The shattered soul of an ancient Thunder Dragon, cleaved into numerous fragments, was rapidly dispersing into the void. Yet, with a single, voracious inhalation by Wang Lin, fully three-tenths of these trembling remnants were drawn into his nascent soul.

The moment these tattered draconic spirits entered Wang Lin’s core, a maelstrom of lightning erupted within. Crackling bolts of pure energy, ten fathoms thick and a thousand long, danced and thrashed like silver serpents, their snapping echoes reverberating as if lashing the very heavens and stars.

An indescribable force, born of primal thunder, erupted from Wang Lin’s soul, shaking the foundations of reality!

In that instant, every spark of lightning, every rumble of thunder, every entity touched by the essence of storms within the cosmos, flashed through Wang Lin’s mind. He grasped at something profound, a revelation just beyond his reach, yet tantalizingly close.

The seed of Thunder Origin, hidden within his soul, swelled with frenzied power, pulsing like a nascent heart. With each beat, the Origin grew, birthing ever more potent energies!

More astonishing still, was the transformation of Wang Lin’s soul itself. Having devoured a fragment of an ancient Thunder Dragon within the Demon Spirit Land, it had initially taken on the dragon’s form. Through countless trials and fortunate encounters, it had slowly shifted, forming the very essence of thunder, almost entirely transmuting his soul into a living bolt!

But it was merely *almost*. His soul had yet to truly become celestial lightning.

Now, however, his soul underwent a cataclysmic change, a cosmic upheaval! It was relentlessly evolving, inexorably progressing towards a true Thunder Soul, a being of pure lightning. The devoured fragments of the ancient dragon were pushing Wang Lin’s essence towards completion!

Before, his soul, though comparable to the Undying Lightning of the Flash Thunder Clan, was merely of the same tier. Even amongst equals, strength varied. But now, everything was changing at a furious pace!

Insights into the nature of thunder, multiplied a thousandfold, imprinted themselves upon Wang Lin’s soul. From within, a thunderous roar escaped as he transformed once more into a devourer of souls, his maw widening in another ravenous inhalation!

Heaven and earth paled, the starry sky shuddered, and countless fissures tore through the cosmos as the remaining fragments of the Thunder Dragon’s soul, trembling, surged into Wang Lin’s core.

In that singular moment, Wang Lin’s soul writhed and contorted, transforming rapidly from a misty vapor, shrinking suddenly. A terrifying aura, the scent of nascent Thunder Origin, emanated from the soul’s contraction.

As that aura spread, the lightning-ridden domain surrounding the Flash Thunder Clan retreated in unison, lightning quivered in fear, and thunder bowed in submission! Moreover, deep within the Flash Thunder Clan’s sacred lands, atop the ancient temple, the Undying Lightning that connected heaven and earth unleashed its first thunderous roar since the battle began!

The sound echoed as if from the dawn of time, carrying an unimaginable weight of authority. It was as though a colossal thunder cultivator sensed a mortal threat and issued a defiant challenge!

As Wang Lin’s soul shrank, unleashing the expanding aura of Thunder Origin, blinding lightning erupted from within. The vaporous form vanished, replaced by a titanic lightning totem etched against the starry void!

The instant the totem manifested, a pressure, rivaling even that of the Undying Lightning, burst forth, shaking the heavens and collapsing vast swathes of space. A vortex of spiritual lightning swirled about the outer edges of the totem, completing this tableau of raw power!

All of this transpired within the span of mere breaths. The Great Elder of the Flash Thunder Clan stood aghast, utterly bewildered by this sudden transformation. Never had he heard of a being capable of devouring the soul of an ancient Thunder Dragon!

Yet, a primal fear, a premonition of impending doom, clawed its way up from the depths of his being. He sensed that something was terribly wrong, and the echoing roar of the Undying Lightning within the sacred lands served as a chilling warning.

“He must not be allowed to continue! I must stop him, or the Flash Thunder Clan is doomed!” The Great Elder’s face twisted into a snarl as understanding dawned. He surged forward, seeking to intervene.

But as he drew near, the lightning totem, once Wang Lin’s soul, retreated, imprinting itself upon Wang Lin’s brow. The instant his soul returned to its rightful place, a thunderous cacophony erupted from Wang Lin’s very being. Every muscle, every bone, every organ, every fiber of his existence was suffused with the power of lightning!

He had become incarnate thunder!

A lightning bolt flashed in his right eye, a manifestation of his Origin Mark, now ten times more potent than before. In the fraction of a moment before the Great Elder arrived, Wang Lin raised his right hand and waved it forward.

A deafening roar shook the cosmos, echoing endlessly in all directions. A latticework of fine lightning threads manifested around Wang Lin, infused with his will, unbreakable. Only another lightning cultivator wielding power equal to, or greater than, Wang Lin’s Thunder Origin could hope to penetrate it. As he willed it, more and more layers of lightning web coalesced – ten, a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand… seventy thousand layers!

The Great Elder of the Flash Thunder Clan arrived with a roar, hands outstretched, his fifth-layer Celestial cultivation flooding forth. He tore through the first ten thousand layers of lightning web, only to find them instantly reforming!

“I must withdraw, find a safe haven to refine this power. I cannot afford to engage him in a prolonged battle!” Wang Lin retreated, his left hand flipping open to reveal the spiritual talisman that led to the Seven Million Worlds!

Seeing Wang Lin retreating, the Great Elder of the Flash Thunder Clan raged, the sense of impending doom growing stronger with each passing moment!

“He must not be allowed to escape!” The Great Elder roared, spitting forth a mouthful of blood, which transformed into a bolt of crimson lightning. His clan mark blazed as all his inner thunder power converged within the blood, forming a crimson lightning, which he hurled at the lightning web.

The heavens themselves seemed to shatter with the impact. Sixty thousand layers of the web collapsed in an instant, but as the Great Elder prepared to tear through the remainder, the destroyed layers reformed!

The Flash Thunder Clan Elder’s cultivation rested solely upon lightning. Initially, he had held the advantage, but with the sudden surge of Wang Lin’s Thunder Origin, the tide had begun to turn. Another cultivator in the Fifth Layer of the Heavens would have found it far easier to vanquish Wang Lin, but because they were both cultivators of lightning, the battle came down to raw thunder manipulation!

Now, seeing Wang Lin’s retreat accelerating and sensing the power of the talisman in his hand, the Great Elder acted with desperate resolve. He had no time to hesitate, and a glint of fanatical determination ignited in his eyes!

As a cultivator in the Fifth Layer of the Heavens, he possessed power beyond the simple techniques he had already displayed. The Fifth Layer marked the pinnacle of power below the Third Step, and those who had achieved it could wield abilities that dwarfed any Fourth-Layer cultivator.

That was, if he dared to invoke the unique art known only to those in the Fifth Layer of the Heavens.

The Art of Life!

By sacrificing one’s own lifespan and dispersing one’s life force, one could force the activation of a divine art, calling upon the vestiges of the Third Step. This was what made the Fifth Layer the strongest of all stages beneath the Third Step!

Until now, the Great Elder had refrained from using such a technique. His lifespan and vitality were already dwindling, and he needed to constantly suppress his cultivation to slow their inevitable decay so that he might survive long enough to grasp at the elusive opportunity to step into the Third Step!

But now, he could no longer afford to be cautious. A murderous intent burned in his eyes as he raised his right hand, forming a hand seal, and bellowed.

“I offer the Ancestral Invocation! I offer five hundred years of my lifespan, and the life force of my slave, to the Undying Lightning of our ancient past! Grant me its sacred form! I call forth… Chaos Undying Lightning!” The Great Elder’s voice possessed an unnatural, resonant quality. As the words left his lips, his clan mark flared brilliantly.

A gigantic compass, impossibly vast, manifested between heaven and earth. Its size was so immense, it was visible from every corner of the Flash Thunder Clan’s starfield!

The compass radiated the aura of ancient epochs, and was scarred, as if it had barely survived a calamitous war. Yet, as it appeared, an indescribable pressure descended!

The pressure was so potent that it immediately caused the seventy thousand layers of lightning surrounding Wang Lin to groan and crack under the strain. Wang Lin’s expression shifted to one of grim determination as he fixed his gaze upon the compass.

His right hand, clutching the talisman, faltered.

He needed to understand this strange compass, to know the true power of a cultivator in the Fifth Layer of the Heavens!

The compass began to turn slowly and silently, shifting through a fraction of a rotation. As it did, it seemed as if eons passed in an instant, and countless ages were compressed into a single, fleeting moment.

The Great Elder’s face instantly paled, as if a portion of his soul had been torn away. A deathly pallor crept across his skin, but quickly faded.

As it vanished, so did the gigantic compass, as if it had absorbed enough life force. Little by little, it disappeared into the starry void, and as it ceased to be, the Undying Lightning within the sacred lands of the Flash Thunder Clan thundered and cleaved from itself a single, potent strand, breaking through the dimensions and hurtling towards the battlefield.

In a single, devastating instant, the fragment of Undying Heavenly Lightning descended and the Great Elder pointed at it with his right hand. The strand of lightning descended, crashing down like celestial tribulation, onto the seventy thousand layers of lightning surrounding Wang Lin.

A cacophony of earth-shattering explosions rang out. The layers collapsed, each one vaporizing and then immediately reforming, only to be destroyed again. A terrifying wave of lightning energy washed out across the void and Wang Lin’s pupils contracted to pinpricks. Without hesitation, and in the very instant before the Undying Lightning could touch him, he crushed the talisman in his grip!

A vortex, a black hole, appeared suddenly behind Wang Lin, and he stepped back into the void, his figure disappearing in an instant! The Undying Lightning followed, disappearing in an instant as well.

The Great Elder of the Flash Thunder Clan hesitated for a moment, but then, with the vortex flickering and about to disappear, he flung himself forward, plunging headlong into the darkness!