Chapter 45: The Thunder God's Oath, The Heavenly Tribulation Descends
Just as Yu Yuanchen completely finished his transformation, feeling the surging Ultimate Thunder within his body and the vast might of his Thunder Sacred Dragon Martial Soul, a grand and desolate consciousness, as if traversing the ages, rang directly in the depths of his mind.
"Human... you have succeeded."
It was the Thunder Hell Vine! Its consciousness was no longer the indifference and expulsion of the beginning, nor the anger and warning of later times, but carried a complex emotion—admiration, scrutiny, and even a trace of... desperate expectation.
Yu Yuanchen's mind tightened. He restrained his aura and responded with his Spiritual Power: "This Junior was fortunate, and thanks Senior for the help." He knew clearly that if it weren't for the other party's "cooperation" in guiding the thunder during the Late Stage, it would have been impossible for him to achieve the Ultimate Thunder so smoothly.
"Help? Hmph, it was just mutual benefit." The Thunder Hell Vine's consciousness carried a hint of self-mockery. "You used my thunder to comprehend the Dao, and I... need you to help me in the upcoming Heavenly Tribulation."
Yu Yuanchen fell silent. He had long expected that the favor requested by the other party would be extremely difficult, but he hadn't expected it to be something so dangerous—intervening in a Heavenly Tribulation! And it was the Heavenly Tribulation of this Thunder Hell Vine, which was intolerable to Heaven and Earth!
"Senior, the might of the Heavenly Tribulation, how could this Junior, with only my initial Soul Saint cultivation, interfere? I fear that not only will I be unable to help, but I might bring disaster upon myself and lose my Life for nothing." Yu Yuanchen responded cautiously. Although he had made a promise, he cherished his own Life more.
"Normally, you would at most be able to withstand the aftermath." The Thunder Hell Vine's consciousness carried unquestionable confidence. "But here, within my Domain, I can temporarily share my 'Thunder-Eating' talent with you! At that time, you will bear the Ultimate Thunder, and with my talent's blessing, you will be able to, like me, devour the Heavenly Tribulation's thunder and turn it into your own power!"
It continued to explain, its tone revealing a tragic determination to defy Heaven: "This Heavenly Tribulation is aimed at my Heaven-Defying actions. But because I only have fifty thousand years of cultivation, to manifest the impartiality of the Heavenly Dao, the power in that instant is not as strong as a normal Ferocious beast's Heavenly Tribulation. However, as long as I do not die, this Heavenly Tribulation will be endless, giving me no chance to catch my breath, until it bursts me apart! The reason I have stagnated at forty-nine thousand years of cultivation for three thousand years is not that I cannot break through, but that I dare not! For these three thousand years, I have constantly devoured heavenly thunder, but I have not used it to improve my cultivation. Instead, I have converted all this destructive energy into the purest Life Origin to wash and temper my body, accumulating my Foundation, trying to polish my Foundation to an unprecedented extreme, in order to seize a glimmer of survival in the real Heavenly Tribulation!"
"However, the accumulation has reached its limit. I can feel that the chains of the Heavenly Tribulation have already tightened and may descend at any time. At that time, it will be endless thunder punishment. I need a chance to catch my breath! I need time to convert the devoured heavenly thunder into power to repair my injuries so I can last longer!"
"And you!" Its consciousness suddenly locked onto Yu Yuanchen. "You are that variable! You possess the Ultimate Thunder, are of the same source as me, and can better withstand my talent's blessing. With your current strength plus my blessing, and on the premise of not damaging your Foundation, it is enough to hold on for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. When I am exhausted, you can temporarily replace me, devour the heavenly thunder, and hold on for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn! Let me catch my breath and recover. When you can no longer hold on, I will have recovered some strength and can take over again! By repeating this cycle, we have a hope of holding on all the way through, until I break through the fifty-thousand-year chasm and charge towards that legendary... one hundred thousand years!"
Yu Yuanchen's heart shook violently. So that was it! This Thunder Hell Vine actually had this idea! To let it and a human Soul Master take turns "covering" for each other to withstand the Heavenly Tribulation, in order to fight for precious recovery time and exhaust this deadly situation! This method could be called whimsical, but thinking about it carefully, if it could really be achieved, it might not be without a glimmer of survival!
"This method... is indeed possible." Yu Yuanchen pondered, "But Senior, the power of the Heavenly Tribulation is unpredictable. This Junior can only promise to do my best within my capabilities and without endangering my own Life. If the situation is impossible, I will prioritize saving myself." This was the bottom line he had long decided.
"Agreed." Unexpectedly, the Thunder Hell Vine agreed very readily, but then proposed stricter requirements. "But you must swear to the supreme existence who controls thunder—the Thunder God! Using that trace of divinity in your body and my Bloodline as a guide, make a vow to the God Realm's Laws: In this assistance in my Undergoing Tribulation, you must do your utmost without endangering your own Life, you must not slack off or disobey, and you must never stab me in the back or kick me while I am down!"
It paused, its tone grim: "For beings like you and me who possess divinity, swearing to the gods is witnessed and constrained by the God Realm's Laws! Those who break the vow will surely suffer the backlash of the Laws, their divinity will dissipate, and their cultivation will be completely destroyed!"
After speaking, to show its sincerity, it was the first to swear to the existence in the dark with its own Bloodline: "I, the Thunder Hell Vine, hereby swear that if this human, Yu Yuanchen, helps me in Undergoing Tribulation, regardless of success or failure, I will never use him as a shield. If I am lucky enough to succeed, I will never discard him after the job is done or return kindness with ingratitude! If I violate this oath, I am willing to accept the punishment of Bloodline exhaustion and the annihilation of my consciousness!"
An invisible fluctuation of the Law swept past, symbolizing that the oath had been formed.
Yu Yuanchen felt that solemn and mysterious binding force and knew that there was no room for turning back. He took a deep breath, drew upon the newly born Law imprint and that trace of divinity within his body, faced the firmament, and solemnly swore: "I, Yu Yuanchen, hereby swear to the Thunder God that in this assistance to the Senior Thunder Hell Vine in Undergoing Tribulation, I will do my utmost without endangering my own Life, and I will never slack off or betray my promise! If I violate this oath, I am willing to accept the punishment of divinity dissipation and the loss of all cultivation!"
Another invisible ripple of the Law spread out, and the oath was established. An invisible bond connected him with the Thunder Hell Vine and the Heavenly Tribulation in the dark.
After this, the human and the vine began to calm down and adjust their breathing, preparing to "welcome" the upcoming Heavenly Tribulation. The Thunder Hell Vine made up its mind. Since Heaven had given it this chance, this time, it would either cross the chasm or perish! At the same time, it was secretly glad that it had not driven him away at the beginning but had chosen to cooperate with him.
When Yu Yuanchen first approached, in its long and lonely Life, this was just a slightly stronger bug. It had randomly brought down a bolt of lightning, thinking it would turn him into dust. It did not expect that this bug had survived and retreated. It had not paid attention, thinking it was just luck.
But later, this bug had returned and approached again. That behavior was no different from a provocation in its eyes! A trace of anger at being offended by an ant rose in its heart, so it became slightly more serious and brought down lightning again. As a result, the other party had survived and retreated again.
It began to feel that something was wrong. As a plant-type Soul Beast, and in the critical accumulation period of hitting the Life-and-death pass, it was unwilling to easily move its rooting place and consume its Origin Qi. But the repeated provocations of this little thief made it extremely annoyed.
Besides anger, its powerful intelligence also keenly sensed that this human was actually using its thunder to comprehend some kind of mystery! What surprised it even more was that on this person, it sensed a trace of—divinity—that was weak but not inferior in essence to its own!
"A human possessing divinity... actually wants to use my thunder to comprehend the Ultimate Dao?" Its heart moved. The original killing intent faded, replaced by a trace of interest and... calculation.
It began to "cooperate," controlling the power and frequency of the thunder, neither letting the other party succeed easily nor killing him immediately, more like a strict mentor, whipping the student to progress in the cruelest way.
It was gambling! Gambling that this human could succeed! Gambling that after he achieved the Ultimate Thunder, he could become a glimmer of survival for its Undergoing Tribulation!
It had been trapped before the threshold of fifty thousand years for too long! Three thousand years of accumulation had already reached the limit that this World could tolerate. It could clearly perceive that the sword of destruction hanging over its head could fall at any time. Relying on itself to resist that endless Heavenly Tribulation? The hope was slim. But if there was a presence that also controlled the Ultimate Thunder and could be temporarily granted the "Thunder-Eating" talent by itself to take turns resisting and fight for recovery time... then the situation would be completely different!
The appearance of Yu Yuanchen was an Opportunity for himself, and for the Thunder Hell Vine, was it not also a timely rain?
After the oath was completed, Yu Yuanchen did not hesitate. His figure flashed, and he came to the peak, standing beside that vigorous and mysterious Thunder Hell Vine.
At this time, without a reminder, he also clearly felt the suffocating oppression that filled the World.
The originally clear sky was covered by boundless lead-gray tribulation clouds at some unknown time. These tribulation clouds were so heavy that they seemed to crush the firmament. Their color was like ink, rolling endlessly. Inside were not ordinary lightning, but countless terrifying electric snakes of deep purple, near black, intertwined with crimson gold, and even carrying a trace of Chaos color, crazily darting! The low thunder was no longer a sound, but a terrifying roar that acted directly on the Soul, shaking one's Soul sea.
The light within a radius of a hundred miles dimmed completely, as if it had entered the night in advance. A strong wind rose, but it could not disperse the solidified aura of destruction. The thunder element in the air became incomparably violent and chaotic. Ordinary thunder-attribute Soul Masters would probably not even be able to circulate their Soul Power here. A kind of fear and sense of insignificance stemming from the instinct of Life arose spontaneously.
This was not a Heavenly might that could be resisted by human power; this was the anger of the World, the erasure of the Laws!
Yu Yuanchen looked up at the tribulation clouds that seemed to be within reach and were constantly lowering, feeling the majestic energy contained within that could destroy everything. The Ultimate Thunder in his body could not help but hum excitedly, and that Thunder Law imprint also became slightly hot, conveying a desire and a sense of challenge.
He took a deep breath of the air carrying the aura of destruction. In his eyes, not only was there no fear, but a raging Battle Intent and infinite curiosity burned.
"Then let me see... what this real Heavenly might looks like!"
As the voice fell, in the center of the tribulation clouds, a Chaos-colored thunderbolt that spanned the sky, as if tearing the entire sky apart, condensed haughtily like the judgment sword of a World-destroying giant god!
The Heavenly Tribulation had begun!
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