The First Immortal of Destiny

”BOOM!”

As the thunder light illuminated all directions, a terrifying thunderclap exploded, as if the entire world trembled for a moment.

The thunder seemed to contain the sound of slaughter. Such horrifying power instantly shattered the courage of many living beings. In Yu State, numerous human immortals and mortals, along with demonic beasts, were so terrified by the Heavenly Thunder’s might that their livers and gallbladders burst from terror, leading to instant death!

The destructive power within the eighth Heavenly Thunder was more than one hundred and twenty times that of the first. The aura it alone emitted was enough to obliterate most creatures below the Heavenly Monarch level.

Fortunately, this thunder was aimed at Shen Mo; otherwise, an unknown number of beings would have needlessly perished.

Facing the descending Heavenly Thunder, Lin Zhaozai, despite his extreme reluctance, had no choice but to employ magic and attempt to resist...

When Shen Mo had appeared within his White Bones Path Dao Body, Lin Zhaozai actually had two choices.

The first was to directly disperse this colossal white skeleton, instantly nullifying Shen Mo’s scheme.

However, doing so would require Lin Zhaozai to spend several years recondensing his White Bones Path Dao Body, effectively allowing Shen Mo to successfully overcome this major tribulation.

Although Shen Mo had already erected the Divine Bridge, various tribulations still lingered.

Strictly speaking, only by completely eliminating all ”heavenly disasters, Earthly Tribulations, and human disasters” could one be considered to have truly passed the tribulation, genuinely achieving one’s Dao fruit and being accepted by the ”will of heaven and earth.”

If Lin Zhaozai directly retreated, he would undoubtedly be failing in his duty as the ’human disaster’ part of the tribulation. This would naturally violate the Dao oath he had made long ago.

Compared to being struck by lightning or the destruction of his White Bones Path Dao Body, the consequences of breaking the Dao oath were far more severe. At best, his cultivation level would regress; at worst, the formidable ”Three Disasters and Six Tribulations” would befall him, leading to his demise.

Therefore, Lin Zhaozai did not want to, nor did he dare to, ”flee without a fight”!

The second choice, naturally, was to try every means possible to utterly kill Shen Mo.

However, Shen Mo was like an unyielding copper pea, impossible to steam soft or smash flat. Before the eighth Heavenly Thunder fell, Lin Zhaozai couldn’t even manage to inflict serious injury upon him.

Thus, in the current situation, Lin Zhaozai could only brace himself and attempt to withstand the Heavenly Thunder originally aimed at Shen Mo...

Of course, he could choose to abandon all resistance, allowing the Heavenly Thunder to pierce through his White Bones Path Dao Body and finally strike Shen Mo. However, whether Shen Mo would be critically injured was uncertain, while Lin Zhaozai’s own White Bones Path Dao Body would undoubtedly be mostly destroyed!

He could only blame himself for being outmaneuvered in the previous Magic Duel. Now, he was forced to act as Shen Mo’s shield against the eighth Thunder Tribulation!

Just before the Heavenly Thunder struck, Lin Zhaozai raised his massive skeletal hand, holding it above his head, and formed a profound seal. Instantly, an evil light surged from his hand bones, forming a crystal-like magic shield.

Previously, when Lin Zhaozai was imprisoned in the ninth chamber of the Demon-Suppressing Tower and Shen Mo had fought him, Shen Mo had seen him protect himself with a crystal-like radiance, similar in wondrous effect to the Crystal Brahma Flame.

The difference was that Shen Mo’s Crystal Brahma Flame contained the essence of ”purification,” originating from the same source as the Pure Land he cultivated using the Great Sun Tathagata Heart Scripture.

Lin Zhaozai’s crystal-like radiance, however, though seemingly pure, was exceedingly foul. The power contained in magic, martial arts, and even Skill would be Corrupted and twisted by it, thereby achieving its protective capabilities!

”BANG!”

The purple-tinged thunder struck the crystal-like radiance. A third of its destructive power was instantly neutralized, but the defensive Spell was also completely shattered.

The next moment, Lin Zhaozai’s two massive skeletal hands were also blasted apart, followed by his skull, cranium, and ribs... For a time, charred and shattered bone fragments flew everywhere, like a volley of bone swords, riddling the nearby mountain peaks and ground with hideous scars!

Terrifying arcs of electricity still surged over his remaining white bones, blasting them until they were pitted and covered in lightning scars.

At this moment, however, Shen Mo was in no mood to ”appreciate” Lin Zhaozai’s miserable state; the residual Heavenly Thunder had struck his Dao Body!

The multiple Constellations Palms he had set up in advance transformed into ancient divine beasts like the Horned Flood Dragon, the Wall Water Badger, and the Raising Sun Chicken. Each unleashed its full power, desperately trying to divert, weaken, and resist this Heavenly Thunder. After nullifying some of its destructive force, they were swiftly obliterated.

As the thunder light crashed into the Crystal Brahma Flame, more of its destructive power was ”purified.” Ultimately, a little over thirty percent of its remaining might struck Shen Mo, equivalent to the full, undiminished force of the sixth Heavenly Thunder!

The moment the lightning struck, Shen Mo felt as if he’d been hit by a colossal hammer. His Flesh and Blood, bones, and internal organs convulsed violently in excruciating pain. This was followed by the sensation of being seared by true flame and slashed by countless blades from within. His Dao Body had clearly sustained significant damage.

He exhaled sharply, a puff of charred smoke escaping his lips. It was accompanied by tiny, flashing arcs of lightning that emitted sharp CRACKLING sounds.

Fortunately, with Lin Zhaozai injured by the Heavenly Thunder, the relentless crushing force and the abnormal activity within Shen Mo’s own bones significantly subsided. He no longer needed to expend vast amounts of energy to resist the external pressure and suppress the osseous transformation.

In the next instant, Shen Mo rapidly activated the Three-Heads Six-Arms True Immortal Technique, using his vast blood essence primality to repair the internal and external damage to his Dao Body!

Simultaneously, Lin Zhaozai’s White Bones Path Dao Body—its terribly mangled upper skeleton—also began to regenerate amidst a surge of malevolent light and black blood, at a speed only slightly slower than Shen Mo’s.

Truly hard to deal with, worthy of being in the late-stage of the Divine Bridge Realm! Shen Mo thought with a sigh.

Just as he was about to raise the Taiyi Sword and unleash sword Qi to further aggravate Lin Zhaozai’s injuries, the ninth Heavenly Thunder descended with shocking suddenness.

After the seventh Heavenly Thunder struck, the tribulation cloud had gathered its power for a long time before unleashing the eighth Heavenly Thunder. But this time, only a few moments passed—not even the interval of a finger-snap!

It appeared that during the prolonged brewing period, both the eighth and ninth Heavenly Thunders had already taken shape, intended to strike one after the other at this very moment.

”BOOM!”

This final Heavenly Thunder contained destructive power more than two hundred times that of the first Heavenly Thunder.

Under its terrifying pressure, the entire world seemed to fall into a momentary, deathly silence.

In an instant, the immense white skeleton that was Lin Zhaozai was utterly pulverized into bone dust by the terrifying might of the thunder before it could even finish repairing its upper torso.

Meanwhile, Shen Mo was blasted deep into the bedrock. Several mountain peaks were pulverized by the Heavenly Thunder. A terrifying crater, over a thousand zhang deep, yawned in the earth, its surroundings transformed into molten magma that continuously flowed towards the bottom!

Heaven and earth fell silent.

Everyone was stunned into a stupor by the sheer shock!

Even Big Moro Yao, who had advanced to Class V many years ago, was stunned by this Heavenly Thunder. After a moment, she reacted, instantly flapping her wings and soaring out of Fairy Flower Valley, intending to fly into the magma-filled crater blasted open by the lightning to investigate.

Following Flower Fairy A Yao, the first to regain her senses was Zhao Lingyin.

Immediately, she recklessly charged out of the Mountain Protection Array, protecting herself with the Thousand Laws Mirror, and leaped into the crater.

Three breaths later, a golden streak of light shot out from the crater!