Chapter 45: Thunder Punishment from the Heavens (Part I)

The storage bag in his hand felt heavy. Thinking of the three hundred thousand lower-grade spirit stones inside, Wushu’s heart surged with excitement. He had never expected that just as he felt sleepy, someone would bring him a pillow. Regardless of what ulterior motives the Night Demon Ancestor might have, being able to obtain these three hundred thousand lower-grade spirit stones brought Wushu an inexpressible joy.

With these three hundred thousand lower-grade spirit stones, Wushu could finally unleash his full potential in cultivation. Without a moment's hesitation, he directly emptied the entire contents of the storage bag onto the ground. Soon, a small mountain of spirit stones materialized right before him.

The mountain piled up by three hundred thousand lower-grade spirit stones looked truly spectacular.

Wushu sat cross-legged on the ground and once again circulated the Earth Fire Art within his body. As the Earth Fire Art operated, under the traction of the spiritual energy fluctuations surrounding Wushu, the lower-grade spirit stones piled before him unexpectedly began to levitate one after another, revolving around him as the center. Visible to the naked eye, those spirit stones were continuously transforming into rich spiritual energy.

The Flame Pagoda was inherently capable of helping Wushu smelt spirit stones, and the Earth Fire Art could directly help him refine them. Consequently, Wushu's absorption rate of spiritual energy completely surpassed ordinary imagination.

Half an hour passed, and the concentration of spiritual energy within Wushu's body had reached an astonishing level. When he circulated his Profound Art once more, before long, nine tiny droplets of profound force liquid condensed within his Dantian.

As the tenth droplet of profound force liquid gradually formed, Wushu felt a deep rumble within his Dantian. Two solid waves of profound force emerged, immediately followed by a third, faint and indistinct wave of profound force.

With the appearance of this hazy wave of force, Wushu knew he had attained the strength of the third layer of the True Origin Realm.

The curse power of the bloodline curse also erupted instantly within his body. This time, Wushu had been well-prepared. Just as the curse power was about to burst forth, he wholeheartedly circulated the Earth Fire Art.

Thus, under the powerful guidance of the Earth Fire Art, the curse power erupting inside Wushu rapidly circulated through his body. Meanwhile, the spirit stones piled before him were also consumed at a rapid pace, being absorbed into his body together. Until one-fifth of the three hundred thousand spirit stones had been depleted and his body could no longer accommodate any more spiritual energy, Wushu finally slowed down the circulation of the Earth Fire Art.

After the powerful traction of the Earth Fire Art, the curse power within Wushu had become much more docile. Thanks to this, Wushu calmed his mind and closely observed the spiritual energy inside him. After a round of observation, he discovered a bizarre phenomenon: driven by the Earth Fire Art, most of the curse power within him had entered his Dantian. Once inside, under the deterrent suppression of the profound force, all the curse power obediently settled around the profound force, resting motionless.

This was truly peculiar. The demonic curse power, which had always relentlessly eroded the human body, was actually acting like an obedient baby in front of the profound force, completely still.

If he continued to cultivate this way, it seemed the curse power could also be controlled by Wushu. As for which acupoints he wanted to store the curse power in, it would entirely be up to him to decide.

Highly satisfied with this outcome and wishing to leave no hidden troubles, Wushu remained cross-legged and exerted his Profound Art to the fullest, continuously transforming the spiritual energy within his body into profound force and condensing it toward his Dantian.

When the profound force liquid in his Dantian reached nineteen droplets, even though the spiritual energy within his body remained dense, Wushu immediately began to utilize the breathing technique to divide the curse power in his Dantian into three equal parts, guiding them toward his acupoints. Soon, two portions of the curse power entered the acupoints. Next, Wushu had to face a problem: the human body possessed hundreds of vital acupoints; in which acupoint should the third portion of curse power be stored?

Glancing at his palm, Wushu quickly made a decision. "The Flame Pagoda is parasitic within my right hand, so this third portion of curse power will be placed in the Shixuan acupoints of my left hand. If in the future I truly lose control of the curse power, the curse power in the Shixuan acupoints will be easier to deal with."

With this idea in mind, Wushu used the breathing technique to continuously guide the curse power from his Dantian toward the Shixuan acupoints of his left hand.

To Wushu's surprise, this time the curse power directly opened up all the Shixuan acupoints across the five fingers of his left hand, splitting itself into five tiny portions to enter each of the Shixuan acupoints.

After also introducing a portion of the profound force mist into the Shixuan acupoints of his left hand, without any hesitation, Wushu began to condense the twentieth droplet of profound force liquid.

Soon, the twentieth droplet of profound force liquid formed within his body. The moment it took shape, another deep rumble echoed in Wushu's Dantian, producing three solid waves of profound force accompanied immediately by a faint, indistinct wave of profound force.

Wushu's profound force cultivation had reached the fourth layer of the True Origin Realm!

Yet, as Wushu stepped into the fourth layer of the True Origin Realm—being a human burdened with a bloodline curse—such a soaring breakthrough completely ignored the curse power. A bone-chilling power of heaven and earth, triggered by the re-eruption of the curse power within him, appeared above the courtyard where Wushu was staying, accompanied by lightning and thunder.

Before long, with a deafening roar, a bolt of lightning as thick as an arm descended directly from the sky, aiming straight for the room where Wushu was.

The moment this lightning struck, Wushu's room was instantly reduced to charred cinders, and a person-height Flame Pagoda emerged under the open sky. One must say, the lightning accompanying this heavenly thunder was truly ferocious; it completely ignored the barrier of the Flame Pagoda and struck directly into it, aiming at Wushu.

Struck unawares by the heavenly thunder, Wushu was shaken to his core. Fortunately, when the heavenly thunder arrived, the Stele Spirit had blocked the top of his head at the very first instant. Even so, a layer of charred black covered Wushu's entire body.

Without even needing to sniff deliberately, the smell of roasted meat permeated the air.

Looking up at the sky, the Stele Spirit raged, "Which petty villain dares to disregard the rules of heaven and earth and cross boundaries to strike?"

To the Stele Spirit's roar, there was no response. Wushu was also baffled—why had he suddenly been struck by heavenly thunder?

Struggling to calm his emotions and enduring the pain all over his body, Wushu guided the curse power within him back into the Shixuan acupoints, intending to ask the Stele Spirit something. However, the Stele Spirit flicked its hand and shot a ball of energy directly into Wushu's body, exclaiming with excitement, "Young Master, this is the Heavenly Thunder Art! Since Young Master is naturally gifted and envied by others, the next time the heavenly thunder strikes, Young Master need not be afraid at all. As long as you maintain your inner peace and fully circulate the Heavenly Thunder Art, even if you endure tests on the edge of life and death, with the Heavenly Thunder Art protecting your body, I believe Young Master's physical body will be reborn with renewed vigor. Thus, I believe that through this cultivation session, Young Master's earth force will not only be enhanced, but your physical refining prowess will also experience a leap forward."

Regarding the Stele Spirit's words, Wushu's heart wavered. Having endured a strike of heavenly thunder, he could deeply appreciate that without the intervention of the Flame Pagoda and the Stele Spirit, he would likely be half-dead by now.

Could the Heavenly Thunder Art cultivate thunder force? Could the Earth Fire Art cultivate fire force? Yet in Wushu's Dantian, there was neither earth force nor fire force—only profound force.

However, what deeply interested Wushu was the Stele Spirit's claim that after cultivating the Heavenly Thunder Art, the art could protect his physical body when struck by heavenly thunder.

Enduring the agonizing pain all over his body once more, and after a brief familiarity with the Heavenly Thunder Art, Wushu followed its circulation method to guide the residual lightning that had previously struck him and lingered in his meridians, making it course through his body over and over again. Everything unfolded just as the Stele Spirit had predicted: after refining the residual lightning in his body, the moment the very first wisp of thunder force appeared in Wushu's Dantian, the injuries on his body began to heal visibly to the naked eye.