Chương 125: The Thunder That Remakes

In this world, there are always some people who just can't read the room. They saw only Huaijin's cultivation level, never once stopping to consider how he'd managed to survive the chaos of the netherpassage cold pool. Beneath the black robe, a flicker of mockery passed through Huaijin's eyes. Lightning crackled in his palm. Deep within his dantian, the dormant Bing Yang Thunder seed exploded to life. Dazzling crimson arcs leaped from his hand, painting the air in streaks of furious light.

In an instant, sparks bloomed around his body like fireflies stirred from slumber. The dense lightning energy condensed into countless embers, burning bright and fierce. Then, like a meteor shower cascading from the heavens, they fragmented into hundreds of searing projectiles.

"Thunderbolt Falling Stars!" Huaijin's voice was low, almost a whisper, but the lightning that answered was anything but quiet. This was a Tier 2 technique he had forged from the essence of the Bing Yang Thunder itself: a devastating area-of-effect spell born of brutal refinement. At the fifth level of Foundation Establishment, his full combat strength erupted without restraint. Lightning-attribute techniques, amplified by his supreme grade Dao Foundation, surged to four or even five times their normal might.

At that moment, Huaijin was no longer merely a cultivator, he was a god of thunder made flesh. Crimson lightning fractured into a hundred scarlet comets, descending upon the three Foundation Establishment cultivators like divine judgment. A single, casual strike, and it carried power enough to rival the peak of Foundation Establishment. BOOM! The crimson torrent unleashed a cataclysm of raw energy, lightning tearing through everything in its path.

The terrain of Wenshui County was a maze of lakes and waterways, and lightning, amplified by water, became a force of nature twice as deadly. The three cultivators barely had time to summon their defenses before they were overwhelmed. Their spirit artifacts spiderwebbed with cracks. Their protective auras shattered. Their bodies convulsed under the relentless barrage. Fifteen breaths passed. Then the lightning faded.

The three cultivators lay charred and blackened, the sickly-sweet stench of cooked flesh hanging thick in the air. Their bodies twitched, wisps of green smoke curling from scorched skin. Flesh had split open. Their eyes, once full of arrogance, now held only primal terror. The light in those eyes dimmed, breath by breath, until nothing remained but regret. A regret that came far too late. THUD. Three corpses hit the ground in unison, lifeless. One strike. Three kills.

Huaijin hadn't said a single word from the moment they barred his path. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. The surviving Tier 2 cultivators nearby felt as though ice water had been poured down their spines, a chill that crawled straight up to the roots of their hair. They stared at that lone, upright figure in the black robe, and not one of them could suppress a shudder.

Huaijin moved unhurriedly, collecting their storage pouches with practiced ease. Then, with the same calm detachment, he placed the corpses into a separate pouch, reserved exclusively for Haihu's (tiger) meals. To every enemy he felled, this was the fate that awaited. Only after finishing his work did Huaijin glance briefly at the onlookers. Then, without a word, he drifted away like a shadow. Silence reigned in his wake.

"... Did I see that right? He's only at the fifth level of Foundation Establishment?" One of the spectators finally broke the stillness, his voice hoarse.

"Thank the heavens we didn't step forward. Otherwise…" The other cultivator couldn't finish the thought. His gaze drifted to the three blackened corpses, and a tremor ran through him.

"In all of Qingtai Prefecture, how many cultivators even practice lightning techniques?"

"Fifth level Foundation Establishment. Three kills in a single breath, and one of them was at the sixth level. Where did a monster like this even come from?" They stared at the cracked, lightning-scarred ground, and despite themselves, the fear in their eyes refused to fade. —— Three days later, Huaijin returned to Purple Cloud Peak.

"Here, a gift for you." Dressed in flowing white robes, he tossed Jiang Wenyin's preserved corpse into the lake. He'd kept it stored for years. Feeding it to Haihu would have been wasteful. The Pine Fish, on the other hand... that was a different story.

"Oh? Not bad! My master actually remembered me!" A voice rumbled from the lake's depths, equal parts surprise and amusement. Without further ceremony, the Pine Fish began to feast. Before an incense stick could burn to ash, Jiang Wenyin's corpse had vanished completely.

"Ahhh... now that hit the spot." The Pine Fish burst through the surface with a satisfied belch, its fishy eyes gleaming with contentment. When it looked at Huaijin, there was something almost like affection in its gaze.

"Guard Purple Cloud Peak well," Huaijin said, dangling the promise of future rewards like a thread of silk.

"There will be plenty more where that came from." He tossed the second storage pouch, the one packed with corpses, toward Haihu.

"Don't gorge yourself. Share some with the Blazing Sun Chicken. We still need it to turn a profit, after all." Haihu caught the pouch and immediately sensed the rich aura within. Its violet eyes lit up like lanterns. Following Huaijin had been the single greatest decision of its life. It had conveniently forgotten that the decision had originally been beaten into it. As for feeding enemy corpses to his contracted beast, he felt not a shred of guilt. Enemies were enemies. Mercy was a luxury he could not afford.

The Blazing Sun Chicken, having overheard Huaijin's words, scurried over eagerly… Only to be sent flying by a casual swipe of Haihu's paw. Who do you think you are, trying to share my meal? Haihu thought with undisguised contempt. You're fit for nothing but scraps. If we didn't need you to breed and expand the flock, I'd have turned you into a snack long ago. The Blazing Sun Chicken dared not show its anger. Instead, it plastered on a fawning smile and retreated.

But Huaijin was already gone, withdrawn into seclusion. The Yin and Yang map fragments lay before him, their stored energy completely depleted. They had fallen silent, dormant. He placed them together, hoping for some reaction. Nothing. He tried again. Still nothing. After several attempts, he set them aside and began his true seclusion. Deep within his dantian, two distinct lightning seeds drifted in a slow, eternal dance.

Thin filaments of lightning coiled through his meridians, endlessly refining his flesh and blood. Huaijin sank his awareness inward, sinking into the currents of power. It was as if he had submerged himself in an ocean of thunder, feeling, understanding, absorbing the essence of both divine lightning seeds. For now, the Bing Yang Thunder and the Darkwater Yin Thunder were still nascent, their power limited. But as his cultivation advanced, so too would their destructive potential.

And the Darkwater Yin Thunder, it was doing more than refining his energy. It was tempering his body. Within it lurked water-aspected killing intent, and for the Blood Demon Bone Tempering Art, such intent was the most potent of fuels. Huaijin felt his very bones begin to heat, as if molten metal had been poured into his marrow. Wild, overwhelming power brewed deep within him.

It was as though a thunder dragon coiled through his veins, lightning flowing like water, washing over flesh and sinew with relentless, reforging force. Three months passed in silence. Then, deep within his seclusion chamber, a tidal surge of blood qi suddenly erupted. It flared bright, then vanished in an instant, retracting like a drawn breath. The Pine Fish burst from the lake, its eyes wide with surprise.

"Purple Mansion aura..." It paused, recalibrating.

"No, this is physical Purple Mansion. Earthly Fiend Spirit Bodies are tailor-made for the body cultivation path... but this kid, isn't he advancing a little too fast?" Three months had come and gone. The New Year had passed. Huaijin was now forty-four years old. And his body cultivation had broken through first, surging into the Purple Mansion realm. At this moment, Huaijin stood as a Purple Mansion Body Cultivator.

Not a Purple Mansion cultivator in the conventional sense, and yet, in every way that mattered, their equal.