Fate Converges, Lightning Tribulation of Ascension

At the edge of the cliff.

Volcanic ash raged in the fierce wind.

Four corpses were scattered in a messy pile.

These four "Children of Destiny", forcibly kneaded together by the Heavenly Dao, didn't even have the qualifications to force out Shen Fei's second move.

The lethal trap they had meticulously planned for two months was as fragile as a joke in the face of absolute stat crushing.

Shen Fei casually tossed the square towel he used to wipe his hands off the cliff.

He turned around.

And looked at Li Miaoyuan, who was a dozen steps away.

This was the first time since he came to this island that he truly looked his prey in the eye.

"Now, it's your turn." Shen Fei's tone was flat, as if he were talking about a trivial matter.

Li Miaoyuan stood there.

He looked at his four dead allies, his face pale to the extreme, but there was not a single trace of fear in his bloodshot eyes.

On the contrary, there was a bizarre, even twisted fanaticism!

He didn't run.

He didn't even summon any defensive magical treasures.

"Shen Fei..."

Li Miaoyuan's voice was very hoarse, carrying a kind of resentment as if crawling out of the nether hell.

"Do you think you've won?"

"Do you think that by killing a few ants, you can completely erase the foundation of me, an immortal cultivator?!"

Li Miaoyuan suddenly raised his head, his arms spreading wide with force.

"You don't understand at all what true destiny is!!!"

The moment his voice fell.

A sudden change occurred!

The four faint origins of destiny that were originally gradually dissipating into the world due to the deaths of the four people.

Did not, as usual, become ownerless energy to be reabsorbed by the rules of the world.

Instead, they seemed to be drawn by some terrifying macroscopic will!

"Buzz—"

The four originally dim origin lights abruptly paused in mid-air.

Immediately after.

Like four maddened golden dragons, they traced twisted trajectories in the air and madly rushed towards Li Miaoyuan's body at a speed that completely defied logic!

Not only these four origins.

Over the entire Pacific Ocean, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth within a radius of hundreds of kilometers boiled at this moment!

As if receiving some overbearing summons, they turned into a massive funnel-shaped spiritual energy vortex, pouring down and directly connecting to the top of Li Miaoyuan's head!

Ding!

In Shen Fei's mind, the system's red alarm blared wildly at the highest volume.

Extreme Danger Warning!!!

Detected that the "Earth's Heavenly Dao" is forcefully intervening!

The residual destiny of four A-S grade Children of Destiny is being forcefully stripped and transferred into the target Li Miaoyuan's body by the Heavenly Dao!

The target's destiny value is experiencing abnormal aggregation and skyrocketing!

Re-evaluating the target's threat level...

The system's cold voice echoed amidst the wildly jumping data.

Shen Fei stood in place.

He looked at Li Miaoyuan ahead, who was completely wrapped in golden light and massive spiritual energy.

He was in no rush to make a move.

The deep scanning mode of the Eye of Destiny had been activated.

He clearly saw that the four mixed origins of destiny, the moment they touched Li Miaoyuan, were actually forcefully fused together by a pure, high-level rule power!

The cultivation bottleneck in Li Miaoyuan's body that was originally stalled at the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage.

Under the forceful washing of this massive destiny.

Was like fragile tissue paper, instantly torn to shreds!

"Ah!!!"

Li Miaoyuan let out a long howl of pain, yet carrying endless ecstasy.

His body began to undergo an astonishing transformation under the infusion of massive energy. The scars on the surface of his skin healed at a visible rate, his meridians were widened, and his bones let out crisp popping sounds.

Most importantly.

Deep within his dantian.

That originally mist-like Foundation Establishment spiritual energy sea, under extreme compression and the catalysis of destiny, slowly yet irreversibly condensed into a tiny but dazzlingly bright golden core!

Golden Core!

In a desperate situation.

Over the corpses of his four allies.

Li Miaoyuan, with the help of the Heavenly Dao's forceful "spoon-feeding", formed his core right then and there amidst extreme grief, indignation, and despair!

"Is this... the power of the Golden Core stage?"

Li Miaoyuan slowly opened his eyes.

Those eyes had turned into a pure, brilliant gold.

Feeling the earth-shattering terrifying spiritual energy within his body, which was more than a hundred times stronger than the Foundation Establishment stage, his mouth split into a ferocious smile.

He looked down at Shen Fei.

His eyes regained that high and mighty arrogance of an immortal cultivator looking down on all living beings.

"Shen Fei."

"Look."

"Destiny is still with me!"

Li Miaoyuan clenched his fists, feeling the destructive power flowing at his fingertips.

"You, a mortal demon, what do you have to fight against the heavens?!"

Shen Fei looked at Li Miaoyuan, who had just formed his Golden Core and was arrogant to the extreme.

He didn't have any emotional fluctuations because of the other party's breakthrough.

The corners of his mouth twitched slightly.

"Destiny?"

Shen Fei took a step forward.

The dark gold Heavenly Demon spiritual energy in his body circulated steadily and profoundly.

"If God really had eyes."

"Your broken sect wouldn't have been blown to ashes by me."

"The heavens want to protect you."

Shen Fei casually rolled his wrists, his bones letting out crisp cracking sounds.

"Then I will tear the heavens apart too."

Shen Fei forcefully stomped his right foot on the cliff.

"Boom!"

The hard volcanic rock instantly blasted out a deep pit.

Shen Fei's entire body turned into a dark gold streak of light. The ultimate speed of a Grandmaster coupled with the outburst of Heavenly Demon spiritual energy allowed him to instantly break the sound barrier!

He didn't use any magical treasures, nor did he use any flashy moves.

It was still simple, brutal physical combat.

One punch!

Straight for Li Miaoyuan's arrogant face!

"Courting death!"

Li Miaoyuan had just formed his core, a time when his self-confidence was extremely inflated.

Seeing that Shen Fei actually dared to clash head-on with him, a trace of contemptuous coldness flashed in his eyes.

He didn't even dodge.

The spiritual energy of the Golden Core stage erupted with a boom, forming a thick golden spiritual energy shield in front of him.

"A mortal body of flesh, yet daring to..."

"Bang—Crack!"

Before Li Miaoyuan could finish his words.

That Golden Core shield, capable of withstanding the bombardment of a main battle tank's main gun, the moment it touched Shen Fei's fist wrapped in Heavenly Demon spiritual energy.

Was like a fragile piece of glass, brutally smashed to pieces!

The terrifying punching force continued unabated, accurately brushing past the side of Li Miaoyuan's face.

"Boom!"

The violent airwave kicked up by the fist wind directly plowed a deep trench over a dozen meters long on the cliff behind Li Miaoyuan!

Li Miaoyuan's pupils contracted violently.

He felt a burning pain on his cheek, and a trace of blood seeped out.

How is this possible?!

He had already formed a Golden Core! Both his physical body and spiritual energy had achieved a qualitative leap!

Why could this demon's punch still easily tear apart his defense?!

He had no idea at all.

The person standing in front of him was long no longer that martial arts Grandmaster who could only rely on pure physical strength.

But a half-step Golden Core monster who had fused the remnants of immortal cultivation laws and completely transformed his true qi into Heavenly Demon spiritual energy!

The overbearing law-breaking attribute of the Heaven-Swallowing Demonic Art was fully revealed at this moment.

Missing his first strike, Shen Fei didn't pause for a moment.

He closed in ruthlessly, his left leg sweeping out fiercely like a battle axe, aiming straight for Li Miaoyuan's waist and abdomen!

Li Miaoyuan finally put away his contempt.

He retreated hastily and awkwardly, his hands forming hand seals at lightning speed.

"Nine Netherworld Hellfire, rise!"

He attempted to activate the broken killing formation he had set up earlier.

But.

"Boom!!!"

At this very moment.

The entire sky suddenly turned pitch black!

It was not the darkness of clouds obscuring the sun, but a profound, absolute darkness that seemed ready to swallow the entire world!

This darkness arrived abruptly, faster than imagination could comprehend.

In almost a single second, it covered a hundred miles of the surrounding ocean.

The previously howling Pacific Ocean, at the instant this darkness descended, eerily fell into a deathly silence.

The waves stopped churning, and even the magma erupting from the crater seemed to be forcibly suppressed by a terrifying invisible force, its height abruptly dropping by half.

Immediately after.

Deep within the pitch-black canopy of the sky.

Slowly, a thick layer of tribulation clouds emerged, carrying a suffocating aura of destruction.

There was no ordinary lightning within the clouds.

Only a blinding, purplish-gold thunder silently snaked through them.

A massive coercion, one that even superseded Earth's conventional laws of physics, crashed down from the tribulation clouds!

It directly locked onto Li Miaoyuan on the cliff.

A lightning tribulation!

An ascension lightning tribulation!

Li Miaoyuan had formed his Golden Core, triggering a rare cross-realm reception phenomenon within the cultivation system!

Shen Fei stopped his attack.

He keenly sensed that this pressure descending from the heavens not only locked onto Li Miaoyuan, but even the Heavenly Demon spiritual energy within his own body was subjected to intense repulsion and suppression.

This was no longer just the simple intervention of Earth's Heavenly Dao.

This was the direct descent of laws from a higher dimension, the Upper Realm!

The system's piercing, highest-level alarm echoed madly in Shen Fei's mind:

Extreme Danger Warning!!!

Detected forceful cross-realm intervention by the Heavenly Dao laws of the Upper Realm!

The ascension channel is being forcibly opened!

Target Li Miaoyuan is about to be forcibly received into a higher-dimensional cultivation plane after the baptism of the lightning tribulation!

Warning to Host: Within the range of the ascension lightning tribulation, all mortal powers not belonging to this cultivation system will be severely suppressed by the laws of the Upper Realm (Estimated suppression: 30%-50%)!

System strongly advises: Host, please evacuate the tribulation coverage area immediately! Avoid suffering collateral damage from higher-dimensional heavenly punishment!

Evacuate?

Shen Fei stood at the edge of the cliff.

He raised his head.

Looking at the ink-black sky where purple lightning rolled.

Feeling the heavy oppression of the higher-dimensional laws that felt as if they would crush him.

His gaze became deep and dark.

If it were an ordinary villain, faced with this completely illogical heavenly cheat and the system's stern warning, they would definitely choose to temporarily avoid the brunt of it.

After all, to endure a higher-dimensional heavenly punishment just to kill a fish that slipped through the net was unwise.

But Shen Fei was no ordinary villain.

He was a cold-blooded tyrant who trampled rules under his feet.

Li Miaoyuan had to die.

This was the decision he made on the ruins of the Taiyi Dao Sect, and nothing could change it. Not even the heavens.

"Upper Realm law suppression?"

Shen Fei indifferently withdrew his gaze.

He opened the system shop.

He decisively threw in all the villain points he had obtained from previously killing those four Children of Destiny.

Ding!

Points deduction complete.

Successfully exchanged for a rare defensive item: Heavenly Demon Spirit Protection Cover (single-use consumable).

Function: Provides the host with a highly effective higher-dimensional law isolation layer for ten minutes, minimizing the collateral lock-on and suppression of cross-realm heavenly punishment.

A faint black barrier of light, invisible to the naked eye, instantly covered Shen Fei's entire body.

That extremely heavy sense of oppression lessened slightly.

Shen Fei casually rolled his neck.

Under the oppressive shadow of the lightning tribulation.

He did not retreat.

Instead, he calmly took a step forward.

One step.

Another step.

He walked right into the terrifying lock-on range of the lightning tribulation.

Li Miaoyuan was currently sitting cross-legged directly beneath the center of the tribulation clouds. While nervously preparing to face the baptism of the first heavenly lightning, he stared fixedly at Shen Fei.

When he saw that Shen Fei actually had not fled, but was instead arrogantly walking in while enduring the heavenly might that made even a Golden Core stage cultivator like him palpitate.

Li Miaoyuan's eyes widened in horror.

"Are you crazy?!"

Li Miaoyuan roared in disbelief.

"This is an ascension lightning tribulation! Any mortal who steps in will suffer heavenly condemnation, and even their soul will be blasted to ash!"

"You are courting death!!!"

Shen Fei looked at Li Miaoyuan, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground with a face full of terror.

His footsteps were steady.

In his pitch-black eyes, there was only pure killing intent.

"Heavenly condemnation?"

Shen Fei stopped less than ten paces away from Li Miaoyuan.

He looked up at the sky coldly.

"I am the one who will send you to the heavens."

"You want to ascend?"

Shen Fei asked back indifferently.

His voice was clearly audible amidst the rumbling thunder.

"Did I agree to that?"