"Welcome to the Thunder God Temple, my successor."
A broken phantom drifted out of the stone pillar in the middle of the hall. Its voice boomed like thunder, making Su Zhen's eardrums ache.
"This is the Thunder God Temple? Then you're the Thunder God?"
Su Zhen looked around at the crumbling ruins, unable to believe it. The Thunder God had fallen during the ancient Dragon God War, and everything he'd left behind in the Divine Realm had long since been buried in the river of time. Yet the remnant soul before him claimed this was the palace of the Thunder God, who had been dead for countless years.
"I am not the Thunder God. I am merely a wisp of his lingering divine consciousness. I sensed the arrival of someone qualified to inherit his godhood and guided you here."
The remnant soul slowly explained who he was, his voice heavy with endless regret and desolation.
"What qualifies someone to come here?"
Su Zhen looked at the remnant soul and voiced the question on his mind.
"Evolve your own thunder attribute to the level of Soul-Shattering Black Lightning, and obtain a Soul Ring from a Soul Beast that contains divinity."
After the remnant soul finished speaking, Su Zhen conjured black lightning in his hand. The dark, gleaming bolts crackled in his palm. His black lightning had completed its evolution back when he took an Immortal Herb at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Spring. The divinity came from the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's evil god aura. He hadn't been brought here after absorbing its Soul Ring, but he had been summoned after absorbing its inner core. Su Zhen guessed that all the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's divinity had been stored in its core.
"Boy, place your hand on the Thunder God Pillar. It will show you every trial you must complete to inherit the Thunder God's godhood."
The remnant soul pointed to the stone pillar in the middle of the hall, urging Su Zhen forward.
Su Zhen dispelled the lightning in his palm, walked up to the Thunder God Pillar, and placed his right hand on it.
Boom~
The instant his hand touched the pillar, a terrifying wave of air blasted outward from it, and a brilliant red light shot into the sky.
"The successor meets the trial requirements. The Nine Trials of the Thunder God are now open."
Words formed from scarlet lightning appeared on the pillar. They were written in an obscure script unknown anywhere on the Douluo Continent, yet the moment Su Zhen saw them, he understood them.
"Nine Trials of the Thunder God, First Trial: Use an External Soul Bone to draw down the lightning of the nine heavens and temper your body. Requirements: Use no Soul Skills or defensive protection. Draw in the lightning and cleanse your meridians with nothing but your body. Time limit: five years. Reward: Martial Soul Thunder Transformation, complete immunity to thunder attributes, and awakened Thunder Perception. Failure penalty: meridians shattered and Martial Soul regressed."
The scarlet words swiftly rearranged themselves, revealing every detail of the First Trial to Su Zhen.
The moment Su Zhen finished reading, Sorrow of the Thunder Spirit attached itself to him of its own accord. The scarlet words became two streaks of light, one entering his External Soul Bone, the other burrowing into his brow and leaving a scarlet lightning mark there.
"My successor, now that you know the trial's requirements, you may leave. Once you complete the First Trial, the Second Trial will be revealed."
Before Su Zhen could react, the remnant soul swept its arm. He lost consciousness, and when he opened his eyes again, he was in Star Dou Forest.
"So this is the Thunder God's inheritance? How does the Sea God's compare?"
Su Zhen touched the lightning mark on his brow. A broad, shining road now lay before him. All he had to do was complete every trial, and he could reach godhood at level one hundred.
"Xiao Zhen, the Lord wants to see you."
Di Tian appeared before Su Zhen in an instant. His spiritual power constantly swept over the entire Star Dou Forest, ensuring he could find Su Zhen the moment he returned.
With Di Tian leading the way, Su Zhen returned to the Luminous White Space. Gu Yuena had been waiting for him for some time.
After bringing Su Zhen to her, Di Tian turned and left. He could sense the Thunder God's aura on Su Zhen, which proved that Su Zhen had accepted the Thunder God's trial. He was eager to learn everything that had happened, but compared with his Lord's command, his curiosity could wait.
"You saw him?"
Gu Yuena's cold voice rang out. Though she hadn't said who she meant, Su Zhen knew she was asking about the Thunder God.
"No. There was only a wisp of his divine consciousness."
"Alas, who would have thought that a once-in-a-generation genius would end up like this?"
"During the Dragon God War, he unleashed the strength of a Quasi-God King despite being only a First-Level God. Give him a few hundred more years, and the Divine Realm would surely have gained another God King."
Gu Yuena slowly recounted the Thunder God's glorious deeds. As she spoke, a trace of desolation showed in her eyes.
"Since he has recognized you, do your best to complete every trial. I'll have all the Soul Beasts and resources of Star Dou Forest devoted to you—even rarer and more formidable resources than before."
After speaking, Gu Yuena waved for Su Zhen to leave. She was alone in the Luminous White Space once more.
"Asura, in the end, will that monster you brought in win, or will Su Zhen, whom the Thunder God and I are doing everything to raise, prove stronger?"
A faint voice echoed through the Luminous White Space.
Su Zhen stood on the shore of Lake of Life, surrounded by five Ferocious Beasts. Their eyes were practically brimming with questions.
After briefly explaining the Nine Trials of the Thunder God and the First Trial to the Ferocious Beasts, Su Zhen turned to Di Tian.
"Senior Di Tian, I urgently need body-tempering and healing herbs for my First Trial. Could you help gather them as soon as possible?"
"No problem. I'll have the Soul Beasts across all of Star Dou Forest that are over ten thousand years old gather them for you."
Di Tian agreed. He had specified Soul Beasts over ten thousand years old because they were intelligent enough to recognize herbs. The ten-, hundred-, and thousand-year Soul Beasts lacked the intelligence and couldn't be of much use.
"Then I'll thank you in advance, Senior."
Su Zhen cupped his hands to Di Tian, then walked over to an open patch of ground to begin the Thunder God's First Trial.
The Touch of the Thunder Spirit formed above his head. A streak of scarlet light shot out from it and, in the blink of an eye, reached the sky and began drawing together the surrounding thunderclouds.
Su Zhen stood beneath the layers of thunderclouds, adjusted himself to his best condition, and stared at the terrifying sea of lightning churning at their center.
Boom~
A bolt of lightning as thick as a barrel plunged down and struck Su Zhen. The violent thunder exploded across his body. He endured the agony and used his spiritual power to guide wisps of lightning through his meridians.
The instant his spiritual power touched the lightning, the raging bolt surged along it and into his sea of consciousness, numbing it completely. The spiritual power he normally commanded as easily as his own arm suddenly sank like an ox into the sea, stirring not a single ripple.
Su Zhen poured all his spiritual power into pulling a hair-thin strand of lightning from the bolt on his body. He guided it into his meridians and began tempering them. Each time the lightning passed through a meridian, his body grew stronger—but the pain rose exponentially.
By the time Su Zhen had guided the lightning through his entire body, his mind was on the verge of collapse. The lightning dissipated after making one full circuit.
When Su Zhen tried to draw another strand from the lightning on his body, his vision went black and he toppled backward. The lightning covering him quietly vanished the instant he passed out.
Bi Ji flashed to Su Zhen's side and caught him. She gathered emerald Soul Power in her right hand and channeled it into his body to heal him.
Under Bi Ji's treatment, Su Zhen slowly woke. All his physical injuries had healed, but his mind was still numb from the lightning. It took an hour of meditation to suppress the numbness in his sea of consciousness.
Su Zhen didn't dare rest. He swallowed the Body Tempering Herbs Di Tian had prepared, then began the Thunder God's First Trial again.
He used his External Soul Bone to gather a sea of lightning, guided the bolts across his meridians, and passed out—then continued the trial. Su Zhen spent five years slowly enduring this hellish torment.
Over those five years, the lightning he drew down grew thicker and thicker, and he passed out less often. By the fifth year, he could guide an entire bolt through his meridians to temper his body without losing consciousness.
Su Zhen opened his eyes. Countless lightning patterns covered his body, and thunder coursed through him with every movement. He was like a God of Heavenly Tribulation walking among mortals.
The moment he completed the final round of tempering, the lightning mark on his brow blazed. A screen of light appeared before him.
"First Trial of the Thunder God completed. Rewards granted: Martial Soul Thunder Transformation, Thunder Attribute Immunity, and awakened Thunder Perception."
The screen of light became a streak of red that enveloped Su Zhen's entire body and began transforming him as his reward.
Before you continue