The lightning swords were merciless. The experts that had been hiding in the barrier fled into the central palace.

The palace was their last defense. It was just barely able to survive the assault of the lightning, but the resplendent palace was quickly starting to dim.

The Kunpeng race’s disciples were clutching at this final lifeline. But it wouldn’t last much longer either.

Other than the palace, the other buildings were destroyed in just a few seconds. Seeing that, Peng Wanli’s eyes turned red. Many of those buildings were ancient constructions of incalculable value. They were symbols of the Kunpeng race’s glory.

“Long Chen, don’t force me to enter the heavenly tribulation and kill you!” shouted Kun Pengzi.

Kun Pengzi possessed a high affinity for lightning and was blessed with lightning divine abilities. Perhaps he really possessed the ability to charge into the lightning, but people were wondering why he would still be holding back if that was true. Why was he waiting for those disciples to die first?

“Force you?” Long Chen sneered. “Am I the one forcing you, or are you the one forcing me? While I was away in the Netherworld, you’ve gotten very arrogant.”

Long Chen could not contain his fury. The Kunpeng race, or perhaps most of the Xuan Beast races, had giant egos. They only allowed themselves to bully others, but if the roles were reversed, the other side would be heinous. Long Chen couldn’t be bothered to try arguing with them any longer.

“Long Chen, don’t involve others. If you wish to, you can simply challenge me to a fight. By bullying these weak people, you aren’t proving anything,” shouted Kun Pengzi.

“Hahahaha!” Long Chen suddenly laughed. Even with the lightning and thunder, everyone heard the rage, contempt, and killing intent within his voice. “To struggle and fight is inherent to the Dao. But then you should have come at me directly instead of targeting the people beside me. You were the ones who sneak attacked the Cloud Chasing Heaven Swallowing Sparrow race while I was attacking the Netherpassage realm. If I had returned one step later, the Cloud Chasing Heaven Swallowing Sparrow race would have been wiped out. Now you want to spout such hypocritical words at me? Kun Pengzi, are you sure your head isn’t full of shit? I’ll tell you the truth. Today, I’ve decided to destroy the Kunpeng race’s territory and use your blood as a tribute to the fallen warriors you killed. If anyone tries to stop me, well, they can just try.”

“Long Chen, it seems that you really wish to die. No one can help you anymore.” Ye Benchang suppressed a smile. He was very satisfied with Long Chen’s actions today.

“There’s no need for you to help me. You should worry about yourself. Wash your neck because someone’s saber is about to cut it off,” responded Long Chen.

Long Chen had long since had an urge to kill Ye Benchang. The waters of the divine families were very deep. For some reason, Ye Benchang had wanted to kill him from the start, but he had never found an appropriate excuse to do so.

Last time, he had tried to ambush Long Chen but had just narrowly missed out on killing him. This time, he had new hope. He finally had an aboveboard reason for executing him. Long Chen saw that clearly, but he was fearless.

In the past, he hadn’t been able to fight back because of the difference in realms. Now though? He was about to be a Netherpassage expert.

BOOM!

Ye Benchang’s expression sank, but before he could reply, more lightning swords crashed down. The palace finally exploded.

Just at that moment, a figure charged through the lightning. A lightning halberd swung through the air at Long Chen.

Evilmoon met Kun Pengzi’s lightning halberd. Long Chen felt a powerful surge of energy that forced him back several steps. When he stabilized, he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

“What?!” This result stunned people. Long Chen was actually unable to receive a single blow from Kun Pengzi without being injured?

However, when they thought about it, they realized that this was natural. Long Chen was currently undergoing his tribulation and was not a true Netherpassage expert yet. He couldn’t control life and death energy. He was fighting Kun Pengzi across realms, so he was naturally at an immense disadvantage.

“The difference between two realms is immense. Long Chen could kill ordinary Netherpassage experts before, but against geniuses on the same level as him, a difference in realms is like a heavenly chasm,” sighed someone. Even if their combat power had been even, Kun Pengzi had now advanced to the Netherpassage realm while Long Chen was only in the great circle of Life Star. He might only be missing his tribulation, but there was an immense difference.

“Long Chen, I’ll make sure you have a taste of every pain in the world before dying!” shouted Kun Pengzi. However, he didn’t charge at Long Chen but went for the disciples of the Kunpeng race down below instead.

The void shuddered. A screen of lightning appeared out of Kun Pengzi’s left hand, protecting those people.

The lightning screen was unable to completely block the tribulation lightning, but it did block a portion of it. There was no way around that, as Kun Pengzi was forced to be careful within this tribulation. He couldn’t show an explicit intent to defy the heavens, or it would draw even stronger lightning. Then there would be no way he could protect these disciples.

Even with his protection, a portion of those disciples was unable to endure the tribulation and exploded. Only the stronger ones were able to endure.

This was the collective tribulation of the Dragonblood warriors, and Long Chen had even attacked it to further antagonize it. Its power had reached a shocking level. Even the Dragonblood warriors found it taxing to endure it, let alone those ordinary disciples of the Kunpeng race.

Those disciples died filled with despair, infuriating Kun Pengzi. But there was nothing he could do.

He had to do his best to maintain a subtle balance. If he weakened his power, it would cause more disciples to die. If he went any stronger, the heavenly tribulation would view it as rebellion and strengthen the lightning. Then not one of these disciples would survive.

“Long Chen, you trash, you only know how to attack the innocent! Just wait!” roared Kun Pengzi. He slowly moved the lightning screen, bringing these disciples away.

Half the disciples inside had died, and more were dying with every passing moment. Kun Pengzi had to bring them away as soon as possible.

However, all his moves inside the tribulation had to be careful, slowing him down and resulting in more deaths.

In the distance, Que Yuzhu sneered, “Innocent? Why does that sound so laughable from the mouth of the Kunpeng race? The Kunpeng race and the Nine Heavens Phoenix race made up a ridiculous excuse to hunt down my Cloud Chasing Heaven Swallowing Sparrow race for countless years now. Do you know how many of our ancestors have died to your butcher’s blade? Even babies weren’t let off. You killed them with sinister smiles. Did you ever think that they were innocent?”

Although the history between the Kunpeng race and the Cloud Chasing Heaven Swallowing Sparrow race was not well known by outsiders, the rise of the Cloud Chasing Heaven Swallowing Sparrow race had resulted in some of it coming to light. However, the Kunpeng race refused to admit to their story.

“Shut your slut mouth! The Cloud Chasing Heaven Swallowing Sparrow race is a traitor to the Xuan Beasts! You aren’t qualified to talk!” shouted Kun Pengzi.

“You’re the one who should shut up. Focus on your work. I should also get to work.” Long Chen suddenly unleashed another attack at the tribulation clouds.

The tribulation grew even more intense. Now, it wasn’t just lightning swords but also lightning hammers, lightning spears, and lightning axes. All kinds of lightning divine weapons crashed down, filling the world with the aura of annihilation.

With the lightning growing twice as berserk, Kun Pengzi’s expression changed. “Long Chen, you are courting death!”

“No!”

“Save us!”

“I don’t want to die!”

Long Chen didn’t say anything back. The reply was the sounds of despair and bodies exploding.

Heavenly tribulation was merciless. Kun Pengzi’s lightning screen could block part of the lightning, but that portion was growing smaller and smaller. The disciples were unable to endure it any longer. Their cries right before death drove Kun Pengzi crazy, but there was nothing he could do.

There was no pity on the faces of the Cloud Chasing Heaven Swallowing Sparrow race’s experts. The enmity between them and the Kunpeng race was such that the two could not exist beneath the same sky. After being hunted for tens of thousands of years, the bones of the Cloud Chasing Heaven Swallowing Sparrows that had been killed by them were enough to fill the land of the Central Plains.

The enmity and hatred between the two sides could only be washed away with blood and lives. As they watched the Kunpeng race’s disciples die, they cheered excitedly, sating their desire for vengeance.

The tens of thousands of Kunpeng race’s experts that had originally been within the formation were now down to less than eight thousand. Furthermore, those people were still continuing to die, unable to endure the lightning even with Kun Pengzi’s help.

However, it had to be said that Kun Pengzi was truly powerful. Lightning flowed out of him as he brought them out of the tribulation. Once they reached the outer edges, they would be saved.

Long Chen and the others were at the core of the tribulation. If they wanted to charge over, they would be blocked by layers of lightning. They were helpless.

When the Kunpeng race’s experts were about to reach the outer region, they were down to less than three thousand people.

“Long Chen, you cowardly bastard, you won’t have a good death!” Seeing that they were about to escape their predicament, the disciples began to curse at Long Chen.

Long Chen suddenly smiled. “Do you know what despair is? It is seeing hope right in front of you and being unable to grasp it.”

Suddenly, a cracking sound came from inside Long Chen’s body. It was like something had broken. Kun Pengzi’s expression instantly changed.