Xu Tao's eyes nearly turned crimson from bloodlust as he stared at Cain valiantly floating in the air. In that last attack, he felt honestly lucky to survive!
The denser and more complex lightning energy principles not only destroyed his portals but also suppressed his own Lightning Laws. By extension, it suppressed a considerable amount of power from his Inner World!
Thus, the sturdy lightning shield was already weakened before even bearing the brunt of the portal's explosions.
What Xu Tao had to resist was not only the power of the Draconic Lightning bolts but also the resulting energy shockwaves from two powerful forces combusting!
When he was drowned by the explosion, Xu Tao was forced to use a half-step Divine Ruler defensive talisman. But even then, that talisman crumbled to dust within seconds against the overwhelming energy force.
Though he was heavily battered and drained of energy, Xu Tao's fighting spirit didn't diminish in the slightest.
He spat out botches of blood as he raised his Thunder Hammer to Cain. "Just from that attack, I can concede that you are immensely more talented than me. But, I won't just roll over! Martial brother, please advise this attack!"
The Thunder Hammer started to suddenly vibrate at a ferocious intensity. Its Spirit insignia runes lit up as a tremendous influx of power poured out of the Thunder Hammer.
Lightning rippled out, blasting away like a crazed thunderstorm. Every Lightning ripple had a strange effect. It directly minced apart the surrounding Divine Essence and Lightning Law source essence into ashes!
"Rippling Thunder!" Xu Tao surged his most powerful Martial Skill.
The Thunder Hammer exploded out as lightning rippled to the skies. Blinding flashes and roaring thunder shook the space.
The Lightning energy principles from every thunder ripple became infinitely close to the level of Supreme Divine Laws! Only a fine line separated it from that new dimension of power.
The Rippling Thunder Skill was meant for invincibility. Nothing to other Divine Law Sources, Divine Qi, or Divine Aura would be able to stop the Lightning Ripples.
The Lightning Ripples can directly, as the name states, ripple into any attack, diffusing it from the inside out before targeting the caster.
Such an attack would lead to Xu Tao being utterly unstoppable among the half-step Divine Ruler realm. Even Early Stages Divine Rulers would give Xu Tao's attack a serious look over.
From her spot, Hu Wen was a bit startled at the Rippling Thunder skill. Her Divine Sense couldn't understand any of its energy principles.
However, her eyes still stayed focused on Cain. Gloom crossed her as she quietly muttered, "It's-it's over..."
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtCain indifferently glances at the Rippling Thunder. Never once did he feel pressured or even slightly concerned. He simply clenched his palm, surging Draconic Lightning to gather over it.
The Draconic Lightning essence converged, instantly forming into Lightning Claw, only around 50 feet long.
When the Lightning Claw appeared, it was as if the whole world turned silent. All other energy principles became suppressed under the presence of the Lightning Claw.
The Lightning Claw was a true higher order of lightning energy principles! Anything not at the Supreme Divine Law level can't ever hope to suppress the Lightning Claw!
Gently lowering his hand, the Lightning Claw blasted off at immense speed.
It completely covered Xu Tao. Any stray Lightning Ripple that hit the Lightning Claw simply trembled before dispersing into tiny essence particles.
Xu Tao's face turned completely grave. With one last desperate attempt, he waved his Thunder Hammer, converting every Lightning Ripple into one continuous stream.
The Lightning Ripple held even greater power.
But it was all useless!
Cain's Lightning Claw pressed down on the Lightning Ripple stream, completely dispersing near instantaneously.
There wasn't a hint of resistance or violent energy collision. On a pure, fundamental Law suppression, the Lightning Claw utterly decimated Xu Tao's strongest attack.
The Lightning Claw didn't stop, however. Under Cain's control, it shrunk down before clamping down on Xu Tao's body.
Draconic Lightning energy shattered Xu Tao's protective Divine Aura and then drilled into his internal body. It spread like a virus, completely suppressing every fiber of his being.
All Xu Tao could do now was stimulate his Divine Sense. Despair and flashes of shock crossed Xu Tao's face.
His Thunder Hammer went completely dead. Without the support of his Inner World energy, it wasn't able to do anything. He had zero other methods to escape the Lightning Claw.
There was no doubt about it.
In only a few minutes at best, Xu Tao, the 5th ranking of the core disciple ranking, was completely suppressed by Cain!
Xu Tao was evidently distraught over being beaten so easily. But at the same time, he felt increasingly strange.
His Divine Sense felt oddly enlightened. More than what he experienced with the surrounding lightning strikes. It was as if the Lightning energy principles from Cain's Lightning Claw suited him far better for cultivation.
At such close proximity, Xu Tao had no other option but to scan the Lightning Claw with his Divine Sense. What swirled his Spiritual Sea left him genuinely bewildered.
He even faintly felt like the borders of his Spiritual Sea had just barely expanded from all these energy principles.
At this time, Cain had already neared Xu Tao. His expression was plain as if that overwhelming battle from before didn't drain him at all.
He casually smiled at Xu Tao's mixed expression and said, "You feel it, don't you? The complexity of my principles is confusing, but can be learned."
Cain waved his hand, dispersing the Lightning Claw. He then tossed over a True Spirit healing pill in another sign of goodwill.
Xu Tao caught the healing pill with a still puzzled expression. He wanted to speak, but suddenly felt overwhelming pain and exhaustion engulf his senses.
Without hesitating, he ingested the healing pill and promptly assimilated into a meditative state. His wounds, both extern and internal, recovered at a rapid pace.
Xu Tao nearly felt surprised at the quality of this pill. Though he chalked it up to Cain having access to the best resources already.
As Xu Tao healed, Cain looked to his left. His vision narrowed in the far distance. He spoke, not with a loud voice, but had amplified his words so that they can be heard through the raging lightning strikes.
"Unless you are also planning to fight, you can come over now."
Hu Wen nearly shivered as Cain's voice washed over her. Not even in his transformed state. She still felt largely inferior.
At that moment, Hu Wen's lips curled into a wry smile.
Fighting against Cain?
She wasn't even stronger than Xu Tao!
If it was her facing Rippling Thunder, she would be near helpless to resist. Her defeat would be just as embarrassing.
Furthermore, similar to Xu Tao, Hu Wen's Divine Sense was stimulated by the Lightning energy principles of Cain's condensed Lightning Claw.
She felt a far greater understanding from that Lightning Claw than from hours of cultivating in the heavenly-grade field.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmHaving no shame, Hu Wen sighed and shook her head before flying over to Cain.
Cain nodded at her prompt decision. It truly was a blessing that all Divine Cultivators have innate, increased intelligence because of increasing their base cultivation. Things can be less troublesome and far more streamlined.
Before doing anything else, Cain clenched his palm to suck down the recording ring still high in the skies.
As Hu Wen came close, her eyes flickered as she saw the recording ring. Xu Tao, who recovered enough to speak calmly, also felt a mix of emotions over seeing the recording ring.
However, neither of them spoke up about it.
They have been thoroughly suppressed. It was only natural for everyone in the Holy Land to be aware of Cain's new status in prowess.
As Cain put away the recording ring, he smiled at the young Lightning Lords. "No matter what had happened, it was a still well-fought battle. I can see why you're called the young Lightning Lord across the entire city."
"Heh. You jest Martial brother." Xu Tao mirthfully laughed. "If we're the young Lightning Lords, then what makes you? This world really is big and full of talents."
"Mn. Martial brother. We're not trying to butter you up with words. Genuinely, you deserve to be the number one young Lightning expert across the entire city." Hu Wen also threw her own words of praise, her expression equally honest.
It was one thing to suppress a foe with pure, raw power. And it was another to suppress a foe heavily through fundamental Law suppression.
Raw power could come in numerous forms. From more powerful Martial Weapons, higher cultivation arts, or a superior bloodline.
The means to amplify one's energy beyond their natural limit isn't uncommon at all throughout the God Galaxy.
But, the means to directly weaken somebody's entire being with only Law energy principles was a different league of its own. That person's Law energy principles were highly complex to a completely terrifying degree.
Higher realm cultivators can effortlessly suppress lower realm cultivators through their Law energy principles simply because of their superior base cultivation.
Doing the same feat while in the same realm, or even lower, would mean that cultivator's potential is immense. They would be able to kill those same higher realm cultivators by merely waving their hands!
That hand would contain Law energy principles they wouldn't be able to defend against!
Xu Tao and Hu Wen were thoroughly convinced that Cain belongs to this category. If he was at the half-step Divine Ruler realm, his breath filled with lightning energy principles would be enough to crush them.
Such a thought led to both Xu Tao and Hu Wen giving Cain their complete respect. Their eyes brightly lit up more than that if they had met with a Divine Decree Lord or a high Holy King Elder.
Cain took notice of the duo's new gaze toward him. He remained causal as he said, "In this environment, I can tell it's much easier to cultivate Lightning Laws. Have you two found problems with gaining complex energy principles?"
Hu Wen and Xu Tao traded a glance, their lips forming into wry smiles. Turning back over, Xu Tao said, "Much less high complex principles, it's difficult to gain denser energy principles in our Laws. We and other who go to the Heavenly-Grade field portions want to rapidly speed up our comprehension in preparation for leaving the half-step Divine Ruler realm."
Hu Wen nodded and add on, "Truthfully, our foundations are considered top-tier among other Holy Lands. We only need to time accumulate our Inner World and Spiritual Sea, perfecting our Divine Law, before finally attempting to breach the Divine Ruler realm. The higher Elders wouldn't mention much about converting Law energy principles. Even for those masters, it's far too difficult."
At this point, Cain's eyes glinted, an idea emerging back in his mind.