Chapter 264: Three Flowers Gather at the Summit, All Sides Take Notice

Terrifying lightning flickered between heaven and earth, even steel-and-concrete buildings crouched, becoming tiny, yet at the famous coordinates of Magic City, on the Oriental Pearl Tower, a shadow stood firm.

Although it looks somewhat blurry, it truly exists atop the tower, as if a heavenly palace descended from the nine heavens; countless storm clouds gathered in the high sky, and amidst the flashing lightning, everyone's eyes were stunned.

How could such a shadow possibly exist on the Oriental Pearl Tower?

Is it their hallucination, or some other unknown object?

Those who witnessed this long scene felt their hearts churn with shock and turmoil, unable to calm for a long time.

Boundless electric light fell from the nine heavens, tearing a ferocious, terrifying rift in the sky; torrential rain poured down as if to inundate this realm.

Faced with this terrifying heavenly tribulation, even though Ye Qin's cultivation was profound and he had tempered himself for two months in the mortal world, it was still extremely difficult to cope.

The power of the thunder gradually intensified; at first Ye Qin could face it calmly, but later he could feel electric currents constantly surging through his body, bringing piercing pain.

Even with lightning striking him, his verdant serpent eyes showed no sign of retreat; no one could know how great a bite he endured at this moment.

These lightning bolts contain the might of heaven and earth; even before they fall, they are enough to churn his sea of consciousness, and even his soul trembles.

Ye Qin dared not underestimate it, focusing his spirit to the utmost; his spiritual power ran wildly around his body, inhaling and exhaling the spiritual qi of heaven and earth, green light swirling to form a protective shield.

However, the purple lightning was too blinding and dense, completely covering that green glow.

The faint green glow resembled a candle flame flickering in the wind, appearing fragile and liable to extinguish at any moment, yet it upheld a small patch of heaven and earth within the tribulation.

The ocean formed by intertwined green, full of vital breath, in this heaven‑destroying tribulation, the seeds of hope took root, and within a moment sent forth tender green sprouts.

Ye Qin was surrounded by an ancient aura; the gate of the Great Dao split open a crack, and unimaginable energy surged out, pouring into the sea of life.

The tender leaves, struck by the impact, swiftly elongated; in a moment they took shape, splitting into three, forming three enormous flower buds, each occupying a portion of heaven and earth.

The three flower buds flowed with golden light, each bearing the laws of the Great Dao and insights of heaven and earth, shining with divine radiance, extraordinarily miraculous, like stars surrounding the moon, encircling Ye Qin and helping him offset the thunder's pressure.

The thunder sea boiled incessantly; brilliant purple lightning descended into it, yet was utterly absorbed by the three flowers, which then fed back into Ye Qin's body, making his emerald‑green scales ever more translucent.

If one says the all‑sky thunder is a deadly tribulation, a slight mistake would mean annihilation; the three flower buds, however, bring an endless flow of vitality.

Life and death are originally mutual transformations, interdependent; Ye Qin seized the vitality hidden within death and merged it into his own body.

The Heavenly Dao seemed to sense his thoughts, and the thunder grew furiously angry, roaring and howling.

Only seen, the dark clouds over Magic City suddenly swelled, as if provoked by something; countless ferocious thunder beasts poked their heads out, encircling from all directions.

The electric current surged incessantly; even before it arrived, all living beings in Magic City felt an extreme tremor of fear, an instinctive dread.

Faced with all this, Ye Qin showed no retreat; he let out a long whistle, and amidst the swaying downpour, the three flower buds also swayed incessantly, leaving the endless thunder to wash over them.

The power that destroys heaven and earth filled the space between heaven and earth, yet intertwined with a faint hint of vitality; the three flower buds seemed poised to unfold, but Ye Qin knew this was still far from enough.

Brilliant radiance rippled from his surroundings, endless power and lightning intertwining, continually cleansing these flower buds.

Even before fully blooming, they already sensed the immense power within; one can imagine what spectacle it would be if the buds were to open completely.

Thunder flashed, piercing the nine heavens.

The rescue personnel below in Magic City, however, stared dumbfounded.

"How can this rain and thunder keep getting bigger? If it continues like this, what will become of us?"

"Didn't the meteorological department just say the lightning would disappear soon?"

"Stop saying useless things; the priority is to rescue people—I heard many are trapped at the Bund."

Countless civilians stared at the densely packed lightning in the sky, their scalps tingling; such thunder is rare even in a century, let alone a millennium.

Countless thunder beasts shuttle back and forth between heaven and earth; as time passes, lightning occasionally strikes the ground, its terrifying power and speed simply making people's hearts race with fear.

It was as if several sharp swords hung overhead, ready to drop at any moment.

At this moment, those taking refuge near the Bund could not believe what they saw; everyone stared fixedly at the shadow in the sky, straining to see clearly what it was.

However, the torrential downpour blocked their view, and the distance was too great; they could not make out the shadow's true form, only a vague, slender silhouette.

"This is definitely someone undergoing a tribulation!"

"Look at this strange thunderstorm, so sudden—it must be a tribulation!"

"I don't know if you remember the Capital Suburbs Dragon Encounter Incident years ago, when an unknown creature was supposedly filmed in the lightning; it feels similar to today's scene."

"Someone remarked, and soon others agreed: 'Hearing you say that, I recall it too—back then that incident caused quite a stir.'"

Just as the crowd was discussing, the thunderclouds near the Bund suddenly turned violent.

"Boom!"

Only a loud bang was heard, cutting off their conversation and startling them; several thunderclaps roared forth without warning.

In just a moment, the Bund's lightning exploded; at first these thunderbolts merely flickered in the clouds, occasionally dropping one or two.

Now, however, the sky‑filling thunder spread across the entire heavens, instantly becoming an ocean of lightning; several bucket‑thick bolts fell straight from midair, weaving into a vast net that blanketed the whole Bund area.

The sudden change left everyone stunned, not understanding what was happening.

"Holy shit! It feels like these lightning bolts have gone mad—what's going on?"

"Quick, look at that shadow in the sky!"

In the office building, someone shouted in panic; others hurriedly looked up, their pupils constricting sharply, only feeling their scalps go numb.

As the thunder erupted, the lightning coiling around that shadow increased, countless bolts frenziedly striking toward the shadow in the sky.

The terrifying current pierced the entire firmament; just looking at it made one's heart race, and if that shadow were truly a flower of some creature, one could not imagine how immense the current it bore at this moment.

The all‑sky thunder resembled a colossal world tree, branching out infinitely, perched above the firmament—grand and magnificent yet wielding the power to destroy heaven and earth.

"Which fellow cultivator is undergoing tribulation here? This is absolutely awesome!"

"With so much lightning, its temperature is unimaginable; even the hardest material probably couldn't withstand it."

"What exactly is that, able to withstand the all‑sky thunder?"

Those thunderbolts fell like raindrops, all striking the shadow; merely looking at it turned one's face pallid.

These thick thunderbolts carry nearly a million volts of current; the surging power within is enough to obliterate any living being, leaving not even scraps.

Only seen, in the floodwaters below, many fish floated belly‑up on the surface, obviously struck by lightning, and even several large fish.

This is merely a small fraction of the lightning that hit the ground, already causing such devastation—not to mention the majority of the thunder drawn toward that shadow.

If this shadow is truly a living thing, what kind of existence could it be, able to resist such powerful thunder?

People taking refuge at the Bund couldn't help but let their imaginations run wild, looking at the shadow above, their expressions full of curiosity and awe.

Could it really be a living thing undergoing tribulation?

……

Meanwhile.

At the moment Ye Qin underwent tribulation, in the distant depths of the universe, a huge metallic beast platform silently hovered in orbit 476 kilometers above Earth.

It is enormous in size, weighing up to 415 tons, its whole body a grayish white; under the brilliant sunlight, the metallic beast unfurled its wings, its golden solar panels rippling like fish scales.

The immense electricity awakened this giant beast, its whole body flickering with red and green light; various signals were being sent from the ground, and under its amplification, they gradually extended into the vast outer space around Earth.

The pinnacle of human technological power found its perfect expression here; this is the Alpha International Space Station, also the largest orbital space platform in operation worldwide.

Built, operated, and used jointly by 16 countries, construction began in 1998 and was completed in 2010; thereafter this metallic beast has been drifting in the dark cosmos for several years.

Although built jointly by 16 countries, everyone knows who the true owner of the Alpha International Space Station is.

At this moment, inside the space station.

Several personnel from the Miguo Aviation Institute were testing various data on a complex operation platform.

And in the distant Miguo terrestrial space platform, many people were nervously testing data, indicator lights flashing continuously, and the electronic screens displayed rows of technical terms.

The blond‑haired, blue‑eyed man kept his eyes on the screen and said in a low voice: "How is the Star Lock Satellite's preparation? Can it be activated now?"

Staff members looked at the data on the screen, feeling somewhat excited and thrilled: "Just a little more, but it's no big problem; it can already be put into use."

"Once the Star Lock Satellite plan launches, our Miguo will firmly occupy Earth's hegemony, and no one will be able to shake it!"

"Although this is merely a beginning, with the launch of two Star Lock Satellites, we have already seized an unprecedented advantage in space supremacy!"

"Such high‑precision, far‑orbit satellites are top‑notch worldwide, at least a decade ahead of any other nation!"

The staff's faces flushed with excitement as they described the bright prospects; hearing this, the middle‑aged man also became thrilled.

"Good heavens, this is fantastic; with this Star Lock Satellite, given time, who in the world could still be our rival?"

"By then I will be a great hero of all Miguo!"

The man before us is Miguo's richest person and also the newly risen global richest, Si nage!

For this plan, the Miguo Ministry of National Defense and Si nage have expended unknown amounts of manpower and resources, and have finally succeeded in launching two Star Lock Satellites.

Here is concentrated all of Miguo's technological essence, making it the most cohesive and formidable deep‑space satellite among all nations worldwide.

These two satellites, using Tesla cars distributed worldwide as signal bases, could almost intercept and identify all electromagnetic signals on the planet!

Moreover, these two Star Lock Satellites themselves possess great power; their huge solar panels allow them to move and hover precisely to any point on the globe within half an hour, carrying out a carpet‑like search.

Although the two Star Lock Satellites currently can't do much, if many more Star Lock Satellites are successfully developed and launched thereafter, the world's transportation and geographic information will come under Miguo's control.

No nation can stand against the Star Lock system.

Watching the two Star Lock plan satellites already running smoothly in orbit, Si nage's excitement reached its peak.

Staff looked at the data on the screen and said: "Although we only have two satellites now, we can already conduct global observation and debugging; boss, since your launch succeeded, is there any country you'd like to observe?"

Facing the staff's inquiry, Si nage narrowed his eyes slightly and said: "Then let's choose the East."

"I've heard that recently the East has seen many events—magnetic fields in turmoil, thick fog everywhere, all satellites unable to observe—so let's test the power of the Star Lock Satellite."

The staff nodded and said: "Alright, I'll contact the International Space Station right away."

After a few brief commands, several astronauts aboard the distant Alpha International Space Station received the ground control's message and quickly began to operate.

"Observe the East?"

"Coincidentally, a few modules over there lit up—let's see what's going on."

As the astronauts carried out their operations, the screen soon showed an image of Great Xia, and everyone couldn't help but gasp.

"Good heavens, what on earth is happening here?"

The commotion here quickly drew others' attention; another astronaut cast a questioning glance and asked: "What happened?"

But as soon as he cleared up the scene on the screen, he froze in place.

In the satellite cloud map, a massive thundercloud storm blanketed the southeastern region of the East!

In the cloud map those rain clouds were no longer white, like spilled ink, heavy black occupying most of the screen, and even faint electric arcs could be seen swirling within the thunderclouds.

Several astronauts froze on the spot.

After all, this is in space—being able to see electric arcs flickering here shows just how abundant the electrical elements are within.

The astronauts instinctively looked toward that azure star; coincidentally, the International Space Station was above the Pacific Ocean, and they could almost see with the naked eye that huge thundercloud mass.

Those purple lightning bolts kept converging in the cloud mass at terrifying speed; even those aboard the space station felt their hearts pound with dread.

"With such tremendous thunderstorm power, the East will suffer—many will likely die."

"Good heavens, I've lived most of my life and never seen such a scene."

The astronauts discussed while transmitting the coordinates of the locked Magic City back to ground command.

Meanwhile, in ground command, Si nage looked at the coordinates and satellite cloud map sent from the station, his expression somewhat surprised.

"The point where east longitude 1212801 meets north latitude 311407—that's not near Magic City, is it?"

"And there appears such tremendous thunderstorm power!"

Thunder and lightning are visible to the naked eye—just imagine how terrifying the scale is; after a brief moment of dazedness, Si nage felt eager to give it a try.

"Such thunderstorm weather is perfect for testing the Star Lock Satellite's capability; gather the satellites and head to Magic City to see what's going on."

Si nage issued the command with full confidence, and shortly afterward the two Star Lock high‑orbit satellites began moving toward the East.

At this moment, Ye Qin's tribulation also reached its most critical juncture!

Thick bolts of lightning, like pillars holding up the sky, stood firm in all directions, their thunder almost unceasing; looking far off, the entire sky above Magic City had turned into a purple celestial tree.

Not only near the Bund, but most of Magic City's populace could clearly see the endless lightning on the Oriental Pearl Tower, as if heaven itself were enraged, truly causing panic and unease.

Such a scene was no different from the apocalypse.

People near the outer beach could barely see clearly a blurry figure standing in the center of the thunder on the Oriental Pearl Tower; others elsewhere could only see endless lightning beneath the dark sky.

At this time, the Great Sage Monkey King, Golden Eagle, Great Turtle and other great demons were also gazing from a place far from the Demon Capital, not daring to approach closely.

The Monkey King saw the thunder in the distant Demon Capital; golden light flickered in his pupils, his expression full of tension and worry—such terrifying power could be felt even from far away.

If it were them, they would probably have been reduced to ashes by now.

"Master, you must successfully survive the tribulation!"

Not only them, but countless great demons in the distant Longyuan Mountain Range also felt that terrifying aura; although they had not seen it, they could sense the violent murderous intent within.

All the monsters were worrying for Ye Qin.

Even Hu Xiaocao in Longyuan Village fell into thought, looking up into the distance; for some unknown reason, his heart inexplicably felt somewhat excited.

Inside the Demon Capital, Ye Qin faced such a terrifying heavenly tribulation; his spiritual light dimmed, even many of his scales were damaged, and his verdant pupils showed no fear or timidity.

"Boom—"

The thunderous roar was deafening; in the vast expanse of heaven and earth, purple lightning beasts rampaged, endless lightning continuously shuttle, bringing with it a destructive force that surged violently.

That giant beast, pulling a chain of lightning transformed into purple lightning chains, fiercely struck Ye Qin's body, causing his entire spirit to surge.

Endless destructive power swept over Ye Qin from above and below, attempting to cut him down within it.

Ye Qin coiled his body together; the three flower buds floated with the wind, his blood and qi surged, a mighty aura spread in all directions, continually neutralizing the heavenly tribulation in the sky.

The two sides' forces waxed and waned, and for a time they reached a stalemate.

At the very critical moment, Ye Qin faintly sensed a gaze falling upon his position.

He paid no heed, for it posed no threat at all; the urgent task was to survive the tribulation before him.

Ye Qin took a deep breath; the three golden lotuses slowly floated, having been continually tempered by thunder and lightning, the three flower buds faintly showed a tendency to bloom.

The three divine lotuses intertwined, an exalted ancient aura permeated heaven and earth; that was another kind of mighty power, almost able to stand against the sky-filling thunder and lightning!

The intangible aura stirred a huge fluctuation, as if the heavenly court's gates had opened wide; golden light shone upon the world, even covering the thunder sea for a moment.

The golden lotuses blossomed layer by layer, each petal displaying miraculous splendor; and within the lotus heart, behold—a plump, full golden core!

One-flower golden core!

The lotus, bearing the golden core, rushed toward Ye Qin and landed at the position above his head; the sky-filling thunder and lightning actually paused for a moment!

But after a moment, the endless thunder sea roared; thunder and lightning poured down from the nine heavens, accompanied by sky-filling rainstorms, as if seeking to turn the entire Demon Capital into a chaotic primordial realm.

Especially the heaven and earth where Ye Qin was located were filled with a violent, terrifying aura; the endless thunder sea surged, seeking to cut down the not-yet-fully-formed flower buds within it.

Heavenly thunder rolled on, as if the world were ending; the surrounding aura grew ever more terrifying, even this realm could not withstand the pressure, and collapse loomed at any moment.

Ye Qin's golden core atop his head began to wobble, threatening to fall; at this critical juncture, the second flower bud quietly blossomed!

A faint wailing sound echoed in all directions, as if the Great Dao were murmuring!

Pure white light permeated heaven and earth, bearing the purest aura; petals peeled away layer by layer, and within the lotus heart lay a transparent infant—behold, a Nascent Soul!

Man follows the Dao, the Dao follows heaven, heaven follows earth, the Dao follows nature.

The Nascent Soul was pure white and flawless, with no impurities, completely one with heaven and earth; thereafter it flew toward Ye Qin's crown, arriving beside the golden core.

The golden core and the infant complemented each other; the aura circulating around them was awe-inspiring.

With a casual flick, the Nascent Soul caused the surrounding frenzied thunder and lightning to fall into stagnation again, as if someone had pressed the pause button.

The thunder and lightning in the heavens also sensed Ye Qin's transformation; thunderous roars echoed, forming azure heavenly thunder dragons, bearing the grandest will of heaven and earth, to conduct his final judgment!

Only then did an unprecedentedly thick thunderbolt descend from the heavens, like a fierce sword fiercely thrust into the Demon Capital, piercing a huge hole in the entire sky.

Ye Qin sensed its terrifying aura and had to circulate his full spiritual power to resist; even so, he could hardly withstand the might of the judgment sword.

As the heavenly tribulation progressed, it would become terrifying beyond measure, with tribulation lightning assailing him—how could he possibly pass through easily?

But at the crucial moment, the final flower stubbornly refused to bloom! (End of chapter)