Comprehending the Rules of Thunder

"So I'm already this powerful?"

Watching the Thunder Cloud gather as even the air seemed to grow heavier, Zhao Li was filled with emotion.

Things and people had changed. Seven or eight years ago, before he had formally begun learning Alchemy Technique, he had first gone up the mountain and happened to encounter his teacher Refining Pill, drawing Pill Lightning. Back then, seeing his teacher resist the Pill Lightning, he had felt worry and yearning. He had never imagined that after a few short years, he would already have reached the height his teacher had stood at then.

Lightning flashed, crackling from time to time.

Zhao Li stopped thinking about it. With a thought, he withdrew the flames, and the blood-red pill revealed itself.

The instant the pill was exposed to the air, the Thunder Cloud seemed to find its target. The sky above the canyon swiftly darkened, layer upon layer of black clouds spreading out, with flashes of lightning occasionally visible within them.

As the Thunder Cloud gathered and Heavenly Might descended, Medusa and the Great Elder only felt that vast Heavenly Might pressing down. Even their breathing grew heavier, and a sense of their own insignificance rose in their hearts.

Their faces pale, the two retreated a little farther again. Only after leaving the Thunder Cloud's range did they stop. They looked at Zhao Li, worry showing in their eyes, though it was hard to say whether they were worried about the person or the pill.

Zhao Li had long known that a Seventh-Grade Pill had a certain chance of drawing Pill Lightning. When the pill was completed and he saw the Thunder Cloud brewing, he did not dare be careless and had made preparations early.

Crack!

A thick bolt of lightning flashed, appearing above the Medicine Cauldron in an instant and striking viciously toward the pill, as if intending to destroy this Bone-Generating Blood-Melting Pill.

Though the thunder was fast and its Momentum astonishing, it was still blocked by Zhao Li. The thunder struck Zhao Li's Dou Qi Barrier, shaking ripples through the surrounding air.

After taking this attack, Zhao Li also judged the might of the Pill Lightning, and the heart he had been holding up finally settled.

He did not have a divine artifact like a Heavenly Demon Puppet for undergoing Thunder Tribulation. This was his first time drawing Pill Lightning, and truly facing such Heavenly Might, he had not been confident. He had still been somewhat nervous.

"So this is the Pill Lightning caused by a Seventh-Grade Pill? Its power is decent. An ordinary Dou Sect expert could probably withstand three to five attacks without damage; any more and they might be injured."

When the Thunder Tribulation's first strike failed, the lightning gathered even faster. Another bolt of thunder quickly formed and struck down once more.

Watching from afar, Medusa and the Great Elder only felt bolt after bolt of lightning falling, their hearts going cold. But seeing Zhao Li block the thunder so casually, they exchanged a glance, and while letting out a breath of relief, they both understood what the other meant—Zhao Li was too strong.

Though they were not being targeted by the Pill Lightning, the stray arcs of thunder alone blasted broken stones through the canyon. If they had been the ones to face the Thunder Cloud, perhaps two bolts would have been enough to kill them and erase their souls.

Several bolts of thunder struck down, yet the Thunder Cloud showed no intention of dispersing. Zhao Li looked at the Thunder Cloud that was still gathering and, after thinking for a moment, condensed a Dou Qi Ribbon and drew a bolt of thunder over, beginning to comprehend it.

Since he could comprehend rules from space, perhaps he could also comprehend them from thunder.

The Thunder Cloud seemed to be angered by Zhao Li's actions. The speed at which it gathered slowed, but its might rose by far more than one level.

"Oh, you can charge up a big move too."

Zhao Li sensed that the thunder had grown stronger, and even the air carried a scorched smell.

He resisted while studying it. Time passed, and the Thunder Cloud began to weaken, gradually dispersing.

Zhao Li looked at the dispersing Thunder Cloud, lost in thought.

Clang—

The Medicine Cauldron gave a clear ring, pulling Zhao Li's thoughts back.

With the Thunder Cloud gone, the entirely blood-red pill once again became lively and vigorous. After the baptism of thunder, it had even grown more condensed.

As if noticing that Zhao Li was not paying attention to it, it darted left and right, preparing to escape.

Zhao Li came back to himself, stretched out his hand, and caught it in his palm. Only then did it quiet down.

"Congratulations on successfully refining the pill, sir."

Medusa's soft, tender voice came over.

Zhao Li looked toward the voice. She still wore a veil over her face, her slender waist swaying lightly as she walked over gracefully.

Having gained a little insight just now, Zhao Li did not plan to stay long. He prepared to leave and properly digest and absorb the comprehension he had just obtained.

He put the pill away, then waved his sleeve and sent it over. "Thank you for your hospitality. The pill has been refined, so I should leave. Farewell."

Watching Zhao Li's afterimage gradually dissipate, Medusa and the Great Elder exchanged a glance, feeling somewhat regretful, but they were quickly drawn by the pill in their hands.

With this pill, their next Queen would definitely surpass her, possessing extremely high talent and formidable strength. She would very likely lead them out of the desert.

What they thought was not wrong. In the future, they not only walked out of the desert, but even out of this plane. But that was a story for later.

On the other side, after leaving, Zhao Li found a place and recalled the Thunder Cloud's gathering and dispersal just now. Many insights rose in his heart.

After a long time, he shook his head, somewhat regretful. He had gained something, but had no way to verify it.

"I can only verify it the next time I draw Pill Lightning. Tsk, I wonder what accomplishments that Queen Medusa will have after being nourished by a Top-tier Secret Technique? I wonder if she'll still cross paths with Xiao Yan because of the Heavenly Flames?"

As Zhao Li thought of all the future events in the book, he did feel that he had been somewhat impulsive. If this incident caused the Flame Emperor to lose a wife, Zhao Li would feel a little embarrassed.

Drawing back his thoughts, Zhao Li hurried toward Jia Ma Holy City.

Naturally, he did not know that because of this pill refinement, Medusa's bloodline had almost failed to continue. Yet precisely because of this, that romance became somewhat more complete.

Jia Ma Holy City was the Imperial Capital of the Jia Ma Empire.

The Misty Cloud Sect was the strongest, followed by the imperial family. After that came the Xiao Family, Mu Family, Nalan Family, and Mitel, four families close behind.

However, because of the nature of the Misty Cloud Sect, its members only cultivated on Misty Cloud Mountain, so everyone remained at peace, with very little friction.

The current Sect Master of the Misty Cloud Sect was a woman named Yun Yun. Her talent was extremely high, and her Cultivation Level had reached High-level Dou Emperor. Aside from the Imperial Family Ancestor, no one could contend with her. The remaining families each only had low-level Dou Emperor experts.

Experts were always quick to draw attention. The slightest stir involving them would become dinner-table gossip. After Zhao Li entered Jia Ma Holy City and wandered around a few times, he learned the current situation of the major forces.

After Zhao Li learned the general situation in the Jia Ma Empire, he felt somewhat puzzled.

"Since the Xiao Family still had a Dou Emperor, and ranked among the First-Rate Forces in the Jia Ma Empire, why had they ended up moving in just a few short decades—forced to leave the Imperial Capital and only able to establish themselves in Wutan City? What happened in between?"

Zhao Li calculated the timing. The Xiao Family's move away from Jia Ma Holy City should have happened sometime in the next fifty-odd years. A Dou Emperor expert was enough to shelter two or three generations as they grew up, so something must have happened during that period.

"Zhao Li, ah, Zhao Li. Storms can gather in a clear sky, and fortune or disaster can arrive overnight. How do you not even understand that?"

Fortunately, Zhao Li was not the type to get stuck on a dead end, so he stopped thinking too much about it. How the Xiao Family changed had little to do with him. If not for his favorable impression of the future Flame Emperor, he would not even have made a special trip to the Northwestern Region.

Over the next few days, Zhao Li found a place in Jia Ma Holy City and settled down temporarily.

Just as he had done over the previous two years, whenever Zhao Li arrived somewhere, he would stay for some time and earnestly experience the local customs and ways of life. It was precisely the accumulation of these bits and pieces of insight that had allowed him to break through to Dou Emperor so quickly and advance to Dou Zong.

With nothing to do for a few days, he listened to songs in the pleasure quarters.

That day, Zhao Li had just left the Immortal Sound Pavilion and was weaving through the crowd when he heard several people discussing the Alchemist Competition. Each of them was like a soccer fan watching the World Cup in his previous life, analyzing the strength of the contestants within the limits of their own understanding and guessing which ones were favorites to win the championship. It was quite lively.

As Zhao Li listened, his heart stirred. Perhaps he could use this competition to come into closer contact with the major forces of the Jia Ma Empire.

Although he had refined a Seventh-Grade Pill that had drawn Pill Lightning not long ago, the rank he had truly been examined and certified for at the Alchemist Guild was still only Second-Grade Alchemist.