When I ran out, the dark clouds above the apartment had already drifted eastward, likely because the swordsman had left.
There was an open space to the east, and the swordsman had probably chosen to face the heavenly tribulation there!
I immediately quickened my pace and ran towards the eastern open space. He mustn’t come to any harm!
I originally thought his talk of a heavenly tribulation was just an excuse to make me seek the Five Elements Essence myself, but I never expected it to be real! If something really happened to him, I would feel terrible.
When I reached the eastern open space, I saw the swordsman holding his long sword, standing poised in mid-air.
A fierce wind howled, and lightning continuously surged within the dark clouds in the sky.
If the dark clouds were compared to a black sea, then the lightning within was like a flood dragon, ceaselessly weaving through its depths.
So this is the heavenly tribulation? Although the target was the swordsman, even I, standing under the same thunderclouds, felt an immense pressure.
I could still move freely, but I felt that the pressure from these thunderclouds was far greater than that old man who came to take Mei’er back to the fox tribe!
And the most significant difference was, that old man made you feel suppressed, unable to move, but the thunderclouds evoked a feeling of wanting to worship, as if they were the most powerful existence in this world!
The wind grew stronger, and more and more lightning darted through the dark clouds, yet the anticipated heavenly tribulation still hadn’t arrived.
The swordsman gripped his long sword tighter and tighter, his face serious, as if facing a formidable enemy.
Suddenly, the lightning in the sky violently converged to a single point, emitting a dazzling radiance, and this point of light was right above the swordsman’s head.
As a modern person, I know full well how powerful lightning is. Let alone this massive convergence, even a single ordinary lightning strike to the top of someone’s head would be absolutely fatal!
I suddenly began to worry about the swordsman. Although his cultivation is high, could he really withstand so much lightning?
The light at the convergence point grew brighter, and the thunder grew louder, the noise hurting my ears so much I had to cover them with my hands.
Seeing this, I knew I couldn’t stay too close to the swordsman, or I might get caught in it. Thinking this, I quickly retreated.
But I had only taken a few steps back when a powerful pressure suddenly descended from the sky, making it impossible for me to move another inch.
I wasn’t that close to the swordsman; I should be fine.
I looked up at the dark clouds. The place where the lightning had converged, once intensely bright, suddenly dimmed, then abruptly flared up again. A long dragon composed of lightning charged down from the point of light!
The lightning dragon, thicker than a water bucket, shot straight towards the top of the swordsman’s head!
The lightning dragon seemed slower than ordinary lightning, but its speed was still incredibly fast!
BOOM—
The tremendous thunderclap sounded only when the lightning dragon was about to strike the swordsman, giving me the feeling that this thunder could shake the heavens.
This heavenly tribulation is truly terrifying!
Just as it was about to hit the swordsman, the lightning dragon suddenly opened its massive mouth and bit down towards him.
The swordsman swung his sword, creating a flurry of sword blossoms, and met the dragon head-on!
A man battling lightning! This scene was even more explosive than a Hollywood action blockbuster! A scenario only possible in movies, and now I was witnessing it firsthand. Whether this was luck or misfortune was unclear.
The swordsman struck the lightning dragon’s head with a swift sword move—so fast I couldn’t even see how he made his move.
In my eyes, there was only one sword stroke, but how many actual techniques he executed, I had no idea.
But in that single stroke I witnessed, the moment the swordsman’s blade struck the lightning dragon’s head, countless tiny lightning bolts instantly enveloped the sword and traveled along it to the swordsman’s body!
BOOM—
Another thunderclap rang out, and with it, the swordsman fell to the ground.
Dust flew up instantly, and the impact created a large crater!
The nearby weeds seemed to have been burned, all turned to black ash. Even the soil inside the crater had turned completely black!
“Hey! Are you okay?!” I shouted, but my voice was like a mosquito’s buzz under the roar of the thunder, impossible to hear.
Suddenly, a figure shot up from the crater, his whole body enveloped in white True Qi, emitting a brilliant, intense light.
“Whew…” I breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed the swordsman was unharmed.
But the next scene left me stunned on the spot.
The long sword in the swordsman’s hand suddenly transformed into a giant light-sword over ten meters long and slashed directly down onto the lightning dragon’s head!
The lightning dragon, thicker than a water bucket, no longer seemed massive compared to the giant sword!
That wasn’t the most shocking part; it was that the giant sword actually cleaved the lightning dragon straight down the middle, splitting it in two!
The bisected lightning dragon vanished between heaven and earth in an instant. No more lightning weaved through the dark clouds, and peace returned to the world.
This swordsman is just so damn incredible! I originally thought he could only maintain a defensive posture under the heavenly tribulation, but I never expected him to actually “slay” the tribulation!
The swordsman put away his sword. Seeing me, he looked surprised, flashed to my side, and said, “Why are you here?”
“I was just afraid that if you died, no one would teach me how to absorb the Metal Element Qi!” I said irritably. Since he was fine, why worry? Some things are better kept to oneself; saying them out loud is just too sentimental.
“Shit!” The swordsman was taken aback for a moment, then swore.
We looked at each other, and for some reason, we just stood there and started laughing.
Suddenly, I felt a tremendous pressure bearing down on me and the swordsman. I looked behind him.
Another lightning dragon had appeared out of nowhere and was charging towards us.
The swordsman frowned, his sword instantly appearing in his hand. Powerful True Qi erupted violently, first blasting me away to the side, then he turned and swung his sword. This lightning dragon met the same fate as the last—cleaved in two once more!
After this lightning dragon disappeared, the dark clouds in the sky gradually dispersed.
There shouldn’t be any more lightning strikes now, right?
“Godd@mn it, just for a slight hint, you have to strike me twice? How fu*king annoying!” The swordsman grumbled as he put away his sword and walked over to me.
He helped me up from the ground and asked, “You okay?”
“I’m fine!” I said with a smile, but my heart was filled with utter astonishment. That was the heavenly tribulation just now, two strikes of it, and the swordsman resolved them so easily. Just what level is he at? I’m afraid even the Solar Crown stage I had in mind is an underestimation!
“Let’s go back! Repairing your damaged dantian is the most important thing now!” The swordsman said seriously, no trace of joking on his face.
I was about to agree when I suddenly remembered—the thunder was so loud earlier, and the strange phenomenon in the sky… being near the school, it was bound to attract a lot of attention!
“Hey! What if someone saw you transcending the tribulation just now?” I asked nervously.
The swordsman smiled. “I set up a formation around the area beforehand. To ordinary people, it just looked like ordinary lightning.”
“That’s good…” I had just breathed a sigh of relief when I looked up and found we were already back in the apartment bedroom!
Holy shit! This time I didn’t even close my eyes, and we were back so fast!
“Alright, now tell me how to use the Five Elements Qi to repair my dantian,” I said, suppressing my shock. Restoring my cultivation is the top priority now. Only then will I have any chance of finding Mei’er!
The swordsman held the golden light-sword enveloped in a glow, stared at me with a deep frown, and said, “Are you sure? Your chance of survival is only one in ten. This is no joke.”
“I’m sure!” I said to the swordsman with a determined gaze.
The swordsman nodded. “If you die, don’t blame me!” As he spoke, he used his True Qi to draw the golden light-sword into his palm and slammed it directly towards my lower abdomen!
Fu*k! Don’t $crew with me! Are you trying to help me repair my dantian or kill me?!