"He embraces the true essence of heaven and earth, masters the transformations of the six energies, and roams freely through the infinite."
Soaring freely through the sky, a line from Xiaoyaoyou suddenly flashed through Xiao Bai's mind. Gazing at the vast earth below and the boundless sky above, he felt as if he had momentarily broken free from long-standing restraints, filling his heart with an exhilarating sense of liberation.
At this moment, the energy wings behind him shimmered in a purplish-red hue—an experiment born from a sudden idea.
With Xiao Bing's augmentation, his speed had indeed increased significantly. According to Yao Lao, it was now comparable to that of a Dou Huang. However, the energy consumption was equally substantial.
Comparing the two, without Xiao Bing's support, his Dou Qi allowed him to fly roughly 200 li. But with Xiao Bing, the distance was cut in half.
"Looks like I need to extend my flight range," Xiao Bai thought to himself.
Just then, the sky abruptly darkened, and fierce winds howled, causing his robes to flutter violently. Xiao Bai glanced up—it had changed so quickly. Just moments ago, the weather had been fine, but now it seemed like a storm was brewing.
As he was preparing to descend, a sudden rumbling thunderclap exploded above his head, startling him.
Realizing what had happened, Xiao Bai shook his head with a bitter smile. Though he now cultivated the power of thunder, some habits from his past life still lingered. He couldn't help but curse at himself.
Pathetic! And you call yourself a lightning cultivator? Damn it, you actually flinched at a thunderclap!
After berating himself, another peal of thunder roared overhead, followed by another and another. Xiao Bai decided it was best to descend for now—this wasn't the time to challenge the wrath of the heavens.
However, just as he was about to leave, he suddenly sensed an unusual movement from the two Thunder Seeds within him. A faint surge of longing was transmitted to him, as if they wished for him to stay.
"What the hell—Xiao Yi, Xiao Bing, are you two trying to get me killed?!"
Xiao Bai was speechless. These two little troublemakers were willing to risk his life just for a bite of food? Truly unfilial!
He was about to ignore their plea and descend when, to his shock, the two Thunder Seeds forcefully emerged from his body, floating behind his head.
The moment they appeared, the lightning within the clouds seemed to recognize kin, instantly converging toward him.
Above, dark clouds loomed oppressively, flickering with arcs of lightning. Peals of thunder echoed ominously through the sky.
As if responding to the celestial thunder, the two Thunder Seeds behind Xiao Bai also released their aura. Within a ten-meter radius, green and red lightning intertwined, crackling ominously around him.
At that moment, Xiao Bai found himself unable to move. A deep, instinctual feeling warned him—any movement would invite a direct strike from above. A real lightning strike.
The overwhelming might of heaven bore down on him, making his Late Mortal Realm soul feel utterly insignificant—less than an ant.
"Damn it, I'm going to die because of you two brats!" Xiao Bai cursed.
But soon, a fierce determination rose in his heart. He lifted his head, staring into the swirling storm above. If this world had no tribulation lightning, then what exactly was this heavenly thunder trying to do?
"An ant, huh? Heh…"
If he couldn't leave, then he wouldn't.
If he survived this, he would shatter his lingering fear of lightning from his past life and be reborn anew!
On the ground, Yao Lao was left utterly dumbfounded, nearly pulling out his own beard in shock.
From afar, the sky had darkened completely, thick clouds roiling, arcs of lightning rampaging within. Deafening thunderclaps resounded through the heavens. Xiao Bai, wreathed in green and red lightning, looked like a god of thunder, commanding the power of the heavens. It was as if he were preparing to wield divine judgment upon all living beings below.
"What the hell is this kid doing?" Yao Lao wondered, seeing Xiao Bai standing motionless in the air, occasionally glancing upward.
Even a Dou Zun wouldn't dare to recklessly challenge such heavenly might. This was no mere seventh or eighth-tier Pill Lightning—those were predictable, limited in number.
This thunder was born from the convergence of yin and yang energies between heaven and earth, stretching across hundreds, even thousands of li.
The power of such natural lightning was highly unpredictable. Sometimes, an untrained mortal could survive a direct strike, while other times, even a Dou Zun could suffer severe injuries or even perish. Because of this uncertainty, lightning cultivators in the Dou Qi Continent rarely relied on heavenly lightning to accelerate their cultivation.
Xiao Bai waited for quite some time, watching as the silver lightning danced wildly within the clouds. Yet, not a single bolt struck him, leaving him feeling somewhat frustrated.
This sensation—having a sword hanging over his head yet never falling—was the most agonizing. He had already prepared to use every means at his disposal to withstand a direct strike from the thunderclouds.
Sensing the overwhelming concentration of lightning energy around him, Xiao Bai decided to make the most of the situation. He activated his cultivation technique—this was not an opportunity to waste. Never before had he felt such a dense surge of lightning energy. If he could continue cultivating in this environment, it wouldn't be long before he reached the Dou Zun realm.
As soon as his cultivation technique began circulating, the two Thunder Seeds behind him became more active. The green and red lightning intensified, directly reaching into the thunderclouds and drawing down strands of silver lightning, absorbing them into their forms.
"You scared the hell out of me! If you were going to steal from the heavens, you could've said so earlier!"
Xiao Bai let out a relieved sigh. Damn it, he had thought the two Thunder Seeds were making him stay just to endure a direct heavenly strike, but it turned out they were here to harvest the lightning!
Feeling reassured, Xiao Bai focused entirely on cultivation. He could already sense that he was close to breaking through from Eight-Star Dou Master to Nine-Star.
At the entrance of a cave below, Yao Lao had initially been quite worried. But when he saw that Xiao Bai was not only unharmed but had actually sat down midair to cultivate, he felt both relieved and speechless.
This brat had nerves of steel! He was so obsessed with accelerating his cultivation that he didn't even care about his own life. With his talent, even cultivating at a normal pace would lead to a bright future—why go to such insane extremes?
In the sky, after about fifteen minutes, Xiao Bai sensed the moment of breakthrough approaching. He had compressed his Dou Qi several times, but now he could suppress it no longer.
Seeing that his two Thunder Seeds were still playing around, he made his decision—he would break through here and now!
As he released his suppression, the liquid Dou Qi vortex within his dantian began spinning rapidly, generating a powerful suction force.
The dense lightning energy in the air surged toward him instantly—too much! There was simply too much energy for him to absorb at once. And it was exceptionally pure, requiring almost no refining before being stored in his dantian.
The sensation was incredible!
As Xiao Bai continued absorbing the thundercloud's lightning energy, his actions seemed to provoke a response from the storm. The clouds churned violently, and suddenly, a bolt of silver lightning, as thick as a child's arm, shot straight toward him.
At that moment, he was at the critical juncture of his breakthrough—he couldn't move. His only option was to quickly construct several soul-force barriers in the lightning's path.
Just as he finished forming the barriers, the green and red lightning around him surged toward the incoming lightning.
The silver bolt split apart just before reaching him, dividing into two streams that were instantly absorbed by Xiao Yi and Xiao Bing.
That strike seemed to act as a trigger. Moments later, a second bolt—twice as thick as the first—came crashing down.
Xiao Bai knew that this wasn't a tribulation with a targeted lock like Heavenly Tribulation Lightning. Rather, the sheer concentration of lightning energy around him was drawing the thunder down.
Seeing that his two Thunder Seeds were struggling to absorb this one as quickly as before, Xiao Bai's eye twitched.
He had to speed up his breakthrough—there was no time to waste!