Yuan’s Ascension

Time passed.

Wu Yuan tried one method after another, gradually discovering that he could activate varying levels of the Thunderforce Bead's power by applying different levels of Dao comprehension. It always worked.

In fact, even when Wu Yuan used only Void Refiner/Elysian Field level comprehension of the Thunder Law to activate it, he still succeeded.

It was as if the Dao essence within the Thunderforce Bead could change to match its owner's level.

Truly an extraordinary item. Wu Yuan marveled inwardly. I've seen no small number of Dao Instruments, but none can compare to the Thunderforce Bead in this aspect.

Take the Hundred Stars Saber for instance. Its so-called seals were actually a crude, forced suppression of the Dao essence. Once Wu Yuan broke through a seal, he could not re-seal it. It was far less adaptable than the Thunderforce Bead.

The two secret arts within the Dao essence of the Thunderforce Bead are called 'Thunderflash Saber' and 'Lightning Movement Art'? Wu Yuan soon sensed the two profound teachings it contained, which involuntarily reminded him of the secret arts Zhuo Haiyue had employed during their fierce battle. They seemed quite similar.

Subsequently, as Wu Yuan attempted to practice these secret arts, he discovered that they were quite formidable, especially the 'Thunderflash Saber', which progressed systematically from applying the six most fundamental Lesser Laws of the Law of Thunder, gradually advancing to the three Intermediate Laws, until finally reaching the complete Law of Thunder.

In terms of absolute power, the 'Thunderflash Saber' is no match for the other secret arts I've cultivated like 'Nine Swords of Spacetime' or 'Will of Life and Death'. Wu Yuan assessed. But it's exceptionally well-suited for aiding cultivation. Each step is perfectly calibrated, allowing for gradual progress.

It was as if a formidable master was constantly guiding Wu Yuan forward, and in a short time, Wu Yuan felt he had made significant improvements in his understanding of the Law of Thunder.

This was truly extraordinary, and Wu Yuan marveled at this secret art.

But soon, Wu Yuan also perceived the flaws in this secret art. If cultivated in isolation, it seemed to be lacking, and progress would be very slow. It had to be paired with insights from the Dao essence of the Thunderforce Bead.

This Thunderforce Bead is not just a high-grade Dao Instrument capable of both offense and defense, but also an incredibly powerful inheritance artifact. Wu Yuan finally realized. Through its secret arts and Dao essence, my progress in the Law of Thunder will be much faster.

Wu Yuan also vaguely understood why Zhuo Haiyue had progressed so rapidly in the Law of Thunder. With such a wondrous treasure supporting her, it would be difficult not to make swift progress in comprehending the Law of Thunder.

However, relying solely on the Thunderforce Bead, it would still be challenging to grow as rapidly as Haiyue. Wu Yuan mused silently. Moreover, why would she give me such a valuable treasure?

Once fully controlled, such a powerful artifact, even if hurled out forcefully, would still deal a powerful blow. He pondered endlessly but could not fathom the reason.

We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. My body refiner self is currently progressing extremely quickly in the Law of Life, and somewhat slower in the Law of Death. Wu Yuan contemplated. The Law of Death involves the Law of Time, Law of Thunder, and Law of Fire.

My body refiner self has grown stronger.

Whether my qi refiner self can break through to the ninth-level True Intent stage of Spacetime in the remaining nine thousand years is questionable. Wu Yuan thought to himself.

To reach Sovereign-level Dao comprehension? Only my body refiner self has hope of achieving that.

Wu Yuan hadn't forgotten Sovereign Lan Yan's advice.

There were many peerless geniuses from various super factions who had already met the criteria of a Supreme Genius.

Rather than having two moderately strong true selves, it was far better for one of them to be exceptionally powerful.

My qi refiner self will dedicate a small portion of mental energy to comprehending the Thunderforce Bead. Wu Yuan decided.

This way, it would accelerate the progress of his body refiner self.

Of course, both of Wu Yuan's true selves had average talent in the Law of Thunder, so progress along this path wouldn't be too rapid.

Time flowed like water.

In this silent period of secluded cultivation, another thousand years passed in the blink of an eye.

Since breaking through their bottlenecks, the progress of Wu Yuan's two true selves had slowed down, but they had yet to reach the next bottleneck.

His body refiner self, for instance, had unknowingly reached the limit of the eighth-level True Intent stage of the Creation Dao. If news of this rate of progress were to spread, it would likely shock the entire river of space and time.

Meanwhile, Wu Yuan's qi refiner self made extremely rapid progress in the Law of Thunder as he comprehended the Thunderforce Bead.

On this day, Wu Yuan's qi refiner self revealed a smile. I've finally reached the Dao Field stage of the Law of Myriad Rainbows.

The Law of Myriad Rainbows was one of the three Intermediate Laws under the Law of Thunder. It was also one of the Intermediate Laws most specialized in combat and burst power.

The Law of Myriad Rainbows was also one of the three Intermediate Laws of the Law of Death, pursuing ultimate speed and destructive power.

Reaching the Dao Field stage in the Law of Myriad Rainbows also meant that Wu Yuan had reached the Archimmortal level in the pure Law of Thunder.

This was the result of Wu Yuan's qi refiner self dedicating a portion of his focus to cultivating it for over a thousand years.

Whoosh! Just as Wu Yuan stood up, intending to take a break, a mysterious wave of power suddenly invaded Wu Yuan's upper dantian lobe, assaulting his soul.

This wave of power was faint, yet vast and immeasurable.

A soul attack? A karmic attack? A frosty glimmer appeared in Wu Yuan’s eyes once he sensed it.

The difference in strengths was too great. Wu Yuan hadn't detected it in advance, and when the attack came, he found it difficult to mount any defense.

It's a Sovereign! A Sovereign-level attack at least. Wu Yuan was shocked as he made his assessment.

With his current strength, he could somewhat resist a soul attack at the Astral Monarch level.

However, how could such a powerful soul attack suddenly emerge on Spacetime Island? The disparity in strength was so immense that Wu Yuan stood no chance of directly resisting it.

Activate! Yuan Souls, gather. Wu Yuan's qi refiner self didn't hesitate at all. With a thought, a hazy golden river appeared on the surface of his twelve Yuan Souls.

The mid-grade Dao Instrument — Golden River!

Yuan Sea. Wu Yuan deployed another soul defense secret art, which was one of the three secret arts within the ‘Sea Of Stars'.

'Sea Of Stars', a supreme technique created by the Spacetime Dao Master, combined both offense and defense. The vast majority of supreme techniques cultivated by Sovereigns were only at this level, or even inferior.

Over tens of thousands of years, Wu Yuan had devoted most of his energy to comprehending the Great Daos, but he never relaxed his soul defenses for even a moment. He had long since cultivated Yuan Sea, a defensive secret art, to an extremely high level.

In essence, it transformed the entire upper dantian lobe into a sea of soul power, weakening all incoming soul attacks.

As a result, by the time these soul attacks reached Wu Yuan's Yuan Souls, most of their power would have been eroded.

Boom! This extremely mysterious wave of soul power instantly penetrated through the vast Yuan Sea, then collided with the Golden River.

This clash of soul power was invisible, yet as violent as a world-shattering explosion, with endless aftershocks spreading in all directions.

This attack was extremely mysterious, but the power it contained was far too weak, while Wu Yuan's methods of guarding his Yuan Soul were immensely powerful. The defensive soul secret art and the Yuan Soul artifact alone were enough to resist it.

Everything settled down.

Thunderforce Bead. With his keen perception, Wu Yuan instantly traced the source of the attack with a strand of consciousness.

It originated from the Thunderforce Bead.

Boom! Without any hesitation, this strand of Wu Yuan's consciousness, carrying surging and boundless mana, poured into the Thunderforce Bead.

As its owner, his mana rampaged through the interior of the Thunderforce Bead without restriction.

That strange wave of soul power rapidly receded, but Wu Yuan's pursuit was even faster. Almost instantaneously, this strand of Wu Yuan's consciousness, following the sensation, chased it to the very core of the Thunderforce Bead's essence.

In its essence, a large number of Dao patterns coalesced to form a dazzling, radiant sphere. On the surface of the sphere, lightning flashed, deep and restrained, and the sound of the Dao seemed to echo.

It had a calming effect on Wu Yuan.

"Ming Jian, congratulations on passing the preliminary test," a childish voice rang out. Countless points of light shot out from the sphere, converging to form the figure of a child.

He wore white robes and appeared to be about four or five years old, looking extremely adorable.

"Test? What test?" This strand of Wu Yuan's consciousness, who had entered the location of the Dao essence, showed no fear. At worst, he could abandon this strand of consciousness.

The so-called strand of consciousness was actually a Yuan Soul avatar. At Wu Yuan's level, he could generate over a hundred million strands of consciousness.

Of course, once split out, they often had little use, being too weak.

However, Wu Yuan was also quite shocked. Over the past thousand years, Wu Yuan believed he had completely deciphered the Thunderforce Bead. Though many of its profundities were difficult to comprehend, he could at least sense them.

But from beginning to end, he had never detected such a secret hidden in the depths of the Thunderforce Bead's Dao essence.