Five Years Later, Level Eighty-Nine

Lightning flashed across the Nine-Colored Stone Platform for half an hour.

During the first year after returning from Hell Road, Yuan Yu had not rushed to work on the Thunder Pattern. He had repaired his meridians first, extending the newly formed Water-Aspect Mystic Bottle's duration from three breaths to ten. It could still absorb only water and vapor within the limits of what he could withstand, but its capacity had grown severalfold. When necessary, it could release everything it had absorbed at once.

It had taken him seven months to advance from level eighty-seven to eighty-eight. His growth had slowed considerably since childhood, but every trace of Soul Power had become more concentrated. He had compressed Divine Slaughter's Domain into the Moon-Aspect Netherlight. When the lamp lit up, it blocked spiritual perception and brought a chilling killing intent to anyone nearby.

He had devoted the remaining eleven months entirely to the Thunder Pattern. Azure Luan drew down lightning, Ling Yuan guarded his meridians, and Qian Jun and Jiang Mo took turns using Soul Power to stabilize the platform. On the most dangerous attempt, the Thunder Element had taken the wrong path through the Myriad Phenomena Wheel. The Flame-Aspect Treasure Furnace and Water-Aspect Mystic Bottle had exploded at the same time, and Yuan Yu had spent ten days in bed.

Today was his ninth attempt.

Yuan Yu sat cross-legged at the center, the Myriad Phenomena Wheel suspended behind him. Its eight awakened patterns lit up in sequence, while the Sun Wheel Blade dissolved into nine-colored flecks of light that circled the Wheel again and again.

The Water-Aspect Mystic Bottle hung to the left, its surface free of the cracks it had suffered on Hell Road. The Four-Sided Rock Aspect, Wheel Wind Banner, Sun-Aspect Mirror, Flame-Aspect Treasure Furnace, and Moon-Aspect Netherlight occupied