Now, no one would dare suspect that someone was acting under the pretense of the Lord of Evil; the slight resistance that lingered instantly vanished without a trace...
After Tang Yuan pushed the matter forward, and Tie Huaïlì carried out the purge with all his might, Li Youran took the opportunity to launch a major cleansing within the imperial court. Executed at the zenith of Tie Huaïlì's purge, this move successfully leveraged the momentum to firmly establish the entire situation!
Thus, all dissenting voices within the Tianxiang Kingdom disappeared completely. Over eighty percent of the corrupt elements were wiped out; the remainder were left too terrified to stir up trouble again. The entirety of Tianxiang began to move onto a path of absolute prosperity...
While this bloody storm was still raging, Jun Moxie had already arrived at the northern grasslands of Tianxiang.
This was the other gateway to the Illusionary Mansion (Huàn Fǔ).
Miao Xiaomiao stepped forward according to the method for opening the gate but still failed to open it smoothly. No matter how much internal energy she applied, it was entirely ineffective. As the force used to open the gate increased, the retaliatory backlash, just like before, reappeared. Fortunately, Miao Xiaomiao was prepared this time and was not injured by the gate's hidden counter-force.
After a series of twists and turns, all attempts proved futile. The four looked out at the endless, vast grassland, utterly at a loss.
That night, undecided on their next move, the four decided to stay there, hoping that the next day they could try other methods to open the passage and enter the Illusionary Mansion. Unexpectedly, around midnight, a heavy, oppressive might suddenly descended upon heaven and earth. The four, being exceptional in strength and highly alert, were simultaneously awakened by the sudden change.
They all looked up sharply to see the sky densely covered with dark clouds, with countless layers of these clouds gathering from all directions, becoming thicker and more solid. The dark clouds seemed to condense into substance, rapidly coalescing in mid-air!
Eventually, the entire sky was left with only a sheet of inky blackness!
The clouds were so intensely concentrated that it seemed one could almost reach up and tear a piece off.
However, precisely in the center of this vast expanse of dark clouds, a massive single eye remained, slowly rotating like a vortex in the middle of surging waves, accompanied by countless shimmering, pale purple arcs of lightning...
Such an overpowering heavenly and earthly might was unprecedented for everyone present!
Putting aside everything else, that single eye in the sky alone covered a space spanning a full several hundred li!
The so-called Saint Monarch (Shèng Jūn) level Heavenly Tribulation, or even a Half-Saint level tribulation, was utterly insignificant under such imposing celestial power!
Then, the cloud layer suddenly convulsed, and a colossal column of purple lightning, as thick as an ordinary house, abruptly appeared! This was merely the first bolt of the lightning tribulation, yet it was already so terrifyingly exaggerated and absurd!!
The sudden purple lightning flashed momentarily across the sky, illuminating heaven and earth entirely, before plunging down with ferocious speed. If such a fearsome, potent tribulation lightning struck the ground head-on, the result would only be shattered earth and collapsed mountains...
Yet, for some inexplicable reason, the moment this fierce tribulation lightning descended, it abruptly vanished in mid-air...
Jun Moxie and the other three distinctly sensed the earth shaking violently at the instant the tribulation lightning disappeared, yet they heard no sound whatsoever...
What was going on?!
If an unparalleled master were undergoing tribulation here, where was that master? If no one was undergoing tribulation, whence came such a shockingly terrifying lightning tribulation? Everything here was so bizarre, so contrary to common sense, so utterly incredible!
Regardless of how astonished or confused Jun Moxie and the others were, the lightning tribulation above paid them no mind. Following the first bolt, the rumbling sound of thunder sounded incessantly one after another. The sky filled with tribulation lightning grew denser and denser, increasing from one or two bolts initially, gradually escalating to five, ten, fifty..., hundreds..., and then thousands... Furthermore, the might of each bolt grew, its thickness developing from the size of an ordinary house to nearly the width of a football field, and this expansion trend continued to thicken, while the attack range of the tribulation lightning kept widening... its power grew stronger, and its momentum became fiercer...
It seemed the very ground of the entire Xuanxuan Continent was trembling like a sieve due to this sudden, world-ending lightning tribulation.
The walls of a small city several thousand li away began to slowly lean over...
Sounds of sheer terror erupted from countless places across the continent; the entire land groaned under the weight of this transformation.
Jun Moxie’s expression was unusually grave, even bordering on distressed, as he watched this frenzied, world-destroying lightning tribulation, his eyes filled with deep solemnity!
These bolts of purple lightning seemed to strike into the void, not directly hitting the continent, but even so, this continent was already showing signs of being unable to bear it!
"This appears to be someone undergoing a Heavenly Tribulation?" Mei Xueyan exclaimed in horror. "What kind of immensely powerful existence could summon such earth-shattering, terrifying tribulation lightning? The Xuanxuan Continent has not directly endured this tribulation; so far, it has only suffered the residual power of the tribulation and the effects of the celestial changes, yet even so, it is barely holding on. Then, the person who has to bear the full force of this tribulation—what kind of pressure must they endure?! Oh, no, I fear the Xuanxuan Continent cannot sustain much longer..."
Jun Moxie let out a long breath and said slowly, "A tribulation with this level of might is by no means simple. Even a tribulation of the ordinary Saint level shouldn't be this intense. Thus, there is only one explanation—Miao Qingcheng has emerged and is currently locked in a desperate battle with Zhan Kuang within the Ethereal Illusionary Mansion (Piāomiǎo Huàn Fǔ)! The only person capable of summoning a tribulation of this magnitude is Miao Qingcheng! Not even the Fourteenth Young Master of the Nine Nethers (Jiǔ Yōu Shí Sì Shǎo) could manage this! Not even close!"
"Miao Qingcheng? The Founder of the Illusionary Mansion?! It's him?" Mei Xueyan gasped, immediately covering her mouth.
Miao Xiaomiao darted forward and asked loudly, "Moxie, what did you say?"
Although Miao Xiaomiao was a direct descendant of the Miao family, she was of a later generation and a woman, so she had never known of the existence of her ancestor, Miao Qingcheng. Hearing Jun Moxie suddenly reveal that her progenitor was still alive filled her heart with an inexpressible surge of excitement.
"It is him! It can only be him; no one else could cause such a massive commotion!" Jun Moxie's deep gaze fixed on the lightning in the sky, his eyes devoid of any fear, holding only endless eagerness!
To experience such an awe-inspiring, world-shaking baptism—only then would one’s journey in this world not have been in vain!
One day, I too will reach that level, I too will experience it, and more importantly, I will surpass it!
I will make this vast starry sky, this boundless earth, this desolate heaven and earth, all tremble beneath my feet!
As another wave of lightning crashed down, Jun Moxie distinctly felt the fluctuations between heaven and earth become violently turbulent as never before, as if trillions of nuclear bombs were set to detonate simultaneously...
"Not good!" Jun Moxie roared lowly. With a sweep of his hand, he instantly collected Qiao Ying, Mei Xueyan, and Miao Xiaomiao—the three women—into the world within the Hongjun Pagoda, and without a moment's delay, he himself plunged in after them...
Just as he entered, this world suddenly exploded with a deafening blast!
It exploded instantly; this entire world simply exploded!
This explosion was destined to be recorded in history!
The great grassland spanning nearly three thousand li north of Tianxiang completely vanished after that single sound!
In the place where the grassland once was, a vast, shimmering lake appeared, bottomless!
Across the Xuanxuan Continent, six previously uninhabited locations were transformed into bottomless deep lakes!
Fortunately, the entrances to the dual-realm passage established by the Illusionary Mansion had all been chosen in hidden locations where no human presence existed!
However, what vanished was not just the three thousand li of grassland, nor just the other five locations. Or rather, the small patches of land at those six locations were insignificant compared to a certain colossal entity.
Because the Ethereal Illusionary Mansion had collapsed. The space housing the Mansion completely disintegrated with that explosion...
From that day forward, there was no more Ethereal Illusionary Mansion in the world!
This sudden explosion, along with the millions of inhabitants of the Ethereal Illusionary Mansion that had spanned nearly ten thousand years within it, all turned to smoke...
Yet, the heavenly lightning tribulation did not cease with the collapse of the Mansion; it continued, and its might even showed signs of becoming increasingly fierce and unrestrained!
Not far from the newly formed great lake north of Tianxiang, a change manifested again.
Two figures appeared simultaneously, accompanied by piercing, mournful howls!
These two figures were none other than the master and disciple, Miao Qingcheng and Zhan Kuang!
Miao Qingcheng, clad in flowing azure robes, waved his large sleeve, causing dozens of figures to materialize out of thin air. With that single wave, these figures were propelled hundreds of li away, tumbling to land upon the surface of the newly materialized great lake.
"Everyone, flee quickly! Evacuate this place at full speed! Preserve the last remnants of the Illusionary Mansion's vitality!" Miao Qingcheng roared. Purple lightning tore across the sky above—the tribulation had arrived once more! This time, it had come into the reality space!
Just as Jun Moxie had predicted, the only person capable of summoning such a devastating, world-ending lightning tribulation was... Miao Qingcheng!
Miao Qingcheng let out a sharp cry, his entire body suddenly swelling, growing to dozens of zhang high. He roared and threw a punch! He powerfully struck towards the bolt of lightning!
With a thunderous impact, Miao Qingcheng stood firm against the onslaught of the tribulation lightning, while the hundreds of bolts of lightning slashing downward made crackling sounds as they were bent and forced back into the clouds!
Defying the lightning tribulation with the strength of one man alone! Such might was absolutely unprecedented in history!
Miao Qingcheng was clearly enraged to the extreme!
He could never have imagined that his youngest disciple could have gone so hopelessly insane, even resorting to threatening the sealing of the Illusionary Mansion's external passage to extort terms while ruthlessly slaughtering the other seven great families!
Seeing the other seven great families brutally massacred, Miao Qingcheng could no longer hold back and emerged from seclusion, intending to eradicate this villain and quell the upheaval. In Miao Qingcheng's mind, with his earth-shattering cultivation, even if Zhan Kuang possessed extraordinary strength, he would be no match for him in three moves or less. As long as he could annihilate this villain in the shortest time, the chaos would naturally subside. Even if it might still attract a degree of lightning tribulation, it shouldn't cause too much damage.
However, contrary to Miao Qingcheng's expectations, Zhan Kuang was now unbelievably tenacious. True, Miao Qingcheng could subdue Zhan Kuang in three moves, but Zhan Kuang’s nearly immortal physique gave him the capital to sustain the fight! As the battle continued, it ultimately attracted this ancient, unprecedented, terrifying lightning tribulation!