Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Seed of the Divine Five Elements Thunder

Behind the door!

A dense, boundless cloud of darkness stretched as far as the eye could see. Within it, thunder rumbled, its muffled booms shaking heaven and earth. The moment Xu Zhong stepped over the threshold, an overwhelming, immeasurable pressure descended upon him, sapping his strength. This force rattled his mind, threw his heart into chaos, and made it impossible to focus his thoughts. Even his breathing drew lightning from the air, which burrowed into his bones, and waves of pain crashed over him like a thousand blades.

"If the outermost layer of the Dragon Capital Heaven is already like this, what must the innermost be?" Xu Zhong wondered, scanning his surroundings and finding himself utterly alone. Looking back, he saw the door had vanished.

"The spatial turbulence must have sent us each to different places," he thought, swallowing hard, his head aching. In this place, every step was a struggle.

Just then, the imprint of Situ Nan in his mind flashed with divine light. "Normally, your gathered soul would be enough to protect you here. My imprint can guide you to me," Situ Nan said, shaking his head. "But I hadn't expected you to enter the Dragon Capital Heaven at the Five Luminaries stage." He sighed, "I'll have to sacrifice this imprint to shield your soul from the lingering thunder tribulation."

His imprint spread through Xu Zhong's mind, vast yin-yang energies unfurling into a colossal millstone, grinding away the invasive forces. "Stay put. My true self will arrive soon," Situ Nan said, his final words echoing.

The pressure lifted. Xu Zhong, who had felt his soul nearly torn apart, now found himself intact. He took Situ Nan's advice and sat cross-legged, unmoving.

But at that moment, the wooden sword flew toward him. The sword spirit had fully awakened.

"Come with me!" Its voice echoed in Xu Zhong's mind. Within his own consciousness, he saw a pale dragon, bloodied and battered, its tail severed and wreathed in potent destructive energy.

"But I—" Xu Zhong began, but the wooden sword forcibly lifted him and whisked him deeper into the realm. The millstone kept grinding, dissipating thunder, while sword energy flickered around him, subduing the lightning.

Xu Zhong glimpsed dazzling flashes in the distant clouds—white, red, and black thunderballs roiling and erupting, the five elements and yin-yang energies raging through the Dragon Capital Heaven. Divine thunder of five elements, yin-yang, the Three Pure Ones, primordial chaos—all clashed in the sky, strange things flickering into and out of existence within the storm.

"That thunder tribulation once slew the Dragon Capital Emperor, shattering his inner realm. Its power hasn't faded, still destroying everything within," the sword spirit explained. "In your current state, you can't reach the World Tree. I'll take you to the clouds first to gather thunder seeds and forge divine thunder for your organs."

Without waiting for Xu Zhong to recover, the sword spirit surged upward, carrying him along.

World Tree? What was that? Xu Zhong was confused, but unable to resist, he let the pale dragon carry him skyward.

"There are thirty-three layers of thunderclouds in the Dragon Capital Heaven. The final layer holds the Doom Thunder of Heaven's Destruction—its mere breath is enough to kill you," the sword spirit continued. "We're heading to the lower five layers, where the elemental thunder resides."

Like the human body, the five elements are fundamental—every transformation begins with them. The five-element divine thunder comprises six layers of clouds, corresponding to the five elements and their unity.

The sword spirit carried Xu Zhong three thousand feet upward, finally reaching the edge of the thunderclouds. The clouds churned, their oppressive force shaking his body, each organ feeling as if a tiny Xu Zhong wanted to flee.

The vast clouds brimmed with concentrated thunder, forming a sea that surged with lightning. Each sweep of this sea set off new bolts.

The wooden sword transformed, leaping into a pale dragon. It danced through the storm, devouring thunder, swallowing a hundred miles of clouds with each bite. Violent tremors pulsed within it, then exploded, unleashing countless bolts. Yet the dragon remained unharmed.

With a low roar, it condensed the golden thunder into a seed and swam toward Xu Zhong. Its short tail flicked, and the seed burrowed into his body, settling in his lungs.

Crack! Crack!

His lungs echoed with piercing sounds, a sensation of tearing rolling within. In that instant, Xu Zhong felt as if his body was utterly destroyed—everything obliterated.

"Focus your thoughts, suppress it—match energy with energy, spirit with spirit."

The human body holds five energies, hence the Five Luminaries, corresponding to the five elements. To match energy with energy means to harmonize the body's five energies with the five thunders. To match spirit with spirit is to press the mind into the thunder, subduing it with one's will.

Xu Zhong focused his mind—his indestructible spiritual light. He used it to suppress the golden thunder seed. His thoughts were repeatedly shattered and reformed beneath the thunder, each cycle making them stronger and more solid.

At last, he subdued the golden thunder seed within his lungs. As he breathed, faint sounds of wind and thunder mingled, and he exhaled gusts and flashes of lightning. Hastily, he covered his mouth. The thunder in his lungs writhed, absorbing spiritual energy.

"Excellent. Your talent is strong—you can refine the golden thunder seed without my help. Our journey will be smoother now," said the sword spirit.

Without giving Xu Zhong time to recover, the sword spirit ascended further. Above the golden thunder was the water thunder, vast and cleansing. The pale dragon swallowed more clouds, refining them into a seed and planting it in Xu Zhong's spleen.

Using the same method—matching energy and spirit—he subdued gold, fire, water, and wood thunder seeds, each settling in its place.

But with the earth thunder planted in his spleen, the cycle of the five elements was triggered. Instantly, his body filled with endless thunder, a vast ocean within him, surging uncontrollably. Unable to contain it, lightning burst from his body like rolling clouds.

Xu Zhong's body swelled like a balloon, weightless, and had the pale dragon not caught his robes, he might have soared beyond the thirty-three heavens.

"Match energy with energy, spirit with spirit," he tried. But the old method failed—the sheer scale was different. His inner magic was nothing compared to the surging thunder, his thoughts too small, smashed as soon as they formed. The destructive force traced back to its source, piercing his mind.

Pain!

Intense pain! It radiated from his thoughts to every corner of his body, every strand of hair, every pore torn apart by lightning, reduced to fragments. His body brimmed with annihilation, consuming every trace of vitality. Xu Zhong’s body evaporated bit by bit—flesh and bone destroyed. If this continued, he would be reduced to nothing but a shell.

Yet he kept focusing his thoughts. Though they were insignificant before the thunder, he did not give up. His Five Luminaries kept breaking apart, unable to hold the thunder’s surge, but after each destruction, they reformed.

"Within destruction lies creation!"

With that insight, Xu Zhong’s shattered thoughts suddenly gathered anew. Though still weak, they began to devour the thunder after repeated cycles of annihilation and rebirth. The five-element divine thunder, intent on destruction, was gradually consumed by his will, which grew purer.

His thoughts transformed into a spiritual light. In that moment, Xu Zhong felt he had seized the indestructible light of heaven and earth—and the five thunders.

His mind expanded, becoming a deity within, suppressing the five thunders and locking them in the Five Luminaries. At once, the Five Luminaries changed. The thunder seeds became five deities, each presiding in a palace, eyes closed, absorbing spiritual energy and harmonizing the luminaries.

His inner energy, tempered by fire thunder in the fire palace and gold thunder in the gold palace, grew stronger, while the unopened palaces remained unchanged. He sensed that the thunder seeds symbolized a spell—a spell drawn from the world itself.

Of the seventy-two spells he had mastered, none was thunder-based. Now, he filled that gap.

Slowly, Xu Zhong opened his eyes, finding himself within a cocoon of blood. Inside, foul blood flowed, but he tore it open and stepped out.

"I seem... different," he murmured. The thunder tribulation no longer suppressed him. Beneath the five-element divine thunder, he felt no restraint, but above, the oppression grew even more terrifying.

"You have formed the five-element divine thunder seed. You may now walk in the Dragon Capital Heaven," the pale dragon said approvingly. "My efforts were not wasted."

In forging the five-element thunder seed, Xu Zhong had also grasped the indestructible spiritual light and the body's five energies, if only for a moment—a realization few cultivators at the Five Luminaries stage could achieve.

Moreover, his gourd had absorbed ample divine thunder, transforming it into streams of five-element thunder sword energy. With just the thunder seed and sword energy, he felt his journey had been worthwhile. As for the World Tree, that seemed beyond his reach.

The pale dragon wrapped around Xu Zhong and dove downward. Passing through the layered clouds, Xu Zhong thought he glimpsed a distant shadow—perhaps the World Tree.

At that moment, a fierce sword light pierced the clouds. Ahead, an immense golden-armored deity loomed beneath the thunderclouds, swallowing lightning. Within its eye sockets, thunder lakes churned.