Hours turned to days as Lù Tiān meticulously refined the Heaven-grade pill. Suspended in the air by threads of crimson Qi, the ingredients danced under the influence of the Demon God's Flame, their essence slowly merging in a volatile, perfect harmony. Every flicker of the flame, every seal he formed, was guided by unwavering focus.

  Then, just as the pill began to congeal into its final form smooth, luminous, and pulsating with concentrated power the heavens stirred above.

  Lù Tiān narrowed his eyes. It’s coming, he thought.

  The sky above began to swirl with unnatural force, dark black clouds gathering in a wide vortex. Thunder bellowed across the heavens, and arcs of lightning danced chaotically, crashing wildly through the skies as if the heavens themselves were waking in protest.

  As Lù Tiān completed the final step of the refinement, sealing the pill’s Qi within a perfect shell, the tribulation fully awakened. A bolt of divine lightning screamed down from the vortex above, slamming into the sect’s protective barrier with a deafening boom.

  The earth shook. Pillars of stone cracked. Disciples scattered from their training grounds in panic, shielding their heads as they looked to the sky in terror.

  “What’s going on?!”

  "Is the sect under attack?!"

  "That lightning it came from the heavens!”

  The air was thick with fear and awe. The barrier Lù Tiān had formed earlier glowed red as it absorbed the blow, but even it trembled under the power.

  The next wave struck almost instantly, a forked spear of violet lightning lashing down like judgment incarnate.

  Inside the refining chamber, Lù Tiān remained unmoved. Before him, the pill had reached its final brilliance, a flawless, fourth-tier Heaven-grade creation. It shimmered with radiant light, each swirl of Qi within it refined to near-perfection. He extended his palm, and the pill flew into his grasp with a gentle hum.

  He looked down at the shimmering creation, its radiant shell pulsing with celestial energy.

  "Celestial Meridian Rebirth Pill," he whispered to himself. The name etched itself into the air, as if recognized by the heavens.

  He stared at it for a moment, then allowed a faint smirk to form. Even I didn’t expect this level of success, he thought. Impressive... even for me.

  But the tribulation was far from over. A Heaven-grade pill summoned six lightning strikes in total, each one stronger than the last. Above, the black clouds boiled anew. The third strike descended a blinding lance of blue-white energy that tore through the sky, crashing into the barrier like a divine warhammer.

  The entire sect quaked under the impact. The protective formation trembled, glowing brighter, layers peeling back one by one.

  Lù Tiān narrowed his eyes, stepping forward slightly, the pill now floating at his side. "Three more," he muttered. "Let’s see if this formation holds."

  The fourth strike came without pause an enormous bolt of golden lightning shaped like a serpent, coiling and writhing as it plunged from the heavens.

  Sect Master Yán, sitting cross-legged in meditation to recover, jolted upright as the power rolled across the sect. His eyes snapped open, and a thunderous pressure bore down on his chest like a mountain. Sweat poured freely as the spiritual energy around him destabilized.

  "This... this level of power...!" he gasped. His pupils shrank as he turned toward the vortex in the sky. "What kind of monster is that man?!" he whispered, half in awe, half in fear. "Even among Heaven-grade pills, this pressure is beyond anything I’ve ever heard of. Just who are you, Lù Tiān?"

  Not far away, in the inner courtyard, Liú Yīrán stumbled backward from her cultivation posture. The moment the fourth strike cracked the sky, her breath caught in her throat. She clutched her chest and fell to one knee, the sheer weight of the divine energy threatening to crush her spirit.

  She had no idea what was happening, no one had told her that a pill refinement was underway let alone one powerful enough to summon heaven's wrath.

  "It’s like the sky itself is falling...!" she cried out, bewildered and terrified. "Senior Lù... just what are you doing?!"

  The formation shuddered once more, cracks forming along its outermost layer as the fourth strike landed like a divine punishment from the heavens. Above, the clouds spun faster, fury building as the tribulation readied its next assault.

  Lù Tiān felt the pressure surge. The fifth strike... it’s coming, he thought grimly.

  A blinding flash exploded above as the fifth bolt hurtled toward the sect. When it struck the formation, the barrier nearly shattered. It flickered violently, layers collapsing as arcs of residual lightning lashed out across the mountain range.

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  Lù Tiān’s eyes narrowed. One more, and the array won’t hold. He clenched his fist. I guess I’ll have to intervene.

  Then a thought crept into his mind one he hadn’t considered for millennia. When I was sealed... I never thought of using a tribulation to target the chains.

  His gaze drifted upward, toward the churning sky. What if I let the sixth strike hit me? Not to resist it... but to direct it. Even if it can’t shatter the eighth seal, loosening it would still be progress.

  In two strides almost as if he teleported Lù Tiān vanished from the refining chamber and reappeared above the sect. His white hair floated behind him like flowing silk, his pristine black robe whipping in the high-altitude wind.

  He stood suspended in the air, calm as the eye of a storm, crimson eyes fixed on the roiling heavens above. The clouds raged, converging into a single point as the sixth and final bolt began to gather its pressure monumental, suffocating, divine.

  Sect Master Yán’s heart skipped a beat as he looked up and saw Lù Tiān suspended in the air like a sovereign facing the heavens.

  “He’s going to take it head-on... Is he mad?!” Yán’s voice trembled. "This is beyond anything I've ever witnessed. He's not just refining a pill he's provoking the will of the heavens."

  In the courtyard below, Liú Yīrán’s eyes widened as she caught a glimpse of Lù Tiān’s silhouette through the clouds. Her lips parted, her voice caught between awe and dread. “Senior... you’re going to die if that hits you...” she whispered, shaking.

  All around the sect, disciples stood frozen. Some had fallen to their knees in fear, others clung to stone pillars or each other, staring skyward as the storm above roared with divine fury. No one dared breathe too loud.

  To them, Lù Tiān no longer looked like a man. He looked like a legend in the making.

  Then the sixth strike fell.

  A deafening crack split the skies as a colossal bolt of thunderous light descended blinding, jagged, and brimming with divine wrath. It struck Lù Tiān directly, enveloping him in a pillar of pure white and violet lightning.

  The air screamed.

  The mountain trembled.

  The heavens roared.

  Lù Tiān's body convulsed midair, the pain tearing through his nerves like molten blades. Every vein surged, his muscles spasmed, and the pressure threatened to rip him apart from within.

  Unbearable, Lù Tiān thought, grinding his teeth as blood seeped from the corners of his mouth. But it was still nothing nothing compared to the sight of my sect and family being annihilated before my very eyes.

  The seals embedded deep within his soul shimmered faintly, the eighth seal flickering, strained under the violent divine energy.

  Loosen just a little more, he thought. Come on... just a little more.

  But no matter how much he endured, the seal only trembled and refused to give way. It shook under the weight of the tribulation, but its ancient binding remained intact.

  Lù Tiān clenched his jaw. So even this... isn't enough?

  As the pain surged beyond reason, something deeper cracked open within him.

  Lù Tiān began to laugh.

  Not the calm, controlled chuckle of a man in command but a wild, psychotic laugh. One that hadn’t echoed since the days before his sealing. A laugh born of hatred, of rage, of defiance. It rang through the skies like madness itself.

  Then, between fits of that broken, furious laughter, he screamed a voice full of wrath, disbelief, and pain.

  "Is this fate’s idea of a joke?!"

  The disciples below flinched as the sound reached them, chilling their blood. Sect Master Yán's expression turned grave, recognition flashing through his eyes.

  This... this is no ordinary man, he thought. That laugh... it’s the sound of a soul that’s crawled out of hell, carrying the weight of a thousand lifetimes of fury.

  Even if I can't regain this bit of cultivation, Lù Tiān thought, the laughter fading into a dark snarl, even if I can’t loosen this seal... I will find a way.

  Even if I must butcher gods and tear down every realm above... I, Hóng Shā Tiān, swear it!

  As the final echoes of divine lightning faded, Lù Tiān descended slowly through the smoldering air. His pristine robe was now scorched and torn, his body battered and bloodied, yet his crimson eyes burned fiercer than ever.

  With a voice like thunder, infused with the weight of vast Qi, he called out:

  "Yán. Come out!"

  From within the sect hall, Sect Master Yán stirred. In just a few strides, he appeared outside, cupping his fists respectfully despite the unease still visible in his eyes.

  "Senior called?" he asked, voice steady, though his heart still raced from what he had just witnessed.

  Lù Tiān didn’t waste a breath. He reached into his sleeve and drew forth the Celestial Meridian Rebirth Pill, still warm with condensed divine energy. He extended it toward Yán.

  "Take this and enter closed-door cultivation immediately," he ordered, his voice brooking no argument.

  Yán's breath caught in his throat as he received the pill with trembling hands. For a moment, he could only stare. The pill pulsed with divine brilliance, its smooth surface glowing like it held a piece of the heavens within.

  He swallowed hard.

  "This... this is truly a Heaven-grade pill," he murmured, barely able to believe what he held. The power radiating from it wasn't just potent, it was alive, as if it carried the will of the heavens.

  His meridians quivered in response, resonating with the energy that swirled within the pill's core.

  Meanwhile, across the sect, whispers spread like wildfire. Disciples peered from courtyards and corridors, their expressions pale and their voices hushed with disbelief.

  "Did you see that lightning? The heavens nearly collapsed!"

  "He stood in the sky like a god and took it all without flinching... who could survive something like that?"

  "He gave Sect Master Yán an order and Yán followed it without question! Since when has anyone dared speak to the sect master like that?"

  "That tribulation... was because of him, wasn't it? What kind of existence is he?!"

  Some disciples trembled where they stood, while others looked skyward, shaken to their core. A few even began to kneel instinctively, hearts filled with fear and reverence for the being they had once dismissed as a visitor.

  Once more, Lù Tiān filled his voice with Qi, sending it booming across the entire sect. It rolled through the mountains like divine thunder.

  "All disciples of Misty Cloud Gate assemble in the courtyard. Immediately."