Chapter 156: Tribulation of the Five Elements

Above the Boruo Sect, dark clouds roiled turbulently, and the spiritual energy between heaven and earth was in absolute chaos. Someone was clearly on the verge of breaking through and undergoing the tribulation. Apart from the on-duty personnel, nearly all members of the Boruo Sect came outside to watch. Even Daoist Wubo came out to observe; given that only Leixiang had been in seclusion recently to force a breakthrough, it had to be him.

At this moment, the dark clouds in the sky underwent a change. The patch of clouds, spanning roughly an acre, slowly shrank while rumbles of thunder echoed from within. Judging by this stance, this heavenly tribulation was going to be exceptionally difficult to weather. In an instant, a bolt of golden lightning cleaved down from the sky, targeting precisely the location where Leixiang was in seclusion. Strangely, after the golden lightning struck, there was not the slightest sound; it vanished as if a clay ox had plunged into the sea.

"Look, it's golden lightning! This must be the highest-tier thunder tribulation, right?"

"Golden lightning? I have witnessed three Nascent Soul seniors undergo tribulations, and none of them featured golden lightning. Could someone be attempting to break through to the Deity Transformation stage?"

...

The crowd buzzed with discussions. Only Daoist Wubo maintained his composure, his eyes narrowed as if deep in thought. Suddenly, more than a dozen bolts of golden lightning struck simultaneously from the sky, detonating right at Leixiang's secluded retreat. The violent explosion shook the heavens and earth, audible clearly across a radius of thousands of miles. Even Daoist Wubo could no longer remain calm. He raised his arms and shouted, "Members of the Boruo Sect, all of you fall back twenty miles! This thunder tribulation is extremely perilous. You must exercise the utmost caution!"

Just as the crowd retreated out of range, hundreds of golden lightning bolts poured down from the dark clouds in the sky, frightening everyone into backing away once more. These golden lightning bolts were truly beyond their ability to resist. The lightning struck Leixiang's secluded cave without suspense, taking out a few Boruo Sect buildings along the way. Upon touching the golden lightning, those structures simply disintegrated into tofu-dregs engineering.

Daoist Wubo gazed at the latest batch of lightning, smiling bitterly to himself as he muttered, "Which wave is this? This thunder tribulation is endless. Is our Boruo Sect about to be destroyed in these heavenly thunders?" Just as he was silently praying, the clouds in the sky shifted, ceasing the descent of golden heavenly thunder. This greatly pleased Daoist Wubo, but when he looked back up at the clouds, his just-smoothed brow furrowed once more.

The dark clouds in the sky had turned completely pitch black and continued to roll and surge forward, carrying an momentum that suggested they would not stop until they had completely swallowed the Boruo Sect. Daoist Wubo saw that this patch of the sky had been entirely blocked out by the black clouds, plunging the area into pitch darkness where people could barely make each other out.

Suddenly, a streak of white light poured down like a bolt of silk, striking the area without warning. "Fall back quickly, activate your strongest defenses!" Following Daoist Wubo's shout, protective barriers of various colors lit up across the area. The defenders raised their shields just in time; the white torrent arrived a split second later. It was an overwhelmingly massive surge of water, gushing down like an inverted heavenly river. Many low-cultivation disciples had their defenses shattered, while most of those whose defenses remained intact were swept away by the powerful current, instantly forming a roaring, monstrous river that split the Boruo Sect right down the middle. Everyone was left dumbfounded.

Suddenly, a black-and-white brilliance illuminated Leixiang's secluded area, which was surrounded by the floodwaters. Following that, the rushing waters seemed to be drawn by some kind of suction force, all charging together toward the source of the black-and-white light. Daoist Wubo's eyes nearly popped out of his head in shock; this was simply too miraculous. A colossal river had just fallen from the sky, yet with a single flash of that black-and-white light, the river instantly dried up. The changes happened far too fast, leaving one dizzy with wonder.

The black clouds in the sky pressed down even lower, and the white "heavenly river" continuously surged downward without end. A black-and-white image suddenly manifested over Leixiang's secluded retreat—black mountains, white water, and a natural landscape entirely in shades of black and white, appearing as vivid as a water-screen movie. The water from the heavens flowed into this imagery without a single drop left over.

After half an hour, the waters in the sky finally ceased, and the imagery of the white mountains and black waters vanished. A brief period of calm settled over the area. Suddenly, the black clouds in the sky churned and shifted once more, the western corner beginning to flush with a fiery red. Within moments, the entire expanse of clouds transformed into the likeness of burning sunset clouds. Then, massive sheets of fiery red rained down, the majority landing on Leixiang's secluded retreat, with only a small portion falling upon other parts of the Boruo Sect. Yet the moment these fiery objects touched the ground, they turned into a sea of flames. Whether flammable or non-flammable, everything burned away indiscriminately—it was quite literally capable of burning anything.

Daoist Wubo felt a bitter taste in his mouth, and his heart was even more bitter. What on earth was going on with this Leixiang? Trying to force a breakthrough had drawn down such a massive heavenly tribulation, completely wreaking havoc on the Boruo Sect. Then again, Leixiang was monstrous enough; the way he underwent this tribulation was utterly unusual, involving fire, water, and golden lightning. Was he trying to ascend to immortality or something?

Just as his mind was wandering wildly, three residual shadows streaked swiftly from the distance. To avoid the burning clouds in the sky, they flew at low altitudes. The moment two of those figures reached the grounds, they tossed out hundreds of black talismans, which detonated over the small seas of fire. A black rain fell unexpectedly, dampening the flames slightly. Seeing newcomers assisting with the fire-extinguishing, Daoist Wubo was about to step forward to express his gratitude when another streak of light arrived right before him. The brilliance receded to reveal a woman in red. Her bright eyes flashed as she looked at Daoist Wubo and asked, "Is this Leixiang undergoing a tribulation? True to form, this kid has some tricks up his sleeve."

Daoist Wubo sensed the other party's cultivation realm, which was immeasurably higher than his own, so he stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Indeed, it is Young Master Lei undergoing the tribulation. It has been going on for half a day and has yet to conclude. We have already endured successive waves of lightning, water, and fire. Who knows when this will finally end."

The woman in red was startled, her eyes filled with utter astonishment as she muttered to herself, "Impossible! Successive strikes of lightning, fire, and water? This... what kind of tribulation is this? Could it be..."

Reading her expression, Daoist Wubo figured this senior might know something about the situation, so he asked respectfully, "Does the Fairy understand this tribulation? How much longer will it last? If it keeps striking like this, I fear my Boruo Sect will cease to exist before Young Master Lei even succeeds in his tribulation."

At that moment, the first two streaks of light flew over, revealing two middle-aged men whose cultivation levels were comparable to Daoist Wubo's. One wore a goatee, while the other had a face as rugged as granite. The goatee chimed in, "Anticipating the damage the tribulation would inflict on the Boruo Sect, Young Master Lei specifically arranged for the two of us to come and assist. These black rain talismans were given to us by him."

These words gave Daoist Wubo a new appreciation for Leixiang. He had previously known the young man was powerful, but now he realized how meticulous his planning was and how accurately he could judge the course of events. He secretly counted his blessings, feeling fortunate that he was still considered a friend to Leixiang. Had he offended such a person, he probably wouldn't even be able to sleep in peace.

The goatee was naturally Yang Jian, the granite-faced man was Dugu Yixiao, and the woman in red was unquestionably Tian Rui. They had all come to the Boruo Sect to help in accordance with Leixiang's plan.

Right at that moment, a miniature tripod appeared above Leixiang's secluded retreat, spinning lazily in mid-air. Its size suddenly expanded, and the mouth of the tripod flipped upward to catch the descending lightning and fire. Strangely enough, despite the indiscriminately burning nature of the thunder and fire, once gathered into the small tripod, although they continued to burn, they could never scorch the walls of the tripod. Perhaps this little vessel was their natural nemesis.

A quarter of an hour later, the thunder and fire grew sparse, eventually ceasing altogether. The color of the burning clouds also faded. Tian Rui and the others stared intently at the changes in the clouds. The fiery clouds faded to white before their colors suddenly deepened, turning a dark green. A look of deep terror suddenly flashed in her phoenix eyes, and she shouted loudly, "Everyone, fall back quickly! Back up another hundred miles!"

The crowd paused, looking toward Daoist Wubo. Daoist Wubo was equally unaware of why Tian Rui was so terrified, but his intuition told him that this young woman understood this tribulation much better than he did. Thus, he followed suit and shouted at the top of his lungs, "What are you waiting for? Fall back!"

Just as everyone retreated, the dark green clouds in the sky had already pressed downward. A giant tree, dozens of meters long and two to three meters thick, shot down like an arrow from the dark green clouds. Wherever it passed, houses, structures, and rocky cliffs alike were pulverized into dust. The giant tree's momentum remained unchecked as it drove straight into the hard mountain rock, burying itself at least a third of the way in. Immediately afterward, one giant tree after another struck down, all nailing themselves into the rocks surrounding Leixiang's secluded retreat. Could they be driving piles to build a house?

However, everyone understood almost immediately: these giant wooden pillars closely encircled Leixiang, forming an inescapable prison. Even with three heads and six arms, he would have no way to fly away.

Nearly everyone broke into a cold sweat for Leixiang in seclusion. Dugu Yixiao even formed a hand seal, holding his Frost Finger horizontally as if about to charge forward and offer rescue, only to be yanked back by Tian Rui. Daoist Wubo felt his nervous heart skip beats, leaving him to merely recite mechanically, "What kind of heavenly tribulation is this? Where on earth is there such a monstrous heavenly tribulation..."

Tian Rui took a deep breath, suppressing the terror in her heart, and said slowly, "If I am not mistaken, this is the Five Elements Tribulation! A heavenly tribulation consisting of successive strikes from the metal, wood, water, fire, and earth of the heavens. If this truly is the Five Elements Tribulation, then the most terrifying earth tribulation is yet to come. I have only ever heard legends of this Five Elements Tribulation, and I have never witnessed nor heard of anyone successfully surviving it. Leixiang probably won't be able to defy this fate either..."