Little White had changed. He now looked sturdier and mightier. His coat of fur was even whiter and looked exactly the same as the white tiger in the legends. More importantly, his aura felt much more terrifying than it was before.
Xiang Shaoyun was already a second-stage Transformation Realm cultivator, but he still felt a suffocating sense of oppression when he looked at the current Little White. Clearly, Little White's strength had skyrocketed. He had become much stronger.
Did he become a Demon King just like that? Xiang Shaoyun guessed.
But when he recalled that he did not yet see Little White undergo a lightning tribulation, he discarded the thought.
When all the vicious gold aura withdrew into Little White, he opened his eyes and gazed at Xiang Shaoyun. His gaze was akin to a sharp blade, one that gave off an intense pressure.
The viciousness Xiang Shaoyun sensed from that gaze caused him to take a step back as he said, "Little White, are you fine?"
The moment Xiang Shaoyun's voice rang out, Little White's pupils dilated as his viciousness lessened. He finally said, "Boss, you need to leave. I am going to face the lightning tribulation."
The moment Xiang Shaoyun heard the term "lightning tribulation", he fled.
Rumble!
Instantly, a lightning bolt struck down from the sky above. Both the gold serpentine crocodiles and the humans outside were flabbergasted.
"Lightning tribulation? And this is not a regular lightning tribulation. It's a unique lightning tribulation. Retreat!" the gold serpentine crocodile cried out.
The gold serpentine crocodiles scattered everywhere when they heard his command.
"This is a demonic lightning tribulation!" Xiao Xin, Black Eagle King, He Luo, Mo Chage, and the others also cried out in alarm when they saw the tribulation from afar.
Young Lightning King was getting agitated seeing the tribulation. He cried out, "T-this is not a regular lightning tribulation! This is the goldflame lightning, a mutated form of lightning. Regular demonic beasts are not capable of causing such a lightning tribulation to form. Is the gold serpentine crocodile clan leader breaking through? That's not possible!"
"Should we go inside to get a better look?" someone suggested.
"A lightning tribulation will punish anyone who gets involved. We will think of something after the tribulation is over," Xiao Xin said with a solemn look on his face.
If it was really the gold serpentine crocodile clan leader breaking through, things would get even more troublesome for them. The goldflame lightning was a golden lightning bolt with an outer layer of purple. Since it was not a regular lightning bolt, it possessed a might regular lightning bolts couldn't compare with. The lightning bolt headed straight into the hole. Not even the vicious gold aura could stop its advance as it landed straight on Little White.
"Roar! Roar!"
Little White roared, his white tiger's ire roiled out and formed a tornado around him that clashed against the goldflame lightning bolt. Xiang Shaoyun had already gotten quite far away, but he was still greatly frightened by what he saw. His ears were aching from the loud rumble, and covering both his ears with his hands did nothing. He only felt better after putting more distance between him and Little White.
What a terrifying lightning tribulation. It was said that the stronger the bloodline of a demonic beast, the more terrifying the lightning tribulation will be. Looks like Little White has thoroughly evolved, Xiang Shaoyun thought.
Suddenly, the lightning bone within him started pulsing as the purple dragon within seemed to be on the verge of breaking out of his body. The intense thirst the lightning bone displayed for the lighting tribulation shocked Xiang Shaoyun.
If he allowed himself to be struck by such a terrifying lightning tribulation, he would most certainly die. He did not believe for a moment that his lightning bone could actually fully absorb the entirety of the lightning energy that hit him.
After all, there was already a precedent for this. During the previous incident, the lightning bone had displayed intense thirst as well but quit halfway, leaving a large amount of lightning energy in Xiang Shaoyun's body that had nearly killed him. Thus, he would definitely not act rashly this time.
"Behave!" Xiang Shaoyun berated. He tried his best to suppress the lighting bone, but the bone refused to listen. One lightning bolt after another came down, each with an extremely fearsome might. Xiang Shaoyun could see Little White's bitter struggle clearly. When he saw Little White's badly mangled body, his heart ached.
Hang on there, Little White! Xiang Shaoyun prayed for Little White.
Outside, both the gold serpentine crocodiles and the Cloud Margin Pavilion humans felt like they were in a nightmare. When the initial wave of lightning tribulation ended, they thought it was over. But the next wave arrived, followed by another wave, each back to back. Each wave was also scarier than the previous. They felt their scalps go numb just looking at the tribulation.
"Go, go now. We need to invite the pavilion master out of his seclusion!" Xiao Xin immediately reached a decision. He was now certain that the one breaking through was most certainly not the gold serpentine crocodile clan leader. Rather, a Demon Emperor had appeared. Otherwise, how would the lightning tribulation be so scary?
And if it was really a Demon Emperor, all of them would die. The secret of this place no longer had anything to do with them. Although the Cloud Margin Pavilion people found it hard to swallow, they had no choice but to leave with Xiao Xin.
Not long after they left, the tribulation ended. Little White was in terrible shape, but he was still breathing, which signified that he had survived three waves of lightning tribulation and had become a third-stage Demon King. With the tribulation over, a large amount of energy surged toward Little White, including the vicious gold aura above them.
As the energy gathered, Little White started to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye. His demonic aura also started to rise rapidly. Xiang Shaoyun finally stopped suppressing his lightning bone and released the purple dragon projection. The purple dragon immediately devoured the remnant goldflame lightning energy in the air.
Fortunately, Little White had only absorbed the golden energy from the air and ignored all the lightning energy. Thus, Xiang Shaoyun also benefited from Little White's breakthrough. The additional energy Xiang Shaoyun absorbed did not increase his cultivation level. It only caused his lightning bone to undergo a slight change. A slight trace of goldflame was now mixed into his innate purple lightning.
Xiang Shaoyun could sense that his lightning bone was not satisfied by the amount of energy it had absorbed at all. The intense hunger of the lightning bone caused Xiang Shaoyun to feel dizzy.
Looks like this damned bone wants to consume more lightning, Xiang Shaoyun cursed inwardly.
He also finally understood why the lightning bone had stopped absorbing lightning energy when he had gathered lightning bolts the previous time. It was quite likely that the lightning bone had absorbed enough of the ordinary lightning energy where it could then generate the same lightning energy itself. That was why it had stopped. Only a higher quality lightning energy could attract it.
Finally, everything calmed down, and the vicious gold energy once again covered the hole's exit. As for Little White, his size had increased once more. His kingly aura was even more impressive now, and the characteristics of a king of beasts started showing on him.
"Roar!"
In his excitement, Little White roared. The destructive and fearsome sound wave rippled everywhere. This was a true tiger's roar, similar to the lion's roar of the demonic lions. With a leap, Little White arrived beside Xiang Shaoyun. He was now as tall as Xiang Shaoyun and much bulkier.
"Hahaha! Little White, congratulations for becoming a Demon King! It's your turn to take care of your boss now!" Xiang Shaoyun stroked Little White's neck and said joyfully.
Instead of answering, Little White opened his mouth wide, frightening Xiang Shaoyun.
Shit! Is Little White going to make a move against me now? Xiang Shaoyun was alarmed.