Chapter 859: Heaven's Tears!

At night, at the City Lord's Mansion, all miscellaneous people temporarily left.

Zhuge Liang held a peach wood sword, stood with focused spirit, and beside him were placed seven Seven Star Lamps arranged in a special pattern.

The Seven Star Lamps were made of special wood; overall they were the length of an adult's forearm, a bit thicker, hollow hexagonal pillars, with carved openwork on all six faces, sealed at the bottom, open at the top, each containing a single red candle.

Using the Seven Star Lamps to defy heaven and change fate is not a simple matter.

Light one lamp each two-hour period; after all seven Seven Star Lamps are lit, they must be kept burning for another seven two-hour periods to succeed.

The first lamp lit, the main lamp, must not flicker even slightly in the middle.

Otherwise failure is certain; the remaining six Seven Star Lamps may be extinguished one or two, as long as they can be promptly relit.

Not far from Zhuge Liang, a crowd gathered to watch.

Even the heavily wounded Guan Yu and Zhou Yu forced themselves up from their sickbeds, lay on recliners, struggled to open their eyes, and watched everything unfolding.

"Huh—"

He exhaled lightly, Zhuge Liang raised his peach wood sword, hair disheveled, murmuring incantations, stepping in the Seven Star Steps, and pointed the sword tip at the main lamp.

The main lamp of the Seven Star Lamps was lit, and flames burst forth.

Zhuge Liang stopped his movements, sat cross-legged, and placed the peach wood sword on his knees.

After one two-hour period, only then could the second Seven Star Lamp be lit—neither early nor late, the timing must be just right.

In the night, the candle flames of the Seven Star Lamps swayed whenever a night breeze blew by.

After one two-hour period had passed, the cross-legged, eyes-closed, focused Zhuge Liang opened his eyes; the peach wood sword on his knee rose into the air, and as he pointed his fingertip, the sword tip likewise aimed at the second Seven Star Lamp.

That Seven Star Lamp likewise lit up.

At the moment that Seven Star Lamp lit, a sudden gust blew by, causing the newly ignited candle flame to sway and wobble.

Many onlookers were startled.

Fortunately nothing happened, and the candle flames of the two Seven Star Lamps continued to burn steadily.

Interestingly, though the candle flame was lit, the candle itself remained intact.

No red oil seeped out.

Over the next several two-hour periods, Zhuge Liang would occasionally open his eyes to light a lamp, eventually lighting all seven Seven Star Lamps.

There were a few times when a cold wind blew, making the candle flame flicker, but each time it was a scare without danger, and thereafter it burned steadily.

The heavily wounded Guan Yu and Zhou Yu could no longer endure; they went back to rest awhile, then struggled out again to continue watching.

After all seven Seven Star Lamps were lit, the remaining seven two-hour periods—fourteen hours—were the crucial phase.

Sweat was clearly visible on Zhuge Liang's forehead.

From night to day, then from day back to night.

The gradually swaying candlelight, filtered through the openwork, formed mottled light and shadow that fell upon Zhuge Liang.

It illuminated his face, alternating between light and dark.

Suddenly, a drop of rain fell onto Zhuge Liang's face.

Everyone looked up; without any sign, the sky inexplicably began to drizzle, and the clouds gathered silently aloft.

In the darkness, there was no sign of it.

"It's raining—"

The place where Zhuge Liang lit the Seven Star Lamps was outdoors, not inside a tent.

The drizzle quickly turned into a torrential downpour, with bean‑sized raindrops striking down.

It was about to completely extinguish the candle flames of the Seven Star Lamps.

Ao Yulie frowned, lifted his head, opened his mouth and exhaled; the falling torrential rain stopped instantly, reversed and flowed back, and the black night's hidden clouds were also dispersed.

The Seven Star Lamps remained unharmed.

"Well, if the Seven Star Lamps were sealed at both ends, wouldn't they be immune to rain?" Ao Yulie had a strong spirit of scientific inquiry.

"Maybe the raindrops could fall through the openwork in the middle and put out the flame?" Zhu Bajie said from the side.

"Then seal it completely?"

"If it's completely sealed, wouldn't it run out of oxygen to burn after a while?"

"Second Senior Brother, do you think this fire needs oxygen to burn?"

"That's true as well."

The two discussed this on one side, while on the other Sun Wukong scratched his ear and cheek, occasionally looking up at the sky.

What's the deal with the next rain, the next wind?

If you've got the guts, come out and face him head‑on, Sun Wukong—let's have a big fight… a single staff strike! Exactly, just one staff strike; if one strike can't kill you, then Sun Wukong counts it as his loss.

"You can't sit still, fine, but can you at least come down from the Eight Trigrams Furnace?" From inside the Eight Trigrams Furnace came Yang Jian's voice.

You hot‑tempered monkey, can you even stand properly?

Do you really have to stand on the Eight Trigrams Furnace?

The first crisis, due to Ao Yulie's intervention—his open mouth was easily neutralized.

Afterward, the occasional gusts that appeared were also dispelled by Ao Yulie; summoning clouds and rain is his innate talent.

These wind and rain came strangely, yet they did not escape the normal range.

As time passed, low rumbles of thunder continually came from the sky, occasional lightning split the heavens, illuminating Zhuge Liang's pallid face.

"Is this place perhaps too high?" someone muttered.

The City Lord's Mansion stands on the Inverted Mountain Range; its elevation is naturally not low. Now, with thunder and lightning flashing, it feels as if a bolt of lightning could strike at any moment, a precarious situation.

The scene of attempting to defy heaven and change fate, only to be struck by heavenly thunder, almost appeared in everyone's mind.

If the location were changed, say to the foot of the mountain, it might be better; even if heavenly thunder fell, it would be blocked by the massive mountain body.

Speaking of which, heavenly thunder doesn't turn corners, does it?

"It feels like undergoing tribulation." Ao Yulie looked up at the lightning-and-thunder-filled sky.

As they spoke, a huge bolt of lightning as thick as a water bucket fell from the sky, heading straight for Zhuge Liang.

Zhu Bajie reached out and grabbed, crushing the thunder from afar.

Then came the second, then the third.

Dozens of lightning bolts struck in succession; Zhu Bajie leapt up, flew through midair, drawing all the lightning onto himself, bathing in the lightning light, resembling a thunder god.

He thrust his palms upward; the lightning shot up into the sky, booming into the black night's thunderclouds and completely dispersing them.

This made Ao Yulie mutter a few lines imitating infringement.

But if he were to go up, he might not necessarily be able to handle it as lightly as Zhu Bajie does.

These lightning bolts have already approached the heavenly tribulation lightning; they cannot be compared to ordinary lightning.

"Normal, the Jia family members can fly, so naturally they can withstand being struck by lightning without dying and even send the lightning back." Everyone expressed calmness; without such strength, how could they become the world's arbiters?

Now everyone is even more concerned about Zhuge Liang's situation of defying fate to change his destiny.

The matter has progressed to this point; there are still three hours left, but it has already reached the level of heavenly thunder descending.

This is a true heavenly thunder strike.

Defying fate to change destiny indeed means acting against heaven; with the remaining three hours, what else might happen?

The symbolic meaning of heavenly thunder actually outweighs "real damage".

Those lightning bolts just now all struck down, with a clear target; at most they could only kill Zhuge Liang, the one attempting to defy fate.

If there's no effect, the "heavenly punishment" will only become more severe.

Human-caused disaster is impossible; even the strongest present, Lü Bu, is no match for Jia Rong in a single move.

During this period he fought Jia Rong, being beaten single-handedly in a one-sided manner, like playing with a child.

To stop Zhuge Liang from defying fate, it must inevitably be a more severe natural disaster.

A flood disaster?

That's unlikely; near the Number One City under Heaven there is no major river, only normal water sources.

Now it's also the winter dry season; water usage is not a problem, but a major flood is unlikely.

Unless there is a prolonged period of heavy rain.

That period would have to be at least half a month or more.

Then, a group of people simultaneously flashed four words in their minds—"Earth Dragon Turns Over!"

That is, the colloquial term for an earthquake.

Does defying fate to change destiny really invite such a natural disaster?

Actually, the harm of an earthquake in this world is relatively small; with martial arts flourishing and power returning to oneself, one's ability to protect oneself against an earthquake is greatly enhanced.

Moreover, this world has many open spaces, unlike the real world where steel forests are everywhere.

But the Number One City under Heaven is somewhat different; setting aside its prosperity and dense population and architecture for now.

Just the Inverted Mountains, if they truly encountered an Earth Dragon Turns Over, would be a catastrophe that could overturn the heavens.

Even the martial arts masters present can only guarantee that if the Inverted Mountains beneath their feet suddenly collapse, they can at most preserve themselves.

They cannot do anything more.

Just then, a faint tremor came, quickly expanding; the decorative chains linking the Inverted Mountains to the ground shook, emitting a crisp sound.

"It really is an Earth Dragon Turns Over!"

Everyone was startled and looked toward Zhuge Liang.

The Seven-Star Lamps swayed; one suddenly went out, then the second, then the third.

Fortunately, they were not the main lamps; as long as we quickly relight them, it's fine.

Zhuge Liang opened his eyes, pointed at one of them; at that very moment, the vibration suddenly intensified, and it looked as if that Seven-Star Lamp would fall.

Tang Luo raised his hand and gently pressed down.

Palm Buddha Kingdom!

All vibrations vanished instantly; the Inverted Mountains immediately became as stable as Mount Tai.

Tang Luo employed Palm Buddha Kingdom, incorporating the Number One City under Heaven and a surrounding area into his palm.

Zhuge Liang continued his actions, successfully relighting the three extinguished Seven-Star Lamps.

In the darkness, a mysterious power was severed by Tang Luo's palm; a portion fell onto his palm and dissipated on its own.

"Is this the power of qi luck?" Tang Luo looked at his palm.

Naturally, no wound could be found on it; this power seems to have no direct damaging effect.

Even if it did, it couldn't harm Tang Luo.

It's too weak.

To Tang Luo, it felt like at most an ant crawling over, or rather an ant that wouldn't even bite.

The qi luck power dissipated; Tang Luo "put the Number One City under Heaven back in its original place."

Afterwards, everything was calm; the Seven-Star Lamps continued to burn, and Zhuge Liang's expression gradually eased.

Others' hearts, which had been raised, also gradually relaxed.

Until the successful "defying fate to change destiny" concludes, there is only the time it takes to finish a cup of tea left.

Just then, Zhuge Liang's face suddenly changed; he opened his mouth and spat out a large mouthful of blood.

The Seven-Star Lamps all swayed simultaneously, their flames gradually weakening.

He raised his head and looked toward the sky.

Everyone followed Zhuge Liang's action and looked toward the sky.

In the sky, a huge vortex had appeared at some point; its hollow center faced this place, like a merciless eye, its gaze descending.

Yang Jian opened his heavenly eye and looked toward the sky.

The heavenly eye looked toward the giant eye.

The vortex-formed giant eye shuddered, suddenly blurred; blood water poured down, and bloody fine rain floated in the sky.

The raging wind rose, its howling filling the sky.

As if the heavens were angry, a roar!

A barely visible arm replaced the fading eye, fingers splayed, descending from the heavens, pressing down!

"I'm here!"

The long-impatient Sun Wukong leapt up, his right hand pulled at his ear, and the golden hooped staff appeared in his hand.

He charged toward the heavens, trailing a dazzling golden light.

The golden light pierced the heavens, forming a huge staff shadow that swept over the descending giant hand.

There was no tremor, no loud sound, no spread of force.

The giant hand, from fingertips to elbow, was smashed by Sun Wukong's staff; the bloody fine rain filling the sky instantly turned into a bloody downpour.

The howling wind wailed, sounding like crying.

Heaven bled and wept.