Elven cultivators

The clouds surged and converged toward the center of the sky, as if gripped tightly from all directions by an invisible hand, slowly pressing down.

The entire Primordial City was shrouded in a thick, heavy silence, and even the wind seemed to be pressed tightly against the ground by that force, afraid to move easily.

Deep within the roots of the Tree of Eternity, mist swirls.

Wuyin was curled up in a hollow where tree roots were intertwined, dozing off. Suddenly, he opened his eyes, his short, silvery-gray fur bristled slightly, and a series of low, whimpering sounds came out of his throat.

It suddenly looked up at the churning, leaden-gray clouds high in the sky, bared its teeth in that direction, and then subconsciously took a half-step back, its posture revealing obvious fear.

At the same moment, disciples throughout the city stopped what they were doing and looked up at the sky.

"...What is that?"

Morric stood on the street outside the city, looking up at the sky in shock.

His companions beside him also stared wide-eyed at the sky, mouths agape.

The sound of wind breaking suddenly rang out from behind.

Morric turned around and saw dozens of figures rushing in from all directions of the city, their clothes fluttering and creating gusts of air as they landed on the rooftops and towers nearby.

They all looked solemnly at the sky, no one spoke, only their gazes grew increasingly heavy.

Morric's gaze swept over one of the faces, and he blurted out, "Senior Sister Night Eyes."

As the first disciple of a vassal race in the Primordial City, Night Eyes was known to everyone among the vassal races.

Morric was no exception.

After becoming a disciple of Taichu City, he had seen Ye Tong a few times from afar.

What impressed him most was that each time they met, Nightshade's cat-human characteristics seemed to diminish.

Now she has become indistinguishable from humans, with her gray-brown cat features almost completely gone, leaving only a pair of slightly twitching cat ears on her head, which still hint at her cat-human bloodline.

Perhaps due to the cultivation technique, Ye Tong's aura possessed a unique charm, combining the radiant coolness of moonlight with the lightness and agility unique to the cat people.

Morric had heard that she had broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage decades ago, and her strength was among the top of all the disciples.

The next moment, Morrick's eyes flickered as he was drawn to another figure.

Ivy stood atop a flying eave not far away, her posture upright and her head slightly tilted back.

The half-elf girl's face was more refined than it had been years ago. Her features had become more defined by the passage of time, and her cool demeanor had deepened, like the thin ice that had frozen over a river in winter, cold and serene.

She remained silent, simply gazing at the slowly descending clouds. The ends of her silver-gray hair swayed gently in the air currents, like the swaying shadows of algae at the bottom of the water.

Morric's gaze was somewhat complicated.

He heard that Ivy had already successfully established her foundation more than a decade ago, and her cultivation progress was far ahead of other disciples who entered the sect at the same time.

Although he also became a disciple of Taichu City, the gap in strength between him and Ivy only widened.

More and more disciples arrived one after another, and in a short while, hundreds of people had gathered, their voices buzzing with discussion.

"What happened?"

"Has the enemy invaded?"

"It shouldn't be, we didn't hear the warning bell."

"Those clouds have such a strong sense of oppression..."

Amid the noise, a calm voice suddenly rang out.

"That's a tribulation of thunder and fire."

The disciples looked in the direction of the voice and saw Ryan, Lucius, Flora, and Mia walking towards them together.

The crowd automatically parted to make way, and the disciples all quieted down their chatter and respectfully bowed to the four of them.

"Senior Brother Ryan, what you said about the Thunderfire Tribulation..." a disciple couldn't help but ask.

Ryan glanced at the clouds in the sky and said in a deep voice, "The Thunderfire Tribulation is the last and most dangerous of the three trials of breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage. However, once you break through it, you can advance to become a Nascent Soul cultivator."

The moment the words "Nascent Soul cultivator" were uttered, everyone present was taken aback.

They certainly knew what a Nascent Soul cultivator meant.

At the same time, they understood the source of the lightning and fire calamity.

"So the clan leader is about to break through."

"I never thought I would have the chance to witness a Golden Core cultivator undergoing tribulation."

"A Nascent Soul cultivator..."

Many disciples of Taichu City looked on with longing.

Ryan said no more and looked up at the sky.

The higher the grade of the Golden Core, the more terrifying the lightning and fire tribulation triggered when breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage.

The teacher's Golden Core was a top-tier, first-grade Golden Core, and the resulting lightning and fire tribulation would undoubtedly be an extremely dangerous situation unimaginable to ordinary cultivators.

This is probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness such a calamity of thunder and fire.

Just then, the energy in the surrounding air suddenly fluctuated violently.

A layer of five-colored radiance silently emerged from the array nodes on all sides of the city, climbing upwards along the edge of the city wall, like a giant glass flower slowly closing its petals, and finally condensing into an inverted dome above the city.

Five-colored halos flowed slowly across the surface of the light screen like water, enveloping the entire Primordial City.

Above the sky, Anton looked down at the five-colored light curtain rising below, his soul already integrated with the core of the formation.

The Great Evolution Five Elements Azure Profound Array covers the entire Primordial Spirit Realm.

However, in order to maximize the defensive power, Anton temporarily diverted energy from other places and concentrated most of the energy into the formation above the Primordial City, greatly enhancing the defensive power of this part of the formation.

With everything prepared, Anton looked up at the leaden-gray thunderclouds, his expression calm, his eyes showing no fear or unease, only long-accumulated anticipation and confidence.

He had been preparing for this day for a long time, doing his best.

All that's left is to give it your all.

Well then, let's go.

The clouds seemed to sense his determination and suddenly moved.

The surging lead gray suddenly collapsed in the center, as if an invisible giant hand had pressed down into it.

The next instant, a purple-white beam of light shot straight down from the center of the clouds, like a spear hanging from the sky, pointing directly at Anton.

Boom!

A deafening thunderclap echoed through the sky.

Even though the five-colored light barrier blocked out most of the sound waves, the disciples inside the city still felt a sharp pain in their eardrums, as if fine needles were piercing deep inside.

The intense lightning bolts that rushed towards them made their scalps tingle and their limbs go cold. For a moment, it felt as if their blood had stopped flowing, as if they were about to be completely swallowed up by the lightning.

However, at that moment, the five-colored halo surrounding Taichu City suddenly brightened, and the Five Elements True Fire surged out from it, rising upwards from the formation like a five-colored river flowing backwards, crashing into the lightning.

Boom! The two forces collided violently in the void, and light and fire intertwined to create a dazzling explosion.

The power of the thunder far exceeded expectations. The Five Elements True Fire was only held for a moment before it was cleaved in two, and the flames scattered everywhere.

But that brief moment of attrition had already weakened most of the thunder's power.

The remaining lightning struck the five-colored light screen, creating only a faint ripple before being swallowed and dissolved by the formation, disappearing silently.

Just as the thunder dissipated, Anton felt the world around him tremble, and a warm current silently emerged from the void and seeped into his body.

The force was not fierce, but rather like a stream flowing over pebbles, slowly flowing along the gaps in the muscles and flesh. Wherever it passed, the bones emitted a slight hum, and the muscle fibers tightened and relaxed slightly, as if being repeatedly kneaded from the inside out.

The physical body, which had already been tempered to its limit, now seemed to have touched a higher boundary and was moving towards a deeper level of transformation.

While the tribulation of thunder and fire is extremely dangerous, and the slightest carelessness can lead to the destruction of both body and soul, the tribulation of thunder itself is also an ultimate baptism.

Every lightning strike is a forging process, removing impurities, reshaping the foundation, and paving the way for the next transformation.

The twenty-seven lightning bolts before the tribulation of thunder and fire were specifically designed to temper the physical body.

Boom!

The second bolt of lightning struck.

It was thicker and its light was more intense than the first one.

The Five Elements True Fire met it again, and was once again pierced through.

Then came the third, the fourth, the fifth... one bolt of lightning after another crashed down, each one more violent and powerful than the last.

The ripples created by the impact on the five-colored light screen quickly became denser, like a torrential rain continuously falling on a lake, with layers of waves surging outwards.

With each bolt of lightning dissipating, an even greater amount of invisible power surged into Anton's body, seeping deep into his muscles and tempering every inch of his being.

On the street, the disciples' chatter had long since subsided, and everyone held their breath, their eyes fixed on the figure high in the sky.

Eleanor, Roman, and other high-ranking members of the clan watched intently, their expressions extremely solemn.

Even with the protective array around the mountain, the oppressive force pouring down from the sky still sent chills down one's spine, as if an invisible blade was slowly slicing across the back of one's neck.

If even they faced such pressure, one can only imagine how much pressure Anton must have been under when facing the wrath of the authorities.

However, the person involved remained calm at this moment.

He focused intently on sensing the array, and could clearly perceive that the energy was decreasing rapidly at an alarming rate.

After successfully blocking fifteen bolts of lightning, the formation was showing signs of collapse.

Seeing this, Anton felt a pang of regret.

Faced with the tribulation of thunder and fire, which represents the will of heaven and earth, the formation can only exert one or two tenths of its full effectiveness.

Otherwise, given the strength of the Hunyuan Five Elements Grand Formation, it could have blocked far more than fifteen bolts of lightning.

The moment the sixteenth bolt of lightning struck, Anton raised his hand and flicked it.

A crimson-gold dome flew out from his palm, growing larger in the wind until it transformed into a giant bell several meters tall, hanging above his head.

Nine fire dragons came to life from the relief on the wall, spewing out nine pillars of crimson-gold fire that intertwined in the void to form a scorching barrier.

The lightning struck the curtain of fire, exploding with a deafening roar. The purple-white light was torn apart by the crimson-gold flames, turning into tiny arcs of electricity that scattered and vanished.

The nine fire dragons paused only slightly before continuing their ferocious charge towards the clouds.

The seventeenth, the eighteenth... one bolt of lightning after another was blocked by the nine fire dragons in turn.

But with each attack blocked, the fire dragon's light dimmed a little.

The Nine Dragons Divine Fire Cover, now upgraded to a spiritual artifact, is far more powerful than before.

However, it was facing the thunder and fire tribulation that terrified countless cultivators, and ultimately it could not withstand it for long.

When the twenty-seventh bolt of lightning dissipated into the scorching curtain of fire, the nine fire dragons were reduced to a thin layer of light and shadow, like candles about to burn out.

Surprisingly, after the twenty-seventh bolt of lightning dissipated, the clouds did not immediately unleash another strike.

The leaden-gray sky churned violently like boiling water, with fine, scarlet lightning crackling around its edges, like a pot of boiling lava slowly pressing down.

The purple-white lightning completely disappeared, replaced by distinct blood-red lines that meandered along the cracks in the clouds, like molten iron being poured into a porcelain body on the verge of shattering.

Inside the Primordial City, the people who had just breathed a sigh of relief tensed up once again.

Even the most oblivious person could see that the clouds were gathering strength, brewing an even more intense attack.

Anton took out a pill to restore his magical power and swallowed it. He looked up at the oppressive sky above him, his gaze still calm.

The first phase of the Thunderfire Tribulation has ended, and the second phase is about to begin.

The next twenty-seven bolts of lightning will all contain thunder and fire, greatly increasing their power.

The true nature of the Thunderfire Calamity was finally revealed.

Boom!

After more than ten breaths, accompanied by a deafening roar, the twenty-eighth bolt of lightning struck down.

The original pure purple and white lightning now had a layer of scarlet lines, like red-hot iron wires embedded in the lightning, winding and crawling along the texture of the light pillar.

Nine fire dragons rushed forward, tearing and biting at each other, finally defeating the thunder.

The next instant, an intensely warm current surged into Anton's body, flowing straight into his dantian and enveloping the golden core layer by layer.

This force was no longer as gentle and lingering as before; instead, it carried a scorching, forging sensation, like an iron hammer repeatedly striking a red-hot iron billet.

Fine impurities, as fine as dust, began to precipitate on the surface of the golden elixir, and wisps of dark gray smoke escaped from the surface of the elixir, only to be washed away by the warm current in an instant.

As the power of the thunder increased, the Nine Dragons Divine Fire Cover found it increasingly difficult to withstand.

When the thirty-second bolt of lightning struck, the nine fire dragons finally disintegrated completely, turning into a sky full of crimson sparks.

The Nine Dragons Divine Fire Cover suddenly shrank back to its original form, falling back into Anton's palm with a dim light.

Anton sent out a divine thought to soothe the spirit of the Nine Dragons Divine Fire Cover, then put it away. With a flick of his wrist, the Heaven-Turning Seal flew out.

The yellowish-brown seal grew taller in the wind, transforming into the size of a mountain, and crashed into the thirty-third bolt of lightning.

The seal collided head-on with the lightning, and a ring-shaped shockwave exploded from the point of impact, causing the clouds within a radius of hundreds of meters to churn and surge.

The lightning shattered, but the Heaven-Turning Seal remained unmoved.

The Heaven-Turning Seal was upgraded to a spiritual weapon earlier, and it had more time to be nurtured and refined than the Nine Dragons Divine Fire Cover, so its power was also superior to the latter.

But the power of the thunder it faces is also much stronger.

After blocking fifteen bolts of lightning in succession, the luster of the Heaven-Turning Seal visibly dimmed, and the mountain and river patterns on the seal seemed to have faded.

When the forty-eighth bolt of lightning struck, the Heaven-Turning Seal trembled violently, flew backward, and landed in Anton's palm.

After calming him down, Anton put away the Heaven-Turning Seal. With a slight thought, a golden light instantly leaped out from his chest and quickly split into 512 sword lights.

He's about to get serious.

The dense array of dark gold sword lights surged like a long river flowing backward, meeting the lightning bolt wrapped in scarlet thunder and fire, instantly shredding and annihilating it.

The sword light continued its momentum, and a layer of dark water light appeared at the edge, like the tides of the deep sea surging on the blade.

The moment the sword light clashed with the thunder, it was silently eroded and worn away by the Northern Darkness True Water Dao contained within it, disappearing before it even touched Andong.

Immediately following, the watery sheen on the surface of the sword light transformed into a deep, heavy yellow, crashing into the fiftieth bolt of lightning.

Then comes the Six Ding Divine Fire.

Crimson and gold tore at each other in the void, exploding into dazzling flames that made the sky flicker between light and shadow.

The sword light switched between divine powers in succession, either shattering, dissolving, or annihilating the bolts of lightning.

Soon, the fifty-fourth bolt of lightning also dissipated.

The clouds stopped again.

The leaden-gray clouds surged and contracted again, brewing an even more ferocious offensive.

Anton took the opportunity to swallow the pill and felt his magical power slowly returning to his body.

Next comes the third stage of the Thunder and Fire Tribulation, which is also the most troublesome final stage.

Finally, these twenty-seven bolts of lightning will act simultaneously on the physical body and the golden core, completely fusing the two into one, paving the way for the birth of the nascent soul.

Moments later, the clouds suddenly became intensely bright.

A bolt of lightning ripped through the sky, crashing down on Anton like a falling star and moon.

Sensing the overwhelming aura of destruction, the disciples watching the battle all changed their expressions.

This lightning bolt was significantly more powerful than the previous ones.

The feelings of legendary powerhouses were even more pronounced.

The power of this lightning bolt is so great that even a Saint in the Saint Transformation Realm would dare not directly confront its edge.

High in the sky, Anton remained calm and continued to wield his sword to meet the attack head-on.

The moment the 512 sword lights combined to shatter the lightning, a vast, invisible power surged into the body, splitting into two streams. One stream flowed to the limbs and bones, seeping into every inch of flesh and bone.

Another stream sank into the dantian, enveloping the golden elixir layer by layer.

He could clearly feel that power tightly binding his physical body and golden core together.

Each lightning strike is like an invisible thread, stitching the two together even more tightly.

The previously faint boundary between flesh and blood and the golden core is gradually blurring.

After defeating the sixty-third lightning bolt, Anton decisively changed his strategy, switching the Dao essence of the sword light to Yuan Yi Zhen Gang, and forming a sword array with the five hundred and twelve sword lights to counterattack, shifting from offense to defense.

The sixty-fourth, the sixty-fifth... bolts of lightning fell one after another, tearing the sword formation apart time and time again, only to mend itself again before the next bolt of lightning struck.

The sword light, imbued with the essence of the Primordial True Qi, has greatly enhanced its defensive capabilities. If it is occasionally damaged, it can immediately switch to the Void Primordial Life Qi to repair itself.

Two streams of Dao essence flowed alternately between the sword lights, like the ebb and flow of tides.

When the seventieth bolt of lightning struck, fine cracks had already appeared at the edge of the sword light.

When the seventy-third bolt of lightning struck, the sword formation operated half a beat slower than before. The lightning tore a crack in the side, and the remaining arcs of electricity struck Anton, but were barely blocked by Yuan Yi's True Qi.

When the seventy-fifth bolt of lightning struck, the sword light had already dimmed like a thin mist, and Xu Yiyuan's life energy was not enough to restore it to its full strength.

Anton took a deep breath and raised his hand to make a loose clenching motion.

Five hundred and twelve sword lights, like stars returning to their places, instantly collapsed towards the center, transforming into a clear sword light about a meter long.

The true form of the sword pellet.

The sword light flashed silently, heading towards the seventy-sixth bolt of lightning.

The two crossed paths in the void.

The lightning was cleaved in two the instant it touched the sword light, shattering into countless tiny arcs of electricity that scattered in all directions.

The sword light continued its relentless advance, piercing straight through the depths of the clouds and annihilating the seventy-seventh lightning bolt, which was still in the process of forming.

After this strike, the sword light suddenly receded, transforming back into a dark golden pill that flew back to Anton and hovered motionless.

The luster on the surface of the pill had dimmed considerably, and the spirit of the artifact sent out a weary thought.

"Thanks for your hard work."

Anton whispered a comforting word, then returned the sword pellet to his dantian and looked up at the sky.

There are only four bolts of lightning left.

However, they had exhausted all their methods, including formations, magical artifacts, and sword pellets.

From now on, he'll have to rely on himself.

Anton raised his hand to meet the attack, and a giant, yellow hand emerged from the void, its five fingers spread wide, moving like a mountain, to meet the seventy-eighth bolt of lightning that crashed down from the clouds.

boom!

The lightning pierced through the massive, yellow hand, and spiderweb-like patterns cracked open from the palm, before shattering into countless specks of light and dust.

The remaining lightning struck Anton, but was steadily blocked by the Yuan Yi True Qi on his body, only causing a ripple on the surface of the Qi.

The seventy-ninth bolt of lightning followed closely behind, even more intense and powerful than the previous one.

It successively defeated the Xuanhuang Dragon-Capturing Hand and the Yuanyi True Qi, but when the remaining lightning struck Anton, it had been worn down to almost nothing, leaving only faint scorch marks on his skin.

However, when the eightieth bolt of lightning struck, it shattered both of the great supernatural powers in succession. The remaining lightning struck him solidly, tearing his robes and tearing his flesh in an instant.

But in the next instant, the Void One's life energy began to circulate on its own, and emerald green light surged from the wound, healing it completely.

Above the sky, the clouds no longer churned, but remained still.

The scarlet lines collapsed into the deepest part of the cloud gap, gathering all the light and pressure, compressing it into a crack as thin as a blade.

The rift opened slightly, hanging above Anton's head, as if some ancient will was slowly opening its eyes and casting its cold and indifferent gaze upon him.

Inside the city of Taichu, everyone looked up, held their breath, and stared intently at the sky.

They keenly realized that the tribulation of lightning had reached its final stage.

As time passed, the heavy sense of oppression in the air gradually rose to its peak, giving people the illusion that they couldn't breathe.

Finally, the clouds trembled slightly.

The entire sky darkened in that instant.

All the light was drawn away, leaving only a single, almost pure white beam of light that fell silently from the depths of the clouds.

Without a roar or a flash of lightning, the thunder, like a silent blade, pierced straight towards Anton's head.

Anton raised his hand, and the Xuanhuang Dragon-Capturing Hand met it, only to be silently pierced through.

The primordial energy, once unleashed, was silently torn apart.

The remaining force of the beam of light struck him and exploded with a bang.

Flesh and blood shattered in the lightning, bones emitted a teeth-grinding tremor, and countless wounds burst open from the body at the same time, the blood scorched into charred marks by the lightning before it could even flow out.

Anton gritted his teeth, the veins on his forehead bulging, pushing his primordial life force to its limit.

Emerald green light surged from the depths of each wound, gradually joining and mending the shattered bones and flesh.

Injury, recovery, injury, recovery... Two forces silently clashed within him, pulling back and forth in a tug-of-war.

Despite the excruciating pain, Anton's face remained stubbornly calm, his eyes fixed, all his will focused on the last thread that kept his body intact.

After an unknown amount of time, the lightning enveloping Anton's entire body suddenly paused, and then slowly dissipated.

Xu Yiyuan's life force finally gained the upper hand, and he quickly healed Anton's injuries.

Meanwhile, in the sky above, the leaden-gray clouds that had lingered for so long were dissipating at a visible speed, revealing a clear blue sky behind them.

Sunlight streamed down through the gaps in the clouds, falling on the city walls of Taichu City, on the bluestone streets, and on Anton's slightly drooping shoulders.

The heavy sense of oppression between heaven and earth completely disappeared.

The city of Taichu was silent for a moment, then erupted in a deafening roar.

"We've survived the tribulation of thunder and fire!"

"The clan leader has succeeded!"

"Very good!"

Cheers swept across the entire city like a tidal wave.

At the top of the Nine Heavens Tower, the clan leaders all breathed a sigh of relief, loosening their clenched fists as if a great weight had been lifted from their shoulders.

"I knew Anton would be fine!" Roman's face broke into a big smile.

The senior executives exchanged glances, their faces beaming with barely suppressed joy.

High in the sky, Anton let out a long sigh of relief.

His magical power was almost exhausted.

If another bolt of lightning strikes, there's a high chance of getting injured.

If three or four more come, he probably won't be able to withstand them.

The lightning and fire tribulation of a first-grade golden core is indeed too extraordinary.

Just as he was marveling at this, a very slight tremor suddenly came from deep within his dantian.

Anton's eyes narrowed slightly, and with a flash, he returned to the quiet room and sat down cross-legged.

The time has come for him to reach the stage of becoming an infant.