74: Chapter 74 A Heavenly Tribulation Strikes, the Entire School Thinks It's the End of the World

Above Tianqiong War God Academy, before the warm colors of the sunset could even fade, the sky darkened without warning.

Inky black clouds didn't just gather; they crashed down in a solid mass, like a giant cauldron being overturned onto the academy.

The clouds were so thick they made it hard to breathe, with purplish-red lightning darting within, thunder holding its breath.

The wind stopped abruptly; the rustling of leaves from a second ago vanished, and the air became as sticky as glue, stiflingly oppressive.

This was no ordinary thunderstorm.

A surge of pressure seeped directly from the soul, as if some giant beast was above the clouds, looking down at the ants below, ready to open its mouth at any moment.

"My god! What... what's happening?"

In the boys' dormitory, a student who had just finished washing his hair wrapped a towel around his head and looked out the window. His hands trembled, and his washbasin fell to the floor with a clang, shattering.

"A beast tide attacking the city? Or has a Seal on some forbidden zone broken?"

"Run! This pressure—it's definitely a King-rank Vicious Beast!"

The academy instantly descended into chaos. Those training on the field, getting food in the cafeteria, or dating in the woods all became like headless flies, running and bumping into each other across the campus. Screams, alarms, and cursing blended together, creating a deafening racket.

On the top floor of the academy's tallest administration building.

In front of the floor-to-ceiling window of the Dean's office stood an old man in a Zhongshan suit, with white hair and a spirited appearance. He was the Dean Dean.

This old man, usually as steady as a mountain, was staring intently toward Dormitory 404, his brow furrowed deeply enough to crush a crab.

"This Qi..." Dean's fingers tapped unconsciously on the windowsill. "So fierce and masculine, yet carrying a madness that wants to destroy everything... Is someone Undergoing Tribulation?"

"But that's not right, Dean." Beside him, the Dean of Discipline Dean of Students, wearing newly bought sunglasses to hide his dark circles, leaned in with a shaky voice. "No one in the academy has reported an upcoming Breakthrough to the Martial God Realm recently. Besides, even a Martial God Tribulation wouldn't have such a massive scale, would it?"

Dean shook his head, his gaze becoming profound.

"It's not a Martial God Tribulation."

"There is purple-gold Qi in these tribulation clouds. It's the legendary... Golden Core Tribulation."

"Golden Core?" Dean of Students froze for a moment and gave a hollow laugh. "Dean, stop joking. That's stuff from the old era of cultivators. Nowadays, it's scientific martial arts; everyone unlocks Gene Locks and comprehends Martial Intent..."

BOOM—!

Before Dean of Students could finish, the cloud vortex in the sky shuddered violently. A bolt of purple lightning as thick as a barrel tore through the clouds like a dragon's claw, striking accurately toward the lonely Dormitory 404 in the corner of the academy.

"Look at that location..." Dean's pupils constricted sharply. "Isn't that where our 'special talent' lives?"

Dean of Students took off his sunglasses, squinted hard to see, and his Face immediately fell as if he had swallowed a dead fly.

"Gu... Gu Fan?"

At the very center of the storm.

On the roof of Dormitory 404.

Gu Fan was wearing loose casual clothes, with his signature flip-flops on his feet and a large black umbrella he'd bought for ten yuan at a street stall in his hand.

The wind whipped his clothes around, but the flip-flops on his feet seemed rooted to the ground, perfectly steady.

"Tsk, what a spectacle." Gu Fan looked up at the tribulation clouds that were nearly pressing down on the lightning rod, his Face full of impatience. "I'm just having hotpot, is this really necessary? Anyone who didn't know better would think I kidnapped the Jade Emperor's daughter."

[Ding! Detected that the host is being locked on by the 'Will of Heaven and Earth.']

[Malice Source: Heavenly Dao.]

[Malice Description: You cultivate the Heaven-Defying Cultivation Technique "Great Dao Returns to One Art," carry a pile of Karma, and yet you still want to take it easy. The Heavenly Dao has been displeased with you for a long time.]

[Current Malice Intensity: Off the charts.]

[Suggestion: host, stop trying to tough it out. At least resist a little, or you'll really be turned to ash.]

Gu Fan curled his lip and opened the black umbrella in his hand. This was naturally no ordinary object; it was the [Disposable Karma-Evasion Umbrella (Pseudo)] he had just exchanged for 50 malice points. Although the name had "Pseudo" in it, he had to give it a try.

"Come on, hurry up and get it over with. My meat slices are getting cold." Gu Fan yawned and even freed up one hand to flip the bird at the sky.

This was like lighting a powder keg.

BOOM—!!!

The sky completely split open.

That purple thunder dragon, which had been holding back for so long, crashed down with an ear-shattering roar. The world instantly lost its color, leaving only a blinding purple-white light.

On the lawn downstairs.

Xiao Fan and Lin Xue were hiding in their newly bought "Starry Sky Luxury Tent," instinctively hugging each other.

"President... the President is still on the roof!" Xiao Fan watched the terrifying lightning crash down through the tent's transparent roof window, his eyes turning red with anxiety. "He's not wearing armor! He hasn't activated a spirit shield! He's just holding a broken umbrella!"

"Is he crazy?!" Lin Xue's Face was also white with fear, the throwing knife in her hand warping under her grip. "That kind of energy—an A-rank Gene Warrior would be obliterated just by touching it! Does he really think he's a Lightning Rod Spirit?"

In the next second, their worldviews shattered.

When that thunder dragon, capable of leveling the entire building, hit the black umbrella, it didn't produce the expected loud bang or destruction.

Only a "sizzle" was heard, like hot oil being poured into cold water.

The thick lightning slid along the surface of the umbrella in a strange arc, entered the handle, flowed through Gu Fan's arm, and finally poured entirely into his body.

Gu Fan lit up like a light bulb, his hair standing on end, looking exactly like a transformed Saiyan. He opened his mouth and puffed out a cloud of black smoke.

"Cough, cough..."

Gu Fan shook his body, forcefully pressing the electric current rampaging through his Meridians into the vortex in his Dantian. Driven by this massive energy, a certain Bottleneck in his body finally moved forward a small step.

Crack.

The Bottleneck shattered.

"Refreshing!" Instead of falling, Gu Fan let out a comfortable groan. "That's the stuff. A bit tingly, like getting a top-tier massage."

In the distance, everyone watching the spectacle stood there in a daze.

Especially Zhao Tiezhu, who was mixed in with the crowd. He had been gloating, cursing Gu Fan to be struck into ash, only to witness this scene.

This guy caught heavenly lightning with a broken umbrella? And even called it refreshing?

"Is he even fucking human?!" Zhao Tiezhu's facial muscles twitched with rage as he roared at the top of his lungs, "God, are you blind?! Turn up the intensity! Strike him dead!"

He wasn't the only one. The students who usually disliked Gu Fan, along with the instructors who thought he was just messing around, all felt a sense of absurdity and resentment.

Why? We're scared to death of using our phones on a rainy day, yet this guy is on the roof using heavenly lightning as a tonic?

This intense psychological imbalance quickly turned into pure negative emotions.

[Ding! Detected malice from 'Zhao Tiezhu': 'Jealousy to the Point of Plasmolysis.']

[Ding! Detected malice from 'Random Bystanders A, B, C, and D': 'Cognitive Collapse.']

[Malice values accumulating. 8%... 99.9%...]

Standing on the roof, Gu Fan watched the numbers jumping wildly on the System panel, the corners of his mouth curling up. Just a little bit more.

He looked up at the sky. The first bolt of lightning was just an appetizer. The cloud vortex above was spinning even more frantically, and in the center of the vortex, an unsettling dark gold was taking shape. The second bolt was coming, and its power would be at least ten times that of the previous one.

"It seems God cares a lot about Face too." Gu Fan tossed away the umbrella frame, which had been roasted into charcoal, and clapped his hands.

He could feel the Golden Core forming in his body reaching its most critical moment, needing more intense energy and stronger stimulation.

It also needed... more malice.

Gu Fan turned around, his gaze piercing through the night, locking onto Zhao Tiezhu's direction with precision, revealing a set of teeth that looked exceptionally white in the dark.

He drew in a breath, and though his voice wasn't loud, it was amplified by spiritual power, carrying clearly into everyone's ears:

"Hey! You, the bald student over there!"

"Don't just shout 'keep it up'!"

"I know you want me dead, and I know you're all waiting to see me become a joke."

"But, I'm sorry to disappoint."

Gu Fan spread his hands, striking a particularly punchable pose:

"Tonight's grand fireworks show—I, Gu Fan, have booked the whole venue."