Support me at patreon for 360+ advanced chapters :
patreon.com/YaoIk
**
Boom~
The Five-Colored Thunderclouds roiled more and more violently, the low rumbling of thunder echoing without pause. Thick, thigh-sized bolts of dazzling lightning darted madly through the cloud layers.
Crackle~
Amidst the surging clouds, they suddenly contracted sharply, and then a Five-Colored Pill Lightning bolt, like a giant serpent, burst forth from the clouds.
It tore through space, bringing with it an ear-piercing crackle as it slashed down fiercely toward Wei Yang, who was floating mid-air below.
Roar~
Wei Yang threw his head back and let out a thunderous roar. He didn't dodge, he didn't evade, but simply floated there, welcoming the baptism of the Five-Colored Pill Lightning with his body.
Every bolt of lightning that struck caused a certain degree of damage to his body. Although the Hou bloodline gave him a very strong resistance to lightning, the sheer might of the thunderbolts was simply too overwhelming.
Taking them head-on, getting injured was unavoidable. And Wei Yang was doing it deliberately. The purple alchemist robe he wore had long since been shredded into strips.
On the surface of his body, skin and flesh split apart, hardly any unbroken piece remained. His flesh curled and charred, blurred and bloody, presenting an extremely miserable sight.
Yet his pair of scarlet blood-colored eyes shone abnormally bright, crimson light shooting out over ten feet, like two beams of laser. And his aura, in this process, was gradually growing stronger and stronger.
The blood flames and arcs of lightning coiling around his body surged upward several feet high. Wrapped entirely in blood flame and lightning, he was like a god presiding over heavenly punishment, his aura shaking the heavens.
At this moment, with the destruction and restoration brought by the lightning, his fleshly body was steadily climbing toward a higher level.
The Hou bloodline within him, as it absorbed the endless lightning force, was also becoming increasingly dense.
That thickening bloodline flowed with his blood throughout his body, slowly remolding his physique. The newly-born flesh, every single cell, was like a tiny blood-red sun, radiating dazzling brilliance.
Destruction, repair, destruction, repair.
It was as though he was experiencing a nirvana, reborn through thunder and fire!
Gradually, his body seemed to shatter some invisible limit, breaking through shackles, stepping into a whole new world.
"He… he's absorbing the power of lightning and getting stronger!"
Watching Wei Yang bathing amidst the Five-Colored arcs of lightning in mid-air, Old Mu Gu's pupils suddenly shrank tight, his expression like he had seen a ghost. Such a terrifying, bizarre ability, he had never even heard of in his life.
Sensing that aura that was steadily growing stronger, then recalling Wei Yang's identity as a Five-Colored grade eight alchemist grandmaster, Old Mu Gu couldn't help a shiver of unease.
This… this kind of ability was simply too monstrous!
Even compared to Xiao Yan, who cultivated the Flame Mantra, Wei Yang seemed even more terrifying!
Old Mu Gu didn't dare to imagine, if Wei Yang were allowed to continue growing like this, just what heights his future achievements would reach.
"I…" Old Mu Gu suddenly had the urge to just turn around and flee.
Thinking back on all the years he had fought and schemed, risking life and death to obtain the Flame Mantra, then looking at Wei Yang now, he suddenly felt that maybe the Flame Mantra wasn't all that impressive.
At the very least, compared to Wei Yang's ability, the Flame Mantra seemed rather mediocre. After all, swallowing Heavenly Flames, how could it compare to swallowing lightning itself?
"Is it some kind of lightning-attribute technique similar to the Flame Mantra, or is it a special constitution, or something else?" For the moment, Old Mu Gu couldn't be sure.
Turning his head to glance at Xiao Yan's side, his face grew even darker.
That Earth Demon Puppet being bombarded by the Five-Colored Pill Lightning, instead of collapsing as he had expected, its damaged body was actually beginning to slowly repair itself under the violent lightning strikes. Bathed in thunder, it grew even more radiant.
"This puppet is also absorbing the power of lightning to repair itself…" Old Mu Gu was speechless.
This was just absurd.
"Damn it, if I'd known back then when I trapped this puppet with Nihility Devouring Flame's sub-flame, I should have destroyed it completely."
Old Mu Gu's expression was terrifyingly grim.
His heart was full of regret. If he had struck harder that night, this puppet would have been completely scrapped without question. And now, Xiao Yan had this lightning-resistant weapon at his disposal.
At least then, even if he lost, it wouldn't have looked so ugly. In Old Mu Gu's heart, losing to Wei Yang was something he could just barely accept. After all, in their clash that night, he had acknowledged Wei Yang's strength somewhat.
But to lose to Xiao Yan as well, that was something he found hard to swallow.
Compared to Old Mu Gu's gloom and regret, Xuan Kongzi and the others all let out a huge sigh of relief at this moment. This time, there was no more suspense.
Even though no one knew why Wei Yang had the ability to absorb lightning, nor why Xiao Yan's strange puppet also possessed such a bizarre ability, the fact remained: both of them had successfully passed the final trial of the Pill Gathering.
The champion of the Pill Gathering would belong to one of these two youngsters. Now, the real headache was, to whom should the championship be given?
Wei Yang and Xiao Yan, both were like flesh from the same palm, it hurt no matter which one they chose. The three giants exchanged glances, all looking a little troubled.
A happy kind of trouble.
"Hehe, these two brats sure have plenty of trump cards. Really makes one marvel. At the very least, they're far stronger than their unreliable teacher." The beautiful woman in the cheongsam smiled faintly and spoke softly.
"Wei Yang's ability to absorb the power of lightning should be some kind of special bloodline or constitution." Xuan Kongzi stroked his beard and muttered in thought.
"Most likely, though perhaps it's also due to cultivating some strange lightning attribute technique, that can't be ruled out." The dark-skinned, stern old man chuckled mildly.
"Let's just keep this discussion private. After all, this is Wei Yang's secret, we don't need to dig too deep. Better not provoke his displeasure." The woman in the cheongsam reminded.
"Of course." Xuan Kongzi and the stern old man both nodded.
"As for Xiao Yan's puppet that can absorb lightning power, I actually saw something like it once in an ancient ruin. Unfortunately, during the struggles of those fellows, it was destroyed." The beautiful woman shifted her gaze toward the puppet floating mid-air, enduring the violent thunderbolts, and smiled.
"The ancient puppet refining methods, then?" Xuan Kongzi nodded slightly.
In ancient times, such methods indeed existed. There were even sects specialized solely in refining puppets.
That era truly blossomed with a hundred flowers, puppets, beast control, and all kinds of techniques flourished.
Unlike the monotony of today.
"That old bastard Mu Gu must be depressed out of his mind right now." The stern old man looked at Old Mu Gu, who appeared somewhat battered under the Four-Colored Pill Lightning, and a gloating smile flickered across his face.
Xuan Kongzi glanced that way, then chuckled and nodded. By now he had returned to his usual calm demeanor. With both hands tucked into his sleeves, he said with a smile, "This time, our Pill Tower really owes these two brats a favor."
"Indeed." Hearing this, the cheongsam woman and the stern old man also smiled and nodded.
If not for Wei Yang and Xiao Yan pulling through, the champion of this Pill Gathering might really have fallen into the hands of that old dog Mu Gu.
After all, a Four-Colored grade eight pill was absolute crushing power compared to the other competitors.
If that really happened, the Pill Tower's reputation would have taken a devastating blow, becoming a laughingstock across the entire continent. As the three discussed, the Pill Lightning was also nearing its end.
Looking around, the dark heavens showed that in some areas, the Pill Lightning strikes were already growing sparse. That was where Cao Ying and Dan Chen were located.
One with two-colored, the other barely managing three-colored. Already considered quite good, but unfortunately, in this year's gathering, they could only be relegated to side characters.
Left were Old Monster Qing Hua's three-colored.
Old Mu Gu's Four-Colored.
Wei Yang and Xiao Yan's Five-Colored.
As the Pill Lightning was about to end, Xuan Kongzi and the others were already thinking about how to decide the champion. Two Five-Colored pills, how to judge which was superior?
-------------------------------------------------------------
Support me at patreon for 360+ advanced chapters :
patreon.com/YaoIk