Xiang Shaoyun was no longer attacking. He stabbed his saber into the ground and knelt down on one knee, his body twitching repeatedly as strains of purple lightning crackled around his arms. The purple lightning looked as if it was going to burst out of his arms at any moment, and it put him in extreme pain.
Hair drooping down, he started sweating without stop. He looked like he had been completely exhausted of energy, looking to be in an incredibly terrible state. In truth, he was not over-exhausted. Rather, he had an overabundance of energy and was currently suffering a backlash of it.
That was the consequence of accidentally drawing on that bolt of lightning from the sky earlier. Drawing lightning into one's body was something that could normally only be done once a cultivator reached the King Realm. Moreover, one needed to ignite one's fate star to accomplish something like that.
Xiang Shaoyun had accidentally done it before reaching the King Realm. If he told others, not many people would even believe him. Only someone with an innate lightning physique possessing high intimacy with the power of lightning would be able to call lightning into their body before the King Realm.
Xiang Shaoyun's lightning bone was most likely the source of his intimacy with the power of lightning. That was why after the full activation of his lightning bone, a natural lightning bolt had suddenly come from the sky, allowing him to borrow the power of the heavens and slaughter his opponents.
This was definitely an occurrence that would cause someone to be overjoyed, and Xiang Shaoyun was currently both in great pain and great joy.
"Drawing lightning into the body! I actually managed to draw lightning into my body! HAHAHAHA!" Xiang Shaoyun roared with laughter.
He was very clear that after accomplishing that, he would possess a tiny portion of an offensive power one would only have after becoming a King. In fact, the offensive prowess of natural lightning was much more powerful than the attacks of a regular King Realm cultivator.
From the condition of Xiang Shaoyun's surroundings, that much was clear. Numerous deep cuts could be seen all around him while severed limbs and the flesh of flame beasts were sprayed everywhere. All that served as a proof for the terrifying destructiveness of his attack.
As for the Double Crimson Tyrants, not a trace of them remained. They had been completely obliterated, not even leaving a corpse behind. At present, Xiang Shaoyun did not have the time to wallow in joy. He had to fully absorb the lightning energy that was running wild in his body. Otherwise, his body would be greatly damaged.
Then again, Xiang Shaoyun did not need to do anything himself. His lightning bone was automatically absorbing the lightning energy. His first star was doing the same. After a long while, the strains of lightning energy crackling on the surface of his skin were finally gone. One by one, they entered the lightning bone and the stars. Not only had he fully consolidated his newly gained strength from the breakthrough, he had grown even stronger. He was recovering rapidly, and only a tiny trace of pain still lingered in his meridians. That was a side effect of having lightning energy forcefully channeled into his body by the lightning bolt earlier.
Fortunately, the hidden medicinal power within Xiang Shaoyun's body had been dug out again as strains of healing power started coursing through his body. Everything was progressing in a favorable direction.
Xiang Shaoyun stood up and resumed his climb toward the volcanic crater. Inwardly, he was still feeling gleeful. This trip is totally worth it. If I can get the earthcore fire as well, it will be perfect.
This time, he was able to climb without any disturbance from the flame beasts. They all seemed to have realized how powerful Xiang Shaoyun was and were unwilling to come rushing to their deaths. Or perhaps they were merely waiting for Xiang Shaoyun to enter deeper into their turf before ending him once and for all.
The higher he got, the more terrifying the fire in the surroundings was. Here, even stones would be burned into crisp, and outer energy barriers would be completely helpless against such an extreme temperature. Harvesting the millennium earthcore fire without full preparation was almost impossible.
Xiang Shaoyun was only able to stay safe thanks to the coldstar stone he had. Otherwise, he would have made the trip for nothing. One other problem he encountered was that the fire was so thick one's visibility was very low. It was very hard to see what was ahead.
Xiang Shaoyun had a wondrous vision, and because of that, he held some sort of advantage in this kind of environment where visibility was low. Apart from that, the Nether Soul Domain seemed to be contributing as well. It allowed him to sense what was ahead of him, giving him the sensation that he did not need his eyes to see everything clearly. The last time he had the same sensation was at the Blackhill Sect cave when he found the secret room.
This wondrous sensation made Xiang Shaoyun realize that the Nether Soul Domain definitely possessed an extraordinary power. He also found that the Nether Dragon Soul Headband played some sort of role in the sensation he was feeling, and the headband seemed to be the reason why this sensation had become much clearer than before.
Looks like I need to search through the ancient texts to find out more about the Imperial Nether Clan when I get the chance, Xiang Shaoyun thought to himself.
Relying on what he sensed through the Nether Soul Domain, Xiang Shaoyun advanced and avoided all the flame beasts in the area. Finally, he arrived near the volcanic crater. Here, he was starting to sweat as the coldstar stone's power could only do so much. This place seemed to be the source of all the fire in the area.
He could sense that not far ahead of him some other people were also heading toward the volcanic crater. To be precise, he sensed three people. One was walking easily as if treading flat land, and the person completely ignored the intense fire in the surroundings. Another was relying on a massive shield to protect his entire body as he headed to the summit. The last person seemed to be struggling somewhat, yet was still able to advance.
The first person was a young man about 20 years old. His red hair whipped about in the air, his bearing carefree and heroic. The second person was a middle-aged man who was a peak Transformation Realm cultivator. His thick cultivation base was incredibly obvious. The third person was about 30 years old. He had a dark tone of skin, and his upper body was bared, revealing his sturdy body. With his feet bare, he advanced step by step.
All three of them were emanating auras of the fire element. The former two were obviously assisted by some treasures while the third person seemed to be relying entirely on himself to climb, which was quite an astonishing feat.
Xiang Shaoyun concluded that the three were his greatest threats for now. Just as he was about to resume his climb, he suddenly noticed Chen Zilong and Li Yaxuan arriving together. Apart from them, Xie Sanqian and two other young men were also climbing the mountain from a different direction.
At the same time, he also sensed that in the surrounding area some people were being burned alive while some were forced to retreat. The millennium earthcore fire was not something anyone could obtain. Only those with both strength and luck could obtain it.
"I have to be fast!" Xiang Shaoyun did not hesitate to hasten up the mountain with his full strength.
Surprisingly, no flame beasts could be seen. There must have been a reason. Sure enough, after a while, roars rang out from ahead of him. Flame beast kings had appeared.
Xiang Shaoyun originally thought that the appearance of Demon Kings would definitely cause people to retreat. But he found that instead of retreating, they were increasing their speed in excitement.
It greatly confused him. As he was trying to decide on what to do, he heard Chen Zilong's voice transmission, "Only by obtaining the flame beast king's demonic core would one be able to approach the millennium earthcore fire smoothly."