354: Chapter 156 Sins Must be Repaid_1 354: Chapter 156 Sins Must be Repaid_1 Amidst the horizon, tribulation clouds gathered, some black as ink, yet some blazed like roaring flames, others constantly changing without a fixed shape.
Bursts of biting wind swept through ceaselessly, causing the surrounding weeds and great trees to topple one after another, as if all were kneeling in homage.
Though the sun above was obscured, the surrounding area grew increasingly scorching.
Wind Fire Tribulation!
Cao Zhen, with Lan Pili, retreated five miles from the area before coming to a stop.
Above the horizon within the tribulation clouds, a fierce wind howled down, and in an instant, Cao Zhen felt as if the entire world, including his own ears, was filled with its roaring sound, so loud it seemed as if it would flip the heaven and earth.
Surrounding him, countless weeds, pebbles, even trees wide enough for three people to embrace, and hills were lifted into the air by the furious wind, forming a tornado with Jue Ying at its center.
The next moment, flames roiled up within the tornado, and even from five miles away, one could feel the intense heat.
Where Jue Ying stood, the ground was scorched by the raging flames, turning the surrounding earth black in an instant.
Endless flames, as if able to incinerate the oceans and land, spun with the wind, engulfing Jue Ying in the middle.
Jue Ying appeared as though he was atop the raging waves of the sea, except not with water surrounding him, but scalding flames.
He was cloaked in a Protective Golden Light that shone like a golden eggshell, safeguarding him within, but under the flames that seemed capable of turning the land to ash, the Protective Golden Light continuously melted away.
And the surrounding winds grew even colder.
The previous winds, though strong enough to lift great stones and hills, became even more concentrated as the tribulation clouds in the sky thickened, transforming into blades as sharp as Divine Weapons.
Great stones the size of hills, within the tornado, were smashed to dust in an instant.
Line after line of the fierce wind shattered his Protective Golden Light in an instant, and the biting wind and rampaging flames swept over him unopposed.
Jue Ying’s clothes burst apart, and he instantly became a man drenched in blood, while the surrounding flames furiously scorched his body, as if intent on burning him to cinders.
The next moment, Jue Ying’s body began to move rapidly, seen from a distance spinning swiftly amidst the encircling flames and tornado.
As his body spun, streaks of afterimages formed around him, linked together to give the illusion of a vacuum.
The fierce flames and winds were repelled by this vacuum of afterimages.
From afar, Lan Pili watched Jue Ying’s movements and couldn’t help but marvel, “This is the origin of Jue Ying’s name; his speed is incredible.”
But Cao Zhen looked on gravely from the distance, his face solemn, remaining silent.
Jue Ying’s method of combating the Wind Fire Tribulation was indeed unexpected, but if he continued like this, he feared that Jue Ying would be unable to withstand it.
In his experience with alchemy and configuring Array Plates, he had triggered Heaven’s Tribulation, different from the Wind Fire Tribulation, yet also a tribulation in itself.
All tribulations shared a common trait, they grew stronger over time.
Around Jue Ying, due to his movements, the converging flames and winds intensified, and the pressure on the afterimage vacuum created by Jue Ying’s rapid movements grew.
Crash!
Suddenly, a thunderous boom sounded, so loud that it pained one’s ears, even five miles away.
In the center of the Wind Fire Tribulation, the afterimage vacuum finally could no longer bear the strain and burst open.
The relentless winds and flames rushed towards Jue Ying like a breached dam’s torrent, engulfing him in an instant.
For a moment, Jue Ying appeared to be completely ignited, transformed into a man of fire.
He struggled desperately against the flames but the fire on his body grew more intense, the relentless cold winds continuously ravaging his body.
Cao Zhen watched from a distance as Jue Ying resisted the assault of wind and fire, and he called out loudly, “Is this how you accept your fate?
Isn’t your greatest wish to become an Earth Immortal?
Now, your opportunity is in front of you, why don’t you fight, struggle?
Haven’t you said that everyone believes you cannot become a Golden Core, that you’ve been tempered time and time again between life and death?
Now, I don’t see the slightest trace of fearlessness in you…”
In the distance, inspired by Cao Zhen’s provoking words, Jue Ying let out a heaven-piercing howl, and once again his aura surged, defiantly opposing the Wind Fire Tribulation.
Cao Zhen knew that when Cultivators reached the Wind Fire Tribulation in their Immortal Cultivation, they had to make extensive preparations, finding guardians, forging Array Plates to help resist the tribulation, preparing Divine Weapons, or alchemizing Calamity Avoidance Pills.
In short, nearly all Cultivators relied on external forces to some extent when facing the Wind Fire Tribulation.
To face the Wind Fire Tribulation relying solely on one’s own strength was simply too difficult.
Jue Ying had made preparations too, but they were incomplete, his prepared resources now seemingly of no use.
He had never expected to face the Wind Fire Tribulation so soon.
Previously, he had placed most of his hopes on the Corpse General within the coffin.