Bright arcs of purple lightning slithered along the darkened skies.
The lightning grew from the size of snakes to dragons in a single breath.
One could only imagine the destructive might contained within each bolt, and yet there were thousands in the sky, continuously getting bigger and stronger!
The shadow of a lone figure could be seen sitting on the edge of a cliff, his visage was broad and he excluded an aura of dominance.
"Xiao Sheng!" multiple hoarse voices called out from behind.
The shadowy man did not turn to face the voices.
"You! You! You!" the hoarse voice grew irate, a man who looks to be in his 80s was wagging his finger at the figure, "You were once the greatest genius our sect, no, the world had ever seen yet now your existence may very well spell doom for us all!"
The figure remained silent.
"I, the sect master of the Human School, hereby expe…" before the man could finish the figure interrupted.
"I quit."
*BOOM*
The first arc of lightning descended with a furious roar, illuminating the entire night!
For a brief second the world stood in silence…
"Y-y-y-y-y-y-y" the sect master, Tian Kong, was stunned and speechless.
"Xiao Sheng! How dare you be so rude and presumptuous in front of Master Tian, he was trying to provide you with a way out!" a sultry heavenly voice travelled into Xiao Sheng's ear.
For the first time, Xiao Sheng turned his head, as if to confirm with his own two eyes, "It's really you…why?"
Neither the raging thunder nor the furious crowd could move Xiao Sheng's heart, yet the sight of this woman drew a tear from his eye.
"Why? Of course, I'm here to stop you!" hearing those words Xiao Sheng felt needles prickling his heart, "You're about to destroy the entire world on a mere gamble it's not worth it!"
She hesitated for a moment, biting her lips and clenching her fists, knowing that she'll regret the next words that will come out of her mouth, "Can you please just disperse your cultivation?"
The second peal of thunder struck the earth, creating the new largest gorge in the world.
Xiao Sheng's face was filled with emotion, bitterness, resentment, misunderstood, alone and worst of all… betrayed.
"Mei Ling," he said, with deep pain in his voice, "I thought you of all people would be here celebrating my victory…I never thought I would see you on that side…" Xiao Sheng let out a deep sigh.
More words were useless, he stood up and drew his sword, "All those that stop me. Die."
At that moment, Xiao Sheng released his full aura.
All the cultivators felt immense pressure.
"S-s-so strong!"
"I can hardly breathe!"
"This is beyond the Pseudo-Immortal realm!"
As if in response to Xiao Sheng's provocation, the lightning dragons gathered together in a massive bolt and charged from the sky at Xiao Sheng.
"Hmph!" Xiao Sheng waved his sword, easily dispelling the first lightning.
Sect Master Tian shouted out: "Stop him!"
The residual force from the first blow of lightning shattered the nearby mountain peaks and decimated all life within a 1km radius.
"Xiao Sheng stop! The power of tribulation is too strong, you may survive but this world surely won't!"
Xiao Sheng snorted: "You know nothing. Leave now or don't blame me for making this place your grave!"
He sneaked a glance at Mei Ling, she could not return his gaze.
A long lonely sigh echoed from Xiao Sheng.
"Argh!" a burly figure leapt up from the crowd, "Xiao Sheng you sinner! If I don't stop you today, then my name won't be Tian Le!"
The giant man was the son of Sect Master Tian Kong!
8 Heavens Triagram Palm Strike!
An 8-pointed star with a taiji symbol at its centre formed on Tian Le's palm as he shot it out at Xiao Sheng.
"Look it's young master Tian Le's signature attack!"
"He managed to claim 3rd strongest in the world using this palm!"
"Hmph," Xiao Sheng looked at the incoming strike with disdain, but just as he was about to deflect the attack.
The power of tribulation struck once again, and an even more terrifying bolt of lightning was hurled at him, to make matters worse, the lingering power of tribulation in the air could sense that Tian Le's attack was meant for Xiao Sheng and attached itself to his palm strike!
"HAHAHA, SEE! Even the Heavens are on our side!" Tian Le's laugh was deafening.
"Annoying." Xiao Sheng began circulating his vast spiritual energy.
Holy Wild Slash
The Holy Wild Slash is a move that concentrates the user's energy into a blade and unleashes it all at once.
Normally, it is meant to be charged and released as one, but Xiao Sheng found a way to keep the effect up, allowing him to slash, not once but twice with the same level of power!
The blade easily tore through Tian Le's Palm Strike and began ravaging the crowd behind.
Fortunately, they were all the strongest of the strong in the mortal world, coupled with the reduced power from Tian Le's palm strike, resulting in light injuries amongst them.
But the effect it had on the lightning bolt was different, it still easily slashed through the bolt, but instead of fading away, it had just divided it in two!
"Tch, what a pain."
Fortunately, for Xiao Sheng, the lightning bolt's power was equally divided in two.
Unfortunately, the rest of the world's best cultivators aren't called that for no reason, they overcame their fear of Xiao Sheng when they saw that the Tribulation was on their side.
"Attack!"
"Kill the demon!"
"Don't obliterate him! He's bound to have loads of good stuff, if not, even his body is valuable!"
~~~
*Huff* *Huff*
Xiao Sheng had not felt this much exhaustion in a long long time, neither had he been reduced to such a state since his path of cultivation.
All his weapons, armour, pills, spiritual stones everything was used up in his fight.
A fight so horrifying, so grand that it would be a legend for generations upon generations…if there was anyone left alive to tell it.
Scattered across the floor were the broken pieces of his equipment, along with the mutilated corpses of the greatest cultivators in the world.
"Dammit…my True Fire Phenoix Spear, My Void Dragonbone Bow, my Celestial Sword…" Xiao Sheng's heart bled like crazy, he had used everything!
"Multiple holy elixirs and pills…and yet it wasn't enough…" Xiao Sheng said amid bated breaths, he glanced up at the sky, the clouds were still ominously dark, and the purple lightning had just turned black.
*cough*
A weak faint cough could be heard coming a few feet away, "Pleas-e don't do this."
It was Mei Ling.
"T-th-there's still time you can turn back now," her tears were rolling down her eyes.
At the start of the battle he had incapacitated, but not killed, her, her cultivation wasn't anything much compared to the group assembled to kill him but now…she may very well be the strongest expert of the mortal realm.
Except for a few exceptional people that either hid away from this fight or ran away mid-fight.
Xiao Sheng could not bear to kill her, "Go. Live."
He took out a legendary spatial teleport pill and threw it in her mouth before she could even react, and in a blink, she was gone.
"Now," Xiao Sheng turned to face the true form of the Chaotic Tribulation, "Show me what you've got!"
As if provoked, the thunder and lightning produce a world-ending rumble, the sound alone was enough to blast apart the surrounding mountain tops.
"ARGH!" Xiao Sheng was never one to sit and wait for death, with a mighty shout, no softer than the thunder, he leapt straight into the air, flying for the world barrier.
The lightning condensed into the form of a grand dragon and gave chase.
There was good reason Xiao Sheng chose the top of the tallest mountain to face the tribulation, he knew even with his cultivation he wouldn't be able to outrun something at the true Immortal level.
Never mind the fact he was not in optimal condition so to speak.
"Well since Plan A is out of the window…let's skip straight to Plan Z." Xiao Sheng muttered to himself.
Being on this mountain gave Xiao Sheng the shortest amount of time to reach the ceiling of the Mortal World and touch upon the boundary between worlds.
"For millennials, this has been the separation between immortality and mortality, the finite and infinite, preventing us from crossing the gate and soaring like dragons." Xiao Sheng caressed the invisible barrier.
The lightning dragon charged head forth, its maw opened wide, Xiao Sheng closed his eyes and embraced it.
Xiao Sheng was swallowed whole by the lightning dragon!
From within, Xiao Sheng was baptised in excruciating pain, pain like never before.
But every second he spent he could feel it, the power surging through his veins…the feeling of breakthrough.
"How-how long has it been since I've last felt this," Xiao Sheng's eyes began to glow with power.
However, spider-web-like cracks began travelling across his skin.
Xiao Sheng laughed at himself, "In the end, it still wasn't enough."
Xiao Sheng steeled his resolve, "If I can't take it slow, then I'll take it all at once!"
Clenching his fist, Xiao Sheng rapidly absorbed all the Chaotic lightning into his body, pushing past his limits.
For a brief moment, Xiao Sheng could see the Immortal world bustling with splendour and glory.
Raising his fists above his head to grab for that distant world, yet the darkness began to set in.
"HHAHAHAHA," A hysterical laughter rang out through the world, "Is this how you think I'll die? Huh? Immortals above were my struggles a fun show to watch!?"
If one were to look at Xiao Sheng now, one would be forgiven to think he had gone mad from confronting death.
But a closer look at his eyes would reveal that he was not mad, no, he was completely sane!
"People of the world!" Xiao Sheng shouted out, "I, Xiao Sheng, have led an indomitable life but could not transcend, I was not given the opportunity, so I shall bestow upon to you what I could not obtain. Freedom."
A blinding light, brighter than the sun, coursed throughout the world, anything nearby was instantly vaporised.
"ARRRRRRRR TEAR THROUGH THE VEIL!" Xiao Sheng's screams were both resounding and horrifying.
"Everything…for Immortality," with these final words Xiao Sheng had accumulated all his strength, power, life and soul into this final punch.
Apocalypse Fist
Striking the world barrier at its Centrepoint the fist energy met heavy resistance, for once cracks began to appear across the entire world, allowing even the weakest mortal to see the world barrier.
Through gritted teeth, Xiao Sheng pushed through, "J-j-ju-just a li-ttle moooooooorrrrr ARGH!"
And with a final shout, the fist energy shot through the world barrier, leaving a fist-shaped hole as the rest of the barrier collapsed apart on its own.
Xiao Sheng was now completely spent, there was nothing left but his fleeting consciousness.
Thinking to himself, "If there is a next life…I swear…I'm going to kill the bastard who set up this barrier…"
His breathing became more and more shallow, the light from his fist strike had long become like one of the stars, a tiny glint of light far away in the distance, wrecking unknown amounts of havoc along its path.
Xiao Sheng's eyes slowly drifted off until eventually…
The strongest Pseudo-Immortal, Rank 8, Xiao Sheng has died.