"Damn it! Someone is interfering with this child's lightning tribulation!"
"Someone used us! This child wasn't prepared to face a fifth-tier Divinity Transformation lightning tribulation."
"What audacity!"
The Heavenly Light Grand Ancestor vanished, and the expressions of the many powerful experts who had come to observe changed instantly.
At this moment, within the thunderclouds, Li Yaotie was drenched in cold sweat.
That lightning tribulation furnace, which he had originally paid little mind, was continuously growing stronger. The power of heaven and earth relentlessly bombarded his Nascent Soul.
"Damn it, who's screwing me over?!!"
Cursing loudly, Li Yaotie had no more time to think. He could feel the immense power of this fifth-tier Divinity Transformation tribulation.
If it were attacking his physical body, it would have been manageable—he could just release the 'Divine Puppet'. But the 'Divine Puppet' couldn't protect his Nascent Soul!
In an instant, the storage ring on his hand flashed, and one after another, spirit pills refined by his Second Sister were swallowed whole.
The Old Tree's vines, the Old Serpent's blood, dead souls from the Heaven-Piercing Coffin used to resist the lightning tribulation, a piece dug out by Yunlin from within the Skyveil Hall...
That Vajra Nascent Soul grew increasingly larger and stronger.
Li Yaotie's face was contorted in pain. All his preparations had been, at most, for breaking through a fourth-tier Divinity Transformation tribulation, and he had truly intended to do just that—but now it was the fifth tier!
The Vajra Nascent Soul continuously flickered with bright light, yet it struggled within the lightning furnace, growing increasingly faint and dispersed.
Li Yaotie's life flashed before his eyes like a revolving lantern.
He remembered the demon beasts in Green Valley Village that had accompanied him during his artifact refining, remembered the way his parents scolded him, remembered fighting alongside his Big Brother and Second Sister, and his Fourth Sister's crisp, clear voice.
And Rourou. The way she rolled her eyes at him the first time they met, and that day before her door, the kick she gave him.
Their children being born, the long time they had spent together.
He had more and more children, and every one of them made him proud.
That day, Tian Xing invaded the family home and killed so many of his descendants. He had known despair.
"Perhaps... it truly is time to go accompany the children. Don't be afraid, I'm coming to find you."
Li Yaotie's Nascent Soul shattered within the lightning tribulation furnace.
His consciousness began to dissipate, his eyelids drooping heavily.
In the darkness, Li Tianshuang seemed to appear before his eyes.
That child knocked him unconscious and stuffed him into a storage ring.
For the first time, Li Yaotie felt everything was so clear. His expression changed; it was as if he had returned once more to Merit City, just before Tian Xing was about to appear.
"Tianshuang!"
Li Yaotie seemed to have returned to the past, but he suddenly felt something was wrong. Li Tianshuang knocked him unconscious—so who was he, witnessing this?
Suddenly.
Li Tianshuang turned his head, grinned at him, and said, "Grandfather, live on."
"What?"
Li Yaotie was stunned.
Following Li Tianshuang's words, the family's children appeared before him one by one—his many grandchildren, Li Tiansi, Li Tiange, Li Tianniu... and many, many other children.
"Grandfather, live on."
"Great-Grandfather, live on."
"This isn't the place for you to stay, live on."
"Live on."
"Live..."
"...on...!!!"
...
"Third Brother!!!"
Purple light shone in his eyes, and Second Sister's voice sounded by his ear.
Li Yaotie's drooping eyes slowly opened. His vision was somewhat blurry. In that furnace formed by the brewing lightning, the Vajra [Nascent Soul] that had been gradually dispersing was now condensing once more.
Li Yaotie's body trembled.
He felt it for the first time—so this was what it was like to die.
He felt that perhaps he had just truly reached the underworld, and in the underworld, there truly were those sacrificed children of his.
The children... had pulled him... out of the underworld!
Apart from this...
The scene before his eyes grew clearer and clearer. The Old Ancestor's spirit tablet was glowing, and the light from the spirit tablet caused his Nascent Soul to coalesce.
Veins bulged across Li Yaotie's body, crawling onto his forehead, turning his eyes bloodshot.
"I fucking refuse to die!"
Boom!
Following Li Yaotie's low roar, the Vajra Nascent Soul gradually solidified and began desperately pounding the lightning tribulation furnace beneath it.
The Nascent Soul was still dissipating, yet as the spirit tablet shone ever brighter, the dissipating Nascent Soul also began to condense!
...
[You have used 5000 Family Will points to upgrade 'Ancestor's Caress' to—]
[Ancestor's Radiance]
[Each use consumes 200 Family Will points. Can restore physical and even Primordial Spirit injuries for Divinity Transformation clansmen, with a chance to clear hidden bodily dangers!]
[You are using Family Will, activating 'Ancestor's Radiance']
[Current Family Will remaining: 3841]
Rumble!
Lightning raged. Before the spirit tablet, an old man bathed in radiant light appeared, the gentle glow shining down upon Li Yaotie.
Watching Li Yaotie's dispersing Nascent Soul begin to recover, the tense-faced Li Wei finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Fortunately, fortunately I saved up the Family Will, otherwise..."
Li Wei's expression turned ice-cold. Over the years, the family had fought a great war against Prince Qian and also battled the numerous powers of the Eternal Sun Prefecture.
He had accumulated a large amount of Family Will but had never used it. Among the options were many skills that could be upgraded, and he had been conflicted about whether to evolve an attack skill or a healing skill.
And today, this skill has saved Li Yaotie's life.
Li Yaotie's own unwavering determination was also a factor; otherwise, [the skill] might only have healed his Nascent Soul for a moment, unable to provide sustained treatment.
"Damn it, who the hell was it?!!"
Li Wei cursed loudly. When the Heavenly Light Grand Ancestor had left, he had shouted the name of the Sect Master of the Heavenly Light Sect and sent Wang Jinhu to capture him, but the Sect Master of the Heavenly Light Sect alone didn't have this kind of ability!
Letting out a long breath, Li Wei calmed down, quietly waiting for Li Yaotie's breakthrough.
Not long after.
The Heavenly Light Grand Ancestor returned. When he saw the spirit tablet before Li Yaotie, his originally grim expression immediately turned to great joy.
No one could interfere with a breakthrough to Divinity Transformation; he had no other option but to find the person behind the scenes.
He had even been prepared to find the culprit and make them accompany his disciple in death. But now, the divine light blooming from the spirit tablet left even him utterly surprised.
But he no longer cared what that [light from the tablet] was; as long as this disciple of his could survive, that was all that mattered.
"Fortunately, your Li family has hidden cards! Good, good, good!"
"Grand Ancestor..." Li Yaoqing's eyes were bloodshot, a result of the tension when Li Yaotie's Primordial Spirit had almost perished moments ago.
After calming down and seeing that Li Yaotie was now out of danger, she looked coldly at the Heavenly Light Grand Ancestor.
"Grand Ancestor, did you find out who it was?"
The Heavenly Light Grand Ancestor's expression was grim. "No. The other party came prepared; their methods are extraordinary. Jinhu has already gone to capture Mingkong."
---
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