When the Celestial Realm of Thunder unfurled its gates, a surge of ethereal lightning was unleashed upon the mortal plane. This was no ordinary tempest, but a beacon, a celestial summons. Those who possessed a Thunder Cauldron, a relic forged in the heart of storms, found themselves irresistibly drawn towards this celestial gate.

The origins of this phenomenon remained shrouded in enigma. Since time immemorial, it simply *was*. Even the most puissant sorcerers, masters of arcane knowledge, had sought to unravel the mystery, yet their inquiries always ended in a frustrating void.

Over time, the pursuit of answers waned, replaced by acceptance. It was known that possession of a Thunder Cauldron was the key to unlocking the gates of the Thunder Celestial Realm.

Upon the verdant world of Qing Ling, Wang Lin stowed his Thunder Cauldron. In that instant, a bolt of lightning, thick with celestial energy, descended from the heavens. The thunder’s roar preceded its arrival, a symphony of power that shook the very foundations of existence.

Wang Lin’s eyes gleamed with an otherworldly light. His inner spirit, his nascent soul, whirled into a frenzy, conjuring waves of lightning that crackled around him, spreading outwards to scorch the very earth. He was, for a fleeting moment, a lord of thunder.

As the celestial bolt hurtled downwards, Wang Lin launched himself skyward like a blazing comet. He met the lightning head-on, and with a daring act, he opened his maw and swallowed it whole.

It was a feat worthy of legends!

The very fabric of reality seemed to twist and bend. The sun hid its face behind storm clouds, and the brilliant lightning was consumed by Wang Lin’s audacious act.

A cacophony of thunderclaps, starting as sharp cracks and ending in muffled roars, erupted from within Wang Lin. He felt as though he had been struck by a blow from an ancient god.

His body, a mere mortal vessel, was sent plummeting to the earth. He crashed into the ground, creating a crater of swirling energy that discharged bolts of lightning in every direction. The blast scoured the land within a ten-mile radius, creating a veritable tempest of electricity.

All that remained was a deep gouge in the earth. Wang Lin lay deep within the crater, engulfed in a fierce electrical aura. His eyes were shut, his consciousness fading, but his spirit raged against the tide of power. He channeled the absorbed energy into his soul, mastering his understanding of the power of thunder to strengthen his spiritual power.

He became one with the storm.

Above, the storm clouds rumbled in what sounded like a divine challenge. The Celestial Realm seemed to dare him to test its authority.

Having delivered its initial offering, the clouds began to disperse, their fury seemingly spent. But then, Wang Lin opened his eyes. He licked his lips, and a shocking spark of electricity danced in his eyes. This celestial lightning held a purer form of energy than anything he’d ever experienced. His spirit was overflowing with power.

With a burst of motion, Wang Lin rocketed out of the crater. He retrieved his Thunder Cauldron from his storage ring.

The moment the cauldron reappeared, the dissipating clouds stilled their retreat, and reformed with renewed vigor. Another bolt, crackling with celestial energy, was launched.

Wang Lin laughed, stowing the Thunder Cauldron once more. The residual effects of the first bolt lingered; his body ached, his soul strained. Yet, the power it held was immense, far beyond what he could have imagined.

To any other practitioner, this was madness incarnate.

To swallow celestial lightning? Heresy!

The second bolt descended. With his inner spirit blazing, Wang Lin once more flew into its path and swallowed the storm.

A roar echoed across Qing Ling, and the ground quaked with the shock of the impact. Wang Lin slammed into the earth, this time landing in a meditative posture to channel the energy.

Time was short. After releasing two bolts, the celestial storm seemed to be reaching its limits, dissipating even faster than before.

A spectral glow emanated from Wang Lin’s crown, forming into a mist. Within this ethereal haze, Wang Lin’s spirit emerged from his body.

The Thunder Cauldron, drawn to the soul’s presence, flew from his storage ring and merged with the spirit before ascending to the heavens.

The dissipating storm, as though angered by the escape of its essence, hesitated. It coalesced once more, gathering all remaining power into a single, overwhelming blast.

This was no mere lightning bolt. It was a maelstrom of energy, a swirling vortex of storm clouds funneling all of its power down.

From afar, it resembled a giant, gaping hole torn in the sky. At its base, hung a massive, all-consuming strike of celestial lightning!

The earth itself seemed to recoil. No cultivator dared to probe with their spiritual senses. Mortals, from petty thugs to powerful warlords, kneeled in their homes, praying for deliverance.

Wang Lin’s spirit, witnessing the cataclysmic energy, could only stare in awe. “I may have overdone it,” he muttered.

With the force of a collapsing mountain bearing down, Wang Lin’s spirit elongated and transformed, taking on the visage of an Ancient God and roared towards the descending lightning, swallowing a portion, then retreated, followed closely by the destructive celestial power.

His spirit retreated at lightning speed to his body on the ground, tossed the Thunder Cauldron, merged back into his body, and grabbed the Thunder Cauldron in his hand.
A vengeful roar echoed as the lightning, relentless in its pursuit, crashed upon the Thunder Cauldron. In its wake, the gargantuan vortex, a tempest of raw celestial energy, descended with equal ferocity, aiming to merge with the vessel.

Within the Thunder Cauldron, the imprisoned lightning pulsed with maddening intensity. The surges of power were so violent, they numbed Wang Lin’s hand despite his iron grip. He had wielded lightning itself without such sensation, a testament to the terrifying strength contained within.

Above, the cauldron pulsed, a storm cloud unfurling to engulf the sky. It devoured the descending celestial lightning with savage hunger. From afar, it seemed the heavens themselves were being swallowed whole by the arcane vessel.

A naive observer might instantly declare the cauldron the most potent treasure in existence, capable of consuming the very sky above!

In a heartbeat, the vortex, driven by its insane velocity, was fully absorbed. The moment its essence vanished from the celestial sphere of Qing Ling, the Thunder Cauldron groaned, a chilling symphony of cracking stone. A network of fissures webbed across its surface.

This was unprecedented, a first in the annals of the Thunder Realm. Never before had a Thunder Cauldron shown such weakness. Their numbers had always been constant, immutable. After each closure of the Thunder Realm, they vanished into the ethereal void, only to reappear, unchanged, when the gates opened once more.

But now, fate seemed poised to rewrite the rules.

A grimace tightened on Wang Lin’s face. He sensed he might have overstepped. Should the cauldron shatter, would he be barred from the realm entirely?

“Surely it won’t break,” he muttered, clinging to hope. “It is, after all, a relic of the Thunder Realm.”

But his words were drowned out by the cauldron’s final torment. With a roar, it absorbed the last tendrils of the storm, and the fissures blossomed into gaping wounds. Then, it *shattered*.

The sound was cataclysmic, a thunderclap amplified a thousandfold, unleashing a tempest of pure sonic energy upon Qing Ling.

The Thunder Cauldron collapsed into a cloud of fragments, each piece still tethered by arcs of residual lightning.

Wang Lin exhaled, a spark of relief flickering within him. As long as the pieces remained, perhaps there was still a chance for salvage.

But the respite was fleeting. The fragments, barely separated, detonated in a secondary explosion. They were reduced to dust, and the dust to nothingness.

Since the dawn of the Thunder Realm, this was the first Thunder Cauldron to meet its end. From this day forward, each opening of the realm would see one less cauldron, one less passage, lost forever.

For countless ages, such an event had been impossible. What unforeseen consequences would follow now?

The Thunder Cauldron was considered indestructible. Even cultivators who had ascended beyond the first step of immortality struggled to harm them. And even they wouldn’t dare to do something so harmful. It wouldn’t help them and the consequences for the Thunder Realm were devastating.

Wang Lin’s grimace deepened.

As the cauldron dissolved, the unleashed energy within erupted. An unfathomable torrent of raging thunder surged forth, engulfing Wang Lin in its embrace. The fragments of the shattered cauldron swirled around him as he was launched towards the heavens.

The speed was terrifying, threatening to tear him asunder.

Others who held a Thunder Cauldron were gently guided through the void into the gates of the Thunder Realm. Wang Lin, fueled by the cauldron’s overload, ripped through space at a pace beyond comprehension.

The speed was beyond description. It was as if time itself was flickering. He could barely glimpse his surroundings as he burst through the veil between worlds.

On this path to the Thunder Realm’s gate, many cultivators from the domain of Luo Tian were on this path as well. They came from all directions, not by their own flight, but drawn by the realm’s pull, awaiting the opening of the celestial doors.