Chapter 423: The Terrifying Mysterious Metal

Time flowed slowly, and before anyone realized it, seven days had flashed by.

These seven days not only failed to reduce the crowd of onlookers, but instead caused them to gather in even greater numbers.

Everyone directed their excited gazes toward the square, showing no trace of impatience, especially toward Qi Chi on the square, upon whom the most attention converged.

On this day, the originally clear sky suddenly became overcast with dark clouds.

Unknowingly, dark clouds had gathered thickly above everyone's heads; within the cloud layers, thunder rumbled continuously, the deafening roar causing everyone below to cover their ears, their eyes revealing terror.

Immediately afterward, a fierce wind began to rage across the square, so violent it nearly lifted people off the ground, sweeping all the sand and debris from the surface into the air.

On the High Platform, the group of Judges had to use their hands to shield their eyes to prevent the swirling sand from blowing into them.

"This is..."

Witnessing this terrifying phenomenon, the Judges on the High Platform were all shocked, slowly rising one after another.

"Thunder Tribulation! This is a Thunder Tribulation summoned by weapon refining!"

"I have been a Fourth-Rank Artifact Refiner for hundreds of years, yet this is the first time I have seen someone refine a Spirit Tool capable of summoning a Thunder Tribulation! To witness the birth of a Thunder Tribulation with my own eyes, my life has not been in vain!"

"Is this the legendary Thunder Tribulation? I never expected that in this Instrument Refinement Competition, a Heavenly Pride would refine a Spirit Tool capable of summoning a Thunder Tribulation; truly magnificent, I daresay the championship undoubtedly belongs to him!"

The Judges on the High Platform were overcome with excitement, their faces flushed as they loudly debated amongst themselves.

"Who exactly is it? Which Heavenly Pride has summoned this Thunder Tribulation?" Qin Zhan's eyes shone with light as he scanned the area below, looking over all ten Heavenly Prides on the square.

"Hehe! Naturally, it is my tribe's weapon refining genius, Wang Liang; the Flowing Cloud Sword he is refining is nearly complete."

"I truly never expected that the Flowing Cloud Sword he refined could summon a Thunder Tribulation; it seems the championship of this Instrument Refinement Competition undoubtedly belongs to my Wang Clan."

"You concede! You concede!"

Wang An, with a smile on his face, cupped his hands toward those around him, his eyes filled with barely concealed excitement; he felt that victory in this round was now certain, and with the appearance of the Thunder Tribulation, the tension and unease he had felt over the past seven days were finally swept away.

Hearing this, everyone converged their gazes upon a young man named Wang Liang; this youth was quite handsome in appearance, his eyes full of aloof arrogance.

At this moment, a silver-glittering Spirit Sword was floating above his head, and directly above the Spirit Sword raged crimson lightning, as if this Spirit Sword was at any moment about to undergo the baptism of a crimson Thunder Tribulation.

"Hehe, I never expected, truly I never expected, that the Spirit Tool I refined could actually summon the Life-Extinguishing Thunder, ranked tenth on the Lightning Tribulation List; I wonder what you have left to compete with me!"

Wang Liang turned his head to look at Qi Chi beside him, disdain appearing in his eyes as he sneered, "So what if you possess Heavenly Fire? Merely having Heavenly Fire does not guarantee the ability to refine good tools!"

"A weapon refining trash is still a weapon refining trash; even with Heavenly Fire to cheat, you should not dream of surpassing me, a weapon refining genius; you are destined to lose this round!"

However, the moment his words fell, an unexpected change suddenly occurred.

Qi Chi paid no attention whatsoever to his mockery, simply tossing the staff before him into the sky, whereupon a loud explosion rang out in the heavens.

This sound was extremely deafening, causing everyone to subconsciously cover their ears, their eyes revealing shock.

Under the shocked gazes of everyone, above the crimson Calamity Cloud, a white Calamity Cloud suddenly appeared.

After the white Calamity Cloud appeared, it instantly swallowed the crimson Calamity Cloud whole, leaving not a single trace; before the powerful white Calamity Cloud, the crimson Calamity Cloud possessed absolutely no power to resist.

"This..." Wang Liang's expression froze, his face a mask of utter confusion.

He had just finished provoking his opponent, only to be slapped in the face the very next second; at this moment, he felt nothing but a burning sting across his cheeks.

"My Calamity Cloud has actually been swallowed! How is this possible?"

"How is this possible?"

Wang Liang's eyes nearly burst from their sockets as he roared madly, his facial expression as ferocious as could be.

"This... this is..."

Gazing at the suddenly appearing white Calamity Cloud, all the Judges widened their eyes, their expressions completely losing all composure.

"This is the legendary Reincarnation Lightning; Reincarnation Lightning ranks ninth on the Lightning Tribulation List and is far more terrifying than Life-Extinguishing Thunder! This Qi Chi has actually refined a Spirit Tool capable of summoning Reincarnation Lightning; am I seeing things?"

An old man shouted out of character, unable to resist rubbing his eyes before looking again in disbelief.

At this moment, the entire venue inhaled sharply in unison; everyone was stunned.

If the Life-Extinguishing Thunder from just now brought them shock, then the Reincarnation Lightning now brought them nothing short of fright.

Wang An stared fixedly at the white Calamity Cloud that had suddenly appeared in the sky, clenching his fists tightly, his eyes nearly bursting from their sockets.

Without needing to think, merely judging by the intensity of the Thunder Tribulation, his Wang Clan had already lost this Instrument Refinement Competition decisively.

What had been a certainty, something he had just boasted about, had unexpectedly taken a turn; someone had actually Heaven-defyingly summoned Reincarnation Lightning, which is even more terrifying than Life-Extinguishing Thunder; he was so angry he was nearly going mad, his gaze toward Qi Chi becoming increasingly malicious as he released killing intent so dense it seemed tangible.

"Boom..."

Amidst the shocked gazes of the crowd, a bolt of white lightning suddenly descended; the intense white light stabbed into everyone's eyes, illuminating their faces and reflecting them snow-white.

Qi Chi suddenly raised his head, gazing at the Reincarnation Lightning that had abruptly descended; his fingers trembled slightly twice, his eyes filled with a grave expression.

How could he not know the might of the Thunder Tribulation? Under the Heavenly Might, he dared not hide his true abilities, nor could he bother concealing his identity; letting out a loud roar, his body size suddenly surged, bursting the clothes on his surface to reveal golden fur.

His figure expanded rapidly, and in the blink of an eye, he had reached a height of several dozen meters; what appeared before everyone's line of sight was unmistakably a Golden Giant Monkey; upon seeing such a colossal creature, everyone dropped their jaws open, their eyes revealing sheer fright.

The Golden Giant Monkey's massive feet stomped onto the square, imprinting huge footprints on the ground; the competitors below, who could no longer care about weapon refining, fled in panic one after another, unsure whether they feared being trampled to death or being killed by the stray effects of the descending Reincarnation Lightning.

The Golden Giant Monkey raised his head and roared at the sky, emitting a deafening beastly howl, then slammed his fist heavily toward the oncoming Reincarnation Lightning.

"Boom!"

The fist collided with the Reincarnation Lightning, emitting a deafening muffled boom; the entire earth trembled violently at this moment.

The ears of those nearby all streamed with blood, their expressions revealing pain, their eyes filled with fear as they ran out madly, daring not to remain here any longer.

How could a Thunder Tribulation descending be something for a group of ants like them to watch? At this moment, scattered bolts of lightning had already fallen, causing significant casualties within the dense crowd.

The group of Judges on the High Platform all turned pale with shock, looking up at that Golden Giant Monkey, their eyes filled with disbelief.

Qi Chi was actually not human, but a transformed Spirit Beast! This simply blew their minds.

That a Spirit Beast could refine weapons was one thing, but that it could actually defeat all the human genius Artifact Refiners and claim the championship of this Instrument Refinement Competition left them utterly bewildered.

The Judges gradually all displayed ugly expressions; an Instrument Refinement Competition held by humans had actually been won by a Spirit Beast, which to them was nothing short of a scandal.

Did this not mean that this group of Artifact Refiners was inferior to a single Spirit Beast? Where did this leave the dignity of their group of Artifact Refiners!

"Artifact Refining Technique is an exclusive ability of humans; that a Spirit Beast could actually learn the human Artifact Refining Technique and surpass all human Artifact Refiners is truly unbelievable!" Long Batian stared blankly at that Golden Giant Monkey, clicking his tongue in amazement.

"Hehe, no wonder his weapon refining talent was so poor; if this Qi Chi is a Spirit Beast who loves refining weapons, then it completely explains everything," Qin Zhan said with a bitter smile.

"Truly unexpected, Qi Chi is actually a Spirit Beast; it must be the Monkey King from Ten Thousand Monkey Mountain, said to be named Bright-Eyed Stone Monkey, its Bloodline having reverted to its ancestors."

"Looking across the entire Western Regions, few can contend with this Monkey King," Long Batian said, gazing at that Golden Giant Monkey with an extremely grave expression.

"You two stop chatting! Each strike of the Thunder Tribulation is stronger than the last; the coming tribulations are not for the likes of us to witness—run quickly!"

An elder roared aloud; only then did everyone come to their senses. Seeing the second Thunder Tribulation about to descend, all their faces turned pale, they shivered in unison, and hurriedly fled out of the City.

"Master!" Senior Sister gazed at Qi Chi with worried eyes, her lips pressed tight.

"We must hurry too; the Thunder Tribulation shows no mercy!"

"Rest assured; as long as he abandons that Spirit Tool, he will be fine."

The elder covered the young girl's eyes, cast a grave glance at the white thunder in the sky, and quickly pulled the girl's hand to depart.

What had unfolded in Phoenix City was now beginning to play out in Huiyue City.

In the city center, the Golden Giant Monkey roared incessantly, bracing against wave after wave of Thunder Tribulation.

The square and the vast expanse of buildings surrounding it had long been destroyed by the Thunder Tribulation, completely reduced to ruins.

The Thunder Tribulation showed no sign of ceasing, its might growing ever more terrifying; beneath this world-destroying spectacle, everyone's face was deathly pale, sincerely feeling the horror of the tribulation, yet how terrifying must a creature be to survive repeated attacks from it?

Gazing at the Golden Giant Ape still furiously roaring within the Thunder Tribulation, everyone fell silent, their eyes filled with shock.

No one knew how long the Thunder Tribulation lasted, but finally, as the last bolt descended, the deafening thunder vanished, the dark clouds above dispersed, bright sunlight poured down once more, and Huiyue City sank into silence.

As for that Golden Giant Monkey, it had long returned to its original size, yet its condition was now dire; under the successive bombardment of the Thunder Tribulation, its golden fur was scorched black, and its injuries throughout its body had reached the point of critical, near-death severity.

Lying on the ground, gasping heavily, it looked at the black staff upon its chest and revealed a smile of survival after disaster.

It simply lacked the strength to endure the final two Thunder Tribulations; the reason it survived them was entirely because, in its terror, it instinctively raised the Prison Heaven Staff it had just forged.

The hardness of the Prison Heaven Staff far exceeded its expectations; it actually withstood the final two bolts of Reincarnation Lightning without being destroyed.

It seemed that under the baptism of the Thunder Tribulation, the Prison Heaven Staff had also become more miraculous, its quality rising by several grades.

"What kind of Metal is this, to be so hard that, bolstered by tool patterns, it can actually withstand the Thunder Tribulation!"

Qi Chi gently stroked the patterns on the staff, unable to put it down, eyes brimming with undisguised joy.

After sensing the miraculous nature of the Prison Heaven Staff, the expression in his eyes grew increasingly grave.

The strength of the Prison Heaven Staff had far surpassed his expectations; not only had it unexpectedly drawn forth the Ninth Thunder Tribulation Rebirth Thunder, but it had also successfully endured the tribulation, further enhancing its quality by absorbing the lightning.

What concept does a Spirit Tool that successfully endures a Thunder Tribulation represent? It is unequivocally a Divine Artifact, possibly even the number one Divine Artifact in the Gu World.

Such a Divine Artifact must possess Heaven-defying power; otherwise, why would Heaven be jealous enough to descend a Thunder Tribulation just to destroy it?

Qi Chi's fingers, stroking the patterns on the Prison Heaven Staff, now trembled with excitement; his breathing was extremely rapid, for having personally forged a Divine Artifact, his heart felt an unprecedented sense of fulfillment.

This Divine Artifact would surely shake the entire Gu World, and he, its forger, would inevitably become famous because of it.

If he could perceive the value of this Divine Artifact, how could the other humans fail to see it?

Now that the Calamity Cloud had vanished, the Gu Kings who had re-entered the city all stared at the Prison Heaven Staff in his embrace with glowing eyes, their expressions revealing greed to the extreme.

This was a Divine Artifact capable of summoning Reincarnation Lightning; a Spirit Tool that successfully endured such lightning must be extremely Heaven-defying, and its owner would inevitably gain combat power invincible among peers; otherwise, it would not be worthy of drawing down a Thunder Tribulation.

With such a Divine Artifact right before their eyes and its owner severely injured by the Thunder Tribulation, how could they not be tempted?

Seeing that Huiyue City's City-Protecting Great Array had been destroyed by the Thunder Tribulation and their path was now completely unobstructed, this crowd of greedy individuals immediately conceived the thought of killing to seize the treasure.

After all, this was merely a Spirit Beast; killing it was no issue, and what harm could there be in snatching its Divine Artifact? Killing a Spirit Beast breaks no law.

At this moment, the crowd of Gu Kings could no longer control their greed and surged forward together...

A similar scene—the chaotic battle that occurred in Phoenix City after the Thunder Tribulation—was now about to play out in Huiyue City. (End of Chapter)