Moments later, Krune rushed out as well. Ruik noticed him and was surprised.
"You succeed in your breakthrough!"
Krune heard Ruik, but he couldn't pay attention to him at the moment. He keeps feeling that something is wrong with those clouds in the sky, and his instincts are screaming danger without stopping. Only after a few seconds, he looked at Ruik.
"Do you know what is happening? As soon as I succeed in my breakthrough, those clouds came, and I can even feel that they are targeting me."
Krune's words left Ruik alarmed!
"What? They came for you? That shouldn't be possible! Heavenly Tribulation is something that should only happen when you are entering the Core Formation or higher realms. There is no way it is here for you!"
Krune didn't expect that. To think that's something that only Core Formation cultivators and above should see, he couldn't help but wonder if this is also because he is a wisp. However, he immediately rejected the idea. If anything, the heavens would rather look down on wisps. Most likely, it has something to do with his Universe Foundation or his Myriad Energies Technique. Krune quickly got back on track, this isn't time to ponder why it's happening but finding a way to deal with it.
"Ruik, I can't say why it came for me since I have no idea, but it's definitely targeting me. Most likely, it has something to do with my universe foundation, but let's talk about it later. If you know what it is, then tell me fast."
Although Ruik still couldn't believe it, he knows that Krune wasn't joking either, he quickly calmed himself and started to explain.
"I don't know much myself either. But simply put, to cultivate is the same as going against the will of the heavens. So, once you enter the Core Formation realm, the heavens will send down Tribulation Lightning to wipe out that anomaly. You can also consider it as a test. I have seen a tribulation from a distance before. Of course, I dared not get close to it. I heard that no one can help the target with his Tribulation, either. It seems like if they do, the power of the Tribulation will only increase, and they will also become targets. Also, keep in mind the area around you will be affected as well, so you better don't let anyone get close to you."
Krune was alarmed! Tribulation lightning? He is a wisp! How the hell will he even be able to resist such a thing? If there is one thing that Krune had always done, that was always to keep his distance from his opponents. A wisp energy body is very weak. Any serious hit will not simply tear it apart. It will hit his core directly too. Now he needs to go through such a calamity? Fu*k you, Heavens! Although he wanted to complain more, Krune quickly calmed his mind instead. No point in getting angry now. There is lightning coming at him, and he needs to find a way to block it.
Unfortunately for Krune, Ruik's next words made him almost fall in despair.
"Oh right, tribulation lightning always comes in batches of nine strikes, so you will need to hold on all nine hits, or you are done for."
Krune wanted to cry but had no tears (Literally). What the hell is it? One lightning strike is probably enough to turn his core to a crisp already. But there are, in fact, nine strikes coming down. Krune howled to the heavens.
"Are you kidding me?!"
No one answered, though.
"Ruik, how long do I have until it comes down?"
Ruik pondered a bit before answering.
"I'm not sure myself, but last time when I saw the Heavenly Tribulation, it took around ten minutes from the time I sensed it to the time when the first lightning came down."
Krune understood that the Tribulation Lightning needs time to charge first. From the time he completed his breakthrough until now, only two minutes had passed, so he has at least more eight minutes if Ruik isn't wrong.
Just as Krune was about to leave, Lakin came out too. As for the Lizard Dragons, they are so frightened that they didn't dare coming outside. The power of Tribulation Lightning is especially effective on demon beasts.
"Master, what is happening?"
Krune just looked at him.
"I can't explain now, just go back into the cave, this isn't something you can help with."
Lakin was taken aback with such a blunt answer from his master. Lakin didn't understand what's happening, but he wasn't happy with Krune's answer either. He wanted to help even though he didn't know what the situation is, Lakin had always felt like he was a burden and wanted to change it.
"But master, I have already broken through the 8th stage, and I finally created my second Spiritual Energy Meridian, I can definitely help!"
Krune felt like giving him a beating now. The situation is already as bad as it is, and his disciple decided to throw a tantrum at such a moment. Krune was about to shout back at him when suddenly, his mind felt like it was the first to be struck by lightning instead. He then looked back at Lakin, surprised.
"Repeat what you said."
Repeat? Perhaps his master hasn't heard him well.
"I said that I'm at the 8th stage already."
"No, not that, after that."
Lakin thought that his master acting weird but answered him anyway.
"Is it the part where I said I opened my second Spiritual Energy Meridian?"
Krune was ecstatic, he finally saw a sliver of hope and laughed out loud.
"That's it! Well done, Lakin! You have just given me an idea. You two, stay far away to not get in the range of the Tribulation. Ruik, explain things to him, I need to hurry."
Ruik sent a Divine Sense message to Lakin, and the later finally understood the situation. Just as he was about to say something, Krune had already used his wind movement and rushed out to find an open space.
Ruik was astonished when he saw that.
'What kind of speed is that? He just broke through the Foundation Establishment, but he is as fast as an ordinary 5th stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, maybe even 6th stage! Is that REALLY a wisp?'
Krune didn't have time to pay attention to Ruik's two faces at the moment, he then quickly calmed his mind and concentrated. He looked up and thought.
'You want to wipe me out? Then see how I shall eat you!'
Krune has already decided, he absolutely doesn't have anything able to block a lightning strike, much less nine of them. Since he can't block it, then he won't.
'My Spiritual Energy Meridians can absorb all types of energies as long as there is spiritual energy involved. I'm sure this heavenly Tribulation definitely isn't just normal lightning, either. I'm absolutely certain that it is made purely of spiritual energy. Since that's the case, today, I will have a feast!'
But there is a problem, there is no way that Krune can absorb so much energy at once. In fact, his Spiritual Energy Meridians would not be able to convert anything above their max capacity. Not to mention that those lightning strikes definitely have much more energy than his meridians can absorb and convert.
'And that's why I only have one alternative.'
Krune didn't focus on his three Spiritual Energy Meridians. Instead, he put all his thoughts into creating more of them. He wasn't going to create a single one, but three Spiritual Energy Meridians at the same time!
'There is only one moment where my Spiritual Energy Meridians absorb spiritual energy like black holes, and it is at the moment that they are created. Every time I create a new meridian, it absorbs several times more spiritual energy than the previous one. Since that's the case, If I can create three at the same time, maybe the energy of the Heavenly Tribulation will just suffice these criteria.'
Although that was the plan, Krune had never created more than one meridian at once. Not to mention that it usually would take a lot of time to do it. But it's not that Krune couldn't do it fast, it's just that the process is really complicated. He needs to keep the balance between all nine pseudo energy meridians until they fuse together, and this is a very delicate job. Still, Krune has no time for that now.
'It's do or die! But it's not like I don't have an advantage now.'
Krune was right. The biggest improvement with his Foundation Establishment isn't his cultivation. He hasn't even stabilized his cultivation to start with. As for taking the human form, he can't use it yet. That's because his process of breakthrough isn't over, and his future golden core hasn't appeared in his foundation yet. Which means that it probably will only be over when the Heavenly Tribulation is done with.
What Krune was think about was Divine Sense! Krune already tried it out, his Divine Sense now has a total of three kilometers of radius! But that's not the part that will help him at the moment. What helps is having greater control over spiritual energy. As mentioned before, when a cultivator opens his Divine Sense, his control over spiritual energy improves several folds. Not to mention that Krune's Divine Sense is already as good as someone at the late stages of the Foundation Establishment!
Krune didn't spare any spiritual energy while keeping his Divine Sense at max power. He only has seven minutes to finish all three of them anyway. If he can't do that, then what's the use for the remaining spiritual energy after he's dead?
Krune wasn't having a nice time, though, create a Spiritual Energy Meridian is a stringent process that puts a lot of burden on the mind. Let alone create three at the same time and have to finish it in just a few minutes. After two minutes, Krune's was feeling pain in his soul already. If not for the tempering of the breaking down process, he might have fainted right there and then.
Krune didn't dare to slack off, though. That's because he isn't planning to finish it within the last five minutes. The reason is simple, that's a time based on what Ruik saw in the past. Not to mention that was a Core Formation realm tribulation to start with. Who said that his Foundation Establishment Tribulation will take the same time to come down? Krune wasn't going to take chances. If everything went well with his Meridians' creation just to be shot dead moments before completing them, it would really be an unsatisfying death.
'Two more minutes, I will finish them in only two more minutes! When the time comes to give the final push in the meridians fusion, I will stop there and wait. Although I don't know if the lightning could come earlier, I also don't know if it could come later. If that happens and I don't have any spiritual energy to feed my new meridians, they will simply break apart. I will definitely not be in the condition to recreate them again, not to mention that I might not even have the time to do so anyway.'
Time passed, and Krune's soul was screaming in pain. But he ignored all of it. In his mind, there was only the three Spiritual Energy Meridians in front of him. Pain? What's that? During this time, there was no such thing as pain, no such thing as Tribulation, no distractions at all. His spiritual energy was running down fast, though. After all, not only is he keeping his Divine Sense at full power, the creation of the meridians themselves also consumes spiritual energy. Fortunately, he had just broken through, so he was at his peak condition when he started.
Crackling sounds could now be heard from above, and the world in a hundred-kilometer radius was dark. It felt like the sun would never appear again. The oppressive energy from the Heavenly Tribulation made all beasts to lie down trembling. The only ones doing fine at the moment were Ruik and Lakin. One was at the Foundation Establishment while the other ignored everything and only paid attention to Krune.
Ruik was looking attentively to the sky, suddenly he noticed something.
"Not good, I think its coming down faster than that time when I watched the tribulation happening."
But after thinking for a moment, he quickly calmed down. He knows very well how intelligent Krune is, and there is no way that Krune hadn't thought about such a possibility. Even if he hasn't, there is nothing they can do anyway. Heavenly Tribulation is something that must be conquered alone.
Krune was almost fainting when he finally finished creating the three meridians. But he couldn't relax at all, not to mention that he finished the process, but it still needs its final push. Krune will need to keep that balance until the lightning comes down. He can't finish it earlier, or he will be done for. The problem is, to keep this balance is just a strenuous as the creative process itself. He won't be able to hold it for much longer.
Fortunately for Krune, he was right about the time that the Tribulation would be coming down before ten minutes. Krune then looked up to the sky. Although the Tribulation hasn't come down yet, he could now feel when it was going to happen. Krune gave the final push, and then the three Spiritual Energy Meridians were finished.
"Click, click, click"
Krune heard the familiar sound, and just a few moments later, the three meridians started to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth as if it was air. In a second, all the spiritual energy from the surroundings disappeared without a trace. The spiritual energy absorption was so terrifying that even Krune's own spiritual energy started to flow into the meridians, and Krune couldn't stop it at all! If it continued like that, he would be sucked to death in the next seconds. Fortunately for him, his prediction was right, the first bolt came crashing down like a divine beast of lightning, it was determined to end all life.
Too bad, though. Krune's three new Spiritual Energy Meridians seemed like they had smelled the tastiest food of all time. They immediately moved above Krune, and surprisingly, they enlarged? Krune wasn't sure if it was hallucination or reality. Still, he didn't have time to think anyway. His meridians then ate up the lightning down in a second! Krune could only wonder if that thing was really a Heavenly Tribulation Lightning at all.
'Holy crap! All that energy wasn't enough to even fill the hole in the teeth of those guys! How do you all expect me to create more meridians in the future when your appetite only grows with more of you around?'
Krune thought that, but he wasn't the least bit sad. It just shows how powerful his Spiritual Energy Meridians are. As for the spiritual energy necessary for the future meridians, he can think about that later.
The second lightning came down, and just like the first one, it was eaten up entirely. Then the third, the fourth, the fifth, all the spiritual energy of the lightning disappeared inside of Krune's Spiritual Energy Meridians as if they were drops of water falling in the ocean. You couldn't even see a trace of them anymore.
This process continued all the way up to the 8th tribulation lightning. Only after this last one did his Spiritual Energy Meridians finally set down. They returned to their original size, and the creation process was finished again.
It was supposed to be a joyous moment, but Krune wasn't the least bit happy after seeing it.
"Fu*k you! There is still one more lightning to come down, can't you three eat a little more?"
Krune received no answer, though. Krune felt gloomy but quickly regained his composure. He looked up to the sky, most of the clouds in the distance had been cleared already. It was evident that the next bolt will be the last one. Crackling sounds could be heard from above, Krune then made up his mind and shouted to the heavens.
"I said that I'm going to eat you, didn't I? Until now, the only ones feeding were my meridians. After all this shit, my core is almost completely empty anyway, and I refuse to believe that you won't provide a good meal!"
Krune then pointed all his six Spiritual Energy Meridians to the sky.
As if hearing Krune's provocation, the last bolt came down!
Just before it hit, Krune noticed something strange, and if he had his human form, he would definitely be giving a bitter smile.
'Is it me, or this last Tribulation Lightning seems a lot stronger than the previous ones?'
Krune was right. In fact, the last tribulation lightning is very famous outside, the cultivators even gave it an adorable name too.
Life Ending Strike.