Two months later.
The sky was a mass of dark, churning clouds. Lightning flashed and writhed within their depths, its passage marked by frequent, deafening claps of thunder.
Atop a mountain peak outside Waterside City, a young man sat cross-legged, his torso bare, revealing a physique of lean, powerful muscle. He clutched an iron wire that stretched out to a nearby coil, which stood about half a foot high. The coil, in turn, was connected to a solid iron pillar that glowed a dull red.
Suspended in the air above, a stunning, graceful figure monitored the storm's movements.
BOOM!
"It's here!"
Though his eyes were shut tight as he focused on circulating his cultivation art, Zhou Changqing knew from the sound that the next bolt was about to strike.
Just as he anticipated, a brilliant white heavenly thunderclap, guided by Medusa's Dou Qi, descended from the clouds and slammed directly into the iron pillar. The familiar, ferocious energy surged down the wire and into his body. The Dou Qi circulating within his meridians immediately dispersed throughout him, working to refine the raw power.
As the heavenly lightning was continuously refined into Dou Qi and channeled into his Dantian's Dou Crystal, the crystal itself was undergoing a radical transformation. What was once a spiky, oval-shaped object resembling a sea urchin had now become almost perfectly smooth. Only a single, tiny protrusion remained, and its overall form was steadily contracting. As vast amounts of Dou Qi poured in, ripples spread across its surface, minutely adjusting its shape.
Waves of energy pulsed from the Dou Crystal, passing through flesh and skin to emanate from Zhou Changqing's body, suffusing the air around him.
"Still not enough!"
BOOM!
Another bolt of heavenly lightning struck, and once again, violent energy flooded every inch of Zhou Changqing's being.
As he finished refining this final surge of power, an immense, majestic torrent of Dou Qi—a mixture of incandescent gold and brilliant white—erupted from the Dou Crystal.
Hummm…!
In an instant, ripples of Dou Qi surged from the major acupoints of Zhou Changqing's body, bursting out through his pores. Sensing his condition, his expression grew stern. "Get back here!" he roared in his mind.
At his command, the Dou Crystal unleashed a terrifying suction force that extended beyond his body, pulling all the expelled Dou Qi back inside. Simultaneously, an energy vortex nearly a hundred feet in diameter formed above his head. The incredible pull drew in all the worldly energy from hundreds of meters around, funneling it into the vortex and then pouring it into Zhou Changqing's body.
In the mountain forest below, birds and beasts scattered in terror.
High in the sky, Medusa felt the rapid depletion of worldly energy and a faint smile touched her crimson lips. This phenomenon was proof that the little fellow had reached the threshold of the Dou King realm and was in the process of advancing.
"After he breaks through, it will be my time to evolve."
For the past two months, absorbing the lightning essence from him every day had pushed her bloodline's source to its absolute limit. All she lacked was a single catalyst to trigger a true qualitative change—evolution. That catalyst was for the energetic signature of his lightning essence to ascend to the next level. She had a premonition that if he could successfully break through to the Dou King realm, her moment would finally arrive.
"Your Majesty! Again!"
Zhou Changqing was constantly monitoring the changes within his Dantian. Under the torrent of refined Dou Qi, the last tiny protrusion on his Dou Crystal was shrinking at a visible rate. Yet, it seemed the impact of the Dou Qi wasn't quite strong enough; the bump stubbornly refused to flatten completely.
At Zhou Changqing's shout, Medusa once again guided the heavenly lightning.
The combination of worldly energy and heavenly lightning was a terrifying force. The Heavenly Stellar Metal Forging Art operated far beyond its usual limits to refine it all.
Finally, under the relentless assault of condensed Dou Qi, the last protrusion vanished. The ripples on the Dou Crystal's surface faded away. Its transformation was complete, changing from an oval to a perfect sphere. It now looked like a flawless bead forged from an amalgam of incandescent gold and brilliant white.
The Dou Core Crystal! The mark of a Dou King!
The instant the core crystal formed, a terrifying wave of Dou Qi erupted from Zhou Changqing's body, spreading out like ripples on water for over a mile. At the same time, the unique aura of his lightning essence underwent a metamorphosis, becoming far more profound and mysterious. This new aura radiated from the lightning essence, enveloping his entire being.
Bzzz!
Before Zhou Changqing could even rejoice in his breakthrough, a sharp ringing filled his mind. A moment later, his consciousness became utterly clear, and he slipped into a wondrous state.
In this state, his mind was exceptionally lucid and transparent, his thoughts moving at a speed that surpassed all limits. Countless new insights flooded his awareness—insights related to cultivation arts, Dou Skills, forging, and more. It was as if a person with an ordinary intellect had suddenly become a genius with an IQ of over 140, his mind an incandescent well of creativity.
"An epiphany!"
The words bloomed in his mind, a product of pure intuition. His current state was exactly like the legendary state of sudden enlightenment from his past life.
Without pausing to consider the cause, Zhou Changqing immediately focused his entire being on the flood of insights, immersing himself in an ocean of knowledge, unable to pull away. This was an opportunity that might come once in a century, and he dared not waste a single fraction of a second. Who knew when this state might end? To delay for even a moment would be a profound disrespect to his own life.
…
Medusa no longer drew down the lightning. The moment she sensed the powerful aura emanating from Zhou Changqing, she knew he had succeeded. With a beat of her Dou Qi wings, she flickered through the air like a phantom, appearing on the mountaintop in the next instant.
She landed right in front of him.
"Hm?"
Just as Medusa thought he was finished, she saw that Zhou Changqing remained seated with his eyes closed, showing no signs of waking. Strangely, a profound and mysterious aura radiated from his body. Though she didn't know what he was doing, she had a strong feeling that he must not be disturbed, or the consequences would be dire.
Her beautiful eyes narrowed. With a flick of her finger, she shot out a ray of red light, severing the iron wire in his hand. As an added precaution, Medusa raised her hand and, with an extension of her Dou Qi, lifted the coil and the iron pillar, moving them to a much safer distance.
Then, she teleported back into the sky, her gaze sweeping over the entire mountain, alert for any disturbance. If any threat appeared, she would extinguish it with lightning speed.
Time trickled by.
"The flow can be altered... rerouting the energy from the nexus of pure yang... through the spiritual channel... linking the mansion of wind to the point of convergence..."
"Then from the spirit palace... to the jade hall... and the celestial axis..."
"The Thunder Python can evolve into a Flood Dragon... its power, immeasurable... capable of shattering mountains and splitting the earth..."
"The transformation of the spirit, the very mechanism of yin and yang, lies within the cycle of creation and destruction, birthed from the Heavenly Stellar essence itself..."
"Metal represents the unyielding, the indestructible, its brilliance radiating outward. Once its edge is honed, nothing can withstand its might..."
"Mysterious sigils of profound essence... condensing Qi into an unbreakable aegis... contracting to a single point of light... then expanding to form a tangible image..."
"Limitless mysteries, yet to be grasped... Qi permeates the heavens and earth... gathering the spirit of the world to write a new chapter of power..."