"HAHAHAHA!"
The world began to respond to Xi Li's mad laughter. Clouds in the sky turned dark, swallowing the sun, returning the world to its primordial darkness.
Within the darkness resounded crackling thunder followed by flashes of blue streaks of light.
An ominous feeling overtook the onlookers. They felt stifled, suppressed even. The atmosphere gave them a familiar feeling, only the scale of things happening in front of them was inconceivable.
'No way... This has no relation to that phenomenon.'
Every single one of them thought it was absurd. Even if they knew what was happening, they denied the reality in front of them.
...
Some time earlier inside the Heaven Defying Sect, every single person of the sect was attempting to defy the heavens.
Disciples could be seen sitting in a meditative state with their eyes closed.
The elders of the sect sat in front of the disciples. Their eyes also similarly close just like the disciples.
"It's time." Cai Shuang's cold and calculative voice reached the ears of everyone in the sect.
Following the voice, everyone in the sect took a pill out and resolutely placed it in their mouth.
Qi started swirling around each of them, their dantians expanded. Beads of sweat forming on their foreheads.
Cai Shuang recalled her spiritual sense and looked at the founding members of the sect standing in front of her- the slender and handsome Pill King Yao, the reclusive Ling Yue, the tall and muscular Sun Zhen, and the blue dragon.
"We have done all we can... now it's time to see if we will live to see another day... or perish." She said with tiredness evident in her voice.
"HAHA! Of course we will live on. I still haven't crafted something I'm satisfied with." Sun Zhen replied in loud voice.
"Yes. I still haven't met every beauty the world has to offer... I can't die yet." Pill King Yao said.
"Stop dilly dallying and get ready." The blue dragon cut off their poor attempts to hide their fear.
They all looked at each other one final time before sitting down like the other members of the sect.
Deep within their Dao Platforms the power of the laws surged.
The ground trembled, the heavens roared in challenge. Dark clouds hovered over the sky, thunderous booms echoed far.
Never before had anyone attempted this nor will anyone ever attempt to replicate what the Heaven Defying Sect did that day.
Hundreds of thousands of Foundation Establishment cultivators attempting to break through to Golden Core.
Tens of thousands of Gold core trying to give birth to their Nascent souls.
Hundreds of Nascent Souls trying to transform their souls and enter the Soul Transformation Realm. Tens of Soul Transformation Realm experts trying to establish their Dao Platform and consolidate their powers into laws to enter the Dao Seeking Realm.
And finally—
The five founding members if the Heaven Deying Sect along with the guardian beast of the sect attempting to breakthrough to the Immortal Ascension Realm.
...
ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!
BOOM! BOOM!
Bolts of lightning rained down from the sky. Each bolt carrying different power and different colours- ranging from white, yellow, gold, to blood red.
"YOU CUR! YOU MADMAN! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" Overseer Cui looked at the hell in front of him, his face turning pale from fear.
This level of tribulation was something that even immortals did not face.
The forces of the central continent were in chaos. Some huddled together to defend from the bolts of lighting, some rushed to escape only to be blocked by an invisible force every time.
Some opportunists even rushed towards people whom they held grudges against, in hopes of injuring them in their moment of inattention.
"When one has to face a tribulation he employs arrays or seeks barren lands to avoid implicating others in his tribulation." Xi Li looked towards Overseer Cui and the other Heavenly Court Immortals. "If someone is caught inside the range of someone else's tribulation, the heavens treat that person as someone trying to interfere and the power of the tribulation is increased." His lips curled into a sadistic smile.
BOOM!
"Now imagine hundreds of thousands of cultivators facing a tribulation simultaneously and... Hundreds of thousands of cultivators trying to interfere in this Grand Tribulation... HAHAHA" Xi Li burst out laughing as he blocked a random strike of lighting coming toward him.
The chaos called forth by a bunch of 'extras' had descended. Bodies lay everywhere. Rivers of blood flowed though the land dyeing the entire battle field in a shade of deep red.
Smell of burnt wood and ground along with a metallic odour overwhelmed the senses of everyone present.
Lu Jin blocked a red bolt of lightning with the help of the Bead of Heaven.
'This is bad. All the Immortal Qi I have absorbed will be used this madness isn't stopped soon. I can't even access the space inside the bead anymore till the space inside calms down.'
BOOM!
Another bolt of lightning attacked him.
As time went of the lighting didn't ease at all but as the weak cultivators were eradicated by the wrath of the heavens even the highest level of lighting couldn't harm the strong cultivators.
The heavens roared once more.
Seven colours peaked from behind the dark clouds.
Gold, Red, Purple, Green, Black, White, Blue—
The colours flashed in a mysterious rhythm for a while before transforming into visions legendary beasts from time immemorial.
Kun-Peng, Qilin, Roc, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, Azure Dragon, Black Tortoise tore apart the dark sky and wreaked havoc on the mortal world.
Cultivators died left and right. Even the strong ones began to get culled down by these beasts from time immemorial.
From the original hundreds of thousands of cultivators in the battle field now only Xi Li, Lu Jin, Overseer Cui and other immortals from the Heavenly Court remained.
Seven beasts against seven humans.
Blue lighting flickered around its illusory body as the Azure Dragon charged towards Lu Jin as it opened its maws swallow him.
Lu Jin swallowed hard, the bead didn't have enough remaining power to completely block the attack unscathed. He flew towards the invisible boundary.
'hmm. I will use the tribulation and the power of the Bead of Heaven to break the boundary and flee.'
The Golden Lighting flashed around the Kun-Peng's wings as it charged at Xi Li trying to slash him in half.
Xi Li ignored the incoming Kun-Peng and looked towards the sky instead.
"You may want us to die... and sure, we will die someday. But that day is not today." He smiled coldly. " Our fate is ours to control."
That was the day that would be recorded in the history as the day the Heaven Defying Sect made the heavens tremble and the great Immortal Lu Jin flee.