Meanwhile, in the Great Wilderness East County, on the True Immortal Ten Guts Tree.
Xu Qing and the others were still moving up.
The captain was still cutting his intestines, and his expression revealed persistence and madness.
Xu Qing gritted his teeth and did the same. He cut off another section of his intestine and fused them into the tree.
Although he didn't know the exact reason why the captain was doing this, he, who had experienced many things in his cultivation journey until now, could already tell that after stepping into the depths of the True Immortal Ten Guts, the captain's actions resembled a ritual.
Moreover, they hadn't encountered the dangers such as the chaotic time and space and curses that the king of the Zenith Nation had mentioned.
All of this caused the rumors about the descendants of the Calamity Immortal Race to surface in Xu Qing's mind many times.
"The dangers in the True Immortal Ten Guts are like puzzle pieces. If the wrong method is used to enter, danger will be lurking everywhere. Only by mastering the correct method can we safely move in it."
Xu Qing narrowed his eyes and looked at the captain in front.
'The moment we stepped past the boundary of the True Immortal Ten Guts, the captain should have done something, which caused the Shebi Corpse Tribulation to appear. This might be the first piece of the puzzle.'
'The second piece of the puzzle is the featherless bird, the Aluoe Tribulation.'
'Then, we directly appeared under the Ten Guts Trees, and the third puzzle piece appeared, which is the Biseye Tribulation.'
'After experiencing these three tribulations, the captain began to cut his intestines and fuse them into the tree.'
'In that case, there might be more tribulations.' Xu Qing fell into deep thought. As he moved forward with difficulty, he looked at the ground below.
At that moment, they were already at an altitude of more than 20,000 feet. A violent wind blew here, and the ground had shrunk by a lot. Not only could he see the entire jungle, but he could also see the 36 cities that had turned into colorful spots on the ground.
'What exactly is the good fortune that the captain is talking about?'
Staring at the ground, a question rose in Xu Qing's mind. However, before he could continue to think deeply, his expression suddenly changed. He retracted his gaze and looked ahead.
He wasn't the only one whose expression changed. The captain also stopped in his tracks and looked at the distant tree trunk.
On the blackish-brown tree trunk in front of them, pieces of tree bark suddenly squirmed. In the blink of an eye, the tree barks rose one after another and turned into flesh buds.
Every flesh bud was about five feet long and a foot thick. The color of their bodies was no different from the tree trunk. At the head of each bud, the fleshy layers split apart like a blossoming flower, revealing their bloody flesh and sharp fangs.
Slime was dripping heavily from these open ghastly mouths.
Xu Qing's gaze froze. He could tell that these flesh buds were extraordinary.
Ning Yan and Qing Qiu's expressions also turned solemn. Only the captain's eyes were filled with more madness as he laughed loudly.
"The direction is correct. This is the place."
"The sky is about to open!"
As soon as the captain's voice echoed, the countless flesh buds on the tree trunk, numbering over 100,000, opened their gaping mouths. In unison, they stood upright and began to sway, their mouths facing the sky while their bodies trembled violently.
They looked like they were shouting with all their might and roaring at the sky. However, there was no sound.
It was as though the sounds they emitted were different from the sounds cultivators could hear. Hence, in Xu Qing's eyes, they were emitting soundless roars.
It wasn't just the gut tree that everyone was on. The same scene was happening on the other nine gut trees in the surroundings.
All of this was very bizarre.
What was even stranger was that under these soundless shouts from the million or so flesh buds, the color of the sky changed!
A crack was vaguely forming at the end of the sky.
Xu Qing's mind stirred. He had seen this scene with his perception before.
At that time, there was also such a crack in the sky.
He still remembered that in the scene he saw with his perception, there was an unimaginable existence in the crack.
Xu Qing's breathing hastened slightly. At that moment, the surrounding world distorted. After that, the captain's entire body shook as though he had been bombarded by something invisible and he took a few steps back.
It wasn't just him. Ning Yan's body also shook, and the evil ghost in Qing Qiu's hand let out a scream.
After that, Xu Qing also sensed that invisible thing.
He didn't know what it was but he felt as though something had landed on his body. At the next instant, his mind rumbled and waves of intense pain came from his body. In an instant, his flesh became numb and a sense of extermination spread throughout his body, dimming his life force.
"Lightning tribulation?" Although he couldn't see it, Xu Qing immediately made a judgment with his perception.
This feeling was exactly the same as being struck by lightning.
The scream of the Diamond Sect's ancestor also proved this.
"Master, it's lightning. This is lightning but strangely, it can't be seen or sensed. What kind of lightning tribulation is this?"
As Xu Qing's expression changed, the rumbling in his mind echoed again. There seemed to be countless lightning in front of him. Under his inability to sense them, they continued to pour over, stopping him from moving forward.
While everyone continued to step back, the captain revealed a crazed smile.
"This is the Gatha Voice Tribulation!"
"In the understanding of the Calamity Immortal Race, the way to become an immortal is to open your stomach and place your intestines in the world, connecting everything."
"Similarly, in their understanding, the appearance and essence of the lightning tribulation are also different from many races."
"They believe that when the world was just born, an existence named Gatha wanted to overthrow the Heavenly Dao. In the end, it failed and was sealed in the nothingness of the world by the Heavenly Dao, causing the world to not be able to remember or sense it."
"This existence wasn't willing to dissipate, so it often roared in the void. Its roar… transformed into a voice that would spread out in any corner of the world or any area."
"This is the appearance of the lightning in the Calamity Immortal Race's understanding."
"In order to hide it, the Heavenly Dao bestowed the law of light on the Gatha Voice, causing it to turn from invisible to visible. It was named as lightning tribulation, lightning, thunderbolt, and so on."
"Therefore, all living beings only know lightning and think that they know its essence. However, in the eyes of the Calamity Immortal Race, this is the voice of Gatha."
The captain explained while laughing wildly.
Xu Qing's heart stirred when he heard this. This was the first time he had heard lightning being explained like this.
Just as he was about to speak, the captain tugged at the vine. Ning Yan screamed and flew over. He was held in front by the captain like a shield.
Ning Yan was already cursing endlessly in his mind, but he didn't dare to let out a single word. As the sorrow and anger in his heart continued to rise, the captain continued to move forward while using him as a shield.
All the invisible lightning directly struck Ning Yan's body.
Ning Yan wailed and screamed unceasingly. However, the toughness of his skin caused even Xu Qing to be moved.
He was actually unscathed under such bombardment.
"Eldest Senior Brother is right. There's definitely something wrong with this Ning Yan!"
Very soon, the captain crossed this area filled with flesh buds.
When he was far away, he threw Ning Yan down and shouted.
"Catch!"
As Ning Yan let out a blood-curdling cry while falling, his body was grabbed by Xu Qing.
"Lord Divine Son, I…" Tears welled up in Ning Yan's eyes. When he looked at Xu Qing mournfully, Xu Qing imitated the captain and lifted him as a shield before rushing forward.
Ning Yan wailed.
Very soon, Xu Qing successfully passed through this area. As he sighed with emotion at Ning Yan's tenacity, he threw him back to Qing Qiu.
"No, it hurts." Ning Yan cried. He suddenly regretted having such defense.
A strange glint appeared in Qing Qiu's eyes. She grabbed the vine growing out of Ning Yan's stomach as though it was a supreme treasure and rushed out as well.
Just like that, dozens of breaths later, Qing Qiu finally ran out of the flesh bud lightning area and handed the lifeless Ning Yan to the captain.
"There's no need." The captain shook his head.
When Ning Yan heard this, he felt as though he had survived a calamity. However, his heart quickly skipped a beat. Just as he felt a little uneasy, the captain looked at Xu Qing.
"Junior Brother, the good fortune I mentioned earlier is there." The captain pointed at the crack in the sky.
Xu Qing's eyes gleamed.
They were now at an altitude of more than 30,000 feet and were still some distance away from the sky. However, when they stood here and lifted their heads, the crack in the sky could already be seen clearly.
"I still can't say it now, but very soon, I'll be able to tell you everything!"
With that, the captain took a step forward. At this moment, the robe on his body changed from black to white.
It no longer looked like a Daoist robe but more like a special ceremonial robe.
As the wind blew over, he took nine steps forward and waved his hands, dancing on the branch.
His dance postures were actually a little similar to the figure formed by the Ten Guts Trees that Xu Qing had seen earlier. While Xu Qing was amazed, the captain started chanting.
Unlike the ancient and obscure chanting he sensed in the illusion, the captain's voice was very clear.
"Majestic Heavens, shine upon the earth below, gather the spirits of the ancient, four tribulations to please the ancestor."
"Shebi corpse tribulation, eroding the past and the present."
"Aluoe's tribulation, a thin path."
"Biseye tribulation, burial."
"Gatha Voice tribulation, concealed and withering."
The surroundings rumbled and transformed into flames that soared into the sky, forming countless dancing figures that spread in all directions and appeared on the Ten Guts Trees.
From afar, it looked like a majestic scene of hundreds of thousands of Calamity Immortal Race cultivators dancing to please the heavens and worshiping the heavens together.
The sky changed color and the wind and clouds churned. Thunder rumbled through the clouds.
The captain's dance movements emitted a bizarre rhythm. At this moment, his voice became even more impassioned. Finally, he bowed to the sky and chanted loudly.
"The sacrificial tribulation has been completed, and the sky has opened a crack. I wish the Wanggu Heavenly Dao to partake in this!"
The hundreds of thousands of Calamity Immortal Race figures in the surroundings bowed in unison.
Boom!
Boom!!
Boom!!!
The sound of the world being split apart rang out from the sky. Under the deafening sound that spread through the world, the crack in the sky suddenly opened!
