In his mind, Lin Junzhao couldn’t contain his inner joy and excitement, "I didn’t expect that by residing within your body, our perceptions would synchronize. The new abilities you comprehended during your eighth-tier awakening are something I’ve never recognized before, and this new ability has unexpectedly fed back, allowing me to re-comprehend a new Power of Origin! This power is so strong! Pei Yan, feeling this powerful force’s birth, this time’s heavenly tribulation will be incredibly strong! You must hold on! As long as you get through this, the outcome of the competition doesn’t matter; this unexpected gain is enough to bring me back to the peak!"

"Ah? Why doesn’t it matter? I am determined to win this competition!" Pei Yan said, looking up at the sky. At this moment, the black clouds, having gathered enough momentum, unleashed the first bolt of thunder.

"Xun Rou, go and gather your brothers and the other Children of Origin to join the defense in the Protective Array," Lin Ruxue said, her expression solemn as she gazed at the calamity clouds in the sky.

"Master, are we really going to assist Pei Yan? If we join in, it’s too dangerous?" Lin Xunrou hesitated after hearing the order and replied with concern.

"Assist? With such a heavenly tribulation, if you assist, dozens of Tier Nine Elders’ cultivation combined with seven Children of Origin would provoke a tribulation even I would avoid! I am asking you to reinforce the defense inside the Array. The power of this heavenly tribulation is extraordinary. If it breaks through the arena defense array and injures the spectators from various realms here to watch, our Daoist Realm would lose face. As for Pei Yan, he can only rely on his own luck now."

As Lin Xunrou followed her master’s order, bringing several Children of Origin into the arena, the second bolt of heavenly tribulation had already descended, illuminating the grand arena as bright as day. Just stepping inside, Lin Xunrou listened to the deafening thunder, watching the awe-inspiring bolts, and although in the safe zone, she couldn’t help but tremble.

"Master, your judgment was correct. This is just the beginning. This second bolt already contains the momentum of an Asura Dao-level power. The coming calamities will likely be endless. This Pei Yan is indeed envied by the heavens!" Lin Daozi sighed at the thunder, then looked at his dazed junior brothers and scolded, "What are you staring at? Quickly take control of the arena’s defense! If we delay any longer, something will really happen!"

Speaking, the third bolt of heavenly thunder had already descended. Outsiders, whether anxious or gloating, none of this mattered to Pei Yan now. He was completely immersed in the soothing feeling of the thunder bathing his body. Yes, three consecutive bolts of thunder had fallen, and he felt no discomfort. The newly sprouted force within him greedily absorbed the calamity’s power, growing stronger.

"Not enough! Still not enough! Give me more!"

Everyone inside and outside the arena watched Pei Yan, bathing in heavenly thunder, shouting in ecstasy. Jiang Feiyang widened his mouth for a long time, then stammered, "Wha-what did Pei Yan just shout? Did I hear that wrong?"

"He shouted it’s still not enough!" Wang Wenze stared, twisting his stiff neck to look at Ye Ruozai incredulously, "Is this normal?" 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Don’t ask me, I don’t know either! To me—no! To most people here, this certainly isn’t normal, but Pei Yan never was a normal person, right?" Ye Ruozai replied with a helpless smile.

Pei Yan’s actions not only overturned the audience’s understanding but also seemed to challenge the dignity of the Heavenly Dao Enforcer. As he shouted almost maniacally, the frequency and power of the heavenly tribulations came more and more densely, as he wished.

"Madman! This madman!" After forty consecutive thunderstorms fell, Nero, forced to retreat to the edge by the expanding tribulation power, looked at Pei Yan still enduring the lightning, eyes full of terror, cursing continuously.

"Hey! Old guy, let us out! Do you want us to get swept into this heavenly tribulation too?" Di Xin roared at the elder outside the Protective Array.

"I can open a gap for you to come out, but you’d better think it through! If you choose to leave now, it’s considered forfeiting, and Pei Yan automatically wins the competition!" The Immortal Palace elder, maintaining the array under duress, replied with a sneer to Di Xin’s rude words, already having no fondness for Bloodeye.

"You!" Di Xin slammed his hand on the defense array, but had no power over the outsiders. Ivan approached and suggested, "Then expand the arena so we have a place to hide, or we will all enter Pei Yan’s heavenly tribulation together and trigger a chain reaction, dooming everyone!"

Ivan’s threat finally took effect. After brief communication among the Immortal Palace elders, they all retreated, allowing the arena’s area to expand, with the audience seats automatically moving outward.

With new space to hide within the arena, Nero and the others finally had a chance to breathe. Yet, under the thunder’s bombardment, Pei Yan was no longer at ease as at first. After enduring more than forty heavenly bolts, the energy his newborn force absorbed was now saturated, plus the descending tribulations’ power only grew, the destructive power of Heavenly Dao rules began ignoring his defense, directly affecting his body.

"Ugh~ ugh~ ugh!" Just recently flying into the sky to meet the thunder voluntarily, Pei Yan now fell back to the ground, reinforcing his defenses and self-recovery to the peak, but still couldn’t help but emit mournful cries under the heavenly thunder’s strikes.

"Hehehe! He’s courting death himself!" Seeing this, Nero’s face showed a cruel smile. He then glanced up at the sky, noticing the tribulation clouds still hadn’t dissipated, and relaxed a bit, self-soothing, "This heavenly tribulation is just halfway through. By the time it’s over, if he isn’t dead, he won’t have any strength left to fight us!"

"No, I think it’s uncertain if he’ll survive the heavenly tribulation. Look! The tribulation has changed again!"

Hearing Ivan, Nero squinted his eyes and examined carefully, then burst into laughter, "You’re right, if he survives, it’ll be sheer luck!"

Even before he finished his sentence, the black clouds suspended mid-air began to glow a deep red. As a thunderbolt fell, the originally pale blue lightning turned crimson. Descending alongside the thunder was a giant piece of heavenly fire encased in lava.

Boom! The heavenly thunder and fire pounded the arena consecutively, instantly creating a bottomless pit in the ground. The resulting shock waves pinned the three people at the edge of the arena to the defense wall, unable to move.