~shua~

~thud~ thud~

The broad sword came to a halt on top of the mountain and King Hong and adviser Liu got down.

"I'll get the formation ready, King Hong can take his position." Lin Mu spoke.

"Alright," King Hong nodded his head.

"We're here too!" in the next moment, the voice of the two disciples could be heard as well.

Hua Wu and Hua San were already on their way back when they got the message that it was time for the heavenly tribulation. Thus they sped up and changed their destination to the mountain directly.

"Perfect timing, let's get started.." Adviser Liu said and all of them sat down in their respective positions.

Adviser Liu sat to the northern direction, while Hua San and Hua Wu sat in the east and west. About a minute later, Lin Mu returned as well and he had the formation controlling plate in his hand.

"Let's get this started, the clouds should start appearing at any moment now." Lin Mu said and took a look at the sky.

The spatial fluctuations in the sky were getting stronger and the crack in the space had widened. The only reason it was not visible to the naked eye was because the world would hide it and the world barrier assist in doing so.

~shua~

The formation plate lit up on Lin Mu's hand and he tapped on two points on the plate, activating the Tribulation attenuation formation. A circle appeared on the ground and at the center of it was none other than King Hong.

Then more runes appeared from it and created a square around the circle. At the corners of the square sat the Dharma protectors. Lin Mu took his place in the empty corner and the formation was finally ready.

This was the tribulation attenuation formation that was made for having four Dharma protectors. The number of Dharma protectors could be adjusted according to the need and availability of the people.

For King Hong, since there were four people who could act as one, Jing Luo had made one for four people. The corners of the square were the points that were just out of the range of the tribulation and thus it was the limit till one was supposed to be.

Once the formation was activated, it glowed for a bit before fading away. It would now reappear when the tribulation lightning struck.

~WOOO~

~RUMBLE~

The sound of wind blowing could be heard and a faint sound of thunder could be heard, despite the fact that there were no clouds in the sky. 

'That's the spatial tear expanding…' Lin Mu recognized.

The sound was similar to that of thunder but was different in nature. Soon the winds started to get stronger and black clouds appeared in the sky. The clouds spread very fast and in less than a minute; the sky was fully covered in dark clouds.

"This is different…" Lin Mu muttered and furrowed his brows.

King Hong was already sitting with his eyes closed in a cross legged position and was mediating to reach his optimum condition.

"It might be a variant Tribulation," Xukong suddenly spoke.

Hearing this, Lin Mu was surprised.

"You sure, senior?" Lin Mu questioned.

"It's hard to tell exactly. But the delay in its appearance and the spatial tearing beforehand are two of the common signs." Xukong answered.

"But don't they only appear for people with unique physiques or cultivation techniques?" Lin Mu asked.

"Yes, that is usually the case, but there are always outliers. Perhaps the talent of King Hong is enough for the tribulation to change." Xukong replied.

"Hmm… if that truly is the case, then this tribulation attenuation formation does make sense to use.

And just as Lin Mu said this to senior Xukong, he heard Adviser Liu yell out something.

"Heavens! It's the same!" Adviser Liu said.

"You knew about this Adviser Liu?" Lin Mu questioned with confusion.

"Yes… this is the same tribulation that King Hong's father, my brother had. His grandfather and my father, the king of two generations ago, also had the same tribulation. It is this tribulation that both of them perished as well." Adviser Liu spoke.

"Huh? Is that why you two were desperate for a tribulation attenuation formation?" Lin Mu questioned.

"Indeed. This tribulation has haunted our family for generations. It's different from normal heavenly tribulations and affects the first born of the heir. That is the reason why I managed to break through to the Nascent Soul realm, but my brother that was far more talented could not." Adviser Liu answered.

"I see… but then if you have this tribulation, that means there is something special about you guys. There is no other way it would appear across multiple generations." Lin Mu replied.

"I don't know what it exactly is. But all of the kings have died to this very tribulation. Perhaps the only ones who managed to overcome it were the first three kings of the Hong Lin Kingdom." Adviser Liu explained.

Hearing this, Lin Mu was now quite intrigued and was wondering just what kind of a variant tribulation was it. 

~Rumble~

The black clouds in the sky started to stir and move. Soon arcs of lightning could be seen swimming within the clouds. Though when Lin Mu looked at them, he found them to be slightly different from the normal tribulation lighting.

"Huh? Why is it of a slightly different color?" Lin Mu questioned.

Instead of the usual white-purple color of the lightning, it had a white-blue color instep. Its inside was white, while its edges were blue in color. Looking at it Lin Mu got a cold feeling on his skin.

"It is certainly strange…" Lin Mu muttered.

"That's the Aqua wisp Tribulation lightning!" Xukong suddenly spoke.

"You know about it, senior?" Lin Mu questioned, feeling curious.

"I do indeed. And I think I also know why they get this tribulation every time they try to break through to the Nascent Soul realm." Xukong answered.

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