I rely on learning to achieve immortality.

Since the first sprout of the Star Spirit Tree, it has been growing at an astonishing rate every day.

Besides the fact that Xu Zhou mixed some homemade spiritual liquid into the water he watered it, the characteristics of the spiritual tree itself also made it grow rapidly.

The Star-Picking Spirit Tree, as its name suggests, absorbs the power of starlight and the sun to enhance its growth.

Once it matures, it will bear spiritual fruit, which is very popular among cultivators in the Mu Kingdom.

Xu Zhou thought to himself, "If I can cultivate the Star-Picking Spirit Tree for over a hundred years, it could become a considerable asset."

One day, it was drizzling.

After the raindrops fell slowly, the sapling of the Star-Picking Spirit Tree drooped somewhat.

Xu Zhou looked up at the dark clouds filling the sky.

Today is not a good day to grow trees.

However, he had something else to do, which he could take the opportunity to carry out.

A moment later, Xu Zhou arrived at the summit of Red Maple Valley.

He took out the array materials he had prepared beforehand and carefully inscribed array patterns on this spot.

Half an hour later, a small self-made protective array was completed.

"Finally, I can give it a try."

Xu Zhou patted his storage bag and took out the lightning-attracting stalactite he had previously purchased from the Chen family cultivator.

As soon as the stalagmite came into contact with the air, the dark clouds overhead immediately emitted a muffled rumble of thunder.

Xu Zhou felt a tingling sensation coming from the stalagmite in his hand.

He gave it a silent compliment, then carefully placed it in the center of the protective array.

He then sat about ten feet away on the outer edge of the formation.

Most cultivators only know the legend that this lightning-attracting stalagmite can help Nascent Soul cultivators break through to the next level; whether it can actually be done is still unknown.

Few people know that it is also a rare treasure for cultivators who practice thunder magic.

"I hope the records in 'The Five Thunder Golden Body' are accurate, and that the stalagmite can indeed attract heavenly thunder."

He waited patiently in the rain.

The most difficult aspect of cultivating the Five Thunder Golden Body is not the body tempering process, but how to stably attract heavenly lightning.

After all, the thunder and lightning of heaven and earth are inherently unpredictable.

Even if an ordinary cultivator waits for months, they might not happen to encounter a strong enough thunderstorm. And even if they do, attracting lightning still depends on luck.

Unlike stalagmites, these can attract lightning.

This object has a natural ability to attract the thunder energy of heaven and earth. With it, Xu Zhou was able to attempt to steadily attract heavenly thunder.

Originally, the clouds in the sky were not dense, and it didn't look like there would be thunder.

As the lightning-attracting stalagmite remained exposed for an extended period, the dark clouds gradually darkened, and the thunder became increasingly pronounced.

Finally, at a certain moment, thunder roared.

boom!

A thunderous roar nearly deafened Xu Zhou.

But before that, he had already felt a sharp pain and a tingling sensation pierce his body, instantly destroying his flesh and blood.

Thunder pierced through his body.

Xu Zhou's muscles went almost completely numb in that instant.

Fortunately, the formation weakened the power of the heavenly thunder to some extent, allowing him to remain clear-headed and guide the thunderous power throughout his body according to the methods of the Five Thunder Golden Body.

Then, a second bolt of lightning struck.

The mountaintop was already drenched in torrential rain.

...

In just a short while, the dark clouds gradually dispersed, revealing the blue sky.

The rain, which was supposed to last for half a day, ended abruptly.

As the sun set, Xu Zhou stretched his body and couldn't help but grimace.

In just a short span of time, the dark clouds unleashed five bolts of lightning, each striking the mountaintop with tremendous force, almost blasting a small crater around the lightning-attracting stalagmite.

If it weren't for the protective array he had set up in advance, which weakened the power of the heavenly lightning to some extent, he would probably have suffered considerable injuries.

"Cultivating the Five Thunder Golden Body is so troublesome."

"I cultivate with the Foundation Establishment stage, and my body and flesh are already harder than iron, yet I was still cleaved in such a sorry state."

Feeling the pain in his body, Xu Zhou was somewhat puzzled as to how Li Zelei had trained back then.

Without lightning-attracting stalactites, cultivators can only rely on luck to wait for lightning during thunderstorms, and they must also pray that the lightning that strikes them will not immediately take their lives.

To be able to successfully cultivate it with his Qi Refining cultivation level, Senior Brother Li is indeed quite lucky.

In a short while, the pain in Xu Zhou's body gradually disappeared.

The recovery ability at the Foundation Establishment level is manifesting, and the damage to the meridians in the limbs is recovering at an astonishing speed.

Xu Zhou tested his body with his magic power, and his flesh and blood were almost completely restored. He could also heal any more serious injuries with his medical skills, without leaving any hidden damage.

As his injuries healed, the effects of his previous training gradually became apparent.

Xu Zhou gently clenched his fist.

The next moment, a faint, deep explosion could be heard in the air.

His eyes suddenly brightened slightly.

The effects of the Five Thunder Golden Body are stronger than I imagined.

"However, the lightning-attracting stalactite caused quite a commotion when it drew lightning. We can't cultivate in Red Maple Valley next time."

"In addition, it's not easy to wait on rainy days."

He looked up at the gradually clearing sky.

"I wonder when it will rain again."

...

Strange rumors began to circulate in the Red Leaf Market at some point.

In the past, many cultivators who came to Red Leaf Market would go to Red Maple Valley next to the market to take a look.

After all, Red Maple Valley is one of the landmarks of the market, and its scenery is loved by many. Although the cultivators who visit know that there may be Foundation Establishment seniors living there, as long as they stop at the entrance of the valley, they will not offend the seniors in the valley.

However, in recent years, some people have noticed changes in Red Maple Valley.

Outside the valley, everything was as usual, and there were even some spirit trees that had never been seen before, giving the scenery more layers.

But when everyone turned their attention to the valley, they discovered that a new area had suddenly appeared, shrouded in a thin mist.

The mist was thin and didn't even block the light.

But when the cultivators looked, they always felt that things behind the fog were not clearly visible.

Initially, the thin mist only enveloped the area around the wooden house.

But as the years passed, the fog gradually spread, almost covering half of Red Maple Valley.

Some people were puzzled by this and reported the matter to the several town guardians of the market.

However, after the Foundation Establishment elders learned of this matter, they remained silent for a moment before saying that it was nothing serious and that their subordinates should not worry about it.

This incident became a fascinating anecdote in the market. The cultivators, with their limited understanding, came up with all sorts of explanations, ranging from supernatural and bizarre to mystical.

Besides the changes in Red Maple Valley, there is another puzzling thing.

The monks who resided in Red Leaf Village noticed that, for some reason, rainy days in the area had become increasingly frequent.

Whenever it rains, no matter how heavy the rain is at first, it will eventually turn into a storm with thunder and lightning. Then the wind and rain will quickly stop and the sun will reappear.

Such a strange situation has led many to suspect that a thunder-attribute spirit has been born around the market.

Only a few Foundation Establishment cultivators vaguely sensed that this might not be an unusual phenomenon, but rather someone using lightning to cultivate.

However, each time they arrived, the other party had already fled far away, leaving them with no choice but to give up.

Over time, this incident became an interesting anecdote in the Red Leaf Market.

Three years later.

It was another thunderstorm.

As always, Xu Zhou flew out of Red Maple Valley, used his divine sense to conceal himself, found a secluded place, and used heavenly lightning to complete his cultivation.

After the dark clouds quickly dispersed, he transformed into a bolt of lightning and fled at a speed that was difficult for others to catch.

This trip went unnoticed by others.

After returning to Red Maple Valley, Xu Zhou closed his eyes and introspected, experiencing the results of this body tempering.

He raised his hand and clenched it; a faint flash of lightning appeared between his flesh and blood.

After three years of tempering by heavenly lightning, the Five Thunder Golden Body has finally reached a certain level of proficiency.

Sensing the powerful force of flesh and blood within his body, Xu Zhou felt deeply satisfied.

"The Five Thunder Golden Body technique is indeed quite ingenious. In terms of physical strength alone, ordinary Qi-refining demonic beasts probably can't hurt me."

He secretly sighed to himself, "Fortunately, I obtained a lightning-attracting stalagmite by chance; otherwise, it would have taken me many years to cultivate to my current level."

However, as his body tempering cultivation deepened, he could feel that the improvement brought about by the Heavenly Thunder Tempering began to slow down.

If you want to improve as quickly as before, you either need to practice slowly and patiently, or you need to collect some very precious lightning-attribute spiritual items.

However, he wasn't in a hurry.

The reason for cultivating the Five Thunder Golden Body is that I have plenty of time and also want to improve my self-protection abilities.

He wasn't a body-refining cultivator; his physical strength was already sufficiently refined.

In contrast, he was more concerned with improving his skills and cultivation.

However, in this respect, things are somewhat disappointing.

In the past few years, Xu Zhou's cultivation level has hardly improved.

His understanding of the "Miscellaneous Elixir Manual" has improved somewhat, but this lineage is indeed difficult. Despite his hard work, he still hasn't mastered the refining techniques for second-tier elixirs.

Thinking about how his physical cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds, while his main alchemy cultivation was still stuck at a bottleneck, he felt a little disappointed.

I thought that after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, I would learn everything much faster.

Only after truly encountering the second-tier inheritance did Xu Zhou realize that the higher one progressed in the cultivation arts, the more like a bottomless abyss it became.

Three years is still too short to make any significant progress in second-tier inheritance.

Xu Zhou regained his composure and was about to return to his room to continue studying alchemy.

Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind.

A sweep of divine sense revealed a person standing outside Red Maple Valley.

The other person looked towards the direction of the thin mist with a puzzled expression, as if they had been waiting there for some time.