Drawing Thunder into the Body

The dust settled, blood covered the ground, and red-and-white matter lay splattered everywhere.

Even in death, the Earth Brute Bear could never have imagined that one day, it would be beaten to death by sheer brute force.

Tang Tian lay sprawled on the ground, gasping for breath. Red-and-white matter still clung to his face and head, making him look as savage as a beast.

"Tut, tut, tut..."

Master Fan's voice carried a teasing note.

"Kid, do you feel quite accomplished, challenging someone above your level?"

Tang Tian rolled his eyes. With Meridian Refining Realm cultivation, he had killed an Earth Brute Bear that possessed the combat strength of the High Blood-Burning Realm. It truly was rather gratifying.

But the moment Master Fan opened his mouth, Tang Tian knew that the sharp tongue was about to begin.

"You beat this brainless Earth Brute Bear to death with brute force alone, without a shred of combat technique. What difference is there between you and that Earth Brute Bear lying cold on the ground?"

"I..."

Tang Tian felt deeply aggrieved. He had only just been reborn into this world, and this body had originally cultivated the Tang Family's techniques, which were hardly anything special.

If he had possessed combat techniques, would people have called him trash?

"I think you ought to carefully consider what path you will take in the future. If you rely solely on the Nine-Turn Heavenly Thunder Art, then you will only become a body cultivator."

Like a master guiding his disciple, Master Fan offered his advice.

"Master Fan is right. In my previous life, I focused on alchemy and collected many cultivation techniques, but none of them were particularly heaven-defying. If I want to grow stronger, powerful techniques are far too important."

Tang Tian could indeed cultivate the techniques from his former life, including many that others had exchanged with him in return for refining pills.

But after considering them carefully, none suited him.

"There are powerful inheritances within this tower, but you have yet to gain its true recognition. Therefore, you cannot use them at all."

Master Fan's voice held a trace of mockery.

"How can I gain its true recognition?"

Upon hearing that, Tang Tian's expression brightened, and he hurriedly asked.

"Prove that your talent is sufficient to bear the karma of this Divine Tower." Master Fan continued, "Once you enter the Blood-Burning Realm, if your aptitude is high enough, you will awaken your Life Soul."

"Aptitude..."

Tang Tian gave a bitter smile. Who did not know that this body possessed the aptitude of trash?

If his aptitude had been good, why would he still be a low-level Meridian Refining Realm cultivator at fifteen?

Awaken a Life Soul? That hope truly was slim!

"You need not be so pessimistic. With me here, even if you are trash, I can still send you soaring into the heavens. Over these next three days, find some High Blood-Burning Realm demon beasts and temper yourself. Wait for the heavenly thunder to arrive."

Worried that he had dealt too heavy a blow, Master Fan spoke to comfort him.

"What can aptitude truly determine? Even if I really possess only ordinary aptitude, I will still become a powerhouse!"

A cold gleam flickered in Tang Tian's eyes. He rose to his feet and pulled a dagger from the spatial storage pouch he carried with him.

As a direct descendant of the Tang Family, he possessed a storage pouch, though the space within was merely as large as a room.

"This Blood-Burning Realm Earth Brute Bear's hide, fur, tendons, and bones can still fetch a good price. However small a mosquito's leg may be, it is still meat. Who asked me to be so poor?"

Tang Tian shook his head and began processing the Earth Brute Bear's corpse.

In his previous life, he had been an extremely wealthy alchemist. But now, he was merely the young master of a small Lineage. How much money could he possibly have?

After quickly finishing with the Earth Brute Bear, Tang Tian continued weaving through the forest, searching for Blood-Burning Realm demon beasts.

Three days passed swiftly.

For Tang Tian, these three days were unforgettable for the rest of his life.

As he constantly fought all manner of demon beasts, he pushed the strength of his fleshly body to its limit and completely adapted to this body.

In other words, with the power of his current body, he could smash Tang Li to pieces with a single punch.

At the edge of a cliff, Tang Tian sat cross-legged upon a boulder, his entire body giving off a pungent stench of blood.

With his eyes closed, he adjusted himself to his peak condition.

Above him, a vast expanse of dark clouds churned without end.

Master Fan had indeed calculated with divine precision. A thunderstorm was about to descend.

Boom!

Thunder resounded through Starfall Forest as fierce winds howled.

"Kid, are you ready?" Master Fan's voice became exceedingly solemn.

Using thunder to temper the body was clearly no child's play.

"Master Fan, let's do it."

Tang Tian opened his eyes and looked toward the roiling clouds overhead, as well as the lightning that flickered and vanished within them.

"Good!"

The instant Master Fan's words fell, an indistinct force rushed out from Tang Tian's body and swept toward the thunder in the sky.

No matter how steady his temperament was, Tang Tian could not stop his eyelids from twitching at the sight before him.

This was not cultivation at all. This was plainly gambling with his life.

With a crash, before Tang Tian could even think, his vision was blinded by a flash of light and turned utterly blank.

Every pore on his body stood on end as an aura of destruction instantly drowned him.

Even though he had long prepared himself mentally, Tang Tian still let out a shrill scream.

Since ancient times, the power of thunder had represented the heavenly punishment of the Heavenly Dao.

Taking the initiative to draw thunder into one's body was already a provocation toward the Heavenly Dao.

Not to mention that Tang Tian was merely a cultivator at the lowest level of the Meridian Refining Realm. Before this bolt of lightning, he had no means of resistance whatsoever.

The lightning entered his body and rapidly destroyed Tang Tian's vitality. Before long, it would erase everything, leaving both body and soul destroyed.

"Kid, do you truly want to die? Why aren't you quickly circulating the Nine-Turn Heavenly Thunder Art?"

Master Fan's voice was filled with urgency. Drawing thunder to temper the body was a game of life and death. Looking across the world, how many people dared to play such a game?

Even among those who truly did, unless they possessed extraordinary talent, most were reduced to dust beneath the power of thunder, their bodies and souls utterly destroyed.

Yet any cultivator who could master the power of thunder would invariably become a pinnacle powerhouse beneath heaven and earth.

"Alright..." Tang Tian clenched his teeth tightly and struggled to calm himself.

As his vitality was gradually destroyed and the shadow of death shrouded him, he had no choice but to stake everything on one desperate gamble.

The Nine-Turn Heavenly Thunder Art drew the thunder into his body, continuously controlling and compressing that power before sending it surging in every direction through his meridians.

Pfft...

Tang Tian's meridians could not withstand the destructive power of thunder, and he immediately suffered internal injuries and spat out blood.

"Kid, focus entirely on controlling the thunder within your body. I will protect your life."

Master Fan immediately released a force that guarded Tang Tian's heart and vital points.

Fortunately, the first turn of the Nine-Turn Heavenly Thunder Art was only meant to temper the meridians, and the amount of lightning power required was not excessive.

Yet Master Fan had overlooked one point. To him, a bolt of lightning truly was not much.

But to Tang Tian, who was still at the Meridian Refining Realm, being struck by lightning was like a calamity falling from the heavens.

The power of thunder was like countless steel needles, ceaselessly stabbing Tang Tian's meridians.

"Aah!"

No matter how great his resolve, Tang Tian could not endure such inhuman agony. From within to without, his body lay on the ground, twitching uncontrollably.

Fortunately, as the Nine-Turn Heavenly Thunder Art circulated, the violent thunder power continuously became purer and more docile, flowing through his meridians.

The Twelve Main Meridians, the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, and the one hundred and eight Heavenly Stems and Earthly Fiends Hidden Meridians all expanded and widened beneath the tempering of thunder power.

At the Meridian Refining Realm, many cultivators believed that merely opening the meridians was enough.

But in the eyes of true powerhouses, that was not the case.

It was like the difference between a small stream and a great river. Widened meridians vastly improved both the storage and circulation of origin power.

If opening the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Fiends Hidden Meridians allowed Tang Tian to battle High Blood-Burning Realm cultivators, then at this very moment, he could faintly contend against cultivators of the Initial Bone-Forging Realm!

"Not enough! Again!"

Tang Tian threw back his head and roared at the sky.

Although much of his vitality had been destroyed, after his meridians were widened, the origin power within his dantian and meridians grew increasingly abundant. It radiated a destructive aura as it faintly merged with the power of thunder.

Crash!

Another bolt of lightning descended from the heavens...

[Author's Note: Here is today's update. There will be more later.]