For nearly three hours, thunder was continuously devoured.
Part of it dispersed into the ground, while the refined portion was swallowed by the Nine Dragon Lightning Flame, transforming into lightning power, flame power, and dragon qi.
The essence of these three forces then poured into Zhang Yuan's body. Lightning hammered, flames burned, dragon qi nourished, causing his physique to grow stronger and stronger, with one particular area becoming increasingly ferocious.
As time passed, the Nine Dragon Lightning Flame burned ever more fiercely, the energy it contained growing increasingly terrifying. Two complete silver-purple lightning dragons, each over two zhang long, surged into the air and collided with one another, merging into one. That single dragon then sprouted three heads before rapidly separating, growing to around three zhang in length.
Three silver-purple lightning dragons, each three zhang long, circled Zhang Yuan several times before plunging back into his body, fusing into every single cell.
"Three-Dragon Lightning Flame... it really evolved."
Zhang Yuan revealed a satisfied smile and suddenly thrust a palm forward.
"Boom!"
Thunder roared, and flames scorched as pure Dou Qi surged outward to a distance of over one zhang.
This was the Dou Qi external release of a Da Dou Shi, and he had already mastered it with great proficiency.
Any instability that normally followed a pill-assisted breakthrough had now been completely eliminated.
If he had a Two-Line Green Spirit Pill, he could swallow it immediately and, with the Heavenly Flame fully refining the medicinal power, directly raise his strength to 4-Star Da Dou Shi.
"Hua..."
With a thought, wings reformed behind his back, becoming even more solid and dazzling, carrying an intense, oppressive aura.
"As expected..." Zhang Yuan felt like laughing out loud.
Without any Dou Qi support, he could directly rely on Heavenly Flame wings.
Dou Wang and Dou Huang both needed to expend Dou Qi to condense wings. Without Dou Qi, they could not fly. He, however, had no such concern, no different from possessing a flying Dou Technique.
If he infused Dou Qi, his flight speed would become extremely fast.
As for exactly how fast, without having seen Dou Wang or Dou Huang traveling at full speed, it was hard to say.
With that thought, he turned toward the distance and cupped his fists. "Senior, this junior has another request."
"What is it?" Ling Ying asked emotionlessly.
"I would like the senior to chase me."
As the words fell, Zhang Yuan beat his wings, his figure turning into a streak of light that shot toward the distance.
Ling Ying's eyes flashed with surprise, but he immediately controlled his Dou Qi wings and chased after him, catching up within a few breaths.
"Senior, how much strength are you using?" Zhang Yuan asked.
"One-tenth," Ling Ying replied precisely.
Zhang Yuan's gaze flickered as he accelerated again.
The surprise in Ling Ying's eyes deepened, and he accelerated to follow.
"How about now?" Zhang Yuan asked again.
"Three-tenths."
Zhang Yuan accelerated once more.
"And now?"
"Five-tenths!" Ling Ying's eyes carried a trace of shock.
Zhang Yuan flew back to his original position and began evaluating.
"My Heavenly Flame wings at full speed force Ling Ying to use five-tenths of his strength."
"That means against a Dou Ling, they're nothing more than a target. Against a Dou Wang, if I can't win, I can leave whenever I want."
"Even against a Dou Huang, Dou Qi-boosted Heavenly Flame wings should still allow me to escape. If not, I'll just take pills and outlast them."
"Below Dou Zong… I am invincible?"
Thinking this through, Zhang Yuan nodded. "Not bad."
Ling Ying was speechless, 'You call this not bad?!'
'I am a high-level Dou Huang, not an ordinary one, and I'm dark-attribute.'
'Light, dark, wind, and lightning cultivators are all particularly adept at speed.'
'I've even dabbled in spatial power. Although I can't walk the void, I can hover, further increasing my speed.'
'If I flee at full strength, even ordinary Dou Zong wouldn't catch me.'
'You're just a Da Dou Shi, forcing me to use five-tenths of my speed, and you call it not bad?!'
Ling Ying suddenly began doubting himself.
Zhang Yuan had no idea his casual remark had plunged Ling Ying into self-reflection. He sensed a call from the Thunder God Visualization Diagram and sank his mind into it.
The originally vague diagram indeed became clearer once more. Although visualization time was still limited to one hour every twelve hours, the effect on Spiritual Power growth had clearly strengthened.
Perhaps in a few more months, his soul realm could advance into the Spirit Realm.
With the Nine Dragon Lightning Flame evolving into the three-dragon state, his combat power had increased, and he had gained flight.
But what he cared about even more was whether breaking through to Da Dou Shi would unlock a new inheritance from the Thunder God Visualization Diagram.
"As expected, there is one."
When he guided Dou Qi from his Dou Crystal into the diagram, a streak of light flew out, just like the Heavenly Flame seed he received when breaking through to Dou Shi.
The light entered his sea of consciousness and transformed into a script he did not recognize, yet instinctively understood.
Thunder-Fire Refining Art!
A supreme artifact-refining method.
Using thunder power and flame power to temper materials, and through a unique method, forging them into their most suitable form, producing extraordinary effects and greatly enhancing a cultivator's combat strength.
"A proper artifact-refining method!" Delight flashed through Zhang Yuan's eyes.
Why say proper?
Because on the Dou Qi Continent, and even in the greater Great Thousand Worlds, most artifact-refining methods were anything but proper.
On the Dou Qi Continent, alchemy had specialized inheritances, but artifact refining was mostly brute force. You burned a heavenly material into shape, judged its grade by the material's level, then embedded a Monster Core, and that was it.
That wasn't technique, just manual labor. Anyone could refine artifacts. Without a Heavenly Flame, you could use earth fire or sky fire.
Thunder-Fire Refining Art, however, stood apart even among countless refining arts across the myriad worlds. It was top-tier, forming its own system. It could refine with fire, with thunder, or with both together, achieving effects where one plus one was far greater than two.
This method provided a fundamental structure, refining multiple materials into essences and then fusing them into a weapon, much like alchemy, far from a simple sum.
Weapons refined this way could still be enchanted using the Dou Qi Continent's common methods, producing even greater power.
Even finished weapons could be reforged through Thunder-Fire Refining Art to become stronger.
"What an excellent Thunder-Fire Refining Art. It pairs perfectly with my Nine Dragon Lightning Flame."
If Ling Ying weren't present, Zhang Yuan would have laughed out loud.
Even if he couldn't pursue alchemy, taking the artifact-refining path could still lead him down a bright road.
Building a force, gathering allies, strengthening himself, friends, and subordinates.
"Hm?"
After grasping the basics of Thunder-Fire Refining Art, Zhang Yuan's Spiritual Power subtly changed. His perception of refining materials became extraordinarily keen.
His instincts told him that the massive rock beneath his feet concealed something special.
"Boom!"
Zhang Yuan crouched and punched the boulder.
Countless fragments flew apart, revealing a circular silver-black metal mass over one zhang in diameter.
"Oh?" Ling Ying said in surprise. "Black Profound Iron Essence Gold. Even ten Black Profound Iron veins might not produce a single piece of this innate essence. It can be used to forge a 3rd Tier Dou Weapon. If enchanted with a lightning-attribute Monster Core, it can gain some additional attack power."
A 3rd Tier Dou Weapon?
That would be far too wasteful.
Several plans surfaced in Zhang Yuan's mind. Using Black Profound Iron Essence Gold as a core, supplemented with other materials, he could forge a 4th Tier Dou Weapon that enhanced lightning or thunder-fire Dou Techniques.
If used as one of the primary materials, combined with several other main materials and a core material, he could even forge a 5th Tier Dou Weapon with even greater enhancement, and even better results after enchantment.
He kept these thoughts to himself, simply storing the Black Profound Iron Essence Gold into his storage ring and smiling. "Not bad luck."
As a quasi-Dou Zong powerhouse, Ling Ying naturally didn't care much about such material and said nothing.
Zhang Yuan turned to him and asked, "Senior, this junior has one question."
Ling Ying paused briefly. "Ask. If it's something I can answer, I will."
Meaning anything he couldn't answer, don't pry.
"Rest assured, I'm not asking about Xun'er's identity." Zhang Yuan smiled humbly. "With a powerhouse like you guarding her, I imagine I'm not qualified to know much until I reach Dou Zong."
Heh. I know more than you do.
"My question is something senior can definitely answer."
Meeting Ling Ying's gaze, Zhang Yuan grinned. "Has Xun'er given senior to me?"
Ling Ying: ???
(End of Chapter)
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