Desolate Era (Book 11 - Book 15)

Another hour passed.

Two enormous stormclouds suddenly appeared out of nowhere from within the calm skies. These two stormclouds converged rapidly from different directions, completely blotting out the sun as they drew close to each other. Instantly, electric streaks of lightning began to crackle between the two massive clouds. The awe-inspiring power from within them caused Ning, Immortal Fivecraze, and the Whitewater Hound to all feel trepidation.

Slowly, the two massive stormclouds began to merge, and as they combined to form a single supermassive stormcloud, the supermassive stormcloud began to rotate. Soon, it the thunder tribulation stormcloud had transformed into a vortex of lightning and clouds.

“What an enormous thunder tribulation cloud.” Immortal Fivecraze’s face suddenly changed.

“What’s wrong?” Ning asked, worried.

“When I faced my tribulation, it was this thunder tribulation which defeated me. But…the thunder tribulation cloud I faced wasn’t this big,” Immortal Fivecraze said worriedly.

“What?! How many bolts of thunder were you up against during your thunder tribulation?” Ning asked.

“I don’t know. However, the twenty-fifth bolt of skythunder shattered my magic treasures and blew apart my body. I thus chose to give up and flee,” Immortal Fivecraze said. “Junior apprentice-brother Diancai will definitely face far more bolts of skythunder than I did.”

Just as his words came out…

BOOM!

Ning could hear a thunderous noise in his ears as an absolutely dazzling bolt of lightning suddenly streaked down from the lightning-cloud vortex in the skies, slamming directly downwards towards Immortal Diancai.





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Book 14, Chapter 13 - My Master


Immortal Diancai stood there on the ground. His head raised, he stared at the lightning-cloud vortex, those five pitch-black Heavenraker swords swirling around him. When that first bolt of skythunder fell down from the skies…

“Go!” Immortal Diancai pointed. Instantly, one of the five Heavenraker swords shot out. It seemed to have transformed into an enormous mountain peak, carrying incomparable weight and power behind it as it went forth to welcome the bolt of lightning.

BOOM!

An enormous collision sound. The Heavenraker Immortal sword, as stable as a mountain, just trembled for a moment, whereas the bolt of skythunder was completely dispersed.

“The first bolt of skythunder is the weakest; even the most ordinary of Void-level Earth Immortals can withstand it. Given junior apprentice-brother Diancai’s power and the fact that he has five top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords…he will probably only begin to find it taxing when he reaches the twenty-seventh bolt of skythunder,” Immortal Fivecraze said.

“Mm.” Ning nodded in agreement. Immortal Fivecraze had been defeated by the twenty-fifth bolt; if he had top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords back then, he probably would’ve been able to make it past the twenty-seventh as well.

Skythunder…every nine bolts represented a different level of power.

The first nine bolts were weak. Eighteen bolts were stronger. But twenty-seven bolts, thirty-six bolts…every nine bolts represented an increase in lethality. The legendary eighty-one bolts of skythunder…even the thought of them was enough to terrify.

BOOM! BOOM!

Skythunder exploded forth with wild fury. One bolt after another came crashing down. Immortal Diancai was able to use a single one of his top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords to block all of the first eighteen bolts, causing a hint of joy to appear on his face. Although he knew in theory how powerful theses swords were, only now did he truly understand how tremendously helpful these top-grade Immortal-ranked flying swords were during the terrifying thunder tribulation!

BOOM! The nineteenth bolt of thunder was more savage than the last, and it came down even faster. It seemed to carry annihilating power within it; it was clearly on a higher level of power than the previous bolts.

That single Heavenraker sword once more flew up to greet it, still as stable and weighty as a mountain.

BANG!

The illusory mountain around the Heavenraker sword collapsed, and the sword itself was knocked downwards. The remaining force of the skythunder continued to crash down towards Immortal Diancai, but Immortal Diancai didn’t panic in the slightest. He just let out a low growl, and instantly three of the four remaining Immortal swords around him flew upwards, glowing with golden light, watery light, and earthen light.

The three Heavenraker swords formed into a tripartite formation, effortlessly blocking the remaining power of the skythunder.

“Your master has only used his Tripartite Sword Formation,” Immortal Fivecraze said. “Your master was exceedingly gifted, and many years ago he reached the Dao Realm level in three mastered Dao-Paths. He’s also embarked on the path of a Sword Immortal. He originally only used three Immortal swords, and the technique he used the most often was this Tripartite Sword Formation. However, after training for so many more years, he’s gained even more insights and has thus developed the Five Elements Sword.”

Ning nodded slightly. Indeed. After his master switched to using three Immortal swords, his power seemed to increase dramatically. He was able to withstand one bolt of lightning after another, even overcoming the twenty-fifth bolt which had done in Immortal Fivecraze. He was able to persist all the way through the twenty-seventh bolt.

“It’s time for another increase in power,” Immortal Fivecraze said with concern.

Twenty-seven bolts…this represented the end of the first three nine-sets.

Thirty-six would represent the end of the fourth nine-set!

As the twenty-eighth bolt came crashing down, the Tripartite Sword Formation was suddenly pressed downwards…but it was still able to withstand the bolt. But then came the twenty-ninth, the thirtieth bolts…the power of the skythunder was slowly increasing, and the Tripatite Sword Formation was beginning to crumble. By the time of the thirty-sixth bolt of skythunder, Immortal Diancai let out a low growl. Instantly, all five of the Heavenraker swords flew upwards to welcome this bolt.

Rumble…

As the five Heavenraker swords flew upwards, they formed into the illusion of five massive mountains in the sky, each of a different color. The five Immortal swords combined their power, becoming incomparably weighty and solid as they effortless deflected the thirty-sixth bolt of skythunder as well.

“Fine treasures. A fine sword-art!” Immortal Fivecraze said excitedly.

“Even the thirty-sixth bolt was blocked.” Ning revealed a look of excitement as well…but immediately afterwards, his face changed. This was because an even more terrifyingly powerful bolt of lightning was beginning to descend from the vortex of lightning.

“What?! Can it be that your master’s tribulation involves forty-five bolts?!” Immortal Fivecraze felt shocked.

Ning’s face turned solemn as well. Ki Refiners couldn’t be the slightest bit overconfident in facing their tribulations…because even a tiny unblocked fraction of the thunderbolt would be enough to completely blow apart their bodies! Fiendgod Body Refiners, by contrast, would generally be able to use their bodies to withstand a small amount of remnant power from the thunderbolts.

Thus…for many, thirty-six thunderbolts represented a plateau, the conclusion of the fourth nine-set. Ki Refiners generally had a chance to survive the first four sets…but after that, chances would grow dim!

……

The thirty-seventh bolt of skythunder was clearly far more powerful than the previous bolt. Ning could sense the invisible pressure and power of the bolt just by looking nat it. The power of this bolt of skythunder was at the level of a Celestial Immortal already!

Rumble…