they gazed at the faint light of dawn appearing on the horizon.
An entire night!
The tribulation had lasted a full night!
Even if it had been a chunk of divine metal instead of a person, it would have been completely refined into nothingness under such relentless lightning bombardment.
This nine lightning calamities tribulation wasn't designed for survival at all.
The first eight tribulations had been devastating, but they were at least instantaneous—as long as one could withstand the overwhelming strike, they would be considered victorious.
But the nine lightning calamities tribulation was completely different—it refused to fade, persisting endlessly as if it intended to grind its target into oblivion.
"Could it be… that both Li Xun and the Champion Marquis are dead?"
A young cultivator whispered under his breath.
The death of two prodigies at once would be a devastating blow to both Great Zhou and Great Chu.
However, for the ordinary geniuses, this might actually be an opportunity.
With these two towering mountains suddenly removed, the competition among rising talents would become much less daunting.
"Don't speak nonsense!"
A Life and Death Realm expert rebuked coldly.
"If both of them had died, the tribulation would have dispersed on its own. The fact that the tribulation still remains means that at least one of them is still alive!"
Another half-day passed.
By now, the sun had already risen high in the sky, and the previously overwhelming nine lightning calamities tribulation had begun to fade slightly.
Just as everyone believed that the tribulation was finally coming to an end—
"ROOOAAARRR—!"
A dragon's roar shook the heavens and the earth.
From the dark thunderclouds, a colossal, ancient heavenly dragon came diving down.
This was no ordinary lightning construct—
It was a true embodiment of destruction, its entire form condensed from pure lightning, more solid and real than any lightning entity seen before.
Its massive dragon head was as vast as a mountain, and its horns gleamed like divine weapons.
With an unstoppable force, it crashed downward.
Even those who had already overcome tribulations felt their hearts tremble in fear.
"There's more—?!"
Someone's eyes widened in disbelief.
Was this still part of the nine lightning calamities tribulation?
Or was this the ten lightning calamities tribulation?!
If it was still part of the nine lightning calamities tribulation, then why had the blood-colored lightning lasted the entire night?
Tribulations never had a "final resurgence" like this before!
But if this was the ten lightning calamities tribulation…
Would this be a first in history?!
No one had ever heard of a ten lightning calamities tribulation before!
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