Master of Heaven and Earth - -

The thunder roared like a prison, echoing with a sound akin to the wrath of heaven. In the Thunder Marsh, from a distance, a thunder dragon descended from the sky, its power seeming as if it could annihilate everything.

Leng Yan had been sitting in the Thunder Marsh for over a month, with the lightning essence above his head now a deep blue, roughly the size of a fist.

He had also mastered the Thunder Technique called “Purple Heaven Thunder Art” acquired from the unicorn deer, enabling him to practice the magical techniques of the thunder god’s hammer and the thunder god’s cone.

His gaze was intense, with electric snakes spiraling and sparking around his eyes. Lifting his finger and pointing forward, Leng Yan declared, “Thunder God’s Hammer!”

“Boom! Boom!”

Deafening roars echoed through the sky. Suddenly, all the lightning converged at a single point, transforming into a giant over a hundred feet tall.

This giant had the head of a goshawk, human body, and wings sprouting from its back, tightly gripping a deep blue thunder god’s hammer with both hands. The hammer, also a hundred feet long, whistled through the air as it swung!

The giant bore the likeness of a thunder god incarnate, surrounded by continuous roars that echoed as if it were bellowing in rage.

Suddenly, the giant raised the colossal hammer and swung it down with a resounding “bang.” A gigantic pit over a hundred feet wide appeared where the hammer struck, showcasing its tremendous power.

Seeing this, Leng Yan’s eyes shone with excitement, a satisfied smile playing on his lips. He pointed his finger again and commanded, “Thunder God’s Cone!”

With Leng Yan’s incantation, the giant’s hammer suddenly shrank, held in its right hand, while a ten-foot-long pointed cone appeared on its left.

The giant aimed the cone at a distant mound, bringing the massive hammer down onto the top of the cone.

With a sharp “snap!” a thick electric snake shot out from the base of the cone!

Accompanied by thunderous sounds, the electric snake roared, leveling the mound with the earth. With a wave of his hand, Leng Yan dispersed the lightning giant into numerous electric snakes once again.

“Here, the power of the Thunder Technique has more than doubled. Unfortunately, with my current realm, the cultivation technique can only be practiced to a proficient level, just like the others. If I could reach the Heavenly Realm, I could cultivate the technique to perfection.”

However, having been refined by the essence blood of the Dragon Emperor, the amount of essence power needed for me to break through realms is immense.

Currently, there are two ways I can quickly enhance my realm. One is foundation seizing, and the other is having enough primordial spirit elixirs.

For an average cultivator, even foundation seizing doesn’t provide significant help-it’s like putting out a fire with a cup of water. But if it involves a golden core realm? That’s different.

Unfortunately, with my current power, I can only contend with cultivators in the early to mid-stages of the unification realm. Even with strategies, using a queen bee or Fiend Thunder would only allow me to eliminate those in the later stages of the unification realm. Defeating someone in the golden core realm is extremely difficult! Luck like last time is rare and too risky. Leng Yan thought over his current situation while standing amidst the lightning in the Thunder Marsh.

Ultimately, Leng Yan decided that upon leaving here, he would seek out more primordial spirit elixirs, first raising his realm to the Heavenly Realm. Then, he would cultivate techniques like the Purple Gold Emperor Technique, Blackwater Emperor Technique, Scarlet Flame Emperor Technique, Nine Yin Fiend God Technique, Seven Emotions and Six Desires Technique, and Purple Sky Thunder Technique to mastery. At that point, he would likely be the foremost under the golden core realm.

However, the gap between the unification realm and the golden core realm is enormous, a true “world of difference!”

As it stands, Leng Yan can challenge the unification realm while in the primordial qi realm. Yet when he reaches the unification realm, he might only be able to contend with the mid-stages of the golden core realm!

The golden core realm truly represents the beginning of the authentic cultivation realm! For now, Leng Yan is merely a “practitioner.”

Standing up, Leng Yan retracted the lightning essence back into his sea of consciousness. Raising his hand, an electric snake danced on his fingertip, and a smile curved his lips. “Sun Hao has a million primordial spirit elixirs, so Li Nan and Wang Han shouldn’t have much less! They’ve always posed a threat to me. The two are always together, and I can’t confront them simultaneously yet, but here in the Thunder Marsh, it’s different…”

With a slight sense of his environment, Leng Yan easily ascertained the whereabouts of Wang Han and Li Nan. The Azure Sky Sword flew out with a resonant “zing,” hovering beside Leng Yan’s feet. Stepping onto the flying sword, with a thought, he transformed into a stream of light, flying out of the Thunder Marsh, “escorted” by lightning.

Leng Yan moved with astonishing speed, like a flash of lightning. Along the way, his mind was continually calculating how to eliminate Li Nan and Wang Han effortlessly.

Just ahead, five cultivators in the Heavenly Realm were attacking a brute bull at the initial stage of the unification realm. Suddenly, one of them sensed Leng Yan’s presence.

The man’s expression changed, but soon turned to one of excitement. He sent out his magical treasure, trapping the brute bull, and shouted, “Give it everything you’ve got! Don’t waste any time!”

This young man, dressed in a purple robe, wielded a middle-grade treasure tool-a rope. His cultivation level was the highest among the five of them, already at the peak of the Heavenly Realm, and he could enter the unification realm at any moment. Judging by his demeanor, he appeared to be the leader of the five.

Indeed, upon hearing the purple-robed man’s words, the other four gave their all. In no time, the brute bull was engulfed by their magical techniques.

However, a creature in the unification realm is much more formidable than those in the Heavenly Realm. Even under a barrage of such intense magical techniques, the brute bull wasn’t killed, though the fierce assault left it severely injured. Lacking a powerful magical treasure put the brute bull at a disadvantage, constantly restrained by the purple-robed man’s treasure. No matter how strong the brute bull was, it was destined to be worn down.

“Moo-” The brute bull suddenly bellowed, its eyes turning blood red as its body rapidly swelled.

“Damn! It’s going to self-destruct, run!” the purple-robed man shouted, quickly retreating. The others moved swiftly as well, avoiding the brute bull’s self-destructive explosion.

Among the five, a slender man approached the site of the self-destruction, picked up two cyan-colored bull horns, and returned to the purple-robed man’s side, grinning. “Senior Brother, it wasn’t all for nothing after all. These horns should be enough to refine a low-grade treasure tool!”

“Yes, keep them for now. I just saw Leng Yan fly overhead!” the purple-robed man replied with a smile.

Leng Yan? The same Leng Yan that Senior Brother Zhong put a bounty on? A hundred thousand primordial spirit elixirs and a high-grade treasure as a reward! The slender man exclaimed in surprise.

“That’s him. Let’s go, follow him, and seize the opportunity to kill him and claim the reward,” the purple-robed man chuckled.

“Hold on, Senior Brother!” another slightly plump man interjected.

“What is it?” the purple-robed man asked, puzzled.

The Fat Guy looked a bit uneasy and said, “Senior Brother, do you know how strong Leng Yan is? I think we shouldn’t target him. If he were really that easy to kill, would Senior Brother Zhong and Senior Sister Mu have put a bounty on him with their cultivation levels? I suggest we stay out of this matter!”

“Hmm… I couldn’t detect his cultivation level. It’s like someone’s put a seal on him to prevent others from probing. However, since he’s still using sword control and has entered this space battlefield, he’s likely not yet in the unification realm. But the Fat Guy has a point; Leng Yan might have some backing, which could be troublesome,” the man in the purple robe said in a low voice, having been jolted awake by the Fat Guy’s reminder.

“In my opinion, Senior Brother Zhong is just too lazy to get involved personally. Besides, Leng Yan is from the water element lineage; killing him outside might cause trouble. That’s probably why there’s a bounty, because here, no one would know if he’s killed,” the Thin Guy said, looking down on the Fat Guy for being timid.

“Enough talking, fortune favors the bold. Let’s follow him first and see what happens!” The man in the purple robe gritted his teeth, jumped onto his flying sword, and pursued Leng Yan.

The Thin Guy and others chuckled and followed suit, while the Fat Guy sighed softly, shook his head slightly, and reluctantly tagged along at the back.

“This Fat Guy has some brains, but the others… hmph! Anyone targeting me is on a path to doom!” Leng Yan had long sensed the spiritual awareness of the man in the purple robe following him, so he released his own spiritual awareness to observe them. Naturally, he overheard their entire conversation.

Seeing the five of them tailing him, Leng Yan had already made up his mind to eliminate them, though he did consider the Fat Guy as someone worth cultivating.

Having just entered the main sect, Leng Yan could already feel the deep undercurrents there.

He wanted to cultivate a few informants to preemptively unearth those who might be harmful to him. The Fat Guy, with his sharp mind, seemed like a suitable candidate.

Leng Yan gradually slowed down, and just as the five were about to catch up, he used a seal to conceal himself within the Void.

“Where did he go? I clearly sensed him. My spiritual awareness was right here, and Leng Yan’s presence is unmistakably here. Why can’t we see him?” The man in the purple robe frowned, puzzled.

“We should leave here quickly. Leng Yan might have already discovered us!” The Fat Guy’s expression changed, urging.

“How could that be? Are you scared?” The Thin Guy laughed disdainfully.

“Let’s leave first; the Fat Guy might be onto something.” The purple-robed man wasn’t foolish and felt something was off. He said this and flew off to the side.

“It’s too late to leave now!” Leng Yan suddenly appeared in front of the purple-robed man, a faint smile on his lips, speaking casually.