Half-Emperor Heavenly Tribulation.
Anything related to the word "Emperor" would have a heavenly tribulation.
Chen Fan was unaware of this fact.
"Boom."
The lightning converged and descended with a roar.
Silver bolts of lightning tore through the heavens and earth, striking into the lake.
...
By the lake.
Xi Qiu and the others were stunned.
"What’s going on?"
They all stared at the heavenly tribulation striking into the lake, their eyes filled with fear.
Xi Qiu was utterly astonished. "A Half-Emperor Heavenly Tribulation. It's actually a Half-Emperor Heavenly Tribulation."
He was among the first residents of the Mad Realm and naturally knew more.
"Ten thousand years."
Xi Qiu murmured, "I’ve seen a heavenly tribulation again. Could it be the City Lord?"
He guessed.
Just now, the City Lord had gone to the bottom of the lake. If someone were to become an Emperor at this moment, it was likely the City Lord.
The City Lord was about to break through to the Half-Emperor realm.
...
Of course, the most shocked were Xiao Wu and the others who followed behind.
These people were all from the Immortal Realm.
Some had witnessed heavenly tribulations before; Xiao Wu was one of them...
"Impossible."
Xiao Wu's voice was only audible to those beside him. "How could a Half-Emperor Heavenly Tribulation appear here?"
He clearly knew something extraordinary and continued, "Could it be that someone from the Immortal Realm is breaking through down there?"
Thinking back to how the City Lord had instantly recognized them as outsiders.
"I understand."
A look of surprise flashed across Xiao Wu's face.
"Understand what?" the others pressed from behind.
"...It's nothing."
He kept this matter to himself for now.
He didn't tell anyone else.
In his mind, he recalled the City Lord's appearance.
It didn't match... it wasn't anyone he knew.
"Is his appearance disguised?" This was his guess.
Before entering, he had seen the appearances of almost everyone entering the Mad Realm.
Don't be surprised; at their level, simple disguises could be easily remembered. It was only with the power of rules that one could truly conceal themselves.
He was certain he hadn't seen that face before.
"Who could it be?"
Xiao Wu's expression was grave.
The other party should be like him, an outsider from the Immortal Realm.
And concealment implied a deeper meaning.
Here, there were no friends, only enemies.
Even among outsiders, they were adversaries, though it hadn't yet escalated to life-or-death combat.
And to the residents of the Mad Realm, outsiders were like great treasures.
"Phew."
Danger was everywhere.
He would wait and see.
...
"Crack."
Thick bolts of lightning continued to strike into the lake.
The lake water was vaporized, forming a misty haze that drifted above the lake.
"Phew."
Xi Qiu took a breath.
But he suddenly felt something was not right.
This water vapor...
He reached out, scooped up a ball of mist, and channeled his divine sense into it, observing carefully.
"This is... the power of souls?" Xi Qiu's pupils constricted instantly.
Immediately, it seemed as though he had realized something.
"Quick..."
Xi Qiu became anxious and shouted loudly, "Everyone, cultivate immediately and absorb the drifting water vapor."
This was no mere water vapor; it was clearly dissipated mental energy.
And it was masterless mental energy.
Dong Huo and Lao Ba immediately sat cross-legged.
"Phew."
Their auras surged, rapidly absorbing the water vapor around their bodies.
Xi Qiu was doing the same.
Such immense soul power, only a Half-Emperor could possess.
The mental energy of a Half-Emperor was enough for all of them to absorb their fill.
The others, including the cultivators of Tian Tang Mountain who were carrying great mountains, began to cultivate, frantically absorbing the water vapor.
Although they were initially confused, once they absorbed the water vapor into their bodies, they understood the immense benefit.
There was so much water vapor.
It continuously dissipated and was continuously absorbed.
Xiao Wu and the others were not idle either.
What Xi Qiu and the others could discover, they could naturally discover as well.
"Buzz."
For a time, a mental storm erupted around the lake.
The soul power here was too immense.
So immense it brought about ecstatic joy.
However, what they could absorb was ultimately only a drop in the bucket.
More soul power dissipated.
"What a pity."
Xi Qiu's eyes turned red as he watched.
Such a great opportunity, and it was just dissipating before their eyes?
It was too regrettable.
But there was nothing they could do.
"Buzz."
At this moment, an immensely powerful domain descended.
The gravity domain could not only suppress the physical body but also the power of the soul.
The soul power that was dissipating, the soul power that had risen to mid-air, was directly pressed down.
"Absorb."
Xi Qiu heard the City Lord's voice in his ear.
Xi Qiu was ecstatic; as expected... the City Lord was still here.
His voice was a little weak, but it made Xi Qiu even more excited.
Weakness was good; it proved that the one undergoing the heavenly tribulation was indeed the City Lord.
"Absorb."
Everyone entered the "crazy absorption" mode.
...
And beneath the lake.
Chen Fan's physical body was being forged by the lightning.
His body, bones, and soul sea were continuously shattered by the lightning.
"The eighth strike."
"Boom."
The lightning struck again, completely destroying his physical body.
"Open."
Chen Fan emerged from the River of Rules, his face pale.
The eighth bolt of lightning had utterly killed him.
Fortunately, he had left his power in the River of Rules.
As long as the river flowed, he would not die.
One Great Dao was one life.
"Crack."
The ninth bolt of lightning arrived.
This bolt of lightning seemed to be meant to destroy the world.
It was more powerful than the previous nine combined. A thick pillar of lightning tore through the heavens and earth, descending.
"Boom."
Within the lightning pillar, Chen Fan's physical body instantly vanished.
There was no ability to resist at all.
The scattered lightning power spread to the River of Rules, and even the River of Rules was being bombarded by the lightning.
The river water surged, and huge waves crashed.
"Rumble."
In the River of Rules, a lightning Great Dao shot up into the sky.
"Roar."
The lightning rules transformed into a giant python, wildly thrashing its body as it collided with the heavenly tribulation.
"A good opportunity."
Chen Fan's eyes lit up.
In the collision, both bolts of lightning shattered, falling into the River of Rules.
This was the power of heavenly tribulation, many tiers higher than the lightning Great Dao.
Chen Fan's eyes shone. "Devour it."
In the River of Rules, another Chen Fan emerged, imbued with boundless life force.
The lightning power scattered in the River of Rules, mixed with the power of the lightning Great Dao and the heavenly tribulation, was dragged into the River of Rules by Chen Fan.
Boom, crackle.
The power of the heavenly tribulation resisted, its explosions causing the River of Rules to continuously fracture.
"Trying to escape? Too late."
Chen Fan also became fierce.
Heavenly tribulation! He had never seen such advanced lightning power. How could he let it go?
He fully mobilized all his Great Daos to suppress the dissipated lightning.
Above his head...
Boom!
The lightning Great Dao and the heavenly tribulation continued to clash.
The lightning Great Dao was at a disadvantage, constantly being shattered by the heavenly tribulation.
As time passed, it was on the verge of collapse.
"Hahaha."
At this moment, Chen Fan suddenly burst into laughter.
"Lightning, manifest."
In the River of Rules, a lightning Great Dao appeared.
"Boom."
This time, in the collision, the lightning Great Dao, carrying the power of the heavenly tribulation, directly shattered the heavenly tribulation.
"Your power, I accept it."