Xu Yanli opened his eyes and rose to his feet, his gaze turning toward the perilous Thunder Domain on the other side of the secret realm.
Violet lightning churned across the sky. One raging thunder dragon after another roared and surged, ready to strike as they waited for someone to enter and undergo their tempering.
He closed his eyes, suppressed the dread in his heart, and stepped into the Thunder Domain.
The moment he crossed the boundary, a thick bolt of violet lightning crashed down on him!
BOOM!!!
Thunder roared, and flashes of lightning burst in every direction, striking his body all at once.
A bone-deep agony swept over him in an instant.
This was no pain from a flesh wound. It was a torment that cut to the bone, as if a giant hammer had shattered every bone in his body, only for them to be forcibly pieced back together. Every inch of him trembled violently.
Xu Yanli groaned. His knees buckled, and he dropped heavily onto one knee on the scorched earth, veins bulging at his temples.
Before he could catch his breath, a second bolt struck!
BOOM!!!
This blow was even more violent. Raging lightning surged through his meridians, tearing through them at will. The internal injuries that Life Force had just mended split open once more. A metallic sweetness rose in his throat, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, spattering the pitch-black ground in stark contrast.
Xu Yanli clenched his teeth and forced himself back to his feet.
The third bolt, the fourth, the fifth...
One bolt after another crashed down, each more savage and overbearing than the last. Every strike continued to ravage his body and meridians.
But from beginning to end, he did not take a single step back.
He couldn't