Chapter 359

Chapter 359: Eighteen Arhats

Revived once more, Fang Lie looked at the clouds vanishing above him, feeling a surge of pride. Even the Heavenly Dao’s sensing could not affect his Divine Phoenix Nirvana Scripture, proving how tremendous it was.

At that moment, Fang Lie suddenly sensed intense waves of Spiritual Energy coming from the distance.

He quickly looked up towards the direction of the disturbance, and saw dark clouds forming a Heavenly Tribulation.

Without hesitation, Fang Lie took to the skies, flying rapidly towards the location of the Heavenly Tribulation.

He had never seen what the Heavenly Tribulation in this area looked like and thought it would be a good opportunity to appreciate its magnificence.

Of course, the main reason was for Jie Yan Chan Master. If the old man were struck dead by the Heavenly Tribulation, it would be perfect. Fang Lie would collect his body and his treasures, as the dead would not need so many treasures.

If, by chance, Jie Yan managed to escape, Fang Lie would find a way to take action—whether through an ambush or trickery, he could not let this old man live any longer.

Soon enough, Fang Lie flew several thousand miles, getting closer to the stormy clouds of the Heavenly Tribulation. He decided to stop to avoid being caught in it.

Meanwhile, Jie Yan Chan Master had begun his battle against the Heavenly Tribulation.

He still held onto a sliver of hope, believing that the Heavenly Tribulation targeted those with higher cultivation levels. Therefore, he activated his Purple Palace power to withstand the coming thunder.

In his eyes, based on his experience as a Fire Tribulation Immortal, he believed he could survive, even if severely injured. He felt it would be worth it.

However, Jie Yan seriously underestimated the power of the Heavenly Tribulation.

Once the storm clouds formed, they unleashed green Yi-wood Divine Lightning, thick as water drums.

Even the aura alone shocked Jie Yan. This was no ordinary thunder for a Purple Palace Immortal; even a casual Wind Tribulation Immortal would struggle against it.

Despite this, Jie Yan still maintained a glimmer of hope. He was not bold enough to take the hit directly, but he cast his personal divine skill, Dreamlike Mirage, allowing him to create hundreds of indistinguishable shadows.

As long as the thunder could not discern which was the real Jie Yan, it would strike randomly, ensuring his safety.

However, although his plan was clever, he clearly underestimated the precision of the Heavenly Tribulation. No matter how he tried to evade, it was futile. The green Divine Lightning struck straight at him without a hint of confusion.

At that moment, Jie Yan had no time to react; he could only watch helplessly as the thunder engulfed him.

Fortunately for Jie Yan, he had abundant resources and had activated an automatic defensive Seventh-rank Treasure earlier—the Seven Treasures Robe he was wearing.

As the lightning struck, the robe activated, radiating a brilliant light. The seven-colored Buddhist light blocked the green Yi-wood Divine Lightning, leaving deep, unfathomable craters in the ground.

However, the appearance of the Seventh-rank Treasure alerted the Heavenly Tribulation. The continuous strikes ceased, but the storm clouds above did not disperse. Instead, they began to swirl with increasing fury, their aura rapidly intensifying, multiplying to an unimaginable extent!

Clearly, the Heavenly Tribulation allocated its power based on the opponent’s cultivation level, and now Jie Yan’s revelation of his Purple Palace realm meant he would face the strength expected of a Wind Tribulation Immortal.

Now that he revealed his Seventh-rank Treasure, he was likely marked as a power exceeding that of a Wind Tribulation Immortal, which meant the upcoming tribulation would be nearly impossible to withstand, even for a Thunder Tribulation Immortal.

Jie Yan realized the implications, feeling utterly distressed. He nearly cursed the previous masters who designed these Heavenly Dao laws. Raising the level of the tribulation by two degrees? That left no room for escape!

Yet, Jie Yan knew that complaining was pointless. At this juncture, he had no choice but to muster all his strength for a desperate fight. Survive, or face death!

In this dire situation, Jie Yan’s fierceness ignited. He let out a thunderous roar, soaring into the sky and standing defiantly against the thunder. "Come on! If you want to strike me down, it won’t be that easy!"

As he spoke, Jie Yan reached up and took the prayer beads from around his neck.

Each bead of this prayer necklace is the size of a longan, and there are a total of eighteen beads. Every bead is made from the relics of high monks who have passed away.

Jie Yan Chan Master confidently offered the string of prayer beads, and then, with a loud bang, the eighteen beads exploded, forming the shadowy figures of eighteen high monks, each exuding the aura of Fire Tribulation Immortal.

These eighteen shadows positioned themselves in a specific order in the air, creating a formation that completely protected Jie Yan Chan Master.

In the distance, Fang Lie also noticed the strange occurrence in the sky. He was immediately taken aback and exclaimed, "The Eighteen Arhats Formation of Great Thunder Sound Temple? They say it is one of the most precious Eighth-rank treasures in the temple, usually controlled by the head of the discipline hall. How could it be in the hands of this scoundrel?"

In fact, this prayer necklace is called the Eighteen Arhats, crafted from the relics of the Fire Tribulation Immortals from Great Thunder Sound Temple over generations.

Each of the eighteen relics belonged to masters who excelled in a unique Buddhist divine skill, and together, they form the divine skill of the Eighteen Arhats. This allows them to create the most famous Buddhist formation, the Eighteen Arhats Formation.

Finding the relics of Fire Tribulation Immortals is an extremely challenging task, and it requires that the owner happens to specialize in a particular practice, making it even rarer.

Thus, despite the extensive heritage of Great Thunder Sound Temple spanning thousands of years, such prayer beads have only been assembled into one complete set.

After countless years of nurturing, it has reached the level of an Eighth-rank high-grade treasure.

The eighteen enforcers of Fire Tribulation Immortal rank, once arranged in the Arhat Formation, could easily trap two or three regular Fire Tribulation Immortals.

If used for defense, it would be difficult for even four or five Fire Tribulation Immortals to break through.

It is because of this treasured item that Jie Yan Chan Master dared to enter the Lost Forest.

In the past, there had been many powerful individuals with hidden auras who entered, but none survived.

Without a single defensive treasured item, even if Jie Yan Chan Master wanted to come, Master Bai Lian would never allow his disciple to take such a risk.

After all, training a Core Inner Gate Disciple is not easy, and losing one would be a great pity.

Now, protected by the Eighteen Arhats, Jie Yan Chan Master felt completely confident, believing he could pass through safely no matter what.

However, when he looked up and saw the green lightning balls falling from the calamity clouds, he couldn’t help but let out a despairing roar, "Damn it, how could this happen!"

In reality, the falling lightning balls were merely a condensed version of Yi-wood Divine Lightning. They were similar to the Sizzling Sun Divine Lightning held by Fang Lie, but because the wood attribute is gentler, the power of Yi-wood Divine Lightning is actually the weakest among the Five Elements Divine Lightning, even inferior to the Kui Water Yin Lightning, and two small levels lower than the Sizzling Sun Divine Lightning.

But the problem is that, no matter how weak, divine lightning is still divine lightning, and its classification stands firm; condensed lightning balls can only be created by Fire Tribulation Immortals, so each one holds considerable power.

While one lightning ball could be easily handled by Jie Yan Chan Master himself, let alone the Eighteen Arhats, the sheer number of lightning here was simply unbelievable, to an extent unimaginable.

The lightning balls in the sky were countless, giving the impression of a hailstorm, striking down relentlessly, with numbers that seemed infinite!

Facing this overwhelming onslaught of Yi-wood Divine Lightning, which could easily number in the thousands, even a mere combination of an Eighth-rank treasure and Fire Tribulation Immortals would prove inadequate; even a Semi-Immortal would be hard-pressed to manage such a situation!

Jie Yan Chan Master was stunned, and even Fang Lie, who was watching from afar, was left in shock.

One by one, the Yi-wood Divine Lightning hit the protective Buddhist light arranged by the Eighteen Arhats, creating a loud explosion that formed a massive fireball, where thunder roared and lightning unleashed its fury, concentrating all its power into this narrow space, multiplying its destructive power several times.

As one divine lightning ball exploded, more lightning balls surged in, continuing the onslaught. From a distance, Jie Yan Chan Master and the Eighteen Arhats were completely engulfed by the successive explosions of divine lightning, unable to strike back at all.

Moreover, he couldn’t even escape because the entire space was restricted by the Heavenly Tribulations.

This meant that Jie Yan Chan Master was essentially doomed!

Fang Lie, observing the lightning tribulation from a distance, wiped his cold sweat and couldn’t help but mutter to himself, "This is too cruel, it’s simply too brutal! That is Yi-wood Divine Lightning! At the very least, it can only be created by Fire Tribulation Immortals, and making each one consumes a considerable amount of effort and magic. This stuff is similar to my Sizzling Sun Divine Lightning, but when it was given to me by the Fire Tribulation Immortal, he was very reluctant and only gave me three at a time! But look at what’s happening now, the Yi-wood Divine Lightning is coming down like rain; it must be in the thousands at least!"

"Small-minded!" the old bird said disdainfully, "This level of lightning storm isn’t something to worry about; it’s pure quantity over quality, lacking any skill whatsoever, bold but very inefficient; its master clearly has a reckless nature. If it were your Sect Leader, they could resolve this with only one-fifth of the quantity!"

"But my Sect Leader is a Semi-Immortal!" Fang Lie protested.

"A Semi-Immortal is nothing! The master of this place is an ancient great one who can merge with the Heavenly Dao; their strength is beyond comparison to that of a Semi-Immortal!" the old bird scoffed. "So you better behave; even if your Sect Leader were here, they would have to be cautious! You need to learn your lesson and never be like that foolish Jie Yan Chan Master!"

"Understood!" Fang Lie wiped his sweat and said with horror, "Now, even if you were to beat me to death, I would never dare to disobey!"