Chapter Forty-Six: Heaven’s Thunderous Punishment (Part Two)

After fully refining the thunder and lightning within his body, aided by the spiritual stones, the injuries inflicted upon Wushu by the heavenly thunder were basically healed. Wushu then continued to absorb spiritual stones for cultivation. In this cultivation session, Wushu was going all out. As the Earth Fire Art was set in motion, half of the spiritual stones placed before Wushu were directly consumed in a short period of time.

With such a massive absorption of spiritual stones, the spiritual energy within Wushu's body reached an explosive concentration.

Calming his mind once more, the Profound Art was activated, and Wushu rapidly gathered the spiritual energy within his body toward his Dantian.

The twenty-first drop of profound force liquid, ..., soon thirty-nine drops of profound force liquid were achieved within Wushu's Dantian. Wushu was well aware that the profound force liquid in his Dantian had reached its absolute limit; if even a single drop were added, the power of the curse within his body would erupt once again.

Fearing that the curse would trigger yet another descent of heavenly thunder, Wushu could not help but think to himself: "Since the profound force cannot be increased any further, why don't I use the Earth Fire Art and the Heavenly Thunder Art to transform the spiritual energy in my body into fire force and thunder force?"

Without hesitation, he put the thought into action. Activating the Heavenly Thunder Art, Wushu continuously refined the spiritual energy in his body into wisps of thunder force, sending them into his Dantian. Before long, a small thunder snake condensed within Wushu's Dantian.

Taking a close look at the small thunder snake, Wushu was deeply shocked. Thunder force was actually able to take form within the Dantian. At the same time, feeling that no more thunder force could be integrated into his Dantian, Wushu began to practice the Earth Fire Art.

Shortly after, as wisps of fire force entered Wushu's Dantian, a fire force entity resembling a large rooster appeared within his Dantian.

At this point, even though the spiritual energy in Wushu's body remained dense, it was no longer possible to condense fire force into the Dantian.

Things having reached this stage, Wushu hardened his resolve and thought: "Having come this far, what is there for me, Wushu, to fear? True Element Realm, Level Five, here I come, Wushu!"

The moment the fortieth drop of profound force liquid appeared in Wushu's Dantian, the entire sky over Dongsusu City darkened. Thunder rumbled, creating the menacing momentum of dark clouds pressing down upon the city as if all creation were about to be reduced to ashes.

Boom! Two bolts of lightning, as thick as a wrist, struck straight toward the Fire Pagoda, landing directly upon Wushu's body.

Struck head-on by the heavenly thunder, Wushu felt in that instant as though he were about to be obliterated into dust. Fortunately, Wushu guarded his inner core staunchly, operating the Heavenly Thunder Art within his body to the utmost limit.

Plunging straight into unconsciousness, Wushu only regained a sliver of perception after quite some time, feeling a searing pain throughout his body accompanied by a complete numbness. Still guarding his inner self, Wushu subconsciously surveyed his internal condition and instantly snapped much more awake upon seeing a four-legged small thunder snake racing swiftly through his meridians.

In Wushu's room, within the span of a few hours, heavenly thunder had struck twice in succession.

Unable to locate Wushu immediately, Zhao Fenxing and Wu Zhen, who had already retreated far from the courtyard, gazed with solemn expressions at the Fire Pagoda where Wushu's room was located. Such a commotion naturally aroused the curiosity of all the members of the Wu family regarding the situation in the courtyard shared by the two brothers, Wushu and Wu Zhen.

Among them, all sorts of remarks were made.

"What evil deeds could these two brothers have possibly committed to have drawn down divine retribution? They really ought to be driven out of the Wu family."

"Wushu and Wu Zhen are truly pitiful. Their parents disappeared for no reason, and now they suffer such injustice. Heavens, open your eyes and take a good look!"

As for the head of the Wu family, Wu Xiang, his expression was grave as he looked toward the Fire Pagoda at the location of Wushu's room.

Undercurrents were already surging within Dongsusu City. Now, with dark clouds pressing down and heavenly thunder continuously striking the Wu family's territory, all kinds of gloating remarks naturally surfaced throughout Dongsusu City.

After a period of readjustment, Wushu regained consciousness once again. Following this trial by heavenly thunder, his body-tempering strength had reached the early stage of the Savage Bull Body Realm, and the thunder force in his Dantian had transformed into a four-legged small thunder snake.

Such gains instantly filled Wushu with immense vigor and boundless drive. In Wushu's view, having reached this stage in cultivation, as long as it didn't kill him, he would push himself to the absolute limit. Let the heavenly thunder come! However much you bring, I, Wushu, will take it all today.

Just like that, two days passed unawares.

Over the past two days, Dongsusu City had experienced five inexplicable instances of dark clouds pressing down, each time more terrifying than the last. When the fifth wave of five bowl-thick heavenly thunderbolts descended simultaneously, even powerhouses at the Secret Realm and Spirit Aperture realms could not help but gasp in shock upon witnessing such a magnificent and terrifying spectacle.

Yet, what none of them expected was that just as everyone assumed that anything struck by these five rounds of heavenly thunder would be reduced to nothingness, a suffocating sense of oppression descended from the sky. A crimson flash of lightning appeared out of nowhere, plunging straight toward the location of the Wu family.

Crimson lightning—such an uncommon bolt of lightning—had thus manifested. The powerful figures hiding within Dongsusu City were all shaken to their cores. What kind of formidable powerhouse was hidden within the Wu family to be able to withstand such an onslaught of heavenly thunder?

Some could not help but wonder inwardly: Could the attacking power contained within such crimson lightning truly be something a mortal human being could endure?

The exact moment the six hundred and fortieth drop of profound force liquid appeared in Wushu's Dantian, setting aside the eruption of the curse within his body, Wushu instinctively sensed an unprecedented crisis closing in upon him.

Wushu dared not slacken in the slightest; with a resolute will, he guarded his inner core while driving the increasingly solid four-legged small thunder snake within his Dantian to race through his body. As the four-legged thunder snake surged through him, wisps of lightning emerged on the surface of Wushu's skin.

Boom!

A thunderous roar that shook the heavens echoed outward, radiating from the Wu family estate as the center.

Under the bombardment of the crimson heavenly thunder, Wushu plunged directly into a state of suspended animation. His physical body was charred completely black, with only the four-legged thunder snake making its arduous way forward along his blackened torso.

Thus, several more hours elapsed before Wushu regained consciousness once again.

The moment he regained awareness, Wushu paid no heed to the pain wracking his entire body, diligently operating the Heavenly Thunder Art and peering inward at the four-legged thunder snake once more. Having survived this bout of heavenly thunder bombardment, the four-legged small thunder snake had not only become much more solid, but it had also faintly sprouted horns, bearing a strong resemblance to an impending dragon transformation.

Enduring the indescribable pain throughout his body, Wushu sat up cross-legged and accelerated the circulation of the Heavenly Thunder Art within him.

Before long, as the charred black skin on Wushu's body began to crack, his sturdy and powerful body trembled. As those burnt pieces of skin and flesh sloughed off, Wushu's physical body was reborn, and his body-tempering strength reached the peak of the Savage Bull Body Realm.

The three hundred thousand spiritual stones had been completely consumed, and the curse within Wushu's body had carved out nine acupoints for him. His strength in profound force had reached the ninth level of the True Element Realm. If his true element strength advanced by one more level, Wushu would reach the tenth level of the True Element Realm—the realm where ten levels merge into one. Once he attained such strength, it would signify that Wushu was about to enter the Qi-Extremity Realm.

Thirty thousand low-grade spiritual stones had only just managed to help Wushu reach the peak of the Savage Bull Body Realm in physical tempering and the ninth level of the True Element Realm in profound force. As for advancing his profound force to the Qi-Extremity Realm, ten thousand low-grade spiritual stones might still not be enough.

Wushu knew very well that his cultivation differed from that of ordinary people, and his consumption of spiritual stones was dozens of times greater, if not more, than that of others. When ordinary people cultivated earth force, they merely transformed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into earth force and accumulated it within the Dantian. However, the profound force Wushu cultivated not only had to enter the Dantian to guard it, but it also had to enter the acupoints forcibly carved out by the power of the curse. Throughout the entire cultivation process, Wushu not only had to cultivate, but he also had to resist the erosion of the curse and heal his physical injuries.