Chapter 280

Wang Ping stood at the cave mouth, gazing at the golden thunder waterfall that seemed forged from liquid gold and radiated world‑shattering power, feeling the violent throbbing and yearning of the divine thunder origin within his body; the shock and hesitation in his eyes were swiftly replaced by resolve and sharpness.

Badly injured? The thunder power here could instantly reduce a late Golden Core cultivator in his condition to powder!

Dangerous? The fleeting ancient aura deep in the thunder waterfall, like an abyss gazing back, makes the soul tremble!

But…… an opportunity!

An unprecedented opportunity lies right before him! The Yin Wood Divine Thunder Origin's near‑instinctive craving points unmistakably to the thunder waterfall's core.

If he could get close, even harness that ancient, pure thunder origin power, he might truly ignite and awaken the newly arisen Five Elements Generation‑Destruction Thunder Intent!

This is nothing like cautiously drawing thunder to temper the body on the outskirts!

"Hesitant and timid, how can one contend for supremacy?"

Wang Ping muttered softly, flashing in his mind were Cangxuan's indifferent, silver‑gazing eyes and the helplessness of seeing Xinghuilan easily taken away.

Power! He needs the strength to break the gap and seize control of his fate! This thunder waterfall core, where danger and opportunity coexist, is the perfect whetstone and stepping stone!

No longer hesitating, he quickly checked himself. Though his wounds were severe, his heart meridian and dantian were stable, and movement was unimpeded.

His healing pills were exhausted, but the restorative power of the Five Elements Heavenly Classic and the toughness of his reborn flesh gave him confidence.

He glanced one last time at the few talismans left in his storage bag and the shattered remains of the used Xuan Yuan Heart‑Protecting Pearl, then put them away. Now, he could rely only on his own path.

He drew a deep breath of the thunder‑filled air, replete with destruction and vitality, and Wang Ping's gaze steadied like iron.

He no longer crept along the rock wall; that was too slow, and his goal was obvious.

He decided to directly burst forward with evasion light into the relatively 'thin' edge of the thunder waterfall, using his growing perception and control of thunder to blast a path straight toward the approximate direction of the anomalous aura!

As his thoughts moved, the mysterious‑blue Yin Wood Divine Thunder Origin seed in his dantian hummed and trembled; the five‑colored spiritual light emanating from his body saw the blue and gold hues suddenly intensify, faintly forming a flowing field that deflected and guided thunder.

This was a technique he had gleaned during his prior adaptation and tempering.

"Go!"

With a low shout, Wang Ping's form turned into a blue‑gold streak like lightning, with no hesitation whatsoever, he surged recklessly toward the golden sea of destruction below!

"Boom! Crack—!"

Almost the instant he left the shelter of the cave rock wall, several stray golden lightning arcs, like sharks scenting blood, shot at him from all angles! Their speed and ferocity far surpassed any lightning he had faced before.

Wang Ping's pupils contracted, his spiritual sense pushed to the limit, his body twisted and turned in the air in unimaginable ways, while he flicked both hands repeatedly, shooting out refined threads of blue‑gold spiritual power infused with his own thunder aura; not a brute clash, but precisely latching onto the edges of the lightning arcs' force fields, like a master helmsman using the waves' power against them, he narrowly deflected several arcs, grazing past himself.

Even so, the terrifying thunder aftermath and scorching ionized air still burned his skin, making his protective spiritual light churn violently. Here, each bolt of thunder carries a destructive will near the 'awakening' level, nothing like the outskirts!

He was like a lone boat sailing against the wind on a storm‑tossed sea, struggling to weave through the gaps where countless golden thunder dragons lunged. Every ten zhang he advanced cost him immense mental and spiritual energy; his figure grew ever more disheveled, robes torn, hair singed, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth again. Yet his eyes remained sharp as blades, locked on a direction within the thunder waterfall where energy was relatively chaotic and the ancient aura flickered faintly.

There, it seemed a massive vortex at the junction of the golden thunder waterfall and the lower 'Thunder Pond', where lightning spun and poured like molten gold, space wildly distorted, extremely perilous, yet possibly a relative weak point and passageway.

Charge! Charge! Charge!

Relying on his ever sharper prediction of lightning trajectories and the unique ability of his five‑element spiritual power to channel and transmute lightning‑type energy, Wang Ping, after paying the price of having his left arm grazed by a lightning arc and instantly half‑charred, finally slammed into the edge of that massive thunder vortex like a cannonball!

"Puff—!" a large mouthful of blood mixed with organ fragments spewed out. His left arm felt excruciating pain, nearly crippled. Pain spread throughout his body, spiritual power drained enormously, the five‑color shield wavered on the verge of collapse. Yet he had broken through!

Inside the vortex, it was not utter destruction as imagined. It was filled with extreme‑violence golden thunder, yet the energy flow showed a strange regular rotation, pressure at the center actually slightly lower than in some turbulent outer zones. More importantly, the ancient, desolate aura, seemingly emanating from the thunder origin itself, became unusually clear and rich here.

It was like an invisible anchor, holding the violent thunder vortex in place, and it caused Wang Ping's restless Yin Wood Divine Thunder Origin within to suddenly calm, turning into a devout, pilgrimage‑like resonance.

"This is the place!" Wang Ping endured the pain, landing on a relatively 'calm' reef of only a few zhang square formed by energy collision at the vortex's edge. He immediately sat cross‑legged, without even tending to his left arm wound, and began forming hand seals.

Not the seal for drawing lightning to temper the body, but a higher‑level secret art recorded in the Five Elements Heavenly Classic, cooperating with his own insight, actively communicating, refining, and awakening the thunder origin—the "Five Elements Awakening Technique"!

The environment here is extremely perilous, liable to be swallowed by violent thunder currents at any moment, yet precisely because of that, the thunder origin is extraordinarily active, pure, and close to the Dao! It is the ideal 'crucible' for awakening!

As the technique operated, Wang Ping's aura fully retracted inward; the five‑colored radiance condensed inside his body, leaving only a thin layer of light on his skin that flowed with the five‑elements' generation‑destruction Dao rhythm. He unleashed his spiritual sense, will, and the nascent Five Elements Generation‑Destruction Thunder Intent without reservation, cautiously, as if fishing for a dragon with the finest thread, to contact, sense, and attract the boundless, ancient‑pure golden thunder origin power around him.

This is a process more perilous and delicate than drawing lightning to temper the body. No longer a brute resistance, but an active 'exchange' and 'assimilation'. A slight misstep would draw not a wisp of thunder, but the vortex's furious backlash, destroying both body and spirit in an instant.

Time passed bit by bit. Wang Ping became like part of the reef, his aura faint, only the light of his spirit at the brow and the spark of origin in his dantian twinkling. His spiritual sense, like the most sensitive tendril, danced through the destructive golden thunder sea, catching each thread of thunder qi that matched his 'generation‑destruction' Dao rhythm.

At first, only scattered, faint points of resonance. Gradually, as he continually released and adjusted his own Five Elements Generation‑Destruction Thunder Intent, the resonant thunder qi grew more numerous, like sparks gathering.

Just at that moment——

He caught a single strand of extremely pure, ancient golden lightning that seemed to contain the primordial truth of thunder's birth: 'destruction harboring new birth'!

"Now!"

Wang Ping gave a sharp shout in his heart, fully activating the Five Elements Awakening Technique! In his dantian, the mysterious‑blue Yin Wood Divine Thunder Origin seed suddenly blazed with light, transforming into a miniature five‑element rotating vortex that erupted with powerful suction!

The captured strand of golden origin lightning, as if summoned and also drawn by a higher‑order Dao rhythm, instantly broke free of the violent thunder sea, becoming a thin yet dazzling golden line that crossed space, directly entered Wang Ping's brow, followed his meridians, and boomed into the center of the dantian vortex!

"Boom——!!!"

Not a loud roar, but a tremor like the heavens and earth being split open, arising from deep within the soul and the foundation of the Dao!

The infusion of that ancient golden lightning strand was like igniting the final fuse! In Wang Ping's dantian, the long‑accumulated Yin Wood Divine Thunder Origin, already at its critical point, reacted violently with this supreme origin!

The five‑element rotating vortex spun up madly! Blue, red, yellow, white, and black five‑colored lights blended in unprecedented brilliance! Wood's vitality as the base, metal's severity as the edge, fire's intensity as the flame, water's length as moisture, earth's weight as the carrier! The five‑element forces turned, collided, and gave birth along some profound, ineffable trajectory!

And at the vortex's very center, that origin seed completely melted and reformed! It greedily absorbed that strand of golden lightning, as well as all of Wang Ping's spirit‑will and his Generation‑Destruction Thunder Intent!

"Destruction! Rebirth! Cycle! Endless!"

Wang Ping's consciousness sank into a strange void‑like state, as if both observer and participant. He saw lightning cleave chaos, and also saw spring shoots break soil after rain; saw flames burn forests to ash, and also saw ash nourish new wood; saw metal rust and decay, and also saw mineral veins nurture radiance… Destruction and rebirth are two sides of the same coin, the grandest, most essential cycle of heaven and earth!

And his thunder shall be the manifestation of that cycle! Wielding life and death, purifying the world!

"Awaken! Five Elements Generation‑Destruction Divine Thunder, condense!"

A soundless shout echoed in the depths of his soul!

Within his dantian, the radiance withdrew and the vortex stilled.

That seed vanished.

In its place lay a tiny golden dragon only an inch long, yet every detail exquisitely formed and extraordinarily spirited! Its body resembled the purest gold crystal carving, yet it flowed with green vitality‑thunder patterns and purple destructive lightning; as its dragon eyes opened and closed, it brimmed with spirituality, carrying a newborn's innocence and a natural affinity and mastery over the 'generation‑destruction' cycle!

The pale gold dragon lazily swayed its tail, naturally settling at the dantian's center, replacing the spiritual vortex and becoming the new core and master of Wang Ping's power! With each breath it drew in and expelled, it spontaneously summoned external pure thunder power, refined and purified it via the generation‑destruction Dao, turning it into impeccably pure golden thunder spiritual power imbued with the generation‑destruction Dao rhythm, which then nourished his whole body.

Summon Thunder Technique—Yin Wood Divine Thunder—has now officially entered the Awakening Realm! And it points directly to the great Dao truth of 'Five Elements Generation‑Destruction'!

Almost at the instant the thunder spirit was born, a hard‑to‑describe, clear and mighty new force surged like a spring from his dantian, instantly flooding Wang Ping's entire body!

That charred, carbonized left arm, nourished by this pale-gold thunder spirit containing creative vital energy, saw its necrotic tissue slough off rapidly; new flesh and bone grew and healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, and in just a moment it was restored to its original state—even beneath the skin, faint gold lightning patterns flickered and vanished, leaving it stronger than before.

All internal hidden wounds and chronic ailments, under the cleansing of this Thunder Spirit imbued with the Dao resonance of 'break then establish,' were thoroughly purged and repaired! Meridians were widened and reinforced, like a river rerouted, unobstructed! The five viscera and six bowels were tempered, teeming with vitality!

Even more astonishing, his cultivation bottleneck, under this metamorphosis akin to shedding the womb and the infusion of a vast amount of pure Thunder Spirit power, was easily pierced like thin paper!

The barrier of the late Golden Core stage shattered with a boom!

Total mana and purity surged wildly! The dantian qi sea expanded further! The golden core hovering below the Thunder Spirit little dragon now had its brilliance inwardly restrained, its surface displaying fine, intertwined pale gold and azure‑purple Dao patterns similar to those on the Thunder Dragon, slowly rotating and emanating a round, full, near‑peak majestic aura!

Late Golden Core peak!

As the water reaches the channel, he broke through in one fell swoop!

Wang Ping suddenly opened his eyes!

In his eyes, no trace of fatigue or injury remained, only a deep tranquility, and beneath that calm, a thunder‑sharp gleam as if it could pierce the void! At the deepest part of his pupils, a faint golden thunder‑dragon phantom flickered and vanished.

He slowly rose to his feet.

Charred dead skin and blood scabs fell away from his whole body, revealing a physique carved like jade yet containing explosive power, with perfect streamlined form, skin lustrous and faintly glowing with a healthy golden hue. His hair stirred without wind, its tips even speckled with faint golden thunder‑stars.

A mere thought stirred, and even no hand seals were needed.

Zizz—

Several strands, as fine as hair yet condensed to the extreme, of pale gold lightning arcs—like living sprites—instantly leapt and circled his fingertips, hair tips, and entire body. Within the arcs, destruction and vitality perfectly blended, flowing with the enchanting Dao resonance of the Five Elements' birth and death. Their degree of condensation and effortless control, compared to before the spirit‑dot, were worlds apart!

Wang Ping's lips curled into a pleased, confident arc. He could clearly feel that his strength now was many times greater than before entering the Thundercloud Canyon! Not only had his cultivation risen, but his Dao realm and the very nature of his divine abilities had leapt forward! Even when facing Cangxuan's 'Heaven Azure Finger' again, he might not dare claim victory, but at least he now had the power to fight, rather than merely endure blows in a sorry state.

Just as he sensed his own transformation, another change arose.

It seemed triggered by the successful dotting of the spirit of his newly born Five Elements Birth‑Death Divine Thunder within him, and by the impetus of his breakthrough, the surrounding violent golden Thunderfall vortex paused slightly. Then a strand of even purer, older thunder‑origin qi, carrying a hint of friendliness and approval, silently seeped out from the vortex's depths, like a gift and a mark, lightly entwining around Wang Ping's body before gradually merging into him, eagerly absorbed by that pale gold Thunder Spirit little dragon.

The Thunderfall immediately returned to normal, yet that unseen thread of connection seemed to have been established.

Wang Ping felt blessed in spirit; facing the direction from which that ancient aura emanated deep within the Thunderfall, he solemnly clasped his hands in salute. No matter what entity lay therein, this spirit‑dot breakthrough owed its place, its power, and its resonance to it.

After the salute, he lingered no longer. The opportunity here was exhausted, the gains far exceeding expectations. It was time to leave, heading for the ultimate goal—the Myriad Laws Pool!

Finally he sensed the surging power within him, eager to burst forth, and that pale gold lightning dragon in tune with his will, extraordinarily nimble. Instantly his form turned into a more brilliant, swifter gold‑cyan lightning ray; no longer did he have to dodge awkwardly as when he came, but instead he bore a majestic, righteous momentum of birth and death at heart, flowing against the Thunderfall vortex's spin, smoothly slipping out and shooting upward from the canyon.

Wherever he passed, the violent golden lightning seemed to yield of its own accord, or rather, the layer of pale gold birth‑and‑death lightning intent emanating from his whole body naturally parted and absorbed it.

In just a few dozen breaths, he had already burst out of the golden Thunderfall region, swept past the cave where he had previously closed off for cultivation, his speed undiminished, charging straight upward from the canyon.