In an instant, the Spiritual Vein of Tian Yue Peak vanished by more than half, as if devoured by a giant mouth.
However, at that moment, the Heaven and Earth seemed to be shaken by an invisible force.
The originally calm and peaceful Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi around Tian Yue Peak instantly became chaotic, and the Heaven and Earth changed color.
The clear blue sky quickly darkened, and thick dark clouds surged and gathered like rolling black smoke.
A fierce wind howled through the valleys, carrying endless anger and sorrow.
The wild beasts in the mountain forest, feeling as if the end of the world was approaching, let out terrified roars.
Birds circled overhead, emitting piercing screeches, and the entire mountain forest fell into chaos and unease.
A terrifying pressure surged from above Tian Yue Peak, and in the sky, countless thunderclouds gathered, making the violent Spiritual Qi viscous and heavy.
Li Mu floated in mid-air, looking up at the sudden dense thunderclouds, his brows tightly furrowed, and a hint of helplessness flashed in his eyes.
As a Grotto-Heaven Supreme Treasure that formed its own domain, the Painting World Treasure Mansion was now secretly stealing the Spiritual Vein of this world, thus incurring the targeting of this world's Heavenly Dao Will.
It was like a thief sneaking into someone else's house to steal valuables; once discovered by the owner, severe punishment would inevitably follow.
However, the Painting World Treasure Mansion seemed unmoved by the current crisis, like a bear greedily eating honey, unafraid of the honey's sting, and continued to fully focus on extracting the Spiritual Vein of Tian Yue Peak.
A black hole-like fissure appeared before it, emitting a powerful Spiritual Light, aimed at the root system of Tian Yue Peak's Spiritual Vein, continuously absorbing it into its body, like a greedy Dragon devouring a river of life.
As the Painting World Treasure Mansion frantically devoured Tian Yue Peak's Spiritual Vein, the terrifying pressure intensified, and the thunderclouds above Tian Yue Peak became denser, rolling like boiling water, rapidly gathering.
With the significant loss of Tian Yue Peak's Spiritual Vein, the mountain body began to tremble violently, rocks rolled down, and the earth shook.
The originally lush green mountain forest gradually lost its vitality, becoming withered and dry, as if its life force had been drained.
Above Tian Yue Peak, dense dark clouds had formed a massive vortex, thunder rumbled, and lightning flashed, as if the end of the world had arrived, terrifying to the extreme.
Suddenly, with a 'crack', the sky brightened, and a silver lightning bolt shot out from the thunderclouds, like a giant Dragon descending, carrying world-destroying power, directly striking the Painting World Treasure Mansion.
Last time against the Undying Demon Lord, the Painting World Treasure Mansion rendered great service, but also suffered heavy damage.
Now, facing another Lightning Tribulation, it was undoubtedly adding insult to injury.
Li Mu would naturally not sit idly by.
Before the Tribulation Lightning struck, he took out an Undergoing Tribulation Spiritual Artifact from the nine storage spiritual pearl, a spherical net-like Spiritual Artifact—the Lightning Rod Ball—and quickly conjured it, instantly enveloping the Painting World Treasure Mansion.
This Lightning Rod Ball was meticulously crafted by Li Mu based on the 'Faraday Cage' effect.
Its surface shimmered with a silvery metallic luster, rapidly expanding dozens of times, firmly protecting the Painting World Treasure Mansion in its center.
Whenever lightning struck the Undergoing Tribulation Ball, it only stirred up a dazzling electric light, unable to reach the Painting World Treasure Mansion inside.
No matter how fierce the Tribulation Lightning was, the Lightning Rod Ball always stood firm in its duty, providing solid protection for the Painting World Treasure Mansion.
However, the Heavenly Dao Will seemed unsatisfied with attacking the Painting World Treasure Mansion.
It detected Li Mu's protection of the Painting World Treasure Mansion, so it turned its target to Li Mu himself.
An invisible Thunder Dragon emerged from the thunderclouds, its eyes flashing with lightning, firmly locking onto Li Mu, making him feel an unprecedented sense of oppression.
Li Mu was startled.
He understood that this was the Heavenly Dao Will's warning to him, seemingly telling him that if he continued to protect the Painting World Treasure Mansion, he himself would become the target of the Heavenly Dao Will's attack.
Facing the Heavenly Dao Will's warning, Li Mu remained silent for a moment, then resolutely prepared to resist to the end.
Cultivating Immortality was inherently a Heaven-Defying act; there was nothing to fear from defying the Heavenly Dao Will!
A hint of determination flashed in Li Mu's eyes.
He quickly formed hand seals, rapidly activated the nine storage spiritual pearl, and conjured another Lightning Rod Ball to protect himself.
At the same time, he multi-tasked, controlling both Lightning Rod Balls simultaneously, outputting Spiritual Qi to strengthen their defensive power.
Although the Heavenly Dao Will's Lightning Tribulation was difficult to contend with, the Painting World Treasure Mansion was equally important to Li Mu, and he absolutely could not stand by and watch it be damaged.
Li Mu's actions angered the Heavenly Dao Will.
The Thunder Dragon roared out of the thunderclouds, carrying world-destroying power, and struck down towards the Painting World Treasure Mansion, enveloping Li Mu within it as well.
With a 'boom' and a loud noise, the Thunder Dragon fiercely collided with the Undergoing Tribulation Ball, erupting with dazzling light.
Li Mu felt a huge force, and his body involuntarily flew backward.
However, this was only a test by the Heavenly Dao Will; next, even more violent lightning strikes should be waiting for him.
Sure enough, before Li Mu could catch his breath, the second, third, fourth, and subsequent thick Thunder Dragons emerged one after another from the thunderclouds, striking down towards him and the Painting World Treasure Mansion.
For a time, Tian Yue Peak rumbled with thunder and flashed with lightning, becoming the center of a lightning swamp.
And at the center, Li Mu and the Undergoing Tribulation Ball jointly guarded the Painting World Treasure Mansion, resisting the Heaven Rank attack.
Not long after, the two Lightning Rod Balls were completely melted under the endless lightning strikes of the Lightning Tribulation, turning into specks of Spiritual Light that dissipated in the air.
Li Mu thought of nothing else and conjured the Myriad Swords Mountain, a Dao Sword, to resist the Lightning Tribulation.
The next moment, a small green mountain appeared before Li Mu, magnified tens of thousands of times.
Lightning struck the mountain body, unable to shake it in the slightest.
At the same time, the ten thousand Spiritual Swords rooted in the Myriad Swords Mountain seemed to be enraged by the Tribulation Lightning striking them, emitting incessant 'humming' Sword Qi.
They were like awakened giant Dragons, breaking free from the mountain body one after another, transforming into brilliant Sword Qi that shot straight into the sky.
A hint of determination flashed in Li Mu's eyes.
He took a deep breath, fully activating the True Yuan within his body to empower the Myriad Swords Mountain, almost pouring all his True Yuan into this single strike.
As Li Mu's True Yuan surged in, the Myriad Swords Mountain vibrated violently, and the ten thousand Spiritual Swords were thus endowed with life.
Under the guidance of the Myriad Swords Mountain, they danced lightly in the air, interweaving into an enormous Sword Net.
Li Mu controlled the Myriad Swords Mountain, setting up the Profound Heaven Myriad Swords Array, preparing to use the power of the Sword Array to destroy the thunderclouds.
Once activated, the Profound Heaven Myriad Swords Array condensed Li Mu's will and quickly converged, forming a giant Sword Dragon, making even the raging lightning tremble.
Perceiving Li Mu's rebellious actions, the Heavenly Dao Will was enraged, and the power of the lightning became even more violent.
The massive thunderclouds rolled, releasing even more terrifying Tribulation Lightning than before.
Silver giant Dragons coiled in the sky, rapidly gathering.
Li Mu's gaze was firm; facing the Heavenly Dao Will's wrath, he was fearless, exerting the power of the Myriad Swords Mountain to its utmost, making the Sword Net tighter and the Sword Qi sharper.
"Cut!" Li Mu roared, his voice echoing through the clouds.
Ten thousand swords simultaneously launched, transforming into brilliant Sword Light, rushing straight towards the thunderclouds.
In an instant, countless Sword Qi and Tribulation Lightning violently collided in the air, erupting with dazzling light and deafening roars.
However, the Heavenly Dao Will's Tribulation Lightning seemed endless, continuously striking the Profound Heaven Myriad Swords Array.
Li Mu felt the pressure from the Heavenly Dao growing, but he did not retreat; instead, it ignited a stronger fighting spirit.
Streams of Sword Qi were generated from the Myriad Swords, condensing Li Mu's firm will, and engaged in a fierce confrontation with the Tribulation Lightning.
As time passed, Li Mu gradually gained the upper hand.
The Myriad Swords were sharp, and the Sword Qi was unparalleled.
They weaved through the thunderclouds like agile and sharp schools of fish dancing in a storm, stirring the thunderclouds into chaos.
Li Mu floated in the air, his Five Elements Dao Body fully displayed, his body shimmering with colorful light, fully concentrating on controlling the Myriad Swords Mountain, guiding the confrontation between the Myriad Swords and the Tribulation Lightning.
In the thunderclouds, Thunder Dragons roared, carrying world-destroying power, intercepted by the ten thousand Spiritual Swords, constantly colliding and surging with Sword Qi, wildly destroying with violent Thunder Yuan, furiously venting their power.
As time progressed, although the Tribulation Lightning in the thunderclouds remained fierce, under the disturbance of the Profound Heaven Myriad Swords Array, their attacks gradually became chaotic, and the Lightning Tribulation consequently showed a hint of fatigue.
Seeing this, Li Mu was delighted, knowing that the scales of victory were tilting towards him.
However, just as Li Mu thought he was about to succeed, the Heavenly Dao Will seemed to have no intention of giving up.
The scattered thunderclouds, under the Heavenly Dao Will's empowerment, gathered again, and the sound of thunder became denser, as if foretelling the imminent arrival of an even more powerful Lightning Tribulation.
Seeing this scene, Li Mu's face showed a solemn expression, without the slightest retreat.
He quickly took out a large number of high-grade Spirit Pills from his storage space, swallowed them all, and fully operated the Spirit Devouring Body Nourishing Art, attempting to recover the True Yuan that had been severely depleted earlier.
One Spirit Pill after another dissolved within Li Mu's body, transforming into pure energy that surged into his Meridians and Dantian, nourishing his body.
Li Mu felt his strength gradually recovering, but he also knew in his heart that relying solely on these Spirit Pills was far from enough.
As a Seven-Order Dao Weapon, the Myriad Swords Mountain possessed immense power, but to continuously control it and unleash its full strength, even with his cultivation of both Five Elements and Yin and Yang, he still felt powerless.
Just then, the Painting World Treasure Mansion, having devoured Tian Yue Peak's Spiritual Vein, manifested its Spirit, greatly increasing its spirituality, and transformed into a Five-Colored Flood Dragon.
The Five-Colored Flood Dragon circled and danced in the sky, emitting dazzling light.
The Five-Colored Flood Dragon circled above Li Mu's head, its scales shimmering with brilliant light, as if containing endless mysteries.
It suddenly opened its mouth and spat out a mouthful of pure Spiritual Qi, which poured down like a waterfall, enveloping Li Mu.
Li Mu's spirit was invigorated, and he immediately felt the power of this Spiritual Qi.
It was like a sweet spring, rapidly nourishing his depleted Meridians and Dantian.
The True Yuan within his body quickly recovered under the nourishment of this Spiritual Qi, even becoming several times stronger than before.
Li Mu's eyes lit up.
The feedback from the Painting World Treasure Mansion Spirit greatly boosted his confidence.
With his True Yuan quality increased several times, and technically using the Myriad Swords Mountain, a Dao Weapon, he was confident in destroying this small thundercloud.
Li Mu took a deep breath of the vital Qi between Heaven and Earth, focused his mind, and his fingers danced rapidly in the Void Realm, creating a wonderful resonance with the Myriad Swords.
He fully activated the Myriad Swords Mountain, guiding the Myriad Swords to weave the Profound Heaven Myriad Swords Array once again.
This time, Li Mu poured all his True Yuan into the Sword Array without reservation, causing the power of the Profound Heaven Myriad Swords Array to be unprecedentedly enhanced.
Under the nourishment of the powerful True Yuan, the ten thousand Spiritual Swords emitted dazzling light, their Sword Qi crisscrossing and incomparably sharp.
The intensity of the light was enough to illuminate the entire thundercloud, making the originally dark sky brighten.
Facing the re-gathered thunderclouds and denser thunder, Li Mu's eyes gleamed with determination.
He knew that this next sword strike would be his ultimate confrontation with the Heavenly Dao Will, and the success or failure of this strike would not only concern his life and death but also determine the fate of the Painting World Treasure Mansion.
Li Mu gripped his long sword tightly, fully focused on the thunderclouds in the sky.
The thunderclouds in the sky reached a critical moment of brewing, gradually forming a pitch-black vortex, emitting a heart-pounding pressure.
Thunder rumbled, deafening, as if to drown this Heaven and Earth in endless roars.
Facing the terrifying thunderclouds, Li Mu remained unmoved; his heart held only one belief—to cleave through the thunderclouds.
"Cut!" Li Mu roared, his voice filled with determination.
As his roar fell, ten thousand swords hummed in unison, like ten thousand Dragons emerging from the sea, with a mighty momentum.
The ten thousand Spiritual Swords quickly converged in the air, forming a giant thousand-zhang great sword, its Sword Qi like a rainbow, pointing directly at the thunderclouds in the sky.
The thousand-zhang great sword instantly pierced through the thunderclouds, rushing into them, wildly slashing and chopping, unleashing massive and sharp Sword Qi, as if cutting a large cake, furiously hacking at the thunderclouds.
Accompanied by earth-shattering roars and bursts of lightning, the terrifying vortex thunderclouds were gradually split apart by countless strikes of the great sword, and a huge void appeared.
The void in the thunderclouds grew larger and larger, and the gathered thunderclouds quickly scattered and disintegrated.
The cracks rapidly expanded, and finally, the entire thundercloud was torn into countless fragments.
The power of the Heavenly Dao Will was also unable to continue gathering the thunderclouds, and the Tribulation Lightning began to dissipate at this moment.
As the thunderclouds dissipated, the sky returned to tranquility, and sunlight streamed through the clouds onto the earth, bringing a touch of warmth to this mountain range that had been ravaged by the Lightning Tribulation.
Li Mu floated in the air, panting, his face pale, looking as if his True Yuan had been severely depleted.
However, looking at the battle achievements he had created, Li Mu couldn't help but show a victorious smile, knowing that he had successfully resisted the Heavenly Tribulation and protected the Painting World Treasure Mansion.
Li Mu smiled slightly and gently patted the Myriad Swords Mountain beside him.
This mysterious mountain seemed to be in sync with his mind, trembling slightly with his thoughts.
A surge of Sword Qi quickly spread from the Myriad Swords Mountain body, like a huge net, enveloping the ten thousand Spiritual Swords in the sky.
Under the pull of this Sword Qi, the ten thousand Spiritual Swords all emitted clear sword hums, like ten thousand birds returning to their nests, rushing towards the Myriad Swords Mountain.
Each Spiritual Sword emitted dazzling light, drawing beautiful arcs in the air, and finally steadily inserting themselves into the Myriad Swords Mountain.
With the return of the last Spiritual Sword, the Myriad Swords Mountain returned to peace.
Li Mu put away the Myriad Swords Mountain and his gaze fell on the Painting World Treasure Mansion's Spirit.
The Painting World Treasure Mansion Spirit perceived the dissipation of the thunderclouds and joyfully flew around Li Mu.
After extracting an entire top-grade Spiritual Vein, it radiated new vitality, its colorful scales shimmering with enchanting light in the sunlight, as if narrating endless joy.
Li Mu smiled slightly, his Heavenly Talent—Myriad Spirit Identification—allowing him to clearly perceive that the Painting World Treasure Mansion was now entering a state of rapid recovery, and he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
(End of Chapter)
