In this forsaken place, where Wang Lin lingered, countless cultivators had passed, their divine senses sweeping, yet none perceived his presence.

He sat in meditation, a part of the very earth itself, bending perception, distorting every probing gaze. His essence had long since become one with the Whispering Mountains, indistinguishable from the ancient peaks.

Within Wang Lin’s soul, the Celestial-Woven Lightning had been subdued, now a loyal companion. Even the Earth-Forged Lightning, wild and untamed, had fallen before his ravenous will hours before.

Knowing time was a cruel master, Wang Lin pressed onward, his gaze set upon the fourth bolt of nascent lightning, the Primordial Transmutation.

This lightning, born of the very essence of the cosmos, found itself at odds with Wang Lin’s vast dominion over the storm. For three long hours it resisted, yet against the might of his thunderous soul, it finally succumbed, and was devoured whole.

Four bolts of nascent lightning now danced around Wang Lin’s transformed spirit, his power surging, his cultivation striving for the very zenith of Nirvana Thunder.

“Magnetic Completion Lightning, by the power of the heavens and the will of thunder, I command thee to become one with me!” Wang Lin’s spirit roared, as the fifth bolt, the Magnetic Containment, fought with fierce intensity. This lightning was a thing of anomaly, crackling with a strange magnetism, pushing back with all its might.

Ordinarily, such a recalcitrant force would require days of patient coaxing, the slow erosion of its resistance. But Wang Lin had no time for gentle persuasion. With a snarl, his soul, encircled by the four subjugated bolts, crashed down upon the Magnetic Containment.

The impact was cataclysmic, a thunderous explosion of magnetic force. The Magnetic Containment faltered, its resistance buckling, and with a final shudder, shattered into a thousand fragments.

In that instant, Wang Lin’s spirit lunged, devouring the shattered remnants. Unlike the others, willingly integrated, this broken bolt was less potent, a shadow of its former self.

But Wang Lin cared not. With the fifth nascent lightning absorbed, his spirit now spun with a tempestuous fury. In a blinding flash, his cultivation shattered the boundaries of Late Nirvana, surging into the realm of Absolute Nirvana!

At the moment of this thunderous breakthrough, lightning coursed through his very being, his spirit ballooning, now turning its attention to the sixth nascent bolt: the Lightning of the Tao.

The Lightning of the Tao, painstakingly gathered by the Flashwind Clan from the Inner Lands. Only those who walked the path of Insight could cultivate the Tao, infusing it into the very fabric of lightning.

Were this bolt to resist, Wang Lin would break it as he had broken the last. But as his spirit, a force of irresistible momentum, drew close to the Lightning of the Tao, he found no resistance at all!

Instead, the lightning pulsed with a strange, fragmented will. Swirling within it were countless memories, coalescing into forms – souls – each radiating a familiar aura. They were cultivators from the Inner Lands!

These souls, recognizing Wang Lin’s own nascent Tao, surged towards him, fusing themselves into his spirit. There was no struggle, no resistance, only a perfect, willing union!

Six nascent bolts, now fully integrated, spun around Wang Lin’s spirit, a raging vortex of power. His mastery of thunder had reached its apex, the very pinnacle of the Second Step, Nirvana.

His eyes snapped open, and within his right pupil, around the ancient mark of lightning, the six bolts swirled in a mesmerizing dance. A shockwave of raw power radiated outwards, causing the skies of this remote cultivation star to tremble with thunder.

Tens of thousands of cultivators, scouring the land for Wang Lin, felt the shift in the celestial resonance. Their divine senses flared, coalescing into a vast, sweeping net, but found only empty space.

Had it not been for the desperate pleas of the Kuyan Clan, these desperate hunters would have torn the very planet apart, caring nothing for the lives it held, just to flush out their prey.

The sky shimmered with rainbow light, every corner patrolled by vigilant eyes.

Wang Lin smiled, a cold and dangerous expression. Six bolts of nascent lightning were his, yet he was not sated. Three more were needed to reach his true potential, but what manner of lightning they should be, he knew not.

“Nascent lightning need not be sought by rigid rules. If I declare it to be a part of me, then so it shall be!” Wang Lin, a being unbound by convention, would forge his own path. He would create the final three nascent bolts himself!

“I will see if, with nine bolts as my companions, I can reach the Great Completion through the very source of all power, and transcend to the Third Step!” A red gleam ignited in Wang Lin’s eyes as the Limit surged forth, an untamed force unleashed!

“The Limit… a trial by the heavens, yet also lightning! I care not for what the Limit may have been before. From this moment forward, you, Limit Lightning, shall be my seventh nascent bolt! I am the master of thunder, and my word is law! Limit Lightning, heed my call!”

At Wang Lin’s command, the Limit Lightning roared, then turned, hurtling directly towards his right eye. In a blinding flash, it pierced his pupil, imprinting itself upon his soul.

It became the seventh nascent bolt!

Now, within Wang Lin’s right eye, seven bolts of nascent lightning spun around the primal symbol of lightning, a vortex of raw power threatening to tear the very fabric of reality.

Wang Lin had become one with the Whispering Mountains, and the surge of lightning coursed through the very bedrock of the land, spreading outwards, enveloping the entire continent.

The skies thundered, and the earth trembled as the continent itself pulsed with limitless energy.

The tens of thousands of Ancient Star cultivators, their eyes scanning for any sign of Wang Lin, were startled by this sudden shift in power, and began their search anew with feverish zeal.

Even several cultivators of Celestial Decay joined together, amplifying their divine senses into a single, sweeping wave.

“Lightning Frog! You, a savage beast, imbued with the thunder in your blood, possess the sentience of life, and have followed me for many years. Though your power is humble, you have come to embody my will, my path of defiance against fate!
By my authority, Lord of Celestial Thunder and Earthly Lightning, I name thee the Eighth Spirit of the Thunderloom, the Eighth Bolt to attend its majesty! Thy name shall be Bloodline Thunder! I care not for deeds past, for from this day forward, thy previous allegiance is stricken from the annals. Thou shalt be, for all eternity, the Thunderloom’s Eighth Attendant Bolt!”

Wang Lin’s divine will boomed forth, and from within his storage realm, the Thunder Toad, which had followed him for many years, erupted with a deafening croak. Lightning blazed around it, and in a blinding flash, it transformed into a spectral thunderbolt, hurtling towards Wang Lin’s right eye!

In an instant, the Thunder Toad vanished, and a bolt of Bloodline Thunder ignited within the pupil of Wang Lin’s right eye! Around his core Lightning Essence, eight attendant bolts spun with furious speed, warping the very heavens and stirring the winds into a frenzy!

Upon the cultivation star, not only the earth but the very sky was scourged by a tempest of thunder. The earth-shattering booms echoed wildly, striking terror into the hearts of all cultivators!

Now, the sky was thunder, and the earth was thunder, and the void between them was as if imprisoned by the storm. Drawn together by the celestial resonance, countless bolts of lightning lashed out, connecting the heavens and the earth!

The tens of thousands of cultivators who sought Wang Lin were no longer emboldened, but utterly horrified! Never in their lives had they witnessed such a spectacle. They watched the raging storm, their minds reeling with disbelief!

“The final bolt! Though I cannot find the last attendant bolt in all of creation, I, a renegade against fate, refuse to be a puppet of destiny. I shall become the Lord of Heaven and Earth; I shall shatter the firmament and obliterate the land!”

“I wrestled with the Heavens for my wife’s soul, and battled the passage of years to cultivate the profane! My actions may have brought devastation, but I am true to my heart. For two thousand years, I, Wang Lin, have walked this world with a clear conscience, seeking only a rebellious heart, cultivating a defiant spirit!”

“If I cannot find the final attendant bolt, then I shall forge one from the essence of my very being. A renegade bolt, never born in this world, but born this day by the will of Wang Lin, to forever more add a bolt to this heaven, to replace the former Ninth Attendant, to become the sole Ninth Bolt: The Thunderbolt of Defiance!” Wang Lin’s will resonated with madness and raw power as he surged to his feet from his seated meditation, and raised his gaze to the heavens!

His frame stood as straight as a pine, as if fortified by a spine forged of defiance! His eyes blazed like lightning, and his aura soared to the heavens, for his heart was filled with rebellion against fate, against the very cosmos!

“The plight of seven million realms has erased my last shred of hesitation! The Heavens are without mercy, so we cultivators must rebel! By what right do they control all life, by what right do they manipulate my destiny!” Wang Lin’s words thundered forth, stirring the celestial lightning into a furious harmony, transforming it into a boundless domain of thunder that crashed outwards in all directions!

A bolt of lightning, never before seen in creation, was born from Wang Lin’s defiant words. This Thunderbolt of Defiance was formless, invisible to mortal eyes, perceived only by those with rebellious hearts, those who walked the path of the renegade!

The renegade bolt descended with earth-shattering power, rising from the heavens, carrying with it a struggle against the Heavens and destiny, and instantly it hurtled towards the pupil of Wang Lin’s right eye!

Complete fusion!

Within Wang Lin’s right eye, beyond the Lightning Essence, the nine attendant bolts were complete! As they spun with blinding speed, they formed a Thunderloom within Wang Lin’s very gaze!

The moment the Thunderloom was complete, an indescribable power of thunder exploded from Wang Lin’s body, surging like a volcanic eruption into the boundless void!

With a deafening roar, a colossal, ethereal gate materialized in the skies above the cultivation star, witnessed by all cultivators in stunned disbelief!

The gate was infinitely vast, dominating the heavens. It was as if it were the very gate to the stars, the threshold of the cosmos. To open it would be to escape the confines of this world!

“The Third Step… the Gate of Emptiness!!!” Several among the surrounding cultivators recognized it instantly, their faces contorted in shock and their bodies trembling with disbelief!

The moment the gate appeared, Wang Lin felt its indescribable, overwhelming power. In its presence, all that he possessed seemed as insignificant as dust!

“Even if I cannot break through, I shall try!”