As for what effect this lightning strike had, True Person Ziyun and the others didn't know.
They only knew that the ground beneath their feet was still trembling, the distant mountains were still shaking, and the dark clouds in the sky had not yet dispersed...
Then came the second strike.
The third.
The fourth.
...
Each subsequent tribulation lightning was accompanied by countless tiny electrical discharges.
That entire area instantly turned into an ocean of lightning!
Suddenly!
Within the sight of Ziyun and the others, a figure appeared.
By appearance, it was Master Xie Yan.
However, it was a phantom, and it was continuously growing.
In the blink of an eye, the phantom was as tall as the tribulation clouds in the sky!
The giant phantom, like a colossal being, stood between heaven and earth.
Just looking at it from afar made them feel an immeasurable sense of pressure!
The phantom opened its mouth, and the surrounding tribulation clouds surged into it!
Then, the onlookers watched as the phantom consumed all the tribulation clouds!
The dark clouds vanished, and the sky cleared again.
Only the giant phantom remained, unchanged!
After devouring the tribulation clouds, the phantom's left eye was shrouded in lightning.
Then, an incredibly thick black beam of light shot down towards the ground!
Innumerable fine lightning flickered on the black beam of light!
True Person Ziyun and the others didn't know the power of this black beam of light.
But they could clearly see that with the appearance of this black beam, the surrounding mountains shook even more violently!
Large swathes of rock fractured and peeled off!
A small peak in the distance actually collapsed entirely!!!
"Boom—!"
As the beam of light descended, the entire earth shook violently twice!
Countless cracks even appeared on the protective mountain stone in front of the sect!
And this was just the beginning!
After the black beam of light fell, it did not disappear, but remained there.
A few breaths later.
A burst of white light lit up in the air.
The white light was illuminated from below, as if something beneath was emitting light.
Soon, True Person Ziyun and the others understood!
A white beam of light, of the same thickness, was pushing upwards against the black beam of light!
Although the speed was very slow, it was indeed pressing towards the giant phantom!
The white light seemed to have no aggressive nature, appearing very gentle.
Yet, it was pushing the black light back inch by inch!
The giant phantom frowned, and the black beam of light in its left eye thickened several times!
The thickened black light was significantly fiercer, instantly pushing the white light back.
But this was only temporary!
The next moment.
The white light surged upwards again, pressing back towards the black light!
Not only did it press back, its speed was faster than before!
After about a few seconds.
The white light reached the position of the giant phantom's left eye!
And then...
"Rumble—!"
Before the astonished eyes of True Person Ziyun and the others, the giant phantom exploded!
The massive explosion spread outwards, quickly affecting the surrounding mountain ranges!
"Rumble—!"
"Rumble—!"
"Rumble—!"
...
Mountain peaks exploded and broke apart, then turned into countless fragments of rock!
Then the explosion intensified!
Everything visible was powder and smoke, and nothing could be seen clearly!
The sound of the explosion grew closer, and soon it reached Ziyun Sect!
Snapping back to reality, True Person Ziyun hurriedly activated the sect's protective formation!
"Rumble—!"
The explosions came one after another, and the barrier of the great formation trembled incessantly.
At this moment, everyone within the base was shocked!
The trees in the sect swayed incessantly, shedding large amounts of leaves.
All the buildings shook continuously.
Some ordinary residences not reinforced by formations even collapsed!
At some point, cracks also appeared on the ground!
The disciples no longer dared to be stunned and quickly flew into the air.
Those whose cultivation was below the Golden Core realm, unable to fly, tightly clung to the legs of their senior brothers and sisters who had come to help.
...
True Person Ziyun's heart pounded.
What was going on?
If this continued, the entire sect would be destroyed?
Of course, the sect was secondary.
As long as people could fly into the air, they would be fine, at most some buildings would be damaged.
What she truly worried about was Ye Fan, who was at the epicenter of the explosion.
If the sect's base so far away was like this, wouldn't Ye Fan have been pulverized?
Master Xie Yan, what were you doing?
Were you saving people or killing them?
However, judging by the current situation, Master Xie Yan seemed to have failed as well...
"No!" True Person Ziyun suddenly exclaimed, "The Second Elder didn't seem to have returned just now..."
Everyone was stunned upon hearing this, and indeed, the Second Elder was nowhere to be found.
Given the current situation, there seemed to be nothing that could be done.
Go and save him?
Once they left the scope of the protective formation, they might be gone themselves, how could they save anyone?
Just then.
From the epicenter of the explosion in the distance, a fierce white light erupted, instantly covering the entire Lieyang Mountain Range!
True Person Ziyun and the others felt a sharp pain in their eyes and could see nothing!
Then they felt themselves flying up...
"Rumble—!"
Accompanied by an unprecedented explosion, True Person Ziyun and the others felt as if the world was turning upside down, and then they knew nothing more...
After an unknown period of time.
True Person Ziyun slowly opened her eyes.
The first sensation upon waking was one word.
Pain!
Her entire body felt as if it had fallen apart!
"Pfft."
True Person Ziyun spat, spitting out the dust from her mouth.
The other elders were not much better off, all of them covered in dust and grime.
A few unlucky ones had their clothes torn with several large holes...
Fortunately, everyone was at most disheveled, and no one was seriously injured.
The few of them looked towards the sect, and the scene before them was one of desolation.
Several hilltops were gone, and many houses and buildings had turned into ruins.
The once well-maintained sect had been more than half destroyed...
Some parts of the ground were cracked with wide, deep fissures, so dark that their bottoms could not be seen.
Disciples lay scattered everywhere in a disheveled state.
Some were on half-collapsed rooftops, others were pinned to the ground by broken tree trunks.
A few were struggling to crawl out of the ditches.
"Elders, I'll leave the sect in your care. I'm going to check on Ye Fan and the others."
With these words, True Person Ziyun flew away.
Ye Fan's location was not too far from the sect, about a thousand miles away.
As she flew along this route, True Person Ziyun's shock deepened with every passing moment.
All the hilltops had turned into ruins!
The closer she got to the epicenter of the explosion, the more severe the situation became.
The distant hilltops at least had some rubble left.
But those closer to the center were completely gone, not even rubble remained.
They had all vanished with the previous explosions!
In some more severe areas, only deep pits remained on the ground...
By memory, True Person Ziyun arrived at the location where Ye Fan had been.
This place was also a massive pit, about ten feet deep.
At the bottom of the pit lay three figures.
Ye Fan.
Master Xie Yan.
Second Elder.
...