"SENIOR BROTHER!!! NOOO!!!" A girl shouted as blood splattered all over her body and the people nearby.

Everyone looked on in horror as only the bottom part of the man was left, the upper part being completely destroyed.

Just a few seconds ago, the lightning bolt that was suspended above Shirong split into two. One of the fragments was bigger and the other one was smaller. The bigger one was taken in by Shirong while the smaller one went towards the audience instead.

The people had thought the lightning bolt will hire somewhere nearby like before but it had changed its course out of nowhere and targeted the audience. It went directly to a random person in the audience and hit them.

The people didn't have a chance to even react and it was done.

The Dharma protectors looked at it, feeling bewildered.

"Clan Head Lu, the tribulation platform… it didn't work?" The clan heads from other cities asked.

Clan Head Lu didn't respond right away though. He first looked at the person who had been killed and realized that it was one of the people he had told young master Shirong to get rid of.

'Did he intentionally do it, or is this just luck?' He wondered.

Still, he knew either way this couldn't be exposed, and he immediately came up with a legitimate excuse.

"The lightning and the tribulation…" He spoke and took a dramatic pause. "They are no longer what this tribulation platform was made for…" Clan Head Lu said.

Realization dawned on all the elder's faces and they got to work.

"RETREAT! RETREAT!" They shouted.

The people in the audience finally got out of their initial shock and scrambled to run away.

Shirong on the other hand, was focused on his Dantian. The third bolt that had hit his core finally created cracks on it. Right now, forty percent of his core was covered with cracks and if he wanted to break through successfully he needed more of those lightning bolts.

As for the unknown energy, barely any of the tribulation lightning was consumed by it this time and it was as if its stomach was now full.

~Rumble~

~boom~

The next bolt of lightning came quick and was once again split into two.

~Crack~

Cracks spread further on Shirong's core and they covered about 60% of the surface. But the other part of the lightning once again shot towards the audience that was currently trying to run.

~KABOOM~

~splatter~

Another person was hit and his body was decimated. The people did not dare to stop and look this time though, as they were already too scared of everything that was happening.

"ELDERS! DEFEND YOUR CLANSMEN!" Clan Head Lu shouted.

Clan head Lu had seen who was killed the second time and it was none other than a person from the list that he had given to Shirong. He was now sure that it was Shirong, intentionally doing this. He had no idea how, but he was doing it.

The elders seemed hesitant at first, but then they gritted their teeth and flew towards their respective clansmen. Each of them took out their best defensive treasures and got ready to protect.

~Rumble~

~boom~

They didn't have to wait long as the next lightning bolt came down quickly. This time it was twice as thick as the one before it and had much more power. The lightning bolt paused for a fraction of a second before splitting again. But this time it did not split into two, but rather three parts.

One of the parts was bigger than the other two parts and went to Shirong, while the other two targeted the audience again.

~DENG~

The fragment of the lighting struck an elder who defended with a shield.

"Ptui~" The elder spat out a mouthful of blood and was sent flying back.

The second fragment thus continued uninhibited and struck a man who was being protected by the elder, instantly killing him and exploding his body.

"NOOO!!!!" The elder shouted in sorrow as tears dripped from his eyes.

~Crack~

Now 90% of Shirong's core was covered with cracks and he was close to the breakthrough.

"Just a little more, a little more and I'll be ready…" Shirong muttered to himself while bearing through the pain.

The lightning was coursing through his body and would ravage his tissues, creating burns and tears that hurt like crazy. Still, Shirong was able to bear through with willpower and waited for another bolt.

He opened his eyes and looked up at the sky, ignoring the tribulation platform which was now broken and the people from the audience that were trying to run for their lives.

"This should be the last one…" Shirong estimated.

He could sense that the might of the tribulation was getting lesser and lesser by the second. It was now at its limit and had probably exhausted most of the tribulation power it had. Using every last remnant of power left in it, the tribulation clouds were charging up another bolt.

It was as if a mouth had opened up in the tribulation clouds and the lightning bolt was forming in it. This time it looked like a long spear and was as thick as one too. Lin Wu saw it as well and knew this was the same as the one he had experienced.

~huu~

"Let's do this!" He said with determination.

For a second there, Shirong had a confused expression on his face.

'What was that sound?' Shirong wondered.

He had heard a strange screeching sound, that he had never heard before. He couldn't tell where it came from and he did not have the liberty to search for it right now, either.

~RUMBLE~

~KABOOM!~

This was the loudest bolt that they had seen and the shockwave created from it spread far and wide. The bolt had not even touched Shirong yet and still exuded and explosive power.

"ARGH!" Shirong shouted and lost his stance, collapsing on the ground.

The lightning bolt split into three again, but this time two parts hit Shirong while one part went to the audience.