The lightning continued unabated, showing no signs of stopping, and each strike was thicker and darker in color than the last.
Furthermore, from an outsider's perspective, this person's heavenly lightning was quite unique. It was unclear whether it was due to the special cultivation technique he practiced, but each bolt of heavenly lightning would split in two as it approached the ground, as if it were about to strike different targets.
They had never seen such a scene before... Wait, isn't it said that only the tribulation of the Void Refinement stage splits? How come this one is too? Could it be that the one undergoing tribulation here is a Void Refinement expert?
Because Lin Daozi underwent a tribulation in front of everyone from the six sects during the Six Sects Grand Competition, many people witnessed the appearance of forked lightning tribulations from time to time. As a result, the popular saying in the cultivation world now is that all Refinement Lightning Tribulations are forked.
Today's tribulation lightning, not to mention the later ones, the first few lightning strikes were indeed not like the tribulation lightning of the Void Refinement stage; they were a bit too weak.
"Is it possible that the tribulation is still early, and the power will increase as it progresses?"
"No matter what, a lightning tribulation as thick as an arm shouldn't occur in the Void Refinement stage."
"Let's wait and see. Things in this world are ever-changing, and we can't possibly understand them completely. The energy of the tribulation lightning might have already accumulated to the later stages. Let's just wait and see; who knows what might happen next?"
...
Only the disciples who participated in the Six Sects Grand Competition and those who had personally witnessed Lin Daozi undergoing the Refinement of Void Tribulation whispered among themselves, wondering if this was actually the Refinement of Void Tribulation. After all, they had personally experienced Lin Daozi's tribulation and had heard firsthand how the story of the Refinement of Void Tribulation splitting had spread.
But what they said wasn't wrong either.
As time went on, the lightning tribulation became more and more terrifying. Where could one find the gentle, fine lightning of the beginning? Instead, all that came out were jet-black lightning bolts as thick as buckets, which were enough to make one's heart tremble just by looking at them.
Meanwhile, in the underground space, as bolts of inky black lightning struck, despite Shi Xuan bearing a small portion of the pressure and being aided by defensive arrays, magical artifacts, and top-grade pills, Lu Shenzhi was still struck so hard that he coughed up blood.
Shi Xuan quickly gave him two more pills.
At this moment, Shi Xuan was in good condition, and her cultivation level was much higher than when Lin Daozi underwent his tribulation. So far, she had not used any defensive magic artifacts, but the meridians in her body were already extremely sore from being stretched by the lightning spiritual power. It seemed that if she added even a little more lightning spiritual power, her meridians would burst.
Shi Xuan's meridians have long been battle-hardened and have undergone numerous tribulations. Through repeated damage and repair, they have become extremely resilient, and under normal circumstances, they are truly no match for her.
The tribulation lightning had reached its seventieth strike, and Lu Shenzhi's condition looked rather dire. His clothes were tattered, and a large patch of his chest was covered in blood he had vomited, making him look quite gruesome.
If this were his prime, and the lightning strike had affected him to this extent, his condition would have been similar to Shi Xuan's. But now, his junior sister is still alright, while he himself is already in such a sorry state.
His body, which had been lying in bed for over a decade and had just awakened, was still too weak. Without any buffer from the lightning tribulation, if it weren't for his junior sister, he probably wouldn't have survived until now.
Shi Xuan continued to reinforce Lu Shenzhi's defensive formation during the intervals between the lightning tribulations.
At this rate of increase in the lightning tribulation, if a few more strikes come, the defensive formation will likely be completely destroyed.
Shi Xuan replaced the materials with better ones and moved around Lu Shenzhi, hoping to make the magic array last longer.
Although Lu Shenzhi was already very weak, as a very powerful array cultivator, he could naturally understand what Shi Xuan was doing.
“Junior sister,” Lu Shenzhi said with a smile, blood still gushing from his mouth as he spoke, “You know, after this, cough, I’ll never be able to repay what I owe you.”
His original intention was to say that with so many spirit stones used for arrays, so many defensive magic artifacts, and so many top-grade pills, it would take him forever to repay them, but somehow what he said sounded like a dying wish...
Shi Xuan was a little angry and wanted to scold him, but when she saw his miserable state, she decided against it.
Shi Xuan sighed silently and said, "How about this, Senior Brother, if you can successfully pass the tribulation this time, the spirit stones you owe me will be wiped clean, how about it?!"
"Really?!" Lu Shenzhi said haltingly, "Junior Sister, cough cough, what a grand gesture!"
He owes spirit stones that he probably couldn't repay even if he received a monthly stipend from the Lianfeng Sword Sect for 100,000 years, and his little sister just waived it for him like that? But the premise is that he can survive it.
Lu Shenzhi was not afraid of heavenly lightning, but he had a clear understanding of himself.
This time, because he had just woken up, his weak body was really struggling, but his junior sister had done so much for him, and their master was still outside watching them anxiously. If he were to perish now, it would have been better if he hadn't acknowledged his master in the first place, saving his master from the pain of a parent outliving their child!
With this in mind, he became particularly alert and used all his strength to absorb the lightning power within his body, using this power to repair his damaged meridians.
Regardless of the outcome, he must give it his all!
As the seventy-second bolt of heavenly lightning struck, Shi Xuan began to use her defensive magic artifact. Her meridians had already been ruptured, and she was now repeatedly circulating the Myriad Life Technique, trying to absorb as much of the lightning power from Lu Shenzhi as possible to share more of his burden.
The seventy-third... seventy-fourth... seventy-fifth... by the seventy-ninth bolt of heavenly lightning, the defensive formation set up by Shi Xuan was completely destroyed.
Even with the best materials, it's still just a small magic array. It's quite an achievement that Shi Xuan has managed to withstand such a powerful heavenly lightning attack.
Of the eighty-one lightning bolts, only two remained, but Lu Shenzhi had already fallen into a coma, lying there unresponsive to anything around him.
It was too late to set up a new defensive array at this point, so Shi Xuan took out a handful of defensive talismans and stuck them all over Lu Shenzhi's body. Then he went to Lu Shenzhi's side and activated the eighth-tier defensive magic artifact given to him by his master, enveloping himself and his senior brother together.
But the heavenly thunder is merciless and has no pity for the people of the world.
The eightieth heavenly lightning bolt was so thick that it was comparable to the mid-stage of Lin Daozi's Void Refining Tribulation.
Perhaps it was because he had been unconscious for too long, accumulating too much energy, that the heavenly lightning seemed to have gathered too much power. When the jet-black lightning struck, even Shi Xuan was struck and coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Shi Xuan used the "All Things Grow" technique to surround Lu Shenzhi, drawing as much of the lightning's power as possible to herself the moment it struck. Now, she felt her meridians crack again, her internal organs shattered, and everything went black before her eyes.
She quickly swallowed a handful of Rejuvenation Pills that she had prepared, then looked at Lu Shenzhi beside her, only to see that Lu Shenzhi's face was deathly pale, as if he had already lost his breath!
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