Heavenly Thunder Body Tempering

One had to admit, a Dou Zong's flying speed was truly astonishing. The journey from the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower to Falling Thunder Valley would have taken Xiao Yun more than half an hour on his own, but under Elder Su's lead, they reached their destination in mere minutes.

Xiao Yun hovered in midair, looking down from above. The sight before him made him involuntarily draw a sharp breath.

Ahead, the sky above the valley seemed to have been stretched into a sheet of black cloth. Lightning flickered within it, and bolts of thunder continuously crashed down into the valley below.

White light leaped across the valley floor, while thunder roared past like an army of ten thousand charging horses, deafening to the ears. Under the lingering glow of lightning, the already dark valley appeared even deeper and more terrifying, filling one with dread.

It seemed that the valley floor might be destroyed by the roaring of countless thunderbolts at any moment. Within this valley, every sound was drowned out by lightning and thunder; only the howling wind sweeping through the gorge carried away some of the terrifying rumbling.

"This is Falling Thunder Valley. Do you still want to enter and cultivate here?" Elder Su asked with a smile, holding Xiao Yun in one hand.

Xiao Yun swallowed with difficulty and tried his best to reassure himself. After a long while, he finally said, "I'm going! I'll only cultivate at the outermost edge, so there shouldn't be any problem, right?"

"Very well. Go in, then. I still have to return and guard the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower. You can head back to the Inner Academy yourself afterward."

Elder Su brought Xiao Yun down before the valley, patted him on the shoulder, then flashed away toward the distant horizon.

Watching Elder Su disappear into the distance, Xiao Yun silently encouraged himself once more. His figure flickered, turning into a streak of light as he appeared at the outermost edge of Falling Thunder Valley. He casually found a large boulder to sit on, then took out the Ten Thousand Thunders Body Tempering scroll and the Golden Thunder Flower from his Storage Ring.

On the first page of the scroll, a line of bold, flowing characters read: Temper the body with heavenly thunder and defy the heavens; one misstep, and body and soul will be annihilated!

Xiao Yun curled his lips and paid it little mind. Dou Qi surged within him, circulating through his meridians according to the method recorded on the scroll. Once he confirmed that his Dou Qi was flowing smoothly, he did not hesitate. He picked up the Golden Thunder Flower and swallowed it in one gulp.

Without even needing to chew, the Golden Thunder Flower transformed into a streak of golden lightning the instant it entered his mouth, flowing down his throat and into his body. With a slight movement of his mind, Dou Qi erupted from the cyclone within him, passing through countless meridians before arriving before the golden lightning.

Then, fiery red Dou Qi swarmed over it, wrapping it up and circulating it through his meridians according to the method of Ten Thousand Thunders Body Tempering.

As time passed, Xiao Yun completed one full circulation. Fine arcs of electricity began seeping from the surface of his body, making him look like a human-shaped light bulb from afar.

Boom!

Streams of thunderous power were drawn toward Xiao Yun like silver electric snakes weaving and leaping through the air. In the end, they converged into an incomparably thick bolt of lightning that crashed down from above and enveloped his body.

"Ahhh! That's got some kick!" Xiao Yun's face twisted in pain. The clothes on his body had long been torn apart by the power of lightning, exposing his somewhat sturdy muscles and fair skin.

Dou Qi surged out from within him. Fiery red Dou Qi fused with the silver lightning and continuously coursed across Xiao Yun's back. Every time the lightning leaped, azure thunder patterns appeared on his back.

"Tsk, tsk. This kid is cultivating the Ten Thousand Thunders Body Tempering left behind by the Dean, isn't he? Using lightning to temper the body... only that madman of a Dean could have created such a technique."

In midair, Elder Su, who had supposedly left long ago, returned and silently watched Xiao Yun's mad attempt to absorb the lightning.

"Looks like I won't need to intervene. This little fellow can withstand these bolts of lightning."

A moment later, Elder Su looked at the small figure standing firm amid the lightning with a trace of admiration in his eyes. "At such a young age, he can endure pain that ordinary people could never bear. What a monster. Given time, he may not be unable to reach the Dean's realm."

Only an aged voice lingered in the air, while Elder Su himself had long since vanished.

Originally, Elder Su had believed that Xiao Yun, a mere Da Dou Shi, would never be able to endure such terrifying thunderous power. He had intended to rescue him the moment he could no longer hold on.

But after watching for a while, he found that although Xiao Yun was struggling, he could still absorb part of the thunderous power to temper his body. Since that was the case, Elder Su no longer needed to worry about his safety.

Xiao Yun did not notice Elder Su's appearance or words at all. He only felt as though his body were about to explode. Boundless pain crashed over him, and his mind contained nothing but agony. The Dou Qi in his body could only mechanically circulate according to the method of Ten Thousand Thunders Body Tempering.

Amid such pain, Xiao Yun's sense of time gradually blurred. He did not know whether an instant or several hours had passed. Enduring the waves of pain in his mind, he slowly sank his consciousness into his body.

The moment his consciousness entered his body, the condition of every part of it was immediately reflected in Xiao Yun's mind. At this moment, countless tiny silver bolts of lightning filled his many meridians.

These silver bolts, containing terrifying energy, ran wildly through his meridians. Fortunately, the energy of the Golden Thunder Flower he had swallowed earlier had already transformed into a golden barrier, protecting his fragile meridians.

As his Dou Qi circulated and the golden energy protected him, the once boundless pain eased somewhat. Xiao Yun silently let out a breath, finally finding the chance to try guiding this thunderous power. Yet the moment he came into contact with it, his head began to ache fiercely.

This thunderous power was innately incomparably violent, like a mad bull in an arena. Trying to pin it down and make it obediently return to its pen was obviously no easy task.

His first attempt ended in immediate failure, but Xiao Yun did not lose heart. He continued to drive his Dou Qi, tirelessly attempting to guide the thunderous power.

Failure, failure, still failure... After failing an unknown number of times, Xiao Yun, nearly numb from all the attempts, suddenly trembled. Then, to his delight, he discovered that the thunderous power within his meridians had finally stopped resisting his Dou Qi and began circulating through his meridians under the guidance of his consciousness.

He carefully controlled the thunderous power, making it follow the technique's circulation path. Gradually, the other thunderous power in his body was drawn toward it and began slowly merging together.

When all the thunderous power in his body gathered into one, the originally silver lightning began to gleam with a hint of gold.

As the golden glow appeared, the thunderous power became even more violent and terrifying. Everywhere it passed, even the golden barrier that had previously been able to resist it began to dim.

The effect of the Golden Thunder Flower was gradually fading, but Xiao Yun did not dare grow impatient. He continued carefully controlling the thunderous power as it slowly circulated through his body along his meridians.

As it circulated, Xiao Yun's control over the thunderous power grew increasingly adept. When it passed through every meridian and perfectly completed one full cycle, he could sense that some kind of power within his body seemed to be awakening.

Lightning flickered across every one of his meridians, flesh, bones, and organs. The thunderous power hovered above the cyclone, slowly being absorbed by every part of his body.

If anyone had been present, they would have discovered that the small body sitting on the boulder had almost no intact skin left. His entire body was black as charred coal, and wisps of white smoke seeped from the top of his head.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Within the silent valley floor, the charcoal-like body suddenly emitted powerful heartbeats. Each beat seemed to play a melody of thunder.

As his heart began beating, a dazzling surge of thunderous power suddenly erupted from Xiao Yun's body, transforming into a silver barrier that wrapped around his entire body. Lightning flickered over its surface, cutting him off from everything outside.