Starting with being handed over to the Imperial Concubine, building a family with a thousand-year hi

For Su Mu, the biggest benefit of accepting Xiao Anxun and Xiao Anran was that the imperial aura in the palace became increasingly dense, and the speed at which he absorbed the imperial aura also increased significantly.

After lunch, Su Mu returned to the second floor of the library. Just then, Jinzi woke up, and Su Mu fed it a few more late-stage level 5 demon beast cores. Before long, Jinzi fell asleep again.

Its body was radiant with golden light, and mysterious patterns flowed across its surface. Even Su Mu was somewhat envious of its cultivation method of improving its cultivation level simply by eating and sleeping. As long as there were sufficient cultivation resources, it could continuously advance in levels, and its digestive ability was truly formidable.

Su Mu sighed in admiration, sat cross-legged on the bed, and began to examine Situ Chengjun's storage ring. The ring contained many valuable items, especially spirit stones, mostly low- and mid-grade, yet piled high like a mountain.

In addition, there were many elixirs, rare and precious herbs, and more than a dozen talismanic treasures. The Xuan Gang Sect was a powerful sect from ten thousand years ago, with a wealthy background, and was particularly generous to Situ Chengjun, who had been sealed for ten thousand years.

Su Mu examined each item one by one, looking for something useful to him, and soon found a jade tablet. This jade tablet was not a treasure, but an identity jade tablet, with the three large characters "Xuan Gang Men" and the four smaller characters "Situ Chengjun" engraved on it.

Seeing this, Su Mu understood—the one who seized the throne before was indeed not the Xiao family from ten thousand years ago, but Situ Chengjun of the Xuan Gang Sect!

With a sweep of his divine sense, Su Mu discovered that Xiao Anran was practicing her sword in the courtyard. He waved his arm, and the jade token of his identity flew out of the window and landed in Xiao Anran's hand.

Xiao Anran caught the jade pendant, examined it carefully, and soon showed a look of sudden realization. Then she hurriedly left the library to give the jade pendant to her brother.

Su Mu continued examining the contents of his storage ring, and soon took out a larger jade box. Opening the box, a silver-white stone riddled with small holes appeared before him.

The stone is irregularly oval, half a foot long and three inches high. The small holes around it flash with domineering and violent arcs of lightning. It is a Thunderstone, a rare stone of the middle grade of the Earth rank. The thunder energy it contains is very beneficial to tempering the spiritual body, but ordinary spiritual bodies simply cannot withstand it.

If Situ Chengjun's spirit were strong enough, he would have used up this Thunder Stone long ago.

"Back in the day, the Xuan Gang Sect must have had quite a few of these kinds of strange stones with different attributes!" Su Mu muttered to himself, a hint of anticipation flashing in his eyes. "That guy's spirit couldn't handle it, but mine should be able to, right?"

Su Mu was absolutely certain in his heart. He firmly believed that the strength of his spiritual body was already sufficient to control the violent energy of any earthly level, and he was not afraid in the slightest.

Looking back, he had used a low-grade Earth-rank Dragon Blood Fruit as a catalyst to break free from the shackles of his mortal body and transform into a flawless spiritual body. Subsequently, he consumed three mid-grade Earth-rank Kunling True Fire Pills, which transformed his originally docile acquired essence fire into a domineering golden fire capable of burning everything. For the next few months, he used this golden fire to temper his spiritual body day and night. Every inch of his spiritual veins was soaked in the fire's energy, and every wisp of spiritual breath was nourished by the fire's might. Now, the strength of his spiritual body far surpasses that of other True Martial Realm experts of the same rank, and he can even withstand the direct impact of a high-grade Earth-rank treasure, making him indestructible.

Thunderstone and Kunling True Fire Pill are both of the middle grade of Earth rank, but the Thunderstone energy it contains is several times more violent than the medicinal power of the True Fire Pill, and its purity is even greater. It is a violent power that is extremely strong and yang, carrying an aura of destruction. If you are not careful, your spiritual body will collapse and your cultivation will be completely ruined.

Su Mu showed no fear. His spirit body had been tempered by the golden fire and was already as hard as black iron. Even if he faced the impact of the thunder energy, he was confident that he could tame it and turn it into part of his own combat power.

Su Mu raised his hand and flipped it, and the meteorite puppet appeared instantly. Its cold, metallic body landed with a loud clang, making the ground tremble slightly. He said in a deep voice, "Stand guard outside the library. No one is allowed to approach. Anyone who dares to trespass will be killed without exception!"

A crimson light flashed in the eyes of the meteorite puppet. It bowed slightly to accept the order and walked heavily toward the gate. The chilling killing intent emanating from its body was so oppressive that it was enough to make anyone who dared to approach it hesitate and not dare to overstep its bounds.

After making the necessary arrangements, Su Mu sat cross-legged on the jade bed in the secret chamber of the library, his eyes slightly closed, focusing his mind on regulating his breathing. In a short while, his aura became as steady as a deep pool, reaching its peak state. Then, he slowly raised his hand, and golden true fire slowly overflowed from his fingertips, like a lively fire sprite, carefully enveloping the jade box and gently lifting the Thunder Stone inside.

With a low growl, Su Mu instantly activated the exclusive breathing technique of the "Imperial Supreme Body Technique," causing the airflow around him to become turbulent and the golden true fire to blaze even brighter, illuminating the entire secret chamber as if it were daytime. Su Mu slowly closed his eyes, officially beginning the absorption of thunderous energy.

Sizzle—

A piercing electric shock instantly resounded throughout the secret chamber. Streams of dazzling white lightning arcs surged forth from the fine pores on the surface of the lightning stone, like thunderbolts breaking free from their restraints. They first wrapped around Su Mu's fingertips, then spread rapidly up his arm, enveloping his entire body in the blink of an eye, forming a dazzling cocoon of lightning.

Golden flames and dazzling white lightning intertwined and swirled around him, the light so blinding that it was impossible to look directly at him. The air in the secret chamber was scorched and distorted violently, and the violent energy fluctuations spread out like ripples on water. If it weren't for the powerful restrictions placed on the library, this fluctuation would have already alarmed the entire imperial city and attracted countless prying eyes.

The lightning energy surged into Su Mu's body like a raging torrent, rushing through his pores. Wherever it passed, his spiritual meridians were violently eroded, and every inch of his flesh was subjected to extreme impact, as if it were about to be torn apart.

Even though Su Mu's spiritual body was already incredibly powerful, he could hardly bear this excruciating pain—his whole body was both aching and numb, as if countless tiny lightning blades were simultaneously piercing every inch of his skin and every wisp of his spiritual breath, and even his primordial spirit was trembling slightly, almost collapsing.

He knew in his heart that the domineering nature of the Thunder Force energy lay not only in its unparalleled ferocity, but also in the destructive properties it contained. Once out of control, the spirit body would be completely torn apart by the Thunder Force, and the results of years of hard work would be wasted, leaving no chance for recovery.

To stabilize the situation and allow the lightning energy to better integrate into his spiritual body, Su Mu casually flipped his hand, and several Milk Marrow Pills fell into his palm, which he swallowed directly. The pills dissolved instantly upon entering his stomach, and their warm medicinal power spread throughout his body, nourishing his spiritual body that had been ravaged by the lightning, slightly relieving the excruciating pain, and allowing him to better control the violent energy within his body.

Every half hour, he would take out a Water Spirit Fruit or Jade Crystal and consume it—these high-grade spiritual essences could further nourish the spiritual body, stabilize the spiritual veins, ensure that the spiritual body would not suffer any damage under the continuous scouring of thunder energy, and also accelerate the refining speed of thunder energy.

Su Mu always planned carefully before acting and acted prudently. If he hadn't made thorough preparations and had complete confidence in his spiritual body, he would never have rashly touched the Thunderstone, such a domineering and unparalleled natural treasure, risking his cultivation and life.