The Jiang family's Old Ancestor said mockingly, "My Jiang family recognizes one principle: if you truly take a side, then you must do it with all your heart and all your mind. You absolutely cannot allow selfish motives to jeopardize the greater situation.
This principle has allowed my Jiang family to endure for over one hundred thousand years. Our Jiang family has established its roots in Azure Cloud; did you genuinely believe that I, Jiang Ning, would forget my ancestral teachings?"
"You!"
In an instant, the Jiang family's Old Ancestor's Domain expanded, paying no mind to the injuries on his body.
At this moment, throughout the entire Azure Cloud Region, killing intent suddenly flared!
However, just at this moment.
"BOOM!"
A peal of thunder roared out, like the sound of divine punishment, causing everyone in the tense, confrontational atmosphere of Azure Cloud Region to look up towards the border with faces full of horror!
"That is..."
A powerful Primordial Spirit aura and an oppressive might from Heaven and Earth emanated from the sky.
Daoist Sacred Fire could no longer be bothered about being duped by the Jiang family's Old Ancestor and abruptly shot up into the air.
Everyone from Azure Cloud, horrified, floated into the air.
"Someone is breaking through to Divinity Transformation?!!"
They saw only this: at the border of Azure Cloud, 500 miles of dark clouds stretched on endlessly!
"How is this possible? This tribulation cloud appeared from outside the Azure Cloud Region, and yet it is heading in the direction of the Azure Cloud Region! It... It's moving!"
Everyone in the entire Azure Cloud Region was watching this astonishing scene.
Generally speaking, whether it was a Nascent Soul or a Divinity Transformation cultivator undergoing their tribulation, the area covered by the lightning was always within a fixed range.
But now...
This tribulation cloud was moving like some kind of natural disaster!
No one knew what was happening. Even the two Divinity Transformation cultivators, the Jiang family's Old Ancestor and Daoist Sacred Fire, could not see anything strange.
They had tried to use their Primordial Spirits to approach the tribulation cloud, but it was like encountering a bewildering fog.
"This is bad! That tribulation cloud... It's heading straight for Merit City!"
"What?!!"
"Quick, look! Within that tribulation cloud... There are so many spirit tablets..."
"It's... It's the Li family?!!"
On this day, every cultivator in all of Azure Cloud was horrified.
They saw it. This terrifying tribulation cloud came from outside the Azure Cloud Region and returned to Merit City, finally descending upon the sky above it.
The lightning tribulation still raged in the sky, yet it never struck down, and just roared continuously in the sky above the entirety of Merit City.
At the center of the tribulation cloud, an ethereal and illusory figure floated.
But no matter how fierce the surrounding arcs of lightning were, they never dared to cross into the 5-mile area at the center. As a result, this lightning tribulation seemed as if it were protecting the entirety of Merit City.
Slowly, they saw it. The Heaven and Earth Spirit Qi was converging towards the entirety of Merit City, and the spiritual energy was forming into specks of tangible matter.
For over a hundred years, Merit City had been in a sleeping state, and the people of the entire Azure Cloud Region had regarded it as a forbidden land.
Now, this forbidden land was finally showing signs of activity.
Merit City was still frozen in the moment just before the Li family's incident had occurred.
Its inhabitants were wandering within, the streets were bustling with unusual activity, and the common folk were still buying and selling, lighting fires to cook, and going about their work.
In the Li family's residence at the very heart of Merit City, the maids and servants were still cleaning and preparing meals for their masters.
But as the tribulation cloud arrived and the spiritual energy grew ever denser, they all stopped where they were.
They raised their heads to look at the sky, a trace of bewilderment flashing in their eyes. Immediately after, the light returned to their eyes.
"Today, I undergo the tribulation of Divinity Transformation. Borrowing the lives of living beings and this overwhelming Qi Luck, I beseech the heavens to return the life force to my Merit City."
The ice-cold voice seemed to be making a prayerful appeal to the heavens!
Everyone in the entire Azure Cloud Region stared in horror in the direction of Merit City.
Every single one of them knew that the truly wondrous thing about Merit City was that the people inside were all still active, yet over a hundred years had passed, and they had, in fact, long been dead!
They had either died at the hands of Tian Xing, who had ravaged Merit City back then, or they had later given their lives to remain frozen on that day.
And now, that voice, which came from who knows where, was actually trying to borrow life force from the ethereal and illusory Heavenly Dao.
"She... she is trying to ask the heavens to return the lives of those living dead inside Merit City?" The Jiang family's Old Ancestor could no longer be bothered with fighting Daoist Sacred Fire to the death.
The scene at that lightning tribulation was divinely strange.
He had lived for so long and had never before seen such a bizarre event.
"What a joke!" Daoist Sacred Fire sneered.
"The Heavenly Dao is unfeeling. Those people in Merit City are already half-dead. This is the path they chose themselves. How could the Heavenly Dao possibly concern itself with such a matter?"
Although he was witnessing a great spectacle, it did not stop him from mocking the tribulation-taker's fantastical delusion.
However, he still wore a worried expression. He could see that it was a member of the Li family undergoing the tribulation, and that they wanted to use the appearance of the lightning tribulation to beseech the grace of the Heavenly Dao.
But who knew how many countless people in this world had beseeched the Heavenly Dao while undergoing their tribulations, yet never had it been seen to pay any heed.
"Hmph!"
The Jiang family's Old Ancestor snorted coldly at Daoist Sacred Fire's derisive mockery, but he, too, felt that this was a fantastical delusion.
As everyone watched with rapt attention, that voice rang out once more.
"I beg the heavens to show mercy and return the life force to my Merit City!"
The thunder roared!
All the fellow Daoists in Azure Cloud could feel the anger in that voice, as if it were expressing dissatisfaction with the Heavenly Dao.
The lightning tribulation also grew more violent, which must have been because the Heavenly Dao was angered by the speaker's insolence.
However, very quickly, they widened their eyes!
The person undergoing the tribulation within the cloud was probably truly angered now.
She let out a cold shout.
"I beseech the heavens to show mercy!"
However, this time, the lightning tribulation finally had a reaction!
The lightning tribulation above the entirety of Merit City transformed into a roaring thunder dragon. It unexpectedly shot out arcs of lightning, which flickered within the tangible spiritual energy that had gathered in Merit City.
In a fleeting instant, this spiritual energy formed into one pillar of light after another, enveloping the bodies of all the common folk in Merit City and soaring up into the sky!
The lifeless Merit City was like withered grass after a spring rain, regaining its vitality bit by bit.
Even outside Merit City, the flowers, grass, and trees were all growing at a speed visible to the naked eye!
"This... how is this possible?!!"
"Life force! Merit City has life force again! The lifespans of those living dead inside Merit City have returned!"
"The heavens responded?!!"
"..."
At this moment.
All over the world, in the places where Li Yaowen's soul body had once roamed, one living being after another had ugly expressions on their faces, which were flushed red.
They only felt as if their bodies were about to be drained completely, as if a hand were gripping their throats, able to snuff out their lives with just a single squeeze.
They could die at any moment!
And these were all just the most ordinary of common folk.
They did not know what was happening. They only knew that just as they were about to die, the hand that had seized their souls let go. In a daze, they continued to go about their business, truly unable to understand what was going on. They just chalked it up to being too tired today and having their minds wander.
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