Chapter Ninety-Six: The Accursed Tribulation Crossing

A blazing sphere burst from Yu Shiyu’s palm and slammed into the dark basalt a hundred yards away. The rock exploded in a flash of light, fissures racing across the ground in both directions as molten lava surged up from the裂裂. A tiger’s roar answered it, and from the lava leaped a black, tower-like Inferno Tiger King.

The disciples of the Xiang clan scattered in all directions. Ahead of them was the Inferno Tiger King, on the verge of its own advancement; behind them, a volcanic eruption; to the left, Yu Shiyu and his sister watched with cold intent. They had no choice but to charge to the right, though that path carried them farther from the teleportation array.

“Let’s go,” Yu Shiyu said, the smile fading from his face. The Yu clan was in grave danger. With Ling Yanfeng allied with the Wu clan, and even the Xiang clan involved, it would be difficult for the Yu clan to survive this crisis in peace. Even if they escaped the Illusion Demon Realm alive, what awaited them might be an even harsher ordeal.

“You’re not taking that hostage with us?” Yu Youwei asked, pointing at Xiang Cunzhe on the ground.

“The Yu clan’s present crisis isn’t something a hostage can solve. Forget it; let him take his chances here,” Yu Shiyu said with a bitter smile.

“So the Yu clan has fallen to the point of provoking heaven and angering the people. Even with Lady Yu Fourth around, it’s still useless,” Yu Youwei mocked, utterly unconcerned, as though she had never counted herself among the Yu clan at all.

“Aunt Four is narrow-minded. She thought a son-in-law would always be closer than the family he married into. Ling Yanfeng was the son-in-law she chose; she originally meant to make him the clan chief’s heir. But I ruined that marriage, and in his desperation Ling Yanfeng joined with the Wu clan and the Xiang clan to suppress the Yu clan.”

“It sounds like this is more than suppression. It sounds like they mean to wipe you out. Did Lady Yu Fourth never think her daughter is also Yu blood?” Her pink lips pursed, and a fierce killing intent flashed through Yu Youwei’s dark eyes.

“Let’s get out first,” Yu Shiyu said, in no mood to defend his aunt. If Aunt Four had protected the Yu clan as Uncle Four had when he was alive, then even if Ling Yanfeng had conspired with the Wu clan, the Xiang clan’s disciples would never have dared to wade into these muddy waters. At most, they would have stood by and watched the tigers fight.

At that moment, change struck like lightning. Ning Jinchun suddenly struck out at both siblings with a palm each. Two flashes of white light passed, and the pair were instantly bound by an invisible force. He retreated swiftly, and only after withdrawing a thousand yards did he stop and burst into laughter.

“Today you two will keep company with this advancing Inferno Tiger and be struck by lightning together!”

“Damn it, a Immobilizing Talismana!” Yu Shiyu cried anxiously. The thunderclouds above were already taking shape. If they did not leave now, the area for a thousand miles around would become a thunder tribulation zone. Before the tribulation ended, they would be unable to get away.

“In the Illusion Fire Realm, I should never have been foolish enough to save you, you bastard, from that fire lion,” Yu Youwei snapped in frustration.

“If not for that damned Illusion Demon Insect, you would already be dead in the Illusion Fire Space!” Ning Jinchun said viciously. At the time, he had left his teammates and approached Yu Youwei with the intention of immobilizing her with that talisman and making it look as though she had been killed by the Illusion Demon Insect. Instead, he had been ambushed by the insect, allowing her to escape death by a hair’s breadth.

“Pray that I do not get out of this,” Yu Youwei said coldly. There was no point in angering oneself over a beast. For now, it was better to focus on surviving the tribulation.

Within the thunder tribulation zone, the number of cultivators and demonic beasts affected the power of the lightning. Originally, with a single Inferno Tiger undergoing advancement, Yu Shiyu’s first estimation had been that it would only draw a minor threefold thunder tribulation. But because he and Yu Youwei had been tricked and trapped within the tribulation zone, the lightning was certain to mutate.

Unlike Yu Youwei’s calm, Yu Shiyu radiated the ferocity of a beast trapped in a desperate situation, so much so that even the Inferno Tiger King, the true subject of the tribulation, edged aside.

Thunderclouds churned overhead. The first tribulation strike came down in a triple barrage, and none of the three—two people and one insect—was spared. Amid the booming explosions, the immobilization talisman was erased, and the power sealed within it took a tribulation bolt in place of the siblings. Though they emerged dirtied and singed, neither had lost limb nor leg.

The tribulation had failed to kill them, and heaven seemed to grow angry. The thunderclouds roiled madly, and even stronger strikes formed more swiftly.

Below, Yu Shiyu stood with his sword fingers raised toward the sky, absurdly handsome in posture. Yu Youwei stood calmly at his side. The Inferno Tiger whimpered like a cat and kept turning its head to look at the two siblings.

Three tribulation bolts descended in a row. Yu Shiyu shot upward and cleaved at the first bolt. His sword split the lightning, which burst apart in a dazzling flare, and he fell from the sky like a meteor, leaving only the hilt of his sword in his hand.

Yu Youwei did not move from the spot. Qingshuang rose into the air, drawing a vortex of sword light to meet the tribulation. The two collided, yet no explosion came. Instead, the vortex of sword light spun wildly around the violet-black lightning bolt, stripping it thinner and thinner until it vanished completely.

Yu Shiyu, lying on the ground, stared in astonishment. The vortex of sword light in the air did not scatter after swallowing the lightning. Instead, it grew even more brilliant, unfolding freely like a blossoming lotus of light painted across the heavens.

Taking advantage of that brief respite, Yu Youwei glanced at the Inferno Tiger and saw that the unlucky creature had already been reduced to nothing but dregs by the lightning.

A thunderclap split the sky. Yu Shiyu looked up just in time to see two violet serpents plunge down from above. It seemed the true subject of the tribulation had already perished, yet heaven still refused to spare the siblings. The pressure of it made his heart pound. The winding purple serpents descended in an instant; the long sword in his hand flashed, then flew from his grasp. He followed suit, raising another vortex of sword light to meet the strike.

Yu Youwei used Qingshuang to guide the earlier vortex of sword light into devouring the other purple serpent.

This tribulation strike was monstrously powerful. The vortex of sword light that swallowed it was as fragile as a soap bubble. Yu Shiyu’s sword had barely touched the lightning before it melted into a stream of red-hot liquid. He shot upward, veering ten yards off to the side, but the serpent-like purple lightning twisted strangely in pursuit and smashed into him. Lightning flooded and engulfed his body, and with a thunderous blast the ground was blown into a massive crater.

Even the treasure-grade Qingshuang Sword had turned blue-red in color. If Yu Youwei’s body had not been tempered through the Dragon Blood Pool, she would not have been able to hold the hilt. Still, that vortex of sword light held up well enough, annihilating the purple serpent together with itself.

The earth trembled. A deep ravine opened and spread rapidly across the ground, while the sulfurous smoke drifting in from the west grew even more pungent. Yu Shiyu was nowhere to be seen climbing out of the crater. Yu Youwei burned with anxiety, yet there was nothing she could do.

Inside the pit, Yu Shiyu shouted, “Ninth Sister, hold on for a moment—I’ll set up the formation!”

Taking advantage of the brief weakening of the thunder’s might after the third strike, Yu Youwei’s movements recovered their freedom. Yu Shiyu hurriedly drew out a handful of sword talismans and, making do with what he had, hastily laid down a sword formation.

It was a makeshift talisman formation modeled after the sect-protecting Return-to-Origin Grand Array of the Sword Control Sect, an innovation devised by his master, Ye Hongru. Once the original Return-to-Origin Sword Formation was activated, ten thousand swords would rise into the sky in a scene of magnificent grandeur, but the spirit stones required to sustain it were enough to make anyone’s heart ache. Ye Hongru had long been pondering how to improve it, and had thus created a talisman formation instead. Because he cherished his disciple, he gave him the first completed set. Now it was proving invaluable.

Yu Shiyu had never studied it seriously, yet by sheer luck he succeeded in setting up the formation at this life-and-death moment.