Chapter 500: 500. Tribulation

The black clouds of the Heaven Tribulation loomed once again over island nineteen, the target of their ominous aura was a big mansion placed at the center of the island.

The human cultivators guarding the mansion felt the power contained in the clouds and trembled, some of them were rank 3 cultivators but even they didn't feel confident against that threat.

"I anticipated something dangerous but this even surpasses my expectations, I wonder if the Prince will need our help."

Elder Iris spoke while flying under the layer of black clouds that had obscured the sun, two men stood in the air next to her, their gazes continuously moved between the sky and Noah's mansion.

"This is completely above the human ranks. Their power seems tuned for cultivators that are only one step away from the heroic ranks but they are still too large even in that case."

Roy spoke to continue his mother's words.

Thanks to his privileged position, Roy had quickly obtained a rank 4 cultivation technique and survived his Heaven Tribulation while Noah was in seclusion.

Also, his mother had even provided him with many inscribed items at the peak of the third rank to help him pass the trial, his battle prowess couldn't be compared to Bruce's one since he had spent most of his time inside the Chasing demon sect handling the human matters and avoiding the battlefield.

However, he wasn't a complete heroic cultivator since his mind was still in the third rank and he had yet to face the Earth Tribulation.

Elder Iris knew her son, she had advised him that it was better to slow down the growth of his sea of consciousness to improve its sturdiness, Roy would have surely failed the Earth Tribulation as he was now.

"Hmph, the Prince has obtained Divine Demon's recognition when he was only a rank 3 cultivator in the gaseous stage and has been attacked by Heaven and Earth's clouds already when he was in Efrana nation. I bet we are in for a show."

Bruce snorted as he replied to the words of the mother and son's pair next to him.

The three of them had flown in the air as soon as the cloud began to form and had no doubt that they were aiming for the Demon Prince who had been in seclusion since the piece of Immortal Lands had fallen.

Tales about his achievements had spread long ago, especially among the ranks of the elders.

They knew that Noah had caused Heaven's reaction with his experiments and that he had defeated a cultivator with a rank 4 dantian already.

Yet, they couldn't help but worry when they saw the size of his Heaven Tribulation, it was simply too big even for someone who was a rank 4 mage while still being a human cultivator!

"Why isn't he coming out?"

Roy asked when he saw that Noah wasn't exiting his mansion to face the Tribulation, he began to worry about Noah's state, he hadn't seen him for four years after all.

Elder Iris' eyes sharpened too at that sight, only Bruce remained completely confident in him.

Bruce had seen him joining his faction when he was only a rank 2 cultivator and had witnessed his rise to power inside the sect, even his lover had been healed thanks to him, there was nothing that could make his faith in him waver.

The black clouds stopped forming, only the purple light of the exoskeleton illuminated the environment of the island.

The human cultivators had run away by then, the lights of the teleportation matrixes on the island had continuously lit the shores as they escaped from the imminent danger.

Then, a thick lightning bolt fell from the clouds and aimed for Noah's mansion.

The bolt though couldn't hit the mansion since a black line came out of its roof and cut through Heaven's attack, reaching for the black clouds where it opened a long fissure in their gaseous bodies.

The sunlight came out of the fissure and illuminated the mansion, its roof was falling apart since the attack had been launched from inside it, a winged human figure could be seen flying in the air past the falling rubbles.

'Dammit, I totally forgot that I had my cultivation technique still active. Well, the forging was successful at least.'

Noah thought as he carefully held a minute ring inside the palm of his right hand, his peak rank 3 Demonic sword was steadily wielded in his left one.

His gaze went on the sky, the size of the black clouds didn't surprise him but his consciousness analyzed them as if he was looking for something specific.

'They are mostly made of the same "Breath" that has tried to kill me during my fusion but there is the nourishing one that I must absorb after passing the Tribulation too. Heaven and Earth didn't play any trick or maybe they simply couldn't.'

He was worried that Heaven and Earth would simply negate him access to the "Breath" needed to nourish the dantian after it entered the fourth rank, limiting the potential of Noah's center of power in that way.

However, Noah could feel the same deep meaning that he had sensed during Bruce's Tribulation, meaning that the "Breath" that he needed to absorb was somewhere among the destructive one.

'It seems that even the omniscient Heaven and Earth must play by the rules, they can only bend them a little. They are almost pitiful.'

Noah laughed inside his mind when he realized that.

The way he saw it, it was pointless to be as powerful as Heaven and Earth if then he couldn't directly take the life of an ant because of his own restrictions.

His dragon's instincts screamed as he saw the sparks gathering inside the black clouds, an even stronger lightning bolt was about to be launched in his direction.

Noah closed his eyes as he pointed the clouds with his saber, he slowly exhaled as he focused on his body.

His circulatory system began to accelerate its working speed, his metabolism reached a monstrous speed as the nourishments contained inside his body were consumed.

Even his muscles seemed affected by that process, Noah's skin caved in as his muscles condensed due to the pressure that they were under.

The "Breath" absorbed by the ring around his dantian was directly redirected on his left arm, black smoke began to come out of his saber as Noah gathered the energy needed for the execution of his martial art.

Then, just when a massive lightning bolt was about to fall on him, Noah swung his arm and cracks appeared in the air where his weapon passed.