Perhaps because Yu Yuanzhen had to make constant adjustments while cultivating the Soul Core method, it took him a full three days and three nights to condense his Soul Core.
Fortunately, Yu Hengqing had only recently returned from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, and there was still enough food in his Storage Soul Tool. Otherwise, he would have left long ago.
Feeling Yu Yuanzhen's aura gradually stop rising, Yu Hengqing knew that Yu Yuanzhen was about to finish condensing his Soul Core.
With Yu Zhantian providing energy, Yu Yuanzhen hadn't encountered any major problems while condensing his Soul Core.
The only issue was that Yu Yuanzhen had changed how he circulated his Soul Power several times during cultivation, damaging his meridians somewhat.
That was also why Yu Yuanzhen had delayed ending his cultivation. He planned to wait until his injuries had fully healed, then charge straight through to level 96.
After waiting so long, Yu Yuanzhen could feel that his mind and body had reached their peak. It was time to break through!
At the thought, the Soul Power within Yu Yuanzhen surged, and a thunder-attribute Soul Core gradually took shape in his dantian.
Sitting beside Yu Yuanzhen, Yu Hengqing immediately felt the surrounding energy of heaven and earth flowing toward him.
In the blink of an eye, Yu Yuanzhen broke through the threshold of a level 95 Titled Douluo, and his aura reached level 96.
But Yu Yuanzhen didn't stop. The Soul Core within him was continuously drawing in energy from the bead.
Although the energy in the bead had been left behind by Yu Zhantian, it contained far more than Yu Yuanzhen could have imagined.
Yu Yuanzhen's aura climbed step by step, inching toward level 97.
Strike while the iron is hot. If I can break through now, it'll be much easier than trying again later!
Yu Yuanzhen made up his mind in an instant and abruptly increased how much energy he drew from the bead.
With that vast energy sustaining him, Yu Yuanzhen moved one step closer to level 97!
Half an hour later, a powerful pressure spread outward from Yu Yuanzhen, covering the area where Yu Hengqing was in a single breath.
Fortunately, Leiyi reacted quickly. The instant the pressure arrived, he condensed the Thunder Armor and withstood Yu Yuanzhen's pressure.
Yu Yuanzhen opened his eyes and immediately withdrew his pressure. He went to Yu Hengqing and checked whether he was injured.
"Xiao Qing, I'm sorry! I broke through two levels at once and didn't control my pressure in time. Are you hurt?"
At his words, Yu Hengqing shook his head slightly. With Leiyi beside him, the pressure hadn't affected him at all.
"Dad, you're strong enough now. We should be able to carry out the plan I wrote to you about, right?"
Hearing Yu Hengqing say that, Yu Yuanzhen immediately remembered the letter Yu Hezai had brought him earlier.
Yu Hengqing had written it. It contained many suggestions for the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect's development, as well as many proposals that could easily turn the whole world against them.
"You mean the plan to cooperate with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect? But we don't have enough bargaining chips to get Ning Fengzhi, that old fox, to join us."
"What if I told you I had a way to solve the problem Ning Fengzhi has always wanted to fix?"
Yu Hengqing deliberately kept him in suspense.
"You can make the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda evolve?!"
Having been the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect's sect master for so many years, Yu Yuanzhen naturally knew Ning Fengzhi fairly well. He also knew what Ning Fengzhi had always wanted to accomplish.
"Yes. I got an Immortal Herb from Dugu Bo. With it, I can guarantee that the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda will evolve!"
Seeing how certain Yu Hengqing was that he could make the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda evolve, Yu Yuanzhen's first thought wasn't anything else. He wanted to know whether the Immortal Herb could help Yu Hengqing.
"Then can that Immortal Herb help you? If it can, use it yourself! Working with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect isn't the only way forward."
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was still an outsider. In Yu Yuanzhen's view, the Immortal Herb was better off going to one of their own.
Even if that meant the herb wouldn't be put to its greatest use!
"It can't help me. Besides, we need to work with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect! Dad, you must know how powerful Spirit Hall is. The forces they sent after the Clear Sky Douluo back then were enough to destroy a large sect."
"That's exactly why even the Clear Sky Sect, as powerful as it was, had to abandon Tang Hao, a once-in-a-century genius, and seal its gates, vanishing from the world to evade Spirit Hall!"
Watching Yu Hengqing grow agitated, Yu Yuanzhen fell silent. Of course he knew how powerful Spirit Hall was, and he knew that the strength it had displayed while hunting Tang Hao back then was not all it possessed.
But what did knowing that change? Spirit Hall had already become a colossal force. It couldn't be dealt with in a day or two.
"Fine. Come with me to see Ning Fengzhi. We'll trade the chance to evolve the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda for an opportunity for our two sects to cooperate."
"Yeah, that works! Though you're our only Titled Douluo, Dad, when it comes to strength, you're in no way inferior to Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo together."
Seeing that Yu Yuanzhen had agreed, Yu Hengqing couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief.
After finishing the deal with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, they would go to the Clear Sky Sect and seek its cooperation.
Only if the Upper Three Sects worked together could they keep Spirit Hall from even thinking about making a move—for the time being.
That would give Yu Hengqing enough time to complete the Thunder God Trial and become the Thunder God!
Since Yu Zhantian's consciousness had yet to finish merging, Yu Hengqing and Yu Yuanzhen had no choice but to leave first.
After returning to his study, Yu Yuanzhen didn't immediately handle the sect's affairs. Instead, he picked up his brush and wrote Ning Fengzhi a letter.
The letter was simple. Yu Yuanzhen subtly hinted that he could help Ning Fengzhi make the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda evolve.
Making the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda evolve was practically Ning Fengzhi's greatest obsession. Yu Yuanzhen only had to give it a gentle nudge, and Ning Fengzhi would surely respond.
After sending someone to deliver the letter to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Yu Yuanzhen waited for the "big fish" Ning Fengzhi to bite.
Just as Yu Yuanzhen had expected, Ning Fengzhi sent a reply within a day. It arrived along with an invitation.
In his reply, Ning Fengzhi made his position clear: he hoped Yu Yuanzhen would come to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect so they could speak in person.
Ning Fengzhi was willing to offer anything the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect could afford in exchange.
The invitation was even simpler. It merely said that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had an important occasion to celebrate soon, and invited Yu Yuanzhen to attend.
"Ning Fengzhi, you still love to beat around the bush! But that's the only way you'll bite deeper when you take the bait."
Yu Yuanzhen smiled and used thunder power to turn the reply in his hand to ash.
Within the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Chen Xin and Gu Rong appeared together in Ning Fengzhi's room.
"Fengzhi, how much of what Yu Yuanzhen wrote do you think is true?"
Standing behind Ning Fengzhi, Chen Xin stared at the letter Yu Yuanzhen had written. A hint of disbelief colored his voice.
The contents of the letter were so explosive that none of the three present dared to believe them completely.
Faced with Chen Xin's question, Ning Fengzhi didn't know how to answer him for a moment.
Ning Fengzhi naturally understood how strange the letter from Yu Yuanzhen was. Why would the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect's sect master, who should have been studying the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, suddenly start studying the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda?
But even if he was studying it, why would an outsider find a solution before the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, the very sect that possessed the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda?
"Uncle Jian, whether what Yu Yuanzhen said is true or not, I don't want to give up this opportunity!"
Before you continue