Thunder cracked.
The sound didn’t echo; it bood, directly into the bones of anyone within miles.
Lan Xia stumbled backward as the wind surged around them. "Gege! What the hell. Are you crazy? You can’t just attempt to break through without necessary preparations."
Mark slowly stood up, eyes wide, staring at the sky. "It’s alright. I’ll survive this tribulation."
Back in the sect...
A massive bell tolled once, low and ancient.
In the Sect Leader’s personal chamber, a man with graying temples opened his eyes from ditation. A thin flash of lightning reflected in his pupils.
He frowned. "A tribulation?" he muttered. "In the frozen range? Right now?"
Across the inner sanctum, Lan Yuxuan stood up from her sleep, sensing the shift in the air. "That’s no ordinary heavenly tribulation... the cloud density is too high... Who could it be attempting this, right close to our sect?"
The next mont, all outer formation guards on the sect periter were alerted. Disciples looked up at the sky, their expressions morphing from curiosity to fear.
So inner sect disciples who had once gone through their own tribulations felt their blood run cold.
"That can’t be a normal breakthrough," soone whispered. "There are too many clouds."
A young girl near the dicinal garden trembled, tugging on her mother’s sleeves. Her nice sleep was broken.
Back in the mountains...
Mark clenched his fists. The Ether particles in his body swirled around.
Lan Xia moved next to him, worry etched deep in her face. "Do you need to inform the elders? Soone will be here to help you out."
He looked at her and smiled slightly, his voice unusually calm. "No need. If I can’t survive this on my own... I’m not worthy of what cos next."
Then the storm above answered.
A bolt of lightning crashed down, not toward him, but near him, like a divine warning.
Ten seconds.
The clouds boiled darker. The snow on the mountain was already gone, lted into steam and flung into the sky. The air buzzed with divine pressure.
Five seconds.
He stepped forward and stood tall.
Three.
His Ether flared like a silver-white sun beneath his skin.
Two.
His feet left the ground slightly, lifted by the sheer force of power.
One.
Then, the heavens cried.
It didn’t start with lightning or thunder, but with acid rain.
Heavy, thick droplets fell from the sky like molten jade. Wherever they landed, they hissed and sizzled, lting stone, searing snow, scarring the earth.
Shhhhhh...
He spoke aloud, "Lan Xia, you need to move back, far away from the range. Focus on protecting yourself."
Lan Xia hesitated. Her lips pressed into a thin line. After a long pause, she finally gave a small nod. "Fine. But I’m not going far."
She conjured a barrier around herself as she moved away, while the acid rain imdiately began, but Mark didn’t flinch.
Mark looked at the skies, his expression turning serious.
"So this is what it ans to break through to Transcendence, to immortality... Hmpf, what a joke."
"No Touch – Toggle switch on." He muttered under his breath. The AI responded imdiately, activating the passive skill.
The rain curved as it neared him, droplets veering away mid-air, splattering harmlessly against the frostbitten earth instead. It completely avoided him.
Mark glanced at the dark clouds above, lips curling into a half-smile, staring at the rain that was lting down the snow around. "Try better, buddy. Whoever is up there in the heavens is responsible for this tribulation."
And as if the heavens heard that exact line... the acid rain stopped pouring down and the clouds rumbled in thunder.
"Hmpf, now, that’s what we are talking about," Mark smirked. "Ark, get ready... Bloodline skill: Blizzard..."
Thunder tore the sky apart, and a blinding arc of lightning exploded downward like a silver serpent, slamming toward him at breakneck speed.
Just before the bolt struck, Mark’s body moved slightly.
He bent his body downwards as if he were to pick sothing that had fallen on the ground.
FWOOSH—!
But then a pair of glacial, ethereal wings unfurled from his back with a crisp snap, sending snowflakes scattering in every direction.
The mont the lightning struck, it didn’t hit Mark.
Instead, it crashed onto the outstretched wings behind him that covered his back and head. The feathers absorbed the voltage with a crackling sound, dispersing the impact like a lightning rod grounded in winter.
The snow beneath his feet stead, but Mark stood, utterly unscathed.
[Lightning Tribulation – Impact Force: 10.9 Stats]
His AI’s voice echoed in his consciousness, calm and precise.
Mark snorted. "Only 10.9? Then, I wouldn’t have even needed the wings to bear it." Anyways, I think it will get stronger. So, let’s just sit down."
The clouds above growled again—angry, insulted.
A second bolt was built quickly. He could feel it, it’s the sa as before.
During the next couple of minutes, five such lightning strikes attempted to strike him but got neutralized by his wings.
Letting out a sigh, Mark calmly sat down, cross-legged, and let his head be covered by the wings like an umbrella. "It does look like it will take a while."
But this ti, the rumble was quite louder than before.
He didn’t need the AI’s prediction for that. It was charging thicker, deeper—almost twice as dense. It was more whitish before, now it appears like white-bluish.
"Co on, then," he muttered, closing his eyes.
The wings continued to fold upward like a shield, forming an icy do over him, each feather locking into place like armor.
Lan Xia, watching from a distance, let out a slow exhale. She didn’t say anything this ti. But a sense of worry was evident on her supposedly blank face. "Gege..."
*Ssssh*
The white-bluish bolt of lightning struck Mark’s blizzard wings and got neutralized again.
But the sky hadn’t rested yet.
Every ten, sotis twenty seconds, another lightning bolt carved through the heavens. Again. And again. And again.
From a distance, Lan Xia watched with narrowed eyes, arms folded over her chest, her long coat fluttering in the wind. Her barrier barely shielded her from the fallout now, snow lting around her boots as stray static crackled through the mountains.
Each bolt ca harder than the last. The earlier ones turned blue, each carrying the strike of an immortal.
When it failed to hurt him even once, the lightning turned scarlet.
Scarlet lightning was no joke. It was sothing even saints feared. A single strike of that would incinerate an immortal and even destroy a Saint’s cultivation if they didn’t block it fast enough.
Yet every ti it slamd down, those icy, divine wings would rise, fluttering, absorbing, redirecting the deadly power with impossible grace.
Lan Xia bit her lip, watching as the tenth scarlet bolt dissipated like it would hit the ocean instead of flesh and bone. "Please. Let it stop here. Let it stop here." Her heart was beating too fast.
The thirty-minute mark ticked by. The storm hadn’t weakened. If anything... it was growing more ominous. The clouds twisted violently, sending down the yellow lightning bolts, each carrying the power of a God (13-circle).
Yet, they still couldn’t do anything to the wings. The Wings are as sturdy and flexible as ever.
Another 10 minutes passed, and the twentieth yellow lightning bolt was neutralized.
And then, for a minute or so, the sky beca silent.
Mark couldn’t help but peek into the sky, mumbling. "Is it over?"
RRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMBLLLE—!!!
The loudest thunder was suddenly heard in the sky, causing his body to tremble for a second. "F**k..."
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