Heaven and Earth became a vast expanse of white — deafening, silver serpents writhing everywhere, electric arcs filling every direction like a surging ocean, its momentum immeasurably greater than what had come before.
At this moment, Yan Yunluan felt like crying. Who exactly was the one undergoing the tribulation? How had everything been reversed? He had become the supporting character, accompanying Ye Fan through the divine punishment.
“CRACK!”
Great dragons filled the sky — not one, but thousands upon thousands. Every bolt of lightning was as thick as a mountain range, writhing chaotically through the void, no different from true great dragons.
At this moment, Ye Fan sat cross-legged in the void, submerged within the sea of electricity, simultaneously resisting the heavenly tribulation and capturing Dao markings within the lightning sea — he was actually comprehending the Dao!
Yan Yunluan gritted his teeth, fighting with everything he had to resist the tribulation lightning. His entire body was already marked with numerous scorch burns, having sustained injuries that were far from light.
“Flash!”
He shot across the sky, trying to leave this place. He could now see clearly — Ye Fan had used him to summon a heavenly tribulation and was using this opportunity to break through. He was nothing but a study companion to Ye Fan all along.
“I can’t afford to suffer like this!”
That was his true feeling. He had seen twisted individuals before, but never anyone this twisted. Every bolt of lightning was thicker than a mountain range, thousands upon thousands of them — even a half-step Great Ability cultivator would be struck dead entering here.
Ye Fan opened his eyes, raised one finger, and from the center of his brow shot a divine thought that entered the sea of lightning, guiding ten thousand bolts of heavenly thunder toward him.
In the void, a great bell of golden light took shape — formed entirely from golden lightning condensed together. And yet it was covered with countless markings: the laws of Heaven and Earth.
Deeply moved and inspired, Ye Fan too formed a Tribulation Divine Bell. But compared to Yan Yunluan’s, this one was far more solid, cast from the Supreme Yang True Tribulation, golden light blazing into the sky.
Within the heavenly tribulation resided endless Dao markings, which branded themselves upon the bell in an instant. The great bell grew ever more resplendent — towering as high as a small mountain. With one great peal, its sound carried for several hundred li, and in a single blow, it suppressed Yan Yunluan entirely.
“Dang…”
The bell tone was deep and resonant — majestic, harmonious, and profound — striking straight to the soul. Like a great bronze bell and jade chime sounding in unison, a moment of harmony suffused Heaven and Earth, yet the electric arcs grew even more intense.
Especially inside the great bell — Yan Yunluan was electrocuted and sent stumbling in all directions, white smoke rising from his body, on the verge of being scorched. He nearly shattered. The searing pain throughout his body was immense.
“Yan Yunluan’s reputation is well-deserved — truly a genius of his generation. Even under these circumstances, he has manifested another Tribulation Divine Bell, surpassing the previous one, using it to protect himself.”
“This person’s methods are heaven-defying. This Tribulation Divine Bell has been branded with the imprints of the myriad heavens — its markings are endless, giving form to all the laws that have manifested within the sea of lightning.”
People marveled. All believed this was the Tribulation Divine Bell Yan Yunluan had manifested to protect himself. Every single person was shaken.
Yan Yunluan truly felt like crying. All of this had not a single copper’s worth of relation to him. Suppressed inside the great bell, on the verge of perishing, endless electric arcs battering his body — he simply could not stop them.
“Dang…”
The great bell rang out, reverberating across Heaven and Earth. The crowd exclaimed in admiration once again, but inside the Divine Bell, Yan Yunluan was spiritless and utterly spent — nearly roasted alive.
“Very well. Let him remain half-dead, serving as a shield outside, letting others believe he is undergoing the tribulation, while I can focus on breaking through here in peace.” Ye Fan made up his mind and decided accordingly.
Ye Fan sat cross-legged within the sea of lightning. His spine was like a dragon, continuously expelling streams of Life Essence. His great spinal vertebrae seemed about to fly out from his back — a sign of the Dragon Transformation.
This secret realm matched its name perfectly. Within the body, a great dragon was being nurtured into a manifested form, and the great dragon of the human body was the spine — all power relied on it for support.
A dragon’s roar emanated from within. Crackling sounds rang out inside Ye Fan’s body. His entire spine gleamed like gold, every major joint shifting and moving, like a savage dragon awakening from slumber.
The Dragon Transformation heavenly tribulation finally descended — not as monumental as he had imagined, differing little from what had come before. Yet Ye Fan felt a horrifying aura.
Eighty-one Heavenly Dragons rushed toward him. This was not merely a resemblance — they were identical, filled with divine elegance. Dragon-shaped lightning, as though possessed of life, let out dragon roars as they surged forward.
“Bang, bang…”
Ye Fan opened both eyes, sitting cross-legged in the void to confront the Heavenly Dragons. In nearly an instant, his skin split and his flesh burst open. Though this was not the vast sea of lightning, it was far more terrifying.
The Great Dragon Tribulation!
“The Dragon Transformation stage is this difficult to break through…” Ye Fan’s heart leapt violently. He was already half a step into Dragon Transformation, one foot already through the threshold, but when the heavenly tribulation arrived, he realized how arduous it truly was.
Eighty-one Heavenly Dragons, vivid and lifelike, coiled and circled through the void, all their dragon heads facing him, as though they had existed since time immemorial, radiating a mysterious and uncanny energy.
Such a heavenly tribulation — who knew how many years it had been since it last appeared? People had always assumed it was nothing but legend, and yet today Ye Fan had encountered it himself.
In the distance, ten thousand zhang of lightning sea surged endlessly — but it dared not approach this place. Every electric arc seemed to possess a spirit, each one deeply fearful of these eighty-one Heavenly Dragons.
Ancient texts recorded that the Great Dragon Tribulation was mysterious beyond measure — the essence-blood of primordial Heavenly Dragons had been branded within the lightning sea over the ages, nurtured into a form of supreme heavenly tribulation.
Ye Fan had long anticipated that, when assaulting the threshold of a great secret realm, the divine punishment would be extraordinary. But he had not expected the descent of the legendary Great Dragon Tribulation spoken of in ancient times.
Eighty-one Heavenly Dragons coiled in circles, driving back even the sea of lightning, leaving a void of true emptiness — trapping him within.
“Roar…”
One dragon’s roar shook the nine heavens above and reverberated through the nine abysses below, spreading across the entire earth. The first ancient Heavenly Dragon charged forward — no longer the probing attacks of before.
Now, its dragon head was the size of a mountain, its twin horns like sacred weapons, crashing directly forward. That momentum was such that even an immortal who came face to face with it would be slaughtered — nothing could stand in its way!
Ye Fan had no means of evasion. This was the heavenly tribulation — it had to be confronted. Running anywhere was useless. The only option was to endure it. Otherwise, he would be nothing but flying ash.
“DONG!”
Both his fists dripped with blood, electric arcs swirling around them, as he clashed head-on against that great dragon. The whole expanse of sky trembled, unable to bear the pressure of this collision.
“Do you hear it? Dragon roars are coming through.”
Those far away in the sky were startled. Their eyes could not penetrate the sea of lightning to see the scene at its center, and they all wore expressions of puzzlement.
“Yan Yunluan is truly impressive. He’s undergoing his tribulation with dragon roars accompanying him — most likely he truly can break through two realms at once in one stroke.”
Even now, some people were still full of admiration, completely unaware that the one undergoing the tribulation had long since become a different person entirely.
At this moment, Yan Yunluan felt like weeping, his entire body scorched — he was practically being cooked alive. He had been clamped inside the Tribulation Divine Bell, and it was truly unbearable.
Fortunately, this heavenly tribulation was extraordinary, seemingly possessed of a divine soul. It rapidly drained the power from the sea of lightning, nurturing eighty-one Heavenly Dragons to deal with Ye Fan. If not for this, Yan Yunluan would have long since been reduced to ash.
In that brief moment, Ye Fan had already engaged six of the Heavenly Dragons in battle simultaneously. The tribulation lightning rained down, making every bone in his body ring out. His physical body was incomparably strong. Had it been anyone else, they would have long since been ground into bone fragments.
“Dragon Transformation!”
Ye Fan gradually found a path through the experience, discovering within what seemed like a dead end a thread of vitality. He fought with all his might to charge toward the Dragon Transformation secret realm. His great spinal vertebrae transformed into a golden divine dragon, devouring and absorbing the Heavenly Dragons’ Life Essence.
“Crack, crack, crack…”
The void rang out ceaselessly. Eighty-one Heavenly Dragons coiled and circled, exhaling and inhaling Life Essence — yet all of it was drawn and gathered by his great spinal vertebrae, tempering the golden bones as every joint shifted and moved without pause.
“DANG…”
Ye Fan also retrieved the Myriad Matter Mother Cauldron, undergoing the tribulation alongside him. It drew in nearly all eighty-one Heavenly Dragons, circulating an aura of the primordial birth of all things.
He had already discovered that it was impossible to destroy these eighty-one Heavenly Dragons outright. Yet within this seemingly hopeless situation, there was still one thread of survival — he need only exhaust their Life Essence, and the tribulation could be used to strengthen himself.
In that moment, Ye Fan moved both hands, pushing palms in a circular moon-embracing mountain-pushing motion, manifesting the Tai Chi principle. Shortly after, he imitated the myriad transformations sacred technique that Hua Yunfei had once displayed, attempting to dissolve the eighty-one Heavenly Dragons into the ordinary.
They could not be extinguished — only dissolved. Every bone in his body rang out as though on the verge of breaking, erupting in crackling sounds amid the eighty-one Heavenly Dragons, his joints shifting without end.
“DANG…”
On the other side, Yan Yunluan at last shattered the Tribulation Divine Bell and burst free — gravely injured and on the verge of death. But Ye Fan struck again, channeling a surge of lightning that carried the aura of the Heavenly Dragons, transforming it into a nine-tiered pagoda that suppressed him back inside.
In that brief fleeting glance, Yan Yunluan’s heart was shaken to its core. He could barely trust his own eyes. Eighty-one Heavenly Dragons filled the sky, breathing in and out primordial chaos — a terrifying sight — surrounding and trapping Ye Fan.
“Could this be the legendary Great Dragon Tribulation?!”
He had no time to think it through, nor had he been able to see it clearly before being suppressed by the Tribulation Divine Pagoda. Within this sea of lightning, even a Great Ability cultivator would be helpless — Ye Fan was the absolute sovereign here. Let alone someone like Yan Yunluan.
“Did you see that? After the great bell was destroyed, Yan Yunluan manifested a Tribulation Divine Pagoda — moving with complete ease and freedom within the heavenly tribulation. Worthy of being called a monstrous prodigy.”
“I wonder how Ye Zhetian is faring. He was sealed into the heart of the sea of lightning. His body and soul have most likely been obliterated by now.”
At this moment, within the heart of the lightning sea, a strange change was occurring. Ye Fan was astonished to find that the eighty-one Heavenly Dragons had grown considerably quieter, no longer as savage and wild.
Yet he seemed to find himself within an entirely different realm. An ancient platform of the True Dragon rose and sank in the distance, also formed from lightning, exuding the aura of a true dragon.
Moreover, an entire array of palace halls descended from above, pressing down through the air overhead, with pavilions and towers appearing on all four sides — all woven together from intertwined lightning.
“What is this?” Ye Fan was deeply astonished.
Surrounding him seemed to be an ancient Celestial Court, radiating an aura of antiquity and long age — as though it had weathered endless years, perhaps a hundred million years or more.
That lightning could interweave to form such structures left Ye Fan nearly stupefied. It truly resembled a Celestial Palace — and the eighty-one Heavenly Dragons circled above it.
“What kind of heavenly tribulation is this? Why have I never heard of it?” His heart trembled.
Suddenly, he was greatly startled. Within this ancient Celestial Court, there were several humanoid beings — or rather, perhaps they should more accurately be called humanoid bolts of lightning — gazing down at him from above.
One of the humanoid beings moved ever so slightly, and an enormous black void immediately appeared. One could only imagine what kind of power that contained.
“Are those also heavenly punishment — humanoid tribulation lightning?” He was chilled to the bone. If he faced them now, even if he were dozens of times stronger, he still could not withstand it.
Fortunately, that ancient Celestial Court and those “humanoid beings” did not descend. Otherwise, his death would have been certain.
“Could those be the heavenly tribulations I’ll have to face in the future?”
Ye Fan was puzzled, but had no time to dwell on it. The eighty-one Heavenly Dragons, along with the Dragon Platform rising and sinking, were bearing down upon him.
“BOOM!”
He fought back with everything he had. His physical body came close to being shattered multiple times. His spinal vertebrae transformed into a dragon, ringing out with cracking and snapping sounds. The Myriad Matter Mother Cauldron also received brand after brand of dragon markings upon its surface. His divine consciousness burst forth as well, undergoing a period of tempering.
In the end, Ye Fan endured the tribulation of eighty-one Heavenly Dragons one by one. He nearly had both body and soul obliterated, but ultimately weathered it all. The eighty-one Heavenly Dragons flew into the sea of lightning and vanished without a trace.
“Damn it all — I remember now. The Great Dragon Tribulation has a time limit. Withstanding nine Heavenly Dragons is sufficient!”
Ye Fan was left somewhat dumbstruck. He had accomplished a remarkable feat — enduring all eighty-one Heavenly Dragons consecutively. If not unprecedented, it was close to it. Apart from a handful of Great Emperors, very few people had ever achieved this.
Without question, he had broken into the Dragon Transformation secret realm. His spinal vertebrae had come alive like a resurrected dragon, possessing boundless power. With the slightest movement, the void itself collapsed.
“Dragon Transformation, First Change — Great Perfection!”
Ye Fan was astonished. Having survived the tribulation, not only had he crossed the threshold from the Four Extremes to Dragon Transformation, he had very nearly become a cultivator of Dragon Transformation’s Second Change directly.
It must be understood — he had not cultivated any ancient scripture for the Dragon Transformation secret realm. In theory, it should have been utterly impossible to skip levels. All of this was the gift of the Great Dragon Tribulation.
Ye Fan sat cross-legged in the void, drinking several mouthfuls of divine spring water, swiftly recovering. In a single instant he had surged to the pinnacle. He felt a strength beyond compare — incomparable and absolute.
This was what it meant to be a Dragon Transformation cultivator. He had finally advanced into this realm. He was far more powerful than before — with the slightest raise of his hand, it seemed as though he could shatter the heavens!
As the heavenly tribulation receded and the sea of lightning dispersed, Ye Fan changed into fresh clothes and rose to his full height. His spirit and energy were at their peak — his eyes deep, his skin luminous, radiating a precious light, flawless and pristine.
On the other side, the Tribulation Divine Pagoda cracked apart, and Yan Yunluan tumbled out — his entire body trailing green smoke, practically cooked alive.
“Heavens — what happened? Ye Zhetian is completely unharmed, and Yan Yunluan is almost dead.”
“What in the world is going on? Yan Yunluan summoned the heavenly tribulation and failed to strike his opponent dead, and now it seems he himself has failed to overcome the tribulation?”
The crowd was utterly dumbfounded. Just moments ago they had been full of admiration for Yan Yunluan, and now many stood frozen with dropped jaws.
“This person is too wicked!” In the distance, Ji Ziyue muttered, her bright and lively large eyes already curved into crescent moons, her long lashes trembling lightly, small dimples showing on her cheeks.
Ji Haoyue was also somewhat speechless. The two siblings had known the full details all along. He silently mourned for Yan Yunluan — in terms of battle power, he was more than a match. Why go to such lengths? Why choose the heavenly tribulation of all things?
“Little swallow is well done…”
“About to turn into roast duck.”
Nearby, Jiang Huairen, Li Heishui, and Liu Kou gathered together, murmuring in unison as they snickered.
“How did this happen?” Qi Huoshui’s small mouth was rounded into a perfect circle, feeling it simply defied comprehension. Had the heavenly tribulation struck the wrong person? How was it that the intended target had fallen, while the other walked out alive and kicking?
“Even undergoing a tribulation and getting half-beaten to death by it — his skin isn’t even as thick as that wild dragon I once ate that was also mid-tribulation,” the barbarian grumbled.
At those words, the people nearby immediately backed away from him by several dozen zhang. This was a human-shaped savage beast. When it came to thick skin, everyone was wary of him — even monstrous prodigies could not compare.
“Completely unharmed…” Princess Yudie had also arrived, her fine face like white jade carrying a look of mild surprise, her beautiful eyes flashing with wonder.
The scene fell into complete silence. After a very long time, it suddenly erupted into a commotion as people found it all beyond comprehension.
“Can someone tell me what just happened?”
“Who exactly was undergoing the tribulation? How is it that Yan Yunluan nearly got struck to death, while the other person is walking out alive and well?”
Many people struggled to accept it. Just moments ago they had been marveling at Yan Yunluan. Now, in the blink of an eye, countless jaws had been knocked clean to the ground.