Thunder

Thunder roared and lightning raged. Silvery-white lightning flowed backward up the spear tip, permeating outward past six feet. Torrential rain continued to pour in the distance, yet the raindrops nearby hovered in midair, turning into round, sparkling beads of water that continually evaporated and shrank within the lightning. The bright lantern in Changxiao's hand shone ever brighter, whittling down the lightning piece by piece, only to reveal that the spear was gripped in a fair-skinned hand. The lightning surged familiarly up the wrist, dancing onto the sleeve adorned with purple-and-white plumage. Only then did he clearly see a female cultivator standing before him. She had a high nose bridge, willow-leaf brows, and almond eyes filled with flowing purple qi. Her black hair cascaded like a waterfall, a dot of purple marked the center of her brow, and dense lightning climbed all the way up, converging behind her into a colossal disc of purple and white. Whether this disc was a divine ability or a spiritual tool remained unclear; it was as vast as a mountain, densely covered in fractured patterns of lightning. Suspended over the sea, the female cultivator at its center resembled a dark bird floating within it, her spear pointing straight ahead at the center of Changxiao's brow. The waves on the sea quickly subsided, and the waters rapidly calmed. The rain that should have fallen was drawn by origin magnetism, beads hovering over the sea's surface, shrinking until they vanished without a trace. For a moment, the sea became smooth as a mirror and grew increasingly clear, reflecting the mountain-sized disc of lightning and the bird-like woman. Carrying his bright lantern, dense white smoke reconverged around Changxiao. With the purple-and-white lightning between heaven and earth mirrored in his pupils, Changxiao spoke softly: "Are you a dragon?" *Rumble!* A vast expanse of thunder abruptly resounded through heaven and earth. The silver spear spun backward and planted itself into the lightning with a resounding clang. Draped in lightning robes of purple-and-white plumage and wearing boots patterned with dense shattered silver, the female cultivator stood in empty air. The long feathers on her outer robe lengthened bit by bit, trailing through the lightning. Her voice was clear and cold, ringing out alongside the thunder in heaven and earth: "I am thunder." In an instant, a bolt of silvery-white lightning as thick as a bucket crashed down from the heavens. Changxiao reacted with exceptional speed; his silver disc with profound patterns instantly shifted above his head. The Taiyin brilliance held out for a brief moment amidst the silver lightning before flaring intensely—evidently reinforced by Changxiao's divine ability and Dharmic powers. *Rumble!* This crack of thunder arrived a moment later, booming with even greater majesty. The silver disc swayed in response, flashing with rapid intensity. Changxiao watched in silence. The purple-and-white lightning had already surged like a tidal wave, rippling back and forth within the dark clouds, casting the hazy silhouette in the sky into reflection. The bright lantern in his hand grew brighter and brighter. The mirror-like sea was blanketed by purple-and-white lightning, mirroring the gigantic disc of thunder both above and below. Yet in the distance, a speck of bright gold began to rise. "Dawn has broken." The morning sun slowly leaped over the horizon. The long night had passed, and sunlight pierced through the dark clouds, casting over Changxiao's face and deepening the contemplation in his willow-leaf eyes. The Real Person understood that as time slipped away, everything had lost its meaning. Even if he subdued his opponent with his divine abilities, he would no longer be able to find any trace of Li Ximing further east. Although the Sangyu Canjiu Mysterious Method could locate him, Li Ximing was also of the Violet Palace and would not be so foolish as to turn back. Furthermore, Audience at the Heavenly Gate excelled at suppressing and whittling away threats, so he would surely suppress the spell while fleeing, and his trail was now lost. Changxiao's cultivation, years, and experience were far from ordinary, and he quickly made his judgment: given the current situation, the dragon kind could never step onto the field. The woman before him could only be a fortunate one who had received the favor of lightning within a grotto-heaven. Changxiao lifted his head and spoke coldly: "I presume Fellow Daoist gained an opportunity while devouring lightning, becoming lightning under the dragons' fold. Yet with a cultivation barely at the Violet Palace, you dare display such grand airs. "I merely passed through the sea territory under your watch, and it is understandable that you wish to aid the bloodline from your mortal past. Out of respect for the dragons, I will no longer pursue the matter of Li Ximing." He raised his bright lantern and prepared to traverse the Great Void to depart, only to find lightning erupting violently between heaven and earth. Purple-and-white lightning cascaded like a waterfall. Changxiao's expression grew cold as he turned his head. The lightning that had gathered in heaven and earth for so long roared in unison. Countless aquatic beasts churned upon the sea, innumerable silver and azure scales and limbs thrusting high out of the water before quickly sinking back down. Suspended within the disc of the lightning pool covered in fractured thunder markings, the woman watched as the dark clouds of the thunderstorm converged toward the disc like stars surrounding the moon, enshrining the lightning-pool disc between heaven and sea. "Well, I intend to pursue it," her clear, bright voice echoed between heaven and earth: "After all, the dragons have face, but you, Fellow Daoist, have none." *** East of the East Sea. The immense thunderstorm had just passed, and the torrential rain over the Qu Sea had also ceased. Only a few spinning wooden planks remained on the water, swirling in whirlpools. A damp, cold wind blew in from the shore. Reaching the coast, fluctuations rippled through the Great Void, and a streak of light ascended. The moment this celestial light appeared, raging flames manifested around it, scorching the sea until white steam billowed. Skimming across the sea's surface, it sped away and quickly descended toward a nearby island. Touching down, the celestial light resolved into a cultivator in platinum Daoist robes, who stumbled forward a few hurried paces before collapsing to his knees. Earlier, when Li Ximing escaped from the rainstorm, he noticed that Changxiao seemed to be facing some trouble. Seizing the opening without looking back, he had flown madly forward before escaping into the Great Void. In the seas east of the East Sea, travel speed through the Great Void was astonishingly swift. Sensing none of his pursuer's aura, and harboring the thought that the further east he went the harder he would be to detect, he kept his Taiyin Mysterious Light in reserve and simply flew forward with all his might. He did not know how long he had flown, but gradually, faint specks of various sizes appeared in the Great Void ahead, and an edge could be discerned in the far distance. Only then did Li Ximing suddenly realize: *I've already reached the Cape of the Seas!* The Great Void behind him was dead silent; evidently Changxiao had failed to catch up. Not daring to be careless, Li Ximing dragged his heavily injured body along this desolate and uninhabited expanse, turning southward to fly for most of a day. After scanning with the Immortal Mirror to confirm no one was around, he finally emerged into the mundane realm. Now kneeling upon the sandy shore, he kicked up a shower of sand, revealing ghastly white bones buried beneath. On the sea, broken pieces of wood still drifted and swirled. Li Ximing could not help but cough violently. "Cough, cough..." He spat out a mouthful of brilliant, radiant blood. As it struck the sand and rocks, it clattered like stone, scattering into dense white stone powder and tiny vermin that scuttled off in all directions. A few drops that collected in hollows gathered more blood and turned into clams, remaining stationary within the rock crevices instead. The flames of the Sangyu Canjiu Mysterious Method continued to flicker across his body, scorching the yellow sand until it melted and fused into sheets of crystalline rock. Li Ximing felt a burning heat throughout his body; his Dharmic body was undoubtedly in grave condition. "Hahaha... cough, cough... Hahahaha!" Li Ximing laughed as he coughed. There was no distress in his heart; instead, relief from surviving the disaster predominated. He had long prepared himself to sacrifice his spiritual tools, or even his Dharmic body! He had been ready to preserve only a speck of Shengyang and use the Taiyin Mysterious Light to blast Changxiao to death. Had Changxiao died, endless troubles would surely have followed, no fewer than if Changxiao lived. Now, Changxiao was alive and he had managed to escape, even preserving the Mountain-Driving Sea-Crossing Tiger and his Dharmic body. Though heavily wounded and afflicted by the spell, this was far better than he had dared to hope! He stood up. The white vermin covering the ground still flailed their slender, pale limbs. Suppressing the pain in his spiritual sense, Li Ximing glanced at them and commanded softly: "Return." The moment his voice fell, a sudden gust of wind swept across the ground, blowing all the scattered white stone chips and dust before him. The white bugs swarmed back in a rush, and the clams in the rock crevices leaped over one after another, clustering into a heap before him to immolate themselves in purple flames. *...This blood, injured and afflicted by the spell, can no longer be reabsorbed into my Dharmic body and transformed into Mingyang manifestations... In ordinary times it wouldn't matter, but in my weakened state, I cannot leave behind anything for others to divine.* Taking a step, Li Ximing noticed a sand louse demon beast beneath the sand. Though it had not yet gained intelligence, its cultivation was decent; it already understood that a terrifying entity had arrived on the shore and curled into a trembling ball beneath the sand. The white bones he had seen earlier... were likely the remains of its prey. Unwilling to expose his whereabouts, he fought back an urge to cough and stomped his foot, burning the sand louse to nothingness. Turning around, he found a reef, leaned against it to sit down, and inspected his injuries. His Dharmic body had been scorched by true fire several times, causing slight cracks across his back, and his shoulders had been punctured with several holes by Taiyin light. Changxiao's spells favored feminine Yin subtleties and curses; although the Dharmic body lacked massive tears, its overall condition was far from optimistic. Shengyang was a crucial aperture of the Violet Palace. Affected by the Sangyu Canjiu Mysterious Method, it ached faintly, though Li Ximing had no idea what medium Changxiao had used to affect it. Meanwhile, black flames rolled within his Juque, and two types of fire—one invisible, one pitch-black—intertwined across the surface of his body, scorching away his divine ability and Dharmic powers, causing them to steadily decline. Reigning in his thoughts, his gaze swept over the shattered wood of boats drifting on the sea. "I do not know which outer sea this is, but people live here... That suits me well enough." Li Ximing had no fear that this remote corner of the world, sparse in spiritual qi, could harbor any formidable figures. Even if he were injured to the point of running out of Dharmic power and his Dharmic body were on the verge of collapse, killing a Foundation Establishment cultivator would take nothing more than a flick of his sleeve. Qi Refinement and Embryonic Breathing cultivators were even less of a concern—a single breath or a glare would suffice. "Unless a Violet Palace cultivator happens to pass through here, I have little reason to be wary." The flames raged on his body. Not wanting the coast to be pitted and scorched into obvious tracks, Li Ximing suppressed them with his Mingyang divine ability. Taking two steps, the black flames within his Juque Court surged violently, rising to contend against the purple Mingyang fire. Li Ximing moved to suppress it with his divine ability, yet as soon as the black fire in the Juque subsided, the flames on his body's surface suddenly surged outward, nearly rupturing the divine ability to scorch through his skin and incinerate everything around him. "What a bizarre spell. The inner and outer flames are of one body: suppress the surface flames, and the fire in the Juque flourishes; lower the Juque fire, and the surface fire flares wildly... This must be the Douxuan orthodoxy." For now, Li Ximing could only let the flames rage within his Juque. Riding the light forward, he took a single stride and manifested within the mountain forests at the center of the island. Several villages and settlements nestled amidst the woods. Their thatched roofs were pale yellow, mostly wooden structures, with the best among them being mere adobe stone huts. Sweeping his gaze downward, Li Ximing judged from the buildings that even if cultivators existed below, none would exceed the Yujing Wheel. Sure enough, descending to take a look, Li Ximing saw that those below were all barbarians. Not only did they lack cultivation, but they also chattered in uncivilized tongues, babbling unintelligibly. His wounds grew heavier, leaving him no time for trifles. Glancing once more, he saw roughly ten thousand barbarians below. Though lacking cultivation, they possessed their own ways of survival: they had erected a stone altar piled with eviscerated blood offerings. Crimson blood flowed down, and beneath the altar crouched a tiger demon, burly and robust, tilting its head back to lap up the blood. This tiger demon appeared to possess Qi Refinement cultivation, yet from its appearance, it was merely an uncivilized beast from the ends of the earth. Not only was its cultivation impure and chaotic, but it could not even refine blood offerings properly, simply drinking the blood directly. Not bothering with a second look, Li Ximing raised a finger and blew gently. A wisp of purple flame immediately drifted from midair and descended upon the ground. Given no time to react, the tiger demon was still lifting its head to drink when it was incinerated into ash in an instant. Pandemonium broke out below. The kneeling, kowtowing barbarians were struck dumb. After a moment of hesitation, they seemed to think the tiger demon had ridden the wind away, and they could only collect their blood offerings and scatter in retreat. *Lucky for you, it was me who arrived... Had it been any other Violet Palace cultivator, a bunch of barbarians who aren't even of my kin wouldn't even make for two bites.* Li Ximing took a brief glance before activating the Mountain-Driving Sea-Crossing Tiger to execute the Mountain-Driving Mysterious Escape, slipping underground beneath the island. He had searched carefully through the Great Void for a long time before settling on this island. Though sparse in spiritual qi, its earth veins, water veins, and fire veins were all present and adequately intricate, while its terrain was stable and resilient to disturbance—well able to withstand his cultivation. After all, he did not know how to set formations, and he was injured; if he healed in an ordinary place, the surroundings would inevitably manifest Mingfang stones, gray cicadas, or gardenias, inviting unwanted suspicion. Trekking through the earth veins for a while, Li Ximing found a relatively gentle spot where earth and water veins intertwined. Setting down a formation disc with a flick of his sleeve, he sat down cross-legged. Within his Juque Court, the fire was already burning out of control. With a flash of his Audience at the Heavenly Gate divine ability, he brought it crashing down with immense effort. *Boom!* Violent black flames instantly erupted across his body, billowing and spreading along with a deafening rumble. Fire within the earth immediately condensed into a pool of fire fiend, scorching the surrounding earth veins until they churned endlessly. The Sangyu Canjiu Mysterious Method was extraordinary on its own, and unleashed with full force by Changxiao—a late Violet Palace cultivator who had crossed the celestial threshold—it proved astonishingly stubborn. Far from being worn down, the strike provoked its full potency, causing a convulsion throughout the earth veins. Li Ximing could not help spitting out a mouthful of blood, which he burned to nothingness in an instant. Pushing Audience at the Heavenly Gate to its utmost, he forced all the flames out of his Juque Court, channeling them to his flanks. Although Li Ximing had never studied the Sangyu Canjiu Mysterious Method, he could grasp its nature by now. By all indications, once afflicted by this spell, it should have escalated in severity; but Li Ximing's divine ability was Audience at the Heavenly Gate, which excelled in suppression and grinding attrition, preventing the curse from gaining an inch. Now, he felt no fear. Channeling Audience at the Heavenly Gate with full strength, it manifested within his Juque Court as a brilliant white heavenly gate carved with intricate patterns. Amidst colored clouds, dragon banners and phoenix carriages dissolved into radiance, whittling away at the intrusion bit by bit. Mingyang had, after all, been the orthodoxy of the State of Wei, former hegemon of the north; apart from facing a handful of specific rival orthodoxies, its flaws were vanishingly few. Not only did Audience at the Heavenly Gate enjoy the bolstering of his Dharmic body, but it could also hold its ground against a spell as domineering as the Sangyu Canjiu Mysterious Method. As one of the divine abilities most adept at grinding and suppression, it immediately forced the black flames of the Sangyu Canjiu Mysterious Method to dim, causing them to decay at a tiny, imperceptible rate.