Quest Maker: 382

Title: Tribulation Galore (4)

Only a few could thrive in times immemorial when the Dragons were supreme. Dragons were lustful and greedy. They were Supreme Deities that filled their divine realm with various other species to rule them. Among them were the humans as well as innumerable spirit beasts. Their Divine Realm shrouded many realms and planets. When the Evil Sage arrived in this collection of the realms, few other supreme deities knew of the passage she took. Admittedly, none could compare to the Supreme Dragon.

Supreme Dragon King was the child of heaven—a source of power beyond deities. Or so to say, the next step of divine cultivation.

Only one species dared to accept the riskiest challenges in the myriad worlds and realms.

Born from heaven, Supreme Dragon King and his descendants—the dragon kings and myriad dragons— are loved by laws and elements. They boast varying degrees of mastery over elements and laws, and the subsequent resistance to said laws is their friend, too.

But this new race was exactly the opposite. These monsters were beasts in every sense. Elements and laws did not hold these beasts dear.

Quite the opposite.

These beasts were hard work given flesh and blood.

They held nothing but strength dear.

Strength was their honor and ambition.

If it meant killing and devouring their own, it was not beneath them. Thus, hunting dragons was not beneath them either.

Dragons manipulate the laws.

These beasts made laws a part of their body.

The hint of their essence flows through the veins of the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bears, and they are one of the fiercest beasts on the planet.

Black Iron, Silver, Golden, and Amethyst.

A Behemoth.

These beasts have distinctly colored fur that divides their talents and status, but there have been many genetic outliers in their history.

Ja Sun and Xunji witness the birth of one such genetic monster.

The sight of this tribulation sends the various divine spectators into a bout of resentment. None of them have any splendid memory of this species.

Many especially resented one behemoth who was said to have an even lower talent than the Black Iron beasts—Stone Behemoth.

What a ball of the chaotic clusterfuck that Stone Monkey was.

*ZAP*

*ZAP*

*ZAP*

*GRRROOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!*

A 44-meter-tall clump of flesh, muscle, and blood opened its mouth and roared as Ja Sun, and Xunji felt their connection with their immediate laws vibrating in discomfort. Steam ejects out of the monster’s body, which dropped from the abyssal hole in the sky as the world’s largest deuce. Its humanoid beast stretches its arms out with his bestial roar. Strength visibly fluctuates around this beast’s body as the lightning of destruction zaps around this monster.

Instead of attacking anything, the threads of purple lightning latch on the beast’s body.

‘Mother fucker… the tribulation is his wardrobe!’ Ja Sun would have laughed out loud if he did not feel the urgency to deal with all this as quickly as possible and return to Ah Yin’s side lest she names their first child something weird…

He was still traumatized by how she named Oliver… Caihong.

Ja Sun and Xunji would have attacked the beast. It is at its weakest right now.

Well, the term ‘weak’ is quite funny when one considers that the lightning of destruction coats its body. This means that anything the beast touches—it destroys. The airtight defense of the orbs of life ascertains the endeavor of reaching the beast will be a task worth many sacrifices.

The behemoth takes the form of an amethyst kind. But the fur of the beast is lightning charged. Its humanoid body has dark-grey flesh exposed in various regions, including its claws, chest, abdomen, and face. Its body is a mix of a bear and a monkey: proportionally tall and muscular legs, a wide furry back, muzzle of a monkey, glowing purple eyes that screamed divine, stubby tail of a bear, and upper body built similar to humans.

A tribulation so worse that even the weakest of the gods feel their hearts shudder.

Top Ten Tribulation:

Beast of Calamity.

A calamity bestowed upon the mightiest of fools.

Its fur bristles and crackles out arcs of destructive electricity as the beast’s arms blink through space while distorting everything around it, and its massive claws grab the orbs of life.

The orbs of life do not injure the Destructive Behemoth. Instead, the beast inhales the orbs of life, and its aura multiplies!

As expected, this beast is still weak and will grow stronger.

‘To get more powerful the behemoth must consume, and to consume, it must devour the wall of orbs around which will create an opening…’

Ja Sun and Xunji’s bodies disappear at once. They cannot afford to let this beast get any stronger!

They could only watch the beast complete its materialization because of the much more troublesome orb of life. The orbs of life may be corrosive to the duo, but it is the best tonic the behemoth could hope for. The moment the behemoth cracked an opening in the defense, both men struck at once.

‘Can’t show its true might until I’m a god, but what I can manage should suffice.’ The purple goo around Ja Sun’s right arm shifts and turn. The marks of the gauntlets enlarge around his arm, and a dragon’s head sculpts under the purple exo-skin. The mouth of the dragon under the purple suit of armor is wide open as if it's roaring.

The Fire Dragon King’s Arm Cannon.

Spirit energy flows through his hand and into the divine weapon as it siphons power enough to suck seven level 99 Demi-Gods dry! Sure, he can control how much the cannon consumes, but the Behemoth should be welcomed with the best of attacks, right?

*Vnnnnnn*

The law of fire whines and condenses in the dragon’s mouth as scorching heat turns the surroundings arid!

Although he was chased earlier, Xunji finds this attack threatening enough to support. Their beef falls short in front of the threat the Behemoth poses.

“Attack through this film!” Xunji’s voice snaps in Ja Sun’s senses as the Blood God calls upon his immortal Qi and forms a ring of blood that can easily pass over the gigantic behemoth.

*Whooosh*

The blood ring combusts into blood-red flames before filling and turning into a sphere of a blood-red sun!

Divine strength and cruelty flicker in Xunji as his tenth spirit ring glows intensely.

The lighting of destruction would reduce usual spirit attacks into ashes but not the attacks that surpass the quality of the mortal plain. And with the duo entering past the line of defense, they can attack without the life orbs taking the major brunt of the damage.

Yet, the behemoth glances at the blood sun and the divine, ultimate fire burning in Ja Sun’s hand in passing.

It turns its back on the duo and continues to eat life orbs.

*Huom*

*Numg*

*Gulp*

*KHSSHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAA*

Flames morph into a divine dragon out of golden-yellow flames diving into the bloody sun the next second before bursting out like a volcanic eruption. Blood-red flames lick its wings and charge its eyes. The divine dragon charges at the behemoth with a fiery vengeance.

Steam erupts from the surrounding sea due to the scorching temperature as the Divine Grace Array around Sea God Island flickers continuously.

The Behemoth turns around abruptly with its mouth wide open. Arcs of lightning dance around its sharp fangs as it bites down on the flames! Its sharp claws drive into the dragon made out of two types of flames mixed as the behemoth brutally tears it away!

Splashes of divine flames erupt in an instant as the Behemoth devours the very source of the attack!

Ja Sun’s expression shifts as he disappears, but Xunji stays his ground.

*Blink*

He appears above the Sea God Island and raises his right hand to capture the peal of divine flame that almost struck the barrier. There is no way Ja Sun is letting his new home and guests get hurt. What kind of a host would he be if that occurs?

The ball of divine flames is teleported away, and a good portion of the sea, alongside many inhabitants, vaporizes with the flame! Spirit rings float in the area filled rapidly by the surrounding water.

‘So that’s how this tribulation is made fair,’ Xunji narrows his eyes. ‘Supreme might in exchange for simple intelligence and beastly instincts.’

He smirk and snaps his fingers.

His tenth spirit ring glows again. He tried to use this ring on Ja Sun once, but his exo-skin was somehow the best counter to it. That, and Ja Sun’s pure love for pain. If not for the latter, Ja Sun would have met death at Xunji’s hand due to his blood tearing out of his body!

But the Behemoth just consumed his Immortal qi.

Blood God’s Essence.

That’s an act that comes with a painful price.

The Behemoth’s body freezes as it throws its head back and roars loudly. Air fluctuates around them and the sea trembles, but nothing can stop small bits of Behemoth’s ichor from flowing out of its fleshy body!

A stream of golden blood infected with a wisp of red flows out like a small river before condensing above Xunji’s head.

The Behemoth glares at Xunji with bloodshot eyes as its injuries heal instantly. It continues to eat life orbs—30% of which is consumed—but its attack is swift. Purple lightning flares around the behemoth’s body, and it blinks in front of Xunji. Blood God is comparable to an ant in front of the monster, but he calmly drives his hand into the pool of blood over his head.

Red corrupts the golden ichor until what remains is red.

A new wave of Immortal Qi flows into his body as the pool of red-golden blood shapes into a sword that cleaves against the brutal punch of the Behemoth.

Xunji’s body flies away like a kite cut off from its string. Lightning explodes against Xunji, and only then does the thunder roar!

*Booooooommmmmmmmmmmm*

But Xunji looks far from injured aside from his ashen skin. His clothes recover around his body to hide his divine bits as he licks his lips.

He has long changed, and aware of how brutal he has become after consuming Bloodstar, Xunji claps his hand together with a roar of his own! The gentle facade of his expression crumbles as his sclera turns blood-red. Malice fills his smile as he locks his gaze with the Behemoth, who pulls out the blood-red ‘needle’ embedded in its knuckle.

The sword wiggles strangely and turns into a pure red clone of Xunji before chuckling evilly. The blood-red clone of Xunji escapes the Behemoth’s hold, and its twelve blood wings slash across the fur of destruction.

Divine against Divine.

*Snort*

Lightning scorches the blood clone, but this is merely a distraction. Xunji has recovered, nay, gained more Immortal Qi than he began in this tribulation.

Space distorts as an icy blue dragon charges out from the fabrics of reality. Its edges are sharper than any sword as it beheads the Behemoth in one attack before bursting into shards of an icy sword that impale the monster’s body.

“Huff!” Ja Sun’s left arm is frozen solid as he clenches a beautiful, crystalline blue sword with a dragon’s hilt.

Water Dragon King’s Saber.

Injured just by trying to teleport a divine attack through the distortion of space did not stop Ja Sun from continuing as his unnervingly long tongue flicks across his monstrously gaping maw and he raises his left arm!

“Rise!”

His divine weapons have a will of their own. A will he conquered. A will that boils in fury at the sight of a behemoth.

A tide rises with his beckon and turns into a giant dragon’s claw that consumes the pieces of Behemoth before turning into a draconic coffin and freezing!

Twelve of Xunji’s wings bat without missing a beat as he is upon the frozen coffin that is heating rapidly due to the lightning concealed within.

He doesn’t target the Behemoth. No.

The Behemoth did them a favor by consuming a lot of Life Orbs, and as the Tribulation rushes to corrupt and break apart the divine ice, a burst of a bloody wave formed from his Immortal Qi snaps and breaks into the Life Orbs.

The attack is no longer weak enough to be corroded.

Blood fizzles alongside the Life Orbs.

Red smoke fills their surrounding.

And as the Behemoth struggles within the icy coffin, Xunji looks at Ja Sun. A wicked smirk decorates Blood God’s features as the red smoke coils around him.

Not the least bit intimidated, Ja Sun grins back. But his features are far from the perfection Xunji boasts.

Seven purple-red eyes. A sharp opening for his mouth that stretches till his face almost splits open. And two divine weapons in his arms let out a sharp keen.

“Die.”

The smoke curdles and shapes itself into a larger image of Xunji. The corrosive smoke stretches its hand toward the Sea God Island like a divine punishment when the air freezes around the Divine Grace Array.

*Tsssssssss*

The other smoky hand turns into a shield that a fiery dragon smacks against.

“Even you have a limit!” Xunji narrows his blood-red eyes.

“Hahahahaha! Who the hell is spreading dumb rumors about me?!” Ja Sun roars a burst of laughter and does something that sends a chill down Xunji’s spine!

Ja Sun takes out a spirit bone.

A 100000-year-old from the looks of it and…

He bites on it.

*Crunch*

***

Alternate Title: When Might Does Not Make Right; CN Rule 101: Never Let the Opponent Complete a Power-up; Striking When the Iron is Hot; Mindless Strength is of no use; The Behemoth’s Indignant Debut; The Tables Turn Again?; Ah Yin’s Naming Sense is More Dreadful Than the Tribulation; Odd Snack Time?