Supreme Master: Cultivation Starts After Recruiting SSS-Grade Talent-Chapter 53 - Devil’s eye

The humming in the air deepened, growing into a low, ancient sound like a huge divine bell struck in anger.

It rolled across the mountains, shaking the earth and sky. Trees bent under the invisible pressure, their leaves trembling like a crowd holding its breath.

Deep in the forest, frightened animals whined and scattered, fleeing to safety. The heavens had noticed Xie Ren’s challenge, and they did not like being mocked.

Inside the thick crimson mist, the world had shrunk to one battle: man against the sky.

Outside that fog, the rest of the world trembled with fear.

The first strike had sounded like the sky itself was breaking open. Thunder echoed through the cliffs and valleys of the surrounding peaks, shaking loose stones from steep ridges.

Birds burst from their nests, squawking wildly, while cultivators meditating miles away were jolted awake by the roar.

Su Jie’s face grew serious, his eyes narrowing as he watched the storm.

"That lightning just now..." he muttered quietly, "It hit hard enough to seriously hurt even a top Nascent Soul cultivator. If this keeps up, the whole mountain might crumble."

Behind him, Mo Wushuang and Chen Yinyin stood silent, their gazes fixed on the swirling clouds above. They felt the change, too.

This wasn’t a normal tribulation anymore, it had turned angry, fierce beyond all reason. And when the heavens grew this angry, destruction followed.

Little Roulan stood close to Su Jie, clutching his robe tightly with trembling hands. Her big eyes were wide with worry.

"Will Master be okay?" she whispered, her voice barely more than a breath.

Su Jie opened his mouth to answer, but no words came. No one could promise safety when facing such wrath. He simply placed a steady hand on her head, trying to offer what little comfort he could.

"Your master... he’s not ordinary," Su Jie said.

Still, a knot of worry tightened in Su Jie’s chest. His mind raced with the dangers of curious or malicious strangers wandering too close to this terrible spiritual storm.

But he knew such fools were rare. Few dared to approach a place where the very heavens seemed ready to break apart.

His caution was well-founded.

There were many hidden observing eyes currently watching this location from far away.

Not far away from the location, hidden among jagged mountain peaks shrouded in shadow, a group of cultivators had gathered. Their eyes shone with a mix of fear and amazement as they stared at the violent energy swirling overhead. None of them dared move closer.

These were not ordinary cultivators. Some were elders, others rogue warriors, and a few were ancient figures who rarely revealed themselves. All had sensed the sudden rise of power and come to investigate, but froze when faced with the terrifying tribulation above.

"A tribulation this fierce..." one frowned in disbelief. "Who could it be?"

"No Nascent Soul tribulation has ever been this vicious," whispered another, narrowing his eyes. "Maybe it’s not a tribulation at all... could it be a spirit transformation gone wrong?"

"A powerhouse is about to be born," a third murmured in awe and fear, voice trembling.

They wanted to see for themselves who this figure was, but none dared to step closer.

To interrupt a cultivator during a tribulation wasn’t just taboo, it was almost certain death. The power released in these moments was too wild, too dangerous.

And looking at the scale of this one, even the strongest of them dared not come close. One stray bolt of lightning could turn them to dust in an instant.

So, the group remained silent watchers, standing tense and alert on the jagged mountain ridges.

...

As Su Jie was observing the cloud, something above changed. His eyes narrowed sharply, and a cold shiver ran down his spine as he looked back up at the sky.

The clouds that had been boiling and turning crimson were shifting again, but this time, something was wrong.

"The lightning... It’s changing color," he whispered, "That’s not normal..."

Far above, the violet streaks in the sky darkened, now streaked with ominous black threads. The clouds seemed sickly, as if a poisonous force had seeped into the storm’s heart, corrupting its power.

Chen Yinyin’s sharp eyes narrowed with concern.

"It’s evolving," she said quietly. "This isn’t just normal tribulation lightning anymore."

Su Jie clenched his fists, his jaw tightening. "What on earth is happening in there?"

"What did he do..." she whispered, almost afraid to finish the thought, "to anger the heavens so deeply?"

Inside the thick crimson mist, Xie Ren stood perfectly still for a moment. He rolled his shoulder with a soft pop, smoke curling from the burned flesh on his arm.

Despite the pain, a hint of amusement flickered across his face.

He looked more like a fighter readying for a sparring match than a man staring down the wrath of divine judgment.

"Alright," he said with a crooked smile, his eyes lifting to the swirling storm above. "Let’s see what you’ve got."

Just then, a faint, glowing panel appeared before his eyes, shimmering with urgency.

[Warning! Devil’s Eye detected!]

A red patch flickered on the cloud within the system’s interface.

[A Devil spawn is watching this place!]

[Destroy the Devil’s Eye for Luck Points!]

Xie Ren squinted at the crimson spot pulsing near the heart of the storm.

"What’s a Devil’s Eye?" he asked, his curiosity piqued.

The little fairy popped her head from his collar, her expression now sharp and alert.

[A Devil’s Eye is a forbidden technique used only by Devils or their followers,] she explained.

"Devils?" he blinked, genuinely puzzled. "What are those?"

She sighed, clearly annoyed at his ignorance.

[Lord Immortal, really? As a cultivator, you don’t know about devils?] She shook her tiny head.

[In the cultivation world, there’s a legend. Long ago, a powerful race called the Devils rebelled against the Heavenly Dao. They tried to overthrow existence itself. But the Dao won. The Devils were banished, mostly. Since then, very few have been seen.]

"I see," Xie Ren nodded slowly, his eyes thoughtful. "That’s something new."

Then a spark of an idea lit up his face. "The system says I get luck points for destroying that eye. What if I kill the devil who put it there?"

The little fairy popped her head out again, her tone serious.

[Of course. Devils are troublemakers on the same level as the Child of Destiny. Taking one down brings great rewards.]

Xie Ren flexed his still-smoking arm, smirking. "Then I’d better find this devil after this."

He turned his gaze back to the storm, a confident grin spreading across his face. "But first, let’s deal with you."

CRACK!

The sky seemed to tear apart.

The next bolt of lightning fell, no longer golden or violet but a dark, terrifying shade of void-black streaked with violet veins.

It screamed through the air like a wild beast. The weight of the lightning crushed the stones beneath Xie Ren’s feet, cracks spider-webbing out in every direction.

But Xie Ren was ready.

His eyes flashed bright with focus. He shifted his stance, feet steady on the cracked ground.

A thin blue glow spread across his vision as the system’s predictive overlay lit up, tracing the lightning’s path just moments before it struck.

His right arm, glowing fully with the power of the Divine Vajra Physique, swung upward in a wide, forceful arc.

BOOM!

A deafening explosion shattered the silence.

The black lightning slammed into his forearm, then rebounded off with a wild crackling roar.

Instead of burning him to ash, the redirected bolt flew off like a missile, its new path aimed straight at the crimson patch in the cloud, the Devil’s Eye.

The cloud writhed as if trying to pull away, but it was too late.

BZZZZ-CRACK!

The lightning pierced through the crimson mark, tearing it apart in a swirl of black smoke and red mist.

[Ding! Devil’s Eye destroyed.]

[Reward: 1000 Luck Points]

Xie Ren brushed the dust off his sleeve, a satisfied smile tugging at his lips. "Well, that worked out better than expected."

Before Xie Ren could steady himself, the sky darkened further. The thunder rolled with a deeper, more furious growl, as if the heavens themselves were unleashing their wrath.

A crackling bolt of lightning, wider and brighter than before, tore through the air. This one carried an ominous violet-white glow, blazing with destructive power.

He raised his arm, bracing for impact, but this time, the force was overwhelming.

When the lightning hit, it sent him flying backward, his foot dragging hard against the rough earth. He skidded across the clifftop, leaving deep gouges behind, before finally crashing onto one knee.

The ethereal armor around him flickered violently, glowing bright with the strain, but it held.

Exhaling, he pushed himself up. "That was a bit too quick,"

Not far away, Lan Yue sat cross-legged, eyes closed, brows tightly knitted in fierce concentration.

With each thunderous strike Xie Ren blocked, a slender ray of ethereal light, hues of violet and silver, dispersed from the dissipating bolts, weaving through the swirling clouds like delicate threads.

Those rays streamed toward Lan Yue, merging with her body, infusing her spirit with divine energy. As it continued, her energy flared, and a faint aura pulsed around her like the gentle glow of dawn.