23: Leichi Bodybuilding

The Stone Crevice in Shen Shou Valley, under the Buddha's Light of the Corpse Buddha and the profundity of the Bottle Grotto, briefly became a secluded pure land, isolated from the world.

However, the string in Mo Yuan's heart had never truly relaxed.

Though he had temporarily converted Zhang Tie's remnant Soul, deterred Han Li, and even unexpectedly purified Han Li's Heart Demon's malevolent Qi, beneath this seemingly calm surface lay an impending tidal wave.

Sect Leader Li Feiyu! That old monster who presided over the Seven Mysteries Sect's main Peak, rumored to have long since reached the Foundation Establishment Stage!

The annihilation of the Dragon Severing Gorge's personal guard was like a slap across the Seven Mysteries Sect's face.

This wounded behemoth's counterattack would undoubtedly be a thunderous, relentless, fight to the death!

Mo Yuan had no doubt that Li Feiyu's gaze was now fixed on Shen Shou Valley like a venomous snake!

The time left for him was not much.

Qi Refining Stage 3? With the assistance of the Sequence Legion, it was enough to crush those in the Middle Stage of Qi Refining, and even contend with those in the Late Stage of Qi Refining to some extent.

But against a Foundation Establishment Cultivator? That vast chasm, like a natural moat, could not be easily filled by external forces!

No matter how strong the Ant King was, it couldn't withstand the Magic Treasure bombardment of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator!

No matter how wondrous the Corpse Buddha's Buddha's Light was, it couldn't resist the crushing force of a Foundation Establishment Stage's vast Spiritual Power!

He needed stronger power! He needed his own Foundation, strong enough to shake the Foundation Establishment barrier!

Thunder Pool Body Forging!

Breakthrough using the Thunder Pool in the Seven Mysteries Forbidden Land! Use the power of heavenly thunder to temper his Physical Body and forge the Thunder Corpse Claw!

The Seven Mysteries Forbidden Land! Located in the deepest part of the Seven Mysteries Sect's back mountain, an extremely perilous place, a death zone perennially enveloped in violent thunder!

Legend has it that it was a natural thunder eye discovered by the Seven Mysteries Sect's Ancestral Master, later sealed by a grand formation to draw the power of thunder to temper Magic Treasures and train Disciples (only one in ten thousand could survive), and it was also one of the Seven Mysteries Sect's greatest inheritances and Forbidden Grounds!

There, he would find what he needed—the Origin of Heavenly Thunder!

"Thunder Pool..." Mo Yuan's icy gaze swept across the Stone Crevice.

The Corpse Buddha had already been taken into the Bottle Grotto, presiding over that fertile land infused with the lingering Buddha's Light, which seemed to solidify further under the nourishment of the Grotto's Spiritual Qi.

The Ant King, the bee swarm, and the Supple Bone Rabbit were all recuperating and improving within the Grotto.

There was nothing left to linger for here.

"It's time to go." The cold voice echoed within the Stone Crevice.

Mo Yuan no longer tarried, stepping out, his grey-robed figure merging into the forest of Shen Shou Valley, enveloped in twilight, and rapidly flew towards the deepest part of the back mountain, to that legendary Forbidden Ground where thunder roared.

The deeper he went into the back mountain, the heavier the pervasive sense of desolation and oppression became.

Towering ancient trees gradually thinned out, replaced by large expanses of charred, withered trees scorched by thunderfire, like desperate arms pointing towards the sky.

The ground was no longer soil, but covered with a thick layer of black gravel that shimmered with a metallic luster, emitting a grating "shasha" sound when stepped upon.

The Thunder Spiritual Power free in the air became exceptionally violent, like countless tiny electric snakes crawling on his skin, bringing waves of stinging pain and numbness.

Ahead, the entrance to a deep, ominous valley, embraced by huge black rock formations, appeared like the gaping throat of a monstrous beast.

At the valley entrance, stood two ferocious Thunder Beast statues, three zhang high, carved entirely from a dark purple thunder-struck stone!

The statues' surfaces were covered with scorched marks and natural thunder patterns, and within their hollow eye sockets, residual thunder light seemed to flicker, emanating an ancient, heart-pounding pressure.

The valley entrance was completely sealed by a visible, constantly twisting and fluctuating, thick light screen, flashing with dazzling purplish-white electric light!

Above the light screen, countless tiny thunderbolts, like living creatures, darted, collided, and exploded, emitting a continuous "crackling" roar!

The violent destructive Aura was like a tangible wall, fiercely pressing down on every life form that attempted to approach!

Seven Mysteries Forbidden Land! Thunder Pool Entrance!

Mo Yuan stopped a hundred zhang away from the thunder screen.

Just standing there, the violent Thunder Spiritual Power caused the purple Thunder Spiritual Root light core in his Dantian to pulsate violently and uncontrollably, like a hungry cub smelling the sweetest milk!

His left arm's Thunder Corpse Claw even emitted an excited hum, the silver-grey electric arcs entwined around it wildly leaping, as if to break free and pounce into that sea of thunder!

Danger! Extreme danger! The power contained within that thunder screen was enough to instantly blast a Cultivator in the Late Stage of Qi Refining into charcoal!

But the pure, violent Origin power of thunder contained within it also made his Thunder Spiritual Root and Thunder Corpse Claw feel an unprecedented craving!

Mo Yuan took a deep breath, his icy eyes fixed on the violent thunder screen.

He didn't have the Seven Mysteries Sect's token to open the Forbidden Ground, nor did he have time to wait.

He only had one path—to force his way through! Using his body as a guide, and the Thunder Corpse Claw as a spear, to break through this thunder barrier!

"Come on!" Mo Yuan let out a suppressed roar from his throat, filled with desperate madness!

The Thunder Spiritual Power of his Qi Refining Stage 3 Dantian was instantly pushed to its limit!

The purple light core burst forth with dazzling light!

All his power, without reservation, poured into his left arm!

Zzzzt—!!!

The silver-grey electric arcs entwined around the Thunder Corpse Claw instantly surged!

No longer mere wisps, they transformed into a violent, twisting and leaping, silvery-white thunderball!

At the center of the thunderball, the few purple thunder patterns inscribed on the Claw ignited like a blazing furnace, suddenly glowing with a deep purple light!

A terrifying Aura, a mix of cadaveric stillness and thunderous destruction, erupted with a roar!

Mo Yuan's right foot stomped, crushing the black gravel beneath him, his body like an arrow released from a bowstring, charging fiercely towards that wall of deathly thunder screen with unwavering resolve!

The Thunder Corpse Claw led the way, the silvery-white thunderball, like a destructive comet, slammed violently into that chaotic purplish-white electric net!

Boom—!!!!

Like two meteorites colliding in the Void Realm!

Blinding purplish-white light instantly swallowed everything!

Violent thunder power, like billions of red-hot steel needles, frantically pierced Mo Yuan's body!

His protective Spiritual Power was torn apart instantly like thin paper!

Excruciating pain of being torn and scorched came from his skin!

His muscles and bones groaned under the unbearable strain!

"Ugh, ah, ah—!" Mo Yuan let out a painful roar, his body instantly stiffening as if struck by an invisible giant hammer!

Violent currents surged wildly within him, destroying his Meridians and scorching his flesh!

His vision was a blinding white, and in his ears, there was only the deafening roar of thunder!

However, just as this destructive impact was about to tear him to shreds!

His left arm's Thunder Corpse Claw, enveloped in the violent silvery-white thunderball, and the deep purple thunder patterns glowing on it, as if stimulated by a strong, homologous power, suddenly erupted with an unprecedented suction force!

Chiii chiii chiii—!!!

Like a whale sucking water!

A considerable portion of the violent thunder power that had impacted Mo Yuan's body was forcibly drawn and devoured by the purple thunder patterns on the Thunder Corpse Claw!

The Thunder Corpse Claw was like a bottomless black hole, frantically absorbing the violent energy from the thunder screen!

The pressure on Mo Yuan's body suddenly lightened!

Though still in immense pain, at least he wasn't instantly annihilated!

"Break!!!" Mo Yuan seized this critical opportunity, pouring all his remaining will and power into the Thunder Corpse Claw!

The silvery-white thunderball enveloping the Claw, after devouring a large amount of thunder power, not only did not shrink in size but became even more violent and solid, its color also shifting from silvery-white towards a deeper purple!

Rumble—!!!

Another, even more violent explosion!

The Thunder Corpse Claw, carrying this deep purple thunderball, which had fused its own Thunder Spiritual Power with the Origin power of the Forbidden Ground's thunder screen, was like a red-hot branding iron piercing solid ice, forcibly tearing open a crack in that violent purplish-white thunder screen, just wide enough for one person to pass through, its edges still wildly flashing and leaping with electric snakes!

Mo Yuan's figure, like a lone boat passing through the eye of a storm, instantly disappeared into the crack!

The moment he passed through, the torn thunder screen let out an unwilling roar, and countless electric snakes frantically converged, attempting to close the crack!

However, that trace of deep purple, magic bottle Origin-infused thunder pattern Aura, left behind by the Thunder Corpse Claw during its consumption and tearing, clung stubbornly to the edges of the crack like a maggot, preventing the violent thunder screen from fully healing for a time!

The crack struggled to maintain itself amidst violent twisting and flashing!

The moment he passed through the thunder screen, the violent impact and roar abruptly ceased.

In its place was a suffocating, almost tangible, heavy pressure!

Mo Yuan's body slammed heavily onto the hard, cold ground, charred black and emitting wisps of smoke, like charcoal just pulled from a furnace.

Intense pain, like a tide, engulfed him, each breath carrying a strong scent of blood and burnt flesh.

The Thunder Spiritual Root light core in his Dantian was dim and lifeless, throbbing with tearing pain.

His left arm's Thunder Corpse Claw was even hotter, with flickering purplish-white electric arcs remaining on its metallic surface, bringing waves of piercing burning pain and numbness.

He struggled to raise his head.

Before him was a scene of a thunderous purgatory, beyond description!

This was an enormous, completely enclosed circular valley with black rock walls.

The valley floor was not earth, but a vast Thunder Pool, composed of pure liquid lightning!

The pool water was not true liquid, but countless violent, extremely compressed and condensed purplish-white thunderbolts!

They were like billions of angry Thunder Dragons, wildly rolling, roaring, and tearing at each other in the pool!

Each collision exploded into a dazzling plasma, emitting a deafening roar!

Above the surface of the Thunder Pool, an ethereal purplish-white thunder mist rose, filling the entire valley space.

Within the thunder mist, countless free-floating, tiny electric snakes, as if alive, darted and weaved, emitting a continuous "zzzz" sound.

The air was as thick as solidified mercury, each breath like swallowing hot gravel, bringing a strong sense of paralysis.

The valley walls were covered with countless deep, bottomless ravines—marks left by years of violent thunder, forcibly splitting and tearing them apart!

The entire space was filled with a primal power of heaven and earth, violent, destructive, as if wanting to crush all existence into dust!

This was the core of the Seven Mysteries Forbidden Land — the converging point of the Thunder Origin!

"Hoo... hoo..." Mo Yuan gasped with difficulty, each breath pulling at the tearing pain throughout his body.

But his eyes were fixed on the churning, roaring Thunder Pool, emitting an unprecedented scorching light!

Desire! The Lei Linggen Core within his Dantian, like dying embers doused with hot oil, pulsed with tenacious vigor amidst intense pain, transmitting a nearly greedy longing for that Thunder Origin!

This was it! He would be here, using the Heavenly Thunder as a hammer and his own body as iron, to complete his final tempering and Breakthrough!

Mo Yuan struggled to his feet, staggering, step by step, towards the edge of that deadly Thunder Pool.

Each step was incredibly difficult, like treading on burning knife tips.

The violent Lei Lingli, like countless tiny steel needles, frantically drilled into his damaged body, bringing a new wave of intense pain, yet also stimulating the instinct of his Lei Linggen within him, accelerating the absorption of this pure power.

Finally, he reached the edge of the Thunder Pool.

Beneath his feet were hot, black rocks with a metallic sheen.

The churning liquid thunder was within reach, its violent energy fluctuations almost strong enough to throw him off his feet.

The roar of billions of Thunder Dragons in the pool was like the call of death.

Mo Yuan lowered his head, looking at his Thunder Corpse Claw, which was entwined with faint electric arcs and inscribed with purple thunder patterns.

The metallic claw body was scorching hot from absorbing some of the thunder curtain's energy, and the purple thunder patterns flowing on it seemed even more active than before.

This was his reliance, and his only path to survival!

"magic bottle... help me!" Mo Yuan roared inwardly, his thoughts communicating with the silent magic bottle in his embrace.

He could feel that the magic bottle also yearned for the Origin of this Thunder Pool!

The next moment, he no longer hesitated! His eyes burst with a desperate madness!

He suddenly raised his Thunder Corpse Claw, spread his five fingers, aimed at the churning, roaring liquid Thunder Pool, and plunged it down — hard!

Zzzzzzzzz — !!!!!

It was like a red-hot iron rod plunging into ten-thousand-year-old ice! No, a million times more terrifying than that!

The instant the Thunder Corpse Claw touched the liquid thunder!

Boom — !!!

An indescribably terrifying energy instantly erupted!

The Thunder Pool, as if thoroughly enraged by a Thunder God, billions of streaks of purple-white thunder compressed to the extreme, like finding an outlet, surged frantically along the metallic arm of the Thunder Corpse Claw, pouring into Mo Yuan's body!

"Ugh ah ah ah ah — !!!"

Mo Yuan's body suddenly arched, as if he had been thrown into the deepest part of a purgatorial furnace!

A pain a hundred, a thousand times more intense than when he passed through the thunder curtain instantly drowned all his consciousness!

He felt his body, from his fingertips to his Soul, every cell being torn, crushed, and vaporized by the violent power of thunder!

His skin instantly carbonized and peeled off!

Muscle fibers disintegrated inch by inch like broken violin strings!

His bones emitted a 'creaking' sound of unbearable strain, like glass about to shatter!

His blood seemed to be directly ignited and evaporated in his veins!

Before his eyes was no longer brilliant white, but complete, boundless darkness!

Only the thunderous roar that destroyed everything, like billions of frantic thunderbirds screaming in his mind!

Death! The true shadow of death, where both body and Soul perished, instantly enveloped him!

Just as his consciousness was about to completely sink, and his body was about to be completely vaporized by the thunder, in this critical moment!

Om — !!!

The silent magic bottle in his embrace suddenly erupted with an unprecedented violent tremor!

A powerful, irresistible suction force, like the creation of heaven and earth, burst forth from the depths of the bottle's mouth!

This suction force was not directed at Mo Yuan himself, but rather... at the Heavenly Thunder Origin power that was frantically surging into his body, attempting to utterly destroy him!

Like a whale sucking water! Like a bottomless abyss!

Those violent, rampaging thunder powers, which were about to tear Mo Yuan to shreds, seemed to meet their nemesis in the face of the magic bottle's terrifying suction!

They were forcibly and forcefully peeled away and extracted from Mo Yuan's collapsing Meridians, flesh, and bones!

Transforming into countless thick, condensed purple-white Thunder Dragons, they frantically coiled back towards Mo Yuan's chest — towards the mouth of the magic bottle!

Zzzzzzz! Zzzzzzz! Zzzzzzz!

Mo Yuan's body was like a container forcibly emptied and then instantly injected with vitality.

The violent destructive energy was extracted, bringing a strange sense of emptiness and tearing, but immediately following was an even purer, more condensed, and vibrant deep-purple Thunder Origin, imbued with the power of creation and good fortune, which the magic bottle fed back after devouring a large amount of Heavenly Thunder Origin!

This deep-purple Origin power was no longer destructive, but contained the creative aspect of thunder!

It was like the gentlest yet most overbearing restorer, and as the magic bottle's suction weakened, it instantly surged into Mo Yuan's riddled body!

Wherever it passed, carbonized skin peeled off, and new skin grew and covered at a visible speed!

Broken muscle fibers were forcibly reconnected and reshaped, becoming tougher and more powerful!

Bones on the verge of shattering were enveloped by deep-purple thunder light, tempered, and reorganized, emitting a clanging sound like metal striking metal, becoming denser and harder!

In his dry blood vessels, blood containing thunder pattern light points flowed again like a surging purple river!

Breaking down to build up! Seeking life in death!

Mo Yuan's consciousness floated amidst the violent impact of destruction and rebirth.

He felt like a piece of stubborn iron thrown into the Thunder God's furnace, where under the frantic hammering of billions of thunderbolts, Impurities were removed, structures were destroyed, and then in the creative Thunder Origin fed back by the magic bottle, he was forcibly reshaped and sublimated!

Deep within his Dantian, that dying purple Lei Linggen Core, under the infusion of this supremely pure creative Thunder Origin, was injected with infinite vitality!

Its volume expanded at a visible speed!

Its light changed from dim to dazzling!

It transformed from deep purple towards a more profound, more internally majestic purple-gold!

Each pulse was like the breathing of a star, driving even vaster and purer Lei Lingli to wash over his Meridians, which had been reshaped to be wider and tougher!

The barrier of the Qi Refining Stage 3 Peak, under this violent tempering and the impact of rebirth, shattered like a fragile eggshell!

Qi Refining Stage 4! It came naturally!

But this... was not the end!

The magic bottle's suction and feedback formed a delicate balance.

It frantically devoured the most violent and destructive Heavenly Thunder Origin from the Thunder Pool, transforming it into pure and gentle creative Thunder Origin, feeding it back to Mo Yuan, repairing and strengthening his Physical Body, and promoting the evolution of his Lei Linggen Core!

At the same time, the portion of overly violent destructive energy that could not be immediately transformed was absorbed and stored by the magic bottle itself, and the silver-purple thunder patterns on the bottle's body became brighter and deeper than ever before, moving on the bottle's body like living things, emitting an even more terrifying Aura!

And Mo Yuan's left arm — the Thunder Corpse Claw! In this thunderous baptism, it became one of the biggest beneficiaries!

As the direct medium plunged into the Thunder Pool, it bore the first wave of the most violent impact and was also infused with the most creative Thunder Origin!

Deep-purple thunder light burned fiercely on the metallic claw body like substantial flames!

The purple thunder patterns inscribed on it seemed to gain life, frantically devouring the thunder light, becoming more complex and profound!

The originally silver-gray metallic claw body, under the tempering of the thunder light, gradually deepened in color, transforming into a deep, restrained dark purple that seemed to absorb all light!

The claw tips became sharper, and their edges flowed with a chilling destructive glint!

A terrifying power, far stronger and more overbearing than before, as if capable of tearing through the Void Realm and controlling thunder, emanated from this transforming demonic claw!

It was no longer merely a ghostly claw carrying corpse poison, but was truly evolving into the — Thunder Hell Demon Hand — that controlled the thunder of destruction and creation!

Time flowed in the roar of the Thunder Pool and the hum of the magic bottle.

Mo Yuan sat cross-legged at the edge of the Thunder Pool, his body enveloped in a dense layer of deep-purple thunder light, like a giant thunder cocoon.

Inside the thunder cocoon, the forces of destruction and rebirth intertwined, his bones and muscles resonated, undergoing a complete metamorphosis!

The Thunder Corpse Claw floated in the thunder light, like a divine weapon undergoing its final forging!

Outside the valley, at the Peak of the Seven Mysteries Sect's main Peak.

Deep within a magnificent hall constructed of black profound stone.

Li Feiyu, the Sect Leader of the Seven Mysteries Sect, who was sitting cross-legged on a futon, enveloped in a faint cyan halo, suddenly opened his eyes!

They were eyes as sharp as a hawk's, yet as deep as a dark pool!

At this moment, two rays of sharp light, as if substantial and filled with shock, anger, and disbelief, shot out from these eyes!

He clearly felt that deep within the Forbidden Ground of the back mountain, the Thunder Pool Origin power that he had controlled for decades... was being frantically devoured by a powerful and strange force...

And the speed was far beyond his imagination!

"Who is it?! Who dares to touch the Thunder Pool Foundation of this Sect Leader?!"

A roar containing terrifying pressure, like a clap of thunder, exploded within the main hall of the main Peak! The vast Lei Lingli of the Foundation Establishment Stage erupted like an out-of-control volcano! The entire hall trembled slightly!

Li Feiyu's figure instantly vanished from the futon, leaving only a tearing afterimage as he shot towards the Forbidden Ground of the back mountain!