The Diabolical Formation of World Refinement had begun. A field of crackling electricity transformed into a great mountain, from within which agitated a swarm of demonic fiends. They howled and struggled and ripped into whatever they could, seeking to unleash destructive intent that could destroy the world.

Swoosh!

The longsword on Zhao Wushuang’s back flew out of its scabbard with a hazy hue of cyan sword energy.

……

Currently in the form of a dust particle, with the use of Shapeshifting, and completely obscuring his life signs, Lu Yun was within the tribulation’s area of effect. He could still clearly perceive the environment around him with his senses and consciousness.

“That’s...” He widened his ‘eyes’, overwhelmed by his discovery. “The Sword of Chaos! That’s the Sword of Chaos!” His heart spasmed painfully. “But… but she’s neither Sword Divine nor Dongfang Hao, so how is that the Sword of Chaos? ...this must be why Dongfang Hao came to me last night!

“Even if it’s not the divine sword itself, it must be connected to the Sword of Chaos somehow. It mustn’t fall into Dongfang Hao’s hands!” Lu Yun calmed his breathing and heart rate, reinforcing his Shapeshifting and Size Manipulation arts to conceal the ripple of lifeforce he’d revealed in his moment of shock. “Dongfang Hao must be around here somewhere.”

Whoosh!

Lu Yun returned to humanoid form, but as a completely lifeless stone sculpture. His death arts were derived from the Tome of Life and Death, which made them connate combat arts that eluded the heavenly dao. Not even heavenly tribulations could sense his existence in this state.

He planned to devour the Diabolical Tribulation of World Refinement with his Thunder Palmstrike, but this was a secret weapon he didn’t wish to reveal to the world.

He’d once used the combat art in the presence of witnesses before, but almost everyone thought it was an art to draw lightning. The lightning tribulation yesterday was no exception; even the Exalted celestial emperor had thought that Lu Yun had simply summoned lightning to enhance his strength.

Lu Yun waited patiently; Dongfang Hao would come.

Boom!

The overwhelming flood of tribulation lightning surged, and mountain upon mountain fell from the sky to crush Zhao Wushuang. Demonic fiends snarled and grimaced in each of the mountains, as if the geographical features were beehives. However, Lu Yun could clearly sense the life energy from the fiends. They weren’t manifested by the lightning, but actual beings!

Instead of the mountains being their homes, they were prisoners. The Diabolical Tribulation of World Refinement was a prison!

A morass of lightning, mountains, and demonic fiends circled around Zhao Wushuang. Countless horrors growled and snapped, throwing themselves at their challenger the moment they were released.

Lu Yun remained unmoving.

At the edge of the Divine Sea, color drained from the Exalted celestial emperor’s face. Even those who’d planned to enter the tribulation in order to sabotage Zhao Wushuang refrained from acting.

Plainly, none of them deemed it possible that he would overcome the tribulation. Once he failed, death would be his only fate.

Hum!

Suddenly, cyan sword energy surged within a lightning mountain and hewed it in half, decimating countless creatures.

Eyes steely, Zhao Wushuang hovered in the sky with his sword in his right hand. Hazy cyan light shrouded the exterior of his white robes. Without a beat of rest in between, two more mountains came howling at him, accompanied by a tremendous chorus of demonic cries and shrieks.

Zhao Wushuang maintained his unusual calm and cut down the mountains one after the other with his sword.

……

“Well done!” Hope rekindled in the hearts of the Exalted immortals outside the tribulation. Zhao Wushuang had managed to hack open the tribulation, keeping at bay the lighting that would invoke fear in anyone’s heart.

“Something’s amiss here. Zhao Wushuang is living up to his bloodline as a pureblooded Exalted Divine. We can’t allow him to pass this tribulation!” Immortals from Primus Major looked on with stern expressions. “Deploy the lord-grade fortress ship and kill him!”

Rumble!

The fortress ship that the ninth prince of Primus Major had obtained from the Dusk auction slowly sailed out of the void. As soon as it emerged, a white beam of light lit up from the mouth of the main cannon at the ship's bow, charged to the maximum with ten billion crystals!

Threatening heaven and earth, the powerful offensive almost punched a hole into the sky.

“Here it comes!” The Exalted celestial emperor sprang into action the moment the fortress ship appeared.

Boom!!

With a light wave of his hand, the Divine Sea exploded. Piercing shrieks rang through the skies, eliciting strange reverberations throughout the energy of the land. These were the sea divines, finally revealed in their full glory!

Somehow, their shrieks proved effective against the pillars of light spewing forth from the crystal cannons. Auxiliary cannons firing in conjunction with the main cannon, they were all aimed at Zhao Wushuang. The attack was gradually offset, rendering it ineffective when it reached the tribulation.

“A lord-grade fortress ship?!” With an ear-piercing cry and a quick shake, Ge Yanxia transformed back to her true form. The enormous black fur seal twisted her bulbous body into a charge at the fortress ship.

“No!” The Primus dao immortal steering the ship changed course in panic and rammed Ge Yanxia.

“Hehehe!” Cackling, Ge Yanxia retaliated in kind with black, rotten seawater seeping out of her skin.

Rumble!

Knocked off-kilter, the giant fortress ship spun in place. Meanwhile, other spectators in the area made their moves as well. Blinding rays of sword energy pierced through the sky, arcing toward Zhao Wushuang. All sorts of treasures, talismans, and even formations were activated to attack him.

Even dao immortals would be critically injured by such a barrage, let alone a void realm cultivator attempting their ascension.

“Hmph.” Donglin Taihuang and Qi Hai acted as well. They didn’t put their backs into it like Ge Yanxia had, but merely blocked the terrifying attacks with a few simple flicks instead.

Nevertheless, there were too many who’d plumbed the depths of Exalted Major’s capabilities. In addition to the human race and the monster spirits, even some fellow divines were attacking Zhao Wushuang. The melting pot of immortal swords, treasures, and combat arts in the air seemed even greater than the tribulation itself!

Faced with this very real secondary threat, Zhao Wushuang had to deal with the attacks and fight the tribulation at the same time. Blood quickly drenched his clothes and he seemed on the verge of collapsing.

Within the tribulation clouds, otherkind creatures more deadly than the lightning gradually sharpened into focus.

The Exalted celestial emperor roared with hapless rage. He was blocked by two figures of his level, as two celestial emperors had come to intervene in person!

Kaboom!

An earth-shattering explosion rang out from the tribulation clouds, turning the clouds covering the Divine Sea scarlet. The power of the lightning grew exponentially as well, marking the evolution of the already deadly Diabolical Tribulation of World Refinement into something else, something unknown.

A figure descended from the air with the Sword of Chaos in hand.

Dongfang Hao, Sword Divine.