Spirit Realm

Qin Lie hadn’t expected to be able to cause such a huge disturbance of lightning and thunder by erecting the eight slabs of Thunderblitz wood and just using his True Soul.

After closely examining the seven slabs of Thunderblitz wood that were still standing on the rooftop, he discovered dazzling streaks of silver appeared in the grain of their wood after they were struck by thunder and lightning.

Those streaks resembled criss-crossing bolts of lightning!

The grain of this wood… was the purest, most naturally formed spirit diagram!

Qin Lie trembled at this realization.

Qin Lie had set up the eight slabs of Thunderblitz wood according to the setup of the eight stone pillars in the belly of Herb Mountain. He wanted to try using the method that his grandfather had left him to attract thunder and lightning, weaken the intensity of the energy, and temper his True Soul.

Yet he never expected that, as he channeled Heavenly Thunder Eradication, the thunder and lightning energy attracted to the Thunderblitz wood slabs would cause such a strange phenomenon.

Blinding streaks of lightning shot through the sky like a flooding river and descended upon the Flowing Gold Fire Phoenix like a waterfall.

The thunderous rumbling that accompanied it was shocking!

The back of the fire phoenix, which spanned hundreds of square meters, held numerous pagoda-shaped wooden buildings in which hundreds of Gold Sun Island martial practitioners resided. This included those that intended to rebel against the Xing Family.

Xiang Xi and three other enforcers, as well as more than a dozen island envoys, resided in these buildings as well.

However, at this very moment, thunder and lightning struck from the heavens like a calamity.

Amidst ear-splitting thunder, brilliant lightning reduced those wooden buildings to dust.

Scorched martial practitioners emerged from the wreckage of each building, wailing and spitting blood as they cursed Qin Lie.

“Chief enforcer! Second enforcer!” the lover of an island envoy shouted furiously, eyes flashing with the light of the lightning strikes. “H-he’s really gone too far! Way too far!”

“This person is too arrogant!” someone yelled angrily.

“Kill him! Kill him!” people hollered.

Xiang Xi wore a vicious expression as he tried to control his breathing and calm down.

“Remember!” Bo Boze reminded him. “At the moment… you have to tolerate this!”

“All of you leave this fire phoenix for now! Go to the one that carries Enforcer Xu Changsheng,” Xiang Xi shouted, looking around and sweeping the surroundings with his soul consciousness. “Once the thunder and lightning have subsided, we’ll interrogate him!”

Many people stared at him in confusion. They had no idea when the chief enforcer’s temper had become so good.

Someone was outright bullying him at the moment. Considering his usual demeanor, he would’ve started killing them long ago.

Why was he enduring it now?

“Let us leave this place!” Bo Boze ordered grimly.

He swept his gaze across all of the subordinates that had been shouting furiously, the ones that seemed as if they would lose control at any moment and attack Qin Lie.

Under his threatening gaze, all of them gradually calmed down. Listening to the shouts of the four enforcers, the angry martial practitioners that had gathered slowly retreated. They then rode four small crystalline chariots toward the other Flowing Gold Fire Phoenix.

This left just Qin Lie and his six companions.

Watching the last crystalline chariot depart for the other fire phoenix, Du Xiangyang sat down, sweat pouring from him.

“That frightened me half to death!” he exclaimed nervously.

Luo Chen had gripped the handle of his sword the entire time, his bulging tendons indicating that he had been extremely nervous as well.

Gao Yu gradually relaxed.

He had tensed up, prepared to summon the body of the Evil God to face the attacks of the four enforcers.

Song Tingyu, Xie Jingxuan, and Xue Moyan leaned against the walls of the wooden building, releasing long sighs.

All six of them had been terrified...

Xiang Xi and Bo Boze were in the early stage of the Fragmentation Realm. The other two enforcers were at the peak of the Fulfillment Realm. Including the hundreds of Fulfillment, Netherpassage, and Manifestation Realm martial practitioners, if this furious force had lost control and attacked them, they probably wouldn’t have been able to put up a fight.

As all six of them thought about this, they felt bitter and looked at Qin Lie accusingly.

Qin Lie still stood atop the wooden pagoda-shaped building. He turned his attention to the six people in the building below him, a strange expression on his face, and asked, “Why did they tolerate this?”

The moment he said this, the others went still. They suddenly wore thoughtful expressions.

—Why had Xiang Xi and the other Gold Sun Island martial practitioners tolerated this?

As his six companions pondered that question, Qin Lie thought to himself, then took out the slab of Thunderblitz wood he had put away and stood it atop the building.

The eight slabs of Thunderblitz wood regained their balance, and the attractive phenomenon began anew.

At this point in time, all of the Gold Sun Island martial practitioners had left. Only Qin Lie’s group remained on this fire phoenix. No one was there to interfere with their business.

Qin Lie looked at the sun, his gaze appearing somewhat strange as he sat in the center of the slabs of Thunderblitz wood.

As he channeled Heavenly Thunder Eradication, he released his soul consciousness and attracted the thunder and lightning energy to his True Soul to begin refining it.

The moment he released his soul consciousness, a wondrous change occurred!

“Zzt zzt zzt! Zzt z-zzt zt...

His invisible, intangible soul consciousness immediately came into contact with the potent streams of electricity coursing through the eight slabs of Thunderblitz wood—

—It suddenly became tangible.

Every thread of his soul consciousness quickly merged with the thunder and lightning energy to become actual threads of thunder and lightning.

The lightning that his soul consciousness had become happily swam between the slabs of Thunderblitz wood like numerous dazzling fish.

These fish multiplied, growing from just a few to hundreds and then thousands. They took up the space between the slabs of Thunderblitz wood and formed a net of lightning.

Strangely enough, the lightning that had been striking in every direction suddenly became a tame beast, striking only the air right above the center of the formation of Thunderblitz wood slabs.

“Clap clap! Boom boom boom...”

Astonishing streams of electricity flooded from the sky, dazzling like collapsing stars and forming thick bolts of lightning.

These bolts of lightning gathered at the center of the space between the eight slabs of Thunderblitz wood.

This barrage of lightning, which should have been extraordinarily destructive, became a thousand times weaker upon striking the net of lightning wrapped around the Thunderblitz wood. Each bolt of lightning became gentle, its furious electricity becoming a smooth flow that slowly spread throughout the net.

Qin Lie sat directly below this with his eyes closed, feeling the lightning with his mind consciousness.

He discovered that threads of electricity radiating pure auras of thunder and lightning energy were slowly entering his mind and filling it.

Those gentle threads of lightning slowly flooded his Soul Lake in a wondrous matter he couldn’t even begin to understand.

Like a river flowing into the ocean, these threads of electricity filled his Soul Lake with the power of thunder and lightning. Every single thread contained the purest, most refined energy of thunder and lightning.

This was the third stage of Heavenly Thunder Eradication—Thunder Lightning Soul Refinement!

Not only did this stage refine one’s True Soul, it also refined the Soul Lake that contained it!

Qin Lie had a completely new understanding of Thunder Lightning Soul Refinement, the third stage of Heavenly Thunder Eradication!

Forgetting the dangers that existed in the outside world and swallowing his worries, Qin Lie stayed on the fire phoenix floating through the clouds and focused on refining his True Soul and Soul Lake.

The rest of the group looked up at him atop the building.

Lightning flashed and danced between the eight slabs of Thunderblitz wood like happy fish in a pond.

In the depths of the clouds, brilliant lightning formed blazing pillars of energy that struck down and connected with the space at the center of the Thunderblitz wood formation.

Qin Lie sat amidst the lightning’s blinding light, his body a vague blur as countless bolts of lightning seemed to be striking and enveloping him.

“I think he really is just cultivating.” Du Xiangyang grimaced.

“Xiang Xi and those other people have really good tempers,” Luo Chen said, a strange expression on his face.

“According to my knowledge, Gold Sun Island’s chief enforcer is usually savage and impulsive,” Xue Moyan said, a serene look in her eyes. “I’ve never heard about him having a good temper.”

Song Tingyu smiled faintly and said, “It seems as though… Gold Sun Island may be more complex than we imagined.”

Xie Jingxuan had a weird feeling. “A great upheaval will probably occur in the not-so-distant future.”

“What to do now?” Gao Yu asked, frowning.

“We wait for Qin Lie to finish cultivating,” Song Tingyu replied. “And for chaos to take hold of Gold Sun Island.”

……

Hundreds of kilometers away, Xing Yuyuan stood atop the Flowing Cloud Fire Phoenix that carried him and his brother atop sea of clouds. He listened intently to a flashing crystal ball with an astonished expression.

A short while later, Xing Yuyuan’s expression became one of disbelief, and he soon began to snicker strangely.

His figure flashed, and he appeared next to Xing Yumiao inside of one of the buildings atop the fire phoenix.

“Big brother!” he said. “I’ve received an interesting piece of news.”

Xing Yumiao cautiously led him to a room and said, “Get in here and tell me.”

Soon enough, both brothers entered a secret room.

“My spy over on Xiang Xi’s Flowing Gold Fire Phoenix gave me an interesting bit of info,” Xing Yuyuan said. “Apparently, when that fake was cultivating, he caused a huge commotion and summoned thunder and lightning down from the heavens. He destroyed many of the buildings on Xiang Xi’s fire phoenix, killed at least thirty Manifestation Realm martial practitioners, and heavily wounded more than a dozen Netherpassage Realm martial practitioners.”

“He can do such a thing just by cultivating?” Xing Yumiao asked, clearly surprised. “Did he use any spirits artifacts?”

“Yes! He had the help of eight strange wooden pillars,” Xing Yuyuan said with a chuckle. “But that’s not the point! The important thing is, Xiang Xi tolerated it!”

“He tolerated it?” Shock finally showed on Xing Yumiao’s face. After a moment of thought, he asked, “When did Big Brother Xiang’s temper become so good?”

“His temper has never been good. I also find it illogical that he suddenly managed to tolerate something like that.” A cold smirk appeared on Xing Yuyuan’s face as he said, “Big brother, according to the information I’ve received, the reason he and the others tolerated this… was because they thought we were in the area! They thought we deliberately arranged for that brat to provoke them!”

“You arranging for the boy to go over there actually was provocation!” Xing Yumiao snorted icily.

“Hahaha!” Xing Yuyuan laughed happily. “Yes, arranging for him to stay there was supposed to be a provocation, but this brat has really exceeded my expectations! Hah… if he weren’t a member of Blood Fiend Sect, I would probably like him!”

“Big Brother Xiang’s actions are a bit strange,” Xing Yumiao said, worry showing in his eyes.

“If he didn’t have other intentions, would he tolerate this?” Xing Yuyuan asked, his expression grim. “Both of us understand how he is, how he conducts himself! In the past, even when facing Yao’er, he never had such a good temper!”

“I hope that Big Brother Xiang will remember his past with us and not do anything to disappoint me,” Xing Yumiao said with a sigh.

Now that the situation had progressed this far, he could also tell that something wasn’t right. He knew that Xiang Xi had a goal. Otherwise, things wouldn’t have gone this way.

“Ha! It seems like arranging for that brat to go over there was the right move after all!” Xing Yuyuan thought.