Little Thunder's Further Advancement

Lu Ming rubbed his brow. Although the process was tedious, the mere thought of Little Thunder's powerful form after evolution made this bit of hardship seem like nothing at all.

"Take it slow. For Little Thunder to become stronger, this bit of trouble is worth it!"

He took a deep breath, his consciousness sinking into his internal world, and began patiently sorting the mountain of resources by type and nature.

A massive and intricate project of "resource refinement" thus began.

To forge an unprecedented, super-powered Thunderlight Vine, Lu Ming was going all out.

Several hundred years later, in the internal world.

The once spacious internal world was now filled with a vast, boundless expanse of purple-gold!

Over a thousand giant vines, each exceeding ten million kilometers in length, coiled and wound through the void like thunderous dragons spanning the stars!

Every vine was as thick as a mountain range, its surface covered in incredibly complex and profound purple-gold secret patterns. These patterns appeared naturally formed, containing unparalleled power of thunder.

As the vines swayed gently, they drew a joyful resonance from the laws of thunder in the surrounding void, with endless lightning rippling like an ocean, exuding a majestic divine might that would make even a King-Level Immortal choke for breath!

At the core of those countless vines, a much larger main vine, appearing as if cast from purple-gold divine metal, was slowly absorbing the final drops of the nine-colored "Myriad Transformation Source Liquid."

Hum—

As the last trace of energy was absorbed, the majestic aura radiating from the entire Thunderlight Vine seemed to reach a critical threshold. After a slight tremor, it finally stabilized, yet it ultimately failed to break through that invisible barrier.

Lu Ming stood on the tip of the thickest vine, sensing Little Thunder's finally stabilized aura. He sighed softly, then revealed a look of resignation.

"Heh, as expected, breaking through to become a Venerable is not that simple."

He muttered to himself.

"Even for a special life form like the Thunderlight Vine, its essence is the same as a Bug Race warrior; it is recognized by the laws of the universe as an 'object' that can increase its life level through the accumulation of resources, and it can comprehend the laws of the universe on its own... but a Venerable is, after all, a massive threshold."

He could feel that Little Thunder's life level had reached an unfathomable height, far surpassing the limits of a King-Level invincible, infinitely close to that level, yet that final step remained an impassable chasm.

At this moment, a thought filled with slight disappointment and guilt entered Lu Ming's mind: "Master... Little Thunder has failed you."

Hearing this, Lu Ming leaned down slightly, his palm gently stroking the cold, tough, yet earth-shattering skin of the vine beneath his feet.

"Little Thunder, you have already done very well."

His voice was gentle.

"A Venerable, is it really so easy to break through? Looking across the universe, how many brilliant talents and special life forms have been stuck at this hurdle, spending endless years without making any progress?"

"Don't worry, in the future, Master will prepare even better and more precious resources for you! When the time comes, you will naturally succeed and break through in one go!"

Feeling his master's encouragement and absolute trust, Little Thunder's massive body trembled slightly, and all the vines radiated joyful fluctuations.

"Yes! Little Thunder believes in Master!"

Lu Ming straightened up, his gaze sweeping over the thousand terrifying vines filling the void, and a confident smile returned to his face: "Although you didn't truly break through, your current strength has already surpassed the category of King-Level invincible!"

"Matching an ordinary Universe Venerable should be no problem."

Little Thunder's thought came through with a hint of excitement: "That's right, Master! The power of each of my vines is now a hundred times that of an ordinary peak King-Level! If thousands of vines erupt simultaneously, the power can be perfectly superimposed... although I don't know exactly how strong a Universe Venerable is, Little Thunder feels it should be enough to match one!"

Lu Ming nodded.

After all, he was only a World Lord himself, and his understanding of the specific strength divisions at the Universe Venerable level was only through data from the Virtual Universe, without any personal experience.

But he could clearly perceive the power of Little Thunder at this moment, as vast and majestic as a cosmic galaxy, which definitely far exceeded that of an ordinary King-Level invincible!

"Matching a Venerable should be no problem."

Lu Ming was certain in his heart.

"With Little Thunder as my trump card, plus the Nirvana Stardust Venom... I should be able to walk sideways in this Outer-Domain Battlefield from now on!"

Feeling the reassuring, powerful strength within his internal world, Lu Ming's eyes ignited with high-spirited fighting intent once more.

"It is time to set off again!"

"The laws of fire, the basic mysteries have long been fully comprehended, and I have even touched upon the deeper essence... It can be said that I am only one final step away from fully comprehending the entire law of fire."

Lu Ming was clear-headed.

If he wanted to, he could go into seclusion now and break through to Immortal very quickly, but he forcibly suppressed the urge to break through.

"Must not rush, absolutely must not rush."

He secretly warned himself.

"The World Lord stage is the best period to lay an supreme foundation! Once one breaks through to Immortal, the divine body is set, and the Divine Kingdom is set; much of one's potential becomes fixed."

He wanted to accumulate his foundation to the true limit, the true peak, while still at the World Lord stage!

Only then, by breaking through in one go, could he go further in the future!

"My greatest weakness right now is, in fact... my divine body!"

Lu Ming examined himself, frowning slightly.

His gene level had already reached an astonishing one hundred times!

Placed within the human race, this was absolutely the top of the top.

The problem, however, was that his original body remained the size of an ordinary human!

During the World Lord stage, the disparity in energy reserves caused by this size difference was not yet fatal.

But once he broke through to become an Immortal, the size of his divine body would directly determine the magnitude of his divine power reserves!

Between an Immortal with a human-sized body and a special lifeform Immortal standing ten thousand kilometers tall, the gap in divine power reserves would be an astronomical figure!

In the brutal, high-level battles of the universe, this often determined life or death!

The total divine power of an ordinary human-sized body was likely not even one-billionth that of a powerful special lifeform.

Fighting in such a state would be an immense disadvantage.

"With a body this small, if I were to break through to Immortal now... I would truly be at a massive disadvantage."

Lu Ming shook his head. He was not satisfied with merely becoming an ordinary human King-Level powerhouse.

Therefore, he had been preparing to create a clone for himself!

A powerful clone that possessed a gargantuan divine body!

When the time came, one clone would serve as a reserve while his original body focused on combat; that was the most perfect way to ensure survival and victory.

"As far as I know, there are two ways to obtain a clone."

Lu Ming pondered.

"First, to possess a special lifeform that possesses the innate secret technique of 'Cloning,' such as the Golden Horned Beast... but the risk is too great. Not to mention that the process of possession is extremely perilous, my biggest worry is whether the system in my sea of consciousness... would disappear as a result?"

This was Lu Ming's greatest concern; the system was his greatest reliance and must not be lost under any circumstances.

"Second, to use a special cosmic treasure that can directly grant a lifeform the ability to gestate a clone."