A dense atmosphere developed as both Dong Li and the Cult’s disciple watched the heads rolling away. They could feel the winds around them calming down, the lights slightly dimming, producing a small but noticeable drop in temperature.

The red-haired cultivator kept her distance on nearby ground, deciding to try and gain something from the situation. “Dong Li, this guy, his known as Jack Sky Water, of the Divinities Alliance. The rest, you should already know.”

Dong Li couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Just a moment ago she was trying to kill him, and now she was acting like she was his best buddy? And he was a fricken Prince, her addressing him like some ordinary cultivator! This woman was truly shameless!

His expression dulled as he switched his attention towards the grey-robed cultivator, stretching out his sword. “Jack, I have to acknowledge that not even I can make such a colourful entrance, but I think you should do a reality check. I am at the 11th rank, and you are only a 5th. Try anything funny, and I’ll send you straight down to the underworld with this sword of mine.”

He uttered those words with calmness, but one could detect some annoyance in the mixture. Indeed, the red-haired cultivator had already pissed him off enough, and now this weirdo had to appear from nowhere. And when he realised that this man actually ignored him again, veins cropped up all over his face.

“What the hell is wrong with you?! Are you deaf?! Wait… why am I even bothering with this shit?”

Flashing his sword, he fired a visible slash aimed at the mysterious young man. Dong Li was sure that his strike had enough power to take down ten 5th Qi Seeking Realm experts lined in a row, and he had actually held his strength back.

Jack remained immobile as he extended his arm, producing a white barrier that fully blocked the incoming slash. The barrier didn’t even show any signs of breaking.

Dong Li slowed down on his movements, hesitating for a moment. He appeared confused, unable to comprehend how his opponent was able to block this attack with such ease.

He had no time to think however. He could already hear ear-piercing crackles as he watched his opponent’s body flare up with golden electrical currents. The sky above distorted, forming a cloud of solidifying essence that generated hundreds of luminous white balls in the process.

Uneasiness overtook Dong Li’s face. This peculiar technique seemed more akin to something that a Spirit Realm Expert would create, rather than a skill belonging to a 5th Qi Seeking Realm Expert. He didn’t understand how his opponent was able to generate so much essence without tiring himself out, and neither could he understand the strange electrical lights that swirled around his body.

Whatever the case, whatever was happening, he figured that he couldn’t underestimate this particular man. Revealing his peak aura for the first time, he assumed a defensive stance, trying to uncover the mysteries empowering his opponent’s attack.

The several spherical balls of lights illuminated the skies like miniature stars. Their shapes soon began reforming, altogether transforming into solidified arrows. Like the rains of the apocalypse, they showered down over the entire area indiscriminately.

Dong Li could feel a drop of sweat sliding against his cheek as he raised his arm upwards. A protection talisman activated, encompassing his body inside a see-through barrier. From the inside, Dong Li could observe the terrifying might of the arrows, slamming against his barrier for a long period of time.

The red-haired cultivator widened her eyes in disbelief. She had exhausted her merging essence, so escaping underground in her current form was out of the question. Aware that it was impossible for her to dodge the numerous arrows, she hurriedly proclaimed a martial art.

“2nd Art: Snake Clone!”

Her throat expanded, chocking out a small snake. The saliva-covered creature quickly slithered through the dust, digging a hole and slipping underground.

Her original self let out a miserable scream as the arrows shredded her body piece by piece, annihilating her completely.

The long haul of explosions kept shaking the area, creating a cloud of dust that towered up like an erupting volcano, catching the attention of almost everyone present inside the realm. Confusion naturally arose, some deciding to abandon the competition and instead head towards the return portal. Whichever circumstance created that explosion, they knew that their current strengths couldn’t handle it.

Little did they know that trapped inside his own barrier, in the very centre of the catastrophe, stood the strongest cultivator. His body shivered uncontrollably; not because of the ensuing destruction, but as a consequence of the cold-blooded eyes that stared at him from just outside the barrier.

Dong Li braved himself, recovering his composure. No matter how much resilient his opponent was, in the end he was only a 5th rank. He may use weird techniques to match him in strength, but there was no way he could match his speed. Narrowing his eyes, he retracted the barrier, at the same time slicing viciously towards his opponent’s belly.

The mysterious Jack remained expressionless as he solidified his hand, catching Dong Li’s sword with bare hands. Dong Li appeared surprised as he tried plucking out his weapon from Jack’s grasp.

Seeing how it wasn’t working, he decided to abandon the sword and widen the distance. But before he could do that, his entire physique was transformed into a white statue.

Jack kept the solidified Dong Li suspended from the sword for an extended period of time. The life-like statue depicted the eyes of incredulity, a work of art expressing despair. After a while, Jack did a turning kick, sending the statue rocketing down with incredible speed.

Unable to do anything, Dong Li’s immobile body kept slamming against several rocks, until finally resting at the edge of an abyss. It took some time for the solidifying essence to melt away, revealing a young man covered with injuries.

Dong Li spat out blood as he heavily panted, still recuperating from his trauma. He made some effort, barely dodging the incoming fist. He unleashed his speed to the maximum, finally able to widen the distance. Feeling safe, he paused, observing his opponent.

Freak of nature, that’s the only phrase Dong Li could think to describe this monster. Thanks to the fountain of knowledge laying inside the Empire’s Great Library, he had unearthed secrets that not even Spirit Realm Cultivators knew about. At his young age, he had experienced instances of the supernatural, but out of all these legends, none of them came close enough to what was happening before his eyes at this very moment.

His heart swelled with flames of anger. He was a prince, the number one genius of the Divine Vajra Continent. He was born to rule over others, the one destined to become a god amongst immortals. And yet here he was, getting trashed by a 5th Qi Seeking Real Cultivator.

He let out an earthshattering roar, devastated by his current humiliation. He thundered out his first art, reinforcing it with his own wind essence.

The winds around Jack suddenly started revolving around him, trapping him inside. Not giving any chance for his opponent to make a move, Dong Li proceeded by having the same winds suck out rocks from below, summoning a spiralling rock pillar that crashed straight into his target.

Dong Li didn’t lower his guard for even the slightest moment as he awaited the results of the attack. His eyes were frantically moving all over the place. When they detected what they needed to detect, they froze, rounding up with vibrations.

A white cube hovered up in the air, the size of a room. Its lower part slowly crumbled away, revealing Jack in all of his glory. His eyes were dull, his face barren as ever. He lacked emotions, as if the purpose of his existence was to kill anything that showed signs of movements. At least, that’s what the quivering Dong Li thought about him.

Unexpectedly, Jack extended his finger. It crackled with golden sparks, firing a lightning bolt towards his victim. It pierced straight through Dong Li’s shoulder, cutting a small hole from which blood spurted out.

Dong Li cried with pain, holding his shoulder in disbelief. He could observe the lingering electrical currents that encircled his body. He froze, understanding that this wasn’t a regular lightning bolt. Even though he had never experienced the phenomenon before, he had read about Heaven’s Fury before.

He glanced at his hands. “This is… the legendary tribulation lightning?!” He couldn’t fathom how it was possible for someone to possess the power of the heavens. What he did understand was that his own life was now in great peril. Not wanting to play with fire any longer, he reverted to his three trump cards. Due to the emergency, he decided to opt for the most straightforward method, though it was also the riskiest.

Dong Li’s eyes flashed with determination as he darted his body forward towards Jack. He didn’t use any weapons but instead charged ahead with a fist of his own.

Jack didn’t seem to react as he awaited the attack to arrive. This was precisely what Dong Li was hoping for. He waved his hand, smashing a talisman with force onto Jack’s forehead.

The moment they made contact, both him and the talisman were frozen into a white statue. However, the talisman still activated itself, summoning a series of corporeal chains that bound Jack in position, entrapping him inside a cubic formation.

Dong Li’s statue appeared grinning as it dropped down with a soft bang. When he could finally lift his face again, he looked pleased by the outcome. He had taken an enormous gamble, but it had paid off.

Grinning, he skyrocketed upwards, gazing with hatred at the now restrained Jack. This formation was a top-level formation created by the number one specialist of the Empire. Binding a fusion realm expert for seven days should be possible, so Dong Li had no doubts that Jack would remain trapped here for three months at least. By then, he would find himself stuck inside this realm for all eternity.

Dong Li laughed like a maniac, rotating his hand and taking out his middle finger. “Motherf*cker, are you an offspring of a great clan who somehow managed to fool the heavens and sneak inside the middle realms?! I learned from our books that only those monsters are capable of showing such extraordinary talents, even though I found them a bit exaggerated to tell you the truth. So, how does it feel now? Trapped like a rat? Not in control anymore? F*ck you, really, f*ck you, son of a b*tch.”

He vented out his fury for a while before deciding to drop down below. He coughed out blood, forcing some pills down his throat.

Utterly Pathetic, that’s how he could describe his current form. He would have never thought that one day he would be reduced to this sorry state. He may have won, but it was a pyrrhic victory at best. Besides, his opponent appeared still in perfect physical condition.

He sat down like a frustrated child, waiting for his injuries to heal. Periodically, electrical bolts would flare around his body, reminding him of the tribulation lightning’s terrifying might. Even after all this time had passed, the residual energies had yet to dissipate.