Chu Chengzhou knew that if he tried to tank it head-on, he would most likely fail to withstand the eleventh bolt of Chaos tribulation lightning.
But from the moment the tribulation lightning fell from the cloud to the instant it reached him, there was a very brief window.
Lightning travels far slower than light, and the elemental tribulation lightning that appears during Heavenly Refinement is not ordinary lightning but an energy attack in the form of thunder. Though it falls fast, it is not so fast that he cannot react.
Energy is conserved. If he could unleash enough attacks at the moment the lightning descended to offset its power, would he not be able to get through the eleventh bolt of Chaos tribulation lightning?
Golden light flashed over him. As the power of chaos surged, Chu Chengzhou, clad in the Nine Heavens Profound Spirit Armor, took a bow in his left hand and nocked with his right. Three Flowing Gold Armor-Piercing Arrows, each spitting an inch of chaotic arrowlight, aimed at the Chaos tribulation cloud in midair.
Time to rely on hand speed again. Although he was no longer single, Chu Chengzhou felt his hand speed was still not slow, at least far beyond the so-called kirin arm.
Rumble.
Soon the cloud in the sky brewed the eleventh bolt of Chaos tribulation lightning. Azure arcs flickered as a cyan bolt laden with the meanings of creation and destruction descended from the heavens.
Now.
The instant the bolt fell, Chu Chengzhou, already prepared, loosened his right hand. With soft whooshing sounds, the three Flowing Gold Armor-Piercing Arrows carrying the power of chaos became three streaks of azure light and shot from the string.
Before the three arrows hit the descending tribulation lightning, three streaks of gold flashed again in his right hand. Infused with the power of chaos, another three streaks of azure light shot out.
In that moment, Chu Chengzhou brought out the fastest technique of his life.
Boom.
The Chaos tribulation lightning, bearing awe-inspiring heavenly might, was unstoppable. In front of it, a single Flowing Gold Armor-Piercing Arrow that could kill a ferocious beast outright seemed worthless.
At the instant of impact, the chaotic power carried by the arrows was wiped away.
Next, the arrows themselves, forged from four-element Divine Refinement metal and incomparably sturdy, were blasted into metal fragments by the tribulation lightning.
One Flowing Gold Armor-Piercing Arrow was indeed nothing before the eleventh bolt of Chaos tribulation lightning. But gathered like sand into a tower, the effect was obvious.
Of course, the arrows were not sand and not that cheap, and time was limited. Chu Chengzhou could not unleash many.
Even so, the essence of the eleventh bolt did not surpass Chu Chengzhou by much. There was no qualitative gulf.
In a few brief moments, Chu Chengzhou unleashed three volleys in succession. Under the weakening of nine Flowing Gold Armor-Piercing Arrows before and after, the might of the Chaos tribulation lightning clearly dropped.
Right after, the greatly weakened bolt fell from the sky and struck Chu Chengzhou, who had no time to fire a fourth volley.
Boom.
A violent roar erupted. Chu Chengzhou's entire body was engulfed by the Chaos tribulation lightning.
Crack, bang.
When the lightning reached him, its terrifying might fully exploded. In an instant, the protective divine radiance that had condensed in a blossom of an instant over his body was overburdened, laced with fine cracks, then shattered inch by inch into fragments of soul power.
At the moment the protective radiance broke, Chu Chengzhou shifted his intent, putting away a silver-white bracer worn on his left wrist. At the same time, a layer of holy golden brilliance rose over him.
At once, as the holy gold radiance spread, dense pure-white dragon-scale patterns appeared on the Nine Heavens Profound Spirit Armor he wore. The entire set of Divine Refinement armor changed from brilliant gold to platinum.
In the next instant, cyan Chaos lightning spread over Chu Chengzhou's body.
On the barren mountain, azure lightning suffused the air. The one undergoing tribulation seemed to fall silent.
In midair, the Chaos tribulation cloud, having already unleashed eleven bolts, began to dissipate.
Suddenly, the azure lightning that filled the barren mountain rapidly gathered and then turned into a mass of cyan radiance, surging like a tide into the metal doll floating nearby.
Right after, a radiance containing great creation and great destruction rose from a lump of "charred humanoid object," became a streak of light, and poured into the cyan-suffused metal doll.
At once, the metal doll bloomed with dazzling azure light, dyeing the nearby barren mountain a wash of cyan.
Before long, the anomaly receded. The metal doll twisted and changed, turning into a large cyan metal sphere.
At the same time, the surrounding heaven and earth essence quickly converged on the humanoid charcoal and was transformed into surging qi and blood.
After a long while, with faint cracking sounds, the unknown humanoid object on the ground split its charred outer shell and revealed the body of a handsome youth.
"Damn, that really packed a punch."
Chu Chengzhou could not help cursing inwardly. He continued circulating the Indestructible Golden Body and quickly regrew his originally handsome hair.
That final eleventh bolt had indeed been fierce. Even after the weakening of the Sun-Piercing Divine Arrow, it still blasted apart the protective divine radiance condensed by Blossoms in an Instant.
What was more, after shattering the protective radiance, the remaining power of the Chaos tribulation lightning smashed the ultra-strong armor formed by fusing his four-element Heavenly Refinement Nine Heavens Profound Spirit Armor with his externally attached soul bone of nine-hundred-thousand-year age, the Holy Light Dragon Armor. In the end it shocked him badly, charring the skin over his whole body.
Fortunately, with the Indestructible Golden Body that could regrow severed limbs, regenerating flesh and skin was easy. Otherwise, this handsome young man would have been disfigured.
Of course, the greatest losses were the Nine Heavens Profound Spirit Armor wrecked by the tribulation lightning, the Nine Heavens Profound Spirit Bow, a small number of Flowing Gold Armor-Piercing Arrows, and the externally attached soul bone, the Holy Light Dragon Armor.
But the Nine Heavens Profound Spirit Armor and Bow were only pure-metal armor and bow of four-element Heavenly Refinement grade. Being blasted apart was no big deal. Out with the old, in with the new.
As for the Holy Light Dragon Armor externally attached soul bone, though it was likewise shattered, it could recover again after some time.
Just then, a light breeze blew, and Chu Chengzhou felt his Little Chengzhou turn chilly.
At once, his face froze. White light flashed on his left wrist as a silver-white metal bracer engraved with arcane patterns manifested. He took out a set of clothes and put them on.
This silver-white metal bracer was a storage-type soul tool Chu Chengzhou had acquired two months earlier. Its body was forged from Soul-Refined Mithril, and Master Ma Jieke had personally engraved the storage-type soul guidance array. The internal space was not small, with length, width, and height all reaching three zhang.
It was fortunate that Chu Chengzhou had foreseen that the protective divine radiance would not block the final bolt. To prevent this storage soul tool from being blasted apart, he had put it away in advance. Otherwise the treasures inside, such as whale brains and soul bones, would have been reduced to ash under the tribulation lightning.