Cultivation Chat Group
Page 620Chapter 620: The heavenly tribulation can make use of military tactics and strategy, are you shocked?!
Translator: GodBrandy Editor: Kurisu
Song Shuhang's bottleneck to the eighth dantian was already on the verge of collapsing due to the high-quality energy that had been transmitted over by that powerful expert that forcefully borrowed Song Shuhang's ghost spirit back then.
Then, just as the Thirty-Three Divine Beasts' Innate True Qi inside his body took shape, the bottleneck couldn't hold anymore and ultimately collapsed.
That large amount of Thirty-Three Divine Beasts' Innate True Qi inside Song Shuhang's Sea of Qi Dantian erupted.
The innate true qi flowed into the Dragon Tail Dantian and then passed through the Dragon Body, Dragon Palm, Dragon Neck, and Dragon Head Dantians. After passing through each dantian, the Thirty-Three Divine Beasts' Innate True Qi got stronger and bigger like a rolling snowball.
In addition, the last few dantians were full of that high-quality energy that the powerful expert had transmitted over. This high-quality energy was like an incredibly old iceberg that was slowly melting. The true qi derived from this high-quality energy was likewise of very high quality.
After merging with that portion of true qi, both the quality and the quantity of the Thirty-Three Divine Beasts' Innate True Qi rose sharply.
In the end, that large amount of Thirty-Three Divine Beasts' Innate True Qi poured into Song Shuhang's eighth dantian, the Dragon Horn Dantian.
His eighth dantian was filled to the brim in one go!
Filled to the point of bursting!
Song Shuhang wanted to cry but had no tears.
His dantian was unexpectedly full.
Song Shuhang had underestimated the strength of the ❮Thirty-Three Divine Beasts' Technique❯. If ordinary cultivators broke through the Dragon Horn Dantian, they would still have to accumulate true qi and fill their dantian to the brim before being able to transcend the tribulation.
But the path Song Shuhang followed was different than that of ordinary cultivators, and he ended up directly skipping the true qi accumulating process.
Although his eighth dantian was filled to the brim, the Thirty-Three Divine Beasts' Innate True Qi kept getting produced in his Sea of Qi Dantian and other seven dantians.
Finally, the innate true qi produced in his eight dantians poured into his Dragon Horn Dantian.
Afterward, all the true qi inside the Dragon Horn Dantian leaked out and scattered between heaven and earth.
In the blink of an eye, the spiritual qi all over Song Shuhang's body became extremely rich, and the potted plants in the room started to quickly grow thanks to the strong spiritual energy surrounding them.
After just a few breaths' worth of time, beautiful flower buds had started to blossom.
Later, if Song Shuhang was short of money, he could perhaps open a flower shop and make some money that way?
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Song Shuhang stopped the ❮Thirty-Three Divine Beasts' Technique❯ as soon as he could, but the true qi inside his body kept continuously gushing out.
In the next moment, he got the feeling that the true qi gushing out of his body was attracting over a mysterious force between heaven and earth.
Song Shuhang's complexion changed.
That mysterious force that was getting attracted over was the heavenly tribulation!
It was the same heavenly tribulation that many cultivators loved and hated. They loved it because their realm would increase after transcending the tribulation. They hated it because the number of cultivators that had died due to the heavenly tribulation since the ancient times up until now was simply too high to count.
If Song Shuhang's true qi kept gushing out, the heavenly tribulation would take shape and strike down!
"Nooooooo!" Song Shuhang wished he could stretch out his hands and block up his Dragon Horn Dantian.
Unfortunately, it wasn't possible. At this time, he had already entered the tribulation transcending mode. Even if he stopped practicing, his body would keep producing true qi that would later gush out of his Dragon Horn Dantian.
It was no longer possible to stop the heavenly tribulation.
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Although Song Shuhang didn't have any experience transcending the tribulation, he heard from Yu Jiaojiao yesterday that the heavenly tribulation of the Second Stage was mainly made up of lightning of tribulation. It was very rare for the flames of tribulation or other elements to appear.
The lightning of tribulation of the Second Stage was different for each cultivator based on their moral behavior. There were from five to ten waves in total, with each wave being stronger and scarier than the previous one.
If one's luck was good, the heavenly tribulation would disappear after five waves, and they would advance to the Third Stage Battle King Realm. If their luck wasn't good, they would have to face ten waves.
Of course, the difference between facing five or ten waves was the same as the one between heaven and earth!
In short, the heavenly tribulation would also look at one's face. Sigh, this matter about looking at one's face and moral behavior was enough to make the world of cultivators thoroughly despair.
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Since the lightning of tribulation was about to rain down, Song Shuhang couldn't stay inside Yu Jiaojiao's villa anymore. Therefore, he immediately jumped up from the bed and opened the window, jumping down from the second floor of the villa.
Afterward, he operated the ❮Virtuous Man's Ten Thousand Mile Walk❯ footwork and quickly headed toward the suburbs of Honghe Town in the Jiangnan area.
Gao Moumou, Tubo, and the others were still inside the villa. What would happen if the heavenly tribulation were to strike them? They were nothing but ordinary human beings, and they would immediately transform into ashes.
Just as Song Shuhang jumped down from the second floor of the villa, Yu Jiaojiao also got out of her room and closely followed after him. Although she was slightly drunk, she immediately woke up when she sensed the aura of the heavenly tribulation.
"Shuhang, did you receive another strength imparting?" Yu Jiaojiao asked anxiously.
Before they went to sleep, Song Shuhang was still at the Second Stage Seventh Dantian Realm. But now, in the middle of the night, he had broken through and started to transcend the tribulation?
After hearing Yu Jiaojiao's voice, Song Shuhang calmed down a bit. Then, he said with a pained expression on his face, "Today, I didn't receive any strength imparting. It was just me seeking death..."
"What did you do?" Yu Jiaojiao asked.
"Today, I ate all the 33 types of spirit beast crystals in one go and completed the 'pseudo-innate true qi' inside my body, finally transforming it into 'Thirty-Three Divine Beasts' Innate True Qi'. Then, not long after I had finally managed to complete the foundation of my cultivation technique, the bottleneck to the eighth dantian was broken through. The true qi of the ❮Thirty-Three Divine Beasts' Technique❯ was particularly powerful and directly filled to the brim my last dantian, attracting over the heavenly tribulation," Song Shuhang said with a face full of tears.
"..." Yu Jiaojiao.
If you didn't seek death, you wouldn't die. Why was it so difficult for Song Shuhang to understand this simple principle?
"I can't stop the true qi inside my body anymore, and I feel that the heavenly tribulation can come down at any moment," Song Shuhang said anxiously. "Jiaojiao, do you know any nearby place where I can transcend the tribulation without anyone disturbing me?"
"I'll carry you over there. In the meantime, you should try to adjust your condition until reaching an optimal state." Yu Jiaojiao's body flickered and appeared next to Song Shuhang. Afterward, she grabbed him as a flight-type magical treasure appeared beneath her feet, making the duo soar high up in the sky.
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Three minutes later, Yu Jiaojiao brought Song Shuhang to a mountain valley outside Jiangnan area's Honghe Town.
Usually, cultivators would select carefully the place where they were going to transcend the tribulation.
If the heavenly tribulation was going to have waves of 'water of tribulation', it was better to choose a desert or a similar place.
But Song Shuhang didn't have the time to choose a suitable place right now. The best he could do was to find a faraway and uninhabited place.
Yu Jiaojiao asked, "Do you have enough medicinal pills?
"Yes," Song Shuhang replied. When the seniors of the Nine Provinces Number One Group gave him that gift the last time, there were several medicinal pills inside. He hadn't used most of those medicinal pills and thus had several still left.
Yu Jiaojiao asked another question, "What about magical treasures? Which magical treasures do you have? Wear them all."
Song Shuhang immediately took out his emerald-green kasaya from the size-reducing purse and wore it. He also took out the treasured saber Broken Tyrant and grasped it tightly.
The ancient bronze ring and the Green Breeze Speed Boost Amulet were also ready to get into action.
He wore even that thick golden chain since it could slightly increase the efficiency of the ❮Thirty-Three Divine Beasts' Technique❯. Even if the boost was minimal, it wasn't something to neglect while transcending the tribulation.
Ultimately, he took out a Volcano Pill and placed it in his mouth. It was a medicinal pill that could allow him to recover a large amount of true qi within a very short period of time. If he was short of true qi while transcending the tribulation, he could immediately swallow it down.
After finishing his preparations, Song Shuhang grasped the treasured saber Broken Tyrant tightly. In the meanwhile, true qi was endlessly gushing out of his body.
"That's it? You don't have other defensive-type treasures with you?" Yu Jiaojiao asked.
Song Shuhang forced a smile and shook his head. Aside from the emerald-green kasaya, which he was already wearing, he didn't have any other defensive equipment.
After all, he had had no idea that he would end up transcending the tribulation so soon. He wasn't prepared in the least for what was going to happen.
He didn't even get to ask the seniors of the Nine Provinces Number One Group which items human cultivators needed to gather before transcending the heavenly tribulation of the Second Stage.
"Couldn't you have waited for a few days before transcending the tribulation?! You are worrying me to death!" Yu Jiaojiao anxiously stamped her foot.
She remembered that when she transcended the heavenly tribulation, her father—True Monarch Tyrant Flood Dragon—prepared ten defensive magical treasures and helped her arrange layers upon layers of defensive formations on a small island in the East China Sea. The defensive formations were arranged by Yu Jiaojiao herself, and her father couldn't do it in her stead.
After all, the heavenly tribulation was a private affair.
If someone were to lend a hand to the person transcending the tribulation, the might of the heavenly tribulation would increase. The stronger the person that interfered with the process was, the stronger would the heavenly tribulation get.
Such being the case, although Yu Jiaojiao knew several types of defensive formations, she couldn't arrange them in Song Shuhang's stead.
And teaching Song Shuhang how to arrange defensive formations within such a short amount of time was also impossible.
First of all, most of these formations were secret techniques of True Monarch Tyrant Flood Dragon's family and couldn't be taught to outsiders.
In addition, formations required a lot of skills and learning them wasn't as simple as copy and paste a file on the computer. It was a process that involved a lot of basic theory.
Therefore, it was impossible for Song Shuhang to learn how to arrange formations within a short period of time.
But more importantly, Song Shuhang didn't have with him the materials necessary to arrange the formations. Even if he had godly comprehension skills and could learn how to arrange formations instantly, he wouldn't be able to arrange any formation that could help him transcend the tribulation without the necessary materials.
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After seeing that the heavenly tribulation was getting closer and closer, Yu Jiaojiao sighed and said, "Shuhang, don't die!"
Song Shuhang turned his head around and said with a stiff smile on his face, "I feel... that I might really die this time."
He felt that the number of waves of his heavenly tribulation was going to be rather high.
Due to him practicing to completion the ❮Thirty-Three Divine Beasts' Technique❯, all the true qi inside his body had transformed into a type of true qi that was very similar to 'innate true qi'.
Innate true qi happened to be the true qi that belonged to cultivators of the Fourth Stage. Although Song Shuhang's true qi wasn't really 'innate true qi', it was infinitely close in quality to the true qi of the Fourth Stage.
In addition, his mental energy was several times stronger than an ordinary cultivator's of the Third Stage.
These two factors combined together increased the strength of Song Shuhang's heavenly tribulation by a lot.
Song Shuhang felt that the heavenly tribulation he was about to face was going to be super strong.
He had to prepared to withstand at least ten waves!
Yu Jiaojiao said angrily, "Tsk, tsk, tsk! Don't speak inauspicious words!"
"I feel that my heavenly tribulation is going to have ten waves," Song Shuhang said with a sigh. When he pressed down the button to officially join the Nine Provinces Number One Group back then, he decided that he wouldn't be afraid even if he were to face the heavenly tribulation and die.
But he didn't expect that the possibility he had considered several months ago was now on the verge of coming true.
"..." Yu Jiaojiao.
She had no idea how to comfort Song Shuhang.
If Song Shuhang, who hadn't prepared in the least for the heavenly tribulation, were to face ten waves, he would die 99 times out of 100.
At this time, Yu Jiaojiao could do nothing aside from silently praying.
At the same time, she began to accumulate her strength.
If Song Shuhang failed to transcend the tribulation, she would give her all and make her move at the critical time, seeing whether or not she could scatter the heavenly tribulation!
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Eight minutes later...
The true qi gushing out of Song Shuhang's body was getting stronger and stronger.
The grass and trees in the mountain valley started to quickly grow after getting enriched with the spiritual qi.
At the same time, slight changes were also happening in Song Shuhang's body. However, these changes were so slight that not even Song Shuhang, who was preparing to transcend the tribulation, noticed them.
What was changing was his constitution. At this time, his constitution was slowly but incessantly strengthening.
After eating Immortal Fairy Bie Xue's dishes, the strength of Song Shuhang's constitution had reached the peak of the Second Stage. It was the main reason he had decided to seek death so early in the morning and eat all the spirit beast crystals in one go.
Then, yesterday, Song Shuhang had broken through several small realms in a row.
After advancing each small realm, all his stats, including mental energy, true qi, and constitution, also increased a little.
Song Shuhang's mental energy was currently too strong. Therefore, he didn't really notice that small increase that took place when he advanced in realm.
Lastly was his constitution, which had already reached the peak of the Second Stage.
Yesterday, when he accepted the strength imparting and broke through from the fourth to the seventh dantian in a row, the strength of his constitution kept increasing. Now, just as Shuhang broke through the eighth dantian, his physical body also broke through its bottleneck and slowly but incessantly started to head toward the Third Stage rank.
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"It's coming!" Song Shuhang said softly while grasping the treasured saber tightly.
The sky of the mountain valley was suddenly filled with dark clouds that covered the stars and the moon.
Soon after, electric arcs started to flash through the dark clouds.
At the same time, the strength of the heavenly tribulation covered whole mountain valley. At this time, if ordinary people were to look at the mountain valley through all sorts of equipment, they would discover that it was shrouded in a thick layer of fog, making it impossible to see anything.
It was one of the special characteristics of the heavenly tribulation. With that, the scene of cultivators transcending the tribulation would go unnoticed by the eyes of ordinary people.
This scene was very similar to the scene of Sixteen's tribulation that Song Shuhang witnessed while he was outside the school's library. Of course, the scene of Sixteen's tribulation was even more majestic.
Although Sixteen failed to transcend her tribulation, she had the incredibly powerful Su Clan's Seven—who was a Fifth Stage Spiritual Emperor—by her side to protect her. Thereupon, Seven scattered the heavenly tribulation and saved Sixteen's life.
However, there was only Yu Jiaojiao by Song Shuhang's side. Yu Jiaojiao had advanced to the Fourth Stage Realm not too long ago... it was unknown whether she had enough strength to scatter the heavenly tribulation of the Second Stage.
Speaking of which, the 'Frenzied Strength Imparter' Daoist Priest Horizon was also inside the villa. However, Daoist Priest Horizon had decided not to come over for some reason.
The truth was that it was impossible for Daoist Priest Horizon to come over. Daoist Priest Horizon was currently doing his best to avoid the heavenly tribulation. Such being the case, how could he recklessly come over and seek death?
If he were to come over and Song Shuhang's heavenly tribulation were to stir up his heavenly tribulation as well, the combined strength of the tribulations of the Second and Fifth Stage would transform Song Shuhang and Daoist Priest Horizon into ashes.
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The heavenly tribulation took shape. Yu Jiaojiao quickly got away from Song Shuhang so as to avoid getting involved in the heavenly tribulation.
"Rumble!"
A bolt from the blue. Golden lightning split open the layer of clouds and struck the earth.
This sudden and thunderous sound startled awake the inhabitants of Jiangnan area's Honghe Town.
A lot of people raised their heads and blankly looked towards a distant place.
They could only see that thunderclouds had gathered above the distant mountain valley.
Is a thundershower about to come down? the inhabitants of Honghe Town thought to themselves.
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"Rumble~"
The golden lightning of tribulation came down and struck Song Shuhang.
"Jiaojiao, didn't you say that the first wave of the heavenly tribulation of the Second Stage would have only one streak of lightning?" Song Shuhang looked at the descending lightning, and his eyes started to tear up.
The first wave of the lightning of tribulation descending toward him was carrying along nine extra streaks of lightning, for a total of ten streaks of lightning madly dashing toward him.
The lightning of tribulation was different than ordinary lightning and had to go through a power-storing process first. While facing the heavenly tribulation, cultivators had to take advantage of the time the heavenly tribulation was using to gather its strength to choose a suitable way to deal with it. Experienced cultivators could guess what type of heavenly tribulation was going to rain down just by looking at the lightning fermenting in the clouds.
Song Shuhang didn't have this experience and prepared to use his strongest defensive saber technique before the heavenly tribulation took shape—❮Inverted Scale Saber Technique❯, Inverted Scale Style!
At the moment the heavenly tribulation rained down, Song Shuhang wielded his saber.
All the Thirty-Three Divine Beasts' Innate True Qi in his body burst forth and transformed into Inverted Scale Saber Qi. Broken Tyrant slashed through the air and created the strongest defense at Shuhang's disposal, the Inverted Scale defense.
"Boom, boom, boom~"
The ten streaks of the lightning of tribulation rained down on the defensive layer of saber qi of the ❮Inverted Scale Style❯ one after another. Their power was overbearing, and they made Song Shuhang's hands tingle with numbness.
After the heavenly tribulation exploded, Song Shuhang got submerged with lightning.
However, inside the heavenly tribulation, Song Shuhang blinked his eyes in confusion.
He put all his strength in his saber and tried to ward off the heavenly tribulation. But although the heavenly tribulation seemed overwhelming, it wasn't as scary as he'd thought.
Those ten streaks of lightning of tribulation were completely unable to break the defense of his Inverted Scale Saber Qi. At best, they could only make his arms tingle with numbness.
Song Shuhang felt that he didn't even need to use his saber to ward off the heavenly tribulation. He got the feeling he could just use his ❮Steel Hands Technique❯ and take on the ten streaks of lightning of tribulation with his bare hands!
It seemed easy, perhaps a bit too easy!
If the strength of the heavenly tribulation was only this much, he wouldn't be scared even if it were ten times stronger!
"Crackle, crackle, crackle~" Song Shuhang managed to block the ten streaks of the lightning of tribulation of the first wave.
In the sky, the clouds of tribulation condensed once more, with electric arcs making crackling noises. The second wave of the heavenly tribulation was gathering its strength.
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Several breaths later, the second wave of the heavenly tribulation started.
Just as before, it started off with a rumbling sound.
The wave of the lightning of tribulation that rained down this time was one streak short compared to the previous one and had only nine streaks of lightning in total.
In addition, each streak of lightning of tribulation seemed thinner and weaker than the ones Shuhang had faced before.
Wasn't each wave of the heavenly tribulation supposed to be stronger than the previous one?
Why was Song Shuhang's heavenly tribulation seemingly getting weaker and weaker?
However, Song Shuhang was very cautious. Even if the heavenly tribulation seemed weaker than before, it was still the heavenly tribulation...
Even if it seemed weaker than the previous wave, he couldn't afford to underestimate it.
Song Shuhang wielded the treasured saber Broken Tyrant once more, using his strongest defensive saber technique again—❮Inverted Scale Saber Technique❯, Inverted Scale Style!
The saber light flashed and transformed into Inverted Scale Saber Qi that protected his body.
The nine streaks of the lightning of tribulation descended, and just as before, they were unable to break through Song Shuhang's defensive saber qi. Song Shuhang maintained his ❮Inverted Scale Saber Technique❯ and managed to ward off even this wave of the heavenly tribulation.
Too easy.
After the end of the second wave of the heavenly tribulation, the clouds of tribulation gathered once more, and the crackling sound of electric arcs echoed. The next wave of the heavenly tribulation would come soon.
"It wasn't just my misconception. This wave was really weaker than the previous one," Song Shuhang said as he shook his hands. Whether it was its strength or imposing matter, the second wave of the heavenly tribulation was weaker than the previous one.
Song Shuhang turned his head around and looked curiously at the far away Yu Jiaojiao.
At this time, Yu Jiaojiao had opened her adorable, small eyes wide and had a dumbfounded expression on her face. She had never seen a heavenly tribulation where each wave was weaker than the previous one.
Was it a reverse heavenly tribulation?
After seeing that he couldn't obtain any useful information from Yu Jiaojiao, Song Shuhang took a deep breath and adjusted his condition until reaching an optimal state, starting to load the ❮Inverted Scale Style❯.
Then, the third wave of the heavenly tribulation rained down.
This time, there were only eight streaks of lightning of tribulation. It was even weaker compared to the second wave.
Song Shuhang wielded his saber and used the ❮Inverted Scale Style❯ to easily ward off the heavenly tribulation.
Soon after, the fourth wave of the heavenly tribulation descended.
This time, there were only seven streaks of lightning of tribulation, and it was again weaker than the previous wave.
Song Shuhang didn't lower his guard and used the ❮Inverted Scale Style❯, successfully warding off this wave of the heavenly tribulation as well.
Next, the fifth wave of the heavenly tribulation rained down.
The fifth wave of the heavenly tribulation was short of another streak of lightning and had only six of them. It was again weaker than the previous wave.
Song Shuhang gritted his teeth and displayed the ❮Inverted Scale Style❯, warding off this wave of the heavenly tribulation as well.
From the looks of it, each wave is really weaker than the previous one! Is it possible that my heavenly tribulation is a reverse one? Song Shuhang thought to himself.
In the blink of an eye, five of the ten waves of the heavenly tribulation had come and gone.
Only the latter half of the heavenly tribulation was left.
If things kept going on like this, with each wave of the heavenly tribulation getting weaker and weaker, Song Shuhang would be able to transcend the tribulation with the ❮Inverted Scale Style❯ alone.
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In the sky, the clouds of tribulation gathered once more, and the sixth wave of the heavenly tribulation took shape.
Just as before, this wave of the heavenly tribulation lacked another streak of lightning of tribulation and had only five of them.
In addition, the lightning of tribulation was thinner than before.
"❮Inverted Scale Style❯!" Song Shuhang kept wielding the treasured saber Broken Tyrant and used his strongest defensive saber technique.
The saber qi of the ❮Inverted Scale Style❯ covered his whole body.
The fifth wave of the heavenly tribulation descended from the sky.
The first, second, third, and fourth streak of the lightning of tribulation were very weak and simply unable to break through Shuhang's defense!
"Now, I need to prepare for the next wave of the heavenly tribulation," Song Shuhang muttered to himself while maintaining the ❮Inverted Scale Style❯ to ward off the fifth and last streak of the lightning of tribulation.
But right at this time... boom!
A booming sound echoed.
Just as it clashed against Song Shuhang's defense, the fifth streak of the lightning of tribulation suddenly turned into a lightning dragon baring its fangs and brandishing its claws.
The lightning dragon seemed almost real, to the point that it had even scales and dragon beard.
The lightning dragon seemed to have the power to destroy everything as it rained down.
The saber qi of Song Shuhang's ❮Inverted Scale Style❯ was shattered to pieces upon contact.
The defense of the emerald-green kasaya Song Shuhang was wearing automatically activated, trying to resist the lightning dragon with its strength of the peak of the Second Stage.
However, the defense of the kasaya was able to hold on only for one breath.
Its defense was ripped apart as the lightning dragon bumped against it with its dragon horns.
"Sly bastard!" Song Shuhang roared. His heavenly tribulation was unexpectedly playing dirty.
It appeared weak on purpose and used 5.8 waves of the heavenly tribulation—with each wave being weaker than the previous one—to give the impression of being a pushover. Then, it concentrated all its killing power in the last lightning streak of the sixth wave.
It was only the heavenly tribulation of the Second Stage, but it could already make use of military tactics and strategy?
"Roar~" the lightning dragon of tribulation issued a lifelike dragon roar.
Song Shuhang gritted his teeth and raised his fists.
The ❮Immovable Body of the Buddha❯ activated.
The ❮Steel Hands Technique❯ activated.
The ❮Thirty-Three Divine Beasts' Technique❯ also operated at full power.
The light of virtue on his body also showed itself.
The first fist style of the ❮Basic Buddhist Fist Technique❯ burst forth. His limbs bent and straightened out as the fist exploded like a cannon, rushing forward with incredible strength!
Song Shuhang's brutally punched the lightning dragon.
But just as his fist and the lightning dragon bumped into each other, there was an explosion!
"Boom, boom, boom~"
The light generated by the exploding lightning dragon completely covered Song Shuhang's body...