Chu Chengzhou understood that relying solely on brute force, he likely couldn't withstand the upcoming eleventh Chaos tribulation lightning.
But between the tribulation clouds releasing the lightning and it striking him, there was a very brief window of time.
Lightning's speed was far below light speed. Moreover, the elemental tribulation lightning appearing during metal heavenly refining wasn't ordinary lightning—it was an energy attack in lightning form. Although the tribulation lightning descended swiftly, it wasn't so fast that he couldn't react.
And energy was conserved. If he could unleash sufficient attacks to offset the tribulation lightning's power as it descended, couldn't he weather the eleventh Chaos tribulation lightning?
Golden light flashed around his body. As Chaos power surged, Chu Chengzhou—clad in the Nine Heavens Mystic Spirit Armor—held a bow in his left hand and nocked arrows with his right. Three Flowing Gold Armor-Piercing Arrows, each spewing inch-long Chaos arrow light, aimed at the Chaos tribulation clouds in mid-air.
Time to test his hand speed again. Though he was no longer single these days, Chu Chengzhou felt his hand speed remained decent—at least far surpassing the so-called "Qilin arms."
"Rumble rumble rumble!"
Soon, the tribulation clouds in mid-air brewed the eleventh Chaos tribulation lightning. As cyan arcs flashed, a cyan tribulation lightning imbued with Creation and Destruction intent descended from the heavens.
'Now!'
The moment the tribulation lightning struck down, Chu Chengzhou—who had long been prepared—loosened his right hand. Accompanied by faint "whoosh whoosh whoosh" sounds slicing through the air, three Flowing Gold Armor-Piercing Arrows carrying Chaos power transformed into three cyan light streams that shot forth from the bowstring.
Before these three arrows could hit the descending Chaos tribulation lightning, three golden rays flashed again over Chu Chengzhou's right hand. Infused with Chaos power, another three cyan light streams shot out.
At this moment, Chu Chengzhou unleashed the fastest technique of his life.
"Boom—"
The Chaos tribulation lightning, carrying the might of heaven, was unstoppable. The Flowing Gold Armor-Piercing Arrows—which alone could instantly kill monstrous beasts—seemed insignificant before it.
Upon collision, the Chaos power carried by the arrows was instantly annihilated.
Immediately after, the arrows themselves—crafted from exceptionally sturdy four-element heaven refined metal—shattered into metal fragments under the Chaos tribulation lightning.
But a single Flowing Gold Armor-Piercing Arrow might mean little against the eleventh Chaos tribulation lightning. However, like grains of sand forming a tower, the cumulative effect was significant.
Of course, Flowing Gold Armor-Piercing Arrows weren't sand—they weren't that cheap. And with limited time, Chu Chengzhou couldn't unleash too many.
But similarly, the current eleventh Chaos tribulation lightning's essence wasn't overwhelmingly stronger than Chu Chengzhou—at least not to the point of qualitative difference.
In a brief moment, Chu Chengzhou unleashed three waves of arrows. Weakened by the combined effect of nine Flowing Gold Armor-Piercing Arrows, the Chaos tribulation lightning's might visibly diminished.
Immediately after, the greatly weakened Chaos tribulation lightning descended from the heavens, striking Chu Chengzhou—who hadn't had time to unleash a fourth wave of arrows.
"Boom—"
A violent explosion echoed as Chu Chengzhou was completely engulfed by the Chaos tribulation lightning.
"Crack, boom—"
As the tribulation lightning struck, its terrifying power fully erupted. Instantly, the protective divine light formed by Instant Bloom around Chu Chengzhou's body couldn't withstand the pressure. Fine cracks spread across its surface before it shattered into soul power fragments, disintegrating inch by inch.
Just as the protective divine light shattered, Chu Chengzhou shifted his thoughts. He retracted a silver-white wristguard from his left wrist while a sacred golden radiance emanated from his body.
Immediately, as the sacred golden light bloomed, the Nine Heavens Mystic Spirit Armor he wore developed dense pure white dragon scale patterns. The entire heaven-forged armor transformed from its original brilliant gold to platinum white.
The next moment, cyan Chaos lightning spread over Chu Chengzhou's body.
On the desolate mountain, cyan lightning filled the air. The person weathering the tribulation seemed to have lost all movement.
In mid-air, the Chaos tribulation clouds—which had already released eleven layers of tribulation lightning—began gradually dissipating.
Suddenly, the cyan lightning covering the desolate mountain rapidly converged. It then transformed into a stream of cyan light that surged like a tide into the metal humanoid figure floating nearby.
Immediately after, a light-and-shadow array containing Great Creation and Great Destruction erupted from a "charred humanoid object." It transformed into a beam of light, injecting into the cyan-glowing metal humanoid.
Instantly, the metal humanoid burst with brilliant cyan light, dyeing the nearby desolate mountain in a cyan hue.
Soon, the supernatural phenomena subsided. The metal humanoid twisted and transformed, turning into a large cyan metal sphere.
Simultaneously, the surrounding heaven and earth's spiritual energy rapidly gathered toward the charred humanoid figure, all converting into surging blood-energy.
After a long while, accompanied by faint cracking sounds, the unknown humanoid object on the ground split open its charred outer shell, revealing the body of a handsome young man.
"Damn it, that was truly powerful!"
Chu Chengzhou couldn't help but curse inwardly, continuing to circulate Indestructible Golden Body as his originally handsome hair quickly regrew.
That final eleventh Chaos tribulation lightning had indeed been fierce. Even after being weakened by Sun-Shooting Divine Arrows, it still shattered the protective divine light formed by Instant Bloom.
Even after shattering the protective light, the remaining power of the Chaos tribulation lightning destroyed his supreme armor—crafted from the four-element heaven-forged Nine Heavens Mystic Spirit Armor and the nine-hundred-thousand-year external soul bone: Holy Light Dragon Armor. It even electrocuted him severely, charring the skin across his entire body.
Fortunately, Indestructible Golden Body—which allowed limb regeneration—easily regrew flesh and skin. Otherwise, this handsome young man would have been permanently scarred.
Of course, the greatest loss had to be the destroyed Nine Heavens Mystic Spirit Armor, Nine Heavens Mystic Spirit Bow, a small number of Flowing Gold Armor-Piercing Arrows, and the external soul bone: Holy Light Dragon Armor.
But the Nine Heavens Mystic Spirit Armor and bow were merely four-element heaven-forged pure metal armor and bow—being destroyed wasn't a big loss. As the saying goes: out with the old, in with the new.
As for the Holy Light Dragon Armor external soul bone—even though it was shattered too—it could fully recover after some time.
Just then, a gentle breeze blew. Chu Chengzhou felt a chilling draft on his lower body.
Instantly, his face flushed with embarrassment. White light flashed on his left wrist as a silver-white metal wristguard—engraved with mysterious patterns—materialized. He took out a set of clothes and dressed himself.
This silver-white metal wristguard was Chu Chengzhou's newly acquired storage soul tool from two months ago. Entirely forged from soul-refined Mithril and personally engraved with a storage-type soul guidance array by the soul engineer master Ma Jake, its internal storage space was substantial—three zhang in length, width, and height.
Fortunately, Chu Chengzhou had sensed earlier that the protective divine light couldn't withstand the final Chaos tribulation lightning. To prevent this storage soul tool from being destroyed by the tribulation lightning, he had retracted it into his body beforehand. Otherwise, treasures inside like whale brains and soul bones would have surely turned to ashes under the tribulation lightning.
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