"All I remember is that the consciousness of Sword God Valley's ancestor, Murong Feng, possessed the body of the Sword God Valley Old Ancestor. After that, everything becomes hazy."
Chu Feng was trying to piece together the fragmented memories in his mind, but they kept freezing at the moment the Sword God Valley Old Ancestor had been possessed—his cultivation soaring from the sixth level of Heaven Martial to the seventh. Everything after that was blank.
"Chu Feng, I think you need to know what happened. Maybe it will give you a deeper understanding of your own strength." Seeing his confusion, Zi Ling didn't keep him in suspense. Instead, she recounted everything that had followed, in full detail.
"No way—you're saying I single-handedly destroyed Sword God Valley?" Even Chu Feng was stunned after hearing the whole story.
"No. More accurately, you obliterated everything within a thousand-li radius of Sword God Valley," Zi Ling said gravely.
*Gulp.* Even Chu Feng couldn't help but swallow hard. A thousand li—that was an immense stretch of land. Even flying at top speed on the Nine Heavens Dragon Tread would take a considerable amount of time to cross it.
And according to Zi Ling, he had done it all in a single strike, reducing that vast territory to utter ruin. He could fully imagine just how terrifying that kind of power was.
But Chu Feng didn't doubt a word of it. He believed everything Zi Ling told him, because the golden lightning and the blue lightning she described were precisely the powers he now wielded. The reason he was so shaken was that, while he had always known the Divine Thunder inside him must be formidable, he had never imagined it could reach such an unbelievable degree.
"Oh, and Chu Feng—take these. I believe once you refine them, you should be able to break through." As she spoke, Zi Ling produced her Universe Bag and handed it to him.
"Zi Ling, what is this?!" After opening the Universe Bag, Chu Feng was startled once more. It was packed full with Mystic Pearls—more than five million of them.
"That day, when you destroyed Sword God Valley, you also inadvertently blasted open the treasury that had been buried deep underground, shattering the seals along with it."
"After that, I asked Senior Brother Zhang to take the treasures we couldn't use and sell them off, converting everything into cultivation resources you could refine. These Mystic Pearls represent everything Sword God Valley had," Zi Ling explained.
"Then what about Senior Brother Zhang? I can't take all of these Mystic Pearls for myself," Chu Feng said.
"Senior Brother Zhang practices a Forbidden Mystic Art, just like me, so he has little need for cultivation resources. Besides, he's always felt that if it weren't for you, we all would have died that day. So he refused to take a single Mystic Pearl. Just refine them in peace and break through to the seventh level of Xuan Martial as quickly as you can—that's the only way to save Sisters Su Rou and Su Mei," Zi Ling said.
Glancing at Su Rou and Su Mei sealed within the barrier formation nearby, Chu Feng stopped hesitating. He tucked the Universe Bag away. With this many Mystic Pearls, he was confident the breakthrough to the seventh level of Xuan Martial was well within reach.
After storing the Mystic Pearls, Chu Feng didn't rush to refine them. Instead, he went first to see his family, letting them know he had recovered so they wouldn't worry any longer.
Sure enough, when everyone saw that Chu Feng had awakened, they all breathed a long sigh of relief, their anxious hearts finally settling at ease.
To celebrate Chu Feng's recovery, Zhang Tianyi specifically left the Myriad Bones Graveyard to gather a lavish spread of delicacies. Once he brought them back, Chu Yue and the others cooked everything up into an incredibly sumptuous feast, and the whole group enjoyed a wonderful meal together.
After dinner, drowsiness suddenly washed over Zi Ling, and she fell asleep right in Chu Feng's arms.
Looking down at Zi Ling nestled against him, Chu Feng's heart ached with tenderness. For two full months, she had barely closed her eyes while nursing him back to health. Even an iron constitution couldn't endure that.
"Chu Feng, so now you finally know how powerful the Divine Thunder inside you is. That day, even I—the great Queen—was startled by you. That kind of power shouldn't be something someone at your level of cultivation could unleash."
At long last, Egg Egg, who had been silent for quite some time, spoke up. Though Chu Feng had been out of his mind that day, Egg Egg had remained fully conscious and had witnessed the entire scene clearly.
"Egg Egg, do you know how I actually managed to unleash the Divine Thunder's power?"
"Is there some method that would let me control it?" Chu Feng pressed eagerly. He truly wanted to master that heaven-and-earth-destroying force.
"To be honest, I don't know either. Based on what happened, it seemed like that old fossil from Sword God Valley had laid a hand on your Zi Ling, sending you into a towering rage suffused with killing intent—and that was when the Divine Thunder's power erupted."
"You also said some pretty wild things, though I doubt you remember any of it. So my analysis gives two possibilities," Egg Egg said.
"What possibilities?" Chu Feng asked.
"First possibility: Zi Ling is simply too important to the current you. She's so important that you won't tolerate anyone harming her. It was that desperate impulse to protect her that awakened the Divine Thunder's power."
"Second possibility: the Divine Thunder was the one controlling you—at the very least, its power influenced your emotions. Otherwise, you wouldn't have suddenly started spouting those wildly ambitious words," Egg Egg said.
"So what should I do?" Chu Feng asked.
"If it's the second, then all you can do is wait. The Divine Thunder might truly possess a will of its own, like a Secret Technique. When you'll be able to fully harness its power depends entirely on when it chooses to fully accept you."
"If it's the first, that's a bit easier to handle—just let your Zi Ling take some more damage to provoke your fury. But I'm guessing you love her so much now that you'd never agree to hurt her for the sake of power?" Egg Egg giggled, sounding as though she had long seen through Chu Feng.
"Of course not. How could I ever harm Zi Ling just to gain power?" Chu Feng refused immediately, his expression turning grim, as if the very suggestion were a taboo.
"Mm, good. That's more like the Chu Feng I know. A man should never hurt his woman for the sake of power. If you actually did that, I'd respect you far less."
"Besides, that's only one theory. Compared to the first possibility, I actually think the second is far more likely. How much of the Divine Thunder's power you can wield is something it decides on its own."
"Of course, you could try to comprehend it by yourself, but your current level of insight is what it is. If you want to gain a deeper grasp of the Divine Thunder's power, you'll need the old method—a catalyst."
"Zi Ling's Heavenly Gifted Power would be the perfect catalyst. If you and your Zi Ling were to consummate your relationship—share your first night as lovers—it might allow you to draw something new from the Divine Thunder."
"But whether or not it would actually work is still just a guess. It's all unknown. In the end, if you want to become stronger, it all comes down to you," Egg Egg said with a cheerful laugh.
"I will become stronger," Chu Feng said firmly. "But I will never put Zi Ling in a difficult position, and I will never, ever hurt her."