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**
"Do I have any other choice?"
Xiao Yan spread his hands helplessly.
"If I could, I wouldn't want to advance my soul realm like this either. Taking it step by step through cultivation would be the best. But time is tight. With my current mid-stage Heaven Realm soul, facing the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame, I don't have any confidence at all."
"Time waits for no one. At most, when the time comes, I'll temper those soul origins with different flames before swallowing them. Just this once. It shouldn't affect me too much."
Wei Yang fell silent.
He knew Xiao Yan was right. Xiao Yan truly had no better option. This was the only path he had. As for Xiao Yan saying "just this once," Wei Yang didn't comment. Once someone tastes the benefits, how could it really be only once?
In the original story, Xiao Yan's Emperor-realm soul was achieved in the Heavenly Tomb, and for that, he extracted the Soul Origins of countless lingering, half-alive souls trapped there. But still, that same truth remained—he had no other way.
To grow rapidly within a short time, to reach achievements in a few decades that others needed hundreds or even thousands of years to reach—how could that come without any price, without taking risks?
Some shortcuts… he had no choice but to walk them.
"Since you've decided, then go ahead." Wei Yang finally said. He flipped his hand, retrieving two jade bottles and tossing them to Xiao Yan: "Take these back to master."
One bottle contained a drop of blood essence—the blood essence of a Divine-Grade Ancient Heavenly Phoenix. The other bottle contained a drop of Half-Step Emperor blood essence from the Demon Saint Huang Quan.
Xiao Yan caught the two bottles, nodded, and didn't say anything more. He turned around and left with Bei Wang. Very soon, the two figures disappeared into the vast, shimmering sea of silver lightning.
With Xiao Yan and Nan Wang gone, the depths of the Void Thunder Pool became noticeably quieter. Wei Yang withdrew his gaze and looked toward Bei Wang, who was still absorbing the Black Demon Lightning.
Nan Wang had reached its limit, but Bei Wang had not. Even though its rate of improvement had clearly slowed, that sense of steady progress had not faded. At this moment, it was resolutely, bit by bit, moving toward the level of a Five-Star Dou Sheng.
The Nihility Devouring Flame that once coiled around its body had long since withdrawn into its form. Bei Wang now sat silently in place, completely unmoving. It resembled a miniature black hole, devouring the Black Demon Lightning endlessly.
Clearly, with Wei Yang's enhancements, Bei Wang's growth limit far surpassed that of Nan Wang—it could go much farther. While Bei Wang was achieving remarkable results, Wei Yang himself wasn't lagging behind.
After a full month of frantically devouring Black Demon Lightning, he too had gained a great deal. His physique benefited, and his realm advanced from early Four-Star to late-stage Four-Star, steadily pushing toward the peak Four-Star.
At this pace, reaching Five-Star was just a matter of time.
As for the Death Life Flame within his bloodline, its power had also increased significantly. Not only did its strength rise with Wei Yang's own cultivation, but within the burning black flames, dense, violent black lightning arcs crackled continuously.
Clearly, after devouring such an enormous amount of Black Demon Lightning, the Death Life Flame had undergone a transformation. Because of that, its destructive power had risen even further. Within that destruction lay an overwhelming, violent intent.
In its black-flame state, it pushed the path of destruction to an extreme. With lightning and flame combined, it became far more threatening than pure Black Demon Lightning alone.
Among those of the same realm, there likely wouldn't be a single Dou Sheng who would dare underestimate it. After Xiao Yan left and that small interlude passed, Wei Yang once again sank his mind fully into cultivation.
Time flowed by.
In the blink of an eye, another hundred days passed.
At a certain moment—
Within the region of Black Demon Lightning that had grown noticeably thinner again...
Wei Yang suddenly opened his eyes.
Hu~
A breath filled with black lightning arcs surged out from his mouth. Then, he slowly rose to his feet. From within his body came deep, continuous thunderous rumbles, echoing nonstop.
Clenching his fists, he felt an endless, overwhelming power—like more than a dozen gigantic dragons lurking beneath his muscles, ready to surge forth at a single thought, unleashing a destructive force that could make heaven and earth change color.
"Peak Mid-stage Five-Star, just a step away from entering late-stage Five-Star." Wei Yang stretched his body, his bones crackling explosively. Sensing the condition within his body, a satisfied smile appeared on his face.
He muttered softly, then lifted his gaze forward. Looking at the Black Demon Lightning region, now sparse and no longer carrying the overwhelming momentum it once had, Wei Yang shook his head with a hint of regret.
What a pity.
This vast area of Black Demon Lightning had been almost completely ravaged by them over the past half year. That magnificent scene of ten thousand bolts of lightning roaring at once could no longer be reproduced.
"Forget it, nothing should be pushed to the absolute limit. Better to leave this Black Demon Lightning Pool with some foundation. Otherwise, I'd really be draining the pond to catch the fish." Wei Yang murmured as he shook his head.
Being able to rise from early Four-Star to mid Five-Star within less than half a year—he was already more than satisfied.
In this short span, his strength had skyrocketed far too much.
From peak Three-Star when he left the Falling Star Pavilion to mid Five-Star now, all in under half a year. At the Dou Sheng level, this speed was nothing short of terrifying. He had firmly taken another step toward the peak of this world.
As for the Void Lightning Pool that had contributed immensely to his growth, Wei Yang decided it was time to stop—no more further draining. A naturally formed treasure like this shouldn't be destroyed completely.
"Come."
With a single thought—
Boom!
A massive black shadow burst forth from the depths of the lightning pool like a violent streak of light, appearing instantly before Wei Yang.
It was Bei Wang.
"Tsk tsk." Wei Yang clicked his tongue lightly as he carefully examined the puppet.
Bei Wang's entire body looked as if it were encased in a thick layer of black armor, its entire form radiating a deep, mysterious dark luster. A terrifying aura that even made Wei Yang feel a slight sense of pressure slowly spread from within the puppet, distorting the surrounding space.
There was no doubt—this was a natural-born monstrosity. One that feared neither death nor pain, and didn't hesitate to fight.
"Perfect."
Wei Yang placed his hand on Bei Wang's forearm—thicker than his own thigh. The pressure emanating from its strength made him clearly understand that in terms of pure physical power alone, this puppet had surpassed him by more than one level.
At peak Five-Star, Bei Wang seemed to already be faintly touching the threshold of Six-Star—one could say it had half a foot stepped in. More importantly, it still didn't seem to have reached its limit.
If it had more and stronger lightning to devour, Bei Wang could continue growing even stronger. A puppet like this could only be described with one word—perfect. Looking at it, Wei Yang felt a faint, inexplicable sense of bloodline connection rise within his heart.
Within this puppet flowed a trace of his own bloodline. That single thread of bloodline, once weak and faint when separated from him long ago, had now grown into something immensely terrifying.
This discovery left Wei Yang slightly speechless. He hadn't expected that in this world—if judged solely by bloodline similarity rather than genes—the closest existence to him… would turn out to be a puppet.
**
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