Chapter 1064: Thunder Soul Refining

"I'm fine..." Zhang Xuan struggled to his feet, feeling weak and sore all over. He had actually managed to make a formidable expert like Ancient Sage Qiuwu acknowledge him as a teacher... Fortunately, no one else had witnessed it. Otherwise, Master Wu and the others alone might have beaten him to death.

"I just sensed a powerful residual soul here, imbued with ancient energy, so I left the others to investigate," Luo Ruoxi said. "I didn't expect it to vanish the moment I arrived. So, it was Ancient Sage Qiuwu... Have you already learned his 'Borderless Walker' technique?"

"I haven't learned it yet," Zhang Xuan replied, shaking his head.

"You haven't? That makes sense. I've read about it; this movement technique is renowned and places extremely high demands on one's physical body and true energy. It's not something that can be mastered overnight, so there's no need to rush..." Seeing his dejected expression, Luo Ruoxi assumed he was feeling guilty about not having learned the technique and offered comfort.

"Alright," Zhang Xuan acknowledged with a wry smile, knowing there was no way to explain the situation.

"This movement technique is easily among the top three on the Master Teacher Continent," Luo Ruoxi continued. "Even if you cultivate it in the future, you must use it with extreme caution. Otherwise, if it's discovered by those with malicious intent, it will cause you a great deal of trouble!"

While Master Teachers adhere to strict regulations, something of such high caliber can still tempt others. Take Zhang Xuan, for instance; his formidable power at such a young age isn't uncoveted. Rather, it's the deterrent presence of "Teacher Yang" and the Master Teacher Pavilion that protects him. Had "Teacher Yang" not appeared on several occasions, letting everyone know that Zhang Xuan had a fearsome mentor, he would undoubtedly have been besieged and experimented on like a lab rat long ago.

The 'Borderless Walker' technique is no different. It is simply too powerful, and it involves the legacy of Ancient Sage Qiuwu. Once news of it spreads, while Master Teachers might hesitate to openly seize it due to their status, rogue cultivators and those from more unconventional professions would likely disregard all boundaries. This is precisely why he has always sought to maintain a low profile. It's always best to be cautious.

"Thank you for the reminder! I'll be careful," Zhang Xuan nodded.

"Well, since Ancient Sage Qiuwu could appear once, I'm sure he'll show up again," Luo Ruoxi said with a smile, noticing his subdued mood. "Let's hurry and find Master Wu and the others. We don't want to wait for that Stoneleaf King you mentioned to reappear; that would cause real trouble..."

"Right, he might appear again later... Let's go!" Zhang Xuan, who had been feeling remorseful about his earlier reckless words, immediately felt a sense of relief upon hearing that Ancient Sage Qiuwu might reappear. He was right; what he had encountered was merely a residual soul. There would surely be more later, and at worst, he could apologize then.

The immediate priority wasn't to dwell on these matters, but to press onward, locate the old dean, and thwart the Spirit Tribe's schemes. Otherwise, if they succeeded in their sinister plot, he would truly fail the Ancient Sage even more.

Without further delay, the two flew directly towards the source of the lightning.

Boom! Boom! Before they even reached it, they heard a violent, tyrannical thunder, a fierce roar that seemed capable of tearing heaven and earth asunder. Zhang Xuan's pupils contracted, and his expression grew grim. When he had arrived earlier, the lightning, though violent, was nowhere near as intense as it was now. If before it had been a mere drizzle, now it was an absolute downpour, entirely on a different scale. Countless lightning bolts relentlessly struck the ground, densely packed, blackening the landscape before them. The previously untouched area now resembled a scorched hellscape, daunting anyone from approaching.

"What happened? Why did it suddenly become so violent?" he exclaimed, his eyes wide with urgency. Master Wu and the others hadn't fully recovered from their injuries. With the lightning suddenly becoming so fierce, they were likely in extreme danger! What could have happened to transform the once steady sea of lightning into such a chaotic maelstrom?

"How do we get in?" He frowned immediately afterward. When the lightning was sparse, he could use his witch soul to dodge. But now, with so much of it engulfing the surroundings, even with the finest movement technique and the quickest reflexes, evasion was impossible. Before anyone could even enter, they would be reduced to ash. How could he rescue anyone under these conditions?

"The lightning is too dense; we definitely can't force our way through," Luo Ruoxi said, her delicate brows furrowed as she, too, seemed unable to devise a quick solution.

"You should go into the Thousand Ant Hive for now. I'll try to find a way," Zhang Xuan said after a pause, looking at the girl. The Thousand Ant Hive had been formed with her help, by allowing the queen bee to consume the folded space of the Sealed Saint Platform, so its existence was no secret to her.

"Alright," she nodded after a moment of hesitation. "You be careful too!"

"Understood!" After guiding the girl inside, Zhang Xuan resorted to his usual method: his witch soul detached from his body, and he gritted his teeth, flying straight into the storm. In such a ferocious lightning storm, directly entering, even with a physical body at the level of a saint artifact, would result in being utterly pulverized. It was far safer for his witch soul to enter. A soul is formless and ethereal, so the danger of being struck by lightning would be considerably lower.

Boom! The moment he entered, several lightning bolts instantly struck down from the sky, hitting him. His entire body stiffened, and a bone-piercing pain felt as though he were being flayed alive.

"So painful..." He gritted his teeth, feeling his soul on the verge of collapse. Fortunately, he cultivated the Heaven's Path cultivation technique, which meant his soul lacked any yin or cold attributes. Otherwise, that single strike would have already caused it to disintegrate. Even so, he still felt as though countless steel needles were piercing his body, akin to enduring the torture of a thousand cuts, and he felt he might pass out at any moment from the unbearable pain.

"It's too painful. I might not even make it to Master Wu and the others before I faint from the agony..." Zhang Xuan's body trembled slightly, and his expression was grim. Throughout his cultivation, his willpower had been remarkably strong, yet even he felt on the verge of collapsing, as if he might faint at any moment under such intense pain. The ancient city where Master Wu and the others were was still a considerable distance away. If he continued to endure this, he would certainly not last.

"Even if I can't bear it, I must persist. If even my witch soul can't withstand this, I fear Master Wu and the others will face an even greater challenge," he mused, his eyebrows raised. If his soul found this unbearable, Master Wu and the others, being at the very epicenter of the lightning, must be in even more dire peril. He had to rescue them as quickly as possible.

Gritting his teeth, he pressed on.

Crackle! Pop! Although his witch soul was formless and ethereal, the lightning in the air was incredibly dense, striking indiscriminately. Once inside, escape was impossible. After less than a hundred meters, he had been struck at least four or five hundred times. His spirit was flagging, and waves of dizziness assailed him under the intense pain. He was on the verge of giving up and retreating when his pupils suddenly contracted as he noticed something.

"Th-this..." Under intense excitement, his witch soul seemed to falter, almost on the verge of collapse. "The congenital fetal poison actually fears this lightning energy, gathering in one spot..." He immediately looked inward at his soul, his fists involuntarily clenching.

His soul's fusion with Wei Ruyan had created the Congenital Poison Soul Body, which provided a significant suppression over the toxin, preventing it from acting maliciously for now. However, this was only a temporary measure; given the right opportunity, it would still launch a sneak attack. But... at this moment, these fetal toxins were actually huddled together in terror. Since they were so afraid of lightning, could he perhaps use the lightning to utterly eradicate them? If he succeeded, it would eliminate this hidden threat once and for all, freeing him from constant worry.

"Since you fear lightning, then I will absorb lightning..." With this thought, Zhang Xuan suppressed the dizziness in his head, gritted his teeth, and sat down cross-legged. Before, he had done his utmost to evade the lightning, preventing it from striking him. Now, he actively began to absorb it.

"If the heat from lava can be absorbed, lightning should work too..." The heat from lava could enter the soul and temper his witch soul; perhaps lightning could achieve the same. He concentrated his mind, opening all the acupoints within his witch soul, and began to circulate the Heaven's Path Witch Soul cultivation technique. Although he lacked a cultivation technique at the Half-Saint level, by circulating the Transcendent Mortal 9-dan witch soul art, he could still refine his strength with external assistance, making his soul body more solid and robust.

Sizzle! Sizzle! The moment he began absorbing it, the lightning energy instantly crawled over his entire body like tiny snakes. What had previously been a needle-prickling pain now felt as though he had been thrown directly into a vat of boiling oil; not a single part of his body was spared from agony! "Aargh..." He let out a long hiss, feeling as though his entire being was tearing apart. Anyone else would surely have been unable to bear it, but Zhang Xuan cultivated the Heaven's Path cultivation art. Both his physical body and soul inherently carried a trace of the Heavenly Dao's essence, and coupled with his transcendent mental state, he remained conscious despite the agony.

Crackle! Crackle! The snake-like lightning circulated through his meridians, completing a minor circulation according to the cultivation method. Despite the excruciating pain that made him feel as though he might die at any moment, Zhang Xuan was pleasantly surprised to find that not only did the congenital fetal poison grow even more fearful, but his soul body also shrank further. His soul body, which had already shrunk to eight meters in height, diminished by another ten centimeters after just one minor circulation, reaching 7.9 meters. Moreover, after absorbing the lightning energy, his resistance to it increased significantly. The previously biting and unbearable pain now seemed more manageable.

"Continue!" Knowing that 'sharpening the axe doesn't delay the chopping,' he realized that even if he wanted to save Master Wu and the others, he couldn't do so if he couldn't withstand the lightning. He would simply faint before reaching them, rendering rescue impossible. Zhang Xuan no longer felt anxious and remained seated cross-legged.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! The surging lightning in the air continuously poured into his soul, making his soul body even more solid. Initially, it was unbearable, but as he absorbed more and his power strengthened, the stinging sensation from the lightning gradually diminished.

Boom! After an unknown period, his soul body rumbled once more, advancing from the Half-Saint to the Conferred Saint level, and its height decreased from eight meters to seven meters.

"First, to rescue them..." Knowing that his soul power had advanced and the lightning in the air could no longer render him unconscious, Zhang Xuan finally breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly stood up and continued flying forward. Although continued cultivation would make his witch soul even more powerful, rescuing them was paramount. If he spent too long cultivating, he feared they might be dead by the time he arrived.

Unfazed by the immense power of the lightning, Zhang Xuan moved at an incredible speed. After several dozen breaths, he arrived at the spot where Master Wu and the others had been. A single glance made him frown involuntarily. The area was in utter disarray. Master Wu and the others, who had been seated there cross-legged, recuperating, were nowhere to be found; they had seemingly vanished into thin air.

"Could it be... that Stoneleaf King returned?" His face darkened considerably.