Chapter 74: Ling Ying's Social Death, Dark Thunder of Wu Earth

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

The night sky over the Tagor Desert was bright and filled with countless twinkling stars, creating a dreamlike and mesmerizing sight.

Standing atop a sand dune, Xiao Bai gazed at the breathtaking sky with his hands behind his back.

For the past three days, he had neither searched for the Heavenly Flame nor cultivated. Instead, he had been adjusting his condition.

He was about to break through!

Ever since his injuries healed a few days ago, he had been preparing for this moment.

Tonight, he had come alone to the area where he usually searched for the Heavenly Flame. After observing for the past few days, he noticed that few people passed by this place, making it an ideal spot for his breakthrough.

He had also deliberately left Yao Lao's ring behind. Some things didn't matter if Yao Lao saw them, but during a breakthrough, when talisman sigils might react abnormally, Xiao Bai didn't want a powerful soul expert lurking around.

However, before breaking through, he had another matter to address—one that had been trailing him for quite some time. It was time to call them out.

"Sir, you have followed me all the way from Wu Tan City to this place. May I know your purpose? Would you care to show yourself?" Xiao Bai withdrew his gaze from the stars and spoke loudly.

In the shadows of a small sand dune, the hidden Ling Ying's heart trembled in shock, and he frowned.

"Wu Tan City?"

"This brat has known about me since Wu Tan City? Then what's the point of all my sneaking around?!"

Ling Ying lifted his head slightly, revealing a dark, aged face. Seeing Xiao Bai looking directly in his direction, he confirmed that he had been thoroughly exposed.

He couldn't help but smile bitterly. This kid had incredible patience—knowing he was being followed yet waiting until now to call him out.

"What should I do now?" Ling Ying stroked his chin in thought.

After a moment, he realized that it didn't matter if he had been exposed. Xiao Bai didn't know he had been sent by the young miss, so he could just act like some mysterious expert and brush things off.

The shadows beneath the sand dune stirred, and in an instant, they surged upward, coalescing into a human form. The figure was draped entirely in a pitch-black robe.

Like a wisp of smoke, the dark figure landed a short distance from Xiao Bai, his back turned toward him.

"A dream spanning eternity—what year is it now? Young man, do you know if Tuo She still lives?" Ling Ying placed his hands behind his back, gazing at the sky. His voice was hoarse and deep, filled with the weight of time.

Xiao Bai stared at him, listening to his pretentious tone and grandiose posture, and felt an urge to punch him.

He never expected Ling Ying to be this kind of person.

But then, an idea surfaced in his mind. He decided to play along. The bigger this old man acted now, the harder he would fall later.

With a mischievous smirk, Xiao Bai wondered if Ling Ying would flee the Jia Ma Empire overnight and move back to the Gu Clan after being exposed.

"Who is Tuoshe?" he asked.

"You don't know about Tuoshe Dou Di?"

"Dou Di?" Xiao Bai's expression turned to shock. He quickly asked, "It has been nearly ten thousand years since a Dou Di last appeared on the Dou Qi Continent. Senior, are you saying… you are from ten thousand years ago?"

"Sigh! The long river of time flows swiftly—ten thousand years in the blink of an eye. Never did I expect that upon emerging from seclusion, my old friends would be gone, and the world would be so changed. How fleeting, how fleeting!"

After sighing nostalgically, Ling Ying fell silent for a moment before continuing, "Young friend, there's no need to panic. This old man means no harm. I merely passed by and noticed your extraordinary talent, so I couldn't help but observe you for a while."

"Senior, do you wish to take me as your disciple?" Xiao Bai asked, his face full of excitement.

"This old man is accustomed to a life of wandering clouds and wild cranes. I have no intention of taking disciples. I came on a whim, and now my interest is spent. Farewell, farewell!"

Having finished his act, Ling Ying prepared to leave.

In his mind, although this kid was talented, there was no way he would be able to marry the young miss. They would never cross paths again, so there was no need to worry about awkwardness.

As for the young mistress's task, he decided to keep his distance this time. He refused to believe Xiao Bai could still sense him. Did this kid think shadow attributes were just for show?

Seeing that Ling Ying was about to leave after finishing his act, Xiao Bai stopped holding back and spoke in an unhurried tone:

"Senior, does Xun'er know that you have just emerged from seclusion?"

Ling Ying felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He instantly froze in place as if paralyzed, his hands behind his back clenching tightly while his body trembled slightly.

"Does Xun'er know that Senior has an old friend who was a Dou Di?" Xiao Bai continued speaking as if he hadn't noticed Ling Ying's reaction.

With each of Xiao Bai's words, Ling Ying felt like he could dig an entire ancient holy city into the Tagor Desert with his toes.

"Damn it! How does this kid know my identity?"

"I'm done for. I thought he had no clue, that we wouldn't meet again, and that I could just play the role of a mysterious expert. But now what?"

"Should I return to Wu Tan City and have the young miss assign someone else?"

Ling Ying thought of his so-called disciple, Qing Shuang, who was currently by the young miss's side. Should he let her replace him? But how would he even explain that to the young miss?

Forget it. The priority was to leave this place first.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" Ling Ying snapped, then instantly transformed into a shadow and vanished without a trace.

Watching him disappear, Xiao Bai shook his head with a smile. Am I being too mean? Tsk tsk… What a social death. Ling Ying probably won't want to show his face in front of me ever again!

Putting the matter aside, Xiao Bai sat cross-legged atop the sand dune. Finally, no one was watching him anymore.

His soul power spread outward, sweeping across thousands of meters. The small Magical Beasts hidden within the desert sensed the disturbance and fled in panic, distancing themselves from Xiao Bai.

Once he was sure there was nothing nearby that could disturb him, Xiao Bai slowly closed his eyes and turned his focus inward.

As soon as he shut his eyes, a powerful aura at the peak of Nine-Star Dou Master surged forth. Within his dantian, freed from the restraint of his soul power, the dense liquid cyclone within began to generate suction.

The once still air trembled as if ripples had formed on the surface of a tranquil lake. Streams of visible energy seeped out from the void.

The moment these energies entered his body, Xiao Bai's powerful soul force took control, guiding them through the meridians in accordance with his cultivation technique. The impure energies were constantly refined in the process.

The thunder-attributed energy he had absorbed from the Heavenly Thunder previously had been sealed within his body using his soul power. While some of it had been consumed for flight, the amount lost was insignificant.

This thunder energy was incredibly pure, formed from the very essence of heaven and earth, meaning it required no refinement like the scattered energies in the void.

The reason he had sealed it instead of absorbing it immediately was to allow his injured meridians more time to recover. Otherwise, he would have broken through long ago.

As the suction force within his dantian grew stronger, Xiao Bai released the soul seal on his body. In an instant, a massive surge of pure thunder energy flooded toward his liquid cyclone, causing it to expand rapidly.

Feeling the fullness in his dantian, Xiao Bai knew it was time. His soul power guided the energy into his dantian.

The key to breaking through to Dou Grandmaster lay in compressing the liquid cyclone until it condensed into a solid crystal at its core—an object known as the Dou Crystal.

In the eyes of many experts, only upon forming a Dou Crystal did one truly step onto the path of Dou Qi cultivation. This tiny crystal contained all of a person's Dou Qi and held immense power.

Time passed. As the cyclone continued to absorb energy and was continuously compressed by the cultivation method, a change began to occur.

Xiao Bai could clearly sense it—the center of the cyclone was starting to form a solid, silver-white substance.

"It's close!" Xiao Bai knew that as long as even a fragment of the crystal formed, the breakthrough was already a success—it was only a matter of time before it was complete.

Sure enough, before long, a thumb-sized, silver-white rhomboid crystal appeared within the cyclone. Under Xiao Bai's watchful gaze, it slowly floated within his dantian, radiating a faint, flickering glow.

The moment this crystal fully materialized, the cyclone in Xiao Bai's dantian shrank to half its size, then continued to shrink rapidly until it was completely absorbed.

Not only that, but the Dou Crystal then began drawing in the thunder energy stored in his body with even greater intensity.

Eventually, all of the energy within his body was fully absorbed. Xiao Bai felt a sudden sense of relief, followed by an explosive surge of power radiating outward from within him.

Xiao Bai sensed his strength and instantly grinned—Three-Star Dou Grandmaster, achieved!

However, he did not get up. His excitement lasted only a brief moment before he suppressed it, calming his emotions and restoring his tranquil state. Breaking through to Dou Grandmaster wasn't difficult for him; the real challenge lay in what came afterward.

The next thunder seed was coming!

He didn't know what attribute this one would have. Would it be as troublesome as the last one? Xiao Bai felt a mix of anxiety and anticipation.

Sure enough, the Talisman Edict never disappointed—always punctual. The moment his breakthrough stabilized, it got straight to work.

Within his sea of consciousness, under his gaze, the Talisman Edict trembled slightly and emitted a faint glow from one of its corners. This time, the glow was a deep yellow.

This shade was darker and more subdued than the golden sands of the desert.

"Earth? But why does this color seem a bit off?"

Before Xiao Bai could even finish his thoughts, a bolt of lightning—yellow with a tinge of gray—shot out from the Talisman Edict, heading straight for his spleen.

"Dark Thunder of Wu Earth!"

The moment the lightning appeared, its name and general information surfaced in his mind.

Dark Thunder of Wu Earth: A thunderbolt infused with the energy of Wu Earth and the aura of the netherworld. The netherworld energy is yin, while the thunder is yang, with Wu Earth acting as the bridge between them. It possesses the power to regulate yin and yang and harmonize water and fire.

"Ugh!"

Xiao Bai couldn't help but let out a muffled groan as a familiar pain surged from his spleen. Looking inward at his five viscera, he saw flashes of yellow lightning flickering across his spleen.

This time, the pain wasn't as intense as when the Yang Thunder of Bing Fire had appeared. It was more on par with the Daoist Righteous Thunder of Yi Wood. Xiao Bai carefully examined the sensation and let out a long sigh of relief.

This Dark Thunder of Wu Earth, like the small Yi Thunder, seemed to be more focused on its effects rather than sheer destructive power—unlike the small Bing Thunder, which had been overwhelmingly domineering.

Although he now had information about it, the description was somewhat mysterious. He still didn't know exactly what it could do.

"The power to regulate yin and yang… the ability to harmonize water and fire… This thing sounds pretty high-level."

For now, he didn't dwell on it too much. Xiao Bai activated his cultivation technique and followed the usual refinement process—he was already very familiar with this routine.

But this time, something was different. The moment he began refining it, the Dark Thunder of Wu Earth immediately released waves of lightning that spread through his body and into the ground.

Then, Xiao Bai felt it growing stronger.

"What the hell? If you're going to strengthen yourself, at least let me refine you first! Otherwise, are you planning to take root in this desert? How long will it take for me to finish refining you at this rate?"

Xiao Bai instantly realized this was bad. The geography of this place was way too favorable for this thunderbolt. If he refined a little, it would absorb more from the earth—how long would this go on?

After some thought, he decided: If being in contact with the ground makes you stronger, then I'll just fly into the sky. Let's see how you absorb energy then!

A pair of purple wings unfurled behind him, and Xiao Bai soared into the air.

But before he could ascend too high, he felt the Dark Thunder of Wu Earth taking root in the desert sand, as if trying to detach itself from his body.

"Seriously? You can do that too?"

Helpless, he had no choice but to descend, retracting his wings. That plan wasn't going to work.

Sitting cross-legged again, Xiao Bai sensed that the Dark Thunder of Wu Earth had already extended its lightning tendrils several hundred meters outward.

Using his soul perception, he saw an eerie yellow glow flickering within the sand surrounding him.

The sight was strangely beautiful—soft flashes of yellow light pulsing like fireflies in the night—but also incredibly dangerous.

And the distance kept extending outward, with no sign of stopping. Who knew how far it would reach?

"This is a damn scam!"

Xiao Bai let out a long sigh toward the sky. If he had known this would happen, he wouldn't have chosen to break through here. The earth attribute in this place was too vast and active—unlike other locations where the earth's energy was barely noticeable, making it difficult to absorb even if one wanted to.

But there was no helping it. He had to stay in this area for a while, and he couldn't keep suppressing his breakthrough forever. This entire place was a desert—no matter where he went, it would be the same.

At least here, no one had noticed anything yet. If he had broken through in Stone Desert City, there would probably already be a pile of corpses.

Thinking about it, Xiao Bai felt a bit relieved. If Xiao Ding and Xiao Li had kindly invited him to the Desert Iron Mercenary Group, and he had accidentally wiped them out in return, that would have been a disaster. They had built that group with years of blood and sweat—it would have been a real headache.

"Forget it. I'll try refining it first."

Noticing that the yellow lightning had already stretched out over a kilometer, Xiao Bai quickly activated his cultivation technique. He couldn't wait any longer—if he delayed any further, who knew if it would extend all the way to Stone Desert City?

Following the technique's process, he attempted to extract a trace of the Dark Thunder of Wu Earth's core energy for refinement. But to his dismay, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't pull anything out.

It was as if this thing had completely fused with the desert's earth energy, becoming immovable.

Even with his Dou Grandmaster-level strength, he couldn't do anything. Not just him—Xiao Bai had the feeling that even a Dou Huang wouldn't be able to shake it in the slightest.

"What do I do now?"

Suppressing the continuous pain coursing through his body, Xiao Bai stared at the yellow lightning crackling across the sand. The flashes were particularly striking in the night.

He rubbed his chin, lost in thought.

Flying away from the desert wasn't an option. Refining it didn't work either.

Was he really going to be trapped here forever?

Getting up, he paced back and forth a few times. He found that moving wasn't an issue, but the surrounding lightning moved along with him.

"Did I just unlock a domain ability?" he muttered to himself, managing to find some humor in his predicament.