Chapter 83: One Dragon, Three Eats

Looking at Xiao Li, who seemed stunned by the electricity, Lei Yun Yi Long was somewhat startled and uncertain, "Hey, kid, are you a pervert? Getting electrocuted and still looking like you're enjoying it."

Lei Yun Yi Long's complexion turned sour; he too was penetrated by Xiao Li's blood‑cursed Heaven‑piercing Thunder, and that alien lightning, full of aggression and resentment, was unbearable.

Xiao Li curled his lips into a smile; originally he had suffered some injuries from the prolonged activation of the fifth step of Ascension, his skin riddled with cracks, but now they had all fully healed.

Although being struck by Fighting Emperor‑level lightning hurt a bit, Xiao Li felt he could endure it.

"Su Mei, Yin Gu Lao, keep harassing; I'll take the main attack!"

Having said that, Xiao Li surged forward; his blood‑colored wings emitted a sanguine glow, and atop the wholly red Thunder Scale Spear, a blood‑jiao that selects its prey rose into the air.

"Mystic Thunder, startling flash!"

Lei Yun Yi Long's expression grew solemn; this guy's lightning was odd and unexpectedly powerful. Even though he considered himself exceptionally gifted, his opponent, being of the same tier, managed to suppress him.

The blue lightning surged likewise; Lei Yun Yi Long rose into the air, completely ignoring Su Mei and Yin Gu Lao's attacks, letting them tear at his flesh.

A blue lightning meteor crashed down with a dazzling tail; its overwhelming force made Xiao Li's blood‑jiao pause slightly.

In the next instant, the blood‑jiao shattered outward, then reconvened atop the Thunder Scale Spear.

"How did the sect leader disperse the attack!" Yin Gu Lao exclaimed, fearing Xiao Li might have lost his mind.

It's fine if you usually lose your mind, but if you lose it now, who will block Lei Yun Yi Long? As for fleeing, Yin Gu Lao admits he's not as good as peak Fighting King Su Mei; if Xiao Li dies, the unlucky one will be him, 100%.

Lei Yun Yi Long was equally puzzled, gazing at Xiao Li's steady eyes; even though his heart was laden with countless troubles, the arrow was now on the string and had to be released.

"Kid, pay the price for your arrogance!"

The blue meteor crashed to the ground, flipping Xiao Li's body along with it.

A dense spray of blue arcs erupted, but the next moment they seemed drawn toward the exact center of the explosion.

Lei Yun Yi Long, still uncertain, swiftly took to the air; the dust below blocked its sight, and it now had no idea what was happening.

The dust gradually cleared, revealing a body bathed in yellow light.

Xiao Li's upper garments had turned to ash, but his exposed torso resembled a structure of gold and stone, radiating a heavy yellow glow.

"Thank you, you've let me break through the limits of the Wild Thunder Body."

The Wild Thunder Body is the second stage of the Thunder Body merging technique; this stage corresponds to the sixth step of the ninth step of Ascension.

"Boom!"

With a single step, the ground turned to dust, a deep pit several meters wide sprang before his eyes, yet Xiao Li had already vanished.

Lei Yun Yi Long's pupils narrowed slightly, incredulously watching the figure that teleported before him, his throat dry, his voice trembling.

"Five, Five‑Star Fighting Emperor!"

The sixth step of Ascension propelled Xiao Li from an Eight‑Star Fighting Spirit to a Five‑Star Fighting Emperor, a leap of seventeen minor grades; logically, his body's strength shouldn't have withstood the internal energy intensity, yet he endured it and could hold out for a long time.

In the next instant, Lei Yun Yi Long was blasted by Xiao Li's punch onto a rock wall.

Lei Yun Yi Long tentatively lifted his dragon wings, but the wings were embedded in the stone body, unable to be freed.

Despair flashed in Lei Yun Yi Long's eyes; the next moment, a blood‑colored Jiao Dragon descended from the sky, a long spear glowing with blood‑red thunder thrust into Lei Yun Yi Long's head, pinning him dead to the rock wall.

Xiao Li calmly withdrew the spear, restoring his physical strength to a One‑Star Fighting King, and silently reclaimed Lei Yun Yi Long's pair of dragon wings.

Su Mei and Yin Gu Lao exchanged a glance, the shock between them unable to be hidden.

Xiao Li was terrifying; just half a year ago he was on equal footing with them, but now, a single move could likely kill them.

A Five‑Star Fighting Emperor—such a being can instantly surpass a Fighting King without surprise, unless they're those knock‑offs.

He collected the remaining corpse of Lei Yun Yi Long into the blood furnace, extracted the wind‑and‑thunder power, and handed it to the otherwise unnoticed Xiao Yan beside him.

"Take it, there should be a way to contain it."

Xiao Yan nodded, pulling out a special vessel; Yao Lao had many items for storing treasures, and various relics could be well preserved in it.

The party returned to the Thunder Sect; Tie Wu and others, having left early, had already come back with monster corpses. Though each bore wounds, the overall situation was not serious.

Next, Xiao Li began experimenting with Lei Yun Yi Long's dragon wings, figuring out how to fuse them into the Thunder Bat Heavenly Wing.

Come to think of it, Lei Yun Yi Long truly gave Xiao Li many surprises: not only aiding his Wild Thunder Body metamorphosis and providing wind‑and‑thunder power, but also granting conditions for cultivating higher‑level aerial combat techniques—a true case of one dragon, three "eats".

Here, Xiao Li began training new aerial combat techniques and the Three Thousand Thunder Movements, while over there Xiao Yan was also busy, having joined the Canaan Academy at fourteen.

Hu Qian stared at Xiao Yan's "physical examination" sheet with astonishment, while the elders around him remained silent for a long while.

Each elder also held a copy of the examination report, their faces blank.

After a long while, Huo Laotou trembled and spoke, "You mean, this kid is a fourteen‑year‑old Eight‑Star Great Fighting Master?!"

That sentence opened the floodgates; those around began clutching their heads and shouting.

"Back then, Xiao Li seemed to be a fifteen‑year‑old Three‑Star Great Fighting Master."

"Xiao Yan, Xiao Li, the two of them!"

"No doubt, they're the two brothers."

After the clamor, Huo Laotou's stiff face rippled again, "My goodness, still a Third‑Rank Alchemist!"

Hu Qian, with a helpless expression covering his face, said, "For the Canaan Academy to admit those two brothers, it must be the most glorious entry in the school's history."

Huo Laotou looked at the crowd of sixteen‑year‑olds still in the Fighting Qi stage outside the window, pursed his lips, and said, "Should we revoke Xiao Yan's challenge qualification? I feel the others will start doubting themselves when they see this."

An elder beside him chuckled wryly, "Don't even mention them; I'm already doubting myself—these two brothers are each more inhuman than the last."

"Sigh…"

"Sigh…"

Amid the elders' sighs, Hu Qian privately met Xiao Yan, cleared his throat lightly, and said, "Xiao Yan, I'm sorry you weren't allowed to join the freshman challenge; I will personally compensate you with a reward…"

"Personal compensation?"

Xiao Yan scratched his head; his second brother seemed to have mentioned this to him, also saying that Dean Hu Qian of the outer academy was a good person.

"Then thank you, Dean."

Hu Qian waved his hand, "You're welcome, you're welcome. Next, I want to tell you something: I'll exempt you from the inner academy selection contest, and of course, the deserved rewards won't be lacking."

Hu Qian paused, then said, "Back then your brother Xiao Li stayed in the inner academy for less than two months; we didn't even have time to react before he left. Though his name remained listed, it was clear he was essentially done with graduation."

This matter also kept Hu Qian feeling regretful; it ended before he could see more of Xiao Li's performance.

"So, I want you to skip the outer court and directly bring your talent to the inner court!"

This time the three-year agreement shifted to Xiao Yan being sixteen years old; in the original work Xiao Yan was fifteen, and Nalan Yanran only came to break off the engagement then, so…

No-reward Q&A. What level of strength should a sixteen-year-old Nalan Yanran have?

Hint: when Nalan Yanran broke off the engagement at fifteen, she was a three-star Dou Fighter.

(End of chapter)