Even with Jiang Ye reducing most of its power, the heavenly lightning that crashed down still destroyed nearly half of the Tier Three talismans plastered across his body.
Without pausing, Jiang Ye grabbed another handful of talismans and slapped them all over himself.
The second golden-red heavenly lightning bolt crashed down with a deafening roar!
Jiang Ye repeated his tactic, swiftly unleashing 【Sword Cleaving Mountains and Rivers】.
The golden energy greatsword collapsed.
He popped pills to restore his mana.
Then he unleashed 【Sword Cleaving Mountains and Rivers】 once more!
But this time, the instant the second golden greatsword collapsed, the heavenly lightning crashed down relentlessly.
Clearly, the power of the heavenly lightning was stacking continuously!
BOOM!
A muffled thud echoed out.
Every single talisman on Jiang Ye shattered into dust.
The residual lightning instantly blasted into his body!
The 【Flowing Silver Ice Silk Armor】 he wore underneath emitted a faint glow, but it only managed to block a portion of the lightning's force.
A surge of rampant lightning struck his physical body head-on.
Violent electrical currents coursed wildly through his inside.
Jiang Ye could not help but let out a muffled grunt.
Even Bai Zhirou in his mind cried out in pain.
She had been silently enduring the agony ever since the lightning strike started, as the two of them currently shared pain perception.
A trace of blood leaked from the corner of Jiang Ye's mouth, dripping onto his scorched green martial robes, making him look rather battered.
He wiped his mouth and stuffed another handful of pills into his mouth.
BOOM—!!
Without giving him a single breath to recover, the third golden-red heavenly lightning bolt struck straight down!
Jiang Ye obviously had no time to slap on more talismans.
He swiftly retrieved a formation plate from his spatial ring, channeled his true qi, and slammed it onto the ground!
Activate! Tier Three 【Three Terranes Lightning-Defending Formation】!
The formation plate burst with radiant light as three thick layers of protective light barriers instantly rose, enveloping Jiang Ye at the center.
This Tier Three defensive formation—reputed to reduce the power of heavenly lightning by at least half—met the third lightning bolt head-on.
Half a breath—the first barrier shattered.
One breath—the second barrier shattered.
Two breaths—the third barrier shattered!
Failing to hold out for even three breaths, the formation was completely destroyed!
Jiang Ye gritted his teeth and unleashed 【Sword Cleaving Mountains and Rivers】 once more.
This time, however, the golden-red heavenly lightning's power had skyrocketed. The golden energy greatsword shattered the moment it made contact!
Undodgeable, unblockable.
Jiang Ye could only desperately circulate the 《Mystic Gang Sword Body Manual》, pushing his body's physical endurance to its absolute limit to tank this bolt head-on!
BOOM—!!!
The golden-red heavenly lightning crashed straight into Jiang Ye, stirring up a massive cloud of dense smoke and dust on the mountain peak.
The wind blew across.
The dust gradually dissipated.
Jiang Ye presented a truly tragic sight.
He was half-kneeling in the scorched crater, supporting himself with one hand as blood poured uncontrollably from his mouth. His sleeves were shredded, the glow of his treasure armor completely extinguished—clearly ruined beyond repair—and the Meteorite Greatsword had slipped from his grip, lying beside him.
The entire field fell dead silent.
The crowd looked at "Bai Zhirou" in the deep crater with extremely complex expressions.
There was regret, sympathy, reluctance to watch, and blatant schadenfreude.
Midair, the True Disciples of Sword Peak were all frowning deeply.
Were it not for the rules of heavenly tribulation—where an outsider intervening would draw the wrath of the Heavenly Dao and double the tribulation's power—they would have long since rushed down to help.
Qi Linger gripped Gu Qingxue's hand tightly. Both of their palms were soaked with sweat, making it impossible to tell whose hands were wetter.
Even Nangong Yue's brows knitted together tightly.
In Bai Zhirou's current low-health state, it would be nearly impossible to survive that final, almost guaranteed-lethal bolt of heavenly lightning.
“Hahaha!”
Midst the silence so profound that a pin drop could be heard, several harsh bursts of laughter suddenly erupted.
It came from the seven disciples pinned into the mud. Seeing Jiang Ye's tragic state, they burst into wild, hysterical laughter as if surviving a catastrophe:
“I knew it! I knew she wouldn't be able to tank it!”
“Yeah! Who does she think she is, trying to break through Nine Heavens Divine Lightning?! She's dead!”
“Hahaha! Just die already!”
The group of seven laughed maniacally like madmen.
Their emotions had swung wildly like a roller coaster, and seeing that "Bai Zhirou" was about to fail her attempt to tank the heavenly lightning filled them with utter delight.
As long as this crazy woman died, not only could they logically make their breakthroughs, but they would also receive the lavish rewards promised by their backer.
Meanwhile, half-kneeling in the massive crater, Jiang Ye felt a loud buzzing in his head as his consciousness sank continuously, eventually crashing into an endless, blood-red wasteland.
Across the wasteland, corpses littered the ground. Every human, demon, and fiend who had died by his hand across his previous nine playthroughs stood in the distance, staring at him with hollow, lifeless eyes.
Deep inside his mind, Bai Zhirou had been holding back from uttering a sound. The sheer terror of the heavenly lightning was far too overwhelming, and she had been terrified of distracting Jiang Ye.
Suddenly, her vision blurred, and she found herself standing in this blood-red space as well.
Beside her stood a tall figure with a blurred face, standing casually with his hands in his pockets.
The blurred figure suddenly turned to look at her. “Yo, Xiao Bai. You're here too.”
Bai Zhirou wore a look that said, "I knew it was you," but before the two could meet up in person and catch up—
RUMBLE! A loud crash echoed!
Countless corpses across the wasteland suddenly began to move.
They scrambled over one another, stacking up like a human pyramid, rapidly forming a mountain of corpses that pierced into the clouds.
Suddenly, the countless corpses began to roar at the top of their lungs, as if welcoming their king.
Step. Step. Step...
An arrogant figure climbed up step by step along the bone staircase made of stacked corpses. Standing at the peak, she looked down at the two of them from above, then sat straight back.
A throne forged from white bones and blood materialized out of thin air.
Sitting on the blood-red throne with her legs crossed, the figure rested her chin on one hand, looking down at them with intense amusement.
The two looked closer, only to realize the person on the throne... was actually a "blackened" version of Bai Zhirou!
Her long hair, originally jet-black, was now a striking blood-red. Her eyes, once clear as water, were now filled with endless playfulness and killing intent, and a faint sneer hung on the corner of her lips.
Bai Zhirou stared at this version of "herself," completely stunned.
Her appearance was like a completely different person! And that overwhelming killing intent—how many people would someone have to kill to condense a murderous aura so tangible?!
Beside her, Jiang Ye stroked his chin and nodded with satisfaction. “Not bad. Got a bit of my aura going on.”
Bai Zhirou: “...” Is now really the time to focus on outfit design?!
Looking at "Blood-Red Bai Zhirou" on the throne, Jiang Ye felt as though he were looking at himself from his third playthrough.
In his first two playthroughs, he had naively tried to be a good guy, acting heroically and fighting for justice, only to be framed by a bunch of "righteous" NPCs ganging up on him. He had been so furious he nearly got a stress ulcer!!
In a fit of rage, he had joined a demonic sect right at the start of his third playthrough. Thinking back to his playstyle back then, it was classic Paradox gamer scum behavior:
“What?! Killing white-named NPCs gives no experience? Just make them turn red-named then!”
“What?! Killing mortals gives no experience? Just turn them into cultists then!”
When it came to... player creativity and lack of moral bottom lines...
Back then, even a passing stray dog would be yanked into Jiang Ye's Ten Thousand Soul Banner to nourish his banner spirit.
Right then, "Blood-Red Bai Zhirou" on the throne suddenly stood up, spread her arms wide, and threw her head back in wild laughter:
“Hehehe! Jiang Ye, why hold yourself back in a game?! Kill freely! That's the real 'combat euphoria' way to play! Or have you forgotten the bond we shared back then?!”
Jiang Ye: “...”
Bai Zhirou: “...”
Jiang Ye could not help but snort, “So spreading your arms and laughing like that actually looks this stupid?!”
Bai Zhirou gave him a speechless look: You're just realizing that now? I've already watched you laugh like that twice.
Rate on N.U.
