Chapter 352

Chapter 352: This Is the Purpose

The Opening the Sky Calamity wasn’t all that different from the Ascending to Heaven Calamity, it was simply far more powerful. But the one undergoing it now had a cultivation realm and strength that surpassed those of the past.

As a result, each of the nine heavenly tribulations struck faster and with greater intensity.

Still, Zhang Yang chose to sit calmly through them.

Boom!

The second bolt of black lightning crashed down, striking the mountaintop with a force so powerful it caused the peak to tremble slightly. Shards of black lightning clung to the rock, flickering ominously.

And yet, Zhang Yang remained unharmed, peacefully seated.

His awakened bloodline had produced a Holy Body of overwhelming strength.

The Divine Gold Holy Body made his hair and skin feel as if they had been forged from divine metal. Once activated, it became even more terrifying than the resilience of boundless artifacts, so much so that even saints would feel envy. His defense was truly unmatched.

And so, Zhang Yang continued his cultivation.

He refined his Divine Gold Holy Body through the might of the heavenly tribulation.

With the forces of heaven and earth stirred by the calamity, and aided by the support of the Spirit Saint Stones, he cultivated relentlessly.

He had not forgotten the special experience he once had at the Daybreak Phoenix Ruins. When he was blocked from his first Ascending to Heaven Calamity, he had recklessly pushed forward, unafraid of the consequences. Though the path had been difficult to break through, his Nine Extremes True Essence surged wildly, as if freed from its shackles, reaching terrifying new heights. That growth had allowed him to face even the Seventh Prince with confidence.

Such a unique opportunity could not be wasted.

This time, however, the calamity was even more ferocious.

He used the heavenly tribulation not only to resist but to train, treating it as a rare opportunity for advancement.

Yet the calamity originated from Eternal Night.

Eternal Night had already issued a death sentence through its pawn, the Supreme Emperor. By challenging it through the Heavenly Reaching Mountain, Zhang Yang had provoked an even more terrifying backlash.

But no matter how dreadful it became, there was always a limit.

This was the Great Path.

The Great Path of Eternal Night.

It was a law, a rule of Eternal Night. If that rule were broken, it could trigger catastrophic consequences and might even grant the vast heavens a chance to retaliate. Therefore, everything had to occur within the boundaries of the Great Path.

The third strike.

The fourth strike.

The fifth strike.

Each one caused massive upheaval.

The advantages of Zhang Yang’s Divine Gold Holy Body became increasingly apparent.

He remained steadfast, resisting each blow.

And with every strike, the effects of his cultivation became even more astonishing. His Nine Extremes True Essence showed signs of breaking its shackles once again.

This demonstrated just how valuable the Spirit Saint Stones were, far beyond the capabilities of ordinary Spirit Stones.

It was highly likely that Zhang Yang would achieve another breakthrough in his Nine Extremes True Essence.

There was, however, a downside.

With each successive strike, fragments of dark lightning scattered across the mountain. They moved as if conscious, infiltrating Heavenly Reaching Mountain and causing hidden damage.

But Zhang Yang, deep in cultivation, couldn’t spare any attention.

He could only continue onward.

To those on the battlefield and among the onlookers, it felt as if a heavy hammer had struck them directly in the heart.

Zhang Yang’s side was filled with surging excitement; their fighting spirit ignited.

“Lord of the Sacred Forest is invincible!”

“Lord of the Sacred Forest is mighty!”

“Eternal Night cannot shake the Lord of the Sacred Forest!”

“Fight! Fight! Fight!”

Each roar echoed like Jin Liuli’s secret technique to boost her strength, it elevated their momentum, an invisible surge of power.

The higher the morale, the stronger the confidence; the better the performance, often exceeding one’s usual limits.

Conversely, when morale and confidence were low, performance suffered. Even overwhelming strength might be reduced to just thirty or forty percent. This phenomenon had already played out in the past, as seen with Yuluan and Jin Zhihong. There was also the unique case of the moon-returning dragon, who had once witnessed Zhang Yang battle the Supreme Emperor’s Remnant Soul. That encounter had shattered his internal shadow and brought him close to awakening the Holy Body, but for various reasons, he still hadn’t found the peace of mind to break through.

No one could truly escape this psychological battlefield. Breaking through fear, Zhang Yang remained fearless and increasingly courageous. This was why Shui Lianyi had hoped Xue Feishuang would help Yuluan confront and overcome her inner shadows.

“How incredible! So this was his purpose all along.”

“Not participating in the battle, yet allowing our power to soar… Is this the true ability of the Lord of the Sacred Forest?”

The onlookers were deeply moved.

Even Lu Hengkong and Marquis Xia Houzun exchanged glances, sharing an indescribable sense of awe.

The difference between a Son and the Lord of the Sacred Forest was just a single word—but the weight of that difference was vast.

Marquis Xia Houzun muttered under his breath, “I knew he wouldn’t join the battle directly, he definitely had other plans. He’s undergoing tribulation to strengthen himself while boosting our side’s morale. It’s a double benefit.”

But was it truly just that?

Zhang Yang was still in the midst of tribulation.

This time, he had allowed the world to witness how he faced it—completely different from the Seventh Prince’s experience.

The Seventh Prince had faced a chaotic onslaught of varied lightning strikes.

On the other hand, Zhang Yang faced a tough and destructive challenge, which was real combat. The heavenly tribulation transformed, sometimes a hammer, sometimes a blade, and sometimes ancient beasts—each attack was brutal and unrelenting.

Yet Zhang Yang remained calm, seated in meditation, completely unfazed.

With each successive strike, his Divine Gold Holy Body seemed to awaken further.

He strongly suspected that the Divine Gold Holy Body was just the beginning, a foundation with potential for ongoing evolution and breakthroughs.

He even sensed a rare opportunity: the possibility of reversing and awakening his bloodline again. A second, perhaps even a third awakening, no longer felt impossible.

He looked forward to it eagerly, very eagerly, because his Nine Extremes True Essence was once again surging, attempting to break through its barriers thanks to his intense cultivation.

However, as long as the tribulation remained incomplete, he could not yet achieve a breakthrough.

So, he pressed on continuing his cultivation.

After a series of eight thunderous strikes, the ninth and final blow awaited.

Zhang Yang, who had been meditating with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them. They blazed with holy light. His sharp spiritual sense pierced through the swirling black clouds above, revealing a massive figure formed from concentrated lightning.

The figure stood ten thousand meters tall.

Amidst the roiling storm, he raised his gaze, and in that face brimming with lightning, he saw a familiar identity.

The Supreme Emperor.

This was his goal to confirm all his earlier suspicions with undeniable proof.

Now, he could declare with absolute certainty:

The Supreme Emperor was Eternal Night’s lapdog.

The Taixu Dynasty was Eternal Night’s lapdog.

The Ghost King served Eternal Night.

The Ghostly Divine Platform served Eternal Night.

However, Zhang Yang also noticed something unusual.

If the Supreme Emperor’s image within Heavenly Reaching Mountain represented his killing intent, then what was the relationship between the Supreme Emperor seen in the Abyss of the Buried Immortals and the one battling the Buddha Immortals?

Could there be multiple Supreme Emperors?

Or was there only one Supreme Emperor manifesting in different forms?

Was this a result of saint-level laws? Or a gift bestowed by Eternal Night? If that were the case, might hidden legacies of the Supreme Emperor still lie dormant within the Taixu Dynasty’s imperial palace?

Zhang Yang’s thoughts grew deeper and more complex.

At this moment, the Supreme Emperor—who had become one with the tribulation did not reveal himself fully like the Ten-Thousand-Meter Ghost King had during the earlier Ascending to Heaven calamity. Though his form also reached ten thousand meters, he remained cloaked in mist. Only a colossal lightning-forged hand emerged, crashing down with unparalleled fury.

This was the final strike of the Opening the Sky Calamity.

If he survived, he would complete the tribulation.

The process was nearly identical to that of the Ascending to Heaven Calamity, only the embodiment of the tribulation had changed.

What mattered most was that, despite over a hundred thousand people witnessing the event, the Ten-Thousand-Meter Supreme Emperor did not reveal his full form.

This led Zhang Yang to another realization: even under the constraints of the Great Path, this tribulation-born avatar of the Supreme Emperor possessed a certain degree of awareness.

He sneered.

“You think you can hide yourself? That I entered seclusion without reason?”

For the first time, Zhang Yang took the initiative.

Though still seated in meditation, he summoned the full power of his Nine Extremes True Essence.

It far exceeded what had come before, but even so, fully activating the Great Perfection Slaughter Thunder Saint Power still left him feeling intensely weak.

Under his control, the Slaughter Sacred Thunder transformed into a dazzling arc of lightning, surging upward to meet the incoming attack.

In an instant, two forms of lightning clashed in the sky.

One was black as ink.

The other, silvery white as snow.

One resembled a hand.

The other, a fist.

They collided violently in mid-air.

Crack!

There was no uncertainty. The power of the Opening the Sky calamity had a clear limit, and Zhang Yang’s strength had already surpassed it. When the mighty Great Perfection Slaughter Sacred Thunder unleashed, it was unstoppable and unmatched.

With a single strike, the thunderous hand shattered.

The Opening the Sky Calamity came to an end.

However, in that fleeting moment, while the rolling clouds above began to dissipate and the coalesced figure of the Supreme Emperor started to fade, Zhang Yang, who had already established a connection with Heavenly Reaching Mountain, made his move.

Stars exploded atop Heavenly Reaching Mountain.

The moment the shattered dark lightning broke apart, starlight pierced the heavens, blasting away the remaining dark clouds.

Zhang Yang forcefully revealed the Ten-Thousand-Meter Supreme Emperor.