106: Chapter 16 The Storm Is Brewing

The atmosphere at the foot of Sacred Martial Mountain grew subtle with the arrival of the Sword Spirit Clan Guardian.

However, before one wave could settle, another arose!

Rip!

The void was once again violently torn open!

This time, the commotion was even greater than before, as if the entire sky had been forcibly split in two by a giant hand!

Endless golden divine light poured forth from the rift, dyeing half the horizon a brilliant gold!

A majestic figure, bathed in divine light, stepped out from the void!

Clad in golden battle armor, his physique was as imposing as a mountain. Each step he took seemed to land upon the very heartbeats of the onlookers, causing waves of suffocating pressure!

A Golden God Clan Guardian!

Moreover, judging by the terrifying aura emanating from him, this person's strength was even a notch above the five human Deans present!

He was definitely a peak Emperor Sovereign, a terrifying existence even half a step into the Sage level!

His arrival instantly plunged the already tense atmosphere to freezing point.

The faces of Deans like Zhuang Chen turned somewhat grim.

What's going on?

These Great Clan Guardians, usually impossible to invite, today are all rushing over as if going to a market fair?

And judging by their demeanor, each one looks as if they've swallowed gunpowder, their expressions dark and frightening!

"Greetings, fellow Daoist."

Zhuang Chen steeled himself and stepped forward to offer salutations, though his heart was filled with vigilance.

The Golden God Clan Guardian's face was icy, his gaze sharp as a blade. A mere sweep of his eyes over the crowd made everyone feel a stinging pain.

"It's nothing."

"I'm just here to take a look."

His voice was cold and hard as iron, devoid of any emotion.

After saying this, he paid no further attention to the others. Instead, he turned his head and glanced at the equally expressionless Sword Spirit Clan elder not far away.

"Hmph!"

A cold snort echoed across the entire area.

Although both the Golden God Clan and the Sword Spirit Clan were powerful star-spanning races, their relationship had never been particularly harmonious.

However, at this moment, the two seemed to have reached some sort of tacit understanding. Neither said anything more, each simply finding a spot to close their eyes and rest.

On the surface, all was calm.

But in reality, this Golden God Clan Guardian's heart was already boiling with killing intent!

Not long before, he too had sensed the tragic news transmitted from his clan!

Jin Lin... had fallen!

That Jin Lin, who was held in high hopes, hailed as the strongest of the younger generation, destined to become a Sage in the future, had actually also died within this Thunder King Pool!

This was simply an utter disgrace!

A grave provocation against the dignity of the Golden God Clan!

"No matter which race's scum did this!"

"Once they come out... I will tear them to pieces, extract their soul, and burn it on a divine flame for ten thousand years, making them wish for death but unable to die!"

He roared madly in his heart, forcefully suppressing the murderous aura about to erupt, quietly awaiting the moment the secret realm would open.

The several human Deans exchanged glances, their eyes filled with worry.

These two old fellows arriving one after another, each looking as if they've lost their parents... it goes without saying that something major must have happened inside!

It's quite possible... some top-tier prodigy has fallen!

"I hope... it's just the alien races killing each other."

Dean Li Mang transmitted his voice secretly, a hint of hope in his tone.

"If it was done by one of our humans, then the trouble would be huge."

After all, offending two great clans simultaneously would put even the Great Xia Martial Academy under immense pressure.

"Indeed. Among our batch of students, although we have Prodigys like Li Wushuang and Chu Xianer, to say they could kill existences of Jin Lin and Ye Xinghe's caliber... that's probably still a bit of a stretch."

Ren Wanlong also shook his head, not quite believing their own kids could cause such a big commotion.

Only Jiang Baihe, upon hearing this, felt his heart lurch violently!

His mind involuntarily conjured up the image of that little Prodigy who was always grinning, looking harmless, but was actually a black-hearted sesame paste-filled troublemaker — Ning Yuan!

"No... it couldn't really be that brat, could it?"

The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed!

After all, this kid had a 'criminal record'!

In the ruins, he almost wiped out the alien prodigies. Now that he's in this Thunder King Pool... who knows what kind of mischief he'll stir up?

Just thinking about it made Jiang Baihe's heart race with fear, cold sweat breaking out on his back.

If these two old Prodigys were to find out the culprit was Ning Yuan, even he, as a Dean, probably couldn't protect him!

He subconsciously shifted his gaze toward that mysterious human Quasi-Sage expert who had been standing silently in the corner, guarding the entrance to the Thunder King Pool.

Seeing that Lord still as steady as Mount Tai, unperturbed, his hanging heart settled slightly.

"Thank goodness... thank goodness we have a Quasi-Sage holding the fort on our side!"

"Even if the sky falls, there's a tall one to hold it up!"

"As long as that Lord is willing to act, no matter how much these two old Prodigys jump around, they won't be able to stir up any real waves!"

He prayed silently in his heart.

Ancestors! Please, don't cause any mess that even I can't clean up!

...

While the outside world was in turmoil, with undercurrents swirling.

Deep within the Thunder King Pool.

Ning Yuan was leading his two loyal little brothers, advancing triumphantly, charging toward the very core region of the Sea of Thunder!

"Boss! There's another mid-grade Thunder Beast ahead! Judging by the aura, it should be a Thunder Rhino!"

Zhou Qi, sharp-eyed, pointed toward a sea area ahead densely packed with lightning and shouted.

"Oh? A Thunder Rhino? That's a thick-skinned, good thing!"

Ning Yuan's eyes lit up. Without another word, he charged straight forward.

Boom!

Without any suspense!

One punch blasted out. That mid-grade Thunder Rhino, which would give ordinary Flying Heaven Realm experts a headache, didn't even have time to grunt before its head was directly blown apart!

Skillfully harvesting the spoils, Ning Yuan casually tossed the clump of Thunder Liquid Essence to Lu Sheng, while he himself happily pocketed a drop of essence blood emitting a faint Emperor's might.

"Another emperor sovereign essence blood?"

He glanced at it and curled his lip disdainfully.

Over the past few days, he had dealt with quite a few Thunder Beasts along the way and encountered several drops of Emperor Sovereign-level essence blood.

At first, he was quite excited, as this stuff offered significant help in improving one's physical body.

But as he absorbed more and more, he found its effects were becoming increasingly weaker.

Now, even swallowing three to five drops at once only increased his physical body strength by a barely noticeable sliver.

One could even say... it was better than nothing!

"Sigh, it seems this emperor sovereign essence blood is completely useless to me now."

Ning Yuan sighed, casually tossing that drop of essence blood into his mouth, chewing it like a candy bean.

Crunchy, tastes like chicken.

Feeling the almost imperceptible change in his physical strength, he finally confirmed a fact.

His physical body had successfully broken through a certain shackle, stepping into a new domain — Quasi-King Rank!

Now, he was truly just one step away from that legendary, genuine King-level Physical Body!

But this final step was also the hardest to cross!

To make a breakthrough, relying solely on piling up these 'low-level' resources was already impossible.

It absolutely required top-tier divine treasures imbued with the laws of heaven and earth, the essence of the Great Dao!

For example... a few complete drops of Sage essence blood!

Or... a drop of the legendary great sage essence blood!

Or even... something of a higher level!

"It seems I can only pin my hopes on that drop of great sage essence blood."

Ning Yuan gazed intently toward the deepest part of the Sea of Thunder, the desire in his eyes growing stronger.

As long as he obtained that drop of blood, he was absolutely confident he could forge an invincible King-level Physical Body while still in the Transcendent Realm!

Immediately after.

He felt another pang of bitterness in his heart.

Damn brother tongzi wouldn't let him absorb the great sage essence blood.

In that case, he could only hope for brother tongzi's reward.

And behind him.

Zhou Qi and Lu Sheng were now so blissful they were about to faint.

These past few days following the boss, they were like mice that had fallen into a rice vat, feasting until their mouths were dripping with oil!

The Thunder Liquid Essence and mid-grade essence blood that Ning Yuan looked down upon were priceless treasures to them!

Not only had it raised their physical body strength by several notches, but their cultivation levels were also soaring rapidly!

Now, both of them had steadily stepped into the peak of the Earth Rank Transcendent!

Even faintly touching the threshold of the Heaven Rank!

This cultivation speed, if spoken of, would absolutely scare a great many people to death!

"Heh heh, following the boss is definitely the right choice!"

"At this rate, once we get out, as long as we seclude ourselves for a bit, breaking through to Heaven Rank will be a sure thing!"

"Then, we'll be able to walk sideways in the Transcendent Academy too!"

The two exchanged a glance, seeing the unconcealable excitement and thrill in each other's eyes.

They were already envisioning the looks of utter shock on the faces of those who once looked down on them when they saw their current strength after getting out!

Just thinking about it felt amazing!

"Let's go! Continue onward!"

"Following the boss, we'll feast on delicacies!"

"Target — the core of the Sea of Thunder!"

The trio sped onward.