Chapter 1852: Giving the Thunder Tribulation the Cultivation Method

Before the long saber even reached him, the muscles of his arm were stripped away!

No wonder it was a tribulation of Shattering Void; it was truly terrifying!

With a roar, all the power within Zhang Xuan surged: True Qi, physical body, and Witch Soul—a trinity that instantly made the surrounding space viscous.

The Ancient Sage Tribulation was the Dao of Heaven's pressure on cultivators, forcing them to undergo a transformation. Using weapons would weaken this effect, and worse, might even trigger further transformation, making the tribulation even more immense and unpredictable. It was similar to the Out-of-Body Tribulation, where the power differed completely if one person underwent it versus two. For this reason, he did not use the Dragon Bone Divine Spear, but instead relied on his own strength to resist it.

The combined attack was powerful; even ordinary Ancient Sages at the Hundred Schools of Philosophers realm would find it hard to break through quickly. However, before the thunderous saber in the air, it was laughably childish. In the blink of an eye, the solidified defense was torn apart, and immediately, all the muscles on Zhang Xuan's upper body were peeled away, revealing bare bones.

The pain! He was not yet at the Blood Rebirth realm. The separation of bone and flesh caused intense pain that assailed his mind, making him dizzy in waves. All his clothes turned to ash, evaporating completely in an instant, leaving him as a shriveled skeleton.

The Thunder Soldier Tribulation was truly terrifying, utterly beyond his current cultivation level to resist. From the moment he began resisting the saber until his muscles and blood were completely consumed, he had lasted less than two breaths. Yet, the long saber had not even fully descended. If its aura alone could inflict such damage, then its full descent would likely reduce him to dust.

"I've overplayed my hand..." A thought surfaced in his mind. He had initially thought he might seize this opportunity to reach Ancient Sage in both his physical body and True Qi, but he hadn't expected to push it too far, now finding it beyond his control.

"It won't be that easy to kill me, Zhang Xuan!" Knowing that holding back any longer would mean certain death, he shifted his mind. An identical physical body abruptly appeared before him and flew straight towards the long saber in the air. It was his clone!

"My main body couldn't even block a single bolt of lightning, how disgraceful! Watch me shatter this with my own power!" his clone roared proudly upon appearing and flew straight towards the long saber.

Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief and once again took out the Blood Rebirth-grade Ancient God's Blood to nourish his entire body. At this point, he was merely a skeleton; without this item, he would have surely died completely long ago. Under the nourishment of the blood, his previously vanished muscles slowly recovered. The process was very slow, seemingly requiring several years to fully complete, but at least he could recover and avoid dying on the spot.

Shaking his head, Zhang Xuan looked up at his clone in the air. He saw that even his clone couldn't withstand the saber in the air. However, the clone's body was refined from a Nine Heaven Lotus Embryo. When the long saber split it in half, it would reassemble itself like a liquid, leaving the Thunder Soldier Tribulation with no immediate solution.

"Is that a clone?"

"Such a powerful clone, doesn't that mean it's immortal?"

The surrounding crowd, seeing the clone for the first time, were all utterly astonished. Ancient Sage Mo Ling, in particular, trembled with excitement. Witch Soul Masters desired such a body most—undying and imperishable. Possessing it would grant eternal life, freeing them from fear.

"It's still too weak; it can't withstand it..." Seeing that the clone was slowing it down, the long saber's descent rate had indeed decreased significantly, but it was still falling relentlessly. Before long, it would still shatter the clone's soul. Zhang Xuan could no longer worry about anything else. With a flick of his wrist, the Relic Stone reappeared and shot straight towards the clone.

The Relic Stone still contained nearly half its soul power, which amounted to the souls of approximately fifty thousand Saint realm experts. This power surged into the clone's body. The clone, originally formed from half of Zhang Xuan's soul, instantly absorbed such a massive amount of soul power. Its strength rapidly soared, consolidating in the blink of an eye.

After more than ten breaths, it broke through the shackles of the Immortal Realm Great Perfection and charged towards the Ancient Sage level. The scroll unfurled, and the power of Ancient Sage poured into the clone's body. The clone quickly broke through the barrier, ascending to a higher realm. This was not because the clone's talent surpassed the main body, but rather because the main body had already experienced it once. At this moment, with no reservations, their souls communicated and shared experience. This allowed it to succeed in one fell swoop.

As soon as the clone broke through, dark clouds gathered again, and the long saber absorbed the lightning and heavenly fire, growing even more powerful. Zhang Xuan's eyebrow twitched. He had thought that by allowing his clone to break through, it could block the Thunder Soldier Tribulation. He hadn't expected that its breakthrough would trigger another wave... Since the clone shared the same soul as him, this was essentially the fourth lightning tribulation.

After absorbing the lightning summoned by the clone, the long saber doubled in power, becoming as black as ink. The sky fractured with cracks under its oppressive force, its might so immense that even the Dragon Bone Divine Spear would not dare to resist it. His scalp tingled; Zhang Xuan's skeleton felt as if it could be crushed to powder at any moment.

"If I let it fall, I'll surely die!" Aware of the long saber's immense power, Zhang Xuan rushed forward, following behind his clone. This saber was truly terrifying; if they didn't block it, they would certainly die.

The long saber, imbued with the power to dissolve everything, struck the clone, tearing open a massive gash. Even though the clone had broken through to Ancient Sage, it still couldn't withstand such a powerful tribulation. Resisting alongside his clone, both of them tore through the firmament, and the long saber's descent indeed slowed. However, with their combined power, it was still somewhat insufficient to fully resist.

"Quick, find someone who's about to break through—someone who can trigger a lightning tribulation..." Knowing that it would definitely strike him dead if it fully descended, Zhang Xuan turned to Emperor Chen Yong.

"Undergo tribulation? Someone who can trigger a lightning tribulation?" Everyone was stunned. However, Emperor Chen Yong knew that Young Master's actions had a purpose, so he didn't waste words. He immediately turned to Liu Yang at his side: "Go find them quickly..."

"Alright!" Liu Yang nodded and quickly found a powerful expert in his group who was about to break through to Saint 9-dan. A surge of power entered the expert's body, immediately succeeding in the breakthrough and similarly drawing forth dense lightning clouds.

"Excellent..." Seeing this lightning tribulation, Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief. With a shift in his mind, he quickly shouted, "Little Tribulation, is that you?" The Thunder Soldier Tribulation before him was clearly not the one he was familiar with. He could only try to find the familiar one and see if there was any connection between the two lightning tribulations, hoping it could persuade the current one.

The dark clouds above the expert's head, hearing the call, swayed slightly, twisted their form, and involuntarily flew towards Zhang Xuan.

"I have a method to increase the power of lightning, and I will impart it to you now... However, you must block this great saber for me..." Zhang Xuan activated his Master Teacher's Impartation of Heavenly Will, and quickly explained a set of cultivation techniques in detail. He had previously identified this tribulation's flaws and had long prepared how to guide it. Now, he was merely following the steps and speaking them aloud.

"Is this... guiding a lightning tribulation?"

"Is this lightning tribulation his pet?"

Everyone was completely dumbfounded.