The Wind-Thunder Wings

Cultivation Room.

Tang Ping sighed with emotion for a moment, then bent down and picked up another crystal bottle from the table. Inside was a liquid shimmering with a deep blue glow—the "Star Dew" unique to the Yunmo Star Lineage.

Like Star Condensation Dew, he had bought it at half price through the Luo Family's internal discount, for five million Silver Blue Coins. It was just as rare outside, a treasure that money couldn't buy. After all, it was a secret medicine that could help a warrior break through to Planetary Rank. Ordinary forces couldn't even get their hands on it.

He unscrewed the cap. A warm, fragrant aroma wafted out, and Tang Ping tilted his head back and drank the Star Dew in one go.

Unlike the cool Star Condensation Dew, this liquid turned into a scalding stream of heat as soon as it reached his throat. It rapidly spread through his body along his meridians, surging like magma in his veins, yet carrying a curious warmth that didn't burn them.

The heat swirled and gathered inside him, then, as if drawn by an invisible force, rushed toward his abdomen, where his dantian lay.

BOOM!

A muffled roar sounded within him. Tang Ping felt as if a thunderclap had split open his abdomen.

In an instant, a vast space opened up in the dantian, which had previously been empty! The gathered heat transformed into Genetic Origin Energy and began spinning wildly, accelerating like a top. With each rotation, it expanded and contracted violently.

As it expanded, it seemed ready to burst his dantian; as it contracted, the Origin Energy's density suddenly increased, and its volume visibly shrank.

His consciousness shuddered, and his body trembled involuntarily. Tang Ping could clearly feel his Genetic Origin Energy growing purer as it was refined.

After an unknown length of time, the energy's rotation finally stabilized. In the vast dantian, a miniature blue planet slowly took shape.

It seemed more substantial than the Spirit Reader planet in his sea of consciousness. A deep-sea-like sheen rippled across its surface, and as it rotated, it gave off a strange pulse. Each pulse resonated with the gene chains in his body, as if awakening dormant life potential.

"Planetary Rank, first level!" Tang Ping clenched his fist.

The best surprise was yet to come. The instant his warrior rank broke through, a violent tremor passed through his sea of consciousness. The Spirit Reader planet, which had been rotating steadily, absorbed the energy that had dispersed during the breakthrough. Its pale blue glow grew richer, and the transparent crystals inside packed more tightly together.

Tang Ping sent his consciousness into it and instantly sensed his Spiritual Telekinesis surge in strength, jumping straight from Planetary Rank, second level to Planetary Rank, third level!

Three levels in one day. Not bad.

The next moment—

"Genetic Origin Energy, move!"

At a thought from Tang Ping, the miniature blue planet in his dantian quivered. A stream of condensed, liquid-like blue Origin Energy rushed out and flowed rapidly through his meridians to every part of his body.

"Crack, crack—"

"Snap, crackle—"

The sounds of bones breaking and reforming rang out one after another. Blue life essence welled up from his bone marrow, his skin grew as tough as an alloy under the nourishment of Origin Energy, his meridians widened several times over, and a faint film of energy covered his internal organs.

This physical transformation was far more intense than his earlier breakthrough to Planetary Rank as a Spirit Reader. It was as if countless invisible hammers were striking and forging him from within, shattering his mortal body and reshaping it with Genetic Origin Energy into a form more attuned to the laws of the universe.

Tang Ping gritted his teeth, enduring the searing pain that surged through him, but his thoughts remained perfectly clear. At Apprentice Rank, Spirit Readers had the upper hand over warriors thanks to their ability to attack from a distance. But once warriors entered Planetary Rank, they awakened abilities of their own, bringing the two sides back into balance.

The universe's special abilities came in all shapes and forms, but they always fell under eight basic categories: metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, lightning, and light.

Each category, however, had countless variations. Take the fire attribute, for example. Some could turn themselves into flames—the "Flame Man"—while others specialized in refining high-temperature flames—the "Fire Refiner." Even Fire Refiners at the same first level of Planetary Rank could differ enormously in flame temperature and precision of control.

After an unknown length of time, the strange sounds within him gradually died down, and the tearing pain faded into a warm, tingling flow. Tang Ping slowly opened his eyes and instinctively raised a hand, but froze when he caught sight of what was behind him.

A pair of translucent energy wings had unfurled behind him. Blue wind energy and purple lightning energy intertwined across the membranes, sometimes distinct, sometimes curling around each other. As they collided, they formed a fantastic blue glow, as if he were wearing a miniature storm nebula on his back.

"Have I... turned into a birdman?" Tang Ping stared at the wings in astonishment and poked one of the membranes. It felt cool to the touch and carried a faint pulse of energy.

Once he had recovered, intense curiosity welled up in his eyes. He couldn't wait to try out his newly awakened talent.

"Whoosh—"

The moment the thought crossed his mind, his wings spread. His body became a blur and appeared instantly thousands of meters away, right in front of the cultivation room wall. Tang Ping barely had time to react before he nearly slammed his forehead into the cold alloy surface. A bead of cold sweat appeared at his temple.

"Fast—too fast!"

He was utterly shaken.

After all, he was a Spirit Reader with awakened Spiritual Telekinesis. His thoughts should already have reached wherever he directed them. But the speed in that instant had nearly outpaced even his Spiritual Telekinesis. This was a surprise beyond anything he'd expected.

Tang Ping closed his eyes and calmed himself, carefully sensing the flow of energy within his body. A moment later, his face showed a strange mixture of delight and disbelief. He had not only gained both wind and lightning attributes—those two attributes also had an innate tendency to fuse!

It turned out he had faintly awakened the beginnings of Wind Wings and Thunder Wings back at Apprentice Rank, but he hadn't been able to bring them out fully. Now that he had reached Planetary Rank, both talents had completely awakened under the catalyzing effect of Genetic Origin Energy, then naturally fused into Wind-Thunder Wings.

When he activated only wind Origin Energy, his wings became ethereal and light, and his flight path turned nimble and unpredictable. When he used only lightning Origin Energy, his speed surged several times over, like a streak of lightning slicing across the sky.

By fusing the two energies, he could fly both fast and nimbly: he could reach extreme speed with a burst of lightning, then change direction at any moment with the wind's agility. The only drawback was that it consumed far more Origin Energy.

Tang Ping slowly opened his eyes, unable to keep the corners of his mouth from lifting. He was in an absolutely fantastic mood.

This talent might not be much in a head-on fight, but being fast was a major advantage in itself. Whether chasing down an enemy or escaping from certain death, speed was the key to survival.

More importantly, when the Wind-Thunder Wings spread, their interwoven blue and purple glow looked incredible. He looked unbelievably cool!

For a man, looking cool was obviously the most important thing!

Next, Tang Ping focused his thoughts. His Wind-Thunder Wings flapped gently, and his body floated into the air. He zipped nimbly around the cultivation room, now drifting unpredictably like a breeze, now shooting out like lightning. The thrill of controlling his speed made him grin and laugh aloud.

Heh heh heh~