CHAPTER 272: TRIBULATION [3]

Yu Xuan felt a throbbing headache, both from the pressure above and the absurdity of the situation.

The sky had gone mad — flashing, roaring, growling like a living beast.

"Why... does it feel like Heaven itself wants a piece of me?" Yu Xuan muttered, rubbing his temple.

He hadn’t even done anything this time.

Then came the first strike.

A white bolt of lightning tore through the clouds with a deafening roar, descending straight onto Yu Xuan like divine judgment.

BOOOOM!!!

The impact split the air, light washing across the entire Elemental Heaven Peak.

But Yu Xuan?

He just stood there.

His body crackled with electricity, arcs dancing across his skin, yet he didn’t even flinch.

"Eh?" he blinked in confusion.

Instead of pain, he felt a strange warmth spreading through him. The thunder wasn’t destroying him, it was being absorbed.

Within his body, inside his Lower Dantian pulsed, drawing in the lightning as if it were mere Qi.

The white bolt twisted and condensed, forming a glowing lightning sphere.

"Wait. Did I just... trap lightning?"

A grin tugged at the corner of his lips.

Above, the clouds rumbled uneasily, as if Heaven itself had suddenly realized something was wrong.

SIZZLE! SIZZLE!

Yu Xuan tilted his head back, smirking slightly.

"Well? Don’t stop now."

The heavens took that personally.

For the next hours, bolts of lightning of every color descended like a divine waterfall, red, blue, green, purple, black, colorless.

Every strike that should have obliterated him instead sank harmlessly into his skin, absorbed, refined, and stored.

By the end of it, Yu Xuan hovered midair, his skin charred black, his hair standing like a hedgehog, his robes reduced to ashes.

And yet, he didn’t care.

Inside his dantian, eight distinct lightnings, each of a different hue spun around one another, forming a blazing Lightning Star, pulsing with terrifying energy.

"Hehe... just one more," he muttered, eyes gleaming.

His body was battered, yes, but his physique had never felt stronger. The Heaven and Earth themselves were being drawn into his rhythm.

The clouds above trembled again.

And then—

CRAAAAAACK!!!

A blinding golden lightning bolt ripped through the storm, dwarfing all previous strikes. Its radiance illuminated the entire peak, its aura pure and absolute.

The first Golden Lightning of Yu Xuan’s tribulation had arrived.

When it struck, the heavens roared — and Yu Xuan’s entire body convulsed from the sheer impact. The golden current coursed through his bones, tearing through flesh and blood like molten fire.

He felt pain, sharp, searing pain — but it was nowhere near unbearable.

His bones hummed, each vibrating with a tingling resonance.

His muscles spasmed slightly, and yet, Yu Xuan only clenched his jaw.

This wasn’t torment. This was power.

Why would he resist such a gift?

To Yu Xuan this lightning was no punishment, it was a blessing from Heaven itself.

He had already discovered that his cultivation technique, [The Everchanging Ascension Technique], was adapting instinctively to every form of tribulation he faced.

And now, even Heaven’s wrath had become a tool for refinement.

Every bolt that struck him didn’t just wound, it tempered him.

His body radiated steam, the smell of charred flesh mixing.

But every time the golden lightning seared him, his cells regenerated faster, stronger than before.

He could feel it.

The lightning wasn’t just refining his body; it was reconstructing it.

Even though Yu Xuan could have countered the lightning using his Heavenly Flames to balance or disperse the energy, he decided against it.

Because, why defend against the very thing making him stronger?

So he let the golden bolts fall freely.

For an entire hour, the Golden Lightning baked Yu Xuan alive. His skin turned pitch-black, flaking away like burnt paper, only to reveal a new, tougher layer beneath it moments later.

He was burned, shattered, and reconstructed, over and over.

And then something unexpected happened.

As his every cell absorbed and converted the lightning, his [Adaptive Mind] trait — the ability that let him evolve and learn from everything, began to interact with his cultivation method.

The combination was... unnatural.

Every cell in Yu Xuan’s body acted like a miniature generator, pulling energy from the lightning, processing it, and using it to refine itself. The process became self-sustaining.

A perpetual cycle was created.

A passive cultivation loop.

Yu Xuan’s very body had learned to cultivate on its own.

If Heaven had known what it was creating, perhaps it would have stopped the tribulation right there.

But Yu Xuan didn’t realize it yet.

He was lost in the rhythm of the storm, his mind blank, his body and spirit harmonizing with the world.

Somewhere in the middle of the lightning, his consciousness slipped into an epiphany.

His heart stilled. His breath calmed.

But the Heavens were not merciful enough to let him linger there.

The golden lightning abruptly ceased, and before Yu Xuan could even open his eyes, the thunderclouds shifted.

They turned ethereal, rippling like a veil of smoke. The pressure in the air changed completely.

This wasn’t physical anymore.

This was his Spiritual Tribulation.

The clouds tore open, and three colossal silhouettes emerged — ancient and imposing.

A Rat, with eyes glimmering with cunning malice.

An Ox, whose every step cracked the air.

And a Tiger, whose roar echoed across the sky, shaking even the peaks below.

And together, they lunged — not at his body, but at his spirit.

For a brief instant, Yu Xuan’s calm expression froze.

Then his eyes snapped open, burning black and white.

His gaze darkened, murderous intent boiling out of him.

They had disturbed his epiphany.

He had almost touched something profound, perhaps the next evolution of his technique, and these illusory beasts dared to interrupt him.

Lightning crackled around his body again as his killing intent soared.

His voice reverberated through the heavens like a dragon’s roar.

"HOW DARE YOU!!!"

The entire tribulation sky trembled.

The beasts halted for half a breath.

And then Yu Xuan vanished from his spot, his fury tearing through the spiritual realm itself.