CHAPTER 258: CHAPTER 258: CELESTIAL MAIDEN OF ILLUSORY SOUND, CALLING DOWN THE HEAVENLY TRIBULATION AGAIN

"Go together." Blade King and the other Domain lords saw this and decisively joined the fight.

With no heavenly tribulation hanging over them, they weren’t afraid of Maiev and the others at all.

Johnnie didn’t join the melee. Instead, he controlled the Seven Sword and focused everything on the badly wounded Celestial Venerable of the Chiming Stone and the Hurricane Divine Lord.

He wanted to kill these two first.

Buzz!

The Intent of the Sword hummed. The Seven Sword flashed and hacked at them like crazy.

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Damage numbers flashed. Both the Hurricane Divine Lord and the Celestial Venerable of the Chiming Stone were Divine powerhouses, so Johnnie could only deal around one to two million damage each hit—not enough to threaten them.

He was betting on the Seven Sword’s Instant Kill effect.

Both men were already heavily hurt. They wouldn’t last long.

Rumble, rumble...

The city kept shaking. Blade King and his side noticed the special power hidden in Johnnie’s attacks and tried to rush over to save the Celestial Venerable of the Chiming Stone and the Hurricane Divine Lord.

But Maiev and Nalorin Sylvia went all out, and with the Dark Golden Golem and a huge number of repairable Mechanical Golems blocking them, they couldn’t break free for now.

Buzz!

The Intent of the Sword thrummed. A strange wave of power rippled out.

The Hurricane Divine Lord’s hundreds of billions of Health points were wiped out in an instant.

[Ding, Instant Kill effect triggered. You killed the Hurricane Divine Lord]

[Four basic attributes +10,000. God-slaying power triggered. Your attributes are permanently increased by 10%]

The prompts popped up. The Hurricane Divine Lord was the first to be killed by the Seven Sword’s Instant Kill.

"He really can kill Domain-level beings!" Blade King watched as Hurricane’s divine soul fled and shouted, "Celestial Maiden of Illusory Sound, trap that human and save the Celestial Venerable of the Chiming Stone!"

"Got it!" The woman with the zither slipped past Nalorin Sylvia’s strike and lightly plucked her strings. A sharp, piercing note spread out.

Buzz!

Johnnie’s head swam, and he almost lost control of the Seven Sword.

A mental attack!

His face tightened. With his soul badly hurt, he couldn’t block it.

If only he had The Iceheart Jade on him.

The Iceheart Jade has a special effect: it blocks mental attacks. But that item adds +5 Insight, so Crysic and the girls were holding it for Sword Immortal class advancement. He didn’t have it on him.

Buzz!

A gentle zither note rose, and the scene around him changed at once.

He stood in a valley, lush and full of life, with a soft melody drifting through the air.

An illusion!

Johnnie knew none of this was real, but he couldn’t find a flaw to break it.

Buzz!

More notes flowed out. A breeze passed. Grass and trees swayed. Unlike the peace from before, the sound now carried killing intent.

"No—that sound isn’t part of the illusion!" His face changed, and he instinctively rolled aside to dodge.

Rip, rip...

His clothes tore. A cut opened on his cheek, blood running down.

The zither notes were like blades, hidden with lethal force.

Buzz, buzz...

The music kept coming. Space itself trembled. Trees were sliced apart.

Johnnie tried to use his blink skill on reflex, but it failed. The zither sound had even sealed the space.

Puff!

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Damage numbers flashed. Johnnie’s Health points were wiped out in an instant.

[Ding, you were Instant Killed by the Celestial Maiden of Illusory Sound]

[Special law blessing: you revive on the spot]

The prompts flickered. Johnnie revived where he stood. His head spun and throbbed with pain.

Soul damage!

His face darkened. The zither sound held a soul attack. If he died too many times, it could harm his soul and lead to true death.

This Celestial Maiden of Illusory Sound is probably their real trump card.

Johnnie’s face grew serious. He tried to use the Map of Heaven and Earth, but nothing happened.

"Let’s see how real your illusion is. Hellfire!"

He gave a low shout and cast the Forbidden Spell: Hellfire.

Boom...

Flames roared up. In a blink, everything around him became a sea of fire. Bright, eerie flames danced, and a terrible heat spread out.

A fire-type Forbidden Spell, able to burn the sky and end worlds—it should destroy everything.

But the grass and the river around him weren’t affected at all.

They were part of the illusion and didn’t fear flames.

Still, it wasn’t useless. Under the scorching fire, ripples spread through the scene, as if it couldn’t handle the constant burn.

This might work!

Hope flashed in Johnnie’s eyes. He pushed more power into the flames.

Endless Hellfire burned on. The illusion grew very unstable, like it could break at any time.

But Johnnie’s Mana points were draining fast.

Hellfire costs 10% mana per second. He could only hold it for ten seconds.

Even with mana regen, it wouldn’t reach eleven.

After just a few breaths, the fire faded. The area went calm again. The illusion was very fragile now, but still not broken.

Buzz!

A soft zither note rose again. Sharp pain stabbed through Johnnie’s head. He couldn’t resist it.

Crack!

A shattering sound rang out, and everything around him broke apart.

Maiev had smashed the illusion from outside.

"Master, I can tie them down. Hurry and kill the Celestial Venerable of the Chiming Stone!" Maiev’s wings beat as endless vines howled out, wrapping around Blade King and the Celestial Maiden of Illusory Sound with all her strength.

"Okay!" Johnnie answered.

He knew Maiev couldn’t hold them for long, so he didn’t waste a second. He poured everything into controlling the Seven Sword, wildly tearing into the badly wounded Celestial Venerable of the Chiming Stone.

Rip, rip...

Sword light flashed.

This guy’s defense was crazy. Each strike from Johnnie only did a bit over a million true damage, and the Instant Kill effect still wouldn’t trigger.

"Despicable human, if you have the guts, wait until I recover and fight me head-on!" the Celestial Venerable of the Chiming Stone roared, furious and aggrieved. If not for being heavily hurt by Thunder Punishment, he wouldn’t fear Johnnie at all.

"Shut it. Or I’ll call down Thunder Punishment again and wipe out your Divine Soul," Johnnie said coldly.

He had realized the godhood heavenly tribulation could threaten the Divine Soul.

The Celestial Venerable of the Chiming Stone swallowed and didn’t dare speak again. He didn’t doubt Johnnie would do it.

If Johnnie killed him, his Divine Soul wouldn’t be harmed and he could revive.

But if the godhood heavenly tribulation struck him down, his Divine Soul might be destroyed—true death.

Buzz...

The Intent of the Sword hummed as Johnnie kept swinging.

Only after more than ten minutes did the Instant Kill finally happen.

[Ding, Seven Sword Instant Kill effect triggered. You killed the Celestial Venerable of the Chiming Stone]

[Four basic attributes +10,000. God-slaying power triggered. Your attributes are permanently increased by 10%]

The prompts appeared, and Johnnie finally exhaled.

The Celestial Venerable of the Chiming Stone was even tougher than he’d thought. He had to keep attacking for over half an hour before the Seven Sword’s Instant Kill effect triggered.

Buzz!

The Celestial Venerable of the Chiming Stone’s Divine Soul flew out. He shot Johnnie a hateful look, then fled without looking back.

Johnnie ignored him. He put all the drops and the corpse into the Map of Heaven and Earth.

The Hurricane Divine Lord and the Celestial Venerable of the Chiming Stone each dropped one divine essence. Nothing else.

Johnnie didn’t dwell on it. The bodies of two Domain-level beings were just as valuable to him.

Especially the Chiming Stone Venerable’s sturdy body—it was perfect for refining a mechanical Domain body.

Johnnie looked to the other side of the battlefield. There were still four Divine powerhouses left.

Blade King, the Celestial Maiden of Illusory Sound, the Poison Venerable of the Five Greats, and a Domain expert skilled in fire laws—the Heavenly Fire Divine General.

These people were top fighters of the Half-God realm. Maiev, Nalorin Sylvia, and the Dark Golden Golem could only just hold them back. Killing them was out of the question.

The only hope was to call down the godhood heavenly tribulation again.

Johnnie looked grim. His soul had been badly hurt by the heavenly tribulation, and he had just taken another hit from the Celestial Maiden of Illusory Sound. He might not be able to withstand another blast.

But he had no choice.

"Fine. Let’s try to seriously wound all four this time!" Johnnie took a deep breath, stopped suppressing his power, his aura surged, and he drew the heavenly tribulation down.

Rumble...

Thunder rolled. Dark clouds churned across the sky, covering the whole Blade King City.

Blade King and the others felt the terrifying pressure of the heavenly tribulation. Their faces changed, and they even thought about retreating.

"We can’t stop this. Worst case, abandon the body and die with him!" the Poison Venerable of the Five Greats said coldly, eyes resolute.

No one objected.

Knowing Johnnie was Heaven’s Chosen, they had to wipe him out no matter what. If he grew stronger, it would spell disaster for them.

Rumble...

Under the rolling tribulation clouds, a thick bolt of lightning slowly formed and then crashed down.

Johnnie’s eyes tightened. Without hesitating, he used a space blink, aiming at the Celestial Maiden of Illusory Sound who was tangled up with Maiev.

This woman’s methods were tricky, her soul was strong, and she excelled at mental attacks. She was the biggest threat to him.

"Maiev, move!" Johnnie warned in his mind.

Maiev sensed it. Her slender wings beat, and she pulled back fast.

"Not good!"

The Celestial Maiden of Illusory Sound’s face changed. Seeing Johnnie appear before her—and the lightning screaming down overhead—her heart trembled.

She tried to dodge, but it was too late.

Crack!

A thunderous boom—like the sky was torn open—and a thick bolt of lightning slammed down.

The Celestial Maiden of Illusory Sound reflexively raised her guqin over her head.

Clang...

The note shattered. The zither was destroyed on the spot. A heartbeat later, the lightning struck. Her slender figure was blown back, blood spraying.

Just one tribulation bolt left the Celestial Maiden of Illusory Sound badly wounded.

It wasn’t that she was weak—the power of the heavenly tribulation had risen again.

Johnnie was pale too, blood at the corner of his mouth, his head buzzing with stabbing pain.

She had taken most of the tribulation’s force, but he was still badly hurt.

Luckily, the woman was also no longer able to fight after that strike.

Rumble...

Under the rolling tribulation clouds, a second bolt slowly gathered.

Johnnie forced his injuries down and endured the pain in his head. He didn’t rush to finish off the Celestial Maiden. His gaze shifted and locked onto the Blade King, who was tangled with the Dark Golden Golem.

Among them, he was the strongest and the biggest threat.

Buzz!

Space power rippled. Johnnie used his blink again and appeared in front of the Blade King, while he put the Dark Golden Golem straight into the Map of Heaven and Earth.

"Courting death!"

The Blade King had already sensed him. He ignored the tribulation lightning screaming down overhead and instead swung his long blade hard at Johnnie.

This heavy, powerful strike would surely cut Johnnie down.