Chapter 587: Nine Tribulation Lightning
Nine heaven’s tribulations lightning was an attack which Hui Yue had learned from the blue monk. It was a skill which he had gained more comprehension over after witnessing the Demon Lord use it in the Vermilion Bird’s memory.
The memory was rather brief, but it had left a lasting impression on Hui Yue's mind. Not only did he realize that this Demon Lord had hunted and killed everyone connected to the blue monk to gain his ability, but he also understood that this was an Ancestral Worldpower Skill which was many times more powerful than any other he had ever seen. It was even more powerful than the Phoenix Descent.
Having gained extra insight into the nine tribulations lightning, Hui Yue was no longer an easy target.
After the third tribulation lightning bolt had descended, the black skies above the stage turned purple. Shortly after, purple lightning descended which ruptured the world of darkness into thousands of pieces.
Soon the world of darkness collapsed, and when it did the Nightcrawler Sect's youth was incapable of remaining calm. He doubled over and spat out a mouthful of fresh blood from the backlash of having his technique forcefully dispelled before he finally regained his composure.
He never thought that someone of his generation could break his world of darkness so easily. It was a domain he had created after merging two daos under the dao of darkness, but even so, it was easily scattered by the lightning that Hui Yue commanded. Just what kind of lightning was this?!
Hui Yue did not pause after having summoned the first three lightning bolts. Although the world of darkness had been defeated, he had invested an enormous of Ancestral Worldpower to summon these nine tribulations lightning bolts and to stop now would be stupid.
Instead, he stretched out his hand and pointed at the youth in front of him. As soon as he did, a purple lightning bolt descended from the sky straight at the young man. The Nightcrawler Sect's youth narrowly escaped the first lightning bolt by activating some sort of dao which allowed for him to merge with the shadows and move from the location of one shadow to another.
It was very similar to the dao of the wind. Everywhere that there was wind, Hui Yue would be able to appear as if teleporting, but he still had not fully comprehended this dao.
It was similar to how this young man was capable of moving everywhere shadow were. It was clearly the dao of shadows that he had merged with the dao of devouring previously.
"I do not believe that it is impossible to hit you with lightning!" Hui Yue muttered to himself as he once more pointed towards the shadows on stage. This summoned two purple lightning bolts at the same time.
Once again the lightning bolts struck down faster than the eye could see, but even so, it was still possible for the Nightcrawler Sect's youth to avoid them right in the last second. One could see how close a call it really was as some of his clothes had disintegrated from the lightning, and burns were present on his body.
Neither Hui Yue nor the Nightcrawler Sect's youth were in great condition. Hui Yue had taken plenty of attacks from the whip while summoning the lightning bolts, and his clothes were shredded to pieces. But on the other hand, the Nightcrawler Sect's youth's clothes and skin had been burnt, putting him in just as sorry a state as Hui Yue.
Although the battle had begun rather recently, both were fighting with all their strength.
Having escaped the three purple lightning bolts, the sky changed color once more. It was no longer purple but a golden yellow! Lightning bolts at the most dangerous stage were gathering strength within the golden clouds. The air itself was filled with electricity making the hairs on everyone's arms stand up, and even Yanluo's eyes turned serious. Watching these golden clouds condense, he stood up and lifted his hands. Ancestral Worldpower gathered from his hands and encasing the stage with only an entry and exit at the top.
This way It was possible for the lightning bolts to enter into the barrier, but they would not be able to arc outside and wound the audience by accident.
The first golden lightning bolt descended from the heavens with an eerie silence, no boom of thunder could be heard, it all felt as if time stood still when the lightning bolt descended. It was many times bigger than the purple lightning bolt, and the power behind it made everyone feel as if their souls were forcefully being dragged from their bodies.
The Nightcrawler Sect's youth understood that he was no longer able to passively wait and see if Hui Yue could continue to fight when these lightning bolts finished raining down. He had to take action now! Realizing this, he threw the black whip on the stage after which he made various hand seals. After the hand seals were formed, the black whip started twisting on its own.
It was no longer a whip but a large black snake with red eyes and sharp teeth. This snake emitted a mist of black energy that surrounded it. It then quickly concealed itself in the shadows on the stage, vanishing from view.
Many started questioning if what they had seen was correct, or just their imagination running wild, but they were all cultivators, and their cultivation was not low. There was no way that their eyes were tricked when they were so focused on the fight in front of them.
The snake had just managed to escape as the terrifying golden lightning boomed outwards and an explosion erupted on stage. The explosion was so strong that it caused the entire stage to shatter and it flung rocks everywhere. Even Hui Yue, who had summoned the lightning, had to avoid the stones.
Just as he avoided one stone, he was unattentive for a short while and came close to the shadow. He lowered his body to avoid a massive boulder, but the moment he did he felt how two sharp teeth sunk deep into the flesh on his legs. Even the red gem was incapable of protecting him against these teeth.
As soon as the teeth entered his leg, Hui Yue felt that some sort of darkness entered his body, and soon he was filled with black energy.
Looking at Hui Yue, who now was standing completely still with vacant eyes, the Nightcrawler Sect's youth wiped the sweat off his brow and heaved a heavy sigh before he sat down on the stage. He closed his eyes as the black energy surrounded him.
The entire stage, which was broken into thousand of pieces, lapsed into silence. No one said a thing, but both experts were deep in a trance. Black mist radiated outwards from both experts at the same time, but where one was standing the other was sitting. It was clear that these two experts were fighting a different kind of battle.
In a black dimension, Hui Yue looked around. "It seems as if I got the worst out of our exchange of pointers so far," Hui Yue muttered to himself as he looked around. Although his mind had been transferred to this black world, it was not only his mind which had been transferred, his lives and Lan Feng had been transferred together with him.
Seeing that he was walking in a wasteland of black energy, Hui Yue finally came to the conclusion that instead of walking he would much rather stand still and prepare himself for the time when the youth found him.
Time flowed strangely within this black realm. As for whether one minute had passed or days, Hui Yue had simply no way to tell, but after some time, he understood that this other world had another kind of time ratio. It was clear that time flowed much slower within this world than it did outside.
"This darkness is annoying, but I do have some light," Hui Yue mumbled to himself as he considered what to do. With a flick of his hand, a flame appeared which lit up some of the desolate darkness.
He found that he was within a big black box that no light could penetrate. As the light shone from the flame, Hui Yue moved to the corners of the box and tried tapping it to see what materials it was made from; however, no matter how he looked at it, it was impossible to tell its composition.
It was smooth and hard like jade but pitch black like the darkest night. It was not possible to break it with force alone. Hui Yue had tried punching and kicking it with all his power, yet no matter how much he tried, he was unable to even leave a scratch.
Hui Yue quickly understood that he was just wasting time and that there was a possibility that he would be declared the loser if he did not do something soon. Therefore he reached inside himself. There was only one expert he could imagine who would be able to break out of something like this, but to do so, he needed to convince him.
Making a tear in the fabric of this reality would be as simple as scratching his head for the black figure, but he was not very friendly towards Hui Yue.
"Give up," the Nightcrawler Sect's youth's voice suddenly rang in the chamber.
"This is the result of merging three daos together. Escaping is near impossible, especially for younger experts like us," he continued with some pride in his voice.
Hui Yue did not answer. Instead, he focused on nothing more than conversing with the black figure.
"I know you are not likely to assist me without Huli being present, but I promise to tell Huli that you were the deciding factor in this battle," Hui Yue tried to tempt him, but nothing happened.
"It'll make Huli very happy if you assist me. She cannot help me in this tournament, but she did not mind because she knew that I had you by my side. She believes that you will assist me, you do not want to let her down do you?" Hui Yue continued, and the black figure finally started moving slightly. It seemed that Hui Yue's last words, the ones about disappointing Huli had quite the effect.
The black figure seemed to struggle for some time, clearly uncertain whether or not it should help, but in the end, Hui Yue could almost feel him sighing. He felt the black figure reach out to take over Hui Yue's body.
Although it was impossible to contact and converse with this black figure, it was clear that it was helping once and only once.
The moment Hui Yue merged with it, he felt how strength filled his body and with the Sword of Icy Tempest in his hand, he slashed at the air in front of him. A super fine line appeared as the entire world was sliced in half.
Hui Yue quickly returned to his own body as the black mist completely evaporated from him. Instantly, his vacant eyes once more turned lively.
Hui Yue did not waste any time. He felt that as soon as he had exited the domain made by the Nightcrawler Sect's youth, the black figure once more vanished back into Hui Yue’s core and that he was not willing to assist him any longer.
As he regained control over his body, Hui Yue charged forward towards the youth in front of him, and he swung down the sword in his hand.
The Nightcrawler Sect's youth opened his eyes in disbelief. He managed to nimbly avoid the sword, but his arm was slashed in the process, and the sword dug its way into his arm.
This wound was the most serious wound that had been inflicted so far in the battle, but it was far from enough to end the fight. Hui Yue was on high alert as he constantly guarded against the shadows and the young man in front of him. The battle was becoming increasingly desperate.