Chapter 109: Summoning the Thunder

“Strange, why hasn’t the spiritual mist infused into the body yet?”

After the initial shock, Feng Chuxun also sensed something amiss. Normally, once the foundation is established, the spiritual mist should flood the body, fully consolidating the foundation.

Yet now, the golden light around Shen Qingyun had already dissipated, while the spiritual mist in the sky continued to gather incessantly. What was once pure white mist had thickened excessively and begun to churn into a gray hue. If this persisted, it would turn black—like the thunderclouds on a stormy day!

“Let’s go check it out!”

At the foot of Mount Louvre, Hei Kui, seeing that the strange phenomenon still hadn’t dissipated, lost patience. Without hesitation, he crouched slightly and leapt forward, covering dozens of zhang in a single bound. Landing on a tree, he tiptoed and sprang again, covering another dozens of zhang.

In the blink of an eye, Hei Kui was a hundred zhang away from Qin Taiqing and the others. The five elders snapped back to attention and hurriedly unleashed their spiritual energy, mimicking Hei Kui’s leap to catch up.

Qin Taiqing gazed at the spiritual mist still swirling above. Even in this short time, he sensed nearly eighty percent of Mount Louvre’s spiritual energy converging there.

“It seems that slaying Beiming Han with only the power of the Qi Refining stage is no empty boast after all,” Qin Taiqing murmured. Considering the man bore the Ninth Princess’s token and had spoken words he and King Qin had witnessed, this claim was likely true.

“Should we send word to King Qin?” Qin Taiqing lowered his head in thought. After a moment, he raised it and waved his hand. The great formation’s light curtain behind him split open, allowing a dark shadow to slip through.

Qin Taiqing’s lips moved subtly, and the shadow nodded before vanishing back into the light curtain.

Only then did Qin Taiqing spring forward. Unlike Hei Kui and the five elders of the Sha Kui Sect, who used their surroundings to boost their leaps, Qin Taiqing surged forward steadily as if flying.

At the summit of Mount Louvre, Shen Qingyun stood with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing up at the gathering spiritual mist—now more fittingly called thunderclouds.

A heavy, oppressive sensation pressed down, one even Shen Qingyun could feel. Yet it was precisely this slight oppression that made him nod in satisfaction. At the foundation-building stage, the quantity of spiritual energy was crucial. His personal store was only enough to form a medium-grade Dao Foundation.

But this energy could draw upon nearly ninety percent of Mount Louvre’s spiritual power, resonating in unison. That was enough!

“Let’s begin.”

Feeling he had reached the limit of his ability, Shen Qingyun whispered softly. With a single thought, he triggered a celestial transformation.

The darkened, churning thunderclouds rumbled faintly with thunder. Dense spiritual energy condensed into beams of light, enveloping Shen Qingyun. Radiance bloomed from every part of his body, rendering him almost sacred.

Yet the true transformation was perceptible only to Shen Qingyun himself. Spiritual energy surged through his meridians like flowing blood, each pulse expanding and strengthening them to accommodate even greater energy flows.

The comfort of this sensation made Shen Qingyun close his eyes slightly, memories returning to those earlier days.

“The feeling of power filling every inch of my body… how nostalgic,” he thought, recalling when he first ascended to Emperor. His mortal form had been purified by the forces of heaven and earth, becoming flawless. Power had suffused his body then, each heartbeat deepening his bond with this world.

He had felt as if he were the very sky, gazing down upon the lands and mountains below.

Now, that faint sensation had returned.

Though not as profound as before, Shen Qingyun felt as if he had become the very spirit of Mount Louvre, able to sense every corner with a mere thought.

He could see Feng Chuxun looking up at him from below, Hei Kui and the others racing uphill, even the rustling of every leaf stirred by the wind escaped his perception.

It was as though everything was under his command.

“Divine mind… how I’ve missed it.”

Shen Qingyun understood deeply that this sensation, the divine mind, was born from the evolution of spiritual power. The soul became a divine soul, a second life; though the body might perish, the divine soul endured, granting the chance to revive.

Such a power should not have existed at the foundation-building stage, yet Shen Qingyun had reclaimed it. In the future, he would retrieve all that was his, one piece at a time, as he ascended once more to his pinnacle.

Inside Shen Qingyun’s dantian, a golden miniature figure appeared, identical in features—he was essentially a spiritual projection of Shen Qingyun himself, tasked with monitoring his own body.

“Hmm… the quality of this Dao Foundation should rival a high-grade one now. I wonder how far I am from a perfect foundation…” The tiny golden Shen Qingyun observed the spiritual energy surging through the meridians, gathering here in the dantian. The energy enveloped his medium-grade foundation, and its size gradually expanded.

By feel, it was already a high-grade foundation, but the distance to perfection remained unknown.

At that moment, Qin Taiqing and the others reached the summit. They didn’t bother looking at the retreating figure ahead but instead all raised their heads to gaze at Shen Qingyun bathed in a pillar of spiritual light. The sheer magnitude of energy made even them uneasy.

“This level of spiritual energy must only come with a high-grade Dao Foundation, right?” Qin Taiqing muttered to himself. He was only a medium-grade foundation cultivator, and the disturbances then had been far less intense.

“High-grade foundation or not, in the end, it will fall into the hands of the Northern Demon King,” Hei Kui sneered coldly at Qin Taiqing’s muttering.

Qin Taiqing did not retort; it was the truth. What good was a high-grade foundation if death rendered everything meaningless? A tinge of regret stirred within him, making his thoughts more active.

Above, as spiritual energy flowed into Shen Qingyun’s body, the black mist gradually lightened to gray, then white, until finally dissipating completely.

The golden miniature Shen Qingyun, seated cross-legged above the dantian, furrowed his delicate brows. He sensed no more spiritual energy entering the body.

“Should I consolidate the foundation now?” The tiny Shen Qingyun hesitated. With no more energy pouring in, it should be time. Yet an intuition told him this was not yet a perfect foundation—not even half of one.

His brows knitted tighter as he pondered.

“Of course!” A flash of spiritual insight passed through the miniature’s mind, instantly smoothing his frown.

“I can try invoking the thunder method, drawing upon the power of lightning to supplement some celestial spiritual energy,” the miniature murmured. All things in heaven and earth, save for lifeless objects, contained spiritual energy. The thunder method involved summoning a lightning tribulation—not the true tribulation, but a training technique devised by body cultivators to attract thunder and temper the physique.

Resolute, Shen Qingyun’s eyes snapped open, sparkling with newfound brilliance after being cleansed by spiritual energy. They shone deeper, as if one could be drawn into their depths by gazing too long.

Below, Qin Taiqing and the others saw this and instinctively thought, “Has he completed foundation-building?”

Hei Kui’s eyes gleamed with joy; foundation-building complete meant it was time to strike! He had expected to wait days, but it happened so swiftly.

In the next instant, they saw Shen Qingyun’s hands swiftly forming seals. As his hands moved faster, a silent aura began to awaken within him, rising steadily…

Qin Taiqing and the others felt his breath, vast and profound like an ocean, impossible to gauge its depth.

“What is he about to do?”

An elder of the Sha Kui Sect spoke, his voice deep and hoarse.

“No matter what he’s doing, his aura is no longer that of a Qi Refining stage cultivator. He must have succeeded in foundation-building. Then act! Subdue him!” Hei Kui ordered sternly.

“Yes!”

The five elders nodded in unison. The one clutching Wushi released the beast’s spiritual form, ready to charge and capture Shen Qingyun.

Suddenly, the weather changed.

A thunderclap echoed across the clear skies, causing the five elders to halt mid-step.

“Huh?”

Qin Taiqing and Hei Kui simultaneously sensed something wrong. As the two strongest here, they keenly noticed the spiritual energy in this realm had become agitated and wild.

Suddenly, the sky darkened. Thick clouds gathered, faintly flickering with lightning…

In the next moment, a bolt of lightning as thick as a waist struck straight down from the clouds, crackling with fire and sparks as it hit Shen Qingyun.

Below, everyone’s eyes widened. Foundation-building complete and then struck by lightning? Was heaven itself unwilling to accept him?

The lightning came fast and went fast. On the mountaintop, Shen Qingyun reappeared, his white robe scorched black but his aura undiminished.

The scene was almost unbelievable.

“Hmph, this thundercloud shows signs of gathering rather than dispersing. That strike was just an appetizer!” Hei Kui sneered coldly. “This discarded disciple of the Cangyun Sect truly is heaven’s disfavor—struck by lightning just upon foundation success!”

Qin Taiqing also wondered if Shen Qingyun was simply tempting fate, even lightning aimed at him.

Booming thunder roared again and again.

Lightning struck continuously from the thunderclouds, repeatedly hitting Shen Qingyun. Each time he crashed to the ground, his white robe scorched and dust-covered, yet his eyes shone brighter with every strike, filled with excitement.

He looked toward the thunderclouds, eagerness flickering in his gaze. “Come on, let the thunder rage even more fiercely!”

However, after dozens of strikes, perhaps finding him impervious, the thunderclouds began to thin and dissipate bit by bit.

“Ah…”

Shen Qingyun opened his mouth slightly, feeling an unexpected reluctance as the thunderclouds faded. Was his mind playing tricks on him? Did he truly want to be struck by lightning?

But in the end, the thunderclouds vanished. Shen Qingyun clicked his tongue, still craving more. The lightning had replenished his spiritual energy considerably, yet it was not enough.

Below, Qin Taiqing and the others stood speechless, having witnessed Shen Qingyun’s lightning assault. Unlike others struck by lightning, who weakened with each hit, Shen Qingyun grew more spirited, even seeming reluctant for it to end.

“Not enough,” Shen Qingyun murmured thoughtfully. The lightning’s damage was mostly absorbed by his robe; what he absorbed was the purest celestial spiritual energy. Yet it still fell short—far short.

“If only that lightning had come a few more times, or a true lightning tribulation hit once, it would have sufficed,” he whispered regretfully. Unfortunately, the thunder summoning technique could only be used once per day.

“Lightning tribulation… invoking heaven’s wrath can summon it,” Shen Qingyun thought, eyes shifting downward.

“This treasure ground should work as well...”