449: The curtain falls

However, the might of the Heavenly Tribulation grew stronger with each successive wave!

Before the energy of the first wave of Lightning Tribulation had fully dissipated, the triple tribulation clouds above the firmament seemed thoroughly enraged, beginning an even more frenzied accumulation!

The aura of destruction climbed exponentially!

The second wave, the third wave, the fourth wave... the terrifying Lightning Tribulations were like whips of destruction wielded by the Heavenly Dao, each wave stronger than the last, relentlessly lashing down upon the summit.

Blood trickled from the corners of her mouth and her clothes were tattered, but the coldness and stubbornness in her eyes only grew more intense.

She was like a dancer walking on the edge of destruction, crazily devouring and refining.

Turning the world-ending lightning into part of her own Saint Foundation, her aura climbed steadily amidst the cycle of destruction and rebirth, becoming increasingly profound and terrifying.

Xiao Ruobai had already transformed into a dark-gold God of War, charging and slashing through lightning spears and phantoms of gods and demons.

His body was repeatedly blasted open with torn flesh and broken bones, his crimson-gold God of War blood falling like rain, only to be forcibly healed in the next instant by his boiling Battle Intent and undying vitality.

He fought with increasing courage, his Battle Intent soaring to the heavens as if he intended to punch through the very world!

Fang Hanyu, meanwhile, remained standing still. With the longsword in his hand moving, his Moves were simplified to the extreme, yet they contained a supreme mystery capable of severing Laws.

The sword domain before him became increasingly solid, transforming from a single sword mark into a hazy Chaos Sword Realm.

Any Lightning Tribulation that fell into it was instantly decomposed and assimilated.

His aura remained steady, but with every Lightning Tribulation he withstood, the sword-light in his eyes brightened a fraction. He was like a peerless divine weapon being tempered a thousand times over by the Heavenly Tribulation, his sharpness becoming more restrained yet increasingly dangerous.

The summit had completely transformed into a chaotic ocean of lightning, with only three tiny yet incredibly resilient figures floating and struggling within it.

When the eighth wave of Lightning Tribulation fell violently, its power had already reached an inconceivable level!

At this moment, the triple tribulation clouds actually began a Fusion!

Interweaving and entangling with one another, they gave rise to an even more bizarre and terrifying composite Lightning Tribulation!

The power was by no means a simple addition; rather, it had undergone a qualitative change!

"Boom-Crack—!!!"

A tri-colored pillar of destructive lightning, over a thousand feet in diameter, crashed down indiscriminately upon the three of them like a divine punishment from the dawn of creation, carrying the ultimate will to annihilate everything!

Facing this ultimate strike that mixed the power of all three of their Heavenly Tribulations, Ling Xi, Xiao Ruobai, and Fang Hanyu finally felt a fatal threat simultaneously for the first time!

Ling Xi let out a delicate shout, pulling in all her devouring Dao Rhyme and compressing the power of devouring to its limit as she boldly met the lightning pillar!

Xiao Ruobai let out a war cry that shook the Universe. His body swelled, transforming into a hundred-foot crimson-gold God of War phantom. With his fists joined, he threw a punch toward the sky, carrying a will of indomitable resolve and mutual destruction!

For the first time, the ancient sword in Fang Hanyu's hand let out a clear cry like a Dragon's roar. He seemed to merge with the sword, turning into an ultimate sword-light capable of cleaving through Chaos. Instead of retreating, he advanced, actively slashing toward the core of that tri-colored lightning pillar!

"BOOM—!!!!!"

A terrifying explosion occurred that defied linguistic description.

The Void Realm where the summit was located completely transformed into a void of darkness.

A storm of destructive energy swept in all directions, completely dispersing the residual rosy light and Dao principles at the top of the dao repository heavenly ladder.

An unknown amount of time passed before the light and the storm subsided slightly.

Within the Void Realm, three figures reappeared. All were in a wretched state with withered auras, yet they all remained standing!

They had withstood the eighth wave—this fused and overlapping terrifying Lightning Tribulation!

But above the firmament, after releasing this ultimate strike, the triple tribulation clouds did not dissipate. Instead, they began a final and most frantic compression!

All the lightning and all the destructive will were converging and collapsing toward a single point at the very center!

The ninth wave—the final wave—the ultimate Lightning Tribulation was brewing!

An unprecedented, primal terror originating from life's basic instincts swept through the hearts of every living being on Dao Yuan Mountain.

"The ninth wave, this is..."

Inside Mingxin Hall, a white-haired Grand Elder who had seen many storms pointed a trembling finger at the water mirror, his voice so dry he couldn't even finish his sentence.

Venerable Xuan Ji's face was as heavy as water, his eyes filled with deep anxiety.

The aura brewing for this ninth Lightning Tribulation had already exceeded his understanding of a Saint Tribulation.

"Can they block it?" the White-Haired Elder murmured to himself, his voice trembling in a way he didn't even notice.

Upon the summit, although Ling Xi, Xiao Ruobai, and Fang Hanyu were covered in wounds, their eyes were brighter and more determined than ever before!

"Buzz—!"

The point that had collapsed to its limit suddenly stopped shrinking.

The next moment—

"Crack!"

A strange sound, like the beginning of the world or the end of the Universe, echoed in the deepest recesses of every living being's consciousness.

That point of light, compressed to its extreme, exploded.

It locked onto the three of them. It seemed slow, but in fact, it transcended time and space, arriving in an instant!

"Devouring Heaven and Earth, the Dao perishes while I remain!"

Ling Xi shouted clearly, turning herself into a final black hole to actively meet that 'Light of Destruction,' intending to completely devour and refine it!

"Fight! Fight! FIGHT!!!"

Xiao Ruobai roared, throwing the most extreme and tragic punch of his life, striking toward that light without any fancy tricks!

"Sever."

Fang Hanyu uttered only a single word. Moving with his sword, he transformed into an ultimate sword-light that seemed capable of slicing through the boundary between existence and nothingness, slashing upward against the tide!

Three figures, three Great Daos, collided violently at this moment with the Lightning Tribulation that represented the ultimate destructive will of the Heavenly Dao!

There was no sound, no explosion.

Only an absolute darkness that swallowed everything instantly expanded from the point of collision, completely submerging the three of them along with that entire area.

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

Below the mountain, everyone held their breath and stared wide-eyed at that darkness that swallowed everything, their hearts nearly stopping.

Inside Mingxin Hall, there was a dead silence where even a needle drop could be heard.

An unknown amount of time passed—perhaps an instant, perhaps ten thousand years.

That absolute darkness began to slowly dissipate and shrink.

The first to be revealed was Fang Hanyu.

He was down on one knee, using his sword to prop himself up.

His face was as pale as paper and his aura was weak to the extreme, but his back was ramrod straight. Those eyes were still clear and sharp, as if what he had just severed was not a world-ending Lightning Tribulation, but a mere breeze.

Next was Xiao Ruobai.

He lay flat on his back in the Void Realm, motionless. But immediately after, a powerful life force, like a spark of fire, ignited from the position of his heart and rapidly spread through his entire body.

Charred skin cracked and fell off, revealing new, faintly jade-colored skin underneath.

Finally, the darkness completely vanished, and Ling Xi's figure emerged.

She still maintained her standing posture, but the dark devouring Dao Rhyme surrounding her had almost completely dissipated.

"Rumble..."

Above the firmament, the fused triple tribulation clouds seemed to have exhausted all their power after releasing this final ultimate Lightning Tribulation, and they began to rapidly dissipate and disintegrate.

The Heavenly Tribulation had ended!

An endless rain of nectar containing majestic life force, mixed with pure fragments of the Laws of Heaven and Earth.

It poured down from where the tribulation clouds had vanished, completely enveloping the three figures on the summit.