"The Thunder God was once a prodigy among the gods. If he hadn't fallen, he might have already caught up to us!"
"Indeed. It's a shame about the Thunder God. His authority was shattered, too, so anyone who wanted to become a god afterward would have to gather an authority of their own."
The Life God wore a regretful expression. The Dragon God War had not only claimed the lives of countless dragons.
The Divine Realm had suffered enormous losses as well.
A genius god like the Thunder God had fallen in that war.
"The Thunder God Position is stirring. It seems there's an heir exceptionally suited to it."
"But unfortunately, gathering a shattered godhood is just as difficult as creating one from scratch."
A flicker of regret crossed the God of Destruction's face.
Unless the heir was a lightning-attribute spirit of heaven and earth, getting the shattered Thunder God Position to reassemble on its own—
That was all but impossible.
After all, the Dragon God had decreed that Soul Beasts could not become gods.
And naturally born spirits of lightning were considered Soul Beasts, too.
The God of Destruction pondered for a long while before deciding to sense it again.
If someone in the lower realm really could stir the Thunder God's authority, he could offer a little help.
After all, another godhood would be a great boon to the Divine Realm.
On the Douluo Continent, in a dormitory at Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
After finally escaping Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling's persistence, Su Ze returned to his dormitory to meditate.
As he meditated, he began to consider how to proceed with his next evolution.
Ever since he'd obtained the Thunderous Nether Vine Soul Ring,
Su Ze had sensed the Storm Dragon King's next evolutionary form.
But even after two years of cultivation, he still hadn't grasped that elusive chance to evolve, though he'd already broken through level 50.
To unlock the Storm Dragon King's third stage—
To make his Storm Dragon King Martial Soul the true sovereign of the lightning attribute, he was still missing something.
He'd spent the past few years thinking about it.
Today, at last, he had his answer.
Divine Power.
In terms of rank, the Storm Dragon King had been personally acknowledged by Gu Yuena as equal to a Level One God.
For the Storm Dragon King to evolve into its third stage, Su Ze knew it had to be connected to the gods.
So he needed to master Divine Power to seize the chance to evolve the Storm Dragon King.
What Divine Power on the Douluo Continent was most compatible with the Storm Dragon King?
The answer was obvious: the Thunder God.
At that thought, Su Ze realized there was another problem.
But the Thunder God had fallen. Aside from the Thunderous Nether Vine, there were no traces of the Thunder God left anywhere on the Douluo Continent.
How was he supposed to master Divine Power?
As he pondered this, Su Ze looked up. Dark Clouds Gathering had just settled over Heaven Dou City.
Great swaths of clouds covered the sky.
Seeing the clouds and rain, Su Ze's spirits lifted.
He remembered a legend that had circulated across the Douluo Continent for ages: once the Thunderous Nether Vine broke through the hundred-thousand-year mark, it could become the Thunder God.
After all, the legend said that the Thunderous Nether Vine had formed from the Thunder God's corpse.
So, once the Thunderous Nether Vine reached the hundred-thousand-year level, it might be able to revive the Thunder God.
And since he'd obtained a Thunderous Nether Vine Soul Ring, he also possessed the Thunder God Bloodline within him.
Perhaps there was some way to awaken the Thunder God Bloodline in his body and see if he could comprehend the Thunder God's Divine Power.
A Lightning Tribulation might be a good way to do it.
Su Ze had never been one to procrastinate.
As soon as he thought of a method, he immediately put it into action.
He left the dormitory at once and went to a secluded spot.
Using the Fire Dragon King's Soul Skill, Su Ze formed a pair of lightning-attribute wings and flew into the Dark Clouds Gathering overhead.
As he flew higher, the altitude kept increasing.
One thousand meters, two thousand, three thousand.
At nearly five thousand meters above the ground, Su Ze felt the dense lightning attribute all around him.
Without hesitation, Su Ze summoned Sikong Zhen Martial Soul and activated his ultimate skill.
Shatter the Darkness with Thunder.
In the next instant, raging lightning gathered and struck Su Ze, drawn to his lightning-attribute Martial Soul.
Under the effects of Thunderous Force, Su Ze was completely immune to the lightning.
With the lightning attribute growing denser and Thunderous Force active,
Su Ze could feel a special power stirring within him.
Almost instantly, he recognized it as the Thunder God Bloodline inside him.
Using the lightning attribute to awaken the Thunder God Bloodline in his body worked.
At once, Su Ze summoned the Storm Dragon King's Phantom.
The sky immediately crackled with lightning, and a violent downpour came crashing down.
Su Ze remained five thousand meters above the ground.
Surrounded by the storm and lightning, he began to meditate.
Rain and violent lightning relentlessly battered his body.
As the storm's power continued to gather, the trace of Thunder God Bloodline within Su Ze gradually awakened.
At last, a golden-white light surged from within him.
The instant it appeared, all five of Su Ze's Soul Rings surfaced on their own.
The fourth Soul Ring, the one representing the Thunderous Nether Vine, began to flicker.
Faint Golden Patterns appeared across the black Soul Ring.
The patterns were not especially noticeable,
but as they appeared, the Soul Power in Su Ze's body clearly grew, and his body became stronger.
More importantly, the Storm Dragon King's Phantom behind him
became far more solid.
The Storm Dragon King's evolution into its third stage had finally taken its first step.
Feeling the changes within him, Su Ze's eyes shone with delight.
His theory had been right. The platinum-white light that had just surged from within him
was probably Divine Power, awakened and released by the Thunder God Bloodline inside him.
This Divine Power had not only added a Golden Pattern to the Thunderous Nether Vine Soul Ring,
it had also made the Storm Dragon King's Phantom far more solid.
Unfortunately, although the Storm Dragon King had begun to show signs of evolution,
the Divine Power he'd obtained was still too scarce. If he could obtain more,
the Storm Dragon King would complete its evolution.
But Su Ze could accept that.
Finding the method was what mattered.
All that remained was to keep following this path.
After discovering he could awaken the Thunder God Power within him by harnessing the storm,
Su Ze spent the next six months calling upon the power of storms in secluded places to awaken his Thunder God Bloodline.
The results were impressive. Su Ze's Soul Power rose directly from level 51 to level 55.
He also gained a considerable amount of Thunder God Power.
The Storm Dragon King's Phantom grew even more solid; he could almost make out its physical form.
"At this rate, it'll probably take me four or five years to evolve the Storm Dragon King completely into its third form."
Feeling the Storm Dragon King's changes, Su Ze descended from the sky to the ground.
Though it would take four or five years, he felt he could afford to wait.
In terms of Soul Power alone, he'd already caught up to Qian Renxue, who had Innate Full Soul Power.
In the Original Work, Qian Renxue had first appeared with Soul Power around the Soul Saint level.
And the Palace Coup was still about five years away.
By that reckoning, his Soul Power was probably equal to—or had even surpassed—Qian Renxue's.
The person he'd once had to look up to was now someone he could face as an equal.
After years of hard cultivation, he had finally seen results.
With that thought, Su Ze headed toward Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
The All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament was a year away.
Heaven Dou Academy should decide on its team members soon.
Su Ze had agreed with Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling that they would form a team.
Naturally, he would lead Heaven Dou Academy's team.
As for Yu Tianheng—
That defeated opponent had no right to challenge him.
After Su Ze demonstrated his level 55 Soul Power to the three members of the Education Committee,
he immediately claimed the title of captain of the Heaven Dou Team's main squad.
After all, strength ruled on the Douluo Continent.
As Heaven Dou Royal Academy's primary team, the Heaven Dou Team enjoyed considerable privileges.
It could go straight to the semifinals.
That would give Su Ze plenty of time to focus on cultivating.
The news that the three members of the Education Committee had approved Su Ze's team and let him form the Heaven Dou Team didn't stay quiet for long. It soon spread through the academy.
No one had much to say about Su Ze's name being chosen. Everyone knew how strong he was.
Three or four years ago, he'd already been able to trounce Yu Tianheng, a Soul Elder.
Although they hadn't fought in recent years,
his strength was plain for all to see. With strength and talent like his, no one objected to him forming Heaven Dou Royal Academy's team.
"That was surprisingly easy!"
Dugu Yan emerged beside him, looking surprised. She'd thought she would have to show off her talent, too.
She hadn't expected Su Ze to take care of everything.
"Sister Yan Yan, with your status and my strength, we've got both sides covered."
"Getting permission to form Heaven Dou Royal Academy's team was a breeze!"
"And with you and Senior Sister here, the three of us are bound to win the championship."
Su Ze wasn't boasting.
After evolving, Senior Sister's Nine Hearts Begonia had become terrifyingly effective at healing.
Combined with the poison from Dugu Yan's evolved Martial Soul, even teaming up with Yu Tianheng would give them a good chance of winning the championship.
And he would be joining them, too.
He was currently at level 54. In a year and a half, he would reach at least level 57, perhaps even 58.
With his Ultimate Attribute and powerful Soul Rings, ordinary Soul Saints would have no way to stand against him.
As for Tang San and the Shrek Academy team,
Su Ze was looking forward to it.
He wanted to see how Tang San, the Child of Destiny, would fight him without the Blue Silver Emperor.
In a dormitory crammed with books, Yu Tianheng rushed in, his face dark with anger.
"Teacher Qin Ming, have you heard about the spot?"
"I want to challenge Su Ze and take it back."
Yu Tianheng was furious. He'd been training hard these past few days and was now just one step away from breaking through to Soul Ancestor.
He'd planned to break through to Soul Ancestor before fighting Su Ze again,
then take the Heaven Dou Team title fair and square.
After that, he would lead Heaven Dou Royal Academy to glory by winning the Elite Soul Master Competition and erasing his past humiliation.
But now, right from the start, the spot had been taken from him.
More importantly, Su Ze had taken the right to form Heaven Dou Royal Academy's team.
That meant the Education Committee thought Su Ze was far superior to Yu Tianheng.
How could Yu Tianheng stand for that?
After thinking it over, Qin Ming replied,
"Tianheng, you're talented, and you're the heir to one of the Upper Three Clans."
"So what if he gets the spot? If we defeat Su Ze in the finals, everyone will be laughing at him instead."
"Then let's settle it at the tournament!"
As a teacher, Qin Ming knew very well that the Education Committee's decision to give Su Ze the spot
meant Su Ze's strength had probably already surpassed Yu Tianheng's.
Given the gap in their strength, Qin Ming didn't think Yu Tianheng had any chance of defeating Su Ze.
After all, he had already watched that Soul Duel from several years ago.
So, to preserve Yu Tianheng's confidence, Qin Ming chose to reassure him.
"But I can't accept this, Teacher!"
"Wouldn't defeating Su Ze in front of all those spectators be more satisfying than beating him now?"
Hearing Qin Ming's words, the anger gradually faded from Yu Tianheng's face.
He felt Teacher Qin Ming was right. Defeating Su Ze at the Elite Competition—the man who had taken his spot—and avenging his humiliation would be far more satisfying.
"Fine. In that case, give this Su Ze the spot for now."
"Once I break through to Soul Elder, I'll duel this Su Ze at the Elite Master Competition and avenge my humiliation."
"For now, I'll go train."
Qin Ming naturally nodded at Yu Tianheng's request.
After Yu Tianheng set off to train, Qin Ming also decided to return to Suotuo City.
It had been a long time since he'd visited Shrek Academy.
This was the perfect opportunity to see his beloved teachers.
Shrek Academy.
"Qin Ming, the team you're leading is only the Heaven Dou Royal Academy Second Team."
"Is the Heaven Dou Royal Academy really that strong this year?"
At Shrek Academy, Flender looked at the student before him and spoke in astonishment.
Meanwhile, Yu Tianheng had also arrived at Shrek Academy with Yu Xiaogang.
"Tianheng, you couldn't even get into the Heaven Dou First Team?"
"That's impossible. With your talent and your Martial Soul, you should be far stronger than an ordinary Soul Ancestor."
"What happened?"
Yu Xiaogang looked at the man before him in confusion.
As a member of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, Yu Xiaogang knew all too well just how powerful the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon was.
His nephew had already reached level thirty-nine Soul Power.
An ordinary Soul Elder couldn't possibly be his match.
Yet with strength like that, he still couldn't get into the Heaven Dou First Team.
"Tianheng is naturally among the top five at Heaven Dou Royal Academy. But he lost a duel to Su Ze, who's leading the team this time."
"Su Ze also has a Lightning Attribute Martial Soul, and he defeated Tianheng before. That's why he's leading the team and putting together the Heaven Dou First Team."
Just then, Qin Ming emerged from the dean's office.
At the mention of Su Ze, Yu Xiaogang's expression changed at once.
That loathsome face seemed to appear before his eyes.
He wasn't the only one. Tang San, standing beside him, also changed expression immediately and asked urgently,
"Senior Qin Ming, could you tell me about this Su Ze?"
Tang San hated Su Ze with all his heart.
That bastard who deserved to die.
He'd used a bet with a six-year-old child
to steal his Twenty-Four Bridges Moonlit Night.
He couldn't have been more shameless.
And at the academy, relying on his mutated Lightning Attribute Martial Soul, he'd mercilessly crushed Tang San with thunder every single time for an entire year.
He'd beaten him until his Dao Heart had nearly shattered.
Even though Su Ze had graduated many years ago, Tang San sometimes still dreamed of that figure, as imposing as the Thunder God.
And now, he had already broken through to Soul Elder.
He'd also been incredibly lucky and obtained the legendary External Soul Bone.
His Blue Silver Grass had evolved as well, gaining greatly improved toughness and a potent poison.
With the External Soul Bone and his poisonous Blue Silver Grass, Tang San could hardly wait to find Su Ze again.
Then he'd avenge his humiliation.
Before you continue