The Long Journey to Immortality

Han Lu's consistently accurate sixth sense told her that this tribulation would definitely not be easily overcome with just one magic weapon.

“In the ancient cultivation era, the atmosphere among the Eastern Human Race was harmonious. It is likely that Senior Wang Lin lent out this magic weapon quite a few times. Many Golden Core cultivators and Nascent Soul cultivators among the Eastern Human Race must have used this Free and Easy Umbrella when they were undergoing tribulations.”

"But even so, why is it that only one-third of the ancient cultivators can successfully survive the Heavenly Tribulation?"

"Even if cultivators in the ancient cultivation era committed many killings, it's unlikely that so many people would still perish under the heavenly tribulation with the help of such a magical treasure."

"Clearly, this umbrella is powerful, but it alone cannot help a cultivator easily overcome the tribulation of lightning."

This inference is reasonable and well-founded. Han Lu, who has experienced many stories in the Moon Pearl World, can be considered a semi-authoritative figure in this matter.

As Han Lu had expected, upon discovering that the cultivator undergoing tribulation possessed such exquisite methods to deal with the heavenly lightning, the tribulation clouds suspended in the air also took countermeasures.

You have Zhang Liangji, I have a wall ladder.

The process of transcending tribulation is essentially a contest between cultivators and the will of Heaven.

Since the cultivators produced the "stone," Heaven's will naturally respond with the "cloth."

A hundred breaths passed, and the tribulation clouds remained still, showing no sign of thunder or gathering spiritual energy.

This strange sight left Elder Haoge somewhat puzzled.

However, the tribulation was clearly not over yet, and he was on high alert, not daring to be careless in the slightest.

This fifth bolt of heavenly lightning took nearly three hundred breaths to condense.

Perhaps because they discovered that the lightning with a slight fire attribute was more lethal to Elder Haoge, the tribulation clouds turned back to crimson this time.

Without a single clap of thunder as a warning, almost instantly, just as the tribulation clouds had changed color, a crimson-gold bolt of lightning, even more ferocious than the previous four bolts combined, descended from the sky.

This sudden turn of events caught Elder Haoge somewhat off guard.

Fortunately, he remained vigilant throughout and never stopped using the Free and Easy Umbrella, his reliance for overcoming the tribulation, even for a moment.

This magical artifact, which had weathered countless years of wind and rain, once again faced the thunder and stood between Elder Haoge and the tribulation clouds, becoming the first barrier against the heavenly lightning.

However, this time, things didn't go as smoothly as before.

The lightning almost completely engulfed the Free and Unfettered Umbrella. Even when Elder Haoge pushed the Free and Unfettered Umbrella to its limit, it could no longer exert its function of dispersing the lightning.

This magical artifact could only barely swallow a portion of the lightning, much like when facing the second bolt of heavenly lightning.

The remaining 70% of the thunderous power successfully crossed the first barrier, roaring and sweeping towards Elder Haoge.

This time, Elder Haoge truly felt the so-called divine might for the first time during his tribulation.

The pressure from the lightning tribulation made it somewhat difficult for him to even chant incantations and cast spells.

In the brief moment it took for Elder Haoge to see the heavenly lightning and realize that the Free and Easy Umbrella could not completely block it, he could only barely cast two defensive spells and activate another personal defensive magic weapon.

Thus, Elder Haoge was completely engulfed by the heavenly lightning in an instant, his entire body engulfed in the lightning.

Chapter 472 A Twist of Fate?

The sudden turn of events shocked all the onlookers.

Many of the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment disciples who had come here with their masters to manage the area were all smiles just moments before, as if they were about to successfully pass through the tribulation of lightning. But in an instant, the expressions on their faces became stiff.

Some even instinctively covered their eyes and turned their heads away, unwilling to see the cruel scene after the lightning dissipated.

Many disciples who attended the ceremony believed that Elder Haoge, having been struck by such fierce heavenly lightning, had most likely perished under the might of this tribulation.

The many Golden Core cultivators and Han Lu only gasped, but did not attribute the word "death" to Elder Haoge.

They used either their divine sense or their spiritual eye techniques to clearly see Elder Haoge's final response when faced with the heavenly lightning.

Han Lu and other knowledgeable cultivators had a general idea of ​​the abilities of late-stage Golden Core cultivators.

Although the heavenly lightning was powerful, they did not believe that Elder Haoge, who was prepared, would die so easily under its power.

If that's the case, then the probability of a cultivator successfully transcending tribulation is probably not even 50%.

Han Lu's judgment was reasonable and well-founded, and what she saw and what happened next confirmed her judgment.

The lightning and thunder that poured down from the sky seemed to erect a pillar of light on the nearby flat-topped mountain, which lasted for a full ten breaths before completely dissipating.

The carefree umbrella continued to fly in the sky, but it seemed to be suffering from indigestion after swallowing a large amount of heavenly lightning, and its flight was no longer as drifting and natural as before.

As the lightning from the heavenly thunder dissipated, the once flat mountaintop was sheared away by half a meter, and a pit seven or eight meters deep appeared where Elder Haoge had stood.

Due to the angle, Han Lu could not see the situation inside the pit clearly.

However, she could draw conclusions from the facial expressions of the Golden Core cultivators around her who were observing with their divine sense.

"Elder Haoge should still be alive."

Three breaths later, a dark-colored figure, naked, wobbled out of the pit on the flat-topped mountain and hovered in the air.

Upon seeing this, Han Lu was surrounded by cheers once again.

In everyone's eyes, it was already a stroke of luck that they survived such a bolt of lightning.

At this moment, even Elder Haoge, a late-stage Golden Core cultivator, was finding it difficult to cope.

Not only was he disheveled, but his internal spiritual meridians and dantian were also in a mess.

In addition, 60% of the spiritual power in my body was consumed in the battle against the heavenly lightning.

However, the most serious injury was not the physical injury, but the psychological damage that the mighty heavenly lightning caused to Elder Haoge.

Having personally experienced the power of this heavenly tribulation, Elder Haoge couldn't help but feel a deep fear of it.

This fear far surpassed the fear of the unknown he felt before the tribulation; it was like a demon in his heart, suppressing Elder Haoge's consciousness and making the already depleted spiritual energy flow even more sluggish.

If we say that Elder Haoge possessed 120% of his strength before his tribulation, then...

Now, having endured five tribulations of lightning and suffered severe injuries, Elder Haoge, who has developed a fear of lightning tribulations, is left with only 50% of his strength.

Perhaps it was because they sensed that Elder Haoge was seriously injured and only had his usual strength.

The tribulation clouds almost ceaselessly condensed the sixth lightning tribulation.

The lightning tribulation descended, but its power was less than two-thirds of that of the first lightning tribulation.

However, such a rapid offensive was an immense test for Elder Haoge.

His Dao heart, which had been in a daze for a moment, was brought back to its senses by the bursts of thunder.

The carefree umbrella was once again commanded and mobilized by Elder Haoge, soaring through the air.

Although the Free and Easy Umbrella suffered some indigestion from the tribulation lightning, it was not damaged in the slightest.

Facing this incomplete tribulation in this state, even with Elder Haoge's insufficient spiritual power supply, it was not a difficult task for Xiaoyao Umbrella.

As expected, this weak lightning tribulation posed no threat to Elder Haoge whatsoever and was easily blocked by the Xiaoyao Umbrella.

Elder Haoge even had time to find the healing pills he had prepared in advance from the debris scattered on the ground due to the broken storage bag, and took out three pills from the jade bottle and swallowed them.

These pills were prepared in advance by Elder Haoge. Any one of them would be priceless and unavailable. Even if they were priced at three or four hundred spirit stones, a group of Golden Core cultivators would flock to them, hoping to acquire them.

The three pills are said to have the effect of treating injuries to the physical body, the spiritual meridians and dantian, and the sea of ​​consciousness.

In no time, the medicine cured the illness.

Elder Haoge's injuries had recovered by 30%, and the skin on his body that had been charred and ulcerated by the lightning strike had also healed by more than half.

His body changed from black to brown, and Elder Haoge casually grabbed a relatively intact piece of clothing to change into.

Although a gentleman is open and honest, Elder Haoge did not want to undergo tribulation naked in front of his fellow disciples.

Everything seemed to be getting better, and the onlookers who had been sweating profusely for Elder Haoge breathed a sigh of relief.

Yunmin Daoist said, "The attack from the tribulation cloud just now was weak and powerless, probably because it used up too much spiritual energy during the fifth tribulation."

"Perhaps after three or four more heavenly lightning strikes, the spiritual energy in the tribulation clouds will be completely depleted. At that time, we can go forward and congratulate Fellow Daoist Haoge on his successful advancement to the Nascent Soul Realm."

Everyone echoed this sentiment.

"It is a great blessing for our sect that we will have another Nascent Soul cultivator today."

The elders of the Zhengyi Sect immediately thought of their competitors.

"There are rumors that fifty years ago, Xuan Yang Valley had a fierce battle with some powerful figure, resulting in one Nascent Soul cultivator being killed and two others crippled."

"If Elder Haoge can advance smoothly, wouldn't that mean that the number of Nascent Soul cultivators in our Zhengyi Sect is on par with that of Xuan Yang Valley? This is a great event!"

"That way, we might be able to try and compete with them for the title of the number one sect in the Central Plains."

Everyone was overjoyed and eagerly awaited Elder Haoge's next move, using his magic weapon to dispel several bolts of heavenly lightning and successfully advance to the next level.

The story then unfolded as everyone had predicted.

Within a quarter of an hour, three more bolts of heavenly lightning descended from the tribulation clouds, each with varying power, but Elder Haoge managed to deflect them all using his magical artifacts.

Elder Haoge even used his spiritual sword once, using its blade to slice away a section of the tribulation clouds and remove a significant amount of the spiritual energy stored within them.

Actively attacking the tribulation clouds is also a tactic that cultivators undergoing tribulation occasionally employ, but it requires timing and skill. Clearly, Elder Haoge had put a lot of thought into this before undergoing tribulation.

Back and forth, it seems that Elder Haoge has already stepped halfway across the threshold of the Heavenly Tribulation.

But in reality, only Elder Haoge himself knew that if things continued at this pace, his days were numbered.

Chapter 473 Cultivating Immortality Leads to Being Struck by Lightning

The Golden Core cultivators watching from afar could only rely on their divine sense or a few pieces of information to make inferences and guesses.

Elder Haoge, who was directly facing the tribulation clouds and lightning, truly understood the state of the tribulation clouds and his own condition at that moment.

Although a total of thirteen bolts of heavenly lightning descended from beginning to end, and some of them were cut off by his spiritual sword, there was still a lot of spiritual energy left in the tribulation clouds for it to continue to exert its power, and it would not be a problem to send down three or four more powerful bolts of heavenly lightning.

However, his situation is not optimistic.

Exhausted both physically and mentally, he had only about 25% of his spiritual energy remaining.

With only a small amount of spiritual energy remaining, Elder Haoge could barely muster one-tenth of his usual strength.

If it weren't for the help of the Free and Easy Umbrella, he felt that he would most likely have been sent to his death by the heavenly might of the tribulation clouds during the tenth tribulation.

As Elder Haoge watched the tribulation clouds gathering lightning again in the sky, he knew something was wrong.

"If another bolt of lightning exceeding the Free and Easy Umbrella's capacity were to strike, even if I recovered 20% of my spiritual power, I would still find it difficult to withstand."

Thinking of this, he decided to use the same trick again and unleash the spirit sword once more.