John stood defiantly on top of the ruined formation platform, his eyes piercing down towards the Elders standing below him. The lightning had destroyed the formation binding him, once again freeing his body from the restrictions previously placed upon it.
The Bloodfiend Elder's stared in stunned disbelief that John was alive, and seemingly unharmed as he stood on the shattered formations platform, while the incredibly powerful Elder Praxx was no more than a charred pile of flesh.
'I could summon Thunderzen now, but I don't want him to get caught up in this. I'll save that trump card for last.'
John casually brushed some dirt off his shoulder before he inspected his body.
He raised his hand before his face, inspecting the slight damage to it. A small portion of flesh on his arm, neck, and back were slightly charred, while the rest of his skin was unharmed.
Glowing runes covered his skin, emanating a faint blue light from beneath his skin, much like embers glowing beneath a fire.
'The Lightning Origin Essence Runes. These are from the Celestial Lightning Script! So that's why! It all makes sense now!'
John had always found it strange why the mysterious palace realm he had access to only had two cultivation techniques, the Immortal Asura Tome, and the Celestial Lightning Script. While the Immortal Asura Tome gifted him with an incredibly strong body and battle art, the Celestial Lightning Script did not have any accompanying lightning based battle arts, making it quite useless to him for a considerably long time.
While it eventually started to show its might when he learned battle arts from the Heavenly Lightning Sect, John was always confused as to why the lightning script was the cultivation technique the creator of the palace realm had chosen to place inside. Now it all made sense.
The Celestial Lightning Script, which gave him his Lightning Attribute Body, would be the thing that allowed him to survive this hellish tribulation. The Immortal Asura Body attracted the tribulation, while the Celestial Lightning Script saved him from it. It was perfectly balanced and planned out, as if the creator had foresaw all of this.
Upon realizing this, John's confidence in passing this tribulation soared, as he had utmost confidence in his Immortal Asura Body and Lightning Attribute Body.
His focus once again snapped back to those who stood before him, and his eyes swept over them like a hawk looking at prey. Allfiend immediately noticed this look of John, and could tell what John was about to do.
"Flee!" Allfiend commanded the Elders, before his body suddenly vanished. While he wanted nothing more than to cut John down at the moment, he knew doing so would only lead to his swift death as tribulation lighting rained down on him.
His speed was incredible, and John couldn't even see him move before he disappeared from his vision.
John watched Allfiend flee, and a scowl washed over his face as his fists clenched with anger by his side.
"A pity. However, taking your lives will suffice," John sneered at the Elder's while raising a fist and pointing at them. His power flared, and his body suddenly exploded with absolute speed.
Thunderflash Steps!
Limiter of Speed!
Utilizing techniques he had not used for many months, John exploded with incredible speed. The broken formations platform shattered beneath his feet as he sped forward. He instantly appeared before the Elders, who were still in a daze at having been abandoned by Allfiend, and were a step late to react as John arrived between them.
"Die for me!"
John commanded as the sky suddenly lit up, and another apocalyptic beam of lightning crashed down to his location below.
"Shit!"
"Flee!"
The other Elder's finally understood Allfiend's meaning, and instantly fled at their fastest speeds, seeking to get as far from John as possible.
Two of the Elder's suddenly felt themselves yanked backwards, as something incredibly strong gripped their wrists. They both turned around in a panic, and saw John grabbing both their arms.
"You little shit!"
"Let go or die!"
The Elder's cursed out at the same time, and turned to quickly unleash a strong attack on John. John was still only a recently ascended Meridian Forging cultivator, while these Elders were all in the Heaven Tribulation Realm.
An attack from them was something he could need his full power to defend against.
"Too late," John mocked as a look of amusement appeared on his face.
Both Elder's looked up to the sky above as pure panic, fear, and despair washed over their faces.
BOOM!
The entire area flashed white for a brief instant, as the second bolt of tribulation lightning exploded down on John's position. The earth shattered and crumbled beneath their feet as the lightning sought to destroy all in its path.
The explosion of lighting faded quickly after, revealing the scene of carnage and destruction left behind. A massive crater formed at the location of the lightning strike, leaving only John and two charred piles of flesh behind.
More wounds of charred flesh were opened up on John's skin, revealing that the second lightning strike had been even stronger than the first. However, it was still far from enough to claim his life.
This heaven tribulation was a tribulation targeting John's body dantian, and by extension, his body. It ignored all essence Qi defenses, and focused only on the flesh of those it struck.
John's body was incredibly durable, hardened by an absolutely supreme body cultivation art, and was further protected by his Lightning Attribute Body. However, these Heaven Tribulation Elder's had no such defenses, and their bodies were naturally much weaker than John's. As a result, they were reduced to piles of charred flesh as soon as the lightning struck their bodies.
"Pathetic," John spat out in disgust as he stepped over the two piles of charred flesh.
He jumped up high into the air, leaving the crater which he had been standing in, and floated up in the sky. His head swiveled in every direction, looking for more Elder's to destroy, but much to his dismay, the Elder's had all fled out of his sight.
"A pity. However…"
John's gaze shifted from searching for the Elder's, to the expansive Bloodfiend Sect below. While his official mission for coming here was to find out the sect's plans, his personal mission was to destroy the sect and burn it to the ground.
The day for that mission to be fulfilled had finally arrived.
The disciples, lower ranked Elder's, merchants, and all other members of the sect had gathered in the streets, looking up at the sky above. Hundreds of thousands of them crowded together, seeking out what was happening.
The two lightning strikes had struck not far away, but those who witnessed it were too scared to move closer to inspect what had happened.
Shortly after, a lone cultivator appeared high up in the sky, floating above all those below who looked up at him.
BOOM!
Another apocalyptic beam of lighting struck down on the boy, knocking him down slightly. However, the boy stood there definitely in the air, as the flashes of lighting occasionally illuminated his features.
The tribulation clouds above kicked up a tempest all around him that billowed trees, toppled buildings, and shattered earth. The boy stood stably in the very center of it all, as if none of it affected him at all. It was as if an apocalyptic lighting god had arrived before them.
"Bloodfiend Sect," the voice of the lone figure boomed out loudly for all to hear. "Your day of judgement has arrived. After tonight, the name of the Bloodfiend Sect will be erased from the annals of history!"
