The moment the fourth bolt of lightning appeared, the sky turned to daylight once again. The dazzling brilliance made it impossible to open one's eyes, and the hearts of Yvonne Xuan, Roxanne Lin, and the others tightened with worry as the tribulation lightning descended.
Evan Chu's massive sword-qi smashed into the lightning, unleashing a tremendous shockwave. The tribulation clouds overhead were nearly scattered by the force of his strike, leaving even the middle-aged man hidden within the clouds utterly astonished.
"Senior brother is absolutely defying the heavens! He hasn't even ascended to the God Realm, yet he already has the attack power of a fledgling God-King. Looks like he'll definitely survive this Heaven's Punishment. Freaks will always be freaks—I've been worried for nothing all this time," the middle-aged man muttered to himself.
The massive lightning was shattered by Evan's strike, and countless nets of silver-snake lightning instantly filled the sky. A powerful energy storm swept outward in all directions, as if it could tear open the void at any moment.
By the time the lightning reached Evan Chu, only a tiny fraction remained. This strike was a near-perfect success—Evan hadn't expected his attack to be so powerful that even the tribulation lightning could be scattered.
After calming his excitement, Evan Chu looked up at the sky and noticed the tribulation clouds were churning even more violently. The oppressive force grew so intense that he had to lower his altitude just to ease the pressure.
The tribulation clouds seemed to be enraged, twisting into a massive black vortex. Evan sensed that if he entered that vortex, he would likely be torn to shreds—even his Eighth-Layer Starforge Body wouldn't be enough to withstand it.
He knew the fifth bolt of lightning would be even more terrifying, but for now he could only rely on Ninefold Divine-Dragon Metamorphosis to defend himself. If he could use his Unicorn Arm as well, it would be perfect—but unfortunately, that trump card could only be unleashed after ascending to the God Realm.
With Evan Chu's current strength, using Ninefold Divine-Dragon Metamorphosis and the Unicorn Arm didn't consume much Chaos Immortal Force. But absorbing the tribulation lightning earlier had drained him heavily—right now, he could only unleash those trump cards twice at most. As for the final bolt, he had no idea how to handle it: either swallow a Jadeheart Lotus seed or resign himself to death.
The fifth bolt of lightning appeared swiftly—barely half a stick of incense had passed. For anyone else, it would have struck before they could recover, but Evan was completely confident he could withstand it.
Ninefold Divine-Dragon Metamorphosis erupted once again, colliding head-on with the massive lightning bolt in the sky. The powerful sword-qi split the giant bolt into countless silver-snake lightning nets. Not much lightning reached him this time, but Evan was blasted back dozens of meters before he managed to steady himself.
His chest heaved, his face pale as a sheet. He'd thought he still had enough Chaos Immortal Force for one more Divine Cleave, but the moment the lightning invaded his body, it devoured nearly half his remaining energy. This bizarre phenomenon was a first for him.
Now, with two bolts of tribulation lightning left to endure, Evan's heart was in chaos. The tribulation clouds overhead churned relentlessly, as if shocked that he could withstand the fifth bolt—Heaven clearly believed that a lowly human shouldn't be able to resist the power of Heaven's Punishment.
Evan Chu quickly took out two Jadeheart Lotus seeds and swallowed them. A warm current surged up from his dantian, but within a few breaths it vanished. What frustrated him even more was that the powerful Immortal Essence was instantly swallowed up, disappearing without a trace.
With no Chaos Immortal Force left, surviving the final two bolts was just wishful thinking. For the first time, Evan truly felt danger—real danger to his life.
The sixth bolt of lightning in the sky was nearly formed. At this moment, not only was Evan tense—Yvonne Xuan and the others were just as anxious. If a sixth bolt appeared, it meant Evan had survived the first five; if not, everyone knew exactly what that would mean.
And if the tribulation clouds dispersed but no auspicious light appeared, none of them dared to imagine what that would mean—they couldn't even let themselves think about it.
Sweat beaded on Evan Chu's forehead—he had to find a way to deal with the sixth bolt, or he might be utterly obliterated by it. Using Ninefold Divine-Dragon Metamorphosis was out of the question; with almost no Chaos Immortal Force left, relying on his golden battle body would be suicide—its strength was far too low, nothing but cannon fodder.
He cast his inner sight into his dantian and suddenly saw the Blood Bead. The energy inside was terrifying—formed from the essence blood of over a thousand soldiers. In his panic, he'd actually forgotten all about using the Blood Bead's power.
Now that he'd found a breakthrough, Evan's panic faded. He shot back into the sky like a war god, then immediately activated the Blood Bead within him. Its energy exploded outward, flooding his meridians in an instant.
"What terrifying energy! It's several times stronger than my peak Chaos Immortal Force. Good thing I never used the Blood Bead before—otherwise, I'd be done for right now," Evan Chu muttered to himself.
Evan Chu stopped circulating the Blood Bead's power, quietly waiting for the sixth bolt of lightning to appear. He was confident he could survive this one—and even the final bolt after it.
The sixth bolt appeared as Evan waited anxiously, and the Blood Bead's energy surged within him, almost painfully. He had to unleash its full power—at its current density, he could probably use it for at least three more major attacks. In the future, refilling the Blood Bead would mean absorbing even more essence blood.
Once again, Evan unleashed Ninefold Divine-Dragon Metamorphosis and the Unicorn Arm. The sixth bolt was several meters thick—by far the largest he had ever faced. Even the Frostbane Divine Sword in his hand seemed to sense his longing and fury, bursting into dazzling radiance at that moment.
Evan paused in surprise at the sword's sudden glow, but there was no time to dwell on it—the most critical thing now was to survive the sixth bolt.
At that moment, he unleashed Divine Cleave. Something unexpected happened—the Blood Bead–fueled Divine Cleave was shrouded in overwhelming blood-fiend aura, and even the sword-qi turned crimson. For an instant, the world itself seemed suffused with blood.
This blood-red sword-qi was terrifying—it shattered the several-meter-thick lightning bolt so completely that not a trace struck Evan. "Such power!" he exclaimed.
Meanwhile, the middle-aged man above the tribulation clouds stared in shock at the scene unfolding in the sky. "How can there be such a powerful blood-fiend aura? Senior brother is unleashing it now? This will only make Heaven's Punishment even harsher—the final bolt will be God-King grade, and without that level of strength, he'll never survive. Truly, this is a disaster of his own making!"
Evan, of course, knew none of this. He was simply thrilled by the Blood Bead's overwhelming power, convinced that even the final bolt would be easy to handle...