Chapter 245: Surviving the Heavenly Calamity

Electricity flashed unpredictably within the multicolored clouds. Bernard raised his head to look at the sky, and his massive body finally moved. He slammed his palms hard onto the ground, causing it to shake violently. Those around him stared at him in surprise, unsure of what he intended to do before the heavenly calamity.

However, they soon found out, as the violently shaking ground began to rise gradually, flipping over and enveloping Bernard entirely. The mound of earth that covered him grew taller and taller, rising to a height of thousands of meters before finally stopping. Seeing such a formidable protective barrier form in an instant, many of the powerful warriors present were awestruck.

Yet many also knew that the power of the heavenly calamity could not be stopped by just such a mountain. As everyone marveled and sighed in wonder, the mountain changed again. A layer of snow-white ice crystals quickly covered the entire mountain, freezing it solid.

Even Ye Feng was impressed by Bernard’s tactics. The dual-layer defense of ice and earth was far more powerful than a single earth-based defense. After completing these defensive measures, a wisp of black smoke slowly emerged from the summit, swirling above it, leaving everyone even more confused about what this strange smoke could be.

Ye Feng, however, knew well that it was a dark spell with strong devouring and corrosive effects.

At that moment, the first lightning bolt that had been gathering in the sky for a long time finally moved. A white flash erupted from the clouds, followed by a white light column descending vertically. It seemed less like a lightning bolt and more like a flash of light cutting through the sky.

The white light column crashed down fiercely toward the summit. Increably, the wisp of black smoke spiraled upward at lightning speed, like a giant python wrapping around a tree, successfully slowing down the light column’s descent. What was even more astonishing was that the light column began to shrink at a visible speed.

The black smoke took on various shapes, even forming a funnel at its tip. The white light column was completely swallowed by this unassuming wisp of smoke, failing even to reach the peak of the mountain.

The crowd stared in horror at what was unfolding before their eyes. They had never expected such a scene to occur. Curiously, they looked at the wisp of black smoke, trying to figure out what could swallow up the heavenly calamity.

Seeing Ye Feng’s surprised expression, Fat, who had intended to ask questions, obediently shut his mouth.

After the first heavenly calamity disappeared, everyone held their breath and looked up at the colorful storm clouds in the sky.

After gathering for a moment, the storm clouds emitted two flashes in succession.

The people present frowned slightly. They certainly knew what those two flashes were—two bolts of lightning, falling at the same time.

Clearly, the storm clouds seemed to have sensed something.

The second and third bolts of lightning also had a strange shape—they were two thumb-sized white orbs.

Since the columnar lightning had been absorbed, the storm clouds had become smarter, creating two smaller, highly concentrated bolts of lightning, which reduced the efficiency of energy absorption significantly.

This time, the two bolts of lightning fell at several times the speed of before, crashing down fiercely toward the mountain peak.

At that moment, the swirling black smoke transformed into a large net that covered the mountain peak, blocking the two spherical bolts of lightning.

The two spherical bolts continued to fall rapidly but still landed within the black net.

After enclosing the two bolts of lightning, the net immediately changed shape, turning into a long tube that connected at both ends, forming a circle.

Bernard apparently tried to use this to alter the trajectory of the two bolts of lightning. But after a few moments, a violent burst of white light emerged from the black smoke.

The black smoke was instantly dispersed, and an astonishing scene unfolded not far above the mountain peak—the two spherical bolts of lightning intertwined and slowly merged together…

“Did the two bolts of lightning merge?” Ye Feng couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise.

“Colorful lightning calamities sometimes do such things,” Fat nodded beside him.

After the black mist was dispersed, it never reformed. Apparently, Bernard also realized that this form of defense wouldn’t be very effective in the subsequent heavenly calamities.

Once the two small balls fully merged, they rushed toward the giant ice peak at several times the previous speed.

“Boom…” As expected, the small balls collided violently with the mountain peak, producing a deafening explosion. Intense vibrations spread through the ground beneath everyone, causing them to float slightly to avoid falling.

With that impact, the entire mountain began to shake violently, yet it suffered no substantial damage. Before the shock from the collision had even subsided, thunderous noises rang out once again from the clouds. A lightning bolt as thick as a bucket struck the mountain peak without giving Bernard a chance to react. Its speed was so fast that even Ye Feng and the others barely had time to respond. “Boom!” This time, the sound was even more intense. After the loud explosion, a huge crack appeared on the mountainside, leaving those watching in awe at the power of the heavenly calamity. Ye Feng frowned slightly; he knew the defense system Bernard had built for him was about to fail. If exposed completely to the heavenly calamity, it would surely be severely damaged. “Don’t worry, it’ll be fine!” Fat reassured him. “That little thing is clever!” As the huge crack on the mountainside spread rapidly, the upper half of the mountain began to slide down slowly. The sudden change in the mountain caused gasps of surprise among those around. Continuous booms echoed through the dense forest as the massive mountain collapsed, raising clouds of dust in the air. The fifth thunderbolt did not rush to strike; it seemed to be waiting for a better opportunity. Its previous target had been achieved—the mountain obstacle had been split in two—but its true target still seemed to be hiding inside. After confirming that Bernard was still among the remaining ruins, the fifth thunderbolt finally struck. It appeared to be an ordinary lightning bolt. However, with the lessons from the previous four thunderbolts, Ye Feng and the others did not dare underestimate its power. The moment the lightning touched the remaining half of the mountain, it suffered a devastating blow. In the blink of an eye, the entire mountain collapsed, turning back into dust. Surprisingly, Bernard was not at the foot of the mountain. Where Bernard should have been hiding was actually a small pond. Everyone looked around but could not find any trace of him. They were all surprised, knowing that the heavenly calamity would not mistake anyone and would not attack a place without a target. “Is he under the pond?” Fat asked Ye Feng. He knew that as someone who had signed a contract with Bernard, Ye Feng must know where Bernard was hiding. Ye Feng nodded, confirming Fat’s guess—he could sense Bernard’s location.

Suddenly, a shadow shot up from the pond, drawing everyone’s attention. It was Bernard, standing proudly in mid-air, looking up at the storm clouds above. Seeing him rush out, Ye Feng frowned slightly—he knew Bernard intended to fight head-on, which wasn’t a wise move at all. The sixth thunderbolt struck the moment Bernard appeared, hitting him hard and sending him back into the pond. The seventh thunderbolt gave Bernard no chance to recover, attacking the pond directly; the moment it made contact, all the water in the pond evaporated instantly, chilling everyone present. Bernard slowly climbed up from the bottom of the dried pond, seemingly unharmed. Ye Feng glanced curiously at the pond’s bottom and saw numerous plant roots everywhere. He turned to look at the surrounding plants. In fact, Bernard had also used a technique to divert damage—using the plant roots to channel the powerful currents from the thunderstorms into the plants. But now, Bernard was floating in mid-air with no protection at all. To Ye Feng and the others, this seemed like an act of provocation against the storm clouds. Sure enough, the eighth thunderbolt descended with great force, hitting Bernard directly in mid-air. A painful scream came from Bernard’s mouth, but he didn’t resist at all, allowing the thunderbolt to strike him. “What is he doing?” Ye Feng asked Fat, who was beside him, in confusion. “He’s strengthening his body!” Fat replied with an ambiguous smile. “In this way?” Ye Feng was even more surprised. “Yes. Some powerful magical beasts use the thunderstorms to boost their strength.” “Will this method not cause problems?” Ye Feng asked worriedly. “No. He must be confident! Otherwise, he wouldn’t do this,” Fat said, shaking his head. At that moment, the swirling clouds finally stopped moving, falling into silence. But Ye Feng and the others knew well that this silence meant an even greater explosion was coming! One minute passed, then two… It was over ten minutes before the thundering sounds returned above the storm clouds. Soon after, a golden lightning bolt split the sky, aiming straight at Bernard…