The phenomenon in the sky that started only a few meters in size quickly grew larger.
10 meters, 100 meters, 1,000 meters.
In the blink of an eye, the phenomenon in the sky covered a distance of over 3 miles. However, that was just the beginning.
10 miles, 100 miles, 1,000 miles, 10,000 miles— the red sky covered the entire Qing Shan Continent before anybody was truly aware of it, shocking everyone left and right.
"What in the name of Heavens is going on with the sky?! Is this some kind of Heavenly Tribulation?!"
"It's red! The Heaven is red!"
Countless people were awoken from their dreams by the commotion, their tired gaze instantly widened upon seeing the red sky with black lightning.
Nobody knew why the sky was like that, not even the ancient cultivators that have experienced countless Heavenly Tribulations.
"The Heaven is… furious!" They were baffled to the point of losing their ability to think probably!
The pitch-black lightning also grew larger, more deadly, now looking like small, vicious dragons.
BANG!
As though a dragon descended from the Heavens with an intention to destroy everything in its path, one of the pitch-black lightning struck from the above, the air crackled from the speed, and a loud dragon-like roar resounded, causing many to piss their pants.
"I-It's doomsday! The world is about to end!"
The mortals began running left and right like clueless ants, the immortals could hear their hearts beat like war drums, and the sovereigns could feel their soul trembling from the atmosphere caused by the red firmament— the entire Qing Shan Continent was in complete shambles in the midst of the night— clueless as to what had caused this phenomenon.
BANG! THUNG! BANG!
Countless lightning struck nonstop moments later.
If one looked at it from a distance, they might mistake the lightning strikes as glowing rain.
The three masked men finally noticed the red sky after the first dragon roar, their eyes widened in shock.
"W-What the fuck?" one of them nearly fell on the floor from the loudness.
"What is happening?"
"What a savage-looking sky!"
The three masked men seemed to have completely forgotten about Tian Yi, or perhaps he was just that disregardable in their eyes, but neither of the three was looking at him.
Tian Yi, ignored by the three masked men stood there silently, his expression grim, yet calm.
Although he did not understand half of what the three masked men had said about Meng Xiang, their tone and the look of their soul had ignited a flame inside his body.
It was an emotion he rarely, if ever, felt.
Anger— something that was unbefitting of someone like him— would be what others would say.
However, as heavenly as his talent was, as profound as his cultivation was, as gentle as his smile was, he was but a mere 18 years old kid with knowledge of the outside world and its cruelty near nonexistent.
Why did these three masked men follow him? Why did they attack him? He does not recall offending them.
What was it in their tone and the way they spoke that made him feel uncomfortable? He does not understand.
However, despite not understanding many things, there was one thing he understood— and that was why he was angry.
'Every being is born with a pure soul… whether it riots or glows will depend on the person— so there should be no injustice if I were to slay these three foul-souled men before me!' he said inwardly.
A cold and indifferent light flashed in his eyes, sending chills down the three masked men's spine.
The three masked men turned their heads to look at Tian Yi in a snapping motion, but alas, before their gaze could even see a hair on his body, their visions darkened, as though they were thrown into the void.
However, that was not the case.
Tian Yi's figure was still standing there, unmoving, but his sleeves were slightly fluttering.
A gentle gust suddenly swept across the wilderness, carrying along with it a blood fog and glittering particles.
Tian Yi had, with a casual wave of his sleeves, obliterated the three masked men— in body and soul— to the point of turning into a fog of blood, their bones and treasures into tiny particles.
The fog of blood quickly dispersed, disappearing into the thin air, leaving nothing behind.
After the three masked man's existence was literally erased from the face of the Universe, the sky returned to its former calm, the night sky.
"My purpose here is not to hunt the foul-souled but to travel the world. However, if they willingly chose to appear before me, then they can only blame themselves…"
"If I was wrong in my decision today or would be in the future, then I shall restore their body and kowtow to apologize, even granting them a wish!"
Tian Yi turned around to walk the road alone, his white robes without a speck of dust even after standing in the fog of blood.
The people of Qing Shan Continent were dumbfounded when the red sky disappeared as fast as it had appeared.
What could have caused such a horrifying phenomenon to occur?
Was it really a Heavenly Tribulation for some ancient cultivator trying to transcend to godhood like many had believed it to be?
Or was it just a mythical phenomenon that occurred for no reason whatsoever?
Nobody knew the cause for sure for such a phenomenon, but one thing for sure was that nobody wanted to experience such a horrific event ever again.
And although the red sky was gone, the suffocating atmosphere remained, preventing many individuals from going back to sleep.
And those who were lucky— or unlucky enough to fall asleep— would have nightmares of the red sky appearing again.
Some people even got stuck by the lightning in their dreams, causing them to be startled awake while screaming.
No matter if they were mortals or immortals, that night was a bad night for everybody in the Qing Shan Continent, one engraved into their memory for many years to come.