Normally, such words wouldn't cause anything. What worth did the words of a mortal have? And beyond this, tribulations didn't simply occur because the Heavens were angry.
There was no such thing as the Heavens being angry. Tribulations occurred to cultivators as a test—a rite needed to prove their worth.
To cultivate wasn't necessarily to go against the Heavens, but rather to go against its laws, and in doing so, one had to pass thresholds—thresholds of defiance.
This was what caused tribulations. And so, when Samael spoke, the echo of his words resonated not with the skies, but with the platform he sat on.
The intent of his words was translated into an array of runes that spontaneously began to form around him, linking into a grand formation that unfolded like a tapestry over the bed of clouds beneath him.
And the more the runes spread and multiplied… the darker the skies became. Above him, yet another layer of clouds began to form—dark and grey, cracking with arcs of white and gold lightning.
The winds became so fierce that Samael's hair danced within its flows like a flickering candle flame. And along with the building storm, seas of neutral white qi began to manifest around him.
It all began to swim and revolve around him, as if he were a star, his mere weight pulling everything toward him.
And then, he spoke again.
"I defy the Heavens."
Immediately, thunder began to echo, and the formation of runes finally and truly resonated with the skies above.
The tribulation began.
A sort of bubble seemed to encapsulate and trap Samael, but just when it seemed to settle, the formation of runes forced it to expand and engulf the capital below, washing over all its inhabitants.
For a moment, the impossible occurred—and the capital fell silent, as all mortals and cultivators alike felt a chill run down their spines. Innate fear and despair took hold of them, but this only served to further fuel and stoke the building tribulation above.
As if timed perfectly, the moment all their presences were deeply imprinted within the scope of the tribulation, the array of runes from Samael forcefully shrunk the bubble once again, further enraging the skies.
By now, the lightning that coiled above him was entirely gold, with shades of dark red. Seeing this, Samael nodded to himself.
Then, smiling, he spread his arms far and wide.
"Come to daddy."
His words seemed to be the tipping point, as the dark clouds—before restricted to only a few kilometers around him—expanded to cover what felt like the entirety of the skies.
The entire world was plunged into darkness, and then, suddenly, it became overwhelmingly bright—so much so that all those below were forced to close their eyes for fear of losing them.
BANG!
A thick pillar of lightning slammed into Samael, so fast and ruthless that he barely had time to react before an avalanche of pain crashed into his mind.
His skin instantly charred, then peeled off. His flesh sizzled and hardened, flaking off his frame like lumps of coal as all his bones shattered at once.
His organs ruptured and his eyes exploded without resistance, a chaotic tide of qi ravaging his body with the violent intent to reduce him to ash.
Yet, just as he seemed about to die, the platform he sat on lit up, and from it, life qi erupted, flooding his flesh. Though that was the case, it didn't heal him.
Not because it couldn't, but because he didn't want it to. Why would he use this tribulation merely to purify his flesh?
He'd use it not only to purify himself but also to restructure his body as he saw fit. It would make the process much longer and far more straining—but it'd be worth it.
Under Samael's careful control—as much control as he could apply without any cultivation—the life qi in his body began to interact with the lingering qi from the pills he'd ingested, the two harmonizing to begin dissecting and reshaping his body.
But the tribulation wouldn't wait for him.
A second pillar fell. Then a third. Then a fourth. Then a fifth. Then they came crashing down in such rapid succession that the scene became ridiculous.
The Heavens couldn't be angry and had no emotions, but looking at the scene, it truly seemed enraged. The pillars fell violently and incessantly, striking with maddened cadence.
But the quicker the pillars fell, the more life qi flooded Samael's body, countering destruction with renewal.
Though that was the case, it didn't stop the avalanches of pain that assaulted his mind, threatening to collapse it.
And Samael did nothing to stop it. In fact, he didn't resist the pain—he screamed and roared to the skies, letting the pain consume him.
Looking at him, none would be able to guess that he'd undergone this exact same scene thousands of times. Most remained unaware of this truth, but the Awakening Realm wasn't simply an awakening and heightening of the flesh—it was also an awakening of the mind.
And if he sought to reforge his body, why wouldn't he do the same for his mind?
So, he let his mind collapse over and over again under the pain.
And the formation around him continued to rebuild it as it did his body—mind and flesh entering a state of collapse and renewal that seemed to never end.
As if the tribulation finally understood what he'd been doing, the intensity of the pillars sublimated, their golden luster vanishing to leave nothing but crimson pillars of destruction.
And even then, the pillars only kept falling—faster and faster.
—
Three days passed.
For three days, darkness consumed the capital. The unrest of the populace only grew as seconds trickled into minutes, then hours, and eventually, into days.
Yet, on the fourth day, the skies finally cleared—and the rays of the sun pierced through the darkness, only moments before a torrential rain began to pour down.
In the skies, Samael stood upon his platform, the tribulation having barely just ended. Slowly, he opened his eyes, their amethyst light overwhelming.
His body—already refined to what had once felt like an extreme—had now reached yet another strata, all fat and impurities burned out of him.
His muscles stood defined and refined, striating under the push and pull of each of his movements, withstanding the harsh wind and rain that fell from above like steel.
"Finally," he exhaled.