Chapter 154: The First Tribulation

It turned out to be a ferocious beast?

Moreover, it was spat out directly from the mouth of that old hag, Luo Gui! Within just a few breaths, it had actually grown into such a terrifying beast!

If one had not witnessed it with their own eyes, no one would have believed it.

"Oh heavens—it's a beast, she spat out a beast! Is this the Wolf King?"

"What kind of martial art is this? Can her stomach really hold such a beast? Is she even human?" Many people cried out in astonishment, finding it completely beyond belief.

Upon seeing this, Patriarch Miao burst into loud laughter and shouted in a deep voice, "So you old crone actually raised such a soul beast with your own body! Very well, it seems you truly have the ability to kill him. Haha!"

Judging by his tone, he had no intention of insisting on cutting down Su Ye himself. However, this was only natural. Given a position like Patriarch Miao's, they would never come into conflict with Luo Gui just to compete for the right to kill Su Ye.

"A soul beast... It seems I really must congratulate Elder Yu!" Not far away, Ye Lingyun also offered his congratulations in a clear voice. As a spirit master, he was naturally able to instantly discern whether this soul beast was a precious spiritual treasure.

Standing beside him, Yu Zhisha wore a haughty expression and cried out coyly, "Grandmother, you must avenge me! Tear this little bastard bone from bone, eat his flesh, and hack him into ten thousand pieces!"

In Yu Zhisha's view, with her grandmother personally taking action this time, even if Su Ye's lightning veins regenerated, he would still have zero chance of survival. The humiliation she had suffered at school back then could finally be avenged today.

A brilliantly radiant smile bloomed on her face. Being able to watch Su Ye's execution with her own eyes was something she had yearned for day and night.

"Xiao Ye—retreat quickly! That's a soul beast!"

Jiang Ziyang was currently directing the retreat of numerous martial artists. Seeing such a ferocious beast, his expression changed drastically. As a member of the Jiang family—the Jiuli tribe, descendants of Chiyou—his knowledge was far broader than that of ordinary people.

Such soul beasts existed within their clan; in fact, many children were destined to grow up alongside a soul beast the moment they were born. Elders would often seal powerful soul beasts, or nearly extinct spiritual beasts, deep within the bodies of these children.

Later on, in the Bashu region, some martial artists also acquired strange inheritances, learning to nourish soul beasts within their own bodies, only to vomit them out when entering battle.

"Hurry and leave—do not get bogged down in a protracted fight, fall back!"

Yet at this very moment, in the eyes of everyone present, Su Ye appeared as though he had been frightened out of his wits. He stood frozen in place, not moving even half a step.

His eyes remained wide open, locked in a stare with the soul beast.

Jiang Liuying stamped her feet in anxiety, whirling the Myriad Flower Umbrella in her hand until it whistled. She shouted at the top of her lungs, "Damn Su Ye, let me tell you, if you die here, I am not going to collect your corpse! You absolute idiot, why aren't you running?"

"Roar—!"

At that exact fraction of a second, the ferocious beast suddenly let out an angry roar. As if obeying its master's command, it lunged fiercely straight at Su Ye.

It was already massive in size, and with this lunge, its savage momentum erupted fully, surrounded by wisps of white light that made it appear all the more cruelly terrifying.

"This is—"

Su Ye suddenly snapped out of his dazed state. He staggered backward by several steps. Seeing the lunging beast from such close proximity, it felt as though the creature was right on top of his head in the blink of an eye.

Clang!!

Su Ye jerked the giant sword in his hand upward, thrusting it against the beast. With a resounding crash, the entire heavy blade was knocked out of his grip, plunging into the earth and shattering a massive patch of the stone paving slabs.

Roar—

The ferocious beast roared furiously, blocked by the giant sword pressed against its chest, unable to reach Su Ye. It could only thrash its claws wildly as thick drool dripped from its jaws, landing directly upon Su Ye below.

Su Ye gripped the heavy sword with all his might, his heart filled with shock. He had never imagined this beast would be so vicious and terrifying; any ordinary weapon would have been snapped cleanly apart by that impact.

At the same time, from this close distance, he caught sight of the beast's eyes—a pair of piercing orbs crackling with faint bolts of lightning.

"It's the lightning veins—it possesses lightning veins!"

Su Ye cried out in sudden astonishment. The sensation was far too familiar; how could this wolf-king-like beast harbor lightning veins within its body?

ROAR!!

The beast violently flipped its body over, landing heavily on the ground, and charged at Su Ye once more with a brutal impact.

Boom!

One-handed on the hilt and the other bracing the blade, Su Ye was sent sliding backward for dozens of meters by the force of the collision. A scorching heat flared beneath his boots, making it feel as though the soles of his shoes were catching fire.

"Hmph, little bastard, you have decent eyes!" Luo Gui seemed immensely pleased with herself. She slowly walked over to the side of the beast, whose raised head now stood taller than she did.

"Were you surprised that this Wolf King managed to devour even your lightning veins? Today, you shall die in the jaws of this Wolf King. Your death will not be in vain, and since you still carry lightning veins within you, it will make for a hearty feast!"

Hearing this, Su Ye felt an even deeper surge of burning hatred. His nine lightning veins had been forcibly ripped from his body back then—some implanted into Yu Zhisha, some forged into weapons by Yu Xingkun, and some taken by Luo Gui to Thunder City in an attempt to unlock its secrets. And now, yet another lightning vein resided within the body of this beast.

Those were nine lightning veins! Even within his own clan, they would have been enough to draw immense attention, and they were the source of the pride he had held since childhood. Yet now, they were being wantonly carved up and used for all sorts of purposes.

"All of you must die today!!"

Consumed by righteous fury, Su Ye felt the rage in his chest burning so intensely it felt as though it might tear him apart. The true qi throughout his entire body surged tumultuously, erupting with sounds akin to muffled thunderclaps.

How could he swallow this insult?!

I wield a single sword, more than enough to slay every enemy before my eyes!

BOOM!!

Within Su Ye's body, a pillar of lightning and fire erupted violently, shooting straight up toward the top of his head and piercing twenty-odd meters into the sky above.

Boom, boom, boom——

It was as if ten thousand forces had been injected into the heavens, causing even the firmament itself to churn and burn.

Upon witnessing this, the crowd was instantly struck with utter astonishment. They had all witnessed the external manifestation of qi, and had experienced the release of a hundred streams of force, but what kind of cultivation realm was this terrifying, heaven-piercing power displayed by Su Ye?

"Boy, no matter how much you put on a spooky act, you're still going to die!" Luo Gui shouted, her murky eyes suddenly darkening. She leaped into the air and brought her palm down ruthlessly toward Su Ye in a fierce downward strike.

ROAR!!

Simultaneously, the ferocious beast moved all four hooves, kicking up trails of flames across the earth as it bared its blood-smeared maw and lunged forward for the kill.

"Die!"

Su Ye violently jerked the giant sword in his hand, causing the entire heavy weapon to shudder violently. The tattered scabbard was blasted directly away, and the thick layer of rust on the blade flaked off amid a humming vibration.

With a hum, surging lightning and fire instantly flooded the surface of the blade, tongues of flame flickering to a length of a full two meters.

Bang!!

With a single sweeping slash, he blasted Luo Gui flying backward.

"Impossible!" Luo Gui shrieked, her complexion draining of all color instantly.

Roar—

By this instant, the ferocious beast had already lunged close. Without attempting any evasion, Su Ye swung the giant sword in another fierce, downward chop.

This terrifying strike possessed no discernible sword techniques to speak of; instead, it relied purely on ferocious, tyrannical dominance. With a loud crash, the beast was beaten with all four legs buckling beneath it, slamming heavily onto the ground.

"You swallowed my lightning veins, and you still want to kill me?"

Su Ye's tyrannical aura was now fully exposed. His figure whirled violently, whipping up a massive tornado of wind that surged straight toward the beast; he intended to execute this creature before it could rise back to its feet.

Whoosh—

However, at that very moment, a dazzling multicolored radiance came hurtling through the air.

It was the Soul-Devouring King's Wrath Blade!

Bang!

It slammed directly into Su Ye's back. Su Ye's torso listed to one side, and the towering pillar of lightning and fire on his body flickered violently, coming close to being extinguished.

"Damnable old hag!"

Su Ye roared in fury, the pillar of lightning and fire blazing back to life across his body. He spun around, lashed out with three successive sword strikes at the beast, and then leaped forward, charging straight in the direction of Patriarch Miao.

In an instant, the surrounding martial artists were thrown into chaos once more.

They immediately resumed their shouts and charged forward to slaughter the retreating Jiang family warriors.

Su Ye cleaved a path right through their formation, wielding the giant sword with an unstoppable momentum that no one could block. He lunged straight toward Patriarch Miao and delivered a ferocious slash.

Rumble!

Sword light erupted, sweeping away all resistance!

Patriarch Miao cried out in alarm, his body springing backward. The spot where he had been standing a moment before was blasted into a heap of rubble, and even the Soul-Devouring King's Wrath Blade under his control shuddered violently, almost slipping out of his command. He could not help shouting aloud:

"Kill this little bastard!"

ROAR!!

At that moment, Luo Gui vaulted directly onto the back of the ferocious beast. Wielding a weapon atop the beast, she charged straight toward Su Ye's blind spot from behind.

"Despicable and shameless!"

Swish!!

A figure suddenly lunged furiously from the side, moving with a resolute, indomitable momentum. It was none other than Young Alliance Master Ouyang Yunfeng. No one knew when he had stopped directing the battle, but he had thrown himself forward to crash into Luo Gui, knocking her flying.

For Ouyang Yunfeng, he stood no chance of winning against the Soul-Devouring King's Wrath Blade, but when facing a martial artist like Luo Gui, he dared to fight her to the death.

Following closely behind Ouyang Yunfeng came Gangjin, the former martial arts soldier, shouting in a deep voice as he rushed forward to fight shoulder-to-shoulder with Ouyang Yunfeng.

Su Ye merely glanced back without saying a word. He swung heavily at the beast once more. For reasons unknown, the brute's charging strength had multiplied severalfold this time; Su Ye's hand vibrated violently, sending a numbness tingling up his arm to the point where he almost lost his grip on the heavy sword.

"Roar—!"

Exchanging blows with Su Ye, the beast heard Luo Gui's cry and immediately lunged back furiously.

Seeing this, Gangjin clenched his fists and charged right into the fray. Having already suffered severe injuries, and with the beast seizing the initiative, his entire arm was instantly clamped between the beast's jaws. Yanked off the ground, he was thrashed wildly back and forth in mid-air.

Gangjin's entire arm was dyed a crimson red, yet not a single cry of pain escaped his lips. Clenching his fist, he channeled rolling qi and rained heavy blows down upon the beast's eyes.

Boom!!

As Su Ye looked back, he was struck squarely by Patriarch Miao's blade, sending him flying backward through the air.

"Hahaha, boy, you truly are blind to dare make a move against me! Is the divine might of my Soul-Devouring King something a brat like you can handle?" Patriarch Miao burst into wild laughter, followed by several more flashing blade arcs that struck Su Ye's body directly.

The strikes instantly extinguished the lightning and fire wrapping around Su Ye's body.

Su Ye tumbled across the ground, waves of splitting pain wracking his frame. Reaching toward his chest, he found that a long, jagged gash had somehow been torn open, from which blood was steadily flowing.

His vision tinted crimson, and his ears rang with a dull hum, rendering the sounds of the surrounding battlefield almost inaudible. All he could perceive were the distant echoes of shouting and slaughter.

At that moment, he felt his body grow light as someone hoisted him up, carrying him away in a desperate flight.

After running several dozen meters, another multicolored flash struck from behind, sending him airborne once more. Tumbling across the earth, he felt the "Three Thousand Flame Yellow Calamity" text within his sea of consciousness dim drastically, its radiance fading to a flicker.

Meanwhile, the Indestructible Demonic Blood residing in his consciousness seemed to sense something, abruptly surging into a frenzy of growth.

"Su Ye, Su Ye, you mustn't die—" An anxious female voice reached his ears, and the face that filled his blurring vision was none other than that stunningly pale, exquisite visage. Only now, that face was etched with panic, and her eyes were brimming with tears.

"Liuying—"

Su Ye had barely uttered her name when the demonic blood in his consciousness jolted violently, as if attempting to break free from his body and plunge into Jiang Liuying's.

Hum!!

The dimming "Three Thousand Flame Yellow Calamity" flared with brilliant light once more!

And the mental cultivation method, which had hitherto consisted of only three lines, forcibly manifested a fourth line within his sea of consciousness.

"All wonders of Flame and Yellow, the Gate of the Mysterious Female! Beckoning the breath of life!"

Hum——

Su Ye's body trembled violently. In an instant, a blindingly scorching radiance flooded his sea of consciousness, as though a mighty divine power from the ancient heavens had been placed at his disposal.

He snapped upright, his gaze locking onto Patriarch Miao. Clenching his fists tightly, he roared in a deep voice.

"Let me show you what true divine might really is!"

Three Thousand Flame Yellow Calamity—First Form: Black Sky Calamity!!