Cultivating with Top Enlightenment Chapter 868 - 368: Shocking Reversal (Part 2)

Just the shadow of the Mountain and Sea Realm Will next to Ning Qi sensed it with the utmost authenticity.

Indeed, the Heavenly Tribulation striking Sword Ancestor and his companions had been summoned by the Mountain and Sea Realm's rules, and as that Realm's Will, it could keenly detect every shift in the Heavenly Tribulation.

The moment Fan City burst inside, the lightning empowered by those rules appeared utterly overhauled.

The grip of the Mountain and Sea Realm Will began to weaken bit by bit.

A look of astonishment crossed the face of the Mountain and Sea Realm Will’s shadow as it whispered, "How could this be?"

Earlier, Ning Qi’s Heavenly Tribulation had slipped beyond its grasp due to the blend of Vast Realm rules mixed with even those from the Sea of Realms.

Yet now, why was a cultivator who barely endured Ning Qi’s tribulation able to reshape the Heavenly Tribulation?

It simply couldn’t make sense of it!

Ning Qi cast a quiet look at the nearby shadow of the Mountain and Sea Realm Will.

It was crucial to deal with Fan City fast, lest the Mountain and Sea Realm Will’s growing curiosity led it to probe deeper into the roots.

His gaze also turned to Fan City, who had plunged into the Heavenly Tribulation.

In reality, Ning Qi harbored thoughts akin to Fan City’s, sensing that Sword Ancestor’s tribulation lightning felt excessively weak now.

But Ning Qi perceived far more profoundly; he could not just command the altered tribulation lightning but also dominate Fan City.

To him, Fan City resembled a bomb operated from afar.

Beneath the thundercloud.

Sword Ancestor and the others stared at the abruptly mutating tribulation cloud, which started resembling the one Ning Qi had confronted before, filling them with unease.

Be it that blackened figure at the peak of Harmonization or the tribulation cloud itself, both evoked a razor-thin brush with death.

"Kid, isn’t this going too far? We’re not like you!" He sent via transmission to Ning Qi.

Ning Qi responded steadily, "With me present, rest completely assured."

Sword Ancestor glanced over at Qi Keqing and the rest nearby.

He noticed Qi Keqing’s face held even firmer resolve than his own, prompting a helpless grin from Sword Ancestor.

Why did it seem this fellow trusted Ning Qi more than he himself did?

At once, he steeled himself to confront the tribulation.

He lowered his head again, eyeing the scattering masses below, a swell of pride rising in his chest—apart from Ning Qi, who else in the Mountain and Sea Realm would dare challenge such a tribulation?

As conditions changed, the thundercloud overhead thickened and sank lower thanks to Fan City’s intrusion.

Lightning serpents slithering inside multiplied and swelled in size.

Fan City, engulfed in thunderous glow, looked manic, abruptly jabbing a finger downward.

Instantly, the encircling lightning serpents lashed out below.

Sword Ancestor and his group got struck head-on!

Some among them withstood it via their sturdy physiques, others leaned on magical treasures for defense, while more unleashed divine abilities against the tribulation lightning...

Regardless, whether through their cultivation arts or defensive methods, the plunging lightning pierced through without fail.

In a flash, gaping wounds tore open across their bodies.

Sword Ancestor and the others paled, hurrying to mend their wounds.

This Heavenly Tribulation proved utterly horrifying!

They lacked knowledge of standard Heavenly Tribulation might, but this twisted version overwhelmed completely.

And this was just the residual lightning from Ning Qi’s own tribulation!

Even more vexing, before wounds could heal, the sky’s Heavenly Tribulation crashed down once more.

Fan City inside the tribulation had fully commandeered its rules, bending it wholly to his desires like an extension of his own body.

Unlike Ning Qi’s earlier tribulation, which offered brief respites, Sword Ancestor and company now endured one puppeteered entirely by Fan City.

Whenever he willed it to strike, it did, denying any chance to recover.

"Hahaha..."

Fan City roared with unbridled laughter amid the thundercloud, wilder than ever.

His eyes burned scarlet, brimming with venom as he glared at those below.

The tribulation cloud warped under his warped psyche, ballooning with his mounting rage.

Today, he vowed to eradicate every soul under the thundercloud!

Myriad lightning bolts ripped from the murky clouds, slamming down at every silhouette beneath.

Be they in tribulation or not, Integration cultivators or Harmonization ones, or even those weaker than Integration.

Fan City drowned in insanity, driven by a single urge: obliteration!

This thundercloud, born from Sword Ancestor and others’ joint tribulation, spanned hugely; now amplified by Fan City, it engulfed even vaster ground, hiding who knew how many Mountain and Sea Realm cultivators below.

At that instant, all wished for an extra pair of legs, cursing why they hadn’t fled the thundercloud’s domain yet.

As tribulation lightning hammered down, they felt apocalypse’s embrace.

Ning Qi had watched the Mountain and Sea Realm Will’s motions in silence, surprised that even now, the shadow lingered in thought.

For the Mountain and Sea Realm Will, unraveling these shifts outweighed the lives teeming below.

Still, Ning Qi wouldn’t allow Fan City’s rampage; prolonged disorder meant his horde of followers in that zone would perish—what then?

Thus, Ning Qi pointed from afar at Fan City.

With that single motion, the doomsday spectacle froze, motion grinding to stillness as if time itself had frozen!

In the sky, plummeting tribulation lightning hung motionless, hovering mere inches above heads.

All gaped at the abruptly frozen tribulation lightning, clueless to the cause, but swiftly retreated farther.

Sword Ancestor and others turned toward Ning Qi.

There he stood in Yin-Yang robes, tall and unyielding in the void, sword finger thrust at the thundercloud.

It was undoubtedly his handiwork!

This youth grew ever more mysterious, his real strength harder to fathom.

Their eyes lifted to the thundercloud.

The scorched form inside now mimicked a ruined gambler, dazedly eyeing the stalled lightning below.

"Why has it come to this, how could this happen?"

He flailed his arms repeatedly, striving to reclaim command over the myriad bolts as before, yet no lightning obeyed.

Not just the lightning below had stopped—even the thundercloud above seemed locked in stasis.

Fan City alone retained mobility.

The following instant revealed a jaw-dropping sight.

All tribulation lightning retracted upward like tentacles of an abyssal octopus.

Could poured water be reclaimed?

Spectators beheld this with thundering hearts; it bordered on godly wonder!

No identity, no lifespan, not even wildest legends compared to witnessing it live!

Who had ever witnessed tribulation lightning flowing backward? None!

Yet it unfolded right before them.

Fan City in the thundercloud gawked at the lightning coiling back into the cloud, his burnt visage slack-jawed in shock.

The lightning morphed into colorful serpents weaving through the thundercloud.

Abruptly, Fan City sensed his form defying his control, yanked by invincible force toward the cloud’s heart.

Fan City resisted, thrashed arms and legs, but failed to escape.

Summoning final might, he craned his neck, peering back at Ning Qi’s spot.

A solitary silhouette loomed there, sword finger locked on him, face serene as deep waters.

"I should have known, I should have realized..."

Fan City muttered in his mind, comprehension dawning.

If he could harness Ning Qi’s leftover tribulation lightning to seize the tribulation, why couldn’t its rightful master, Ning Qi, wield it likewise?

Blind rage had clouded Fan City’s reason; only now clarity returned.

But one error snowballed into doom—what recourse remained?

His initial impulse: self-detonate. Body might betray him, yet will stayed sovereign.

In Harmonization realm, a cultivator’s will could slay, sway the skies, summon divine arts to shift mountains and oceans.

Fan City focused his will for self-destruction.

But it proved pointless, as the encircling thundercloud unleashed lightning serpents at him.

Those serpents, razors shredding flesh and soul alike, raked his form, even carving his will.

The existence Fan City had barely reclaimed shattered anew.

Did regret assail him?

Nay—for one who clawed to dominance, regret never entered; victors lorded over weaklings, losers simply fell short.

In the heavens, thunderclouds churned, Fan City’s form vanished from sight.