Otherworldly Affairs Office

Chapter 1067: Withstanding the Heavenly Tribulation

The spectators outside the arena no longer found the ever-changing colors of the thunder falling from the sky or the meteors crashing down one after another as surprising as they did at first. The arena’s area was continuously expanding, the audience seats continuously retreating, and at the center of the field, no one could see Pei Yan’s figure anymore.As the thunder changed from blue to red, then red to black, and black to purple, the frequency of thunderbolts and meteor descents gradually slowed compared to before, but their power grew increasingly stronger. The result of this round after round of attacks was a bottomless black hole spewing thick black smoke.

"Whew! Is that guy still, still alive?" Ning Quanchen, having once again repaired the defensive array that had been struck with several cracks, wiped the sweat from his forehead and quietly asked.

Lin Daozi looked up at the tribulation clouds, now nearing their end, his eyes uncertain, hesitantly saying, "Logically speaking, if the tribulation is still continuing, the person being tested should still be alive. But after enduring so many rounds of celestial tribulation, I’m not sure what his current state is."

"Did anyone count how many tribulations have descended in total?" A Grand Elder of the Immortal Palace, protecting the array, asked in surprise.

"Seventy-seven?" Ning Quanchen calculated quickly and replied.

"It was seventy-nine; two tribulations had already fallen before we joined the array for maintenance!" Lin Xunrou corrected.

"Doesn’t that mean there are still two left to fulfill the nine nines returning as one?" As these words left the elder’s mouth, yet another bolt of terrifying thunder fell, causing him to turn his head urgently, murmuring, "Eighty! How many years has it been? This is the first time in my life I’ve seen it with my own eyes. Could it be that someone could truly summon eighty-one tribulations?"

As if to fulfill the old man’s dream, or perhaps due to the prolonged time of lightning strikes, the tribulation was somewhat impatient to finish early. Right after the eightieth lightning bolt fell, a huge thunderous sound immediately followed.

This time, the falling lightning did not descend rapidly. The endless rumble of thunder accumulated within the black clouds, all the dark clouds gathering towards the shining center. As the entire sky of black clouds compressed into a small ball of lightning, a terrifying bolt of lightning, comparable to the size of the arena, descended.

"Quick! Quickly expand the arena’s area and fully strengthen defense power, Master!" Lin Daozi, seeing the contraction of the black clouds, changed his expression dramatically, hurriedly calling out for everyone to enhance defenses. At this moment, a hand passed through the crowd to gently touch the defensive array, the hand belonging to the Lord of the Daoist Realm, Lin Ruxue.

"Focus on maintaining the array, don’t worry about me!"

"As you command!"

The final lightning bolt finally fell. Without any earth-shaking movement, it fell down with great momentum, then dissipated into nothingness before reaching its target. Seeing this result, Lin Ruxue, who was prepared to take action, furrowed her brows for a moment, then chuckled, "Unexpectedly, she gained such immense power in this battle, turning misfortune into a blessing!"

Aside from Lin Ruxue, the other Masters of Origin present also sensed the terrifying Power of Origin released upon the final tribulation’s elimination. Inside the compartment, Candle Dragon and the supreme of the Magic Realm, K, had their faces turn grim instantly.

These people could sense it, but the three—Nero and the others—cornered to the edge of the arena, miserable and wretched, weren’t necessarily aware. Feeling the raindrops fall lightly on their shoulders from the dissipating clouds above, and looking at the bottomless crater far off in the distance, the three exchanged glances but none dared step forward to confirm whether Pei Yan was dead or alive.

Nero, as the leader among them, reformed his faceless visage back into his original appearance, took a deep breath to calm his anxious heart, and sneered, "You’ve witnessed the power of this tribulation. Even if Pei Yan survived it, he’d be heavily injured. We must seize the moment to eliminate him completely. Even if we can’t kill him, we must force him to withdraw from the competition. Otherwise, if he recovers after surviving such tribulation, the combat power he’d unleash could very well be beyond our abilities to contend with."

"You’re right. I think there’s a good chance he’s already dead. Didn’t you see the last thunderbolt had stopped halfway? It’s a sign the tribulation ended automatically after losing its target!" Di Xin comforted himself.

"I think he might still be alive!"

"What did you say? How could you..." Ivan’s words made Di Xin burst into a rage, and just as he was about to retort, Ivan pointed dumbly in one direction, rendering Di Xin’s mind blank as he turned his stiff neck towards the indicated direction.

"What the hell!"

Di Xin’s crude outburst conveyed the sentiments of most spectators outside at that moment. An iron hand gripped the edge of the deep pit, and with persistent effort, a figure emitting white smoke slowly crawled out from the abyss to appear before everyone’s eyes.

"Hah! Hah! Pei Yan, he’s still alive! He’s still alive!" Seeing this figure, Zhao Yuanhu unclenched his praying hands, let out a breath, his body softening and falling to his knees, weeping with joy.

"Yet he’s been tormented quite miserably too! Since entering the Hell Plane, this is the first time I’ve seen him so disheveled!" Wang Wenze stared intently at the arena, tense with nervousness.

On the arena, Pei Yan indeed was in the wretched condition Nero and the others anticipated. After withstanding eighty tribulations, his body had become battered and broken, the bright sheen of the mecha’s exterior shrouded in charred scars, with damaged mecha, tangled circuits, and internal structures exposed. Most shocking was Pei Yan’s face; the face shield had long been destroyed, half his face severely burnt, revealing the fusion of mechanical eyes and bones within the socket.

"It’s now! Don’t give him a chance to breathe!" While everyone hadn’t yet regained their composure from Pei Yan’s pitiful appearance, Nero roared, his body turning into a phantom, leading the charge!

Prompted by his words, Di Xin and Ivan, slow on the uptake, instinctively followed suit, launching a swift attack!

"Oh, can’t you let a guy recuperate a bit longer? Honestly..." Pei Yan sighed, watching the three rushing at him brimming with killing intent, his tone almost whining before switching abruptly to cold and impatient, "You’re so annoying!"

As soon as his words fell, his arm rose, a dazzling thunder cut through the draping curtain of rain, slicing across the entire battlefield in one stroke.

"Pei Yan, stop your posturing. Do you think I’d back down under such an attack?" Withstanding the searing and numbing sensation from the fast lightning, Nero burst through the thunderzone to face Pei Yan, sneering.