Chapter 1427: Qi and Blood Surge! A Bountiful Master's-Gift Ceremony!

"Senior Sister, I succeeded!"

Xu Jingming stood up, a brilliant smile spreading across his face.

He looked toward Ye Li, sharing the joy of his success.

However, Ye Li, who stood opposite him—

On that usually coldly beautiful and serene face, a trace of unnatural stiffness had surfaced.

She tilted her head slightly, black strands of hair falling down to partially veil the side of her face.

"You... put some clothes on first."

Ye Li's voice remained cool and clear.

But listening closely, it carried a few beats more urgency than usual, along with a barely perceptible embarrassment.

"Clothes?"

Xu Jingming froze at the words, instinctively looking down.

At that glance, the smile on his face instantly froze.

After returning from the Meteorite Star, he had taken off his original S1-grade Sky Dome battle suit and put on ordinary training clothes.

And that training suit had long since, under the violent Lei Ting just now, dissolved into the finest energy particles and vanished without a trace.

At this moment, he could be said to be 'meeting bare and honest'.

His vigorous, upright figure stood utterly unshielded within this space.

Every inch of skin flowed with a lustrous sheen tempered by Lei Ting and a sense of restrained power.

What made his scalp prickle even more—

Perhaps it was because the Supreme Yang Lei Ting origin drawn in when the Star Core Lei Gang Body first entered its gate was too domineering, producing an unprecedented stimulation to his life-blood Qi.

Or perhaps it was because he had indeed been away from Ye Lan and Su Qingli and the others for no short time.

In any case, it appeared especially conspicuous......

Xu Jingming instantly understood why Senior Sister Ye Li had reacted this way.

Even with his steady temperament, he could not help his old face heating up, and he quickly said:

"Sorry."

Before the words had fallen, his spiritual force had already swiftly probed into his spatial ring.

Without bothering to pick carefully, he grabbed a spare set of deep-blue training clothes at random and threw them on.

During the motion, the layer of naturally diffused pale-golden Lei Gang Qi halo seemed to sense its master's embarrassment as well.

It rippled faintly, obscuring some of the small movements into a slightly blurred veil.

The rustle of clothes being put on was unusually clear within the silent Lei Ting space.

Although Ye Li had turned her head away, with the perception of a peak Eternal God, how could she possibly block it out completely?

She kept her body turned sideways, her cool, clear eyes gazing at the slowly flowing blue-purple lightning in the distance.

Her delicate jawline tightened faintly, and little expression could be read on that breathtakingly beautiful profile.

Only those long, dense lashes trembled almost imperceptibly, once.

The image from that fleeting glance just now replayed itself unbidden in her mind.

One must know that for countless ages she had cultivated single-mindedly, and had never taken a companion at all.

Let alone seeing a member of the opposite sex's body so clearly.

Of course, the basic structure of the body she naturally understood.

But what she had just seen was utterly different from what she knew.

It was a form brimming with aggressiveness and the tension of life.

'Why doesn't it look quite like it does in the books? Could it really......'

Connecting it with some of the physiological knowledge she had learned,

Ye Li could not help her willow-leaf brows furrowing slightly, feeling sympathy for Xu Jingming's future companion.

And at this moment, Xu Jingming had already nimbly finished putting on his clothes.

The deep-blue training clothes were slightly loose, but could still outline the contours of his figure, which had become even more upright and fierce after body-tempering.

He gave a small cough, attempting to ease the lingering awkwardness in the air:

"Senior Sister, I'm dressed."

Only then did Ye Li slowly turn back around.

Her gaze settled calmly on Xu Jingming's face, as if the scene just now had never happened.

She studied him carefully for a moment.

Especially as she sensed the steady, restrained Lei Ting fluctuations around him, and the tremendous vitality contained within his Qi and blood.

On her coldly beautiful features, her usual cool composure returned, and she opened her mouth to ask:

"How do you feel right now?"

The moment cultivation was mentioned, Xu Jingming's eyes instantly lit up, and he grinned:

"Better than ever! I feel like one punch from me could kill a peak Star-tier demonic beast!"

This was no illusion, but came from the numbers displayed on his system panel.

【Physique】: 272.23 billion Qi and Blood (+)

Compared to before, his Qi and Blood had surged by a full two hundred billion!

This was enough to demonstrate the terror of this T0-grade body-tempering art.

And that was not all.

At a thought from Xu Jingming, a layer of pale-golden Lei Gang Qi halo suddenly surfaced over his body.

Amidst the pale gold, threads of blue-purple lightning flickered.

Like agile lightning serpents coiling around his body, radiating a terrifying aura of destruction.

"The Lei Gang that manifests after successfully cultivating the Star Core Lei Gang Body."

"It can be controlled at will, greatly enhancing defense and significantly boosting the power of thunder-based combat techniques!"

Xu Jingming smiled.

"Your foundation is solid, your qi harmonious. These ten days of refinement have yielded excellent results."

Ye Li gave a slight nod, her voice still cold, yet carrying an air of affirmation.

Indeed, even the same body-refining technique yields different results when practiced by different individuals.

Xu Jingming clearly belonged to the exceptionally gifted category.

This likely relates to his innate physique and the bloodline secret technique he cultivates.

"Since you've successfully entered the first stage, we should leave now. The teacher is waiting outside."

"Yes, Senior Sister."

Xu Jingming retracted the Lei Gang surrounding him and replied respectfully.

Ye Li said no more; her jade hand lifted slightly, and space's laws rippled outward, enveloping the two of them.

In the next instant, light and shadow swirled, and they vanished from the very core of the Fiery Thunder Star Core.

……

Outside the Star Core, in the cold void of space.

The Frost Crown Dominator still hovered silently, her ice-blue battle robe relatively loose.

Yet it was stretched taut by her curvaceous, exquisite figure.

If one ignored the astonishing aura radiating from her and her face's icy expression, seemingly frozen for ten thousand years, she would undoubtedly be a captivating beauty.

Swish—

As Xu Jingming and Ye Li appeared before her, her gaze immediately fixed on Xu Jingming.

Then, the Frost Crown Dominator's crisp, melodious voice rang directly through the vacuum, disregarding the need for a medium:

"Your life force burns like a furnace; the origin of thunder has begun to imprint upon your marrow."

"Your physical strength has surged several tiers; Lei Gang now arises spontaneously, flowing without obstruction."

"Excellent. You have truly entered the first level of the Star Core Lei Gang Body. Your foundation is even more solid than I anticipated."

"It's all thanks to the teacher."

Xu Jingming hurriedly said.

This was not flattery.

Without the Frost Crown Dominator, he could never have approached this terrifying quasar, let alone used it for cultivation.

"External force is merely the catalyst; the key lies in your own ability to endure and master this power."

The Frost Crown Dominator shook her head slightly and continued:

"You have entered the body-refining technique; subsequent cultivation must proceed step by step."

"Follow the method's guidance: continuously draw in lightning to refine your body, deepen the Lei Gang imprint, and gradually advance to higher levels."

"However, a T0-level body-refining technique is no trivial matter."

"Each level's breakthrough demands vast resources and deeper control over your own power."

"With your current Star Stage Two cultivation and accumulated foundation, reaching full mastery of the first level is already remarkable."

"As for the second level, you will likely need to ascend to the Cosmic Stage."

"Only after further advancement in your understanding of laws and yourself will you have a chance to attempt it."

Cosmic Stage?

Xu Jingming's eyes flickered slightly at the words.

With his system panel, conventional cultivation timelines might not be an insurmountable barrier for him.

Of course, he would not voice this; he merely replied respectfully:

"Disciple understands. I will strive diligently to reach the second level of the body-refining technique as soon as possible."

"Good that you understand."

The Frost Crown Dominator nodded slightly, then spoke again:

"Since you have become my direct disciple and have successfully completed your first cultivation of the body-refining technique, I shall grant you additional aid."

"First, 500,000 Star Dome Academy credits."

"They will allow you to exchange for cultivation resources within the academy—whether secret techniques, pills, weapons, or access to special training grounds."

"Second, two months of free training time in the Heavenly Punishment Thunder Realm."

"Third, I give you a 'Extinction Law Source.'"

"It is a natural cosmic artifact of the Destruction Law, capable of helping you perceive Destruction Law fluctuations more clearly and enhancing your comprehension efficiency."