Chapter 226: Words Become Law

The diameter of the Tribulation Cloud has already exceeded one hundred zhang, and it is still continuing to expand.

Inside, golden light churns like dancing dragons and snakes, emitting thunderous roars and whistles that shake the heavens and earth.

This scale already exceeds the size of the Tribulation Cloud for an ordinary cultivator during Golden Core formation.

Back when my Master, Xuanhe Zhenren, formed his Golden Core, his Small Heavenly Tribulation cloud did not exceed one hundred zhang; it was only sixty or seventy zhang in scale.

The scale of the Tribulation Cloud is directly proportional to the cultivator's strength; according to an unreliable speculation circulating in the Immortal World, for every point of strength gained, the scale of the Tribulation Cloud increases by ten zhang.

Generally speaking, a Tribulation Cloud scale of thirty to seventy zhang in diameter for a Small Heavenly Tribulation is considered the most normal.

Below thirty zhang, one can only be considered to have barely succeeded in Golden Core formation, but basically, one's life is halted at the early stage of the Danyuan Realm, with no way to progress further.

Above seventy zhang, one is considered a genius; not to mention successfully reaching Spirit Transformation, at least reaching the late stage of the Danyuan Realm is no problem.

Therefore, even though both are Danyuan Realm powerhouses, the actual gap in strength between them is still very large.

And a Tribulation Cloud scale exceeding one hundred zhang is almost at the level of a Great Heavenly Tribulation.

Xu Chen looks up at the sky, his face twitching violently, with countless Demon Beasts galloping through his heart.

Could it be that the Demon Beast inner core of the old clam I fused with has already exceeded the strength of a late-stage Danyuan Realm cultivator, triggering a Great Heavenly Tribulation and preparing to make me undergo Spirit Transformation?

However, there is no time for him to overthink it, because the scale of the Tribulation Cloud in the sky has now approached two hundred zhang, truly reaching the scale of a Great Heavenly Tribulation.

Therefore, he can only steady his mind and observe carefully, preparing to meet this sudden Tribulation.

Succeed, and he will ascend to the heavens in one step, perhaps even skipping the great realm of Danyuan to directly reach Spirit Transformation.

Fail, and he will naturally be reduced to ashes, vanishing into smoke and clouds.

However, he is not completely terrified to the point of losing his composure by this terrifying Heavenly Tribulation.

After all, he still has his greatest reliance, which is the Blue Light Treasure Bottle.

Every time he has encountered the most critical moments, the Blue Light Treasure Bottle has never let him down.

He believes this time will be the same.

Although the Great Heavenly Tribulation is terrifying, it is, after all, only the one-nine Heavenly Tribulation of the Spirit Transformation stage, not the four-nine Great Heavenly Tribulation of the Void Returning stage; regardless of the Tribulation Cloud scale or the power of the Tribulation Lightning, it has not yet exceeded the limits of what a Mortal World creature can withstand.

As long as one's strength is strong enough, there is always someone who can hold on.

The red Tribulation Cloud grows larger and larger, its diameter soon exceeding two hundred zhang.

The pressure of its aura becomes heavier and heavier, and the Black Mist within a radius of a thousand miles is completely repelled.

Stirred by such terrifying power of the laws of heaven and earth, the Nether Beasts hidden within a radius of hundreds of thousands of miles feel incomparably terrified, wailing and whimpering as they flee to further places in all directions, not daring to resist this aura in the slightest.

This aura is completely incompatible with the Underworld, carrying an incomparably violent and masculine energy, as if it wants to completely annihilate all darkness.

Xu Chen is already speechless, staring at the sky with his heart pounding like a drum, constantly comforting himself in his mouth: "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, I have the Blue Light Treasure Bottle to protect my body, even if it gets bigger, I won't die."

Seeming to sense the boast Xu Chen made, the Tribulation Cloud in the sky actually churns violently and suddenly expands by a circle, its diameter instantly breaking through the two-hundred-and-fifty-zhang scale, its momentum becoming stronger and its pressure heavier, as if hundreds of millions of catties of seawater suddenly poured down, pressing the cold and pitch-black wasteland down by several feet with a crack, and even large numbers of mountain ridges directly begin to collapse and tumble.

Xu Chen himself is also pressed by this terrifying power until his legs sink into the mud, his face turning pale as he nearly cries.

I was just saying it for fun, you actually took it seriously.

Could it be that you take me for a sage whose words become law?

However, he no longer dares to mutter randomly; he pinches the Body Protection Technique with both hands, closes his eyes slightly, and begins to recite the Dao Scripture silently, praying for the Three Pure Ones and the gods in the sky to bless him so he can survive this Tribulation.

Heavenly Tribulation is the power of the laws of heaven and earth; its might is terrifying, and its origin is unknown to anyone, nor can anyone control its size. Once it appears, a cultivator can only passively accept the result, and whether they live or die depends entirely on their own endurance.

Although there has never been a saying in the Immortal World that a cultivator's Tribulation Lightning increases in power because they boasted, such magical power of the laws of heaven and earth has long transcended the Three Realms, and even a True Immortal cannot resist it; therefore, every move and every word of a cultivator is actually under the influence and control of these laws.

Mortals have legends that making a wish upon a shooting star can make it come true.

If an Immortal boasts to a Heavenly Tribulation, perhaps the heavens will also grant the wish.

Although the Blue Light Treasure Bottle is good, Xu Chen cannot guarantee that he can truly withstand this Heavenly Tribulation.

What's more, he only planted a Slave Seal on Feng Feiyi, and yet his dantian was destroyed by a terrifying cold snort.

This shows that the Blue Light Treasure Bottle is not omnipotent either.

Therefore, Xu Chen can only pray in his heart at this moment that the Tribulation Lightning will be smaller and that it must not grow any larger.

And seeming satisfied with Xu Chen's pious attitude, or perhaps because that sudden, forceful expansion consumed all its power, the scale of the Tribulation Cloud slowly expanded for a while longer before finally settling at a scale of approximately two hundred and seventy zhang and stopping.

Xu Chen finally lets out a long breath and begins to circulate his cultivation technique to open the binding restrictions and Yuan Qi channels on the False Golden Core.

As the two layers of restrictions successively open some gaps, what appears on Xu Chen's face is not surprise, but extreme bewilderment.

Because he has not felt any Yuan Spirit Qi from this False Golden Core refined from a large pearl; that is to say, he is currently unable to mobilize Yuan Qi from within it to control Magic Treasures or cast Magic Spells to resist the Heavenly Tribulation.

Xu Chen is somewhat unable to believe it and continues to open the remaining restrictions until the two layers of restriction arrays used to bind and release Yuan Qi inside are all opened, yet he still has not felt the slightest trace of Yuan Qi or Spirit Qi.

"Damn it, I've wasted a month for nothing; this isn't an inner core at all!"

Xu Chen is instantly between laughter and tears.

However, thunder light churns within the Tribulation Cloud in the sky, and it has already begun to condense a large amount of golden thunder light resembling dragons and snakes, churning and whistling with sounds and auras that shake the heavens and earth; the Tribulation Lightning could fall at any moment.

Xu Chen grits his teeth, his Divine Sense wrapping around the pearl like a tide, and then he uses all his strength to permeate inside; finally, after passing through layers of obstacles like steel light, he feels a thick and surging life force at the very center.

A purple-gold water droplet the size of a thumb appears within Xu Chen's Divine Sense perception.

And just as his Divine Sense touches this water droplet, the False Golden Core suddenly shakes violently, the third layer of spatial restriction wrapped on the outside explodes, the entire False Golden Core suddenly expands to the size of the entire dantian, and it transforms into a light of interwoven gold and blue that shrouds the entire dantian; then, a cluster of purple light appears out of thin air in the center of the dantian, emitting a bright light that illuminates the entire dantian.

The hollowed-out black hole has already disappeared, completely filled and covered by the False Golden Core.

Under the illumination of the purple light, Xu Chen feels as if he is a tree full of vigorous life that is growing wildly.

This aura is even more powerful than the life force he felt from those strange plants in the Medicine Garden back then, as if a world is being born.

"Boom~"

Almost at the instant this surging life force appears, the red Tribulation Cloud churning in the sky suddenly expands by nearly another fold in scale, its diameter actually reaching over five hundred zhang, and at the same time, a terrifying thunder light a zhang thick falls from the sky, smashing heavily onto Xu Chen like a pillar of thunder.

The golden thunder light churns and splashes, and a radius of several hundred zhang is transformed into a pool of thunder.

Xu Chen feels as if he has completely disintegrated within the Tribulation Lightning, his Soul and physical body losing all sensation, leaving only a faint consciousness.

In his consciousness, there is only a cluster of purple light and an illusory blue light bottle; everything else has completely vanished from the world.

Within the thunder light, Xu Chen's body is constantly shattering, but at the same time, it is recovering rapidly.

Streams of purple light radiated from his dantian, transforming into rolling life energy that continuously replenished his body; the bones, muscles, and flesh destroyed by the Tribulation Lightning were rebuilding and growing at a terrifying speed, even faster than the restoration and strengthening speed of the Grand Void Demon Refining Art.

This was a pure life force, likely the life essence that the giant clam had accumulated over ten million years.

This energy was not only repairing the physical body that Xu Chen had had scorched by the Tribulation Lightning, but was also replenishing his lifespan at a terrifying speed.

Although he was not yet aware of it himself, after resisting this bolt of Tribulation Lightning, his lifespan would increase out of thin air by several hundred years.

However, as his body rapidly repaired and his life energy surged, a strange phenomenon began to appear: a faint, giant shell phantom began to emerge around his body.

A full cup of tea's time passed before the power of the first bolt of Tribulation Lightning finally began to recede.

Xu Chen, whose consciousness was gradually returning to his body, suddenly opened his eyes and saw the illusory, giant Shell Light that had appeared outside his body.

He felt somewhat puzzled, as if he sensed that something was not quite right.

But just as he was stunned, the red Tribulation Cloud in the sky suddenly shuddered, and another bolt of Tribulation Lightning, over a zhang thick, crashed down with a roar.

"Boom—"

The heavens collapsed and the earth split, lightning plasma churned, and an area of several hundred zhang was once again submerged in lightning light; Xu Chen's thin, weak body vanished within it in the blink of an eye.

Yet, amidst this energy that annihilated everything, a vigorous life force rose steadily, and the giant shell phantom grew larger and clearer within the lightning light, actually growing to over a hundred zhang tall, standing like two giant doors amidst the churning golden lightning, gently swaying and trembling, yet standing firm and unmoving.

At the edge of the canyon over ten miles away, the warriors of the Wind Clan and the other five clans watched this unprecedented and terrifying spectacle with dropped jaws, so terrified that they could not even maintain the balance of their light wings.

Every time a bolt of Tribulation Lightning fell, someone would scream in terror and tumble down.

After two bolts of Tribulation Lightning, fewer than twenty people were able to completely steady their minds and maintain their positions, and almost all of them were Wind Clan warriors who had restored their clan markings.

No one dared to approach this power, which was enough to destroy the heavens and extinguish the earth.

The warriors who had been eager to try at the very beginning were now all retreating in terror, their faces like quails, and many did not even dare to stand outside the canyon, hiding instead within the canyon itself.

(End of this chapter)