BTTH : Emperor Yang

This Nine Mysterious Golden Lightning Dragon might be terrifying beyond measure, but it still lacked true intelligence. Everything it did was driven purely by instinct. In other words, it couldn’t even be called a real living being yet.

It wasn’t even comparable to many Heavenly Flames. Because of that, its frightening power was actually controllable. No matter how overwhelming its raw might was, the true threat it posed wasn’t too great.

The so-called ”Spirit Condensing” referred to the birth of true intelligence.

If the Nine Mysterious Golden Lightning succeeded in condensing a spirit, it would transform into a true powerhouse. Just like the Pill Tower Old Ancestor, the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame, or the Nihility Devouring Flame.

It would become a Nine Mysterious Golden Lightning with a mind of its own. At that point, it would become truly terrifying. Wei Yang had already experienced a glimpse of the Nine Mysterious Golden Lightning’s power during that earlier attack.

That was just a casual breath of lightning, yet it carried such terrifying power.

If Wei Yang hadn’t possessed the bloodline of the Hou, along with Bei Wang, his Heavenly Flames, and various other means supporting him, he likely would have been forced to fight for his life. Escaping with light injuries would have already been fortunate.

How could he still have the leisure to think about devouring anything?

Even so, that one casual bolt of golden lightning had brought Wei Yang tremendous gains. Not only had it pushed Bei Wang into Six-Star Dou Sheng, it had also allowed Wei Yang himself to break through a minor realm.

Sure, in the past half-year, he and Bei Wang had absorbed countless Black Demon Lightning and were already only one small step away from a breakthrough. But that tiny step, if completed through normal cultivation, would have taken Wei Yang months, maybe even half a year or more.

As for Bei Wang, that step would have been nearly impossible without an absurd amount of Black Demon Lightning. Who knew how many Tier 9 Treasure Pills infused with lightning he’d have to refine just to have a chance?

But in front of that one golden lightning strike, everything became trivial—problems resolved instantly. Through this small glimpse, it was clear just how terrifying the Nine Mysterious Golden Lightning’s true body must be.

Naturally, Wei Yang was extremely tempted by it.

If he could seize the Nine Mysterious Golden Lightning—devour it or tame it—it would be a tremendous boon. If he chose to tame it and then helped it successfully condense a spirit, it would undoubtedly grow into a fearsome existence.

Heaven and earth produced countless wonders.

Just like the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree—merely a tree, yet at its peak, it had once fought even against a Dou Di. However, the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree also lacked much intelligence. The stronger a heavenly treasure was, the harder it was for it to form true spirit.

The Bodhisattva Ancient Tree was like that, and so was the Nine Mysterious Golden Lightning. But if Wei Yang was willing to help, he was quite confident he could aid the Nine Mysterious Golden Lightning in successfully condensing a spirit.

After all, while the Nine Mysterious Golden Lightning was powerful, it wasn’t nearly as outrageous as the Bodhi Tree.

So the difficulty would naturally be much lower.

If the worst came to worst, he could simply follow Xiao Yan’s method from the original story wait until it weakened during spirit condensing, then extract its power. Its own immense power was the biggest obstacle to its spirit formation, so draining it would make the process far easier.

As for the extracted power—whether he devoured it himself or returned it after the lightning entity successfully formed its spirit—that was something he could decide later.

However...

”Right now, the Nine Mysterious Golden Lightning hasn’t begun spirit condensing. As it is, I can’t even approach it, much less communicate with it,” Wei Yang murmured.

Only during the spirit condensing phase would it enter an extremely weakened state with no strength left to defend itself. That would be the perfect time to manipulate it however he wished. With that thought—

”I’ll return three years from now.”

Wei Yang looked once again toward the deepest part of the lightning pool, then flicked his sleeve, turned around, and turned into a streak of light shooting out of the Lightning Pool. Outside the Void Lightning Pool, a figure in a loose black robe sat in the air with his eyes closed.

Judging by his appearance, it was unmistakably Ah Da. A faint divine might radiated from him—the aura of a Ban Sheng. A ball of black wind wrapped around his body, slowly writhing like it was playing.

Sometimes it shaped itself like a dragon, sometimes a python, sometimes a tiger. An extremely cold aura pervaded the surrounding space, coating it with a thin layer of frost.

Hmm?

Ah Da’s brows twitched, and his eyes slowly opened.

In the distant depths of the Void Lightning Pool, a faint streak of light suddenly shot outward. With just a few flashes, it had already burst out of the pool.

Roar!

The Nine Serene Wind Flame, currently in the form of a black tiger, saw the incoming figure and immediately opened its jaws, letting out a vicious, arrogant roar. But before it could even finish the roar, Ah Da smacked it back with a single slap.

”Shut up, you idiot. Are you blind? That’s the master!” Ah Da stood up and barked angrily.

Woo...

Hearing that, the Nine Serene Wind Flame shrank its head. After finally seeing clearly who was coming, it whimpered and quickly hid behind Ah Da.

Swish!

The streak of light flickered and stopped directly before Ah Da, revealing its true form — Wei Yang.

”Master.”

Ah Da bowed respectfully, though his heart couldn’t help but tremble slightly.

They had only been apart for half a year, yet his master felt even more terrifying than before. It looked like Wei Yang wasn’t releasing any aura at all, yet standing before him still felt like staring up at the vast heavens.

Even after stepping into Ban Sheng, this feeling didn’t weaken for Ah Da — it grew even stronger.

Bottomless. Unfathomable.

”Mm.” Wei Yang nodded slightly, glanced at Ah Da, and said calmly, ”Early Ban Sheng. Not bad.”

He didn’t feel joy or pride. This was simply expected.

After all, with all the resources and conditions he had poured into Ah Da... if he still couldn’t even reach Initial Ban Sheng, he might as well go die. Next, Wei Yang’s gaze shifted to the sneaky Nine Serene Wind Flame hiding behind Ah Da.

”So, the little one also reached the peak of Nine Changes? Looks like you gained quite a bit from the Nine Serene Springs. Hmm, your intelligence also improved. Pretty fierce — you even know how to bark at people now. Perfect material for guarding the house.”

Woo...

The black tiger form of the Nine Serene Wind Flame whimpered in guilt, tucked its tail, then swiftly dissolved into a ball of black wind and slipped into Ah Da’s sleeve, no longer daring to show its face.

”Master, Little Nine’s blind. He failed to recognize you. I’ll punish him later.”

Ah Da wiped the sweat from his forehead and spoke hurriedly.

”Forget it. It doesn’t matter. I’m not going to argue with a ball of fire.” Wei Yang waved his hand with a faint smile, clearly in a good mood.

”Master seems quite happy. Did you gain something in the Lightning Pool?” Ah Da asked with a grin.

”Well, it was decent.”

Wei Yang nodded, then glanced back into the Lightning Pool.

”But you’d better not enter that place casually. Even a random Black Demon Lightning inside could seriously injure you, or even kill you.”

”Yes.”

Ah Da shuddered and quickly nodded.

Black Demon Lightning?

Unless he went insane, he would never go in and provoke those terrifying things.

Wei Yang withdrew his gaze from the pool and looked toward the direction of Ancient Dragon Island: ”Has Qing Lin finished her retreat?”

”Mistress has already come out, and she even advanced directly to mid-level Ban Sheng.”

Ah Da nodded: ”But she was worried about Young Master Shuo, so she rushed back to Falling Star Pavilion the moment she finished. I asked Yao Ming and came here to wait for you, Master.”

”As for the Nine Serene Springs, only Medusa remains in retreat.”

”So Qing Lin has also stepped into mid-level Ban Sheng...”

Wei Yang nodded slightly, rubbing the storage ring on his finger.

It seemed Qing Lin had digested most of that Saint-level Ancient Heaven Serpent Magic Core. It was time to give her those several hundred drops of Heaven Serpent Bone Marrow. With those, achieving One or Two-Star Dou Sheng in a short time shouldn’t be difficult.

Xian’er was probably close too.

Counting them all, his side now had more and more Saint-level combat strength.

This was excellent.

The final great battle was drawing closer. With these forces at hand, Wei Yang’s confidence was growing rapidly.

Hun Tiandi?

”Let’s go. After we rest a bit, we’ll head to that void ruin you mentioned long ago.”

Wei Yang spoke, and his figure immediately soared toward Ancient Dragon Island.

”So we’re finally going there...”

Behind him, Ah Da quickly unfolded his body and followed, eyes filled with anticipation as he murmured softly.

That void ruin — the ancient bronze hall — was something he couldn’t do anything about back then. He could only leave helplessly. But now, after years had passed, he was Ban Sheng and his master was Dou Sheng.

This time... they surely wouldn’t return empty-handed.

**