The sky burned red like molten iron, and the heavens howled in fury. Lightning, thick as mountains, tore through the firmament, striking down with the force to shatter worlds.

The ground trembled under the weight of celestial wrath, splitting open as rivers of molten rock spewed forth. The entire realm bore witness to the heavens' judgment.

At the center of it all stood Ye Chen, the strongest immortal to have ever walked the cultivation world. His long robes were tattered, his once-pristine immortal armor cracked beyond recognition. Blood trickled down his face, mixing with the ashes that filled the air. His golden eyes, once calm like an eternal ocean, now blazed with unyielding defiance.

This was his final tribulation, the last test before stepping into godhood. Nine heavenly thunderbolts-each capable of erasing entire continents-had been summoned by the heavens themselves.

Only by withstanding all nine could he break the shackles of mortality and claim his rightful place among the divine.

He had endured eight.

Now, the ninth bolt gathered in the sky The clouds churned, the winds howled, and an indescribable pressure crushed down upon the land. The bolt shimmered with golden and violet hues, twisting and writhing like a divine dragon. This was no ordinary tribulation lightning-this was Punishment of the Dao, the wrath of the cosmos itself.

Ye Chen clenched his fists. His arms trembled, his body screamed in pain, but he did not bow. He had climbed from the lowest depths, fought against countless enemies, defied the very heavens time and time again. Would he fall here, just before reaching the peak?

"Come!" He roared, his voice shaking the heavens.

He activated every ounce of his strength.

Endless golden immortal energy erupted from his body, forming a massive golden barrier around him. His immortal domain, the manifestation of his power, spread out like an infinite cosmos. Stars flickered within it, divine runes swirled, and an ancient, unfathomable might filled the air.

The tribulation bolt fell.

A deafening explosion followed as the sky itself shattered. The golden barrier that Ye Chen had summoned cracked upon impact. He gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead as he poured everything into resisting. The force of the lightning was beyond anything he had ever faced-as if the heavens themselves had decided he was unworthy.

"Break!" Ye Chen roared.

He struck out with a palm imbued with ten thousand years of cultivation, his energy condensing into a massive divine seal. The space around him trembled violently as his attack clashed with the tribulation bolt. For a moment, it seemed like he had done it-the lightning wavered, flickering between destruction and resistance.

Then, it shattered his attack like glass.

A second later, the tribulation lightning crashed down on him.

BOOM!

Ye Chen felt his body being torn apart, his very soul being shattered. His meridians ruptured, his immortal bones cracked, and his golden blood splattered across the battlefield. The power was too much. Even with all his strength, all his knowledge, all his experience-he could not resist.

Pain.

Unimaginable, soul-searing pain.

Ye Chen could feel himself fading. His vision darkened, his senses dulled. His once-mighty cultivation, the power he had spent ten thousand years perfecting, crumbled before his very eyes.

"No... Impossible..!" His mind screamed in disbelief.

Had he come all this way, only to fail?

As his consciousness drifted, memories flashed before his eyes-his youth, his struggles, his countless battles. He had conquered realms, slain gods, and defied fate itself. He had faced enemies more terrifying than demons, overcome challenges that would break lesser men a thousand times over.

And yet... in the end, the heavens had decided his fate.

He coughed up blood, his vision turning to darkness. The tribulation clouds above began to dissipate, their job done. The realm fell into silence. The strongest immortal... had fallen.

But just before the last ember of his soul faded, Ye Chen felt something-a pulse.

A strange warmth, deep within his shattered consciousness.

Something stirred within him, something ancient and unfathomable.

And then-everything turned black.

Death was not the end.