Chapter 314: 314 Lin Bai’s Luck in Getting People into Water
"It’s useless, absolutely useless. Do you really think Lin Bai can withstand such a vast Heavenly Tribulation?" Peach Ancestor understood all of Lin Bai’s powers. Looking at the panicked crowd, all her past grudges were unleashed at this moment. Her withered mouth let out a chilling laugh. "Once he’s dead, what good will come to you all who’ve been turned into his puppets?"
The wind and clouds stirred restlessly as the Tribulation Cloud gathered, growing denser and denser, darkening the sky as if twilight had arrived prematurely. The feeling of the space being locked grew more intense. Pandemonium erupted among the Phoenix Seeking Phoenix Group. Those who could sing or swallow swords could no longer make a sound; they could only express their unwillingness and terror with their eyes. Negative emotions flooded Lin Bai’s mind like a turbulent storm.
Ignoring the old witch above his head, Lin Bai looked at the crowd and said, "There’s no need to be so anxious. If you wish to be sealed by a Card, being in a near-death state will also suffice. What if we manage to endure the Heavenly Tribulation? Therefore, it’s best not to enter the Cards first. Once sealed into a Card, even if one can restore their senses, their cultivation will be locked, with no possibility of further progress. It would be better to turn into a butterfly and start cultivating anew as a demon."
Xu Longyun, Ye Song, Cen Qing, and others were his Disciples, and the rewards from the Good Mentor System were also abundant. Lin Bai didn’t want to limit their future. As for the task from the Matchmaker System, he planned to marry Xu Longyun and Jiang Qingqin in the future. Sealing them into Cards would be out of the question. They had traversed into another world; he couldn’t possibly marry Card-people, could he?
"Alliance Hierarch Lin, free us! We will immediately return to the Blood Sect. Our Sect has Magic Artifacts prepared for enduring the Tribulation. Together, we may have a chance of surviving the Heavenly Tribulation," Tuohai Old Ancestor proclaimed, while dancing a joyful prayer dance with his hands raised high and a solemn expression.
They knew about the Phoenix Seeking Phoenix Group’s immunity to damage, but they didn’t think that Lin Bai’s laws could also withstand the Heavenly Tribulation. They, being unarmed, were even more anxious than Lin Bai.
"Nonsense! The Blood Sect, along with over a hundred thousand members of the Justice League, are still there. I cannot sacrifice them for my own benefit," Lin Bai said.
"They are just a bunch of ants. Why should we care about their lives?" Tuohai Old Ancestor said anxiously.
Lin Bai glanced at him and said no more. He looked up at the Heavenly Tribulation in the sky, continuing to ponder a solution. He wondered whether a lightning rod or a Faraday Cage could resist the Heavenly Tribulation. He couldn’t make a Faraday Cage at the moment, but maybe he could try a lightning rod.
Seeing that the lightning showed no intention of striking yet, Lin Bai took out the six-piece Blacksmith set and handed it to Zuo Lan of the Tool Refining Sect. "Friend Zuo, could you forge some long iron rods for me? The longer, the better..."
Underneath the Tribulation Cloud, Zuo Lan was completely lost. Being in the Great Cheng realm, he wasn’t prepared for a Tribulation and felt helpless in the face of it. At Lin Bai’s request to forge iron rods, he didn’t give it a second thought. He threw a few Spirit Stones into the furnace along with some iron, stimulated his Spiritual Power to heat it up, and began to forge on the spot. The Righteous Door possessed great Divine Skills; perhaps Lin Bai had a way to overcome the Heavenly Tribulation!
「Atop Qingmu.」
A few Players started live-streaming. The dense lightning, like golden snakes writhing among the clouds, made the tens of thousands of members of the Justice League underneath the Tribulation Clouds seem insignificant. Even through the screen, their helplessness could be felt. The Great Cheng realm cultivators hiding behind Qingmu stared at the distant Tribulation Clouds, their expressions solemn, as if they were frightened by the power of the heavens.
After a while, a Great Cheng realm cultivator named Mingyan finally came back to her senses and said with a tremor in her voice, "I’ve never seen such a dense Tribulation Cloud before, and it’s still gathering. Lin Bai really may not escape this predicament."
A Great Cheng realm cultivator who looked like a zombie said, "He ran away through the Magpie Bridge at first, but then came back. He must’ve been locked by the Tribulation Cloud, right?"
Another beautiful Great Cheng realm cultivator said worriedly, "I just don’t know if the continuing expansion of the Tribulation Cloud will affect us."
"Shut up!" the other Great Cheng realm cultivators chided her simultaneously.
"You can’t perceive the terrifying pressure without being present," a Player named ’Hold Nothing Back in Happiness’ explained in a private message to the live stream audience. "It’s hard to imagine how those who were ascending faced such terrifying lightning. Humans are so insignificant in the face of nature’s wrath. I have to admit, the special effects designed by the game are indeed badass. If this technology was used to make movies, it could easily create a world’s first."
I wonder if Lin Bai can avoid it this time?
If he can survive even the Heavenly Tribulation, the game’s setting would be too unreasonable. Everyone can just join the Justice League.
I wonder what level you need to reach to ascend to the Crossing Tribulation Realm and personally experience the Heavenly Tribulation. It must feel so cool...
Once you’re targeted by Heavenly Tribulation, you can’t escape. Players can consider this point. Use Heavenly Tribulation as a big killer. Anyway, Players can’t die; at most, they can drop levels. Just rush to increase the Realm, and one person can annihilate a major Sect. Even if you don’t drop a level and delete your account to redo it, it’s worth it. By then, every Player who reached the Crossing Tribulation Realm is a Lin Bai; everyone has the ability to exterminate Sects.
Damn, the idea of the guy above is ingenious. Lin Bai still has a bottom line, but you’ve left none!
How else would Players be called a disaster? It’s the NPCs who started this; you can’t blame the Players.
According to this, there’s no need to integrate technology and cultivation, nor to develop nuclear weapons in the Immortal World. Just cultivate earnestly, strive to reach the Crossing Tribulation Realm, and each Player can be a walking nuke.
This is so buggy; the game officials will definitely block this loophole...
I don’t think they will. Lin Bai messes around, causing chaos in the world, and the officials never put any restriction on him. Why should they restrict Players?
It turns out controlling this world is also easy...
The Players’ thoughts were always expansive. In the blink of an eye, the barrage had shifted from game special effects to how to use the advantage of Heavenly Tribulation in the Transcendance Tribulation Stage to gain control of the world, and the issue of redistributing benefits. The discussion in the barrage was heated.
Executives from several financial groups were secretly watching the barrage, but their attention was focused on Lin Bai in the center of the Heavenly Tribulation. This was the only opportunity the Sects could think of to eliminate Lin Bai. If Lin Bai survived this, no one in the world could stop him anymore, and the Players would definitely usher in the apocalypse. Lin Bai’s thinking and methods were much stronger than those cultivators in the Righteous Seven Sects and Demon Five Sects, who had cultivated themselves into foolishness. By that time, never mind cultivating to the Transcendance Tribulation Stage; serving Lin Bai by working for free like slaves would already be the best outcome.
Peach Ancestor knew she was going to die. She was yelling crazily above Lin Bai’s head, crying and laughing, and occasionally shouting things like, "Wait for me, I’m coming to find you!" She had fallen into madness.
Zuo Lan swung his hammer, rapidly forging the iron rods Lin Bai had requested, which helped alleviate the fear in his heart. Tuohai and his companions were still incessantly persuading Lin Bai to put away his misplaced compassion, return to the Blood Sect, and let them retrieve the Magic Artifacts for enduring the Tribulation.
His three female Disciples were leisurely whispering about whether it was better to become a Card-person or to transform into a butterfly. Under the Tribulation Clouds, they abandoned their prejudices against each other and became as close as sisters. Xu Longyun and Jiang Qingqin preferred to become Puppets because they could keep their current bodies. However, Little White Fox leaned towards transforming into a butterfly because her body was too small. Being sealed as a Puppet, she couldn’t do anything. By becoming a butterfly, she still had the chance to grow. Moreover, a butterfly could also Transform, and she could regain her current appearance.
Lin Bai had consumed enough Spirit Fruits, allowing him to multitask. Listening to the women’s discussion with lines of exasperation forming on his brow, he continued to search for useful items in the System. Currently, the items he could use included a Red String, an Arrow of Love, an Arrow of Resistance, a pile of Cards, a main hall from the Sect Leader System that doubled attributes, Earth’s Core Fire from the God of Craftsmen System, and a Heart of Sky Demon. The attribute-doubled main hall might be useful. If he can’t hold on, maybe he can release it to see if it could block the Heavenly Tribulation...
Lin Bai was thinking, and he casually took out the Heart of Sky Demon. After reaping this mission reward, he had been busy with many affairs and felt that the Heart of Sky Demon might have some side effects, so he hadn’t seriously studied it. Now, at this critical moment, thinking that Sky Demons were undying and indestructible, perhaps this could be used to increase his strength and play a role in the Heavenly Tribulation.
The Heart of Sky Demon was a pitch-black heart, thumping in Lin Bai’s palm, emanating an extreme temptation. A piece of information popped up in Lin Bai’s mind: "Heart of Sky Demon (Fuseable)."
When Lin Bai held the Heart of Sky Demon in his hands, all eyes around him were drawn to him, their expressions filled with fascination, as if they were witnessing the most beautiful thing under the heavens. Their expressions varied: some greedy, some menacing, others lost in enjoyment. For a moment, all the surrounding noise went silent. Cen Qing, Ye Song, and others simultaneously walked towards Lin Bai, causing the Phoenix Seeking Phoenix Group to follow along as well. Xu Longyun and the others closest to him had already reached out their hands toward the Heart of Sky Demon.
COUGH!
Feeling that something was not right in their surroundings, Lin Bai coughed heavily, drawing everyone back to their senses. Xu Longyun and others hastily retracted their hands, looking at the Heart of Sky Demon, their faces filled with horror.
Ye Song’s eyes widened as he struggled to ask, "Master, what is that?"
"An Evil Spirit! Such a wicked object actually exists! You indeed are an Evil Spirit!" Again, Peach Ancestor’s wailing resounded overhead.
Lin Bai was just about to speak when the Tribulation Clouds, as if provoked, suddenly accelerated their convergence. Even before they completely formed, a lightning bolt descended from the sky. It bypassed Peach Ancestor, who had drawn the Heavenly Tribulation, and struck directly towards the Heart of Sky Demon in Lin Bai’s hand.
The Purple-Robed Ancestor deflected the lightning with a wave of his sword.
Tuohai raised his head to look at the sky and said with a tremor, "Alliance Hierarch Lin, quickly put it away! It’s intensifying the Heavenly Tribulation..."
「In the sky above.」
The Tribulation Clouds seemed enraged, churning violently. The center of the Tribulation Clouds, initially focused on Peach Ancestor, now shifted towards Lin Bai—or to be precise, it moved towards the Heart of Sky Demon in his hand.
DAMN IT!
Lin Bai cursed under his breath and swiftly placed the Heart of Sky Demon back into the System. Even those from the Demon Five Sects who cultivated evil arts could still endure the Tribulation. He hadn’t expected the Heavenly Tribulation to react so intensely to a mere Heart of Sky Demon! Or perhaps, the Heart of Sky Demon is an object that doesn’t belong to this world, thus nature itself rejects it. But he himself wasn’t from this world either!
But it was all too late. Several lightning bolts as thick as water barrels struck down towards Lin Bai. Ye Song, Xiao Yun, Zuo Lan, and others displayed their Divine Skills, trying to block the lightning for Lin Bai. Everyone knew that Lin Bai was their last hope. They could die, but Lin Bai must not. Elder Qiu, Wen Ba, and the other Puppets rushed towards the lightning, using their bodies to protect Lin Bai.
"You brought this upon yourself; you deserve to die!" Peach Ancestor, who was already prepared to die first, laughed wildly at the sight of the lightning striking Lin Bai first. She mocked him freely from the sky.
Zuo Lan was also busy dealing with the Heavenly Tribulation; it seemed the lightning rod could not be forged now. Lin Bai looked at the lightning striking down from the sky one after another. He turned his head and unexpectedly saw Qingmu towering into the clouds in the distance. His eyes brightened. Isn’t that a ready-made lightning rod? Why bother forging one!
While several Great Cheng realm cultivators were blocking the lightning for him, Lin Bai released Qing Yu’s Card from under Qingmu, then summoned Flower Stream. Before Flower Stream could understand what was happening, Lin Bai had already grabbed her hand, then pulled Xu Longyun along, beckoning, "Let’s go."
「Atop Qingmu.」
The Great Cheng realm cultivators from the Holy Extreme Sect, such as Mingyan, saw the Magpie Bridge suddenly extending towards them. Their faces changed dramatically, and they cried out in despair, "No!" They had just been preparing to attack Qing Yu.
The next moment, Lin Bai had already appeared beneath Qingmu. WHOOSH! Several ropes flew out, binding all the female cultivators.
As Lin Bai arrived beneath Qingmu, the Tribulation Cloud once again gathered above his head. In the blink of an eye, it formed into an even larger mass, connecting with the previous cloud. Looking up, almost the entire sky was covered by the Tribulation Cloud; not a speck of blue sky could be seen! Lightning rained down as if plowing the earth, indiscriminately enveloping everyone beneath the Tribulation Cloud.
The several Great Cheng realm female cultivators bound by the Bind the Immortal ropes witnessed this terrifying scene. They forcefully broke the ropes and jointly confronted the lightning. Obviously, they had been dragged into the Tribulation Cloud. If they didn’t resist, they could only wait for death. Killing Lin Bai? To hell with that! We’re all about to die; who still cares about the future of the Sect!
The Tribulation lightning and Lin Bai’s Lightning Storm were worlds apart. Ye Song, the Purple-Robed Ancestor, and the others, due to their insufficient cultivation levels, couldn’t hold on for long. One by one, they were hit by lightning, their clothes tattered, faces covered in dirt and dust. The only ones intact were the cultivators from the Blood Sect in the Phoenix Seeking Phoenix Group. Since Cen Qing hadn’t died, the Phoenix Seeking Phoenix Group hadn’t disbanded. Thus, after one round of lightning, everyone within it remained unharmed.
"It’s just a Heart of Sky Demon. Is there a need for such a big reaction?" Lin Bai looked at the apocalyptic scene and complained in frustration, "Too petty."
"You Sky Kill thief! Do you think it was easy for me to hide from the Heavenly Tribulation? You actually drew the Tribulation Cloud onto me..." A hysterical roar echoed. Atop Qingmu, a green figure suddenly appeared. The two figures looked up at the sky, yelling hysterically, their voices full of despair.
Immediately following this, the green silhouette rose towards the sky. With a wave of a hand, a huge shadow of Qingmu collided with the vast Tribulation Cloud. The tree’s shadow exploded. The thick Tribulation Cloud was surprisingly blasted with many holes, revealing the blue sky above and briefly allowing rays of sunlight to shower down.
The lightning temporarily ceased. Everyone took a breath and hastily came to Lin Bai’s side via the Magpie Bridge. They looked reverently at the two figures who had dispersed the Tribulation Cloud with a single move, their eyes filled with the joy of having narrowly escaped death.
"That’s the tree spirit of Qingmu!" Ye Song gasped, then said excitedly, "Master, we are saved!"
"Saved, my foot! If this old lady was sure of enduring the Tribulation, I would have done it tens of thousands of years ago! Why would I endure until now, only to be dragged down by you bunch of fools? Now I have to face the Tribulation with over ten thousand people! I’m completely ruined by you all..." The green figure flashed before everyone, looking at Lin Bai, seemingly frenzied. She was dressed in green, with green hair and a beautiful face that made her look like a young girl. But at this moment, the girl’s gaze was murderous.
Ye Song and the others were stunned.
So, the Tribulation Cloud here was targeting Senior all along! No wonder. Just for a mere Heart of Sky Demon—and I had already put it away—how could it still attract such a massive Tribulation Cloud? Now that Senior has appeared, it all makes much more sense. Lin Bai thought, looking at the tree spirit.
The Tribulation Cloud covered the sky and lightning struck down, but no new System appeared to save him. Lin Bai had already run out of ideas. Unexpectedly, at the critical moment, the tree spirit of Qingmu had voluntarily jumped out and, moreover, demonstrated unparalleled power.
At this moment, Lin Bai finally relaxed. It seemed that someone was going to take on this calamity for him; the Qi Yun his Big Bro System had generated for him was truly potent!
[Anger from Qing Yun +1, +1, +1, +1, +1...]