Chapter 2889: Emperor's Tribulation Cage

Boom!

The person undergoing their tribulation was clear-headed, but the lightning tribulation grew even more tyrannical, with the lightning falling from the heavens carrying even greater destructive power.

Ji Ningshuang let out a sharp cry, stepping across the void.

Her intention was clear: to draw the Honghuang into the tribulation.

However, in the unseen depths, a force or barrier seemed to block her path.

No matter how many times she tried, she could not escape the sea of thunder.

“Can’t get out.”

These four words were what the Tian Di and Ming Di wanted to say.

Though both faced tribulations, Ji Ningshuang’s tribulation was different from that of the person on the Taigu Road in the Zhutian.

That person had omens indicating they could transcend to emperorhood.

Ji Ningshuang did not.

That person could lure the tribulation to trap others.

Ji Ningshuang could not.

From the moment her tribulation descended, it became a cage—a tribulation’s cage. She was trapped within it, unable to leave the sea of thunder.

The only way out was to prove the dao and become an emperor.

Unfortunately, without omens of transcendence, she was destined to be reduced to ashes, to die and fade away, never able to escape that tribulation’s cage.

Pfft!

A spray of blood appeared, heart-wrenching to behold.

She tried again and was severely wounded once more, blocked by that unseen force. Though she desperately wanted to help her husband and child repel the Honghuang army, she was powerless.

She stopped trying, as if she had come to some realization, as if she knew this sea of thunder was indeed a cage.

“Focus on your tribulation.”

Ye Chen sent a voice transmission, once again forcefully withstanding the Honghuang’s assault. He understood Ji Ningshuang’s intent, but what good was understanding? She couldn’t escape, and each attempt only wounded her more severely. If she continued, she would die.

After all, this was no ordinary tribulation.

Yaochi fell silent, abandoning her plan to draw the Honghuang into the tribulation. Instead, she endured the lightning and charged against the heavens, aiming to enter the Da Dao Tai Shang Tian. That way, the Honghuang clans could do nothing to her, and Ye Chen and Ye Fan wouldn’t have to remain so defensive.

However, she couldn’t enter the Da Dao Tai Shang Tian. Not only did she fail to ascend, but she was struck by the annihilating thunder, leaving her body covered in bloody gashes. For once the tribulation had descended, no one could withstand its emperor dao lightning and force their way into the Da Dao Tai Shang Tian.

“Kill! Kill for me!”

As if realizing Ji Ningshuang couldn’t enter the Tai Shang Tian, couldn’t escape the tribulation’s sea of thunder, and couldn’t drag them into the tribulation with her, the Honghuang roared wildly. They only needed to break through Ye Chen and Ye Fan’s defenses, and everything would be complete.

“Gods come, I’ll slay gods.”

The Huanggu Shengti roared, shaking the starry skies.

“Buddhas come, I’ll slaughter buddhas.”

Even the subtle Tianqian Zhiti was filled with overwhelming killing intent, activating countless forbidden techniques. Holding the Xuanyuan Sword and bathed in the blood of the Honghuang people, he fought like a madman.

Fortunately, his mother had regained her senses and, while battling the heavens, was no longer just passively defending.

Tears filled Ji Ningshuang’s eyes as she gave up on leaving the sea of thunder and entering the Da Dao Tai Shang Tian. She unfolded the Wanwu Great Realm and endured the thunderbolts, charging toward the vast expanse.

She was determined to prove the dao, to defeat that damned heaven.

Not for all living beings, but for her husband and child.

Boom! Rumble!

The tribulation destroyed the heavens and earth, its thunderous roars echoing across the entire Tianhuang. The fluctuations of the great battle were immense, the rumbles even overpowering the emperor dao thunder.

Ji Ningshuang was fighting.

Ye Chen was fighting.

Ye Fan was fighting.

That family of three, three blood-soaked figures, made even the Tian Di and Ming Di feel a sting in their hearts.

She could not become an emperor.

This thought was not just on Ming Di’s mind; Dao Zu felt it too. They desperately wanted to tell that family that the hope they clung to was nothing but despair.

Yet the two emperors ultimately said nothing.

Ye Chen would not abandon his wife.

Ye Fan would not abandon his mother.

They both held unyielding obsessions, blind to that despair, unwilling to let go even in death.

Boom! Rumble!

The roaring grew even more intense, not just from the Taigu Road or Tianhuang, but also from the starry skies of the Zhutian.

Youming Continent.

Towering blood-red walls collapsed one after another, vast mountains and rivers trampled into an endless hell.

“The zhutian’s destiny endures eternally.”

The elders of Youming staged a tragic scene, one after another charging forward, one after another self-destructing. Amid the armies of Tianmo and E Mo, they bloomed like dazzling blood flowers, dragging entire groups of Tianmo to their doom, using their blood and bones to fight for a sliver of hope for the future and the zhutian.

Xuanhuang Continent.

In the Donghuang, Ximo, Nanyu, Beiyue, and Zhongzhou, wherever people were, battles raged. Everywhere there was war, mountains of corpses and seas of blood piled up. The five great Tianwang of the Forbidden Zones were fighting, and so were the Xuanhuang cultivators. The sky was dim, shrouded in bloody mists, with no light in sight.

War!

Shouts echoed through the five great forbidden zones, coming from the Shao Nian Di of each zone. They too were fighting, bearing some ancient mission, guarding the forbidden zones to the death.

Da Chu Zhutian Gate.

Outside the walls of Nanchu, as far as the eye could see, were endless Tianmo and E Mo, a black mass filling the heavens and covering the earth, like a vast demonic sea of people.

War!

The Da Chu cultivators fought desperately. For every one who fell, another took their place. The Tianmo and E Mo armies charged repeatedly, only to be repelled each time.

“Dad, do we still have hope?”

Situ Yun’s face was pale as he asked.

“Yes.”

Situ Nan’s answer was firm and resolute.

“Yes.”

This was also the response from Xiong Er and Xie Yun. All were clad in armor, their iron wills unyielding as they fought fiercely. Fresh blood stained them and the city walls; they had crawled out of piles of the dead and, having endured dark despair, could still see hope.

“When you return, Da Chu will still stand.”

The women, no less valiant than the men, and the wives of the Shengti, cast blood-red shadows.

Ye Ling was there too, still dressed as a man, wielding a resonant dao sword and guarding the Nanchu walls. From time to time, she glanced to her side.

In the past, during every war or catastrophe, a dark, chubby young man would be at her side. No matter the danger, he would stand before her without hesitation, willing to die or be shattered for her sake.

But now, that person was no longer there.

“Kill! Kill for me!”

The howls from outside the city were savage and bloodthirsty.

Wave after wave of Mojun swung their swords wildly, pointing toward the Nanchu walls. The Tianmo and E Mo armies had swept from the stars to Da Chu, only to be halted by a single wall, driving them to furious madness.

“Then let war come.”

Kui Yujiang roared, smashing a Mo Jiang with a palm.

“If you want war, then bring it.”

The roars thundered like lightning. The successive kings of Da Chu were all present, including the once-dazed Shenwang Shen Xuanfeng, who stood on the walls. Qian Shang Yue was at his side, their past and present lives completing a great cycle—this was their first time fighting side by side.

Xiao Chen, Da Chu Huang Yan, Di Fan, Long Teng, Zhou Tianyi, and the others were there too. Whenever chaos or crisis befell Da Chu, the descendants of the emperors never absented themselves.

Or rather, anyone who could reach the walls had come, even the likes of Renwang, who was no great fighter, donning his ancient armor and fighting until his body was drenched in blood and bones.

Crack! Crack!

At the Tianxuan Gate’s divine stele, the yuan shen jade plaques shattered one after another. Each one that burst meant a person had died, those cracking sounds like funeral dirges bidding farewell to the fallen heroes.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

The Lingxiao Treasure Hall trembled, not just in anger but in excitement. Its rumbling buzz shook the heavens, with light spreading out to aid Da Chu in battle.

Looking inside the hall, another person had joined.

It was Wu Lei holding on, who had come to the Zhutian Gate and was suspended beside Ruoxi. The four sometimes merged, sometimes separated, and each separation stained them with fresh blood. Their expressions were pained, desperate to merge and save all living beings, yet failing time and again.