Xiao Bai gazed thoughtfully at the floating talisman in the center of his Spiritual Sea—it must have been the one that acted.
His Spiritual Sea had always been the safest place for him, all because the talisman treated it as its territory.
Nothing could cause trouble here.
He had personally witnessed that purple lightning before.
Although its aura was suppressed within his Spiritual Sea, Xiao Bai knew that the danger it emitted far exceeded the Heavenly Thunder from yesterday.
"I wonder when I'll be able to control the Purple Lightning?"
He murmured to himself, staring at the talisman.
The talisman remained completely unresponsive, not even a flicker of electricity appearing.
This was expected.
Xiao Bai let out a faint chuckle before shifting his gaze to his vast, empty Spiritual Sea.
Fortunately, the foundation remained intact. The headache was just a result of overstimulation. Relieved, he withdrew his consciousness.
Crossing his legs, Xiao Bai began cultivating The Heavenly Heart Perception Chapter. Since soul cultivation didn't require meridians, he decided to restore his Soul Power first.
Yao Lao sensed his actions but wasn't surprised.
From the day Xiao Bai left Wutan City, he had spent two hours every night cultivating his soul.
Had Yao Lao ever been shocked by this?
Yes—but long ago.
As for how Xiao Bai obtained a soul cultivation technique, Yao Lao never asked.
Every strong individual had their own fortuitous encounters. In the vast Dou Qi Continent, no expert reached the top without some form of opportunity.
This applied to him, to all the Dou Zun powerhouses, and even to the Ancient Clans—who were blessed simply by being born into their respective bloodlines.
Xiao Bai had considered this as well. He couldn't abandon his cultivation just because Yao Lao was around.
Besides, after learning that the talisman had disciplined Yao Lao on the day they left, he felt even less concerned.
Through both the novel's original story and their time together, Xiao Bai had developed a strong sense of trust in Yao Lao.
The old man was witty and humorous, never rigid or self-important. He didn't carry the typical elder's arrogance, nor did he demand absolute respect in every action.
Moreover, Yao Lao had a keen sense of discretion—he asked about things only when appropriate and refrained from prying when he shouldn't.
This made it easy and pleasant for Xiao Bai to interact with him.
With the roaring waterfall echoing in the background, two days quickly passed.
——
Xiao Bai stood up from the rock, feeling that his meridians had almost fully recovered. He stretched his limbs, and his joints cracked like popping beans. The numbness and pain had almost completely disappeared.
His gaze shifted to the green lightning sphere nestled back inside his liver, and he silently praised:
"Good boy, Xiao Yi!"
Xiao Yi had only hurt him during its first awakening. Since then, the little one had been diligently helping him without fail.
If it could take human form, Xiao Bai believed it would be a gentle and patient daughter, the kind who was reliable yet endearing. But who knew how long it would take for that to happen?
Setting aside his thoughts, Xiao Bai checked his Spiritual Sea.It had recovered about twenty percent.
He realized how difficult it was to restore soul power. Over the past two days, he had been cultivating day and night, yet he had only managed to recover this much. If it were Dou Qi, he could have fully restored it over ten times by now.
If not for The Heavenly Heart Perception Chapter being so unique, his recovery would have been even slower.
Occasionally, he could enter a state of harmony between Heaven and Man, greatly accelerating his Mental Energy regeneration.
Unfortunately, that state wasn't something he could control at will, and even when he entered it, the duration was brief.
He had a theory—perhaps this state would become longer and more stable once he advanced to the Spirit Realm.
Moreover, he had a strong feeling that his soul cultivation was nearing the peak of the Mortal Realm.
All he needed was the right opportunity to break through.
"If I could experience the same feeling I had when I first cultivated The Heavenly Heart Perception Chapter, I should be able to advance!"
Thinking back to his first cultivation experience, where he had broken through in a daze, Xiao Bai couldn't help but feel a bit speechless. Over the past year, he had tried countless times, but he had never again experienced the kind of breakthrough that came from simply sleeping through the night.
He shook his head. Since he couldn't figure it out for now, he decided not to overthink it. When his strength reached the right level, some things would naturally fall into place.
"Senior, we're ready to depart!"
After packing up the items inside the cave, Xiao Bai stepped out and called to Yao Lao, who was floating in the wind near the waterfall. Upon hearing Xiao Bai, Yao Lao transformed into a stream of light and entered the black ring.
Purple wings emerged behind Xiao Bai, but he did not enhance them with Xiao Bing.
The little guy still hadn't fully recovered, believed it would enjoy the environment once they reached the Tagor Desert.
With a push of his legs, Xiao Bai shot into the sky.
——
Jia Ma Empire, Mo City.
Due to its location on the edge of the desert, the weather was extremely hot and dry. Sandstorms often obscured the sun, and the environment was far from ideal.
In such a harsh environment, the city should have been sparsely populated. However, due to its position at the border between the desert and the green land, it was a vital gateway for the Jia Ma Empire to access the desert.
Every day, various merchant caravans and mercenaries hunting Magical Beasts in the desert passed through, making the city quite bustling.
At this moment, a purple streak of light cut through the distant sky, landing about a thousand meters from Mo City.
Looking at the city towering on the edge of the golden sand desert, Xiao Bai's travel-worn face broke into a smile.
"We've finally arrived!"
The past ten days had been quite exhausting for him. Despite being struck by lightning, his determination to fly remained, so he hadn't sought out a flying magical beast for faster travel.
Along the way, he had to fly a short distance and then stop to rest repeatedly. After all, his current cultivation level was still low, and he couldn't maintain a continuous flight while recovering, forming a circular flow of Dou Qi. He could only fly about two hundred miles before needing to stop and recover his Dou Qi.
"Finally here!" Yao Lao also sighed, but it wasn't because of the Heavenly Flames. It was because he had seen how much Xiao Bai enjoyed flying, and it made him feel exhausted.
He had never seen anyone as obsessed with flying as Xiao Bai. When they were nearing Black Rock City, Yao Lao had thought Xiao Bai didn't know about the flying Magical Beasts and had kindly reminded him.
But to his surprise, Xiao Bai had ignored him and flown straight over the city, not even bothering to land.
If they had used a flying beast, they could have arrived five days earlier, but now, it had taken them until now.
"Hehe~" Hearing Yao Lao's somewhat exasperated sigh, Xiao Bai chuckled. He understood the old man's thoughts but didn't say anything.
His decision to fly wasn't just because he had just obtained the wings and couldn't resist playing around. More importantly, he had discovered that each time he exhausted his Dou Qi and then replenished it, it helped him quickly absorb the remaining thunder-attribute energy from the heavenly lightning in his body.
After all, Xiao Yi had only cleaned the energy from his meridians, leaving a lot of energy still within his physical body. This was an opportunity to help him consume some of it.
Through more than half a month of flying and traveling, constantly consuming and recovering, his cultivation level had reached the peak of the Nine-Star Dou Shi, and he was now on the verge of breaking through.
Once he found a suitable place, he could begin his breakthrough into Dou Grandmaster.
As for his physical strength, he was quite confident in facing the next Lightning Seed. After being struck by Heavenly Thunder, his body had been strengthened somewhat.
From his estimates, he could now fight against a Dou Grandmaster with his physical strength alone without any problem. As for Dou Ling, he hadn't tested it yet, so he wasn't sure for now.
Thinking about this, Xiao Bai felt a slight excitement for the upcoming next Lightning Seed.