The next day.
After breakfast, Li Zhexian's group headed straight for Thunder Valley.
Even though they had seen this spectacular lightning phenomenon before, their hearts still couldn't help but stir with awe.
However—
What surprised them this time was that the entrance to the valley was packed with people.
"What's this..." Yufeng stared with wide eyes. "Didn't Elder Yu Jinghan say that only about fifty people in the Blue Lightning clan could withstand the Azure Sky Lightning?"
As they were puzzling over this—
Yu Tianheng pushed through the crowd, looking helpless as he came up to Li Zhexian.
"The news that all seven members of the Emperor Battle Team could endure one minute under the Azure Sky Lightning has already spread through the clan."
"And today, with you—the one whose name rings the loudest—coming here to temper your body, of course the clan disciples want to come and watch the excitement."
As if to prove his words, hushed discussions broke out in the crowd. "The betting has started! How long do you bet Sword Wine can last?"
"I bet on three minutes!"
"I bet on five minutes!"
"But even the Young Clan Master only lasted five! Sword Wine may be strong, but he's not a lightning-type Spirit Master, and this is his first time attempting Azure Sky Lightning tempering… I fear—"
Before the voice could finish, a sudden cold snort cut through the noise.
Yu Tianxin tilted his head, arms crossed, walking up to the valley entrance with an unruly look, his eyes locked challengingly on Li Zhexian.
Yu Tianheng's face sank, and he barked:
"Yu Tianxin! What are you doing?!"
Yu Tianxin curled his lip.
"What's wrong, Young Clan Master? Has Thunder Valley become your private property? I can't come to cultivate?"
Yu Tianheng's brow furrowed tightly.
"You can cultivate any other time. Step back!"
"I won't."
"I won't." Yu Tianxin's eyes fixed intently on Li Zhexian, his sharp spirit and edge completely revealed.
"The name of Sword Wine rings like thunder in my ears! Today I'll compete with him—see who can last longer under the Azure Sky Lightning!"
At those words, Yu Tianheng's expression turned ugly.
Yu Feng and the others clenched their fists, barely restraining themselves.
If this weren't the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's grounds—and if this brat weren't Yu Tianheng's younger brother—they would've already taught him a lesson for his disrespect.
Everyone understood.
Yu Tianxin was deliberately targeting Li Zhexian.
If Li Zhexian lost to him in body tempering, not only would his face be lost, but the reputation he had painstakingly built these days would become Yu Tianxin's stepping stone.
"Hmph!"
Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling had no such scruples.
Seeing Yu Tianxin pick a fight so brazenly, their beautiful faces turned frosty as they prepared to rebuke him.
"No need."
"No need." Li Zhexian raised his hand, stopping the two women and also holding back the eager Yu Tianheng. His voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears. "Since you want to compete, let's compete."
The Blue Lightning disciples burst into an uproar.
Sword Wine actually accepted the direct challenge of the Clan Leader's grandson so decisively?
Yu Tianheng said anxiously, "Zhexian, you don't need to pay attention to him. He's deliberately provoking you to take advantage of it being your first attempt."
"My younger brother's talent is not much inferior to mine. He's trained under the Azure Sky Lightning for years and can already last five minutes."
Dugu Yan, Ye Lingling, and the others looked on with worried eyes, as though wanting to speak but holding back.
Li Zhexian only gave a calm smile.
Under countless gazes—some tense, some expectant—he walked toward the mouth of the valley.
"It's fine," he said in a steady voice. "I also want to try the power of this Azure Sky Lightning."
Yu Tianxin looked him up and down, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes, then he snorted. "For that much guts, you, Sword Wine, are not without some merit."
Li Zhexian said no more. He bent down and, under everyone's watchful eyes, took off the isolating shoe covers on his feet.
Sizzle!
In an instant, the lightning snakes crawling on the ground spread upward, clinging to his plain white robe.
Li Zhexian felt the tingling sensation seep into his body, thread by thread. "It's acceptable."
As soon as the words fell, he took a step forward into Thunder Valley.
Rumble—!
Rumble—!
The lightning within the valley was on a completely different scale than outside.
Even without entering the core Azure Sky Lightning Marsh, the violent force of the thunder already surged at him like a raging tide.
The earlier mild numbness instantly sharpened into piercing pain, stabbing through every bone and limb.
Li Zhexian allowed the countless wildly dancing lightning snakes to strike his body. His plain white long robe flapped loudly in the lightning's glow
His steps didn't falter as he walked toward a marsh of Azure Sky Lightning
From the outside, his movements still looked steady, as if he wasn't experiencing much resistance.
This sight made the Blue Lightning disciples watching from outside twitch with unease.
Even those who cultivated in the Thunder Valley all the time needed a moment to adapt to the numbness and pain when they re-entered it. Yet this Sword Wine was walking as if he were strolling leisurely!
"Just how strong is his body?!"
Someone gasped aloud.
Dugu Yan, Ye Lingling, and Yufeng's group finally let out the breaths they had been holding.
Though they knew Li Zhexian's body was powerful, they were still worried since he was facing the mighty power of lightning.
Just then—
Yu Luomian and Yu Jinghan arrived together.
The disciples quickly stepped aside to bow in greeting.
The two waved them off.
Yu Jinghan turned to Yu Tianheng and asked:
"One is your close friend, the other your brother. You know them both well."
"In your opinion, who will win?"
Yu Tianheng's eyes fixed on the white-robed figure striding through the storm. After a pause, he answered:
"Zhexian's body is much stronger than Tianxin's. But Tianxin has been tempering his body with the Azure Sky Lightning for a long time, so he has the advantage of the environment and familiarity."
"Zhexian should be slightly superior."
"Oh?" Yu Luomian looked at the white-robed young man who was about to step into the Azure Sky Lightning marsh. The hand in his sleeve quietly clenched. He thought to himself, "Then let me see if my brother's judgment is truly correct!"
Seeing Li Zhexian cause everyone to exclaim in surprise, Yu Tianxin snorted coldly and practically rushed into the valley.
The moment he entered, the lightning made his legs go weak.
Normally, he would have paused to adjust before stepping into the marsh.
But at this moment, seeing Li Zhexian about to step into the core area, he took a deep breath and, almost at the same time as Li Zhexian, stepped into the Azure Sky Lightning marsh.
"I will never lose to you!" Yu Tianxin gritted his teeth, a vein throbbing in his temple.
In truth—
He felt no closeness toward that Yu Xiaogang.
His words yesterday had only been the outburst of long-held resentment.
Every time his grandfather praised "Sword Wine this, Sword Wine that," his chest burned with indignation.
"Today, I'll let everyone see clearly! I, Yu Tianxin, am not weaker than anyone!"
Li Zhexian paid no mind to his defiance.
The instant his own body stepped into the Marsh—
His frame shuddered violently.
It was as if he had taken a step from shallow shore into a storm-tossed deep sea.
The pain he had felt in the valley earlier was now a sudden, tearing agony.
It didn't feel like thousands of steel needles, but countless searing sharp blades violently piercing every inch of his body.
The violent thunder brutally rushed into his body, recklessly colliding and trying to shatter his muscles, bones, and flesh.
"Whew..." For the first time, Li Zhexian's breathing became disordered.
Inside his body, a fire-blue intertwining light suddenly flared up. Although the Melting Frost Spirit Vein Body couldn't make him immune to thunder, it gave him a powerful physical body.
Li Zhexian focused and calmed himself, like a reef withstanding the crashing waves. He slowly adapted to the terrifying tempering of the Azure Sky Lightning.
He could clearly feel that every strike of thunder was strengthening his body. At the same time, the Qinglian Sword mark in the middle of his forehead flickered.
The tempering was only a side effect.
Li Zhexian had not forgotten his true purpose here—
Within this violent thunder, to comprehend the fourth form of the Qinglian Sword Song—Thunder Sword Intent!