Most of the low-level disciples had known that someone was undergoing Core Formation and transcending a tribulation, but being hundreds of li away, their Divine Sense was less effective than their eyesight.
They couldn't see the person within the tribulation at all, only the flashing lightning on the horizon. Still, they watched with great enthusiasm, each one of them exceptionally excited.
But now, suddenly hearing the Sect Master's voice ordering them to hide in the nearest defensive restriction, they instantly became somewhat flustered.
"Senior Brother, is the Heavenly Tribulation really that powerful? Even the Sect-Protecting Grand Formation has to be activated..."
"This... this is a Heavenly Tribulation! Junior Brother, you have no idea how terrifying a Heavenly Tribulation is. The power of a Core Formation Tribulation can only be resisted by a defensive formation like our sect's..."
The senior brother, trying to conceal his own ignorance, spoke with feigned composure. Throughout the valley, disciples gathered in twos and threes, whispering among themselves.
As for Li Yan, he could no longer afford to pay attention to external matters. The moment he first saw the single, giant eye emerge from the vortex, a shiver ran through his body.
In an instant, the hairs on his skin stood on end!
He, of course, knew what the final, thirtieth strike of the Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation was like. A giant single eye would appear, and this tribulation strike would be the final blow, but also the most powerful one.
It was said that the combined might of the last five tribulation strikes might not be as strong as this single one.
But he had clearly just been about to face the twenty-seventh tribulation strike, and suddenly, a strange change had occurred.
Although he had never experienced a Heavenly Tribulation, even a fool would know that something had gone terribly wrong with his tribulation. But at this moment, he had no time to think.
This was the might of four tribulation strikes falling together, and among them was a lesser calamity tribulation and the thirtieth tribulation.
"Damn it, how could this happen!"
Under the gaze of those giant eyes, Li Yan only felt a boundless chill rise from his limbs and bones, a cold that pierced to the marrow.
He knew he was in big trouble now. With a wave of his hands, he quickly slapped one talisman after another all over his body. The lights of various runes intertwined, activating one after another.
These were all the defensive talismans he had previously bought in Sacred Demon City, and he had taken them all out at once.
He had only just reacted when the cold, single eye in the vortex of dark clouds fiercely shot out a thick bolt of lightning, instantly striking down towards Li Yan below.
Li Yan, in mid-air, was still continuously activating talismans with his right hand. There were still thirty percent of the talismans in front of him that had not yet been activated. He could only raise his left fist with all his might to meet it.
A powerful spiritual light shot out directly from Li Yan's fist. In an instant, the spiritual light in his fist collided with the lightning.
The next moment, without even a grunt, Li Yan's figure disappeared from mid-air.
Half a breath later, a deafening "BOOM" finally echoed from afar.
Tianxingzi, who was in flight, had his figure sway slightly. Then, a pressure that made even him feel a chill in his heart was rapidly rushing towards him from behind.
He was startled at first, but feeling that although the powerful pressure was coming fiercely, the destructive power within it was rapidly decreasing, he was relieved.
But his body still erupted in a brilliant red light, and carrying the group of Foundation Establishment cultivators, his flight speed increased by a few points, turning into a barely visible afterimage as he flew into the distance.
And behind him, the world was filled with sand and dust, shooting up into the sky in the rain, covering the sky and the sun, and then quickly dispersed by the rain, which fell in clumps of mud.
At the bottom of the deep pit, a large gash had been brutally cleaved from Li Yan's left shoulder to his right abdomen. All the talismans on his body had vanished into thin air.
Li Yan's entire person was almost split in two by this strike. His left arm was shattered into several pieces, lying limply in the mud beside him.
Starting from his left shoulder blade, he was split in two downwards, and a beating, blood-red heart was exposed on his left chest. Li Yan's whole body was mixed with rain, like a corpse.
The powerful spiritual light he had struck out with all his might had not even lasted for a single breath before it was instantly shattered. Just the force transmitted from the moment of contact had severely injured Li Yan in an instant.
In the instant between life and death, Li Yan's reaction was incredibly fast. With a thought, three magical treasures had already shot up to meet the Heavenly Tribulation that was striking straight down.
An axe, a sword, and a hammer.
These were three of the magical treasures obtained from the battle on Windy Cool Mountain, the best mid-grade magical treasures in Li Yan's possession.
"Boom, boom, boom!" The three magical treasures had just risen more than seventy yards when they collided with the three continuous Heavenly Tribulation strikes.
At the bottom of the deep pit, in just a short moment, a lake of blood had formed beneath Li Yan. At this moment, Li Yan's consciousness was already somewhat blurry.
From his confusion to the appearance of the single eye in the sky, Li Yan originally had enough time to react. But he never dreamed that it would be the last four Heavenly Tribulation strikes gathering together.
Not to mention him, even Tianxingzi and Xing Ming, who had experienced tribulations and seen others' tribulations, had never expected this.
All of Li Yan's strength was gathered at one point. In his haste, he threw a punch. The Heavenly Tribulation, which had always been at a disadvantage before Li Yan, had almost sent Li Yan directly to the underworld with just one strike.
Li Yan was heavily smashed into the hundred-yard-deep pit below him. Li Yan, his consciousness somewhat blurry, let out a painful grunt the next moment.
His heart was convulsing violently. The initial attack of this Heavenly Tribulation, although most of it was dispersed by him, the remaining scattered electric arcs still split open his chest and abdomen.
Deep blue, like a life-taking ghost in a rainy night, the electric arc struck his heart.
Li Yan let out a low roar in an instant. At the same time, a layer of viscous white juice gushed out from Li Yan's heart.
The remaining electric arcs struck it one after another. As this white juice came into contact with the deep blue lightning, clouds of mist rose up.
Li Yan was instantly jolted awake by the pain. And amidst his loud cries, a sharp, painful hiss from his heart was also covered up by Li Yan's roar.
And those few remaining scattered electric arcs, after lasting for half a breath, finally dissipated when the white juice was almost gone, leaving Li Yan's body twitching at the bottom of the mud pit.
And just as a layer of white juice suddenly gushed out from Li Yan's heart and was struck into a rising cloud of mist, in a cave residence tens of thousands of li away in the "Sacred Demon Palace."
Zhao Min, whose beautiful, jade-like face was like a stone sculpture, was meditating with her eyes closed. A look of pain suddenly appeared on her sculpted, gentle, and peerless face.
In an instant, her pair of beautiful eyes suddenly opened. A large amount of sweat instantly appeared on her smooth and holy forehead. Her cross-legged body slowly bent down.
"Li... Yan..."
She bit her lip tightly. The Heart-Entangling Twin Gu in her heart was constantly rolling in pain. Strands of fresh blood continuously seeped from her pearly teeth, and her heart felt as if it would shatter at any moment.
Zhao Min did not let herself make a single groan, lest she disturb the two Supreme Elders with their heaven-defying magical power and they would notice her distress.
She knew that Li Yan was in a mortal crisis, and she was afraid that he was already seriously injured and might perish at any moment.
"To be injured... to... to... such... an extent... even with his... physical... body. This is fate!"
The fact that Zhao Min had not immediately exploded and died meant that Li Yan was still alive. At this time, if she immediately abandoned this physical body, let her soul escape and seek help from the two Supreme Elders, then she would surely be able to save her life.
Zhao Min did not do so. She bent over in pain, just gasping for breath like that. Her white dress was already soaked with sweat, and the dress that clung to her skin outlined her perfect curves...
Li Yan instantly woke up from the pain, spitting out large mouthfuls of blood. All of this happened in the large pit, hidden from everyone's view.
At this moment, even Tianxingzi and Xing Ming had no idea what had happened. Their Divine Senses only dared to wander on the periphery, sensing that Zhang Ming's life force at the center of the Heavenly Tribulation was rapidly fading, on the verge of perishing.
The three magical treasures that had flown up rapidly were of no mean grade. In one exchange, although they were still struck straight down by the ferocious Heavenly Tribulation, they did not collapse and disintegrate in an instant.
And Li Yan, taking advantage of this brief respite, had a faint silver light flash at his wounds again, and some of his flesh and blood slowly healed again.
And after the sharp pain in his heart just now, it had now returned to normal.
What Li Yan didn't know was that the Heart-Entangling Twin Gu in his heart, when faced with a life-and-death crisis, had desperately resisted and, in turn, saved his life. It had now fallen into a deep coma.
Looking at the magical treasures that were rapidly falling after being struck by the Heavenly Tribulation, Li Yan endured the severe pain in his body and the waves of drowsiness.
He forced himself to think hard about countermeasures. These three magical treasures were the best of the ones he had seized. Now, their light was dim, and it was clear that they could not last for too long.
'Should I enter the "Earthen Patch" to hide?'
Li Yan still had one option now, which was to quickly escape into the "Earthen Patch." But if the Heavenly Tribulation couldn't find his main body, it might be suspended after a period of time.
His path to Core Formation might be cut off this time. Everyone knew that whether it was Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, or Nascent Soul Formation, it was best to succeed in one go. It was best for the future path of cultivation and for the improvement of magical power.
And if one failed once, the difficulty of the second time would be at least several times higher. This also varied from person to person, but for a cultivator who could not succeed in the first tribulation, the probability of perishing later was as high as ninety percent.
Li Yan didn't know if the Heavenly Tribulation would judge him as having perished or failed after he entered the "Earthen Patch."
'If only these Heavenly Tribulations would stay outside. After my injuries have healed, it would be great if I could come out and continue to transcend the tribulation!'
Li Yan thought quickly in his heart, but he couldn't be sure about this situation. Until the last moment, Li Yan didn't dare to gamble, nor did he want to.
Now, after losing the Lesser Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant as its Formation Spirit, the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation" definitely couldn't withstand the might of this final Heavenly Tribulation.
At this moment, Li Yan's physical body was already severely injured. Although it was recovering, he knew that he couldn't fight anymore. His Divine Sense quickly scanned his storage pouch and the "Earthen Patch," and six more magical treasures flew into the air.
Although the grade of these few magical treasures was not as good as that of the axe, sword, and hammer, they could still block it for a while.
"Thump, thump, thump!" Three dull sounds of heavy objects falling to the ground sounded nearby. The axe, sword, and hammer were now like three pieces of ordinary iron, having lost all their luster, and they smashed heavily beside Li Yan.
And the other six magical treasures once again charged towards the Heavenly Tribulation that was striking straight down. At this time, although the Heavenly Tribulation was blocked for a moment, it was only twenty yards from Li Yan at the bottom of the pit.
The desperate pressure emanating from it made Li Yan's breathing more and more difficult, and the surrounding mud shot out in all directions like a rain of arrows.
The six magical treasures once again fiercely collided with the Heavenly Tribulation. Li Yan's Divine Sense was also trembling violently.
He had already consumed more than sixty percent of his Divine Sense. At this moment, controlling six magical treasures at the same time, with each collision, Li Yan's Sea of Consciousness felt as if it would be shattered at any moment.
Fortunately, when Li Yan was in "Sacred Demon City" back then, he hadn't exchanged all his magical treasures for Spirit Stones. They had really come in handy.
However, at that time, he was thinking of refining one or two for self-defense when he had time. At worst, self-detonating them when encountering a strong enemy would also be a great trump card. But he never expected that they would be used to withstand the Heavenly Tribulation today.
"I can't enter the 'Earthen Patch,' that might mean failure..."
Li Yan ignored the piercing pain all over his body and forcefully controlled the six rapidly descending magical treasures. At this moment, he still had seven magical treasures left on him.