Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 236 – True Thunder Beast

Qin Yu tensed. From deep in his body, a feeling emerged that he was being targeted by a higher level existence. Then, this feeling transformed into an instinctual fear. His soul trembled and his body seemed as stiff as iron, his heart nearly stopping its beat. The prestige of this eighth thunder tribulation hadn’t even truly erupted, but its aura was almost impossible to contend with.

But this process only continued for a very short period of time. From his soul space, the little blue lamp emitted a buzzing cry. Then a strange aura fused into Qin Yu’s soul. Following that, all of the horror and dread he felt began to retreat like a falling tide, leaving behind only calm…and indifference.

It was like an almighty being looking down from above, nothing but careless disdain in its eyes, accompanied by the self-confidence to control everything. Yes, that was the ability to grasp all in its control.

At that moment, everyone discovered that Qin Yu’s aura had changed. He suddenly became calm and loose. Although his body didn’t move, he clearly transmitted this feeling to all those watching.

As if the tribulation thunder in front of him, as if the roiling tribulation clouds that spanned across the skies, was nothing in his eyes.

Then, Qin Yu moved.

He grasped forwards.

Yes, it was that simple. He unbent his arms and grasped his hands forwards.

His actions were casual, as if he were catching a leaf gently falling from a swaying tree. There was a light ease to his movements.

But the key point was that what he faced was the terrifying eighth tribulation thunder. And, he was reaching out his hand to grab it!

To directly touch tribulation thunder with his mortal body…did Qin Yu want to commit suicide?

Every seafolk that witnessed this – no matter whether their cultivation was weak or strong – widened their eyes, disbelief thick in their gaze.

Soupman’s knees weakened and he slumped to the floor. He didn’t care whether Qin Yu lived or died, but it was obvious that his fate was shared with His Majesty.

Bastard! You big bastard! If you want to die then die, why harm His Majesty!!

Princess Lushy cried out in alarm.

Her mouth fell wider and wider open until it was large enough to fit an egg inside.

However, no one would notice the princess’ shameful reaction. Because nearly everyone else was in a similar condition.

All of their eyes were wide open, so wide that anyone watching would be afraid they would explode at any moment.

Qin Yu grabbed onto that tribulation thunder. He had grabbed onto that eighth tribulation thunder. He had grabbed onto that deep purple, that incomparably horrifying eighth tribulation thunder!

Even though they repeated this to themselves three times…yes…he really was grabbing onto it….

As if he was holding a string, a branch, or even a light leaf.

No matter how that purple tribulation thunder roared and wildly struggled about, it still couldn’t free itself. Lightning spread out, submerging Qin Yu’s entire body.

It was obvious that the arcing lightning wasn’t able to harm him at all.

This…this…this…

No one knew what to say.

That’s right, everyone knew that Qin Yu had some method to deal with heavenly tribulation. But, they never imagined this method would be so exaggerated.

Big brother, you’re grabbing onto heavenly tribulation with your bare hands? Was there anything more incredulous in this world?

If they didn’t see it with their own eyes, then if anyone else tried to describe this to them, they would have beaten them silly!

Bah!

If anyone tried bragging about something as ridiculous as this, they would be in for trouble!

But this was really…heavens…

The watching seafolk groaned inwardly. They wanted to shiver and sing out ‘conquer’ in their hearts.

Suddenly, the eighth tribulation thunder began to shrink at a speed visible to the naked eye. In several breaths of time, it was less than half its original size.

It was being swallowed…

Hahaha…am I surprised? I am already used to it. This fellow even grabbed onto heavenly tribulation with his own hands, so who cares if he can swallow heavenly tribulation too?

Why did my mouth drop this wide open?

Nonsense. Was it open just now? I just never bothered closing it!

Humph, luckily I have the foresight. If I were to close it up and it were to fall open again, wouldn’t that just be wasting energy?

The thunder tribulation shrank by half again, then by another half. Soon enough, it turned into a string.

One end in Qin Yu’s hand, another end in the tribulation clouds, the eighth tribulation thunder formed a connection between them.

But, the seafolk all started to discover that the tribulation clouds covering the capital city began to wildly surge.

This sort of surging was different from the pressure and overwhelming momentum of before. There was a trace of panic, alarm, and even fear.

Everyone rubbed their eyes. Was this an illusion? action

Tribulation clouds represented the will of the world. How could they possibly feel fear?

You must be joking!

But in the next moment, something occurred that drastically changed their worldview once more.

A crack appeared in the tribulation clouds that covered the capital city. This piece of tribulation cloud that was several thousand feet wide began to fall down, separating from the main body of tribulation clouds.

And, it just happened that the end of the eighth tribulation thunder was right in the middle of it.

In the blink of an eye, that several thousand foot piece of tribulation cloud vanished, and the eighth tribulation thunder vanished with it.

Why did it seem as if something were breaking off its arm to survive…?

Qin Yu, he had actually managed to force the tribulation cloud to such a point. Many seafolk heard a loud cracking sound and then pained wails.

Their chins had struck the ground.

And the most critical point was that Qin Yu had used his hands to grab onto the heavenly tribulation and swallow it cleanly away. It was like he had grabbed onto a sweet sugar cane and had sucked it dry, without any outside help at all.

This was even scarier.

Heavens! Heavens! Heavens!

When did humans become so epic? There was actually someone that appeared who could grab onto heavenly tribulation and beat it around? Let alone hearing about it, this had simply never appeared in history before. Even if someone was bragging, there still had to be limits!

An unprecedented look of earnestness appeared on the Sea Sovereign’s face. Even with his cultivation he still couldn’t imagine something like this happening.

Qin Yu, this Solitude has really underestimated you!

Soupman shrank back, subconsciously withdrawing. After His Majesty made it out safely, clarity returned to his mind. Now, he was finally beginning to feel fear.

That brat Qin Yu, he was actually powerful to such a degree. Luckily that old turtle stopped me just now, otherwise I would have certainly died.

Before this tribulation crossing comes to an end, should I leave the field ahead of time? Cough cough…if we meet again, it would be a bit awkward.

Even someone like Soupman, who was so nervous about His Majesty crossing tribulation, had already begun to think about what would happen afterwards. If so, then the majority of the seafolk already believed that His Majesty would no longer have any problems crossing tribulation.

This was certainly a direct consequence of the shocking scene where Qin Yu had used his hand to grab onto heavenly tribulation and eat it like a sugar cane. So what if the ninth tribulation thunder was more terrifying? To a freak like Qin Yu, perhaps a thicker sugar cane would taste sweeter.

Princess Lushy was ecstatic with joy, but she soon composed herself. This joy was also because Qin Yu was safe and sound. She clenched her teeth. That amoral man already had a woman he liked, so what was she worrying over him for? She really lacked resolve.

But even thinking this, as she looked at his figure up above, her vision was still a bit blurry. A young girl’s love and admiration was always aimed at outstanding young men. This was an instinctual desire that had nothing to do with status or background.

The royal palace and even the entire capital city entered a state of jubilance. If His Majesty successfully crossed tribulation, then an unprecedented Divine Soul realm existence would appear in the history of the sea races. To all the sea races, this was an inevitably great advantage.

But at this time, Qin Yu was furrowing his eyebrows together. His expression was grim as he looked up towards those funny-looking tribulation clouds that were clearly missing a section. He could feel an unusual aura coming out. From his soul space, the little blue lamp’s cries became fiercer.

Something seemed wrong.

The Sea Sovereign was the one crossing tribulation and his cultivation was also the highest. He was the first one to notice something strange occurring with the tribulation clouds.

Slowly, more and more seafolk revealed looks of surprise. Why was the ninth tribulation thunder not descending yet?

Suddenly, the tribulation clouds above the capital city began to shrink inward, the speed accelerating. After several breaths of time, all that remained was a mass of black fog.

It wasn’t still; bulges constantly appeared on its surface, as if some sort of life was being bred within, struggling to be born.

This…what was going on here…?

The seafolk were bewildered. Even those people who believed themselves knowledgeable individuals with broad fields of vision were confused at this moment.

Today, they were already shocked enough by seeing someone grab onto heavenly tribulation with their hands. Was there still some other special surprise waiting for them?

You can’t do it; if you give us another fright, we might not be able to withstand it!

A light aura sprinkled down from the fog. The Sea Sovereign stuffily humphed and his body shivered, as if an invisible mountain was pushing down on him.

He was the one crossing tribulation, so he was the first to sense changes occurring in the heavenly tribulation.

Turtle Origin and Soupman’s complexions changed!

It hadn’t even appeared and yet His Majesty found it so hard to withstand. No matter how terrifying the ninth tribulation thunder was, it still shouldn’t reach this step.

Just what was happening?

Perhaps Qin Yu knew.

The will of the world had always wanted to eliminate the little blue lamp. But because it was bound by the rules, it had never been able to truly take action.

So, it had always been waiting for an opportunity.

And now that opportunity had arrived.

Helping the Sea Sovereign cross tribulation and interfering in the birth of a Divine Soul, perhaps this touched upon the limits of some rule. Thus, the world’s will was able to summon an even greater strength, bringing down a destructive force.

So, because it decided to take action, that led to the current situation.

Of course there might be other reasons, but this was definitely the most likely possibility.

Roar –

There was a deafening roar. It carried with it a boundless aura, as if it flowed from the vast desolate beyond, bearing a taste of endless years.

But there was even more savagery, brutality, and bloodthirst.

This roar alone caused the entire capital city and every seafolk within to feel as if they were placed in an asura slaughter field. A dense killing intent drowned them all, leaving them pale white.

The black fog was as thick as the night. An opening was torn open, and then the black fog was swallowed inside like a rushing tide. The existence being bred within was finally revealed; it was a 100 foot tall thunder beast.

At Moon Praying Shrine, when the five Golden Core heavenly tribulations fused together, it could be said that a thunder beast phantom appeared. And this was its true form.

Of course, it was impossible for a thunder beast to be born from a tribulation cloud. But its appearance, its aura, was completely the same as that legendary God Beast that was said to control heavenly retribution and possess an all-annihilating power.

It was like the shrinking tribulation clouds had opened up a door through space and time, thus allowing this horrifying existence which only existed in legends to cross through the endless flow of time and appear above the sea races’ capital city. All so it could destroy the ‘person’ it was sent to destroy.

The thunder beast lowered its head. Giant eyes that were cold and without warmth locked onto Qin Yu. Then, it moved.

Hu –

Through the void, dozens of thunder beasts appeared, so many that they formed a line.

This was because the thunder beast was too fast, so afterimages appeared.

Without giving anyone time to react, it appeared right beside Qin Yu. Then, it opened its mouth and swallowed down.

“Ahh!” Princess Lushy panicked and screamed.

Gulp –

There was a clear swallowing sound. As it spread into the ears of the countless seafolk, it gave birth to an uneasy feeling.

That amazing and epic Qin Yu who had done so many mind-boggling things, had died just like that?

But those who could feel the dreadful slaughter intent rolling of the thunder beast didn’t doubt this.

The thunder beast lowered its head, its icy cold gaze falling onto the Sea Sovereign’s body. Then, it roared and turned away, vanishing into the skies above the capital city.

The tribulation cloud vanished and the thunder beast left. Did this mean that His Majesty had crossed his heavenly tribulation?

From the standpoint of the sea races, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing that Qin Yu had died. Perhaps this could even be called a perfect result. But how come there wasn’t any visual phenomenon of a successful tribulation crossing?