Fire vs Tribulation

Three days later, the fire that spreads to every part of the district is successfully put out. The culprit for spreading flammable chemicals was arrested but wouldn't tell who ordered him. News of the grim situation of the commoners' district reached capital but no one paid attention to them. The sect and other rich families offered enough bounty to rebuild the place but in just an hour, the money was said to be stolen. The commoners were really angry about their grim fate. But there was one house which was not affected by the fire. It was secluded in a remote location and when they see it out, they saw a beautiful maiden sleeping on the tattered matress.

All these incidents were easily forgotten. Because this day was the day of the decade. All the city's are prepared. Various lanterns hung on their windows and chinese characters painted on their roofs. It was to honor the arrival of the sacred flame which provided their way of salvation. Many times, humans are helpless against monster invasions. But since the arrival of cultivators, their city was protected. Birth of cultivators were only enabled by this sacred holly pillar of fire called Nirvana.

In the center of the martial dojo, where every gate is sealed shut, tens of elders are gathered in a wide circle. Not all of them are in the rich class, but all of them are cultivators for atleast a decade. Although their cultivation ranks are not comparable to real mortal cultivators, their unity is enough to power up the array which will trap the flame.

As the sun reached the middle, all of them stopped chattering and sat cross-legged, chanting mantras of their own, and solidifying their qi ready for externalization. Each cultivator has their own element to circulate. Some cultivates fire, water, or wind. But those practicing internal techniques can infuse their blood and will in their qi to magnify their power. The easiest way to multiply the external power is by burning life-force. In this way, the bound of bottlenecks will be temporarily neglected and their ranks will rise for a moment, for the price of life.

Elder Zu is the head and the temporary sect leader of the Ancient White sect. In this group, he has the highest cultivation rank but also the oldest. In reality, he was only 50 years old. But since he began participating in the summoning ritual, he aged considerably, now seeming 90 years old. But his body is not deflated like normal seniors, but full of vitality and color. When he sat down in a lotus position, he began chanting an ancient mantra -the key for calling the sacred flame.

Black clouds rolled in the sky, covering the vibrant red skies. They moved in a whirling motion as if a storm or a whilpool is forming. The skies darkened more, a solar eclipse. One of the Jupiter's moon is blocking the path of sunlight, resulting in a dark shadow. Wind reacted by the change and moved faster and wilder. Even the animals starts howling.

"...Through the authorization given to me by the ancient leaders, I offer my blood and lifeforce as token, to gladly receive the blessing of the heaven. This lowly subordinate request for permission to use its power for the alotted time, in order to borrow its power we will deem respect to its sacredness and not use it in any fiendish way. We therefore sacrifice our cultivation and all are absolute ready."

A half-kilometer away from the school, saber-in-a-human-form Lei Jian stared at the increasingly brewing storm. He looked at the skies. He recognized a summoning array installed in the seal. This is like a teleportation array but is only used for summoning one item.

"What is that? What are they summoning?"

Younger sis Fate answered, "They are summoning the Nirvana flames. It is said the sacred flame can be used to revive the dead, and to enable people to cultivate."

"... Nirvana. Why are they playing with a sacred flame? Don't they know it's extremely dangerous. One mistake and it could blow their heads off. And besides. They are using the most common summoning ritual. How can they be sure they will summon a Nirvana and not a celestial monster? Tsk! Tsk! Such idiocy..."

The preparation of the array is almost complete. A great circle of runic marks is created on the skies, rotataing slowly. The clouds followed the rotation as it got bigger and bigger until it covers a hundred meters diameter. The clouds parted, exposing not the red skies but a distinct red-orange orb.

As soon as the array was activated, pale blue photon beams surrounding the dojo, ascended to the sky in a spiral motion. When they connected with the summoning circle, they solidified into a faint blue barrier that extended downwards. Lei Jian wasn't sure if the weak cylinder barrier can hold off the strong force of the incoming flame. I don't know, it might blast them away.

"Lil sis, you better close your eyes."

"Why?"

KABOOOOM!!!

It was the greatest explosion everyone have ever seen. A pillar of fire descended like nuclear bomb. It casted light so bright it blinded everything. But it was only the beginning.

KABOOOOOM!!!

Another pillar of fire descended, much stronger than the first. It exploded so loud inside the barrier that deafens everyone and its light cannot be measured in intensity.

Lei Jian could see cracks appearing on the barrier. It will not last longer. It will certainly break apart if there is another explosion. Lei Jian leaped near the dojo. He looked down and saw thirty of elders surrounding a sealing array. All of them have pained expression, they probably are exhausted from their qi depletion. In actual fact, ten of them have already run out of qi and life force. They were barely hanging by a thread of life. The others continued reciting their mantra. Naked to the eye, one can see their time is being stolen.

"They can't hold on much longer. Yet they only managed to seal 30, 000 watts of the flame. It's useless. They must close the summoning array right now."

The descending of fire finally stopped. But the summoning array in the sky is rotating faster. Another orb of red-orange flame was slowly being summoned until...

KABOOOOOOOM!!!!

But it was already too late. The barrier cracked open and shattered like glass. The fire escaped to the surroundings and consumed everything it touches.

Lei Jian was alaemed instinctively. He dashed to his lil sis Fate and embraced her tightly. He installed his defensive techniques, coating both of them with blue barrier.

The impact is so great it blasted them away. The city suffered a quick judgement. In just one whole swoop, everything was blasted by the terrible explosion. No one managed to utter a scream as everyone is consumed. Lei Jian and Fate were propelled faster than a bullet and they could only hug each other tightly.

The storm passed away quickly. The loud sound and blinding flash subsided. Lei Jian recovered himself. They were in a mountain. The explosion might have blasted the top away. Fire was burning everywhere. The trees and grasses, they were all set aflame. Even the soil and rocks are burning. Lei Jian looked around. All he can see is a vast sea of flame, devouring the entire island. He glanced at the city's direction. Not a trace of the once magnificient city is left. Everything burnt to ashes. The once proud mighty walls have collapsed and were burning.

At the center of the city is a one big patch of deep pit where the flame has erupted. The fire there is much stronger and he could feel temperature rising every second.

"Not good. The fire is burning my barrier." He grabbed the unconscious Fate and run towards the direction of the sea. He feels sorry for the grim fate of Fate's city. It's like the apocalypse that ended the reign of humans long ago. The only difference is that, now, there is only one mortal who survived. When he get back to the heavens, he will report what happened here, and possibly there could be pity.

But he was wrong. The great disaster is yet to begin.

From the heavens, a mad voice erupted. "Humans! How dare you steal our sacred flame for your own selfish reasons! We, the Heavens, will not tolerate such acts! Because of your disrespectfulness, you are hereby sentenced to eternal damnation, and this land will not thrive anymore!!"

Saying so, clouds began to gather once more, above the entire island, and red runes starts imprinting on them.

"Oh shit."

KACHAAAA!!

A great bolt of crimson lightning slashed against the doomed city, destroying anything to the last piece. All souls were deciminated instantly.

KACHAAA!!

Another tribulation descended to the mountains, destroying them to their deepest core. The bed rock crumbled and created an earthquake.

KACHAAA!!

Another one hit the ruins, exterminating all the undead thriving within and to the deepest grave.

KACHAAA!!

Another one hit the east side.

KACHAAA!!

Another one hit the south side.

KACHAAA!!

Another one hit the west side.

Lei Jian is running through north. He felt hairs standing on the back of his neck. And his spiky hair is even spiking up in fear. Shit! A lightning will descend!

Tripling his speed to 300 meters per second, he was not fast enough to evade the heavenly tribulation which came crashing overhead.

KACHAAA!!!