Chapter 32: The Tribulation of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements

At this moment, upon the altar in the center of the manor, Li Yang's situation was indeed far from optimistic.

"Clang, clang, clang..."

Ever since the thunderclouds began to gather, the Nirvana Golden Pill nurtured within the cauldron had been stirring restlessly. The sounds of metal clashing from inside the furnace were deafening.

To call it an alchemy cauldron at this point would be inaccurate; it resembled an orange-red fireball. Under the continuous, prolonged calcination of the True Sun Fire, the sharp edges around the cauldron had completely vanished.

Externally, it looked just like a high-temperature fireball suspended in mid-air. Under the violent impacts of the Nirvana Golden Pill, bulges of varying sizes constantly deformed its surface. Had Li Yang not continuously used his spiritual power to solidify the vessel, it would have ruptured long ago.

As the thunderclouds gathered, Li Yang's expression grew increasingly solemn.

Compared to the momentum of this tribulation cloud, the previous pill tribulation was practically insignificant.

With the wind and clouds churning across the firmament, the tribulation clouds now completely blanketed the entire manor. Viewed from a distance, it resembled a massive black auspicious cloud hovering over the estate, magnificent in scale. This astonishing heavenly phenomenon could be witnessed from a radius of a hundred miles.

At the very center of the tribulation clouds, a colossal black vortex continuously accumulated energy. The bluish-purple lightning faintly overflowing from it, accompanied by immense energy fluctuations, poured downwards, making the air above the entire altar feel as though it were freezing solid.

"Crack, crack..."

Accompanied by a flash of lightning, blinding electric light filled the entire sky. The concentration of ionized particles in the air reached an astonishing level at this moment, vaporizing all moisture within the manor and forming a distorted vacuum electromagnetic field.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss, woo, woo, woo!"

Sensing that the lightning energy had reached its absolute peak, Li Yang's mind stirred. A six-winged golden centipede, hundreds of feet long, soared from his body into the sky, hoisting the lightning-attracting tower from nearby and placing it directly over the cauldron.

This lightning-attracting tower was forged from a collection of numerous exotic metals as a tool to mitigate lightning. In fact, its original purpose in crafting was precisely to weaken the heavenly thunder tribulations; its application in cultivation was merely a secondary benefit.

"Heaven is pure and earth is clear, grant me divine spirits; with my blood, guide the four symbols! Supreme Decree of Miyuluo, arise, Four Symbols Great Formation!"

Li Yang's entire body's magical power surged outward like roaring sea waves, transforming him into a golden sun. Four crimson blood-droplets, resembling liquid mercury, were forced from his fingertips and struck the glabellae of the four stone pillar reliefs surrounding the altar.

"Aow-mo! Cha-ji! Howl-aow! Woo-woo!"

Accompanied by four majestic roars, the reliefs on the stone pillars sprang to life, opening their dignified eyes. The phantom images of the Four Auspicious Divine Beasts burst forth from the pillars, circling endlessly in the sky before instantly transforming into a profound-yellow formation diagram that enveloped the entire altar.

The Four Symbols Over-skies Formation set up on the altar was specifically prepared by Li Yang to endure his three calamities, consuming a millennium's worth of accumulated rare treasures and spiritual jades belonging to the vampires.

However, this Nirvana Golden Pill was clearly no ordinary first or second-turn golden elixir. The intensity of its tribulation cloud completely exceeded Li Yang's expectations. At this critical juncture, he dared not hesitate in the slightest and had to unleash all his trump cards.

What Li Yang did not know was that the existence of the Nirvana Golden Pill was an utterly heaven-defying phenomenon. Even in ancient times, it was an immensely precious and rare treasure—a top-grade seventh-turn golden elixir. The intensity of its tribulation cloud far surpassed that of standard three-calamity lightning tribulations.

Yet, of this, not only was he unaware, but even the Daoist of Purple Firmament had only heard legends of it without witnessing its true might.

"Crack..."

"The greatest sound is hard to hear, the greatest form is without shape." After more than an hour of gestation, a fissure suddenly split open in the center of the thundercloud, and a purplish-red lightning bolt the size of a thumb struck down from the sky.

There was no deafening roar; everything seemed utterly silent. As a ripple washed across the Four Symbols formation diagram, the lightning pierced right through it and struck the pinnacle of the lightning-attracting tower.

The instant it was struck by this purplish-red lightning bolt, the jet-black body of the lightning-attracting tower instantly turned burning red, dense lightning runes emerging upon its surface while radiating terrifying high-temperature energy.

Inside the tower, as this surge of energy descended, the fireball-like cauldron instantly began to melt, bubbles churning on its surface as if it could rupture at any second.

"Hah... Yin lightning and Yang thunder, the profound mechanism of creation, artifacts as the guide, dharma form as the vessel!"

Gazing at the fireball that might explode at any moment, Li Yang's eyes revealed bluish-purple lightning runes. Behind him, a crimson-gold centipede dharma form rapidly condensed. The thick centipede legs surrounding the dharma form instantly elongated, tightly binding the cauldron.

Li Yang gripped the Lord of Thunder's chisel in his hands, channeling the purplish-red lightning directly into his body.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss, woo, woo!"

In an instant, as this lightning energy was drawn into his body, Li Yang's skin turned glowing red. His body swelled as if being inflated, rapidly transforming into a giant. The phantoms of the six-winged golden centipedes within his cellular structure simultaneously awakened, raising their heads to hiss as they frantically devoured the energy.

With the protection of the lightning-attracting tower and the Four Symbols Great Formation, Li Yang did not fear sharing the lightning tribulation for the Nirvana Golden Pill, nor did he fear drawing the attention of the heavens.

This time, he was gambling everything, directly utilizing his semi-finished dharma form to help the Nirvana Golden Pill absorb the excess lightning tribulation energy. Although this might directly cause his dharma form to shatter completely, he could no longer afford to hesitate.

If the dharma form shattered, it could be re-condensed. His dharma form was also different from those of others; ordinary dharma forms were condensed on the foundation of one's own divine soul, but his was condensed on the foundation of the six-winged golden centipede's divine soul, bearing some similarity to an external avatar.

As long as he smelted his natal wondrous beast, theoretically, he could achieve ten dharma forms—with his own soul-condensed dharma form as the master, and nine natal wondrous beast dharma forms as assistants.

Furthermore, a dharma form condensed from a natal wondrous beast's soul had fundamental differences from one condensed from a personal soul. Generally speaking, a cultivator's primordial spirit and dharma form were of the same substance, serving as the foundation of the cultivator themselves. Once damaged, it meant severe injury to the origin, carrying even the risk of perishing.

However, Li Yang's centipede dharma form existed similarly to an external avatar. As long as his own divine soul remained undamaged, even if the dharma form perished—while it would cause his cultivation base to drop drastically and leave him severely wounded—his fundamental root would not be affected. After spending a period of recuperation, the dharma form could be re-condensed.

From this, one could perceive the freakish nature of his ancestral cultivation technique. Of course, the resources and difficulty required were certainly incomparable to those of ordinary practitioners, which was precisely why he had gone to such painstaking lengths to scavenge resources.

"Crack... sizzle, sizzle, sizzle..."

"......"

With the continuous descent of the lightning tribulation, the spire of the lightning-attracting tower had already partially melted, the entire tower body glowing orange-red, and the altar beneath was faintly cracking under the scorching heat.

"Whew... This B-fire lightning tribulation is truly grueling!"

Inside the tower, white steam billowed from Li Yang's seven orifices, only to be instantly dissipated by the high temperature of the air. His entire body resembled a piece of crimson jade, and the frantic pulsation of his internal organs could be faintly glimpsed through his flesh.

The ten-foot-tall dharma form behind him was also entirely crimson-gold, with golden liquid faintly flowing across its surface as though it were about to melt.

Having endured a full eight bolts of B-fire lightning tribulation, the golden centipede dharma form had also reached its limit.

......

"Boom, boom, boom..."

Outside the manor, waves of werewolves were charging toward the estate gates.

Yet before they could even approach the manor, they were repelled by a peculiar magnetic field.

"Hurry up and tell those beasts to call off their attack! This matter is no longer something we can interfere with. Can't you see that His Majesty's holy beasts have no intention of charging in?"

Emilia gazed at the distorted magnetic field within the manor and the churning tribulation clouds in the sky, her expression fraught with irritation and a faint undertone of unease.

"Boom... sizzle, sizzle, sizzle..."

Faced with Emilia's words, Lucien paid her no heed. A pair of gleaming wolf claws slashed fiercely against the transparent qi barrier, kicking up bursts of sparks.

Naturally, he understood Emilia's intent. Ever since becoming blood warlocks, their perception of energy had multiplied dozens of times over.

He could naturally sense the energy contained within the thunderclouds in the sky. To be honest, in all his life, he had never witnessed such astonishing energy reactions. His instincts even constantly urged him to flee far away, yet he could not do so.

Though he had always maintained absolute confidence in Li Yang, the intensity of this energy was simply too terrifying, causing him to harbor faint doubts as to whether the great Majesty could truly endure it.

Above all else, in terms of loyalty, Lucien undoubtedly ranked first among Li Yang's numerous dependents. Not only him, but the loyalty of the entire Lycan tribe toward Li Yang was utterly unique.

Perhaps wolves and dogs shared similar origins; although Lucien possessed his own unique craftiness, his loyalty to Li Yang had never wavered.

If the vampire clan had submitted to Li Yang out of coercion by force and subsequently merely for benefits, the werewolf clan lacked such complicated motives; their loyalty stemmed entirely from the bottom of their hearts.

This was precisely why Li Yang had always held them in high regard.

Therefore, Lucien had no extraneous thoughts at present; he simply wanted to charge in and share some of the burden for Li Yang, even if it could only buy a fraction of a second—that would still be worthwhile.

Though he knew the probability of breaking through was virtually zero, he never once thought of giving up. Not just him, but every werewolf of the Lycan tribe felt the same way.

To Emilia, the actions of these werewolves were sheer foolishness. Knowing full well it was impossible, they still insisted on wasting their efforts there. She simply could not fathom what on earth was going on inside the dog brains of these beasts.