Chapter 1103: I am a Good Teacher

Whoosh! The colossal palm print gathered the surrounding spiritual energy, forming a massive wave that surged directly towards Zhang Xuan.

If he were struck, death would be inevitable.

"King Tianye, your opponent is me!" Wu Shi and President Han's pupils constricted as they hastily surged forward, intending to shield Zhang Xuan from the palm print.

"Don't go!" Luo Ruoxi's face fell, not having anticipated such a sudden turn of events, and she urgently shouted.

It was too late, however. Wu Shi and President Han had already entered the lightning's range. As True Qi surged wildly within them, and they managed to block the opponent's palm print, the thundercloud in the sky shook violently and suddenly doubled in size.

An even more powerful lightning bolt churned within it, poised to strike at any moment.

"What's happening?" Zhang Yinqiu's face turned pale.

Master Zhang had already struggled against the previous lightning; why would the thundercloud suddenly expand so greatly?

"Heaven and Earth's Conferred Sainthood trial increases the difficulty of the lightning based on the cultivator's strength. Wu Shi and President Han rushing into the lightning's range, with their strong auras, made the lightning think Master Zhang had achieved a breakthrough. Naturally, it then sent down more powerful lightning as punishment," Luo Ruoxi explained, her beautiful face turning pale.

"What do we do?" Zhang Yinqiu's body swayed.

"There's nothing we can do. None of us can intervene. The more we interfere, the stronger the backlash will be, and the greater the disaster for Master Zhang," Luo Ruoxi said, gritting her teeth.

Crack! Before she had even finished speaking, the rapidly expanded dark cloud had already gathered its power once more. The lightning, previously only as thick as a thigh, instantly became as thick as a person's waist and descended.

Boom! Zhang Xuan, already scorched black and with hair standing on end from the previous lightning strike, felt his entire body tearing apart even more as this new bolt of electricity slammed into him.

Blood gushed out wildly, and all the blood vessels in his body burst simultaneously. In an instant, his entire body was dyed crimson.

"Five Luminaries Golden Body!" With a low cry, light flickered within Zhang Xuan's body as he immediately activated the Five Luminaries Golden Body to its maximum.

This second lightning bolt was a Body Tribulation, designed to tear apart the physical body. Zhang Xuan could only rely on his most powerful body cultivation technique, the Five Luminaries Golden Body, to resist it.

Crack! Crack! Crack! Under the relentless assault of the lightning, the light shielding his body shattered layer by layer. His body, like fragile porcelain, developed cracks, and blood gushed out.

"How can it be this strong?" Zhang Xuan roared inwardly.

While the previous Soul Tribulation had been tough, he had still been able to contend with it. This Body Tribulation, however, was simply too powerful. His Five Luminaries Golden Body, which had reached the perfected realm, was like an eggshell against a hammer in front of it—utterly fragile and no match at all.

Creak! The cracks on his body widened rapidly as the lightning thoroughly permeated his physical form. Zhang Xuan felt as if his head and limbs were being pulled by five galloping horses, ready to be torn apart at any moment.

"Not five horses, but a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand!" As the lightning entered his body, it felt as if tens of thousands of galloping horses were pulling at every part of him, constantly expanding outwards, refusing to stop until he was torn to dust.

"I can't hold on!" The True Qi within him flowed like a surging river, sustaining him for a full nine breaths. But after the tenth breath, he felt he could no longer bear it; he was on the verge of exploding.

Although his talent was unparalleled and he cultivated the purest Heavenly Dao technique, he had now surpassed his limit and could no longer endure.

"No, I can't. If this continues, I'll surely die! You want to strike me down? I refuse to believe you have no flaws!" Gritting his teeth, Zhang Xuan looked towards the lightning in the sky.

So what if it's lightning? You may be powerful, but even the most formidable things have flaws and loopholes. As long as I find them, I can surely overcome this.

A book materialized. He hastily flipped it open.

Whoosh! A line of text appeared in his mind: "Second stage of the Conferred Sainthood Tribulation: Body Tribulation! It gathers the power of lightning to destroy the physical body and True Qi. The lightning contains explosive power, making it difficult to resist. Flaw: Possesses an extremely strong tearing effect on the physical body, but no effect on the soul; it is purely a physical attack."

"No attack on the soul?" His eyes lit up.

The previous Soul Tribulation had nearly torn his soul to shreds. If this one had no effect on the soul, he could absorb it entirely.

"Witch Soul, detach!" With a roar, his Witch Soul instantly leaped out from between his eyebrows. Opening its mouth wide, it began to swallow the relentless lightning descending from the sky.

Because the lightning was too dazzling, others didn't see his Witch Soul, assuming he had used some secret technique.

Zzzzzzt! As soon as the lightning entered his soul body, it instantly transformed into a powerful tonic, causing his soul power to surge continuously and his entire soul body to expand once more.

While a physical body encountering outward-expanding explosive force was like an inflating balloon, unable to bear it and destined to burst sooner or later, the soul was different. Even if it grew larger, it would at most become slightly diluted, remaining entirely unaffected.

Soon, the second lightning bolt was completely absorbed by his soul body, and his soul power once again reached ten meters.

Despite the increase in power, its purity remained undiminished. It was still incredibly potent, even more terrifying than before.

"Does this count as having passed the second Conferred Sainthood Tribulation?" His Witch Soul returned to his physical body, and seeing the second lightning bolt finally vanish from the sky, Zhang Xuan couldn't help but sigh in relief.

Fortunately, he had consulted the Library; otherwise, his physical body certainly wouldn't have been able to withstand it. With his soul having completely absorbed the lightning, he had endured the second stage. Without that, he would likely have been blasted into a pulp.

Rumble! As the second lightning bolt dissipated, the third one churned violently, poised to descend.

This lightning bolt was even larger, already a meter thick. Even before descending, it seemed intent on slaying its target, swearing not to stop until it succeeded.

Crack! It descended.

"Die!" At that moment, King Tianye pointed his finger again, and a bolt of sword qi shot forth, aiming directly at him.

Clearly, the previous failed sneak attack had enraged him. This time, he intended to take advantage of the final lightning bolt to completely eliminate Zhang Xuan.

Otherwise, if another Heavenly Acknowledged Saint emerged, their Otherworldly Demonic Tribe would undoubtedly face catastrophe once more.

This one finger strike contained the full power of his body, striking like a bolt of lightning.

Luo Ruoxi's eyes narrowed. Just as she was about to intervene, she saw a figure directly block the attack.

Puchi! The sword qi pierced the body, instantly tearing open a large hole.

Luo Ruoxi let out a breath of relief and remained still.

It was none other than Zhang Xuan's clone.

Seeing King Tianye cause trouble repeatedly, the clone could no longer tolerate it.

"How dare you attack my main body?! I'll kill you!" he roared furiously. His aura steadily climbed, and with a whoosh, he instantly charged into the sky.

"You...!" King Tianye was startled, not expecting this fellow to disregard his life and charge directly at him. He promptly sent out a palm strike.

Crack. While still in mid-air, the clone was again flattened into a paste. Yet, it didn't retreat in the slightest, instead continuing to desperately charge forward, lunging at him.

Zizizi! In a blink of an eye, the violent power tore at King Tianye's primordial spirit, causing it to dissipate slightly. He was clearly injured.

"Damn it!" King Tianye's face was grim, angered to the point of explosion, not expecting this fellow to be so reckless, like a frenzied jackal.

He didn't know what this fellow in front of him was made of. Not only was it fearless of death, but its body was like modeling clay, reforming no matter how it was attacked. Even though its strength was far inferior to his, being entangled by it was a complete headache.

"No, there's no point in getting entangled with them," King Tianye thought to himself, dodging the clone's attacks. "As long as I can merge the map and the crystal, I'll gain complete control over Qiuwu Palace. Even if he successfully achieves sainthood, he won't be able to do anything to me!"

Zhang Xuan was surrounded by lightning, and even King Tianye dared not approach. Launching a sneak attack from afar would be easily intercepted by others. Moreover, with this persistent clone fighting so desperately, another successful sneak attack was impossible.

For now, there was only one option: to quickly refine Qiuwu Palace. As long as he successfully gained control over the power of the entire palace, what did it matter if the other party achieved sainthood? They still wouldn't be his match!

"Get lost!" King Tianye roared furiously, sending the clone flying with a single palm strike. He then swiftly moved to the crystal and pressed his palm down upon it.

With a rapid rumble, the map and the crystal slowly began to merge.

"Quickly, stop him!" Zhang Yinqiu urgently cried out.

Wu Shi and President Han rushed forward, but they too were sent flying before they could even get close.

They had already fought for a while and sustained considerable injuries. Their True Qi was depleted, rendering them unable to resist King Tianye, who was fully intent on refining Qiuwu Palace.

"It's over," Zhang Yinqiu said, his face turning pale as he watched the map merge with the crystal and the shaking of Qiuwu Palace nearing its end.

At this point, any attempt to stop him was clearly too late.

"We can only hope Master Zhang successfully achieves sainthood. Perhaps that can still reverse the current situation," he thought, hastily looking towards Zhang Xuan on the Conferred Sainthood Platform.

At this moment, he was undergoing the final trial of the Conferred Sainthood Tribulation: the Heart Tribulation!

This was the most difficult stage, its danger far surpassing the previous two.

"The Heart Tribulation is too difficult; heart demons appear to bewitch people, and even the strongest individuals find it hard to resist. I hope he can withstand it!" Luo Ruoxi remained standing not far away, completely tense.

Although Zhang Xuan had endured the first two stages, the real challenge was this one. Failure here would result in the destruction of his mental state and complete death.

Training the body is easy, but training the mind is difficult.

Countless cultivators had perished not in battle, but due to heart demons encountered during cultivation.

Disregarding the worries and battles outside, Zhang Xuan was now completely immersed in a special mental state.

Although the Heart Tribulation lightning was thick, it caused no pain when it struck his body. Instead, it made him feel as if he had instantly entered an endless hell—dark, desolate, with no path forward, no future in sight.

The road was long, endless, and without direction, and he walked within it as if lost.

"Where am I? Where am I going?" A wave of confusion washed over him.

Boom! As he stood there, confused, a completely black, devil-like figure appeared before him. Its voice, filled with deep temptation, said: "The cultivation technique you practice is wrong! Continuing to cultivate it will only lead to a dead end!"

"Wrong?" Zhang Xuan was startled. As if by reflex, his previously somewhat confused eyes snapped open. "You say my cultivation is wrong? It seems you're the one with cultivation problems. How about this: you can learn from me. I can guide you. Don't worry, I'm a very good teacher!"

...The heart demon was speechless.