A deafening thunderclap suddenly exploded high in the heavens. A bolt of silvery-white lightning as thick as a bucket tore through the sky, cleaving down at Shi Yi's head like a sword of heavenly punishment. Wherever it passed, space twisted. Blazing white light illuminated a hundred-yard radius as brightly as day, and the savage lightning spiritual energy pulverized every boulder on the mountainside.
"Just in time!"
The Double Pupils in Shi Yi's eyes revolved, suddenly bursting with dazzling divine light. His hands formed seals at lightning speed, like butterflies weaving through flowers. Countless ancient runes flickered between his ten fingers, tracing profound paths through the air. With a sharp cry, he unleashed a torrent of divine power from his body, condensing it into a hundred-foot-long Thunder Flood Dragon manifestation behind him.
The Thunder Flood Dragon was formed entirely of purple lightning, every scale flashing with blinding radiance. More astonishing still, empowered by Shi Yi's deep understanding of the laws of lightning, its eyes shone with spiritual intelligence. Its whiskers danced as it breathed in the primal energy of heaven and earth, like an ancient Fierce Beast awakening. The lightning patterns winding around its body faintly formed runes of the Great Dao, exuding a pressure that made hearts tremble.
"Break!"
The Thunder Flood Dragon let out a heaven-shaking roar and turned into a streak of purple lightning, charging skyward. Space shuddered in its wake, and it left a trail of lightning that lingered long after its passage. When the two bolts collided in midair, the fierce struggle one might have expected never came-the silvery-white lightning shattered like fragile glass the instant the Thunder Flood Dragon struck it, scattering across the sky in a rain of light. Without losing momentum, the dragon surged into the highest heavens, ripping a massive opening through the thick clouds.
Shi Yi stood deep within Thunderclap Valley, looking up at the lightning continually striking down from the sky. His Double Pupils revolved, as though countless runes were evolving within them. He murmured to himself:
"The laws of the Lightning Dao truly hold boundless mysteries. The deeper my understanding, the more astonishing the power of my lightning Treasure Art becomes. In that case, I'll cultivate in seclusion here for a while, studying the Lightning Dao while inscribing the second part of the Primordial Chaos Heaven-Refining Grand Formation."
His gaze grew fathomless, his thoughts surging.
"I can also practice some other Treasure Arts. Even without using them, I can comprehend their corresponding laws of the Great Dao. If I can merge those laws into my Double Pupils, perhaps I can advance them further and develop even greater power..."
With that thought, he hesitated no longer. He sat cross-legged, runes flickering around him, and entered a state of deep cultivation.
Time flowed on. In the blink of an eye, a month had passed.
Throughout that time, Shi Yi worked tirelessly day and night, comprehending the laws of the Lightning Dao while inscribing the second part of the Primordial Chaos Heaven-Refining Grand Formation within his body. Lightning wreathed him, sometimes becoming a roaring Thunder Flood Dragon, sometimes condensing into lightning seals that suppressed space. His control over lightning grew ever more refined, like a furnace flame brought to pure perfection.
He also practiced several powerful Treasure Arts. Although he had yet to truly unleash them, he had already gleaned many truths of the Great Dao from them. Whenever he grasped a new law, he tried merging it into his Double Pupils, making those mysterious eyes ever more fathomless, as though they could pierce every law of heaven and earth.
On this day, outside Thunderclap Valley, fierce winds suddenly swept through the previously tranquil valley, and dark clouds churned overhead.
Shi Yi sat cross-legged atop a boulder. His aura abruptly surged, and an immense, unrivaled pressure erupted from his body!
Boom!
Violent waves of force swept in every direction. With him at their center, the ground cracked inch by inch. Countless stones were pulverized, and even the distant cliffs fractured with spiderweb cracks!
His eyes snapped open. Runes intertwined within his Double Pupils, revealing scenes that seemed to show chaos splitting open and stars falling into annihilation.
"At last... it's complete!"
Shi Yi slowly rose, feeling the power surging within him. A satisfied smile curved his lips.
"The second part of the Primordial Chaos Heaven-Refining Grand Formation is complete!"
A hazy halo of chaos now enveloped his entire body, and his aura was even more unfathomable than before. Clearly, inscribing this Grand Array had not only strengthened his flesh but also brought his command of the laws of heaven and earth another step forward.
"Next, it's time to test the results..."
His gaze flashed like lightning as he looked into the depths of Thunderclap Valley. Even more terrifying lightning was brewing there, as though awaiting his challenge!
Just as Shi Yi was about to step into the inner valley again, intending to venture deeper and experience the laws of the Lightning Dao, a silver figure flashed into view. Moving with incredible speed, it reached his back in just a few bounds.
A powerful forepaw rose high. Five razor-sharp claws gleamed with cold light, each so fearsome that a single glance made one feel as though their body were about to be torn apart.
Sensing the air splitting behind him, Shi Yi turned and threw a punch. Runes covered his iron fist, and lightning wrapped around it as it collided with that coldly gleaming paw.
Boom!
In an instant, lightning spilled in every direction. Cracks spread across the ground beneath them, and dust filled the air. A beast-shaped figure flew backward out of the dust and landed firmly on the ground.
A human figure slowly emerged from the dust, his steps steady. His eyes and entire body radiated sacred light, and astonishing fluctuations poured from within him.
"A Wind-Thunder Leopard. Your kind again. Late-stage Array Formation Realm, almost at perfection-and you thought you could ambush me with that pitiful speed? It seems you're tired of living. Do you want to go to hell ahead of schedule?"
Just as Shi Yi prepared to enter Thunderclap Valley again, a streak of silver lightning suddenly ripped through space!
Whoosh!
The silver shadow moved like lightning, arriving in an instant. Five icy gleams slashed through the sky, accompanied by a piercing sonic boom, aiming straight for Shi Yi's back. The claws glimmered with an eerie blue light, carving fine spatial fissures through the air wherever they passed.
"Hmm?"
Shi Yi's gaze abruptly chilled. Before his body even turned, his right fist struck out, carrying countless lightning runes. Purple electricity coiled around his knuckles, and a miniature Thunder Flood Dragon could faintly be seen swimming through the lightning.
Boom!
The instant fist met claw, the entire valley shook. A savage shock wave burst outward in a ring, and the ground within a hundred-yard radius immediately collapsed. Countless stones turned to powder amid the lightning. The silver figure flew backward, deftly somersaulted several times in midair, then landed steadily.
Within the dust, Shi Yi slowly emerged, treading on lightning. Sacred radiance now shone from his entire body. A river of stars seemed to revolve within his Double Pupils, and the pressure emanating from him made the surrounding space warp slightly.
"A Wind-Thunder Leopard?" Shi Yi sneered. "You dare ambush me with only late-stage Array Formation cultivation? It seems you've had enough of living."
The silver light faded, revealing a massive leopard with lightning patterns flowing over its entire body. It was thirty feet long, with a single horn on its forehead and blue-green wind vortices coiling around its four paws. Most peculiar of all were the six silver bone spurs growing from its back, each crackling with fine arcs of electricity.
The Wind-Thunder Leopard narrowed its golden eyes and spoke in human language. "The Human Race? Interesting. In my race's inherited memories, you were nothing more than livestock raised for meat." It elegantly licked
its forepaw. "Tell me, how did you get in here? Hand over the way out, and perhaps I'll leave your corpse intact."
Shi Yi's divine power boiled around him, his robes stirring without wind. Behind him, the phantom of a purple-gold lightning dragon flickered in and out of sight. "A beast like you thinks you're worthy of speaking so presumptuously about the Human Race?"
The Wind-Thunder Leopard flicked its long tail dismissively. It had indeed obtained fragments of information from its ancestors' memories: this world had been created by some supreme being, and these so-called Primordial Remnants were merely servants casually captured by that being.
Over millions of years, countless breathtakingly gifted predecessors had attempted to break out of this world, only to be reduced to ash by its restrictions. As the years wore on, the spark of resistance gradually died away, until today...