Chapter 1086: Strengthening the Thunder God's Hammer

Lei En sat on the bridge of the Augustus for a while, confirmed that the Storm Temple was all quiet, and then his mind leapt into the meditation chamber on the upper deck of the Star Destroyer.

He sat down, took deep breaths a few times, his mind became utterly calm.

Then he took out the Purple Source Soul Crystal, used his soul eye to observe the "Golden Feather Thunder Eagle" demon soul inside; its soul wave frequency was very close to his own, so conflict would not be great and fusion would be high. Even though now th Level, each upgrade is hard, each level harder than the last, but he had nothing to worry about, at worst a failure.

Lei En pressed the soul stone to his forehead, and in the next instant the Golden Feather Thunder Eagle's demon soul was drawn out and entered his soul space.

Within the soul, the towering World Tree trembled slightly.

The fusion began!

The meditation chamber was silent, Lei En's expression remained relaxed, and after half an hour he opened his eyes, a smile appearing on his face.

"Level 26 Wizard!"

"Too easy."

He gave a rather smug smile.

The whole World Tree grew taller by another segment, and the highest tier sprouted a brand‑new branch of pale gold, formed from the Golden Feather Thunder Eagle, dozens of leaves glittered, displaying their Element runes.

Lord of Thunder, Thunderclap Leap, Lightning Form, Swiftness, Strength;

Electric Claw Technique, Lightning Storm, Advanced Thunder Roar Technique, Wind‑Thunder Wings, Electric Flash Teleport, Falling Thunder Technique, etc., these lightning‑based spells had long been mastered and did not increase power. Iron Body, Tear, Claw Strike, Eagle Eye, were also of little use.

Originally the "Eagle Eye" was the world's top visual Element, even the Rainbow Cloak could sometimes see through it, but compared with Soul Eye and All‑Seeing Eye, it was useless.

The truly useful ones were the earlier Elements.

Lei En stood up.

"Lord of Thunder, this legendary Element has reached four!"

His gaze swept over the icons on his phone screen and saw that Swiftness had actually increased by one level. The Golden Feather Thunder Eagle's Swiftness was Level 13, and he had already poured countless charges to raise his Swiftness to Level 14; the two stacked, now reaching Level 15!

"Not bad!"

It was an unexpected delight; Lei En walked a few steps in the meditation chamber and instantly felt his speed and agility had increased considerably.

Strength and Swiftness were hard to have together; his Strength had already hit the Level 20 limit, Swiftness growth was arduous, each upgrade difficulty multiplied geometrically, from Level 14 to Level 15 it was as hard as scaling a mountain, and further increases were almost impossible.

Thus he needed to adjust his optimal combat form, re‑balancing Strength and Speed.

Lei En activated Titan divine power, his body swelling to over five meters tall.

He carefully sensed his body's condition, began jogging in the spacious meditation chamber, his speed gradually increased while his size shrank bit by bit.

Boom—boom—boom…

Amidst a storm‑like pounding of footsteps, Lei En's speed was too fast for the naked eye to follow, leaving trails of after‑images behind him.

This was pure running speed!

Bang!

Lei En suddenly halted, his figure materialized; his body had shrunk to just over four meters, about two‑plus times normal height.

He nodded with satisfaction, noting his current height and form as his optimal combat shape.

"Let's try Thunderclap Leap."

Lei En's mind shifted; a pair of titanium‑gold wings unfurled behind him, and he also infused himself with eight‑ring Wind‑Thunder Wings, each metallic feather crackling with lightning.

After four Lord of Thunder amplifications and two Lightning Forms, the Wind‑Thunder Wings' speed surged more than fivefold, even surpassing the nine‑ring effect.

He hesitated briefly, then also granted himself Time Acceleration.

"Since we're testing, add everything…" Lei En thought, then shouted loudly, "Advanced Acceleration Technique!"

Wish Spell simulated casting.

A teal magical light descended, seven‑ring Advanced Acceleration Technique encircled his body.

Lei En was about to test, glanced at the surrounding meditation chamber and found it unsuitable, so he used a teleportation spell, leaving the Augustus and appearing hundreds of li up in the sky, with the Storm Plane's clouds not far above his head.

Boom—!

Electric light flared on Lei En, and he vanished instantly.

In the blink of an eye, a golden bolt erupted in the sky over a kilometer away, Lei En's figure materialized within the lightning.

"What the heck!"

Lei En blurted out a praise, looked back at where he had been and was dumbfounded.

Even he was startled by this speed.

The function of Thunderclap Leap is to amplify speed; the Element itself lacks displacement ability and requires Electric Flash Teleport to take effect.

Electric Flash Teleport sounds similar to "Flash", but their principles are entirely different.

Flash is Arcane, appearing directly at the destination without a travel process; Electric Flash Teleport is a high‑speed movement, turning into a bolt that flies from start to end, with a full displacement process.

Both spells top out at five rings, each with pros and cons.

Without Void Resonance or Lightning Affinity amplification, the displacement distances of the two spells are similar.

Flash is slightly faster, able to jump directly over danger between two points;

Electric Flash Teleport must first become a bolt before being launched, introducing a slight delay; if an enemy reacts quickly they can strike the bolt and interrupt the spell. However, Electric Flash Teleport has an advantage: it ignores spatial barriers!

The top casters, to varying degrees, have abilities that forbid teleportation, most commonly spatial lock.

Flash is useless against spatial lock, while Electric Flash Teleport is unaffected.

Because it is not a teleportation spell.

Thunderclap Leap's boost to Electric Flash Teleport is like installing a nitrous system on a car: acceleration spikes, instantly becoming a bolt without delay, functioning like instantaneous lightning.

Moreover, Electric Flash Teleport no longer has casting lag, and its displacement range is no longer limited.

A mere thought can trigger it instantly.

As long as the lightning power endures, Electric Flash Teleport can persist indefinitely, until the caster chooses to stop, completely breaking the five‑ring spell limit!

Boom—!

Before the thunder cracked, Lei En vanished again, appearing almost instantly over a kilometer away, faster than Flash.

Snap! Snap! Snap…

With each crack of lightning, Lei En's figure flickered in the sky, appearing and disappearing, elusive, and his direction was erratic.

Each time he appeared, he was at least a kilometer away from his previous position.

In a single breath, Lei En shifted seven or eight times; to a distant observer it seemed as if multiple Lei En existed simultaneously within those two or three seconds, spaced far apart, with almost no perceptible delay, dazzling the eyes.

"Testing long‑range flight."

Lei En's gaze hardened; dazzling electric light burst from his broad titanium‑golden wings, and he turned into a massive golden bolt of lightning that vanished. After his disappearance, a thunderous crack echoed in the high sky, and a white void dozens of meters in diameter formed at the spot.

Whoosh…

The gale howled, like massive waves slamming his face; even Lei En's titanium‑golden body felt a faint sting on his cheeks.

The whole world seemed to race backward in his view!

"What speed have I reached now?" the thought flashed through Lei En's mind; a momentary daze made him lose control, and he plunged headfirst into the clouds, piercing them in an instant as the vast cold earth rushed toward him.

"Oops!"

Lei En hadn't time to react and slammed into the ground like a meteor.

Boom!

He struck a mountain peak, like a cannonball boring through and exiting the other side; fortunately his speed had already dropped, and he crashed obliquely into the ground, gouging a pit a hundred meters across.

Amid a cloud of dust, Lei En leapt out of the crater, spitting a mouthful of mud.

"Phew… phew… phew…"

He looked disheveled, but his body was unharmed.

Lei En brushed the crown on his head, dusted off his clothes, and glanced at the mountain he had pierced, still a little shaken.

"Full‑throttle flight is truly too fast!"

The acceleration from Thunder Leap depends on lightning affinity; the higher the affinity, the faster the speed. The Golden Feather Thunder Eagle already flies at astonishing speed; it has only one Thunder Lord, whereas I have four. If I activate the Thunder God's Hammer, I can go even faster.

Despite the slip, Lei En still measured his recent speed.

After a few seconds of accelerated sprint, his top speed exceeded three thousand meters per second, and he should be able to push it further—reaching ten times the speed of sound was no problem.

Ten times the speed of sound!

Even Lei En found it unbelievable.

Of course, it's hard to reach such velocity in combat; it takes about ten seconds to accelerate, and I can't fully control it.

At extreme speeds, a tiny error can mean a thousand‑mile deviation.

Even a brief lapse causes huge miscalculations; despite the MutatedPhone's multi‑core chip, I can't fully command every aspect of high‑speed motion, and sudden events leave no reaction time, making close‑range battles even harder.

"Test a few more times."

Lei En flapped his wings, shot upward, then in an instant returned to the high sky.

Rumble…

He instantly broke the sound barrier, turning into a bolt of lightning that streaked across the sky, leaving behind a white plume of compressed air that was then scattered by strong gusts.

Boom! Boom…

Several Frost Giant Troll tribes lived in the mountains of this region. That day the trolls sensed unusually frequent thunder, but paid it no mind; they didn't notice the lingering golden lightning in the sky contained a human figure.

After more than half an hour of continuous high‑speed flight, Lei En finally stopped the test.

"That's enough."

Lei En had fully adapted to his high‑speed state and discovered that when his multi‑core chip runs at its limit, in battles within a kilometer radius, as long as speed stays below four times the speed of sound, he can control every movement.

In combat he can change direction at will with only minimal speed loss; acceleration, deceleration, and sudden stops are seamless.

However, exceeding four times the speed of sound gradually introduces errors.

If the combat range were smaller—say within five hundred meters—the speed would need to drop further; even Level 20 "Swift" cannot reach such velocity. My own swiftness can't hit Level 20, yet the Thunder Leap achieved the same effect.

Lei En was very satisfied with this.

Even Level 20 "Swift" lacks such astonishing speed; my swiftness can't reach Level 20, yet the Thunder Leap gave the same result.

Speed is power!

A super Element Thunder Leap multiplied my strength severalfold.

If I had this speed beforehand, even the true form of the cloud giant Mano descending onto the Storm Plane wouldn't frighten me; I'm confident I could face it head‑on.

If I can't win, I can still run.

Thunder Leap combined with Phase Walker makes me unstoppable in escape.

Boom…

Lei En triggered Electric Flash Teleport again, soaring like a gale toward the Storm Summit; the sensation of such high‑speed flight intoxicated him as sky and earth rushed past, then vanished behind him, as if the whole world were stretched and warped.

A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, vanishing in an instant at the horizon.

In under two minutes the Storm Summit appeared on the horizon; Lei En, not wanting to alarm anyone, slowed down, used a teleport, and returned to the Augustus.

He slipped back silently into the meditation chamber and sat down.

Four Thunder‑forged Divine Soldiers entered, surrounding him, with a few more guarding the doorway, and then Lei En entered the Pixel World.

The world made of countless squares unfolded before him, and Lei En himself turned into a blocky figure.

After investing several hundred thousand Soul Diamonds, the Pixel World expanded from an initial 10‑meter cube to a three‑dimensional space a hundred meters on each side. The ground was piled with countless items—gold, alchemical materials, and magical artifacts—priceless.

Lei En moved his elongated legs to the central workbench.

A light tap on the bench brought up five options in the upper left: "Synthesize," "Enhance," "Enchant," "Brew," and "Disassemble."

He chose "Enhance."

The Thunder God's Hammer had already been placed in the Pixel World, right at his feet. Lei En picked up the hammer, now composed of tiny squares, and placed it into the nine‑grid slot on the bench. The hammer instantly shrank and settled into the central cell.

Behind the Enhance option a value was displayed.

Success rate: 0%

Lei En was already very proficient with the workbench, and began adding enhancement materials to the 9‑grid.

First were two pieces of Void Meteor Steel; he thought, left the Pixel World to activate the metal domain, refined the two pieces and fused them into one. Since a 9‑grid slot can hold only one material, this saved a slot.

The refined Void Meteor Steel weighed over seven thousand pounds, placed in the top‑left slot, and the success rate immediately jumped to 23%.

Then came two Storm Raw Stones, each occupying a slot, raising the success rate to 49%.

Next, Lei En started inserting Divine Power Crystals.

He only had six in total; he put them in one by one, and each crystal raised the enhancement success rate by about 10%; after five, it reached 99%.

At this point, the 9‑grid was completely filled.

"Only 99%? Not safe…," Lei En touched his square chin; a 1% chance of failure still made him uneasy.

If it failed, all those materials would be wasted—a real blood loss.

After a moment's thought, he removed one Divine Power Crystal from the 9‑grid and replaced it with a piece of high‑purity "Reser Silver" weighing over 200 pounds. This magical metal was originally one of the materials for Thunder God's Hammer, second only to Void Meteor Steel in importance.

Instantly, the displayed success rate leapt to 100%!

"Phew…"

"It should be 100% success!"

A smile spread across Lei En's square head; to the right of the workbench's 9‑grid was an arrow button, and he pressed it without hesitation.

(End of chapter)