Chapter 343: What Kind of Tribulation Is This?

Crackling…

Crackling…

Black clouds hung like inverted mountains, silver lightning arcs flickering incessantly atop them.

One after another, like lightning serpents.

Amidst the flashing of countless lightning mountains, a force capable of tearing heaven and earth coalesced.

This immense, suffocating power was imperceptible to others, but He Pingsheng felt it deeply.

"No way…" He Pingsheng stared in shock at the heavenly tribulation above him: "Everyone else passes their first tribulation easily—why does mine kill me outright?"

"Heavenly Father, don't play me like this!"

"This isn't funny!"

"Open…"

He Pingsheng did not hesitate.

Faced with this supreme killing intent of heaven and earth, he could only activate his defenses.

A crimson shield unfolded.

This shield was generated by the Fire Elemental Blood Mirror Armor.

The shield was immensely thick, forged from the complete draining of He Pingsheng's fire-element dantian.

That wasn't all.

He Pingsheng then drew half the spiritual energy from his metal-element dantian and activated the spell 【Golden Shield】.

He drained half the spiritual energy from his earth-element dantian and activated the spell 【Earth Armor】.

At this moment, three shields surrounded He Pingsheng's body.

Put simply, with these three shields active, even an initial-stage Golden Core cultivator's strike could be absorbed.

At that instant, the heavenly tribulation in the void finally completed its formation, transforming into nine lightning pillars, each as thick as a child's arm, descending upon He Pingsheng's head.

"My god…" He Pingsheng nearly wet himself.

That's way too thick.

When Qiao Huizhu underwent her tribulation, only her seventh wave reached this intensity.

Damn it, damn it…

This…

Around him, countless mouths gaped open.

They never expected He Pingsheng's first tribulation to carry such power.

"This makes no sense…" The Imperial Ancestor was stunned: "Even the Nine-Nine Tribulation's first wave isn't this strong!"

Is this trying to kill him?

If the first wave is this powerful, what will the rest be like?

Fast!

The lightning struck He Pingsheng's head.

His defenses shattered layer by layer.

Earth Armor!

Shattered!

Golden Shield!

Shattered!

The crimson shield of the Fire Elemental Blood Mirror Armor held for four breaths, then shattered as well.

Fortunately, the destruction of these three shields had worn down seventy percent of the tribulation's power.

The remaining thirty percent struck He Pingsheng directly.

The good news: He Pingsheng was a body-refining cultivator; his Nine Toxins Golden Body had reached Foundation Establishment Level Eleven—extremely strong.

He could withstand a strike from a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator without injury.

The bad news: this remaining thirty percent of heavenly tribulation power exceeded the strength of a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Thus, when this final force struck him, he collapsed, gravely wounded.

Cough… cough… cough…

Puh…

Puh-puh-puh…

He Pingsheng spat out several mouthfuls of blood.

He looked up—his body was covered in wounds.

Even his internal organs had cracked, and the newly formed crimson Golden Core bore fine fissures.

He Pingsheng couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh.

Yet he still held on.

With a thought, he instantly changed armor.

He retracted the Fire Elemental Blood Mirror Armor; the Seven-Clasp Sharp Metal Armor appeared.

This armor had seven clasps, each containing a stored defensive force.

If the incoming attack exceeded a threshold, all seven clasps would release their stored defenses at once, capable of withstanding a full-power Golden Core strike.

He Pingsheng then pulled out a drop of Golden Bee Holy Juice and swallowed it.

His wounds slowly healed.

Boom…

Soon, the second wave of tribulation gathered.

After a dozen breaths, the second wave crashed down.

The lightning was slightly thicker than the previous wave.

Fortunately, the 【Seven-Clasp Sharp Metal Armor】 blocked it outright.

He Pingsheng suffered no further injury.

This wasn't because the Seven-Clasp Sharp Metal Armor was stronger than the Fire Elemental Blood Mirror Armor—it was simply that He Pingsheng's cultivation was too low to fully activate the latter's maximum defense.

The Seven-Clasp Sharp Metal Armor was different: it didn't require full activation at once, but instead absorbed energy incrementally.

When he originally filled the Seven-Clasp Sharp Metal Armor, He Pingsheng had depleted seven dantians in total.

That's why the Seven-Clasp Sharp Metal Armor appeared stronger than the Fire Elemental Blood Mirror Armor.

"Open…"

As the third wave of tribulation loomed, He Pingsheng waved his hand and pulled out a talisman.

Grade Four Talisman: Primordial Water Shield.

This was a Grade Four defensive talisman traded from Princess Wei Chuan.

At this moment, He Pingsheng's spiritual sense reached twenty thousand zhang, so activating this talisman took only two breaths.

Soon, a shimmering water shield enveloped his body.

This was a Grade Four shield—though low-tier, theoretically capable of withstanding a Nascent Soul cultivator's initial-stage strike.

Now, would it hold against the third wave?

If he survived the third wave, he wouldn't worry anymore.

Because he knew his tribulation had only three waves.

Boom…

The third wave descended.

And was blocked.

The Grade Four talisman was truly extraordinary.

Not only did it block the third wave, but the shimmering water shield remained intact.

Amazing!

The next instant, the black clouds in the void vanished instantly.

Across the square, countless people erupted again.

"What's going on?"

"Only three waves?"

"Three-Nine Tribulation?"

"This… what is this?"

Countless people were bewildered.

What was this?

If he were a man of great fortune, why only three waves?

If this were a Three-Nine Tribulation, why was its power so immense?

Truly perplexing.

"Ancestor…" The Ninth Imperial Prince asked the Imperial Ancestor: "What kind of tribulation is this?"

The Imperial Ancestor was left silent by this tribulation.

What was it?

"This…" He hesitated for a long while before saying: "It should… be called a Three-Nine Heavenly Tribulation. Though his tribulation is stronger than others', it's still a Three-Nine."

The Nascent Souls around him all nodded in turn.

That's right!

The Triple-Nine Heavenly Tribulation!

After all, there are only three waves of tribulation lightning.

Triple-Nine is fine.

As for why its intensity is so great?

Only the Dao of Heaven knows.

"Ancestor, what of Princess Qinghe?" asked a Nascent Soul cautiously.

The imperial ancestor said: "Enough… maintain good relations, just don't make him an enemy. As for Princess Qinghe, there's no need to risk this!"

"Now that I have the Ninth, I am fully satisfied!"

"Ninth, come with me!"

The imperial ancestor extended his withered hand and pulled the Ninth Imperial Prince straight into the air.

But as he took a single step forward, he flicked his hand backward.

A streak of golden light shot forth between his withered fingers and slammed onto a distant mountain peak.

A man with white sideburns was struck by the golden light, spat out several mouthfuls of blood, and fled in disarray.