247: Chapter 247 Imperial Might Within the Tribulation of Lightning

Cangming Chiguang bowed and replied, "You are too kind," before turning to exchange a glance with the other two Old Ancestors.

A barely perceptible dark gleam flashed through the eyes of all three men.

They then rose into the air, taking up positions in a triangular formation, hovering above the two Quasi-Emperor Puppets.

Working together to form hand seals, strands of silvery-white spiritual power surged from their fingertips, precisely wrapping around the bodies of the Puppets.

Like puppeteers manipulating marionettes, they slowly guided the two massive figures into mid-air.

The Nether Mystic Snake and Golden-Winged Peng Puppets hovered in the air as the runes on their bodies suddenly lit up, emitting a soul-stirring Quasi-Emperor pressure.

In the sky, the churning lightning seemed thoroughly enraged by this pressure.

A fissure suddenly tore through the clouds, and a bolt of crimson-gold lightning, as thick as a mountain and carrying world-destroying power, struck precisely down at the Nether Mystic Snake Puppet!

Cangming Chiguang's pupils constricted, and he let out a low shout: "Rise!"

The three men exerted force simultaneously, causing the silvery-white spiritual power threads to pull taut.

The Nether Mystic Snake Puppet jerked its head up, opened its massive maw, and met the lightning bolt head-on.

"Boom—!!!"

A heaven-shaking, earth-shattering roar exploded over all of Beiming City.

The sound was so intense that it caused the eardrums of countless Cultivators to bleed, and their Divine Souls to tremble violently.

The Nether Mystic Snake Puppet was struck by the lightning, causing its entire body to erupt in blinding golden light.

Spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the surface of its scales, but they were instantly repaired by the power of the runes.

"How terrifying! This Lightning Tribulation is truly tyrannical!" the Saint King Old Ancestor on the left gritted his teeth, his voice trembling slightly.

"A single strike nearly shattered the Puppet's scales! If three were to strike at once, I fear even its core would be shaken!"

"Hold steady!" Cangming Chiguang shouted in a deep voice.

His withered fingers shifted through hand seals once more, and more spiritual power threads surged into the Puppet, slowly channeling and dissipating the remaining violent energy of the lightning.

Just then, Cangming Chiguang's gaze sharpened: "The second one is coming!"

The churning lightning between heaven and earth became even more intense than before.

Deep within the clouds, a Chaos-colored light faintly wandered, and the aura it emitted was more than twice as strong as the first Lightning Tribulation.

In Beiming City, countless Cultivators looked up at this scene, their faces deathly pale, their bodies trembling.

The timid ones had already collapsed to the ground, their legs too weak to stand.

"Boom—!!!"

The second bolt of lightning descended, thicker, brighter, and fiercer than the first.

The Golden-Winged Peng Puppet spread its wings, and its crimson-gold feathers exploded with ripples of spiritual light amidst the lightning, forcefully blocking the strike.

However, the impact caused the entire city wall of Beiming City to shudder violently, and the runes of the city-protecting formation flickered wildly, clearly under immense pressure.

In a quiet inn loft somewhere in the city, several figures stood before the window, their gazes passing through the lattice to rest on the two massive Puppets in the sky.

"Could the Cangming Clan have refined Puppets comparable to Venerables..." A gaunt, white-haired old man squinted, his withered fingers tapping lightly on the windowsill.

"Does the Cangming Clan truly possess such hidden strength?"

"Venerable level?" Another tall, thin middle-aged man's face showed astonishment, his eyes locked onto the two Puppets.

"If they are truly Venerable-level Puppets, and two at once at that, the landscape of the Northern Plains is bound to change drastically."

The two exchanged a glance, both seeing deep apprehension in the other's eyes.

The Cangming Clan was already one of the top powers in the Northern Plains, with a deep foundation.

If they were to add two more Venerable-level combatants, they would likely leap to become the overlords of the Northern Plains.

More than ten miles north of Beiming City, atop a snow-covered mountain Peak, a figure stood with hands clasped behind his back.

It was a middle-aged man, tall and broad-shouldered, wearing a dark red robe with golden flame patterns embroidered on the hem, standing motionless in the biting cold wind.

His features were sharply defined, and his expression carried the natural authority of one who had long held a high position.

His crimson eyes, like two burning flames, were locked onto the churning thunderclouds above Beiming City.

Venerable Chiyan — Jiang Yan.

A peerless expert at the Peak of the Saint King Realm, just one step away from the Quasi-Emperor Realm, and the Palace Master of the Chiyan Divine Palace.

"What is going on? Why does this Lightning Tribulation contain a trace of Emperor Might? Could the Cangming Clan have refined a Quasi-Emperor level Puppet?"

Jiang Yan was uncertain and suspicious, his heart filled with doubt.

In the sky, the thunderclouds churned.

The crimson-gold lightning roared like ten thousand Dragons, carrying a soul-trembling pressure as it poured down one bolt after another.

The fourth.

The fifth.

The sixth.

Each one was more violent and terrifying than the last, striking the two Quasi-Emperor Puppets and causing fragments of spiritual light and residual rune shadows to explode across the sky.

The scales of the Nether Mystic Snake Puppet had mostly shattered, revealing the scorched black skeleton beneath.

One of the Golden-Winged Peng Puppet's wings had been torn by the lightning, leaving a gash over a zhang long, with its crimson-gold feathers charred, curled, and emitting wisps of smoke.

"Boom—!!!"

The seventh bolt of lightning descended.

This time, the lightning was no longer crimson-gold, but took on a faint hue of Chaos, containing the most fundamental destructive power of the Heavenly Dao.

The Nether Mystic Snake Puppet was struck head-on by the lightning bolt.

Its massive body shuddered violently, and dense cracks appeared on its surface, like porcelain about to shatter.

On the altar, the veins on the foreheads of Cangming Chiguang and the other two bulged.

Their spiritual power was more than half depleted; controlling the Puppets to block seven lightning bolts had almost drained their accumulated cultivation of hundreds of years.

Yet, in the eyes of the three, there was no fatigue, but rather an increasingly intense gleam.

Almost there.

Only two more Lightning Tribulations to go.

As long as they could endure, and the two Quasi-Emperor Puppets fully awakened, it would be the moment for their Cangming Clan to turn the tables.

"Hold on!" Cangming Chiguang roared, his withered fingers swiftly forming a blood seal, and he spat a mouthful of essence blood onto the Puppet's core.

The Nether Mystic Snake Puppet's entire body erupted in golden light, and the shattered scales began to heal at a visible rate, even the crack that had nearly pierced its skeleton was sealed by a dark red blood light.

The eighth bolt of lightning descended.

This lightning bolt was more terrifying than the previous seven combined.

The entire sky was dyed in the color of Chaos by the lightning, as if it were the very first thunderbolt at the dawn of creation.

The Golden-Winged Peng Puppet folded its wings, concentrating all the runes on its body into a single point, and forcefully met the lightning bolt.

"Rumble—!!!"

Heaven and earth roared, spiritual light exploded, and at that moment, the entire city-protecting formation of Beiming City emitted a tremor that sounded like a mournful wail.

The injured wing of the Golden-Winged Peng Puppet was completely shattered by this strike, turning into countless crimson-gold fragments that scattered across the sky, but the Puppet's body finally endured, and the spark of light at its core remained as bright as before.

In the thunderclouds, the ninth bolt of lightning was brewing.