101: Pinnacle of Humanity

Red-gold lightning struck Shen Xiaochuan, sending him sliding back a great distance. His feet carved two black marks into the ground. His skin split open, flesh was exposed, and his bones creaked and cracked, but he did not fall.

He raised his hand, smoke rising from his fingers as he pointed toward the sky.

Lightning was gathering in the sky once more.

He had already been struck by too many bolts, and he had been counting them in his mind. It wasn't fourteen; it was the three thousand seven hundred and twenty-first. Every single one felt as if it had been etched into his bones.

His body had long since shattered; he was relying entirely on the Thunder Force within him to support his skeleton and the +1 energy replenishment per second to keep going. His mind felt like it was about to snap, as if he could lose consciousness at any moment, yet he remained awake.

The people in the city came out.

The Old Craftsman stood at his doorway and looked up. Lolia ran out from beside her machinery, oil still on her hands. A middle-aged woman buying groceries held her child, standing motionless. Everyone gazed at the sky.

The clouds in the sky were purple, with a hole torn through the center where lightning rolled within.

"Is the Lord... still up there?" someone asked in a whisper.

No one answered.

They saw another bolt of lightning fall.

Shen Xiaochuan was smashed down to his knees, which sank into the stone. His left arm was gone, leaving only white bone at the shoulder, and his right lower leg was broken into several pieces. Blood flowed down, but it was scorched dry before it could even hit the ground.

He gritted his teeth and forced his body upright.

"I'm not finished yet."

His voice wasn't loud, but it was heard throughout the Star-Gazing Platform.

He used his still-movable right hand to wipe the blood and ash from his face, revealing a pair of bright eyes.

Pale gold patterns shifted beneath his skin; it was his armor performing automatic repairs. A copper gear pendant hung at his chest, glowing red-hot like a piece of forged iron.

It hadn't shattered.

Nor had it fallen off.

Shen Xiaochuan glanced down at the pendant and touched it gently.

"Given by my parents... I can't lose it."

He stood up.

He didn't use his legs to stand; instead, he relied on Thunder Force to lift his body off the ground.

The wind began to swirl around him.

The four thousandth bolt of lightning arrived.

This bolt was so fast it was almost invisible. He turned in mid-air and took the hit with his back.

Boom!

His spine snapped, only to be reconnected within the light of the lightning.

When the five thousandth bolt came, he spoke.

His voice was raspy but firm: "Again!"

At the six thousandth bolt, he said through gritted teeth: "I will not retreat!"

At the seven thousandth bolt, he looked up and shouted: "Bring it on!"

The people in the city were trembling. It wasn't from fear of the lightning, but from the vibration of his voice. It didn't sound like a human voice; it sounded like thunder.

When the eight thousandth bolt of lightning fell, the clouds changed.

They were no longer purple or gold; they turned a deep black.

The air became very heavy, making it hard to breathe.

"It's about to end," the Old Craftsman said. "The final wave."

He recognized this celestial phenomenon. Legend had it that when Ancient Gods were Undergoing Tribulation, the final nine bolts of lightning were illusory; they didn't strike the body, but the heart.

The nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-eighth bolt of lightning fell.

Shen Xiaochuan stood there, feeling a chill in his chest.

It wasn't pain.

It was emptiness.

It felt as if his internal organs had all been hollowed out.

He closed his eyes for a moment.

He opened them immediately.

"No... I'm not finished yet."

He reached out and pressed his hand to his chest, where he could feel the warmth of the pendant and his heartbeat.

Thump, thump.

He was counting.

When the nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-ninth bolt was due, the sky suddenly went silent.

The clouds didn't move, the wind didn't blow, and even the lightning vanished.

A beam of light descended from the hole in the clouds.

It was transparent, like a fine silk thread.

No one could see its path, but it was there.

Shen Xiaochuan looked up.

He knew this was the last one.

He didn't wait.

He charged upward on his own.

He slammed headlong into that illusory lightning.

The lightning light erupted, imploding inward.

His body lit up from within; his blood vessels, bones, and Meridians all became translucent. The numbers on the combat power panel before his eyes jumped rapidly: 498... 499... 500!

[combat power has exceeded the threshold. Promoted to Transcendent!]

When the System prompt sounded, he smiled.

There was blood on his teeth.

"Finally... I've reached it."

He floated in the air, three hundred yards above the ground, his clothes tattered and his body covered in wounds, yet he stood straight.

The people in the city were shouting.

Some wanted to kneel, but those beside them held them back.

"Don't kneel. The Lord doesn't like it."

"But is he... still human now?"

No one answered.

Shen Xiaochuan stood at his high vantage point, looking down at Skydome City. Lights flickered on one by one, like stars fallen to the earth.

He looked down at his own hands.

Lightning flowed in his palms; he could clearly see how every thread of energy moved.

"Is that it?" he asked in a low voice.

Then he shook his head.

"Not enough."

He looked up and roared: "Not enough! Again!"

His voice exploded like a thunderstorm.

The clouds shook violently.

A golden light tore through the sky.

It wasn't lightning.

It was something more ancient than lightning.

A golden pillar of lightning descended from the heavens, striking directly into the top of his head.

His body jerked straight, his eyes rolled back, and his Soul felt as if it were being torn out and then stuffed back in.

[Detected Will of the Transcendent Sequence, triggering Ancient Response]

[Comprehended God Sequence 003: Heaven's Punishment]

[Comprehended God Sequence 009: Purple Firmament Divine Lightning]

Two lines of text appeared in his mind.

He didn't look at them.

All of his attention was focused inside his body.

Two forces were clashing. "Heaven's Punishment" was like a chain, suppressing everything that refused to submit; "Purple Firmament Divine Lightning" was like a clear stream, repairing his entire body.

They were incompatible.

One wanted to suppress, the other to nourish.

His Divine Soul was on the verge of being torn apart.

"Stop!" he roared.

He used the method from The Record of Trades.

He applied Yin and Yang together, unifying movement and stillness.

He guided "Heaven's Punishment" into his limbs, letting the chains bind the wild Thunder Force; he sank the "Purple Firmament Divine Lightning" into his Dantian, turning it into a warm current that slowly mended the cracks.

Golden and purple light swirled around him.

One cycle, then another.

Three hundred yards high in the air, he remained motionless.

His clothes were ruined, but new energy wove a layer of luminous raiment.

His hair came loose, then gathered itself back together, tied behind his head.

His eyes turned the color of a lightning pool, with faint starlight deep within.

Someone below the city shouted: "The Lord has changed!"

It was true; he had changed.

It wasn't just that he was stronger; his entire being was different.

He looked down at Skydome City, his voice not loud, yet heard by everyone:

"I have just achieved a Breakthrough."

No one below responded.

They were still in a daze.

"I said, I have reached the Peak of Humanity."

He raised his hand, and a bolt of purple-gold lightning appeared in his palm.

With a gentle squeeze, the lightning exploded—without sound, and without wind.

But on the ground three hundred yards below, a three-inch-wide crack split open, extending straight for fifty meters.

"Do you see?"

He asked.

No one dared to answer.

He didn't need an answer.

He turned to face the remaining golden lightning in the sky.

"What you gave, I have accepted."

"But I'm not finished yet."

He paused for a second.

"Next, who's coming?"

His right hand was raised, lightning dancing between his fingers.

His left hand was pressed against his chest, where the copper gear pendant rested quietly against his skin.

The wind blew up from below, fluttering the tattered hem of his clothes.

He did not descend to the ground.