Chapter 385: Bring It On!

　　Thunderous roaring rose up as the divine abilities of eight Nascent Soul experts descended upon Meng Hao. Vicious expressions covered their faces, and their intense killing intent radiated out.

　　Each and every one could imagine the scene in a moment as Meng Hao’s weak body shattered like porcelain, exploding into countless pieces. After that, the Heavenly Tribulation would disperse, and this farce of a battle would be over.

　　Meng Hao’s gaze lowered from the Heavens to the approaching Cultivators. “The Heavens are not to be offended. Not to be provoked! Not to be superseded!! The Heavens are trying to slay me! Who do you think you people are? What qualifies you to try to replace the Heavens in an attempt to exterminate me?” He laughed proudly.

　　His laughter caused the faces of the Nascent Soul Cultivators to instantly fall. It was with great astonishment that they discovered their divine abilities had no effect whatsoever on Meng Hao. They disappeared like an ox tossed into the sea with rocks tied around its feet.

　　Simultaneously, an indescribable sense of danger suddenly appeared. Lightning began to amass in the sky, to a far greater extent than before. A roaring sound could be heard as a massive bolt of lightning three meters thick began to fall. It looked like an enormous pillar of light.

　　It immediately split into nine parts which descended downward.

　　Meng Hao lifted up his right hand, within which was the shrieking meat jelly. The eight Nascent Soul Cultivators’ scalps went numb; Meng Hao’s laughter had turned everything into a nightmare. They immediately retreated from the incoming Tribulation Lightning.

　　It didn’t matter how quickly they evaded. The lightning descended, slamming into them with a huge boom. Blood sprayed from their mouths and their faces went white. They shot backward at high speed, staring at Meng Hao with immeasurable dread.

　　The white-robed Cultivator from the Constellation Tribe frowned, his face unsightly and pale. “The ancient records say that whoever is transcending Tribulation is an inauspicious life form of Heaven and Earth. Everything within five thousand kilometers of him will be turned into nothing but ash. However, until then, he is still an inauspicious life form! Anyone near him will be dead for sure!

　　“Furthermore, it will be impossible to kill him. The Heavens are difficult to fathom, especially in regards to dignity. The Heavens will exterminate this person, how could they possibly allow others to assist? Attempting to kill him now is making yourself an enemy of the Heavens!

　　“The instant he gets killed by the Tribulation Lightning, his body will explode into a ball of lightning…. According to the ancient records, when that explosion of lightning occurs, everything within the Tribulation transcendence zone will be reduced to nothing.

　　“The only hope of survival is to make sure that he transcends the Tribulation. Furthermore, you can’t let the Lightning infect your body. If it does, and you don’t die, then you are evoking Karma…. If you evoke such Karma, then the Tribulation Lightning won’t stop until you’re dead. You eight Nascent Soul Cultivators… are dead beyond the shadow of a doubt!”

　　Face grim, the white-robed Cultivator retreated at top speed.

　　The Heavenly Tribulation boomed as one lightning bolt after another shot down onto Meng Hao, who held the meat jelly upraised in his hand to defend himself. The lightning would subsequently disperse into the area around him. Any nearby Cultivators would let out bloodcurdling screams. Soon, the air filled with the sounds of cursing and reviling.

　　Meng Hao didn’t care. This was something he had learned from Patriarch Reliance. When you con someone and then end up getting cursed by them, you must maintain your cool. It was really a realm unto itself.

　　Throughout the years, Meng Hao had conned many people, and had refined that skill to the very pinnacle. Therefore, he continued to redirect the descending lightning to the various Cultivators in the three thousand kilometer region.

　　Wherever he went, he was surrounded by a lake of lightning, along with plaintive cursing. What he left behind was scorched corpses.

　　To the Cultivators here, it was nothing but a massacre, a slaughter in which no one could do anything to fight back. They couldn’t attack him, nor could they flee as… they were horrified to discover that Meng Hao’ speed was incredible, even if he was being struck by lightning!

　　Time passed, and the Heavenly Tribulation continued to fall, and nearly all of the surrounding Cultivators had been conned into death thanks to Meng Hao. There were roughly a hundred left, all of whom had split off toward different areas, their faces pale. If Meng Hao even looked their way, they would flee at top speed in the opposite direction.

　　Unfortunately… the lightning fell continuously, there were some people who couldn’t avoid it. That was especially true of those Cultivators who had at some point attacked Meng Hao. Meng Hao didn’t even have to get near them to attract the falling lightning.

　　The eight Nascent Soul Cultivators, for example, soon found that no matter where or how they fled, whenever lightning shot toward Meng Hao, they would also be struck.

　　Each lightning bolt contained incredible power. Even though they were of the Nascent Soul stage, if things kept up as they were, they wouldn’t be able to take it.

　　“Dammit, that Heaven-damned bastard is too sadistic! This is his Tribulation, we’re innocent….”

　　“I’m gonna kill him! Kill him!!”

　　“If he doesn’t die, then I swear that he will be the greatest archenemy in my entire life!!”

　　The roughly one hundred surviving Cultivators howled continuously amongst the roaring of the thunder. Whenever the lightning sought out Meng Hao, they, too experienced lightning.

　　Meng Hao coughed lightly as he lowered the meat jelly. It seemed to be full, almost bulging. It glared furiously at Meng Hao.

　　“You’re immoral, you’re too wicked….”

　　Boom!

　　“Aiiiiiii! You evil bastard….”

　　Boom!

　　“Let me go, okay, Master? You’re the best Master in the world. Forgive little old me, okay? I’m full. Really, I’m full. I can’t eat any more….”

　　Looking at the wretched condition the meat jelly was in, Meng Hao held it up to block one final lightning bolt, then flicked his sleeve. The meat jelly instantly turned into a prismatic beam of light that shot of toward the fog.

　　“Dammit Meng Hao,” it roared. “You just wait, you wicked, immoral bastard. I’ll definitely convert you in this life!” Feeling very wronged, it was continuing to curse when Meng Hao transmitted a single sentence to it.

　　“If nothing unexpected happens, then when I reach Nascent Soul, I’ll need your help with the Tribulation Lightning again.”

　　The meat jelly suddenly trembled, and an ingratiating expression appeared on its face. Not saying another word about the subject, it flew into the fog. It feared Meng Hao, feared him completely. It was worried that if it spent any more time talking back, it would be forced to get so full that it would explode.

　　Meng Hao looked around the three thousand kilometer area and didn’t see anyone else. The remaining hundred or so people had long since dispersed and found places to hide. If Meng Hao couldn’t find them, then it indicated that the Heavenly Tribulation couldn’t either.

　　He took a deep breath as a look of concentration filled his face. Now the true transcending of Tribulation was to begin. This was because the Tribulation Lightning was no longer pure red; now it contained, an additional color.

　　It could be described as abstruse, and pitch-black!

　　Abstruse, pitch-black lightning!

　　Each bolt now had doubly destructive power. As it roared down, Meng Hao could see that within the red and black was incredible power of annihilation. He lifted his right hand into the air, wherein appeared the Li Clan Patriarch.

　　The explosion echoed out, accompanied by a miserable shriek. The soul embodiment twisted, but did not disperse. After all the time Meng Hao had spent getting it used to lightning, while it wasn’t a complete Soul of Lightning, it was more than halfway there.

　　“Damn you Meng Hao, I’ll never let you get away with this!” The Li Clan Patriarch’s roars were shocking and filled with grief. During the last half year, he had experienced torment and pain like nothing he had experienced in his life. He had been born into a lofty status, and in the Li Clan was considered a Patriarch. However, with Meng Hao, he had experienced untold suffering.

　　At the moment, even as the grief welled up from his heart and he reviled Meng Hao, he was lifted up again. A boom filled the air, along with a miserable shriek.

　　In fact, he now felt that spending time with the meat jelly was much better than being with Meng Hao. Before, he used to consider the meat jelly to be the biggest nightmare in existence. He had long since changed his mind. Now, the meat jelly actually seemed somewhat charming. Meng Hao was the true ultimate nightmare.

　　Booms rang out as one lightning bolt after another fell down. Even with the Li Clan Patriarch, and Meng Hao’s increased resistance to lightning, it was still difficult to take.

　　Meng Hao’s body trembled. The ground around him was thoroughly destroyed, and much of it had crystallized. It looked like blackish-red gems, horrible and fearsome in appearance.

　　When the lightning slammed into this new type of ground, it would ricochet off, inflicting even more injuries onto Meng Hao. As such, he needed to constantly change locations. The pressure bearing down on him was growing increasingly greater, as well as upon the hundred or so other people who were still in the fifteen hundred kilometer area.

　　As the lightning continued to rain down, occasionally, bloodcurdling screams would rise up. Just now, five hundred kilometers away, blood sprayed from the mouth of a man festooned with totem tattoos. Lightning smashed down onto him until he couldn’t take it any more and died. In the end, he’d had no choice other than to help Meng Hao transcend this tribulation.

　　After the man died, even more lightning fell from the Heavens.

　　Two hundred and fifty kilometers away, three Western Desert Cultivators were currently sitting cross-legged, converging their power, along with a total of nine glittering totems and dozens of magical items, to create a shimmering shield above their heads. Lightning bolts continued to fall down onto the shield. Suddenly….

　　Three successive bolts of black-red Tribulation Lightning smashed into the shield, shattering it to pieces. Their magical treasures collapsed into pieces, and the nine totems were split apart. The three Cultivators’ bodies spasmed and blood sprayed from their mouths. Moments later, they were nothing more than ash drifting in the wind.

　　A thousand kilometers away was a Western Desert Cultivator who had fled into a subterranean chamber. Above him hovered rings composed of thousands of human skulls, his attempt to conceal himself. It had worked up until now, when bolt after bolt of black-red lightning smashed the skulls into pieces, which were then transformed into ice crystals. Moments later, the man was nothing more than a collection of crystals fused with the ground.

　　After enough time passed for an incense stick to burn, Meng Hou coughed up some blood, then lifted his head up and laughed. His hair whipped around, and his body was covered with lightning wounds. However, his maniacal laughter had not reduced even in the slightest.

　　Of the hundred or so people who had joined him in this transcending of Tribulation, only twenty or so still held out. The rest were dead.

　　After enough time passed for two incense sticks to burn, a boom rang out from Meng Hao’s body. The Li Clan Patriarch seemed on the verge of death. Having accomplished all he could with him, Meng Hao put him away. After this particular round of lightning, Meng Hao’s body felt as if it were on the verge of collapse. It was at this point that Violet Qi appeared in his eyes, and his body began to recover.

　　“Bring it on!!” he roared, holding his head back as he laughed and laughed. His laughter was shrill but filled with determination and even a touch of madness. As the laughter reached the ears of the five thousand running Cultivators of the Church of the Golden Light, it seemed completely brutal.

　　—–

　　This chapter was sponsored by Garvin Desouza