Chapter 460: Heavenly Tribulation

As if responding to him, the enormous golden-purple fruit hanging quietly from the Star Demon Mother Tree’s branch began to sway gently when the question arose in his mind.

As it swayed, vast amounts of pitch-black clouds suddenly gathered from all directions across the purple sky.

The black clouds converged into a massive expanse that seemed to cover the heavens and earth. Even the purple radiance of the two purple suns high in the sky was blocked by the dark clouds.

At the same time, Xiao Shou suddenly sensed an instinctive fear, along with an unwavering will that absolutely refused to submit.

Was this the conviction of the Star Demon Mother Tree or the golden-purple fruit?

Even if it was afraid, even if it was terrified, it still could not submit.

It had to bring its strongest child into this world.

Xiao Shou vaguely sensed fragmented thoughts entering his mind.

This was the Star Demon Mother Tree’s conviction.

The Star Demon Mother Tree was afraid.

Even so, it still wanted to nurture its strongest fruit to maturity.

What was it afraid of?

Xiao Shou wondered this inwardly, but then he seemed to sense something and looked toward the sky.

Was it a tribulation?

The heavenly tribulation had descended.

Could the maturation of this golden-purple Star Demon Fruit actually cause such a heavenly phenomenon?

Why had there been no reaction when the other twelve fruits matured?

However, no matter how many questions Xiao Shou had, and no matter how badly he wanted to help the Star Demon Mother Tree that he had personally created, his current state left him powerless.

He could only be a cold-eyed spectator, watching as the Heavenly Dao attempted to prevent the golden-purple fruit from maturing and descending into the world, and watching as the Star Demon Mother Tree fought against the Heavenly Dao for the sake of its fruit.

Amid the panic, sorrow, despair, and numbness of the people throughout the city, each reacting differently as they waited, the moment finally arrived.

The sky became completely dark.

The earth was plunged into darkness as well.

Within this endless darkness, only the entire Star Demon Mother Tree radiated dazzling purple light like that of the purple suns, illuminating the enormous demon city and becoming the most brilliant existence within it.

The people who had just been liberated from the terror of the Demon Abyss Clan saw this scene and remembered that this miraculous giant tree had descended from the heavens and destroyed every Demon Abyss without harming them in the slightest.

Those who still possessed the will to live could not help but face the direction of the Star Demon Mother Tree and kneel down in prayer as if worshiping a divine being.

Although they had become so numb that they no longer even knew what they should pray for, they still faced the only source of light in the darkness.

It seemed that within this endless darkness, light was the only hope.

Even if that light was an eerie shade of purple...

Compared to the humans’ reaction, the black clouds in the sky seemed extremely dissatisfied that the Star Demon Mother Tree still dared to shine beneath their majesty.

Without making the slightest sound, a thick mass of pitch-black substance suddenly descended from the sky and struck toward the Star Demon Mother Tree.

It was completely different from the heavenly tribulations Xiao Shou had encountered in the Heaven Origin Realm. Those tribulations would at least rumble a few times to give the cultivator a warning that they were about to descend.

This one did not give the Star Demon Mother Tree any time to prepare a defense before suddenly striking down.

Even so, the pitch-black substance failed to achieve anything.

The instant it descended, an enormous, all-encompassing purple defensive barrier suddenly appeared around the Star Demon Mother Tree. It not only protected the tree itself but also included the surrounding demon city within its defensive range.

When the pitch-black substance descended, it was immediately absorbed by the seemingly fragile purple barrier.

Then the purple barrier appeared to have become slightly thicker.

Absorbed?

As expected of the Star Demon Mother Tree, which even dared to put the Demon Abyss Clan on its menu. Not only was its ferocity off the charts, but its defensive power was equally formidable!

Xiao Shou looked down at the twelve Star Demons, six men and six women, who remained kneeling below without moving in the slightest despite the sudden changes.

Could they remain so calm because they already understood the Star Demon Mother Tree’s defensive capabilities?

However, the heavenly tribulation would certainly not end with just this one strike.

Thinking back to the heavenly tribulations he had endured over the years, as well as how thoroughly those tribulations had tormented him beyond the normal limits every time, Xiao Shou could not help feeling bitter.

Sigh!

╮(╯▽╰)╭

The Heavenly Dao really seemed to hate him!

Sure enough, just as Xiao Shou had expected, the Star Demon Mother Tree’s act of absorbing the black substance did not cause the black clouds in the sky to stop.

Instead, it seemed to anger them.

After violently churning, the black clouds simultaneously descended with eighty-one identical masses of pitch-black substance.

Faced with the eighty-one black masses descending at the same time, the leaves around the outer edges of the Star Demon Mother Tree swayed slightly.

The purple defensive barrier outside immediately changed from a faint smoky purple to a light purple, and its thickness instantly increased by another level.

As a result, when the eighty-one masses of pitch-black substance descended, they were once again absorbed by the Star Demon Mother Tree’s defensive barrier.

This time, however, the barrier trembled slightly.

What kind of tribulation was this black substance?

It did not look like lightning, nor did it resemble any of the elements of earth, fire, wind, or water. Xiao Shou could not sense any elemental aura from it. Instead, it seemed somewhat similar to the demonic aura surrounding it.