Chapter 554: Heavenly Tribulation

Just as the feet of Yezhao and the crowd of demon cultivators stepped onto this loess plain, they felt the entire earth trembling incessantly. High in the sky in the distance, dark clouds gathered with lightning and thunder, and tens of thousands of thunderbolts crashed down crazily!

"Could someone be undergoing the Heavenly Tribulation here?"

Regardless, Yezhao was an Eighth Rank demon beast, and he could certainly distinguish between ordinary lightning and the lightning of a Heavenly Tribulation! What he did not expect, however, was that in such a desolate place, he would happen to encounter a human cultivator undergoing the Heavenly Tribulation!

"Lord Yezhao, the cultivator opposite us, their cultivation base wouldn't be too high, would it?"

The sheep-headed demon cultivator asked, trembling with fear.

"No! At most, they are a Spirit Severing Stage existence. This is just a minor Yijiu Heavenly Tribulation; the power is not yet too great! It seems our opportunity has arrived!"

As he spoke, a ferocious smile appeared on Yezhao's face. After a cultivator passes the Heavenly Tribulation, their entire reserve of magic power is exhausted, leaving them in their most vulnerable state. If one were to strike at this moment, it would surely be a kill in one blow!

"Pass down the order: have everyone surround the human cultivator undergoing the Heavenly Tribulation from different directions. Perhaps we can even obtain some useful clues from this person!"

"Yes!"

The sheep-headed cultivator acknowledged the order and relayed it to the dozens of demon cultivators behind him. Before long, these demon cultivators split into several small squads and approached the front!

At the same time, a young cultivator wearing a cyan robe sat cross-legged on the ground. In front of him, various Magic Treasures flashed with brilliance, and a Dharma Image Golden Body about two zhang tall stood above his head! As each pale thunderbolt descended, the Dharma Image would let out a roar!

This person was none other than Zhang Nuo! Since the Yijiu Heavenly Tribulation began, this was already the fourth wave of heavenly thunder to fall. However, given Zhang Nuo's current supernatural powers, the first four waves did not pose much of a threat to him!

He had only activated the Phantom Immortal Dharma Image to block them all! With a slight frown, he was preparing to receive the fifth wave of heavenly thunder bombardment when he suddenly heard Chen Shuang'er's voice transmission in his ear!

"Fellow Daoist Zhang, this is bad. Many demon cultivators have appeared in the surroundings, and among them is mixed an Eighth Rank, half-Transformation Stage demon beast!"

Hearing this, Zhang Nuo was instantly shocked! If he had encountered such a demon beast under normal circumstances, he naturally would not be afraid. But at this moment, he was in the middle of the Heavenly Tribulation. The demon beasts did not even need to deliberately attack him; if just one or two helped him intercept a few thunderbolts, the power of the Heavenly Tribulation would increase by a factor of two. By then, even if he exhausted all his means, he would be completely unable to resist!

"I must trouble you, Fairy Shuang'er, to kill those demon cultivators!"

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist! Shuang'er will go at once!"

After hearing Zhang Nuo's voice transmission, the escape light on Chen Shuang'er's body rose, and she dove from the high sky toward a spot on the ground! At the same time, a rumbling thunderclap sounded in the sky, and ten thousand pale-white thunderbolts descended from the air!

These thunderbolts flickered incessantly, some even merging into dozens to form a massive electric arc a zhang thick! Zhang Nuo composed his mind, putting thoughts of the demon cultivators aside, and pointed solemnly at the 'Heaven Opening Axe' in front of him. Immediately, the surface of the axe shone with a brilliant cyan glow, and its size expanded to over several dozen zhang.

With a 'swish' sound of breaking air, the giant axe shot straight into the clouds, intercepting the first few thunderbolts that fell!

Boom! The heavenly thunder struck the 'Heaven Opening Axe', and as the power of the thunder took effect, the giant axe's volume rapidly shrank, and the power within it instantly plummeted to its lowest point!

Before the Heaven Opening Axe could even fall back to the ground, Zhang Nuo pointed his hand again. The Nine Dragon Sword Case in front of him erupted with a high-pitched dragon roar, and eighty-one Flying Swords flashed out, immediately charging into the high sky. Countless sword auras crisscrossed between heaven and earth, intercepting quite a few thunderbolts.

At this moment, several hundred li away from Zhang Nuo, a tiger's roar came, followed by several screams. As the light faded, more than a dozen demon cultivators were seen lying in a pool of blood, while Chen Shuang'er stood quietly in place, her delicate brows slightly furrowed!

Before this, she had discovered several groups of demon cultivators approaching Zhang Nuo; this was just the first group she had killed! The escape light on her body rose, and she transformed into a streak of light, shooting toward the distance again.

To her, Zhang Nuo was a life-saving talisman. As long as Zhang Nuo was there, she might be able to successfully reach the Chen Family's secret cultivation site. If Zhang Nuo were to meet with an accident, once she encountered cultivators from the Human Emperor Palace, she would be completely unable to resist with her own strength!

The thunder in the sky remained deep and resonant. Zhang Nuo finally brought out several Magic Treasures at once to block the fifth wave of heavenly thunder. He let out a long breath, but as he opened his Divine Sense, his expression turned even uglier!

He saw several more groups of demon cultivators rushing toward him. Although Chen Shuang'er had already killed three groups, her speed of killing was far slower than the speed at which the demon cultivators were rushing! At this rate, at least three more groups of demon cultivators would reach him!

The corners of his mouth twitched slightly; Zhang Nuo truly wanted to stand up immediately and wipe out all these demon cultivators! But he could only think about it; after a rumbling thunderclap above his head, the sixth wave of heavenly thunder descended!

Chen Shuang'er, flying in mid-air, looked up toward Zhang Nuo's direction. She saw his Magic Treasures dancing incessantly, neutralizing most of the falling heavenly thunder, with only a small portion hitting Zhang Nuo!

The power of the sixth wave of heavenly thunder was clearly much greater than before. Even if Zhang Nuo used all his supernatural powers, there was no way he could take it all! Consequently, it was easy to imagine that the remaining three waves of heavenly thunder would surely be even more powerful! Once the demon cultivators seized this opportunity, Zhang Nuo would surely die!

Thinking of this, Chen Shuang'er accelerated, fully stimulating the True Spirit Bloodline within her body. Above her body, a faint phantom of the White Tiger Sacred Beast emerged!

Just as the seventh wave of heavenly thunder descended, more than a dozen demon cultivators appeared by Zhang Nuo's side! Looking at the human cultivator sitting cross-legged on the ground, these demon cultivators let out a long howl. One of them, a demon cultivator only at the Sixth Level, suddenly lunged forward and pounced toward Zhang Nuo!

Zhang Nuo, who was exerting all his strength to resist the seventh wave of heavenly thunder, swept with the corner of his eye and casually cast a Flying Sword, directly slicing the pouncing demon cultivator into two!

Blood stained a large area of the ground! Seeing this, the other demon cultivators swarmed forward. Zhang Nuo stood up abruptly, and as he opened his mouth slightly, a phoenix cry came, followed by a dark red fire phoenix emerging from his mouth. With a spread of its wings, it built a wall of fire a zhang high around his body!

The demon cultivators rushing toward Zhang Nuo were slightly blocked by the fire wall and retreated one after another. At the same time, a graceful figure flashed by, and several screams were heard; the demon cultivators who had just attacked Zhang Nuo were killed clean by Chen Shuang'er!

"Fellow Daoist Zhang, are you alright?"

The fire wall drifted and dissipated, with the Red Glow Fire Spirit floating above Zhang Nuo's head! At this moment, Zhang Nuo's expression was extremely ugly; he only nodded slightly toward Chen Shuang'er!

Boom! A pale-white thunderbolt a zhang thick struck exactly onto the Red Glow Fire Spirit above Zhang Nuo's head! A mournful cry came from within the Fire Spirit; because the power of the heavenly thunder was too great, it directly shattered the Fire Spirit, which turned into a sky full of firelight and drifted around Zhang Nuo's body!

With a movement of his Divine Sense, those dark red flames returned to Zhang Nuo's body! A single strike had shattered the Red Glow Fire Spirit. Looking up at the sky, a look of fear flashed in Zhang Nuo's eyes!

He had finally survived the seventh wave of heavenly thunder! Yet Zhang Nuo felt not the slightest sense of relief. Only two waves of heavenly thunder remained; if he could just persist for a moment longer, the Heavenly Tribulation would end. But at this time, more than thirty demon cultivators had already reached his vicinity! Leading them was the very half-Transformation Stage demon beast known as Yezhao!

"Hehe! This Lord's luck is not bad! Human boy, seeing that your Heavenly Tribulation is not easy, how about this Lord helps you out?"

Chen Shuang'er had been protecting Zhang Nuo's side. Seeing this scene, her pretty face could not help but change slightly. The word "help," while perhaps a good word in ordinary times, was certainly not a good thing right now!

"Get lost!"

The young girl let out a sharp cry and raised her hand to cast two Flying Swords simultaneously. But this time, she was facing Yezhao, an Eighth Rank half-Transformation Stage demon beast, not comparable to the low-level demon beasts from before!

Yezhao's figure flashed, and he dodged Chen Shuang'er's attack with great ease!

"Fairy Shuang'er, you just need to keep him entangled! Leave the remaining demon cultivators to me!"

Zhang Nuo glared at the crowd of demon cultivators. He did not take these low-level demon cultivators to heart, but that Eighth Rank demon beast was the only one; once he made a move, the power of the heavenly thunder would certainly increase by a factor of two!

Upon hearing this, Chen Shuang'er did not answer. The phantom of the White Tiger True Spirit on her body flashed, and she truly pounced toward Yezhao like a fierce beast! Although the gap in strength between the two was not large, and Yezhao only cared about fleeing without attacking, for a time, Chen Shuang'er could do nothing about him!

Furthermore, although this woman's cultivation base had improved quickly, she lacked experience in combat and did not have many Magic Treasures. If this continued, at most she would just be chasing Yezhao as he ran around Zhang Nuo!

Witnessing this scene, Zhang Nuo blinked a few times and shook his head gently. It seemed that improving one's cultivation base quickly was not enough!

"Awoo!"

A strange cry came. A demon cultivator standing behind Zhang Nuo kicked off the ground, opened its blood-stained maw, and bit down toward his head!

Boom!

Before Zhang Nuo could even move to block, there was another rumble in the sky; the eighth wave of heavenly thunder descended! Forced into a corner, Golden Light flashed on Zhang Nuo's body, and he could only endure the demon beast's attack head-on. On the other hand, he moved his Divine Sense, and the Phantom Immortal Dharma Image grew in size and charged toward the high sky!

The demon beast pouncing on Zhang Nuo bit down on his shoulder, but this demon beast never expected that Zhang Nuo's body was like solid iron, snapping several of its teeth, while Zhang Nuo's physical body remained completely unharmed!