Han Li's pupils narrowed as he gazed at the colossal rift overhead, which had already shrunk to roughly an acre in size, and the house-sized black and white thunderball nestled within it.
He knew full well that this was the final moment — whether he could emerge from the True Lightning Tribulation unscathed hinged entirely on whether he could withstand this last thunderball.
Han Li took a deep breath, opened his mouth, and actually spat out three clusters of vital blood. He then formed a series of hand seals and pointed upward toward the sky.
The vital blood flashed and, caught by the wind, transformed into dozens of crimson runes that shot skyward in a streak, vanishing into each of the Extreme Mountains in the blink of an eye.
The three Extreme Mountains in midair spun rapidly and drifted toward the center, instantly fusing into a single tri-colored peak that let out a deafening rumble. Its volume shrank by more than a dozen times over, collapsing to a height of merely several dozen zhang, while a vast and majestic aura radiated outward from its surface.
This technique of merging the three mountains looked somewhat similar to the final form of the Unified Five Extreme Mountains, but in reality the two were entirely different.
The Unified Five Extreme Mountains truly fused and refined five peaks into one body — they could be merged or separated at will with ease, and their might was far beyond what could be compared to this three-mountain forced fusion, which could only be achieved through a secret technique.
Not only did this three-mountain fusion require his own vital blood to activate, but the duration of the fusion was astonishingly brief — it could only withstand a single blow.
It was nothing more than a stopgap measure Han Li had devised specifically for this attempt to break through to the Mahayana bottleneck.
No sooner had the three mountains merged into one than the black and white thunderbolt in the heights descended with a thunderous crack, plummeting straight toward Han Li's position with pinpoint accuracy.
This black and white thunderball was vastly different from the lightning strikes that had come before — it contained several threads of the laws of heaven and earth within, and had locked firmly onto Han Li's Nascent Soul. Unless it was forcefully neutralized head-on, it would pursue him like a bone-clinging maggot to the ends of the earth, even if he fled millions of li away.
Of course, the most terrifying aspect was the devastating power contained within the black and white thunderball itself.
An ordinary Integration cultivator, never mind taking this thunderball head-on, would likely be reduced to ashes in an instant by the power of destruction it carried if they were so much as grazed by it.
Upon witnessing this, Han Li activated his hand seals without the slightest hesitation. The Vajra Buddha Golden Body let out a long roar from its mouth, and all six arms condensed their power simultaneously before striking upward into the sky.
Several muffled thuds echoed through the air!
Six golden spheres of light tore through the void, and after a momentary blur, they merged into one before the Extreme Mountains, spinning rapidly to form an enormous golden vortex.
The vortex spanned several acres in size, with countless runes dancing outward from within, while a suffocating force swept out and coiled around everything.
Once the black and white thunderball was caught by the suction, it merely let out a low hum before being dragged into the center of the vortex in a flash.
Immediately, the sound of Buddhist chanting rang out from within the golden vortex as golden and electrical light blazed furiously.
A thunderous boom!
The golden vortex shuddered, and the golden light at its base fractured and disintegrated inch by inch — the black and white thunderball burst through from within, its surface blazing with blinding black and white lightning, utterly unscathed.
Han Li's expression shifted. Without any visible action, the azure sword lotus hovering above his head let out a long cry, flickered once, and vanished eerily from the sky.
The next instant, fluctuations rippled into being beneath the black and white thunderball, and the azure lotus materialized soundlessly. It spun gently, and instantly thousands of azure sword qi slashed outward in a frenzy, crashing into the thunderball one after another in a continuous rumble.
In the span of a single breath, sword qi crisscrossed the surface of the black and white thunderball, and bursts of azure light erupted across it, nearly burying the entire sphere within.
Even a thunderball of such terrifying power hesitated momentarily amid the azure radiance, its descent stalled for a brief time.
Seeing that his attack was effective, Han Li rejoiced inwardly. He drew upon his Magical Power and poured it frantically into the azure lotus in the sky above.
The sword qi erupting from the lotus surged to more than double its previous density, a dense web of azure light covering virtually every inch of the thunderball's surface. The sphere roared and trembled as though it might shatter into fragments at any moment.
A muffled boom sounded from within the thunderball, and the black and white lightning arcs on its surface suddenly swelled to the thickness of a bowl's rim. One by one, they detonated in brilliant flashes, scattering every last wisp of sword qi.
At the same time, the thunderball itself descended once more with a thunderous roar.
Han Li's expression grew solemn. With a cold snort, he pointed a single finger at the azure lotus in the sky.
The colossal azure lotus's petals flared outward, its volume swelling dramatically in an instant, and the sword qi it spewed grew correspondingly thicker and more powerful.
But the massive thunderball merely flashed and plunged straight into the heart of the azure lotus.
Thunder raged within the lotus as it spun frantically, petal after petal of sword light contracting violently toward the center, as though trying to crush the thunderball to pieces by sheer force.
But the next instant, a piercing shriek erupted from within the azure lotus. Petal after petal of misty azure light bulged grotesquely outward, their surfaces distorting as they swelled rapidly.
Han Li's expression startled upon seeing this, but before he could do anything, a heaven-shaking explosion suddenly rang out from above.