"Drink!"
With a clear whistle, Xiao Yan, who was sitting cross-legged in the void, suddenly experienced a rapid surge in his aura. In just a short moment, the aura within Xiao Yan's body had become extremely terrifying.
A few breaths later, Xiao Yan suddenly opened his tightly closed eyes, and two dazzling beams of fire shot out from his pair of dark and clear eyes.
The fiery rays shot out like arrows piercing the clouds, instantly penetrating the void and disappearing into the endless darkness.
Xiao Yan's body trembled violently, and he twisted his body to stand up from the void. He unleashed all his strength, and the void around him could not withstand the terrifying force. After a violent tremor, it shattered with a bang.
Feeling the power within his body, which was several times stronger than it had been a month ago, Xiao Yan finally showed a slightly relieved smile.
After all that hard work, I've finally broken through to the Five-Star Half-Emperor!
With a light clench of his fist, an invisible force gathered in his palm. Xiao Yan had no doubt that with a casual wave of his hand, the void in front of him would be instantly torn apart!
No one could have imagined that such terrifying destructive power was hidden beneath this seemingly frail body.
With his hands clenched tightly, Xiao Yan's body shuddered violently, twisting slightly. Then, cracking sounds of bones colliding emanated from his entire body, and a long-lost sense of comfort slowly arose in Xiao Yan's heart.
"Hehe, kid, your breakthrough this time was truly hard-won!"
Gu You's soft laughter drifted over. Although he was somewhat dissatisfied with Xiao Yan's previous reckless actions, Xiao Yan's current increase in strength was undeniable. At this point, the process was no longer important.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan Xiao Yan filled with emotion. He nodded slightly, let out a long breath, and looked up at the lightning that was still floating in the void. The fear he had felt at the beginning was no longer there.
After a long while, Xiao Yan slowly withdrew his gaze, but at the same time, a slight smile appeared on his lips.
With a thought, the terrifying Spiritual Strength between Xiao Yan's Xiao Yan surged forth and condensed beside him into an avatar whose strength had reached the Peak of the Late Three-Star Half-Emperor Stage.
"Heh, this time, I'll just take all these cultivation resources with me!"
As the playful chuckle faded, the avatar beside Xiao Yan suddenly trembled, its sharp gaze instantly rising to look at the bolts of lightning. Without hesitation, under Xiao Yan's mental control, it instantly charged into the hundreds of terrifying bolts of lightning.
"Sizzle..."
As his avatar charged into the thunder, a series of thunderous explosions rang out, but Xiao Yan's face showed no surprise whatsoever.
With a thought, the cultivation technique within the avatar began to operate, and a terrifying suction force surged forth, pulling the surrounding lightning closer. As the cultivation technique within the avatar operated, the lightning was continuously absorbed and refined into the body, rapidly enhancing the avatar's strength.
Putting aside the matter of his incarnation for the moment, Xiao Yan turned his gaze to the Northern King.
After a year and a half of being tempered by thunder, the Northern King's body is now incredibly tough, and his jet-black color makes him appear even more profound, like a solid black hole.
Before this eerie darkness, even sunlight would likely be swallowed up.
When Xiao Yan got closer, he could see everything more clearly. When he stared at the body of the Northern King, he was secretly shocked. This eerie darkness was so intense that even his mind was drawn into it.
"Good heavens, this year and a half of constant devouring has indeed increased your strength considerably. I never imagined that even I would almost fall for your trick."
Sensing the strange aura emanating from the Northern King, Xiao Yan couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. He then noticed that the Northern King had stopped absorbing the lightning power.
At this moment, although the strange suction force still emanated from the Northern King's body, attracting the power of thunder to his surroundings, it could only surround the Northern King's body. Even if it touched the Northern King's body, it would only be forcibly repelled by the power of thunder within him and could not be absorbed by him.
"This... could this be the limit of the Northern King's power?"
Upon seeing this, Xiao Yan frowned deeply. If this was the case, then the Northern King's future assistance to Xiao Yan would likely gradually disappear, which would be a great loss for Xiao Yan.
It should be noted that the Northern King's true form was that of the Ancient Void Dragon Clan. Even such a terrifying race could only develop to this extent after being refined into a puppet. This was truly a significant loss for Xiao Yan!
However, Xiao Yan quickly noticed some clues afterward.
Although the Northern King before him seemed unable to absorb any more lightning power, a closer inspection would reveal that within Northern King body, there was a portion of lightning power that had not yet been completely absorbed, which the Northern King was slowly devouring. However, until this power was completely absorbed, the Northern King would likely be unable to continue absorbing lightning.
In other words, it's not that the Northern King's strength has reached its limit; it's just that he needs some time to digest the power he has gained over the past year and a half.
"Boom!"
Just as Xiao Yan had put the matter of the Northern King aside, a violent explosion suddenly rang out in the Void Lightning Pool.
Upon hearing the loud bang, Xiao Yan's expression did not become serious; instead, a joyful smile appeared on his face, because the loud bang came from his avatar.
"Hehe, I didn't expect the avatar to break through so much faster than my main body. But that's fine too, it saves me a lot of time."
Xiao Yan smiled slightly, his palm extended with his five fingers spread wide, and a terrifying suction force surged out from his palm. With a sharp whooshing sound, his avatar swiftly broke through the air and appeared in front of Xiao Yan in a flash.
"Hmm, not bad. This aura is indeed that of Four-Star Half-Emperor. Heh, his avatar broke through three stars to become Four-Star Half-Emperor, and his main body broke through two stars to become Five-Star Half-Emperor. The Northern King's strength has also improved considerably. I wonder what Mu Han will think if he sees this again."
Summarizing his gains over the past two years in the Void Lightning Pool, Xiao Yan couldn't help but let out a chilling sneer. Thinking of Mu Han, he still remembered the icy killing intent on Mu Han's face when he attacked him.
If he could, Xiao Yan would absolutely not mind letting Mu Han die by his own hand.
"Ha, well, after two years, it's time to get out..."
With his mind at ease, Xiao Yan turned around, recalled the Northern King and his avatar, and with a swift movement, the giant dragon formed by Xiao Jin's avatar followed closely behind, and quickly flew towards the location of the Lightning Pool passage in his memory.
A moment later, Xiao Yan stood in mid-air with a furrowed brow, feeling a slight sense of trouble.
Just as Gu Li had said, the Lightning Pool passage would automatically close after six months, and he was now unable to leave.
Staring intently at the massive pillar of lightning before him, Xiao Yan felt helpless. Even his Great Dao of the Void could not possibly carry him away from this place in the face of this pillar of lightning.
"Alas, Elder Gu, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you again this time."
With a helpless smile, Xiao Yan finally placed his hopes on Gu You, since only Gu You possessed the means to subdue the lightning pillar before him.
Gu You chuckled upon hearing this, not revealing himself, but instead laughing playfully from inside Xiao Yan's body:
"Hehe, kid, don't bother me with these things anymore. Within this Lightning Pool, I won't help you anymore. You'll have to ask this little guy next to you for help, haha!"
Gu You's words weren't just directed at Xiao Yan, so Xiao Jin, who was beside Xiao Yan, heard them clearly as well. Then, seeing Xiao Yan's slightly surprised gaze, it immediately raised its huge head high, as if it were arrogantly waiting for Xiao Yan's plea.
Faced with this, Xiao Yan could only helplessly purse his lips, roll his eyes at Xiao Jin Xiao Yan, and then say with a pout:
"Alright, stop playing around. I know you're capable, I know you're good, okay? Now's not the time to joke around. If you want to play, wait until we get outside!"
Hearing Xiao Yan's slightly urging words, Xiao Jin could only lower its head in boredom. Then, without further delay, its massive body slowly twisted, and with its mouth open, it let out a deep dragon roar at the lightning pillar in front of it, which was several times thicker than itself.
The next moment, with a twist of space, the Lightning Pool Daoist slowly appeared in front of Xiao Jin, and the lightning within it dissipated completely. With Xiao Jin here, they really dared not act recklessly as usual.
Upon seeing this, Xiao Yan couldn't help but praise Xiao Jin. The latter immediately let out a series of happy low roars. Xiao Yan chuckled, and then he and Xiao Jin entered the Lightning Pool passage together, quickly flying towards the outside of the passage.