Chapter Eighty-Five: He Could Even Become Sect Leader Without Objection

A thunderous shout echoed through the heavens, a commanding presence radiating from him, shaking the very souls of those who heard it.

“Boom—!”

A muffled roar resounded in the sky, as if the heavens themselves were enraged by Chen Xiang’s words. The thunder’s tumult grew fiercer, abyssal clouds of lightning rolling and roiling, the purple hue within intensifying until it seemed to swallow all light.

Serpentine streaks of divine purple lightning slashed across the sky; this wave of heavenly tribulation brought forth a multitude of purple bolts, far more numerous than before.

“Boom!”

This time, the heavenly tribulation did not pause for preparation—it descended instantly, crashing down toward Chen Xiang. The divine purple lightning did not disperse among the other bolts; instead, three pure purple strikes condensed, their terrifying aura surpassing all that had come before.

Chen Xiang’s expression grew solemn. Only half his spiritual power had recovered, but with the tribulation upon him, he had no choice but to face it head-on.

He swiftly fastened the Killing Sword at his waist; with its twentyfold power augmentation, he felt a surge of strength and the discomfort he’d felt earlier eased somewhat.

Brandishing the Jade Bamboo Sword, he summoned forth the phantom images of three great divine beasts behind him.

“Heavens! The four ancient divine beasts? Who is this youth?” Even the sect master, unable to withstand the mounting pressure, cried out in shock.

The patriarch was equally astonished, his face filled with disbelief.

The three elders, numb from repeated shocks, could only stare. The youth had stunned them too many times—not only did the heavenly tribulation appear out of place, but the formidable techniques he’d just used weighed heavily on their minds.

Now, he was summoning three of the four divine beasts. Though their trained eyes recognized these as mere phantoms, it was nonetheless astonishing. They had never heard of any technique capable of summoning even the shadow of a divine beast.

Was he truly a youth of the Core Formation stage? Those hand seals and techniques, the beastly phantoms, and the high probability of him being a sixth-grade advanced alchemist—all these combined, who could believe he was merely at the Core Formation stage? And he appeared to be barely twenty years old.

Ordinary cultivators could not achieve such feats without centuries of immersion.

“Boom!”

The thunder responded immediately. Chen Xiang’s Four Symbols Extinction Sword Technique, empowered by the divine beasts, cleanly severed the ordinary bolts.

---

The Jade Bamboo Sword played a crucial role here. As a fifth-grade earth-level spiritual artifact, its power could reach the strength of a seventh-grade earth-level item when pushed to its limits, nearly doubling Chen Xiang’s abilities. The Four Symbols Extinction Sword Technique was further enhanced, allowing him to effortlessly cut down these bolts.

The first thirty-three bolts were as thick as an arm, yet they posed little threat, merely draining much spiritual power.

Next came the three pure divine purple bolts, descending with overwhelming majesty toward Chen Xiang. Even the void seemed to twist beneath the immense force.

These three bolts were what Chen Xiang had guarded against—they were not mere tricks, but genuine heavenly punishment.

Without hesitation, he activated the Three Pure Lightning-Avoiding Talisman. A water-blue shield enveloped him, yet his movements remained unimpeded.

He could not use the Imperial Seal Technique again; the consumption of the Heaven-Destroying Seal was simply too great, and his remaining spiritual energy was insufficient.

His strongest attack was the advanced earth-level Imperial Seal Technique, followed by the Four Symbols Extinction Sword Technique. Frankly, his repertoire was still lacking—he didn’t possess even a single heaven-level martial skill. If he survived the tribulation and advanced to the Nascent Soul stage, the system’s heaven-level martial skill section would unlock, and he would certainly stock up on skills for his own safety.

“Roar!”

The phantoms of the three divine beasts raised their heads and roared at the heavens, as if enraged by the tribulation, their majesty overwhelming.

Their power merged with the sword technique. As the three divine purple bolts struck, their annihilating force made one’s body tremble instinctively.

“Well done! Watch me break you!” Chen Xiang shouted, stepping onto Three Thousand Thunder Motions and soaring skyward, meeting the divine lightning head-on.

The Four Symbols Extinction Sword Technique was not merely a method to summon beast phantoms for simple combat; the phantoms transformed into sword-light, cleaving the void.

“White Tiger Sword! Vermilion Bird Sword! Black Tortoise Sword!”

With another shout, the three divine beasts dispersed into starlight, then swiftly coalesced into three ethereal swords.

The giant white sword, laced with black patterns, radiated an aura of devouring the void; the fiery red sword blazed with solar heat; the ink-black sword, streaked with a green line, exuded the depth of water.

Each giant sword met a divine purple bolt head-to-head.

Bang!

A tremendous explosion echoed across the sky, unleashing a storm of energy that engulfed everything.

The sect master and four others were swept up in the shockwave. The sect master and three elders turned pale, hastily channeling their power to resist the energy; the Nascent Soul stage elder was shaken so violently he coughed up blood.

A figure plummeted from the sky—Chen Xiang, oblivious to the chaos, fell earthward. His robes were tattered and scorched; where the fabric was intact, blood poured freely, his skin lacerated and torn. It was clear he had fallen unconscious.

All the valley’s restrictions were obliterated by the tribulation’s bombardment; stones lay everywhere, pits and scorched earth marking the land.

---

Chen Xiang did not land within the valley, but somewhere on its far side, his descent swift and sudden, vanishing from sight.

The thunder’s tumult grew quieter, the apocalyptic clouds gradually dissipating. The tribulation had passed.

“Sigh… Divine Purple Lightning. In my life, I’ve never seen such a thing—yet to think it was summoned by a Core Formation cultivator at his peak! Will future tribulations be like this?” The patriarch murmured as he gazed at the fading clouds.

The Nascent Soul stage elder trembled at these words; his color, which had recovered somewhat, turned pale again.

“Patriarch, what should we do now?” The sect master stepped forward, his face bitter.

The patriarch turned and glared at him, scolding, “Do what? Young Chu has survived the tribulation, and he’s certainly the advanced sixth-grade alchemist we sought. He’s passed the disciple recruitment trial. What now? Whatever he wants, as long as he stays in the Snowveil Sect!”

The sect master suddenly understood and declared, “Yes, as soon as I see him, I’ll accept him as a disciple. Even if he wants to be sect leader, I’ll step aside—the rest, I’ll handle!”

The patriarch nodded approvingly, his gaze drifting back to the sky, savoring the thrill of the tribulation.

“Patriarch!” called the third elder.

The patriarch frowned and turned. “What is it?”

The third elder replied anxiously, “Young Chu is missing!”

“What?” All four were shocked, hurrying to look toward the valley.

The place was filled with rubble and pits, but Chen Xiang was nowhere to be seen.

“Where did he go?” the patriarch asked urgently.

The four shook their heads; they’d only paid attention to the moment Chen Xiang collided with the tribulation, not where he had landed.

They weren’t worried—if a cultivator died from a fall, it would be a marvel; even unconscious, it was impossible to perish from such a descent.

“Hurry! Send people to search—dig three feet into the earth if you must, but find Young Chu for me!” the patriarch shouted, losing composure as never before.

“To be continued…”