The Heavenly Thunder spiritual power flowed within Mo Qi's body, and since thunder and fire were complementary, the spiritual fire within him was also nourished by a certain power, slowly improving.
Mo Qi continuously circulated his energy, and time slowly passed.
After his Heavenly Thunder spiritual power improved, he felt that his other divine abilities also showed signs of advancement, so he cultivated the Phoenix Fire Dance Art and the Sun Chasing Star Plucking Art, among other divine abilities.
By taking spiritual power pills as an aid, his cultivation also advanced, nearing the late stage of tribulation transcendence.
However, there always seemed to be a bottleneck. He took another Beast Soul Pill, but still couldn't break through.
Such things couldn't be forced, so he had to forcibly cease his practice and walked out of the Thunder Marsh.
By this time, three months had passed.
At the exit, above was the convergence of myriad thunders, and below was a mountain. Within the mountain was an extremely narrow cave. To leave the Thunder Marsh, one could only pass through this cave.
The cave was extremely deep and dark. Upon entering, one felt a bone-chilling cold.
He looked into the depths; it was pitch black, and he couldn't see anything.
He shone a luminous spirit stone, but it couldn't penetrate the darkness. It seemed that not only the night enveloped the earth, but also a strange black curtain.
Mo Qi couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive. If some demonic beasts were hidden inside, wouldn't he be easily devoured?
To be safe, it was better to probe with a stone.
He had no stones, so he would use arrow energy instead.
Thus, he flicked his fingers, sending several streams of arrow energy into the darkness.
"Ah!" "Ah!"...
Several screams echoed from the darkness!
Had he accidentally injured someone?
Mo Qi felt greatly guilty and immediately dashed forward: "Who is it? Who is injured?"
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."
"But it's alright, I have healing pills. No matter how severe your injuries are, I can heal you."
However, the only reply he received was his own echo.
He couldn't help but feel a jolt: "Could it be that I killed them."
He quickened his pace and rushed forward.
He walked all the way out of the cave without seeing a single figure.
There were traces of blood on the ground, extending into the distance.
Escaped?
It was then that Mo Qi realized it wasn't an accidental injury at all.
Someone had ambushed him in the cave, intending to kill him, but he had inadvertently killed them instead.
He followed the bloodstains to see who wanted his life.
Mo Qi pursued without hesitation, but after not chasing for long, the bloodstains disappeared. It seemed the other party had sensed him and deliberately cleaned the bloodstains, or employed some method to prevent the blood from flowing onto the ground.
"Alas!" Mo Qi sighed.
If he didn't find out who wanted to kill him, he would have to be on guard at all times, making life difficult!
In the South Sea Dragon Palace, within the magnificent palace, Xiao Bai, clad in resplendent attire, adorned with pearls and jewels, radiated with brilliance, embodying the height of luxury and beauty. She headed towards her father's royal residence.
She hadn't returned for over a decade and suddenly felt a sense of alienation.
It was as if she didn't belong here in the first place.
She longed to leave every day.
Her visit to the Dragon King at this time was to bid farewell, preparing to travel to the East Sea Dragon Palace.
The East Sea Dragon King was a generation senior to the other three Dragon Kings. The fathers of the other three Dragon Kings were his brothers, and they had all passed away.
As for him, having broken through to the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm, he possessed a lifespan of 108,000 years and was currently in his prime.
Due to his long lifespan, he knew many things.
When she was young, Xiao Bai often had a dream where a little boy in an abyss cried out for her help. Each time she reached out to pull him, she would suddenly wake up!
As she grew a little older, she dreamt of a handsome young man whose face she couldn't quite make out. They were inseparable, watching the sun rise and set together, promising eternal love. But in a flash, the handsome young man would disappear. Each time, she would wake up calling out his name, tears streaming from her eyes.
Once, when she recounted this dream to everyone, her grand-uncle, the East Sea Dragon King, told her that this must be a memory from her past life, and that her past life was precisely his daughter, Ao Xing!
At the time, she thought her grand-uncle was joking and dismissed it with a laugh.
However, later, besides her dreams, sometimes even during the day, images would surface in her mind, so vivid that she increasingly felt the East Sea Dragon King was not lying.
If she had a past life, she wanted to know what she had experienced.
Therefore, she wanted to go to the East Sea Dragon Palace to verify if his words matched her dreams. If they coincided, then she truly was Ao Xing from her past life, and her grand-uncle would surely know who the person in her dreams was.
The last time she intended to go to the East Sea to see the East Sea Dragon King, an accident occurred, delaying her for over a decade.
This time, she felt her journey was imperative.
But when she mentioned it to her father earlier, the South Sea Dragon King said she had just returned and should rest for a while, putting other matters aside. He hadn't allowed her to leave, and furthermore, she had been severely reprimanded for unauthorized troop deployment, let alone going out.
Now, several months had passed, and she hoped his anger had subsided, and he would agree to her going out.
As she approached the Dragon King's royal residence, she heard a voice: "Uncle, I heard Xing'er has returned, so I came specifically to see her. We haven't seen each other for over a decade."
"Indeed," the Dragon King's voice replied. "You haven't visited the South Sea Dragon Palace since Xing'er went missing."
"Ah, well, not exactly..."
Xiao Bai's brow furrowed. It was Ji Kuang, the son of the Black Sea Black Dragon King.
He had been relentlessly pestering her. Had so much time passed, and he still hadn't given up?
She didn't want to see him!
Fine, she couldn't bid farewell to her father. She would just leave directly!
With that thought, Xiao Bai quietly turned and walked out of the Dragon Palace!
Mo Qi returned to his room. As soon as he entered, Linghu Xiao Xian arrived.
She said it was the day for Dao discussion and that she was invited by her father to attend the Dao discussion gathering.
She also added: "If it weren't for my father's repeated pleas, I wouldn't go."
Mo Qi chuckled: "Did your father mention anything else?"
Linghu Xiao Xian immediately blushed.
Linghu Zhong had indeed told her other things, and she knew exactly what he was referring to.
But how could such matters be spoken by a girl?
"What matter?" Linghu Xiao Xian asked, feigning ignorance.
"You don't know? It seems he forgot," Mo Qi said with a pout.
This blockhead...
Linghu Xiao Xian felt like stomping on his foot again!
At this moment, Mo Qi said, "Then let's go. We're going to the Dao discussion."
He was just glossing over it?
Not mentioning it further?
Linghu Xiao Xian gritted her teeth in anger, her almond eyes wide: "You..."
Mo Qi looked somewhat bewildered: "What's wrong? You don't want to go anymore? If you don't want to go, I'll still go alone."
"Who said I don't want to go? Let's go!" Linghu Xiao Xian said fiercely.
Then, Mo Qi and Linghu Xiao Xian walked side by side towards the Dao discussion platform.
Linghu Xiao Xian explained the matters related to the Dao discussion gathering to Mo Qi along the way.
The Dao discussion gathering was divided into two parts. The first was everyone gathering on the Dao discussion platform to flatter each other, summarize gains and losses over the year, and share insights from cultivation.
The second part was entering the Ascension Secret Realm to obtain cultivation resources, where everyone would rely on their own abilities, with more effort yielding more.
The Dao discussion platform was built on a mountain, divided into three tiers, each tier representing a different status.
The highest tier had only one seat, generally occupied by elder-level figures.
The middle tier was the seat for the Sect Master! There were ten seats!
The lowest tier was for others, with over a hundred seats!
Among the younger generation, there were no elder-level figures. In the past, everyone unanimously nominated Liang Sanjin, who was "virtuous and esteemed," to occupy the highest seat.
Liang Sanjin was the son of Elder Liang, the Sect Master of the Pear Blossom Sect, and had already reached the seventh level of Human Immortal cultivation. He was indeed an outstanding figure among the younger generation.
He was arrogant and overbearing, always liking to put other sect masters beneath him in casual interactions, not even respecting Linghu Zhong.
Of course, although he belonged to the younger generation like Linghu Xiao Xian, in terms of seniority, he was actually of the same generation as Linghu Zhong.
A phrase he often uttered was: "This position of Sect Master should have been mine long ago."
Within the Pear Blossom Sect, he acted with impunity and made decisions unilaterally. Everything was decided by him, and no one dared to utter a word of dissent.
Several sect masters, such as Tan Zai Huan, the Sect Master of the Plum Blossom Sect, Zhang Sheng He, the Sect Master of the Peony Sect, and Ju Ren, the Sect Master of the Chrysanthemum Sect, were disciples who had been promoted from outer disciples to inner disciples. Their sects were not the Sun Moon Sect, nor were they from the Sun Moon Sect's cultivation families, so they lacked deeply rooted backgrounds.
These individuals usually fawned over him and followed his lead.
Additionally, there were several other sect masters whose sects were the Sun Moon Sect, but their strength was far inferior to his, and they also obeyed his every command.
Therefore, this Dao discussion gathering, rather than being a Dao discussion, was more like a one-man performance.
On the Dao discussion platform, everyone flattered him, praising his handsomeness, his talent, and the great achievements he had made for the Sun Moon Sect over the year.
In the Ascension Secret Realm, although everyone would compete for resources, most people, after obtaining them, would contribute the majority to Liang Sanjin, keeping only a small portion for themselves.
In previous years' Dao discussion gatherings, Linghu Xiao Xian did not participate, as both she and Liang Sanjin were arrogant and overbearing, neither willing to yield to the other.
Moreover, Liang Sanjin was a man who showed no mercy to women, so Linghu Xiao Xian always suffered losses, unable to obtain anything in the Ascension Secret Realm. Later, she stopped attending.
However, this time, when Linghu Zhong mentioned that Mo Qi would participate, she agreed without a second thought.
Linghu Xiao Xian also informed him that those who attended the Dao discussion gathering did not represent the full strength of the Sun Moon Sect.
There were many young people like her who did not participate, and their strength was not weak.
The Sun Moon Sect was a place where dragons lay hidden and tigers dwelled. Many people might not have appeared for a long time, but when they did, they would surprise you greatly.
There were also many who were undisciplined, did not seek fame or fortune, and never participated in such activities, but their strength was not to be underestimated, with some even surpassing Liang Sanjin.
Liang Sanjin had been itching for a fight upon hearing that Mo Qi would participate.
He had also heard about the humiliation his father had suffered.
He had also learned the details of the incident and understood one thing: it wasn't that his father couldn't defeat Mo Qi, but rather that his father wanted to fight Mo Qi, Mo Qi refused to fight, and then his father got tired.
Therefore, it was clear that Mo Qi wasn't truly formidable; he had simply exploited the elder's weakness!
Truly despicable, shameless, and vulgar!
This was an irreconcilable hatred!
He had to get revenge!