Second Divine Trial, Soul Ring Selection

"Huh? What do you mean by 'complete forty-nine Thunder Body Tempering sessions via Lightning Attraction'? Can I already withstand lightning? How come I didn't know that myself!"

After reading the mission details, Yu Hengqing's hair practically stood on end; this task was simply inhuman!

Setting aside the question of how Yu Hengqing was supposed to find lightning to strike himself, even if he managed to attract it, how on earth was he supposed to complete forty-nine sessions of Thunder Body Tempering?!

Currently, Yu Hengqing could only turn to Leiyi for help, hoping he could provide some guidance.

"Leiyi, do you know how to attract lightning?"

Entering his mental space, Yu Hengqing rushed over to Leiyi without a moment's delay and asked in a soft voice.

"Attract lightning? I do have a method for that, but with your current physical constitution, you can withstand at most three strikes. Anything more will surely result in severe injury."

Leiyi had been busy refining the Seven-Colored Lightning just moments ago and was unaware that Yu Hengqing had already initiated his second God Trial.

Learning that Leiyi possessed a way to attract lightning, Yu Hengqing breathed a secret sigh of relief.

"My second God Trial is to complete forty-nine Thunder Body Tempering sessions through Lightning Attraction. I'm currently trying to figure out how to accomplish this."

"I didn't expect your soul power quality to reach the standard so quickly!"

Hearing Yu Hengqing describe the contents of the second God Trial, Leiyi felt a hint of surprise. He had originally estimated that it would take Yu Hengqing two more months to complete the refinement of his soul power.

He hadn't expected that the accidental acquisition of the Nine-Grade Purple Ganoderma would not only accelerate the process but also push Yu Hengqing's soul power to level twenty.

"Fine, I will teach you the Lightning Attraction Technique, but given your current strength, you cannot influence the weather. You will have to wait for a thunderstorm."

"A thunderstorm? But it's very rare to have thunderstorms in Tiandou City during this season!"

Hearing that he needed stormy weather, Yu Hengqing immediately felt a massive headache coming on.

"Have you forgotten about Thunder Valley? The lightning activity there far exceeds that of other places. Even in this season, it thunders there from time to time."

Leiyi was naturally aware of the dangers Yu Hengqing faced, and he didn't want to waste time on this matter either.

"Thunder Valley is in the Star Dou Forest. If we want to go, we must find someone powerful to accompany us. After all, this task certainly won't be finished in a short while."

If it were just to obtain a second soul ring, having Yu Yuanzhen accompany Yu Hengqing would be fine, as that wouldn't take much time.

But now, Yu Hengqing needed to stay in Thunder Valley for lightning-tempered training, which required far more time than hunting for a second soul ring.

In this case, Yu Yuanzhen couldn't accompany him; the affairs of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect required his attention, and he couldn't be away from the sect for long.

"Tomorrow morning, I'll go ask Dad! See if he can arrange for someone to accompany me to Thunder Valley."

The next morning.

"Go to Thunder Valley for lightning-tempered training? That's a bit too risky, Xiao Qing!"

Faced with Yu Hengqing's request to go to Thunder Valley, Yu Yuanzhen was quite baffled. After all, this wasn't the first God Trial; failing to complete it in time would affect his subsequent cultivation.

The task for this trial could easily wait until the rainy season arrived in Tiandou City! It wouldn't delay his regular cultivation anyway.

"Dad, of course, the sooner a God Trial is completed, the better! What if I finish it early and the Thunder God thinks I'm diligent and rewards me with something extra?"

Hearing Yu Hengqing's reasoning, Yu Yuanzhen suddenly felt that his son must be suffering from some sort of dementia.

The Thunder God was about to pass down his divine position; how could he possibly give different rewards based on how early or late a task was completed?

"Since you insist on going, I will arrange for someone to accompany you. However, before you leave, you need to choose your second soul ring and let me know."

"Mm-hmm, I should have it picked out by dinner time."

In truth, ever since the day he awakened his martial soul, Yu Yuanzhen had clearly felt that his son was always in a rush to do things, as if something were forcing him to keep moving forward without rest.

However, since his son hadn't told him, as a father, he couldn't pry too much.

Yu Yuanzhen didn't say anything more, simply giving Yu Hengqing a brief word of advice before standing up and leaving.

"If you're tired, rest. Even if the sky falls, I'll be the one to hold it up."

Watching Yu Yuanzhen walk away, Yu Hengqing furrowed his brows. Having lived with Yu Yuanzhen for so long, he naturally understood that Yu Yuanzhen had sensed something.

"Leiyi, is my acting that bad?"

"You've lived with him for so long that you can sense when something is off with him; how could he not sense when something is off with you?"

Leiyi was right. Yu Hengqing and Yu Yuanzhen had lived together for so long that Yu Yuanzhen could naturally feel the changes in him.

Back in his room, Yu Hengqing began flipping through the encyclopedia of lightning-attribute soul beasts and the distribution of soul beasts in the Star Dou Forest that the sect disciples had delivered that morning.

"What type of soul skill are you planning to choose this time? Quick Attack has good mobility, but your defense, long-range attacks, and other areas are still your weaknesses."

Through Yu Hengqing's externalized martial soul, Leiyi could consume his own power to temporarily borrow the martial soul to manifest a physical form and move about normally.

Yu Hengqing was already accustomed to Leiyi using his martial soul to manifest, so he simply flipped the encyclopedia to page seventy-eight.

"Thunderstorm Lark, a flying soul beast that lives in mountains, cliffs, or valleys prone to thunderstorms. Its attack method is to actively attract or create small-scale thunderclouds. After absorbing lightning, its speed becomes extremely fast, making it difficult for ordinary soul masters to catch up."

"Whenever a thunderstorm approaches, Thunderstorm Larks gather together. At that time, one only needs to use their favorite food to lure them to the ground for hunting."

After reading the introduction to the Thunderstorm Lark, Yu Hengqing flipped ahead a dozen pages. The soul beast introduced this time was the Thunder-Clap Bird.

Unlike the Thunderstorm Lark, the Thunder-Clap Bird was a small, gregarious soul beast with an extremely strong sense of territory.

Whenever the breeding season arrived, male Thunder-Clap Birds would leave their current colony to go to a new one and fight other males for mating rights.

The Thunder-Clap Bird's attack method was to release lightning feathers. A single bird might be manageable, but if a whole flock released their feathers, anyone without astonishing defense would surely die.

Therefore, to hunt Thunder-Clap Birds, one must either locate their nests for a sneak attack or wait until their breeding season when they venture out to fight.

After finishing with the Thunder-Clap Bird, Yu Hengqing continued flipping through the pages.

The previous two types of spirit beasts had a high probability of granting Yu Hengqing a long-range attack spirit skill, but this current spirit beast was different.

"Thunder Shell Turtle, a spirit beast that lives in water sources rich in lightning minerals. It has a gentle temperament and, when attacked, condenses a lightning shell upon its carapace, possessing extremely strong defensive capabilities."

"However, precisely because of this, the population of Thunder Shell Turtles has decreased significantly. If disciples of our sect encounter them while hunting spirit beasts, remember not to hunt them indiscriminately, lest they become impossible to find in the future."

After finishing the introduction to the Thunder Shell Turtle, Yu Hengqing introduced several more lightning-attribute spirit beasts to Leiyi, though all the subsequent ones were marked as rare or dangerous.

Having listened to Yu Hengqing's introduction, Leiyi asked a question he had wanted to voice for a long time.

"Xiao Qing, is it true that you can only cultivate by hunting spirit beasts? Is there no other way to break through your bottlenecks?"

Yu Hengqing was not surprised that Leiyi would ask such a question, for as an elf, Leiyi belonged to the category of spirit beasts on the Douluo Continent, much like the Snow Empress.

"That is currently the case. If one wishes to obtain a spirit ring without hunting spirit beasts, the only remaining path is the God-Bestowed Spirit Ring, but such rings can only be obtained by those who possess a divine trial."

"Is there really no other way at all?"

Feeling a sense of empathy for his own kind, Leiyi continued to press Yu Hengqing, as he knew that Yu Hengqing had a certain understanding of the world's future development.

"Tens of thousands of years from now, when spirit beasts are on the verge of extinction, humans will develop something called a Spirit Soul to replace spirit rings, but that is still a matter for the future."