Chapter 186: Five-Star
Thick, heavy layers of dark clouds covered the entire sky, rolling one upon another like a vast ceiling. Occasionally, a bolt of lightning the width of a man surged from within like a silver python, tearing the heavens apart. The blinding brilliance of it shrouded the entire mountain range in a glow of awe-inspiring might. In such violent conditions, even the magical beasts of the deep forest dared not appear, huddling in their dens. Faint roars were carried by the wild winds, echoing throughout the mountain valleys.
On the mountaintop, Xiao Yan sat cross-legged on a green stone, beginning to use the powerful wind and thunder force saturating the world to draw out and refine the sealed wind-thunder power within the scroll.
As he unraveled the scroll, a brilliant silver light suddenly shot out and transformed into a thick column of lightning that pierced directly into the thunderclouds above. The beam was so bright it could be seen clearly from a hundred li away.
Startled by the scroll's sudden burst of power, Xiao Yan was briefly shocked. Fortunately, the light didn't last long. With a sharp sound, it swiftly retracted back into the scroll.
Seeing it return to normal, Xiao Yan let out a quiet breath. When he looked back at the scroll, however, he noticed it was now wrapped in a faint silver glow, with strange images faintly appearing on its surface.
Nearby, Xiao Yuan continued circulating the Devil Lightning Tome, absorbing small strands of wind and thunder energy from the area while also observing those flickering images.
With his powerful memory, Xiao Yuan had no trouble remembering them—but he couldn't decipher the secret to cultivating Three Thousand Lightning Movement from them yet.
As the silver glow intensified, the images became clearer. They appeared to be humanoid figures, each in a different motion of rapid movement. Though their forms varied, each had a thin silver lightning snake at their feet. As the light shimmered, the figures suddenly "came alive," the space around them distorting, and one by one they burst from the scroll skyward.
Their speed was terrifying, seemingly warping space itself. In a blink, they had vanished from Xiao Yan's soul perception range.
Xiao Yuan, however, remained calm and watched with keen interest.
Though initially unclear, the moment the figures moved, he began to see patterns—clues.
"Freeze."
Just then, Yao Lao made his move. With a low growl, his overwhelming soul force surged forth, not only freezing the energy projections midair but also shredding apart the wild winds.
The chaos settled. The energy figures remained suspended, frozen mid-pose in various intricate stances.
"Return."
Yao Lao's soul force surged again. The figures, pulled by an invisible force, fell and streamed into Xiao Yan's forehead.
At the same time, a portion of that silver soul power split off and entered Xiao Yuan's forehead.
Yao Lao's form visibly dimmed.
Before Xiao Yuan could worry, his mind was overwhelmed by those charging figures—images and stances clashing like lightning in his thoughts.
Thankfully, his internal wind-thunder Dou Qi responded automatically, acting as a vessel to absorb the silver light.
Simultaneously, the Devil Lightning Tome activated on its own, drawing a massive current of sky lightning downward.
Seeing this, Yao Lao's expression changed. That level of lightning—Xiao Yuan might not withstand it.
And after exhausting so much soul force to copy Three Thousand Lightning Movement for both Xiao Yan and Xiao Yuan, Yao Lao was vulnerable. In his soul body, even acting could provoke the lightning further—potentially worsening things.
Hiss!
Suddenly, a black thunder sigil appeared on Xiao Yuan's brow, accompanied by an aura of pure destruction.
"Hm? Black Devil Lightning?"
Yao Lao paused, then looked at Xiao Yuan's forehead in astonishment.
If it was Black Devil Lightning… then this level of wind-thunder force wasn't a threat.
Relieved, Yao Lao turned to Xiao Yan—who, now overloaded by the soul force, had begun to lose focus.
Two disciples, both monstrous talents, and both prone to triggering unexpected events. A blessed headache.
"Stop spacing out! The wind-thunder power has entered your body already. Refine it!"
Yao Lao's voice snapped Xiao Yan back into focus. He then divided his attention three ways: half to each disciple, and part to monitoring the environment.
With that, Xiao Yan's training finally began properly.
As for Xiao Yuan—he now resembled a lightning rod, silver bolts pouring down into his forehead without pause.
Each flash slightly elevated his aura.
Within his wind-thunder Dou Qi, the silver light began to spread. Upon closer look, each silver speck mirrored one of the energy projections from before.
Clearly, the Three Thousand Lightning Movement's method had been embedded into the wind-thunder energy itself. All he had to do was refine it.
Meanwhile, the black Devil Lightning mark on his forehead absorbed some of the sky lightning to enhance itself. A portion of that power was returned to Xiao Yuan—converted by the Devil Lightning Tome into pure lightning-type Dou Qi, stored in the Green Wood Qi Palace.
As the storm continued, the silver lightning encasing Xiao Yuan formed a glowing cocoon. It grew thicker as time passed. Even Yao Lao had to distance himself slightly.
Outside, the torrential rain hammered the mountains, drenching the world.
Yet inside the cocoon, Xiao Yuan remained dry. His clothes, previously soaked, had already been dried by his swirling lightning Dou Qi. Any raindrops approaching were instantly vaporized by the lightning shield.
Time flew. Eventually, the dense clouds lightened, the rain lost its strength, and the storm tapered off. A single golden sunbeam pierced the sky.
On the mountain peak, the silver lightning veil slowly faded—revealing a white-robed Xiao Yuan.
He still sat cross-legged, but now hovered three inches off the ground—suspended midair.
As he opened his eyes, a green-blue arc of lightning flashed out, striking a deep pit in the stone before him. A five-star Dou Ling aura spread out.
"Didn't expect… to break through two whole stars."
The green lightning in his eyes faded. As he gently floated to the ground, he looked down at his hand, clearly surprised.
Perhaps it was because he had refined Black Devil Lightning using sky lightning for the first time, but the results were extraordinary. Not only had the Devil Lightning become a reliable trump card, but his strength had also jumped two full levels.
By his estimate, if he used everything he had… he could probably fight a Dou Wang head-on.
Dou Wang…
It's not far now!
Xiao Yuan smiled, his excitement bubbling.
Then he turned to Yao Lao.
"Teacher, you just now…"
Noticing how much dimmer Yao Lao looked, Xiao Yuan started to speak, but Yao Lao raised his hand to stop him.
"It's fine. Just a bit of energy lost. A bit of rest and I'll be back. In my prime with a physical body, this was nothing."
Yao Lao waved it off.
Xiao Yuan nodded, noting it silently. Some things were better shown with action than words.
"Well? Want to test if you've mastered it?"
Yao Lao grinned.
"Yes."
Xiao Yuan closed his eyes. The silver points in his Dou Qi gathered into vivid images—figures in mid-movement with lightning at their feet like miniature accelerators.
"Become lightning. Let your will guide you."
As he locked onto the final image, the eight silver ancient characters appeared before him.
So this… was Three Thousand Lightning Movement.
With clarity in his heart, Xiao Yuan activated his wind-thunder Dou Qi. Electricity coated his body. It flowed down, gathering at his feet as a green glow.
He leaned forward slightly. His right foot moved in an arc—mimicking a pose from the images—and stepped down lightly.
Instantly, his vision blurred.
To his shock, he found himself already high in the sky, well beyond the mountain peak.
Before he could marvel, he stepped again, following the images' sequences. Green lightning flashed. Thunder roared. His figure blinked from one location to another in midair.
All this without using his Purple Cloud Wings!
To step midair like this—this was a feat of Dou Zong-level experts. And now, with Three Thousand Lightning Movement, Xiao Yuan had just touched the edge of it.
After several attempts, he returned to the peak, beaming.
"Teacher, I've succeeded, right?!"
Yao Lao shook his head, laughing. "You can perform it, yes. But you haven't mastered it. You returned because you felt out of control, right? Afraid you wouldn't find your footing?"
Xiao Yuan scratched his nose sheepishly. His teacher was as sharp as ever.
Truth was, if he hadn't returned, he might've had to stop and fly back using his wings.
To use it reliably in battle—he'd need more practice.
Three Thousand Lightning Movement had three stages: Thunder Flash, Thunder Instant, and Three Thousand Thunder.
The final stage was near-instant movement—like teleportation. Even Dou Zongs didn't dare ignore it.
Right now, he hadn't even reached the first stage.
But with his talent, he'd catch on soon—especially with Yao Lao's guidance.
"Three Thousand Lightning Movement—still as a rock, fast as thunder. It's not about flair. It's about surprise. You, with your strong soul power, already have precise control. But your thunderous display just now was… a bit much. Focus your output. Concentrate it to a single point. That's when you'll truly reach the Thunder Flash stage."
Yao Lao stroked his beard and explained calmly.
Xiao Yuan nodded—though a little frustrated with himself.
He'd just gotten too excited earlier. Used too much Dou Qi at once.
No wonder it had nearly spiraled out of control.
(END CHAPTER)
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