32 Tribulation (2)

Inside the subspace, most of the disciples had regained control of their bodies. While some of them were aware of all that had happened, only remaining paralyzed during the extraction process, most of them had no idea what had happened between the time they lost consciousness and right now. Regardless, they all looked gleeful as they recognized the kind of tribulation above them, Heavenly Extermination, having heard and read of it in cultivation manuals. In the sky, the thunderbolts increased in intensity.

Kong Xiang had a look of worry, though. Somehow, his tribulation and Chen Xiaowen's extermination tribulation had merged into one, making no distinction between him and the demonic cultivator. This development was to Chen Xiaowen's advantage because instead of the extermination tribulation to be at the Soul Embryo Realm, it was at Kong Xiang's Cultivation, Cyclic Core. Unfortunately for Kong Xiang, his tribulation had now mutated into a tribulation reserved for the most demonic of devilish cultivators.

A thick bolt of lightning struck him from the sky.

With a deep breath, Kong Xiang circulated the Aqua Source Method and employed the Cyclic Shield. Now that he was in the Cyclic Core Realm, the might of this technique had increased exponentially.

'CRACK' The Cyclic Shield was disintegrated by the impact of the thunderbolt. Kong Xiang coughed out a mouthful of blood, his aura weakening. He was inwardly shocked. That was only the first strike, yet it dealt him such great damage.

"Is the Heavens giving me no chance of survival at all?" Kong Xiang asked no one in particular, smiling bitterly. The Cyclic Core Tribulation involved three lightning strikes to the cultivator. Having taken one, there were two left.

"I won't give up" Gritting his teeth, he took the initiative for the second round, attacking the next thunderbolt before it reached him.

"RUMBLING WAVES FIST" Water attributed qi condensed into a vast projection of stormy waves, crashing right into the thunderbolt.

'COUGH COUGH' Compared to earlier, although Kong Xiang still spat blood out, he was better off. The glint in his eyes showed his unwillingness to back down.

As the third strike came down, tokens flew out of the bodies of the disciples in the subspace. A light screen from the tokens enveloped them, turning their form illusionary, their bodies fading away. Kong Xiang's token flew out as well and was about to emit its light, only to be shattered into bits by some of the third lightning strike shockwave.

"Yes!" Although he looked like he was barely able to stand, he stood upright proudly, emitting a valiant aura. He was very proud of himself right now, having survived a mutated tribulation that was set at a capacity of sixty-four times higher than his limit. This image was captured by some of the vanishing cultivators, causing some of the young men to clench their fists, caught in the infectious air. A lady cultivator even murmured, "So handsome' just before they all disappeared.

Now, it was just Chen Xiaowen and Kong Xiang in the secret realm, Kong Xiang having no way out due to the thunderbolt destroying the Transmission orb.

"I hope some of the elders outside have other means to get out of a collapsing subspace," he thought.

With no warning at all, a thunderbolt from the sky struck him yet again.

This time, his blood and flesh were vapourized away, with his bones of the verge of collapse. He unleashed his Nature Domain and assimilated into the environment, channeling nature qi all over his body. Slowly, his flesh regenerated.

"That was close" The extra strike was out of his expectations, since it was common knowledge that the Cyclic Core Tribulation was always three strikes, no matter what. He fell into deep thoughts and realized something.

"At the beginning, Chen Xiaowen uttered Life Bind, meaning he bound his life force to everybody in the formation. I ended up comprehending his Seal Domain and released my tribulation. Given his demonic means, I'm guessing Chen Xiaowen would be able to resurrect himself from the bodies of the eighty-one cultivators, as long as he has a wisp of his soul left after the tribulation, thanks to Life Bind" He sucked in a cold breath. "If I'm not wrong, this tribulation is not just for Chen Xiaowen and me, but also for all the other eighty cultivators. Unless we are all dead, Chen Xiaowen will come back to life eventually."

Outside the realm, the pale looking disciples were being fed recovery pills, and some of them were recounting the events that transpired in the subspace when all eighty of them were struck by lightning at the same time. If not for the fact that they had all been given pills just now, half of them would have lost their lives here and there.

"What is going on here?"