Great Bell Dao Body, Another Surge in Cultivation!

"It still won't work. It seems I'll have to find a soul cultivation technique first."

Half an hour later, Xiao Lei slowly opened his eyes, a trace of helplessness on his face.

His soul realm had now become much more condensed. Centered around the Thunder Ancestral Symbol, it had gathered from an illusory, ethereal state into a single form that seemed almost tangible.

It had even gained a degree of spirituality.

Yet he was still just a sliver away from truly breaking through into the Spirit Realm.

This was not because his soul strength was insufficient, but because he lacked a soul cultivation art and could not complete the final step of condensing his soul into human form.

However, Xiao Lei was not in a hurry. The soul strength of the Peak Mortal Realm was temporarily enough for him.

There was still plenty of time ahead. Perhaps he might draw a soul cultivation art from the lottery.

Even if he never managed to draw one, he could still obtain the Taiyi Soul Decisive from the Pill Tower and cultivate it.

What pleasantly surprised Xiao Lei was that, during his process of controlling the Thunder Ancestral Symbol, the lightning power it inadvertently released had also tempered his body to a certain extent.

After being tempered by lightning power, his Azure Heaven Overlord Body awakened one of its nine divine forms—the Great Bell Dao Body!

With a thought, Xiao Lei manifested the divine form and released its origin. In an instant, he transformed into a Purple-Golden Bell that rang out sonorously!

Xiao Lei judged that with this Great Bell Dao Body, even someone a major realm above him would find it difficult to harm him. Even against a Dou Wang, he might be able to barely withstand a few attacks!

Of course, that was only because his current realm was too low. Once his cultivation rose, the defensive power of this Great Bell Dao Body would increase tremendously as well.

Beyond that, Xiao Lei could also wield the various abilities attached to the Thunder Ancestral Symbol, which was equivalent to gaining several powerful Dou Techniques!

At the same time, as he completely refined and mastered the Thunder Ancestral Symbol, its vast lightning energy transformed into pure Dou Qi, sending his cultivation directly soaring from a Three-Star Dou Master to the realm of a Nine-Star Dou Master!

"As expected of the Thunder Ancestral Symbol!"

Sensing the earthshaking changes in his own strength, Xiao Lei felt quite delighted.

As for his failure to break through to the Spirit Realm in soul cultivation, that small regret did not matter much.

After familiarizing himself with his condition, Xiao Lei calmed his mind and went to bed to rest.

Over the following month, aside from accompanying Xun Er on strolls to clear her mind, Xiao Lei did not stop cultivating.

However, his main focus was on further consolidating his realm. He was in no hurry to break through to the next stage.

After all, his cultivation had risen a little too rapidly during this period. He needed to settle it somewhat.

Before long, the day of the Xiao Family Coming-of-Age Ceremony officially arrived.

The coming-of-age ceremony was a day every family valued greatly, and the Xiao Family was no exception.

As one of the three great families of Wu Tan City, the Xiao Family's coming-of-age ceremony naturally drew the attention of all the city's major forces.

Some factions friendly with them had even accepted invitations to attend the ceremony directly.

At the edge of the spacious plaza, Xiao Lei sat beneath the shade of a large tree with Xun Er, avoiding the blazing sun.

With a leisurely expression, Xiao Lei gazed at the enormous platform in the distance. Built from massive timber, it had been specially constructed for this coming-of-age ceremony.

Below the platform stood not only the Xiao Family's elders and stewards, but also guests from various factions. It was quite lively.

Suddenly, as Xiao Lei casually surveyed the crowd, his gaze paused slightly.

Near the Giant Wood Platform, a bewitching woman in a red dress was chatting with someone, smiling sweetly. Beneath the wrap of her red dress, her full and graceful figure was faintly visible, exceptionally alluring.

Quite a few people had already gathered around her, making her group the liveliest one beneath the platform.

This woman in red, whose every smile brimmed with mature charm, was Ya Fei, the manager of Wu Tan City's Mittel Auction House.

"Humph, is she that pretty?" Just as Xiao Lei's gaze lingered on Ya Fei, the dissatisfied snort of a young girl sounded beside him.

"Ahem." Xiao Lei discreetly withdrew his gaze and smiled at the composed-looking Xun Er. "Not pretty at all. She's far inferior to our Xun Er."

Xun Er rolled her eyes at Xiao Lei and said coquettishly, "Brother Xiao Lei only knows how to say nice things to coax me."

"I'm only telling the truth." Xiao Lei kept his eyes straight ahead.

At the very least, in terms of looks alone, Ya Fei truly could not compare to Xun Er.

Under Xiao Lei's burning gaze, Xun Er became a little embarrassed and shifted her eyes aside.

"Hm? Why has she returned?" Xun Er suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

"Who?" Xiao Lei followed Xun Er's gaze and saw a young woman dressed in academy uniform.

A longsword hung at her waist, and she had a rather tall figure. Yet the most eye-catching thing about her was her pair of smooth, long legs.

This young woman was Xiao Yu, the Great Elder's granddaughter and Xiao Ning's older sister.

At that moment, Xiao Yu stood not far from Xiao Yan, her face carrying a cold smile and disdain. "Heh, Xiao Yan, I never expected you to have a chance to rise again. What a surprise."

"What the hell does it have to do with you?" Xiao Yan clearly had little patience for Xiao Yu, opening with a vulgar retort.

The two immediately launched into another heated exchange, the air thick with hostility.

Though they were some distance away, Xiao Lei possessed Sharp Ears, and every word of their conversation reached his ears clearly.

"Let's go take a look. If they start fighting, they'll only make a joke of themselves in front of outsiders."

Seeing Xiao Yu draw her longsword, Xiao Lei shook his head with a light laugh, rose to his feet, and walked toward Xiao Yan and Xiao Yu.

Xun Er nodded slightly and followed after him.

"Cousin Xiao Yu, what has made you so angry?" Xiao Lei stopped beside Xiao Yan, looked at Xiao Yu across from him, and smiled.

Seeing Xiao Lei stand at Xiao Yan's side, Xiao Yu frowned slightly and said coldly, "Xiao Lei, are you going to stand up for Xiao Yan?"

Everyone in the Xiao Family knew about the relationship between Xiao Lei and Xiao Yan. During the three years Xiao Yan's cultivation had regressed, Xiao Lei had helped him quite a lot.

Xiao Lei did not answer Xiao Yu directly. He merely smiled and said, "There are many guests watching today's coming-of-age ceremony. If Cousin Xiao Yu and Xiao Yan start fighting below the platform, wouldn't that make us a laughingstock to outsiders?"

"If Cousin Xiao Yu wants someone to spar with, I can accompany you after the coming-of-age ceremony ends."

Xiao Yu stared at Xiao Lei, her expression darkening slightly. "I heard you've already become an Eight-Star Dou Shi? After the coming-of-age ceremony, I'll personally verify whether that's true!"

With that, Xiao Yu sheathed her longsword, turned around on her long legs, and left.

The reason she backed down was not only because of Xiao Lei's words, but also because she caught sight of Xiao Zhan striding quickly toward them.

"Thank you, Cousin Xiao Lei," Xiao Yan said gratefully as he watched Xiao Yu leave.

Xiao Lei patted Xiao Yan on the shoulder and smiled. "Actually, I know you aren't afraid of Xiao Yu. But between clan members, there's no need to resort to life-and-death measures. Don't you agree?"

As he spoke, the system's familiar voice rang out in Xiao Lei's mind once again.