Thunder Pool.
This valley was a vast ocean filled with thunder.
Huo Yuhao followed closely behind Tang Wulin. When his toes touched the thick, liquid-like purple plasma, an unprecedented, excruciating pain instantly shot from the soles of his feet straight to his crown.
"Hiss—!"
In that instant, Huo Yuhao felt all the hairs on his body wither and char. The pain was not the sharpness of being cut by a blade, but rather like thousands of barbed steel needles frantically churning and stabbing into every single pore.
The liquid lightning seemed to have a life of its own; sensing the intrusion of a living person, it immediately surged wildly along Huo Yuhao's skin.
"What terrifying power..."
Huo Yuhao's body swayed violently, and his face turned deathly pale in an instant. He could feel every arc of electricity trying to tear apart his muscle fibers and burrow into his bone marrow to wreak havoc.
However, Tang Wulin, who was walking in front of him, displayed a completely different reaction.
Although dense electric sparks were also flashing across Tang Wulin's skin, his upright back remained motionless.
He took a deep breath, his chest rising and falling slightly, yet he was not affected in the same way as Huo Yuhao.
"Yuhao, the energy here is very violent, but it seems to be extremely effective for tempering the body. I plan to go deeper, so be careful!"
Tang Wulin turned his head back. Although fine beads of sweat were seeping out on his forehead, his eyes were filled with intense excitement. After saying this, he walked firmly toward the center of the Thunder Pool, where the color was deeper and the electric light was more violent.
"Wulin's physical constitution is as formidable as ever!"
Huo Yuhao looked at Tang Wulin's back, unable to help but marvel inwardly.
"Yuhao, stop looking. Over the past half month, I've come to understand that in terms of pure physical strength, I estimate that none of the peers in this academy can compare to Tang Wulin, not even those from the Inner Court like Ye Xinglan."
In the Sea of Consciousness, Skydream Ice Worm spoke to Huo Yuhao.
"However, don't be discouraged. We are taking a steady and solid path. Quickly use the force-generating techniques Mu Ye taught you. Haste makes waste; don't think about moving forward like Tang Wulin. Just conduct your body tempering right here!"
Huo Yuhao nodded. He knew deep down that with his current constitution, forcing his way deeper would only result in being smashed to pieces.
He sat cross-legged on the spot, enduring the pain from all around that felt as if it were tearing him apart, and began to arduously circulate the secret techniques of the Body Sect taught by Mu Ye.
His internal blood and Qi began to flow faster under the pressure of the thunder, and every inch of his muscle was forced to absorb those wisps of violent thunder power while spasming.
"Ah—!"
A low roar was squeezed out from between Huo Yuhao's teeth. This feeling was like being thrown into a giant millstone and repeatedly crushed, his bones emitting teeth-grinding "crack" sounds amidst the thunder.
"Hold on! Brother will protect your spiritual origin. You have to endure the pain on your body; this is an opportunity for rebirth!"
Skydream Ice Worm cheered him on loudly. Although it knew this was very difficult—if it still had its own physical body, it would certainly never come to such a ghostly place—it knew this was a hurdle Huo Yuhao had to overcome.
Just as Huo Yuhao was struggling to hold on, attempting to balance the charges running wild inside his body—
"Boom—!!!"
A violent peal of thunder, far exceeding those before, exploded in front of him without any warning.
The shockwave generated by the explosion even whipped up a thick wave of purple plasma, which slammed heavily against Huo Yuhao, flipping him onto the ground.
Huo Yuhao endured the excruciating pain and climbed back up, his azure eyes fixed firmly on the center of the Thunder Pool.
In that area where the power was greatest and the thunder had almost condensed into a solid, a strange plant suddenly came into view.
It was a vine that shone with a blue-purple eerie light throughout its entire body. Every vine looked like a miniature thunder dragon twisting frantically. It was not damaged by the bombardment of thunder; on the contrary, it stretched out its branches and leaves, greedily sucking in every purple lightning bolt that fell from the sky.
"There's actually a Spirit Beast there? Absorbing thunder in the center of the Thunder Pool?"
Huo Yuhao was shocked beyond measure.
"That is... the Thunderclap Netherworld Vine?!"
Skydream Ice Worm's voice became slightly trembling at this moment.
"Yuhao, this Spirit Beast is quite extraordinary! It is said to be a variant that has the bloodline of an ancient Thunder God flowing within it. This type of Spirit Beast has a self-destruct curse; because the power of the thunder is too overbearing, ordinary Thunderclap Netherworld Vines will self-destruct between twenty thousand and fifty thousand years of age because they cannot withstand the energy."
"But this one... the aura it emits has definitely exceeded fifty thousand years! Even... even higher! This is simply an anomaly that shouldn't exist. How did it manage to hold on?"
Huo Yuhao listened with his heart pounding, but he had no time to think about it in detail.
Because that Thunderclap Netherworld Vine seemed to be enjoying the feeling of the terrifying thunder falling upon it, it instantly emitted countless dark purple lightning bolts like spears from its entire body.
"Sizzle—!"
The water level of the entire Thunder Pool seemed to boil at this moment, and the high-density thunder power began to roll wildly, forming a huge vortex.
Huo Yuhao felt that the density of the plasma around him, which he could barely handle before, had increased several times over in an instant! Those rampaging thunderbolts were rushing toward him frantically.
"Not good! It's exceeded the limit!"
Huo Yuhao's eyes were bloodshot, and blood wounds began to crack open all over his skin, but they were instantly seared shut under the high temperature of the thunder. This repetitive torture made his consciousness begin to drift for a moment.
He felt as if his internal organs were about to be electrocuted into ashes, and the vibration coming from the depths of his bones made him almost want to pass out immediately.
"Hold on! Huo Yuhao! Have you forgotten why you came here? Have you forgotten the person you want to surpass? You cannot fall! Absolutely not!"
Skydream Ice Worm was extremely anxious; its Mental Force was already starting to stir.
If Huo Yuhao really couldn't hold on, it would have to take action to save Huo Yuhao's life, even at the risk of being discovered by Mu Ye.
Meanwhile, at the edge of the Thunder Pool.
Mu Ye stood with his hands behind his back, his sharp eyes staring intently at the two figures in the Thunder Pool.
In his line of sight, Tang Wulin's side was not easy either.
Following the movements of the Thunderclap Netherworld Vine, a low and majestic dragon roar faintly emitted from Tang Wulin's body.
Golden light flickered in and out amidst the purple thunder. He was forcing himself to endure; he was resisting. Every lightning strike made his body tremble slightly, but he never took a single step back.
It was fortunate that this attack did not land directly on the two of them; otherwise, they would have almost instantly turned to ash. This Spirit Beast was indeed quite terrifying.
"These two kids..."
A flash of extremely rare appreciation shone in Mu Ye's eyes.
The abnormal movement of the Thunderclap Netherworld Vine was also within his expectations, after all, this was the place Lin Feng had arranged for the Thunderclap Netherworld Vine.
But even with such pain, neither of these two children chose to call for help, and neither chose to give up.
Mu Ye observed the condition of the two at all times. He could save their lives in an instant; as long as he ensured they didn't die, there was no problem.
The secret techniques of the Body Sect were inherently this kind of torture that transcended limits; only this kind of torture could develop the body's potential to the greatest extent.
In the Thunder Pool, the torture continued.
But under this near-inhuman torture, the force-generating techniques taught by Mu Ye were subtly integrated into Huo Yuhao's subconscious movements.
His body was reshaped amidst the collapse; his originally somewhat thin muscles began to become firm, and beneath his skin, a faint, crystalline luster was vaguely visible.
The nutritional components he had consumed at the academy that had not yet been fully digested and assimilated into his body were now all completely digested!
And behind Huo Yuhao appeared a silver-white light shadow with a vertical eye!
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A/N:
5 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter
I hope all of you are enjoying this story so far. I would appreciate some Power Stones if you can spare any. Leave a review if you like the story. Thank you.