Chapter: The Tribulation

A sharp throbbing pain is what woken the newly born consciousness of the Espirita. It could feel itself floating but cannot comprehend what is happening. Everything is unclear and memories keep on flashing through his mind, furthering his confusion. Some he knows are surprisingly his but some are bizarre. In these memories, he was a being who stands above others. A being capable of controlling life and death of countless people!

In addition, some memories includes that he was a gigantic beast, a dragon! Soaring through the heavens and traveling through voids, he was a Dragon Sovereign of Space that could swallow up worlds!

Even if the Espirita is aware of his surrounding, he was still unable to open his eyes because exhaustion overcast any abilities he has. Other than the hazy memories that is banging his head there seems like there's a fresher memory he could recount. The last memories he has is that the High Lords surrounded him.

Then a warm embrace.

A sharp pain in his chest.

Agartha…

That is right! He is Aragon Pendragon! The Mad King of Agartha!

'This…was I revived?' but it seems surreal and this floating feeling. Is this where souls go after dying?

Suddenly his body jolted as he passed through a barrier, as if he smashed inside a bubble. Because of that phenomena Aragon woke up from his thoughts.

That feeling seems real…

'Am I actually…alive?' Aragon didn't know whether to Laugh or Cry, is the heavens toying him?

Then it was proven when he felt a searing pain throughout his body, this is because he is falling! Falling extremely fast and it keeps on accelerating! If someone was to see his state then they will think of him as just a meteor falling from the skies!

A material undergoing high speed and velocity when abruptly stopped will obtain damages and if it were to happen to a human, it will surely make one vomit blood! And that is what happened to Aragon! As of now he looks like *An Arrow at the end of its flight.

Some kind of mystical force stopped him from falling, making him freeze midair. It appears as if Aragon's whole body is shackled because the strange force is making him immobile, no matter how Aragon fought to move his body it was all in vain. He can't control his body because the *Dharma of this world is restraining him!

What followed is a blazing energy striking his body! Electrifying him and almost cooking him alive! Succeeded by another and another, as if he was a prisoner being whip! The injured Aragon was further worsen and caused him to faint but woken up by the pain only to pass out again, this became a cycle as lightning attacks his body.

39th

40th

52nd

Then the 60th lightning yet it keeps on coming! This is the punishment of the Heavens!

When there was something that tried to surpass the constraints of the Heavenly Dao, the Dharma would summon heavenly tribulation against that existence in order to exterminate it. Since ancient times there were truly many existences that were too perfect when they were born, thus they attracted heavenly tribulation and that is what happened to Aragon. His existence defied the natural order and laws governing the Prometheus and caused these phenomena to occur. This is Aragon's Heavenly Tribulation and he must overcome it in order for the heavens to accept his existence.

However, this Heavenly Tribulation Lightning is not ordinary because it is the *81 Punishment, meaning Aragon must face 81 Heavenly Tribulation Lightning! And each lightning is as powerful as the Heavenly Tribulation of a Cultivator ascending Immortality! That just shows how much the heavens despises an existence not born from it.

At the same time, somewhere in Athens City. There is a teen reading a Golden *Scripture, seemingly memorizing it and trying to comprehend what is written. Beside the youth is a strict looking man, awaiting for the teen to finish reading and help her answer the subjects she find unclear. Clearly, this pair is a Master and Apprentice training. What distracted them is a bass rumbling sound in the skies above, making the man look grim and the youth *to suck in a breath of cold air.

The man saw a flash of light as if a divine object is falling from the skies, it stopped then he felt the heaven and earth energy surged into a single point and started to form a massive vortex, causing all of energies to toss around and curl up together.

The youth trembled, such strong energy far stronger to what his master has caused her to be terrified and that is to compare that her Master has the highest Cultivation base in Athens City!

"M-Master, what's happening?" *Jiang Ying Yue, the teenage girl, asked his Master; *Tu HaoYang.

"This… Ying Yue even I am not sure but this appears to be…" Senior HaoYang pondered.

"W-what is it Master?" HaoYang looked at Ying Yue before continuing,

"It appears to be a Heavenly Tribulation but I know that there are no such existence here in Athens because we're only a peak Mortal-step country. No senior will think of cultivating here"

"Heavenly Tribulation is that?" Ying Yue was now completely terrified; she only read such phenomenon on the books hidden inside the Athens City Library that only direct disciples such as her can read. And to witness Heavenly Tribulation personally can be considered as once in a lifetime for her!

"Indeed, when someone is going to defy the natural order and isn't accepted by the heavens, the heavenly tribulation will appear and destroy that thing"

"Master, will the senior overcome it?"

"The heavenly dao is a completely contradictory concept. Even though it tried to exterminate the beings who violate laws, it would also allow them a faint chance of survival. After all, the heavens never sealed off all paths of hopes but still it depends upon the strength of the person. If he can bear and overcome this then he can be considered as a being unbound by the Dharma!" Senior Tu HaoYang trembled. Such thing is what he dream of ever since he started to walk the path of Martial Arts, to become a being uncontrolled by the Heavenly Dao. After all Immortal Cultivation means to go against the Will of Heavens, yet to reach that stage Tu HaoYang knows his strength is far from enough.

Noticing that the Heavenly Tribulation is getting stronger and seemingly unending, Tu HaoYang floated up the skies and then spoke;

"All must swiftly enter their houses and do not leave until I allowed to!" His voice powered by True Essence echoed throughout the Athens City. As of now the people of Athens are in chaos and confusion, some speculated that someone is attacking the city. Some believed that it is the end of the world, and even some speculated that a treasure is about to be born. By hearing the order from Tu HaoYang, the Patriarch and also the Governor of Athens City, they quickly followed. For them Patriarch HaoYang is a being as high as the heavens, an unprecedented being all throughout the Athens City, with just a flick of his hand he can terminate cities. And even for the neighboring Cities the Patriarchs there respect Tu HaoYang for his strength.

"Ying Yue go and hide inside your Immortal Cave" Jiang Ying Yue nodded then immediately complied and with one last look at the skies she entered her dwelling cave.

As lightning continued to flash through the skies, booming sounds spread causing the mountains to shake and the trees to sway. Even the demonic and spiritual beasts are affected, all running, shivering while hiding in their caves.

'This is the 81 Punishment!' Tu HaoYang exclaimed internally as the 60th Lighting Tribulation struck the figure frozen midair. Even if HaoYang was tempted to come closer, he was unable to. If ever the person facing the Heavenly Tribulation is really an old monster then he might infuriate it and cause problems to Athens City, for this old monster killing them is *as easy as turning over a hand. And also by just the leftover energies from the lightning can cause his *blood to flow in reverse and his cultivation base to become unstable! That is why Tu HaoYang will never dare, he is not *a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

For the 81st Lightning Tribulation, the sky rumbled as more heaven and earth energy surged into the vortex of Heavenly Tribulation Clouds, reloading and preparing for the last strongest attack. Such momentum even caused the skies to dim and alarm the other Cultivators of the neighboring Cities of Athens. There was a tearing sound as space started to distort as if any minute from now the heavens will cave in and collapse!

Then it blasted, what came out of the clouds are not lightning but a beam of light completely consisted of pure heaven and earth energy. If this was to hit directly or indirectly a cultivator with no sufficient cultivation base then it will surely turn them into dusts! Even Immortals will not face this attack head on; they will surely do everything to dodge even by burning their own Life Essence!

As the beam hit Aragon there was a loud explosion, Aragon felt like his whole body are about to be torn into shreds. The explosion caused a dazzling luminescence that blinded all the spectators even Tu HaoYang and other City Patriarchs were not exempted. And then there was utter silence followed by a strong wave of energy from the impact of Heaven and Earth Energy Beam and the Espirita that caused Trees to be halved, mountains to crumble and Tu HaoYang to be thrown backwards. Fortunately, Tu HaoYang was able to activate the Shield Array of Athens City before the direct collision yet it still caused tremendous damages to the city and internal injuries to Patriarch HaoYang even the hiding practitioners were severely wounded and as for the nearby Cities, they encountered the same fate.

As for the state of Aragon who fully faced the beam, he was blasted downwards the earth; his location unknown. Good thing is that his physical form is created from Origin Essence, Supreme Dao, Three Divine Essences and sustained by the corpses of the Dragon Abyss and the Cultivator, Aragon was able to overcome the tribulation by relaying to it. However, it is without a paying a heavy price and since he was still injured from the combustion of the hidden realm and his body just formed and not yet consolidated; His soul was sealed, obtained bloodlines forced into hiding, his body almost completely destroyed and deprived of energy, Aragon can only now be considered as a simple mortal.

Now as Aragon lie on the ground *hovering between Life and Death, bloodied and extremely weakened, he issued a crazed laugh while bitterly looking outwards the sky. Even though what happened utterly confused him, he knows one thing and that is the heavens want him to die again! His eyes reflect mock and pride as if challenging the Heavens to give its best shot, as if saying 'Is that all you got?'

'As long as my heart beats and even if I only have my last breath, I shall never let the Heavens control my fate! I shall write my own Destiny! I will not let anyone trample me again even the Heavens! If there is a way, I shall overturn the Heaven and Earth and if there is none then I shall forge one! If Gods block, kill the Gods; if Buddhas block, kill the Buddhas!'

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Reference: immortalmountain.wordpress.com

• 81 – the number Eighty-One is an auspicious and "complete" number in China, particularly because 9×9 = 81 (with 9 already being very auspicious). In several novels, cultivators must resist 81 lightning bolts while undergoing a Heavenly Tribulation.

• Scriptures - sacred writings, usually contains forbidden techniques or high grade studies

• An Arrow at the end of its flight - a spent/waning force; something which has very nearly exhausted its strength

• Blood flowing in reverse - a serious internal injury

• To Suck in a Breath of Cold Air - a reaction caused by shock or surprise

• As Easy as Turning over a Hand - something requiring minimal effort

• A Mantis trying to stop a Chariot - to overrate oneself and attempt the impossible

• Hover between Life and Death - to suffer terribly; to be within an inch of one's life

• If Gods block, kill the Gods; if Buddhas block, kill the Buddhas - overcome every obstacle

Name meanings: *The author is not Chinese so he based these names from researching (theculturetrip.com&quora.com)*

• Jiang Ying Yue – Jiang means river; Ying Yue means reflection of the moon

• Tu HaoYang – Tu means Slaughter; HaoYang means Grand sun

Author's Concept:

There are levels of power:

Mortal-Step – lowest class

Earth-Step – middle class

Heaven-Step – high class

• Supreme Dao is the Dao governing the entire Cosmos while Heavenly Dao or Dharma is the Dao inside a universe