I am a mortal who has achieved enlightenment through burning my secrets

Chapter 178 Continued Tribulation
"Crimson Emperor Fire Aura!!"

Xiao Wuji roared, and the huge fireball that had been wandering around the Golden Hall suddenly fell into Xiao Wuji's body.

The flames that had transformed into a spiritual body were instantly torn apart, leaving only a crimson bead encased in flames. This bead was his second primordial spirit vessel, the Earth Core Fire Bead.

The terrifying lightning and fire did not harm the Earth Core Fire Pearl at all. Instead, the Earth Core Fire Pearl rapidly absorbed the fire attribute spiritual energy within it in the interplay of light and shadow.

At the same time, a magnificent cauldron, crackling with lightning, flew out from the Earth's core fire pearl and crashed heavily into the lightning pool on the ground.

The Thunder Pool was constructed from ordinary gold essence, which could not withstand the relentless bombardment of lightning for long, nor could it be stored. Therefore, Xiao Wuji summoned his superior-grade treasure, the Five Thunder Cauldron, and absorbed all the gold and silver lightning into it, refining it into the purest thunder-attribute energy for later absorption.

The power of the lightning tribulation grew stronger and stronger, and the thickness of the lightning bolts had increased from the thickness of a finger to the thickness of an arm. The entire Thunderfire Golden Palace was in a red-hot state, as if it would melt at any moment.

Just then, many snowflakes the size of goose feathers suddenly appeared around the Thunderfire Golden Hall. These snowflakes were chillingly cold, but still much less intense than the terrifyingly high temperature inside the Golden Hall. Before they could even land on the Golden Hall, many of the snowflakes had already vaporized.

But these snowflakes weren't just one or two; they were endless. As one of the eight great supernatural powers of the Feathered Ascension Sect, the Heavenly Cold Profound Nether Force naturally had its unique characteristics. These seemingly ordinary snowflakes were actually formed from pure cold energy, and the cold energy contained in a single snowflake could freeze at least a Golden Core cultivator to death.

Although the Thunderfire Golden Palace had not completely cooled down, it was at least no longer on the verge of collapse.

After an unknown period of time, the thunderclouds in the sky gradually changed. The golden and silver lightning falling from the dark clouds transformed, the arcs of electricity disappeared, and they turned into huge lightning balls the size of heads. The gold and silver colors intertwined, and they fell down like flowers scattered by celestial maidens.

Now, Xiao Wuji could no longer cultivate in peace. After transforming into his physical form, he flashed to the Thunderfire Golden Hall and looked very carefully at the rapidly falling lightning balls.

If these lightning orbs were to explode atop the Golden Palace, they could probably destroy the Golden Palace he had painstakingly crafted in an instant.

With a wave of his hands, Xiao Wuji scattered hundreds of black and purple array flags on the mountaintop. Then, with a single gesture, the Five Thunder Cauldron in the Golden Hall fell into Xiao Wuji's palm.

"Nine Heavens Refining Thunder Formation, activate!"

At Xiao Wuji's command, the spiritual energy within a radius of ten thousand miles was instantly mobilized by the formation and surged into it. With the injection of this spiritual energy, a strange, pitch-black vortex, a thousand feet in diameter, formed on the mountaintop.

The lightning orbs in the sky were all drawn into the vortex and disappeared without causing a ripple within the formation.

Xiao Wuji opened the lid of the Five Thunder Cauldron and placed it below the center of the vortex. After a short while, drops of gold and silver liquid dripped from it and disappeared into the Five Thunder Cauldron.

This array, constructed by combining the laws of devouring and thunder, possesses the power to refine heavenly lightning, capable of turning terrifying heavenly lightning into drops of lightning liquid.

This terrifying lightning tribulation lasted for most of the day before it finally began to clear up and the thunder subsided.

Seeing this, the cultivators who had been drawn by Xiao Wuji's tribulation also flew up from the ground, ready to see what this mysterious cultivator, Xiao Wuji, looked like.

Among the cultivators within a radius of ten thousand miles, there are many knowledgeable individuals who know that these two-colored lightning tribulations are something only those who have ascended to immortality will encounter. However, those who can truly overcome these two-colored lightning tribulations are extremely rare.

"Haha, lightning tribulation, did I give you permission to leave?"

"You think I'm made of clay, chopping me down whenever you want and scattering me whenever you want?!"

Before these people could get close, they suddenly saw the cultivator fly up into the sky like a madman.

"Has this person gone mad? Does he think he hasn't been struck by lightning enough?"

"I doubt it. The array this person just set up seems capable of condensing lightning into precious liquid, which is obviously a treasure. But how can human power possibly hold back heavenly lightning!"

"Senior Huang Liang, your insight is profound..."

As the number of lightning balls in the sky decreased and the thunderclouds thinned, Xiao Wuji took out a Nascent Soul cultivator from the Crystal Palace.

"This, this..." Upon seeing this scene, Huangliang Laozu, who had just been boasting, suddenly widened his eyes in disbelief.

They had heard of people helping others overcome minor tribulations, but these people always used special talismans or magic treasures. Moreover, these kinds of treasures could only be used to deal with minor tribulations, and the cost of refining such magic treasures was extremely high.

It is said that such talismans exist in Tianyuan City, and those who make contributions to Tianyuan City can invite powerful individuals to help them overcome their tribulations.

Even so, these helpers absolutely dared not get too close to the one undergoing tribulation, because doing so would easily attract a lightning tribulation corresponding to their own strength. This could easily result in the tribulation seeker surviving while the helper dies.

But this was the first time they had ever seen someone deliberately attract the lightning tribulation to prolong its duration. Wasn't this person afraid of not being able to survive it?
The moment the Nascent Soul cultivator appeared, the thunderclouds in the sky, which were about to dissipate, suddenly stopped, as if they had been stunned.

What's going on here? Should I chop him or not? Oh well, whatever, he broke the rules, so I'll chop him!
Above the mountaintop, clouds gathered once more. The thunderclouds had even extended much further outwards.

Seeing this, Xiao Wuji immediately beamed with joy. If things continued like this, his Purple Lightning Yin Thunder Blade would soon reach its peak, and even his Crimson Emperor Fire Qi would improve considerably.

Unlike Xiao Wuji's beaming smile, the late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator being carried by Xiao Wuji was trembling with fear. Locked onto by such a terrifying tribulation lightning, he was almost unable to move and had no thought of resisting at all.

"waste!"

Xiao Wuji cursed irritably, then happily tossed him into the Thunderfire Golden Hall.

The heavenly lightning transformed into thunder and fire, which Xiao Wuji absorbed on the spot. The thunderball was then condensed into lightning tribulation liquid by Xiao Wuji using a grand formation and stored away. It's a pity he didn't cultivate the Great Devouring Technique, otherwise he could have swallowed the entire tribulation cloud directly.

Half a day later, just as the heavenly tribulation was about to retreat, Xiao Wuji turned around and replaced him with another person.

Should we chop it or not? Let's chop it!

And so another new and even stronger wave of lightning tribulation descended.

Even the onlookers didn't expect that this tribulation would be so exciting to watch.

Half a month later, Xiao Wuji looked at the two-colored lightning tribulation in the sky with a solemn expression in his eyes.

Because he was constantly locked in by the lightning tribulation, it was as if he had survived the lightning tribulation time and time again, so the power of the lightning tribulation was gradually increasing.

By now, the power of his tribulation lightning was no weaker than that of most cultivators at the Void Refinement stage. At the last moment, he had to tear the lightning apart, which greatly consumed his mana. Moreover, he had few pills left to restore his mana.

"Alright, let's stop here for now. That lightning should last me for a while!"

Although reluctant to part with the free spiritual energy, Xiao Wuji still had no choice but to throw the person back into the Crystal Palace.

Xiao Wuji used the Great Severing Technique, casually slashing out with a black, jagged line that easily split the falling lightning into several pieces, which were then absorbed and refined into lightning liquid by the formation.

Finally, the calamity passed, and the long-awaited sunlight shone again on the mountains.

Watching the tribulation clouds completely dissipate, the cultivators who had been watching from afar rubbed their eyes in disbelief. Only after confirming that it was real did they carefully ride their escape lights and fly towards the direction of the person undergoing tribulation.

Xiao Wuji glanced indifferently at the group of cultivators, then grabbed the golden palace from the ground, deactivated his formation, and flew away. His speed was far beyond what a group of cultivators, at most at the early stage of the Void Refinement realm, could keep up with.

He wasn't in a good state right now, so he didn't want to have any contact with these people. After all, treasures are tempting, and these smiling guys might do something suicidal. He really didn't want to go on a killing spree again.

……

(End of this chapter)