Just then, the voice announcing the completion of the God Trial rang out in Yu Hengqing's mind.
[First Trial completed. Rewards issued: Soul Power increased by three levels and Cangming Lightning]
One point of the Seven-Pointed Star on the back of Yu Hengqing's hand lit up. His Soul Power, which had already stabilized, began rising again, and in the blink of an eye, his Soul Power Level reached sixteen!
Watching Yu Hengqing raise his Soul Power Level with such ease, Yu Yuanzhen, who was cooking for him, looked both pleased and envious.
Back then, it had taken Yu Yuanzhen more than a year to train from level eleven to level sixteen.
Yu Hengqing was just about to check where the Cangming Lightning reward had appeared when a tantalizing aroma suddenly wafted over, teasing his nose.
The smell stirred his stomach, which had gone almost a whole day without food, into an unashamed protest.
The God Trial reward isn't going anywhere. I'd better fill my stomach first!
With that thought, Yu Hengqing sat beside Yu Yuanzhen and stared at the sizzling, glistening meat in his father's hands. The combined aroma of cumin and roasted meat made him swallow hard.
By the third time Yu Hengqing's stomach protested, the meat in Yu Yuanzhen's hands was finally cooked.
As soon as the scalding meat was cut off, Yu Hengqing impatiently stuffed it into his mouth.
"Whoa! Whoa, whoa!"
The meat nearly had Yu Hengqing rapping from the heat, but he still couldn't bear to stop eating, and kept shoving more into his mouth.
The piece of meat, as long as his forearm and as thick as his fist, was soon gone, all of it in Yu Hengqing's stomach.
Watching Yu Hengqing eat fruit to cut the grease, Yu Yuanzhen pulled out a sleeping bag and handed it to him.
"Get some rest. Tomorrow, show me your Soul Skill and let me see how effective it is."
Yu Hengqing polished off the fruit in his hand in a few quick bites, took the sleeping bag, found a spot, and promptly fell asleep.
The next morning, a drop of dew fell onto Yu Hengqing's face, startling him awake.
He touched his face and confirmed it was only dew. Only then did his taut nerves relax.
"Oh, you're up so early! Breakfast will take a little while yet. Go wash up first."
Yu Yuanzhen, who hadn't slept all night, had just returned from gathering wild vegetables when he saw Yu Hengqing packing away his sleeping bag.
After breakfast, Yu Hengqing summoned Leiyi and entered Martial Soul Possession.
"First Soul Skill, Quick Attack!"
The Soul Ring beneath Yu Hengqing's feet flashed. Golden lightning gathered around his body, as if dressing him in golden armor.
In the blink of an eye, Yu Hengqing vanished from where he stood. When he reappeared, he was beneath a tree five hundred meters away, its trunk so thick it would take a person to wrap both arms around it.
Yu Hengqing pulled his arm free and turned around. A charred-black hole, as wide as a plate and as deep as his forearm, gaped in the tree trunk.
"Concentrated power and tremendous speed, but a straight-line charge is easy to anticipate. Remember to pick your moment when you use it again, so you don't waste Soul Power!"
After observing Yu Hengqing use his first Soul Skill, Yu Yuanzhen pinpointed its strengths and weaknesses.
Hearing his father's assessment made Yu Hengqing even more satisfied with his first Soul Skill. It could be used to attack or escape—truly a divine life-saving skill!
Seeing Yu Hengqing getting a little carried away, Yu Yuanzhen stepped over and rapped him on the head.
"Keep a cool head. Soul Skills in this world come in all kinds of strange forms. One careless moment, and you'll come a cropper."
Wincing, Yu Hengqing quickly nodded. His father was right.
On the Douluo Continent, anything could become a Martial Soul, from the gods of the Divine Realm to the little grass at your feet. No one knew what effects different Soul Rings might bring.
Just look at the Soul Skill Tang San's Blue Silver Grass gained after Xiao Wu's sacrifice in the original story—Void was a completely broken, cheat-level skill!
Having accomplished what they came for, Yu Hengqing and his father packed up and set off on the road back to the sect.
As the two of them headed out of the Star Dou Forest, a graceful figure in a deep green dress appeared atop a distant cliff.
"According to Lord Silver Dragon King's scale, the Thunder God's inheritor is somewhere nearby."
Bi Ji, who had taken human form, glanced at the Dragon Scale in her hand, which shimmered with seven-colored light. She closed her eyes and used it to sense the auras of the humans around her.
When Bi Ji opened her eyes, seven-colored light flowed across her pupils, and the auras of every living thing nearby came within the range of her senses.
"One Titled Douluo and one One-Ring Soul Master. It seems the Thunder God's inheritor is one of the two!"
"But my injuries haven't healed yet. It wouldn't be wise to approach them rashly. I'd better return to Life Lake and discuss this with Di Tian first."
The auras of Yu Hengqing and Yu Yuanzhen soon vanished from Bi Ji's range of perception.
After memorizing their auras, Bi Ji let the light fade from her eyes and turned to walk in the opposite direction from Yu Hengqing.
As soon as she entered the range of Life Lake, Daming and Erming appeared before her in unison.
"Lord Bi Ji, you're back!" they chorused.
"Yes. While I'm away, you should take the opportunity to absorb the energy seeping out of the lake and strengthen your foundations. That way, you should still be able to survive the two-hundred-thousand-year tribulation."
As Daming and Erming watched, Bi Ji slowly walked into Life Lake. The moment the warm water passed over her head, her figure abruptly vanished.
Daming and Erming exchanged a glance, then followed Bi Ji's advice and did their best to absorb the energy escaping from Life Lake.
Knowing he had been away for many days, Yu Yuanzhen deliberately hurried their return. By evening, they were back at the sect.
Only when he lay down in his own room did Yu Hengqing finally relax completely.
Even with Yu Yuanzhen, a Titled Douluo, accompanying him, Yu Hengqing had spent those few days in the Star Dou Forest with his nerves taut, afraid a Soul Beast might ambush them at any moment.
"Now I can finally see what this God Trial reward, Cangming Lightning, actually is!"
Yu Hengqing sat cross-legged and entered his mental space with a clear mind.
Since the reward hadn't appeared directly before, Yu Hengqing figured he had to claim it himself, and the most likely place to do so was by that broken sword.
Inside the mental space, Leiyi still lay within the cocoon formed from golden lightning.
Yu Hengqing glanced over, confirmed that Leiyi was still asleep, then went alone to the broken sword and reached out to grasp it.
[Issuing God Trial reward—Cangming Lightning]
Just as I thought. I have to claim this kind of reward at the broken sword!
Although he hadn't managed to move the broken sword this time, Yu Hengqing was thrilled to receive the Cangming Lightning.
With this bolt of lightning, Yu Hengqing believed Leiyi would surely ease up on the suppression of his Soul Power and allow him to cultivate faster.
The broken sword in Yu Hengqing's grasp shuddered, and two bolts of deep-blue lightning peeled away from its blade.
One wrapped around Yu Hengqing's hand and merged into the Seven-Pointed Star; the other flew toward Leiyi, sending ripples across the golden cocoon.
Before he could work out what was happening, Yu Hengqing felt his right hand growing heavier and heavier after the Cangming Lightning merged into the Seven-Pointed Star.
"Damn, so after all that, I still have to refine the Cangming Lightning myself!"
With his mind filled with black lines, Yu Hengqing quickly sat down and tried to draw the Cangming Lightning out of the Seven-Pointed Star, a thread at a time, to refine it.
At that moment, Leiyi, who had been asleep, was suddenly awakened by the Cangming Lightning.
Looking at the Cangming Lightning floating before her, Leiyi was about to ask Yu Hengqing what was going on when she realized he was refining it!
"Interesting. So they gave us each a bolt of Cangming Lightning!"
Leiyi raised a hand, and the Cangming Lightning eagerly merged into her body.
"With the Cangming Lightning as a stepping stone, I don't have to rely on sleep to refine the Seven-Colored Lightning anymore."
As soon as Leiyi finished speaking, the golden cocoon kept shrinking until it became a golden ball of lightning in her hand.
The Cangming Lightning was clearly visible inside the ball.
Leiyi sat cross-legged and clasped the golden ball of lightning, beginning to refine the Cangming Lightning.
I wonder how much of Xiao Qing's cultivation speed I'll be able to restore once I've finished refining the Cangming Lightning.
Before you continue