44 I Am

The storm clouds only continued to grow as Tian Hai sat back while propping himself up with his arms behind his back.

He let out a soft smile as the pressure exuded from the tribulation continued to intensify, making him feel like he was swimming in water.

Chucking to himself, he couldn't help but be impressed. If h thought about it really, everyone else who was within the first level of Qi refinement faced this exact same thing before him.

And although he knew an elemental tribulation was more powerful than a neutral one, he also had more power to face this compared to the neutral cultivators and their tribulations.

He wondered to himself if things would've been different if he just didn't help Xue Chang. But he quickly erased this thought from his mind.

How could be abandoned the person who saved him from that hopeless situation all those years ago?

Taking in a deep breath, he shook the useless thoughts out of his head and forced himself to stand back up.

Looking up at the thundering sky above him, Tian Hai closed his eyes as he felt his current powers begin to roam throughout his body.

"Three bolts, even if I can't stop them all, I won't go down without a fight."

The muscles around his body began to contract and tighten as an equally intimidating aura as the sky above him rose form his body.

As if sensing the intent to retaliate within Tian Hai, the tribulation cloud began to gather in one small area.

And as it condensed into a single black cloud, a single bolt of lightning could be seen forming slowly within it.

The bolt of lightning crackled and roared with a frightening presence, and as its form began to sharpen, the tip of the bolt was pointed down toward Tian Hai.

The earth trembled and a furious wind blew through the area, blowing the leaves and scaring any wild animals away.

With the tribulation intensifying by the second, Tian Hai unleashed all of his energy in a show of strength.

Using the same ability Tian Kai had used just earlier, he released a roar into the sky, "BRING IT!"

This was probably the most intense moment of his life.

All of his senses shut down as every last bit of his concentration was all placed into facing the lightning.

The cloud thundered as the bolt finally shot down toward him at speeds impossible to follow, but its trajectory was easy to predict.

Tian Hai didn't need to be faster than it, he just needed to intercept where it was going.

With his body being empowered by his elemental energy, he struck out at the air above his head. And with a loud crack, his fist met with an invisible force.

His body creaked and screamed as cracks formed across the entirety of his arm. He could feel his bones splinter as fracture as the overwhelming force of the lightning bolt overcame him.

"Argh! Dammit!" Tian Hai felt his legs tremble and shake as the ground beneath him began to sink in.

His feet sunk down up to his knees as the floor couldn't handle the e pressure from above.

Tian Hai could feel blood well up into his chest as he screamed in agony.

His muscles felt like they were about to explode as electricity flowed through his arm and into his body. It was like being bitten by a thousand poisonous serpents all at once, inside and out.

His skin even began to darken as a burnt smell wafted into his nostrils.

But with a final shout of anger, he placed all of his strength he in one final push.

From his legs to his hips and up into his chest and then through his arm, Tian Hai used every ounce of power he had left and release a single outstanding punch.

Although he felt his finger mangle and break into a strangled mess, Tian Hai pushed forward and finally succeeded.

The lightning bolt shattered mid air and became a haze of purple light that slowly descended and landed onto his body, helping him consolidate his cultivation and even strengthen his body somewhat.

Even his broken hand was repaired a little, but it was still left in an unusable state.

With injuries accrued all over his body, he finally spat out that blood that build up in his mouth and fell down face forward.

He was completely out of strength and wasn't ready to face another bolt of lightning.

But the heavens weren't as kind.

Although he ran out of strength, the tribulation cloud did not.

In fact, it's size seemed to grow smaller as another bolt of lightning bigger than the last formed in the sky. Forming much quicker than the first, this one too shot down toward Tian Hai.

And although it was slower than the first, it's overwhelming aura clearly showed its strength was beyond the last one.

________

Yong Heng was happily floating around in purgatory. He was in a strange astral body form where his appearance was that of a blob rather than a person.

Floating beside him was a figure bathed in a sheen of golden light.

Although the blob didn't have a face to give expressions, it was obvious that it was very excited.

"This is unbelievable, a spirit seal. We really are reaping the benefits of someone else's work hehehe!"

Laughing wildly to himself, Yong Heng reached into the void of purgatory and pulled something out. It looked like a person except they were transparent and could be seen through.

Throwing the person over at the golden figure, another layer of golden light was added on top of him.

"That's the limit for now, but as he grows stronger the number can be increased. I can't imagine how many souls were sacrificed... but I also don't care. My freedom comes first before anything! If I can't unlock my powers, then they were all doomed anyway!"

Just then the blob perked up and looked toward a certain direction. He turned his head a little as if trying to show off a curious expression.

"Someone's going through a tribulation? Oh, it's that kid. Hmm it seems he got passed the first wave, but that second one... it might be a little troublesome."

Suddenly a small memory surfaced within the blob's mind. The memory of Tian Hai's strange aura.

Although Xue Chang used to look at aura as a way to measure one's talent, aura had a myriad of functions he was unaware of.

Yong Heng chose to hold back this information because he didn't think Xue Chang needed to know immediately.

"He'll know when he wakes up anyway no point in me saying anything. But if what he saw back then was real... I'm sure he'll be fine."

Xue Chang had once observed Lou Lan's aura before. It was a mixture of red and blue at the time, clearly signifying his ability to dual cultivate the elements.

When he thought back to Tian Hai's situation, he had asked Yong Heng if Tian Hai was facing a similar situation, but at that time he had rejected the notion.

Lou Lan had a stable aura that corresponded to his choices, but Tian Hai was chaotic and unpredictable.

"If he really is related to that freak then Xue Chang had gotten himself quite the monster... huh? You're awake alrea-"

________

Although he had collapsed onto the ground, Tian Hai had not yet lost consciousness.

He had no choice but to watch the tribulation lightning float down toward him, with the intent to completely obliterate him.

But he wasn't scared. Honestly, he thought he would die young back in the alleyway all those years ago. But he didn't, instead he lived an insane life from then.

Reaching to the point where even the heavens itself was trying to strike him down! He truly had lived well despite how he started.

Tian Hai lied there awaiting for his end to finally arrive, and when the lightning bolt finally talks trick him, he closed his eyes.

But oddly enough he didn't feel any pain.

In fact he didn't feel any impact nor any shocking feeling. All he felt was a pleasurable sensation flowing through his body.

Scrunching his face io in confusion, he slowly opened his eyes to see what was going on.

And to his surprise, he really was alive. Surrounding his body was what seemed to be a cocoon made of rainbow thread.

The thread protected him from the lightning bolt and some of the thread at the top of the cocoon was separated by the lightning. The separated thread actually came to life and formed ropes that would suddenly start whipping at the bolt of electricity flying toward Tian Hai.

It was like a miracle. The cocoon completely sealed him, keeping away the destructive force.

But it wasn't like it was invincible. The thick cocoon continuously broke later by layer as the lightning crawled toward him at a snails pace.

Every layer of thread the bolt broke through would just add to the whips that would tear away at the lightning until finally all that was left with a thin string of electricity left.

And string was so minuscule that even after it successfully pierced his chest, all he felt was a light tingling sensation. And once again purple powder rained from above strengthening both his cultivation and his body.

Except this time some of the powder was taken in by the cocoon thread instead. After all of it was absorbed the cocoon faded away into nothingness before his very eyes.

But unknown to Tian Hai at that moment, on his wrist were now strange tattoo like markings of rope crossing over itself making two loops touching each other.

Making an infinity sign.

Tian Hai was dumbfounded by the miracle that just occurred, he had survived a second tribulation! One more and he would survive!

Hope actually rose up in his chest for a second as he thought he might have a chance if he just gritted his teeth and pulled through the next attack.

But what he saw completely shut down his expectations.

Countless bolts of lightning now lined the sky, each one of varying size and strengths. All of them circled him from above and slowly but surely they began to coalesce into something.

After the countless bolts finally finished merging together, only one thing was left in the sky.

A dragon completely composed of thunder and lightning lined the sky, looking down at him as if it was facing an ant.

And compared to the mysterious beast, maybe he was an ant.

Any thoughts of pulling the light the next strike completely left his mind as finally he had accepted it.

This was the end for him.

This time the dragon wasted no time as it shot down toward Tian Hai, opening up its large maw in order to devour him completely.

Tian Hai covered his face in preparation for the end, but at last one last miracle occurred that day.

"You dare to harm my vassal?"

A familiar voice rang throughout the air as a short stout figure appeared right in front of Tian Hai.

Saber in hand, he looked up toward the dragon with his eyes filled with a golden light.

"Xue Chang?"

Although the figure himself didn't answer, he could recognize him immediately. This was undoubted Xue Chang, but he was different from usual.

Looking over his shoulder, Xue Chang smiled at Tian Hai while smiling creepily.

Tian Hai was sure of it. No matter how similar they were in appearance, this was not the Xue Chang he knew.