Just as Yu Yuanchen finished his transformation, feeling the surging Ultimate Thunder within his body and the Vast Power of his Thunder Sacred Dragon Martial Soul, a grand and desolate thought, as if crossing through eons of time, echoed directly in the depths of his mind.
"Human... you have succeeded."
It was the Thunderclap Nethervine! Its thought was no longer the initial indifference and expulsion, nor the later anger and warning, but carried a complex emotion—a mix of admiration, scrutiny, and even a hint of... resolute expectation.
Yu Yuanchen's heart tightened. He restrained his aura and responded with his Spiritual Power: "I was merely fortunate, senior. Thank you for your guidance." He knew full well that if the other party hadn't "cooperated" by guiding the lightning in the later stages, he would never have been able to achieve the Ultimate Thunder so smoothly.
"Guidance? Hmph, it was merely a mutual exchange of needs." The Thunderclap Nethervine's thought carried a trace of self-mockery. "You used my lightning to attain enlightenment, and I... need you to lend me a hand in the upcoming Heavenly Tribulation."
Yu Yuanchen fell silent. He had long anticipated that whatever the entity requested would be extremely difficult, but he hadn't expected it to be something so perilous—intervening in a Heavenly Tribulation! And not just any, but the Heavenly Tribulation of a Thunderclap Nethervine, a creature rejected by the heavens!
"Senior, how could a Soul Sage who has just broken through like me interfere with the might of a Heavenly Tribulation? I fear that not only would I be unable to help, but I would also bring disaster upon myself and lose my life for nothing," Yu Yuanchen responded cautiously. Although he had made a promise, he valued his own life above all else.
"In normal circumstances, you would at most be able to withstand the aftermath," the Thunderclap Nethervine's thought carried unquestionable confidence. "But here, within my domain, I can temporarily share my 'Thunder-Eating' talent with you! At that time, with your Ultimate Thunder and my talent's enhancement, you will be able to do as I do: devour the tribulation lightning and make it your own!"
It continued to explain, its tone filled with the tragic heroism of one struggling against the heavens: "This tribulation targets my attempt to go against the heavens. However, because I only have fifty thousand years of cultivation, to demonstrate the impartiality of the Heavenly Dao, its power at that instant is not as great as a typical Fierce Beast tribulation. But as long as I do not die, this tribulation will be endless, giving me no chance to breathe until it bursts me apart! The reason I stagnated at forty-nine thousand years of cultivation for three thousand years was not because I couldn't break through, but because I dared not! For these three thousand years, I have continuously devoured heavenly lightning, not to increase my cultivation, but to convert all that destructive energy into the purest Life Origin to wash and temper my trunk, accumulating a Foundation, attempting to polish my roots to an unprecedented extreme, all to seek a glimmer of survival in the true tribulation!"
"However, my accumulation has reached its limit. I can feel that the chains of the tribulation have tightened and could descend at any moment. When that happens, it will be endless lightning punishment. I need a moment to breathe! I need time to convert the devoured lightning into power to repair my damage so I can hold on longer!"
"And you!" Its thought locked onto Yu Yuanchen. "You are the variable! You possess the Ultimate Thunder, share the same origin as me, and are better able to withstand my talent's enhancement. With your current strength and my enhancement, without damaging your foundation, you can hold on for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. When I am exhausted, you can temporarily replace me and devour the heavenly lightning for that duration! This will allow me to catch my breath and recover. When you can no longer hold on, I will have recovered some power and can take over again! By repeating this cycle, we have a hope of holding on until I break through the fifty-thousand-year chasm and charge toward that legendary... one hundred thousand years!"
Yu Yuanchen was deeply shocked. So that was it! This was the Thunderclap Nethervine's plan! To have a human Soul Master take "shifts" with it to endure the tribulation, gaining precious recovery time to survive this certain-death scenario! The method was whimsical, but thinking it over, if it could truly be realized, there might indeed be a glimmer of hope!
"This method... is indeed possible," Yu Yuanchen mused. "But senior, the power of the Heavenly Tribulation is unpredictable. I can only promise to do my best within my own capabilities and without endangering my life. If the situation becomes impossible, I will prioritize my own survival." This was the bottom line he had already set.
"Agreed." Unexpectedly, the Thunderclap Nethervine accepted readily, but immediately proposed stricter requirements. "But you must swear to the supreme existence who controls lightning—the Thunder God! Using that trace of Divinity within you and my bloodline as a guide, swear to the laws of the God Realm: in this effort to help me cross the tribulation, you must do your utmost without endangering your own life, you must not slack off or act in bad faith, and you must certainly not stab me in the back or kick me while I am down!"
It paused, its tone chilling: "Beings like us who possess Divinity are witnessed and bound by the laws of the God Realm when swearing to the Gods! Those who break their oaths will surely suffer the backlash of the laws, their Divinity will dissipate, and their cultivation will be completely destroyed!"
Having said this, to show its sincerity, it was the first to swear by its own bloodline to the existence in the void: "I, the Thunderclap Nethervine, hereby swear that if this human, Yu Yuanchen, helps me cross the tribulation, regardless of success or failure, I will never use him as a shield. If we luckily succeed, I will never discard him like a worn-out tool or return evil for good! If I break this oath, I am willing to suffer the punishment of bloodline exhaustion and the annihilation of my consciousness!"
An invisible ripple of law swept past, symbolizing that the oath was formed.
Yu Yuanchen felt that solemn and mysterious binding force and knew there was no turning back. He took a deep breath, invoked the newly formed Law Imprint and that trace of Divinity within him, faced the firmament, and swore solemnly: "I, Yu Yuanchen, hereby swear to the Thunder God that in helping the Thunderclap Nethervine senior cross the tribulation, I will do my utmost without endangering my own life, and I will never slack off or act in bad faith! If I break this oath, I am willing to suffer the punishment of my Divinity dissipating and my cultivation being completely lost!"
Another invisible ripple of law spread out, and the oath was established. An invisible bond connected him to the Thunderclap Nethervine and the distant Heavenly Tribulation.
After this, the man and the vine began to calm their minds and regulate their breath, preparing to "welcome" the coming tribulation. The Thunderclap Nethervine made up its mind: since the heavens had given it this chance, this time, it would either cross the chasm or perish! At the same time, it secretly felt fortunate that it hadn't driven him away initially, but had chosen to cooperate instead.
When Yu Yuanchen first approached, in its long and lonely life, he was nothing more than a slightly stronger bug. It had thought that by casually guiding a bolt of lightning, it could turn him into dust. It hadn't expected the bug to survive and retreat. It hadn't cared, assuming it was just luck.
But later, the bug returned and approached again. To the vine, that behavior was no different from a provocation! A trace of anger at being offended by an ant rose in its heart, so it became a bit more serious and struck again with lightning. As a result, the other party survived and retreated once more.
It began to feel that something was not right. As a Plant Spirit Beast in the critical accumulation period of a life-and-death breakthrough, it did not want to easily move its roots and waste its Origin Qi. But this little thief's repeated provocations were incredibly annoying.
Beyond its anger, its powerful intelligence keenly sensed that this human was actually using its lightning to comprehend some profound mystery! What surprised it even more was that it felt a trace of Divinity on this person—faint, but not inferior to its own in essence!
"A human with Divinity... actually wants to use my lightning to comprehend the Ultimate Path?" Its heart stirred; the original killing intent faded, replaced by a hint of interest and... calculation.
It began to "cooperate," controlling the power and frequency of the lightning. It didn't let the other party succeed easily, nor did it strike him dead immediately. It was more like a strict mentor using the most brutal methods to whip a student into progress.
It was gambling! Gambling that this human could succeed! Gambling that after he achieved the Ultimate Thunder, he could become the glimmer of hope for its own tribulation!
It had been trapped at the fifty-thousand-year threshold for too long! Three thousand years of accumulation had reached the limit of what this world could tolerate. It could clearly sense that the Sword of Judgment hanging above its head could fall at any moment. Relying on itself to resist the endless tribulation? The hope was slim. But if there was someone who also controlled the Ultimate Thunder and could be temporarily granted the "Thunder-Eating" talent to take turns resisting and buy time to recover... the situation would be completely different!
Yu Yuanchen's appearance was an opportunity for himself, and for the Thunderclap Nethervine, was it not also a timely rain?
⁂
After the oath was completed, Yu Yuanchen did not hesitate. His figure flashed, and he arrived at the peak, standing beside the vigorous and mysterious Thunderclap Nethervine.
At this moment, without needing a reminder, he clearly felt the suffocating pressure permeating the world.
The originally clear sky had been covered by boundless, lead-gray tribulation clouds. These clouds were so thick they seemed ready to crush the firmament; they were ink-black and churning incessantly. Inside were not ordinary flashes of lightning, but countless terrifying electric snakes, deep purple bordering on black, interwoven with crimson gold, and even carrying a hint of chaotic color, darting madly! The low thunder was no longer just a sound, but a terrifying roar acting directly on the soul, shaking his sea of consciousness.
The light within a hundred miles dimmed completely, as if night had fallen early. A gale rose, but it could not disperse the solidified aura of destruction. The Lightning Element in the air became incredibly violent and chaotic; an ordinary Lightning Attribute Soul Master would likely be unable to circulate their Soul Power normally here. A sense of fear and insignificance, born from the instinct of life, welled up.
This was not Heavenly Might that human power could resist; this was the anger of the world, the annihilation of the laws!
Yu Yuanchen looked up at the tribulation clouds that seemed close enough to touch and were constantly pressing down, feeling the vast energy contained within them—enough to destroy everything. His own Ultimate Thunder began to hum with excitement involuntarily, and the Thunder Law Imprint glowed slightly, conveying a sense of longing and challenge.
He took a deep breath of the air carrying the scent of destruction. In his eyes, there was no fear, but rather a burning fighting spirit and infinite curiosity.
"Then let me see... what this true Heavenly Might really looks like!"
As his words fell, in the center of the tribulation clouds, a chaotic-colored lightning bolt that spanned the horizon, as if tearing the entire sky apart, condensed like the Sword of Judgment of a world-destroying god!
The Heavenly Tribulation had begun!
───────────────
Translated by: randomtranslator.com
Proofread by: GodKun-Chan