Tai Qing

A few hundred nautical miles away, Christen was panicking where she stood. She cursed Poseidon for being so hot-headed. She then started cursing Yang Chen and his stubbornness. Wouldn’t everything be over if you’d just surrender?! Do you really think Poseidon is like Ares?!

At this point, two powerful beings flew over from the east!

One had a blue glow while the other was red. It was the siblings Stern and Alice. They had also just received news about someone breaking the Treaty of Gods. Since it involved this new Pluto, they’d rushed over without delay. However, they didn’t expect to be this late.

Watching the electrical storm above, Stern and Alice had to ask Christen, “Aphrodite, what’s going on? Why is Poseidon attacking him?”

Seeing the twins arrive, Christen found some degree of hope. “Apollo! It’s great you’re both here! Stop Poseidon now! Yang Chen said something Poseidon didn’t like. Then he wanted Yang Chen to ‘experience’ the true powers of the laws of space. From that, a fight broke out. Yang Chen still refuses to admit defeat. If they go on like this, Yang Chen’s arms and legs would all be blown off!”

“What?!” Alice rubbed her neck worriedly. “Hades… This idiot really thinks he’s the shit after that fight with Ares.”

Stern sighed, then grabbed the air solemnly. “Helios!”

A red, fiery dragon twisted around Stern’s arm, finally forming a white-gold, burning bow!

“I’ll see what I can do. Poseidon is way more powerful than the both of us. The pressure in there is too strong so it’s almost impossible for us to pierce through it,” Stern said before drawing the bow to allow a burning arrow to form in the air!

Scorching heat from the burning arrow twisted the space around it, accumulating an increasingly terrifying amount of energy as he continued to compress layers upon layers of space on it.

While that was happening, Yang Chen was unaware of the appearance of the siblings. He was too busy focusing on the battle before him

The True Yuan around Yang Chen’s body was flickering irregularly as if something was about to be unleashed.

“Go… go!!!” shrieked Yang Chen painfully, seeing as Poseidon was still there. Yang Chen used his last bits of consciousness to suppress the manic side of him.

Poseidon slowly realised there was something wrong with Yang Chen. His words did not seem like they were words of mockery.

Boom...

A rumble of thunder echoed around them across the magnificent skies.

This thunder was unusual because it sounded like the deafening roar of an ancient monster, calling souls to their demise. It was also highly peculiar that it was contained within the area that Yang Chen was in!

Poseidon was starting to get a little bit afraid now. “Yo—you’re…”

It felt like raw, burning energy that manifested from his desperation near death. The arm that was trapped in Poseidon’s high-pressure spatial trap clenched into a fist!

Boom!

The distorted space shattered into pieces!

Poseidon was shocked to his core. He couldn’t believe that Yang Chen, who was just now struggling to defend himself, had suddenly become so powerful! The True Yuan within his body now was far from what he had a few moments ago!

Although this level of True Yuan wasn’t enough to scare Poseidon, he was still puzzled. Where did this sudden explosion of energy come from?!

Yang Chen’s bloodshot eyes were now glowing red. They met with Poseidon’s bright blue eyes. Suddenly, he lifted a foot, kicking Poseidon’s chest with all the force he could muster!

In shock, Poseidon didn’t have the wits to stop the kick. He felt an extremely strong surge of True Yuan force, and with a thud, his body flew miles away in a ray of light!

Poseidon roared in fury as his body was hurled through the air. He could barely stabilize himself!

However, when he stopped, Poseidon realised that although it was a cruel kick, the force was meant to distance himself, not to harm him!

Does he want me to stay away? Why?! Poseidon thought.

At this point, far away, Stern had just shot his fiery arrow from his magical bow.

A long ray of red light broke the night sky, piercing through space like thin paper. It brought with it full forward momentum, directed straight at the core of the charged space!

It was impossible for this arrow to hurt Poseidon or Yang Chen because it wasn’t flying fast enough. It was supposed to be a distraction for the both of them.

However, before the arrow had reached them, there was a sudden change among the spiralling grey clouds!

Everyone watched with gaping jaws as the grey clouds formed a huge spiral, and at the eye of the storm, lightning flashed.

They stared as a mighty silver-blue flash of lightning, flew through the clouds like a dragon who was forcibly woken from slumber!

It was only a few seconds after when a deafening roar of thunder echoed in their ears.

The skies flickered a bright blue.

Blinding sparks flew between the skies and the seas.

Christen, the Cromwell twins, and Poseidon suddenly understood what was happening.

The magnificent godly ray had swallowed Stern’s fiery arrow, which was an accumulation of his immense divine powers, without so much of a spark!

“Yang Chen!!!”

Christen let out a chilling scream while tears started flowing from her eyes. She thought Apollo’s arrow would be enough to drag Yang Chen out of danger but she was sorely mistaken.

“Brother, it’s… the one the cultivators always talk about—Nine Heavenly Lightning?” asked Alice curiously, still stunned.

Stern nodded solemnly. “You’re right. It is the punishment of the heavens—Nine Heavenly Lightning. This is the first one called the Tai Qing.”

“But… hadn’t he just completed the Xiantian Full Cycle the last time we met him? How did he suddenly get into Soul Forming stage, and now Tribulation Passing?!” Alice was very confused.

“Why are you still blabbering around? Yang Chen doesn’t know a thing about this practice. He was just struck by the Nine Heavenly Lightning, how could he survive?” sobbed Christen. “No, I must save him!”

She dashed into the mass of dark clouds and lightning.

Alice quickly grabbed her arm, stopping Christen from moving any further. “Aphrodite! Are you mad?! That’s the most powerful punishment of the heavens! With your capabilities, you’d be seriously hurt! Even Zeus and Athena wouldn’t try to defend against it! Rushing towards it would be suicide! Who knows if you could still reincarnate after being struck by that!”

“But… Diana, the few people at Tribulation Passing stage tens of millenia ago had protective treasures. Even then their souls were still destroyed. Yang Chen doesn’t have anything on him now. He’ll… he’ll…” Tears flowed from Christen’s eyes as she spoke.

Stern sighed softly. “Damn it… Why didn’t he just study the laws of space properly? Why did he have to focus all his energy on Chinese cultivation? This breaks so many universal laws. The more powerful the practitioner is, the easier their soul shatters upon the heavenly tribulations. Also, it looks like he isn’t likely to achieve rebirth this time.” Stern didn’t think that Yang Chen could be saved.

At this point, a point deep within the grey clouds flickered. Another ray of Tai Qing Heavenly Lightning struck down upon him!

Then, at the same time, a bright blue silhouette suddenly appeared near the clouds!

Stern’s eyes brightened with recognition. “That’s Poseidon?! Is… is he trying to help Yang Chen block the heavenly lightning?!”

“How is that possible?! Poseidon might be many times stronger than us, but even he wouldn’t be strong enough to stop the strike!”

“No… Perhaps he is strong enough to block one. But that’s all he can do.” Stern clenched his jaw, then turned to Alice next to him. “Let’s go, dear! Since there’s more lightning brewing there, it means Hades isn’t dead yet. If he hasn’t died from the first strike, then with us blocking the next two bolts, he might be able to recover!”

Alice nodded. They transformed into a blue and red ray respectively before dashing to Poseidon among the storm clouds.

There was already a gleaming trident in Poseidon’s hand. It was etched with ancient symbols, and you could almost hear the rumble of tides echoing deep within.

“Don’t burden me. If you get hurt and have to be reborn, it won’t be on me,” huffed Poseidon coldly.

“Oh look, someone’s thinking straight again. I thought you really wanted to kill Hades,” said Stern smilingly.

“I didn’t mind him dying initially, but he did save me before the lightning struck. I obviously can’t owe him for the rest of my life.”

“I knew you were just tough on the outside. Enough talk, let’s go!” Stern said with a bitter smile. In his mind, he cursed, Look at you, passionately helping to block the strikes now. Why did you have to force us all to walk down this path? Yang Chen’s resilience has revealed his true capabilities. Without your stupidity, the heavenly lightning wouldn’t have come.

However, thinking of that now wouldn’t help. The three of them, under Poseidon’s lead, manipulated the laws of space at the same time to form a wall several thousand layers thick between Yang Chen and the lightning!

The cloudy skies were already a no-man zone with energized atoms recklessly bouncing around. Sparks flew as the wind roared brought shards of ice as sharp as daggers!

Poseidon’s trident in his hand glowed a bright blue, and with a shout, the tip shot three rays of blue-white light! The rays passed right through the space walls. Not only were they allowed through the walls, the rays even gathered the parallel spaces all in one area!