Condemning the Heavens

Xue Wei was utterly unaware of the actions made by Lan far away in the continent of Chang'an.

He was also unaware of the fate of the delegation from Yan Dalu and the Demon Phoenix Continent.

The delegation had almost all survived the onslaught of tornadoes. They had managed to keep a safe distance from the storms, and when they dissipated into nothing, they were still safe.

When they thought about what they had just encountered, all of them felt lingering fear. They were all able to guess that this phenomenon was not natural at all, that it was humanmade. The aim was clearly to lure Xue Wei and his comrades into the Thunder Twilight Zone.

The two delegations sent a final glance towards the Thunder Twilight Zone before they shook their heads in regret.

"Let us get going," the ambassador from the Demon Phoenix Continent finally said after staring into the dense cluster of lightning that was in front of them.

"Xue Wei and his friends are fortunate beings; we might see them one day again back at the Demon Phoenix Continent."

Although he said this, it sounded much more like an attempt to make him feel better. His voice was slightly hesitating, and it was clear that he did not believe it himself.

Like this, the group of members from Yan Dalu and Demon Phoenix Continent felt slightly regretful, but none of them were willing to enter into the Thunder Twilight Zone for his sake.

Although he had saved their lives before, they all came up with reasons to themselves that it was useless to attempt to rescue them. They did not even want to wait and see if they emerged from the forbidden zone.

Like this, they continued on the way towards the Demon Phoenix Continent, yet only a handful of them would survive the trip.

Many succumbed to the harsh environment on the way. Not having a ship made the trip arduous and painful. Many over-exhausted themselves and ended up in the stomachs of ferocious sea creatures.

Only the strongest made it back to the Demon Phoenix Continent, and those who survived had started to blame it all on Xue Wei.

Had he not been chased by the tornadoes like this, then their ship would not have been shattered and their return trip would have been much more straightforward.

They had even forgotten that he had saved their lives on Berserker Island. Everything was blamed on Xue Wei, and when they arrived at the Demon Phoenix Continent and were about to announce their experiences, everything was also blamed on him.

While these delegation members were rushing back towards the Demon Phoenix Continent, Xue Wei and his friends were all inside the closed-off space that was the Thunder Twilight Zone.

The Thunder Twilight Zone was unlike any other place they had ever been before. It was in the middle of the sea, but they could walk on top of the water without any problems.

The thunder and lightning were constant, and the only thing that lit up the entire area was the constant blitzing of lightning that descended from the sky.

Small islands were all over the area, one could land on an island at any moment, but after closer inspection, Xue Wei found that these islands were not actual islands but instead skeletons.

The skeletons had massive amounts of herbs growing on top of them; some were Corpse Grass and Blood Ginseng, clearly many many years old, and Xue Wei started picking them indiscriminately.

Although many might consider them useless, they could be used in certain pills, so Xue Wei picked them without a care in the world.

After sensing the Corpse Grass and Blood Ginseng, he also saw a Nightmare Lily and a Skeleton Hyacinth. Both these herbs were immensely rare, but main ingredients on a few formulas that Xue Wei had in his storage treasure.

After picking up the Nightmare Lily and the Skeleton Hyacinth, he slowly moved further into the Thunder Twilight Zone.

His friends were right behind him; all of them were looking at the ground and were amazed to see the sheer amount of resources and herbs they had found already.

"If they have this many rare herbs in the outskirts like this, the inner regions ought to be a true mine of resources," Xue Wei snickered. But Bai Tianyi sighed as he shook his head, "have you not realized yet that although we entered this way, we can't leave. It is as if the exits are blocked."

The resources had blinded Xue Wei, and thus, he looked behind him with curiosity. It was true that what Bai Tianyi had said was correct. Everything behind them was like a wall of lightning that was impossible to walk through. Anyone who attempted would be turned into ash on impact.

"Well then," Xue Wei smiled slightly. "We do not have any other option than to move forward. Although we had not planned on entering the Thunder Twilight Zone, now that we are here we ought to get the best out of it."

The others held smiles on their faces; their eyes were glistening with excitement. All of them had felt excitement about entering the Thunder Twilight Zone, but because of having to go to the Demon Phoenix Continent, they had decided to pass on it for now.

Now that the circumstances had forced them in here, they would explore to their heart's content.

Although Xue Wei was alert and his nerves taut, he knew that to advance rapidly they needed to face some dangers.

Not only this, they needed to do something about their strength. The world they were going towards was the Demon Phoenix Continent. This was a place where Sovereign Beasts existed, an area with a King ranked expert!

If they were not careful, and considering the task the annoying prophet Lan had given them, then it was likely they would insult the King ranked expert in Demon Phoenix Continent.

Giving away their Thunder Flame Crown was not very likely, so they would need to steal it. To do that, they would need to enhance their strength tremendously.

Xue Wei was not so naive as to think that they would reach the King ranked level during their time in the Thunder Twilight Zone, but if they could increase their strength just a bit, then they would be able to raise their survival chance.

The group slowly moved forward. They were no longer rushing and instead taking it slowly as they looked around them.

Suddenly, as the group walked by a cluster of lightning bolts, a beam exploded out towards them, and when it came closer, they realized that it was not a normal lightning bolt.

Instead, it was a snake where the scales were covered in lightning. "Crap!" Bai Tianyi's eyes widened in surprise when he saw the beast, but Xue Wei just roared once, and the lightning snake instantly stilled in the air, looked at Xue Wei, and slowly slithered back into the dense cluster of lightning.

"Oh, right," Bai Tianyi looked at Xue Wei as if he was looking at a freak. "I forgot we have the king of beasts with us here," he snorted.

"What was that?" Xue Wei asked curiously, and Bai Tianyi glanced at the cluster of lightning and felt a tremor run through his body.

"It was a Lightning Snake. They live in lightning, and they are immensely troublesome. Their bodies contain no thunder, but their strength cannot be looked down upon. Their speed is like lightning bolts, their strength like clasping thunder, resounding throughout the lands."

Xue Wei was surprised when he heard this, but Bai Tianyi was not done explaining. "They are incredibly rare. They are only able to be found in places filled with thunder and lightning, and they contain a thunder source alongside their beast core.

"The thunder source is significant for tempering the body. Above the Saint Rank, everyone becomes spiritual entities. Not spirits, but their bodies transcend the mortal limits.

"The body becomes a spirit entity, and it is graded in different ranks. As to what level you have depended mainly on your cultivation base and energy purity.

"There is the below-average spirit body, which is quite hard to gain, as one needs quite a talent to become a King ranked expert.

"After the below-average spirit body is the average spirit body. This is the body that most conjure after reaching the King rank.

"Then comes above average spirit body followed by the good spirit body. This continues to the pristine spirit body.

"I will go more into details about the spirit bodies later on when you are closer to the ranks, but in general, it is hard to increase the rank of your spirit body.

"This can only be done by purifying your energy, and this is where the thunder source comes into the picture.

"The thunder source is capable of purifying one's energy. It contains the purest lightning and thunder energy and is capable of forcing impurities out of energies and bodies."

Hearing Bai Tianyi talk about spirit bodies, Xue Wei was quite stunned and surprised, but he understood the meaning of it after a bit of time. Although Saints were almost considered immortals, they were not really. Only King and Emperor ranked cultivators were deemed to be real immortals.

Xue Wei smiled slightly as he looked into the dense cluster of lightning, but then he shook his head.

"They might be quite tempting, but their speed is not to be belittled. We are still foreigners in this place; it is far too risky to begin battling already."

Bai Tianyi nodded his head. He did not really care about the thunder source as he was a real spirit body; he had already created a pristine spirit body - a natural spirit body.

And although the thunder source was essential for cultivators, Xue Wei was still merely a Knight ranked expert, it was a long time away from becoming a King ranked expert, and thus he did not have to gain the thunder sources right now.

The group slowly moved further and further into the area, and suddenly Xue Wei came to a standstill and froze, his eyes narrowing.

In front of him was something he was fairly familiar with. This was a purple mist he had seen back in Chang'an. It looked similar, and even the feeling he felt was identical.

Walking closer to it, he sensed that the purple mist was as welcoming as last time. It was dense and covered the entire area, and when he touched it, it was as if it tried to enter his body, to transform into energy and boost his strength.

Frowning, he could not help but wonder what exactly was happening. Why would something like this mist that had appeared in Chang'an be in the middle of the Thunder Twilight Zone?

The others looked curiously at Xue Wei, wondering what exactly was going on with him. Why was his expression so grave, and how come he was walking towards something that would cause most people to be apprehensive?

Xue Wei ignored his friends. He felt as if he heard a calling from within the mist and he paused only slightly before he found a rope in his storage treasure and started wrapping it around his waist.

"We are going in," he said before he tossed the rope to the others, who hurriedly tied it around their waists and followed.

While Xue Wei was feeling excited and hopeful, the others were worried and alert.

One step at a time they ventured deeper and deeper into the mist, soon the glints of lightning could not be seen, even the thunder was muffled and not as loud as before.

It was as if they had descended into a purple world, the mist that was surrounding them was not threatening, but the tranquil atmosphere was making the others much more alert.

Only Xue Wei was like a fish in water, he greedily absorbed the purple mist, consuming it and felt how it was slowly enhancing his Qi and Spiritual Energy, both at the same time. The Golden and the Azure Dragon spirits were busy converting it into useable energy.