Battle Through the Heavens: Starting with Cao Ying as an apprentice

“It’s hard to explain,” he finally said, a rare hint of confusion in his voice.

"But I know that the more I improve everything to the point where I can't improve any further, the greater my chances of becoming an emperor will be."

"So all I can do is make myself stronger and be prepared to deal with whatever comes along the way."

He turned around, the moonlight outlining the profile of his face: "Battle Qi, Soul Power, Laws—I'm nearing the peak of these three. My body still needs one last tempering."

"Refining?" Cai Lin frowned.

“Yes.” A sharp glint flashed in Su Baichen’s eyes.

"The Void Thunder Pool, guarded by the Ancient Dragon Clan of the Void, gathers the most violent thunder power in the world—the Black Demon Thunder, and even the legendary Nine Profound Golden Thunder that appears only once every thousand years. I need to use that power to temper my body to the level of a high-level Dou Sheng."

Black Demon Lightning! Nine Profound Golden Lightning!

Cai Lin's breath hitched. As the inheritor of the Nine-Colored Sky-Swallowing Python's bloodline, she knew better than anyone what these lightning bolts meant.

That is the manifestation of the laws of heaven and earth, a destructive power that could annihilate even eighth- or ninth-order magical beasts.

Now, her husband says he wants to actively immerse himself in them and use them to "temper his body."

"It must be very painful?" she heard herself ask, her voice as soft as a sigh.

Su Baichen smiled, a very faint smile, so faint that it was almost invisible, but Cai Lin caught it—it was the smile he would only show in front of her, a smile devoid of all sharpness.

The two words, "It's worth it," carry immense weight.

Then he walked back, knelt down in front of her, and took her hand.

This gesture brought tears to Cai Lin's eyes. Her husband, the man who would soon decide the fate of the continent, was now squatting in front of her, looking up at her, just like when they first met many years ago.

The only difference was that I was squatting while he was standing.

"I'm sorry," Cai Lin suddenly said, tears welling up without warning.

"I can't help you with anything. You're carrying so much all by yourself, and all I can do is stay here..."

"You've already given birth to Ling'er for me," Su Baichen interrupted her, his thumb gently wiping the corner of her eye.

"That's the greatest help to me. Cailin, do you know? You, Ling'er, Xuanyi, whenever I think of you, I know I have to persevere."

“You are not a burden to me, you are my reason—the reason I must win.”

Cai Lin could no longer hold back and threw herself into his arms.

Su Baichen held her in his arms, feeling the fabric of his clothes on her shoulders soaked with tears. He gently patted her back, as if comforting a child.

"I'm so lucky," Cai Lin said, choking back tears in his arms.

"Me too," Su Baichen replied softly.

From an angle where Cai Lin couldn't see, Su Baichen closed his eyes and sensed the presence of the system.

He silently calculated in his mind: battle aura, soul, laws, physique... When all of these reach their true peak, when he has honed himself to the point where he can no longer make any further progress—

The "reward for reaching the Battle Saint stage" granted by the system can be compressed to its limit, targeting a single objective.

The source of the Emperor's Qi.

That was his last trump card, and also the source of his confidence to challenge the Soul Emperor.

The Soul Emperor risked the lives of his entire clan to obtain a single Emperor-grade pill; while he frantically improved himself in exchange for a chance to break through.

"I will go to the Void Thunder Pool in three days," Su Baichen whispered in Cai Lin's ear.

"The alliance is in your hands for now. Be careful of any unusual movements from the Soul Clan, but don't worry too much—the Soul Emperor should be focusing all his energy on acquiring the ancient jade."

Cai Lin lifted her head from his embrace, her eyes still red, but her gaze had regained its former firmness: "I will protect this place, you... you must come back."

"I promise you." Su Baichen kissed her forehead.

(PS: Regarding the Half-Emperor realm, the author believes that it was a chance encounter where a late-stage Nine-Star Dou Sheng expert forcibly broke through and obtained some Dou Di methods or abilities.)

Furthermore, the author believes that most of those who break through to the Dou Di level are late-stage Nine-Star Dou Sheng who broke through using the Origin Qi of the Emperor.

Chapter 376 Luck!

Inside the main hall of Ancient Dragon Island, Zhu Kun, the emperor of the Taixu Ancient Dragon Clan, sat on his throne, his gaze as deep as an abyss, staring at the outstanding young man standing in the hall.

"You want to use the lightning in the Void Thunder Pool to temper your body?" Zhu Kun's voice was deep and resonant, echoing in the empty hall, carrying a hint of barely perceptible surprise.

"Yes." Su Baichen nodded slightly, his gaze calmly meeting Zhu Kun's eyes, his voice clear and firm.

"Now, the only place on the continent that can help my body break through the shackles and take another step forward is this Void Thunder Pool."

Zhu Kun tapped the armrest of the throne lightly with his fingers, producing a dull tapping sound.

He naturally knew that Su Baichen's physique had already reached the mid-level Dou Sheng realm, and its strength was enough to withstand the full force of many experts of the same level.

That's why he understands Su Baichen's current predicament even better.

The path of physical cultivation has always been the most clumsy, arduous, yet also the most practical one.

Unlike the cultivation of battle qi, which can be achieved through the power of elixirs, the cultivation of the soul realm, which can be achieved by devouring the origin of the soul, and the cultivation of the laws, which can be achieved by receiving guidance from predecessors, there are almost no shortcuts to tempering the body.

Aside from some rare and top-tier body-refining techniques, the only option is to seek out the most yang and strong or the most yin and cold energies in the world, using the body as the embryo and suffering as the hammer, to undergo repeated and brutal tempering that leads to destruction and rebirth.

The process is so slow, like water dripping through stone; the pain is so intense, it's like scraping bone and piercing the heart.

This is why there are very few people on the Dou Qi Continent who specialize in this path; most of them only use it as an aid to Dou Qi cultivation.

After a moment of contemplation, Zhu Kun slowly spoke: "Agreed."

His gaze shifted to a certain direction outside the hall, a complex expression of helplessness and doting flashing across his dignified face: "Let that girl Ziyan take you there."

“These days, her mind has already wandered away, always thinking about... running towards the White Dust Realm.”

Finally, he gave Su Baichen a meaningful look.

Su Baichen could naturally hear the subtle "accountability" implied in the Dragon Emperor's words, so he could only touch his nose and give a slightly embarrassed smile.

…………

The Void Thunder Pool is located deep within Ancient Dragon Island, a forbidden land sealed off by layers of spatial power.

This place is like a wound in the world, where violent spatial turbulence and extremely yin and evil void energy merge together, and finally, a powerful lightning source gives birth to this eternally indestructible lake of thunder.

Even before you get really close, you can feel that world-destroying aura.

What lay before them was no longer an ordinary sight, but a vast, boundless "lake" entirely composed of lightning!

Zi Yan led Su Baichen to a steep cliff at the edge of the Thunder Pool. She pointed to the thunderous inferno ahead, a hint of fear flashing in her eyes, but more so with worry for Su Baichen: "Boss, this is it! You...you must be careful!"

"The lightning inside is terrifying, especially that golden lightning bolt, it's the most powerful!"

"I understand, don't worry." Su Baichen smiled gently at her, a smile that reassured her.

Without much hesitation, he took a deep breath of the scorching air filled with lightning energy, then took a step forward, his figure disappearing into the boundless lightning without any frills.

"Swoosh—Boom!"

Hearing the thunder and lightning inside, Zi Yan's heart jumped into her throat, and her little hands unconsciously clenched tightly.

Just then, the space around her rippled slightly, and the figures of Zhu Kun and Jiang Mingyue quietly appeared.

"Mother! Father!" Zi Yan felt as if she had found her pillar of support and immediately moved closer, but her gaze remained fixed on the blurry figure in the sea of ​​lightning that was gradually being swallowed up by the lightning.

"What is the boss going to do inside? He didn't even set up any protective aura, just went in to take it all by himself, what if he..."

"Hmph!" Zhu Kun snorted, staring at the brat's arrogant back in the sea of ​​lightning. The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. He couldn't help but lower his voice and mutter, "That damn brat, he'd better let the black demon lightning strike him a few more times and make him stupid!"

"Father! What nonsense are you talking about!" Zi Yan immediately turned her head angrily like a little dragon whose tail had been stepped on, her beautiful purple eyes wide open, glaring at her father.

"Tch!" Zhu Kun was a little embarrassed when his daughter glared at him, but the bitterness in his heart was growing stronger.

Seeing his daughter's undisguised nervousness and concern for that boy, the old father felt a tightness in his chest, and even the thunderbolt seemed more pleasing to the eye—strike hard! Strike with all your might!

Jiang Mingyue took in the interaction between the father and daughter, and couldn't help but smile. She reached out and gently stroked her daughter's soft hair, teasingly saying, "Oh my, let me see, whose little dragon girl is this? She's so worried about her lover that her brows are all furrowed up?"

Zi Yan's cheeks flushed crimson in an instant. She lowered her head in embarrassment, her toes unconsciously grinding against the pebbles on the ground, the sound barely audible.

"Mother! I...I didn't...I just...After all, the eldest brother did it for..."

"Oh~ Mother misspoke!" Jiang Mingyue's smile deepened, filled with a knowing cunning, as she gently pinched her daughter's burning earlobe with her fingertips.

"He's not a lover, he's the future husband that our Ziyan personally chose and approved, right?"

"Mother!! You're teasing me again! I'm not talking to you anymore!" Zi Yan couldn't stand such blatant teasing.

The power of space around her fluctuated violently. She left behind a coquettish voice with a trembling tone, and her figure blurred instantly. She used spatial teleportation to "escape" without a trace.

After the daughter left in shame, only the howling thunder and faint rumble remained on the cliff.

Jiang Mingyue's playful smile slowly faded. She looked at her husband beside her, then turned her gaze back to the vast ocean of thunder that seemed capable of swallowing everything, and calmly asked, "Did he venture into the Thunder Pool to temper his body with the power of thunder?"

Zhu Kun stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze deep, and nodded: "Hmm, using the most yang and most powerful destructive lightning in the world as a hammer to forge himself and pursue the immortality of the physical body... This boy's willpower and ruthlessness towards himself are truly rare."

He paused, his tone becoming somewhat distant: "Mingyue, now that I think about it, I'm starting to believe what you said back then—that he was a person of great fortune."

"Oh?" Jiang Mingyue raised an eyebrow and looked at her husband.

Zhu Kun slowly said, "We have both lived through long years and have seen countless people of extraordinary talent."

"But have you ever seen any human being who, in less than a hundred years, has made such astonishing progress in all four areas—battle qi, soul power, physical physique, and even the understanding of laws—and reached such terrifying heights in each?"

“I have read through all the records of unparalleled geniuses of the human race in the clan’s secret archives, and I have also recalled what I have seen and heard over the past thousands of years. There has never been a second person like him… who is so illogical, yet seems to be the most natural thing in the world.”

"His rise to power seemed fraught with peril, yet he always managed to escape from the brink of disaster and seize the greatest opportunities, as if he were truly blessed by some great fortune."

He turned his head, his eyes flashing with a sharp light: "In the past, I always felt that fate and destiny were ethereal and unreal."

"But looking at Su Baichen... he himself might be an 'anomaly,' a manifestation of destiny."

"If our ancient dragon clan wants to stand firm in the great era to come, perhaps... we really need to borrow his 'momentum'."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Mingyue's lips curled into a satisfied, slightly proud smile.

She gazed into the depths of the sea of ​​lightning, as if she could see through the thousands of lightning bolts and reach that figure.

"Hmph, now you know how good my daughter and I are at judging people? That girl Ziyan may be a bit impulsive, but she inherited my sharp eye for people, it's really ruthless."

Looking at his wife's profile, which bore a striking resemblance to his daughter's, and hearing their identical proud tone, Zhu Kun couldn't help but smile with a mixture of helplessness and indulgence. He sighed softly, "Yes, that stubbornness, that determination to go all the way once you've made up your mind, isn't it just like you when you were young?"

The couple fell silent, standing side by side atop the cliff, watching that figure!