194: The Smile of the Sword God

Light!

Endless white light erupted in an instant.

The light that was previously as bright and gentle as moonlight suddenly erupted from Liu Rufeng's body, blooming with a radiance that far surpassed the scorching sun, with strands of Sword Qi held back but not released.

Xu Le heard a soft sound, as if some barrier had been broken; the Sword Intent hidden within Liu Rufeng suddenly erupted, soaring straight into the clouds.

A beam of white light bloomed directly from Liu Rufeng, piercing straight through heaven and earth.

Rumble... Thunderclouds gathered, whistling and surging, with purple light faintly visible weaving through them.

The Heavenly Dao sensed someone attempting to prove their Dao and become a god, and it was rushing over to stop them.

The wind rose.

The Sword Intent on Liu Rufeng's body became increasingly dense and sharp; just as it approached Divine-Grade power, the thunder in the sky finally moved.

Boom!

A bolt of purple lightning struck down; Liu Rufeng neither dodged nor avoided it, keeping his eyes closed as he slashed his sword at the purple lightning.

Boom, boom, boom!

The Heavenly Dao seemed to be enraged, sending down three consecutive bolts of purple lightning so dark they appeared black.

Liu Rufeng struck like a Dragon, slashing three times in succession; three sword lights that pierced the firmament collided with the purple lightning, twisting and merging before finally dissipating into nothingness.

Rumble... The Heavenly Dao grew even angrier, raining down nine consecutive bolts of purple lightning, dyeing the entire night purple.

Not only the Ascension Platform, but the entire First District could see the purple light outside.

Xu Le's gaze was worried; although he hadn't experienced it himself, he felt he wouldn't be able to withstand nine bolts of lightning.

And this was only the beginning, not the end.

Thousand-Year Fish: "In a thousand years, this world is likely seeing someone prove their Dao and become a god for the first time. The Lightning Tribulation is increasing threefold each time. If there are only three waves of tribulations, he still has hope; if there are six or nine, he's dead for sure!"

Xu Le asked, "Can we help him?"

Thousand-Year Fish shook its head: "We can't. These lightning bolts are locked on. Unless we could immediately draw out Chaos Divine Thunder, the power and attention directed here would naturally weaken. But whoever draws out the Chaos Divine Thunder would be doomed, with not even ashes remaining."

Xu Le now knew the power of Chaos Divine Thunder; a single bolt was equivalent to at least a hundred purple lightning bolts, and it struck instantaneously. If left unopposed, it was a terrifying force capable of shattering the Blue Star into pieces.

Liu Rufeng's gaze was cold as he gripped his sword and fiercely slashed at the purple lightning in the sky.

One, two... but as he struck the eighth strand of Sword Qi, his body faltered. Just as he released the ninth, he was struck by the purple lightning; his entire body trembled, but he barely managed to block it.

It might not be visible on the live stream, but Xu Le could clearly see Old Man Liu's body trembling uncontrollably.

Rumble... Thunder roared in the sky once more.

This wave consisted of a full twenty-seven bolts of purple lightning.

With Old Man Liu's body, he absolutely couldn't withstand it; nine bolts were his limit.

Furthermore, with Old Man Liu's body trembling as it was, he probably couldn't even withstand three bolts.

Xu Le quickly checked his items, gritted his teeth, and plucked a True Immortal Coil, tossing it over.

A True Immortal Coil could not only help a Professional increase their rank but was also the finest holy medicine for healing.

He only had three True Fruits left now, making them exceptionally precious.

Liu Rufeng caught the fruit, a flash of surprise in his eyes, and swallowed it. He immediately felt his body fill with power as all his injuries vanished; even permanent sequelae from his early years were cleared, leaving him in the best possible physical condition.

Kill!

His Sword Intent erupted, and the sword in his hand moved like a blur. In less than a minute, he actually slashed out a full twenty-five strands of Sword Qi; the last two were slightly delayed but were still successfully released before the purple lightning reached him.

In the live stream.

Bullet comments were flying wildly.

Originally, there were only about 10 million people online, but as news of this scene spread, the numbers skyrocketed. Within less than three minutes, the audience reached 150 million, more than ten times the previous amount.

[Sword God is awesome! +99999999]

[Wishing the Sword God great martial fortune and the fulfillment of his desires. +9999999]

[How magnificent is our Great Zhou! Great Zhou is mighty! +100 million]

[What can mere purple lightning do to our Sword God? +88888888]

...Rumble... The thunderclouds brewed for a long time, with countless bolts of purple lightning weaving and roaring within.

Xu Le sighed, no longer holding any hope.

This wave should be eighty-one bolts of purple lightning; even giving all the immortal coils to Liu Rufeng would be useless.

He can't withstand it!

Even the thick-skinned Void Creatures in the Void Realm would never be able to withstand this violent lightning.

Even Xu Le felt a sense of sorrow in his heart.

Attaining godhood is hard, harder than climbing to the blue heavens!

Yet he still kept his bright, spirited eyes wide open; he wanted to engrave this scene into his memory.

Eighty-one purple lightning bolts roared as they descended, with a momentum so great it could be called world-destroying.

The director in charge of the live stream trembled all over, and along with the staff, abandoned the cameras and turned to flee.

It was too terrifying!

If that wave of lightning struck, the entire Ascension Platform would likely be blasted into a giant crater.

But Xu Le sensed a different flavor to it.

These lightning bolts looked exactly like the previous ones, but they had changed; they seemed to be all show and no substance.

Liu Rufeng's sword moved like the wind, the effect of the immortal coil still active. He slashed out twenty-five strands of Sword Qi in succession before his body was struck by fifty-six bolts of purple lightning.

The purple lightning surged wildly through his body, its momentum terrifying, but that was all.

A mortal body actually withstanding the rampage of fifty-six lightning bolts—forget science, even Conan wouldn't believe it!

Rumble~

The sky turned completely purple.

Countless thunderclouds brewed and rolled in the sky; purple electric arcs could be seen with the naked eye weaving and wandering between the clouds.

This time, even though the effect of the previous immortal coil remained, Liu Rufeng only managed to swing three strands of Sword Qi before being struck by over two hundred bolts of purple lightning.

Boom, boom, boom... The purple lightning struck one after another. Seeing that only the last few remained, Liu Rufeng was still perfectly intact.

However, his expression changed drastically, from excitement to realization, from realization to despair, and finally to a bitter smile.

Then, he drew his sword and slit his own throat.

Whoosh!

The bullet comments that had been flying non-stop froze for an instant, then suddenly exploded.

[Sword God??? Did my eyes just deceive me?]

[No way, no way! Is this some kind of sick joke today?]

[Lightning Tribulation Expert: Sword Saint Liu's strength is unparalleled, but alas, he carelessly fell victim to the Soul-Bewildering Lightning. For details, enter the link: www.LightningTribulationEncyclopedia.com]

[Help me, I'm under an illusion; I think I saw the Sword God commit suicide.]

...Xu Le was similarly rooted to the spot.

He watched as the final bolt of lightning dissipated directly because of Liu Rufeng's death.

He clearly could have survived the Lightning Tribulation, yet he gave up at the last moment.

Seeing Xu Le looking lost and dejected, Thousand-Year Fish suddenly spoke: "Do you really think he could withstand hundreds of purple lightning bolts?"

Xu Le thought of the Shadows, divine statues, and Cultists who had been accurately struck by purple lightning under his "guidance"; it seemed no one could withstand even a single bolt.

Yet Old Man Liu had somehow endured, under the radiance of the Light of Human Faith, withstanding over two hundred bolts in a row.

If he hadn't chosen to slit his throat at the last moment, he would have certainly passed the Lightning Tribulation.

What did his final expression mean?