Reaching the summit of the mountain, Li Guanqi was utterly stunned by the sight before him.
This was the first time he had ever seen anyone gather a heavenly tribulation thunder pool using formations and similar methods.
Stretched out below his feet was a thunder pool well over ten zhang deep.
Dense, interwoven lightning surged together like a purple sea, except that the surface of the waters churned with dense lightning glow.
The lightning-attribute spiritual power in the surrounding air was exceptionally active, and the thick spiritual qi had nearly condensed into a thin layer of mist.
The rumbling thunder hissed and screeched like the cries of thousands of birds and beasts.
Standing at the edge of the thunder pool, Li Guanqi could not help but swallow hard.
Just then, the sword spirit's figure slowly manifested beside the pool, nodding slightly as she looked down at the depths.
"It seems this thunder pool has been accumulating for quite some time. Just right."
At this moment, Li Guanqi still had no idea what she meant by "just right."
He then took out all the demon beast blood essence, spreading his hands. "What do I do next?"
With an indifferent expression, the sword spirit said, "Strip naked and jump in."
Li Guanqi gasped in shock. "What?"
"Strip? Jump in?"
"Sister... this is a heavenly tribulation thunder pool! Do you really think it's fine for me to just dive straight in like that?"
The sword spirit sneered. "It merely contains a wisp of heavenly tribulation lightning's aura. The rest is just naturally formed lightning. What are you afraid of?
"Besides, without the help of the thunder pool, it will be nearly impossible for you to even cross the threshold of the blood-tempering first layer."
Li Guanqi gritted his teeth. The thought of that extraordinarily formidable technique was simply too tempting.
Looking at the sword spirit somewhat bashfully, he said, "Um... could you turn around?"
The sword spirit glanced down slightly and scoffed. "It's not as if I haven't seen it before. Stop acting innocent."
Li Guanqi's face flushed with awkwardness, but on second thought, he wasn't the one losing out anyway! Strip it was!
Once he figured that out, paired with his naturally thick skin, he briskly stripped himself stark naked in a few quick motions.
Yet when it came down to it, the sword spirit's expression turned slightly unnatural, and she averted her gaze.
Seeing this, Li Guanqi burst into hearty laughter. Placing his hands on his hips at the edge of the thunder pool, he remarked, "Aiya, that feels so refreshing indeed.
"Sister Sword Spirit, don't be shy! Haven't you seen plenty? Why now—whoa! I'm not ready yet!"
Splash!!
A massive force slammed into him, kicking him straight down into the thunder pool.
The sword spirit glanced down at Li Guanqi, whose head alone poked above the surface, and said, "You must drink all of the demon beast blood essence.
"Then refine and purify the power within that blood essence, claiming it as your own!
"Use it to initiate the first layer of the Dragon Elephant Prison-Suppressing Art."
Li Guanqi took a deep breath and nodded heavily. "Don't worry!"
Immediately after, the sword spirit slowly faded away. Feeling the surging, turbulent lightning power around him, Li Guanqi was secretly alarmed.
Gritting his teeth, he dropped the primal energy barrier coating the surface of his body!
Boom!
In the span of a single breath, Li Guanqi's skin was charred pitch-black.
His hair was incinerated instantly, and even his eyebrows were burned away.
His entire body was rendered completely smooth... in any case, wherever hair had once grown, none remained.
The pervasive lightning power permeated every pore. Li Guanqi felt his entire body go numb, entirely unable to control his limbs.
He swallowed the spirit fruit he had purchased earlier, which was said to enhance comprehension.
The moment he swallowed it, a refreshing coolness washed over his mind, ensuring he could still maintain the ability to think within the thunder pool.
Wave after wave of excruciating pain relentlessly battered his mind.
Li Guanqi bit off a large chunk of flesh from his own lip. The sweet, metallic taste of blood flooded his mouth, jolting him awake.
He brought out the jars containing the demon beast blood essence, only to freeze in place.
Looking at the massive jar before him, which stood nearly half a person tall, Li Guanqi swallowed hard and shouted, "Sister Sword Spirit?! Don't tell me I have to drink this much?!"
He waited for a long time, but no one answered.
And there were eight jars of this size in total...
Purple arcs of lightning constantly crackled from within his body. Enduring the agonizing pain, Li Guanqi threw his head back and chugged the jar of blood essence!
Gulp, gulp, gulp!
Li Guanqi's belly swelled at a speed visible to the naked eye.
After a long while, Li Guanqi rolled his eyes back, fighting down the churning nausea in his stomach as he set the jar down.
Demon beast blood naturally carried a foul, rancid stench that was worse than slop.
Setting the jar aside, Li Guanqi felt as if a ball of raging fire was burning inside him.
Aside from the monster core, a demon beast's blood essence held considerable power.
Moreover, the beasts Chu Xingxian had procured for him were all fourth-rank demon beasts comparable to the Nascent Soul realm!
Surging power continuously battered Li Guanqi's Nascent Soul.
Trembling all over, Li Guanqi began circulating the Dragon Elephant Prison-Suppressing Art.
As his Nascent Soul began refining the power of the blood essence, he gradually found the knack for it.
His comprehension of the Dragon Elephant Prison-Suppressing Art deepened as well.
Li Guanqi felt a flicker of joy and began actively absorbing the surrounding lightning power to assist in refining the blood essence within him.
After an unknown amount of time, the blood essence inside him was completely refined.
Seeing that the jar before him still had half remaining, Li Guanqi pinched his nose and gulped it down anyway.
The moment it went down, he slapped a hand over his mouth, nearly spewing it back out.
The sickening stench almost made him vomit, but he forced down the nausea and resumed refining.
Two more shichen passed, and a trace of earthen elephant strength faintly emerged within Li Guanqi's blood!
Then came the second jar!
The third, the fourth...
By this point, Li Guanqi's eyes were already rolling back in his head...
A hazy scarlet mist wrapped around him, and as his muscles twisted and shifted, his body expanded by a whole circle.
He had grown somewhat taller than before as well.
Even the scars on his body were gradually vanishing.
Gradually, primal energy surged around Li Guanqi, and the surrounding lightning frantically drilled into his body to be refined.
The entire process was excruciatingly painful, like a long blade scraping against bone and stripping away flesh.
Li Guanqi's eyes turned blood-red and his body shook violently, letting the lightning pierce through his flesh and blood.
With his teeth clamped shut, his mouth was full of metallic-tasting blood, but he knew he had to hold on!
No matter what, he had to persevere!
"Ah! Refine for me!"
He roared silently in his heart, howling again and again to keep himself enduring.
Gradually, the aura upon him grew steadier, yet that steadiness was continuously climbing!
The moment he downed the final jar of blood essence, suddenly—
Boom!
A terrifying, peerless pressure abruptly erupted from Li Guanqi's body, his aura instantly soaring into the mid-Nascent Soul realm!
At the same time, a golden dragon and a colossal white elephant abruptly materialized around him!
The two phantoms roared toward the heavens simultaneously, and Li Guanqi's physical body surged with terrifying power at this moment!
By now, half of the lightning power in the thunder pool had been absorbed by him!
With his entry into the technique, his mastery advanced by leaps and bounds over the next three full days.
Behind him, three more giant dragons and white elephants materialized!
The fourth layer of the Dragon Elephant Prison-Suppressing Art!
Buzz!
When the very last streak of lightning in the thunder pool vanished, Li Guanqi slowly opened his eyes.
Two beams of lightning power shot from his eyes, blasting a deep crater into the ground before him.
Li Guanqi rose slowly. He was now half a head taller than before, his frame lean, muscular, well-proportioned, and straight!
The charred skin peeled away inch by inch like a molting shell, revealing fair skin beneath.
A sharp gleam flashed in Li Guanqi's eyes. Clenching both fists, he threw a sudden punch!
Thump! Boom!
That single punch shattered half a mountain peak!
Feeling the roaring power coursing through him, all the agony he had endured earlier proved entirely worth it!
Right now, he felt that with his physical strength alone, he could easily obliterate a Nascent Soul cultivator!
And effortlessly so...
A gentle breeze swept by, and Li Guanqi suddenly felt a chill. Looking down, he hurriedly put his clothes back on.
Chapter 308