Half a year later.

In the Stealing Heaven Tripod Space, Yuan Ming sat cross-legged on the ground beside an altar, with the Night Parade of Hundred Demons floating above his head, slowly rotating, as twelve soul crows circled and danced around him.

These soul crows, both in speed and agility, were much stronger than before.

Yuan Ming abruptly opened his eyes and raised a hand to give a light wave.

The twelve soul crows cried out in unison, but the black sound waves of the past did not appear. Instead, the space nearby suddenly revealed a boundless grassland, with lush grass and towering trees, complete with sounds of birds and beasts roaring from afar, no different from reality.

Yuan Ming took out the Soul Destroying Sword with a flip of his hand and slashed.

A sword qi tens of yards long viciously cleaved the nearby void. The Illusion Space trembled slightly but immediately returned to stability.

"Fusing the Illusion Power of the All Living Beings Dream Rune with the Crow Formation turned out to be quite difficult. It took me half a year to achieve it, but the result is worthy of my efforts. Not only is the casting more concealed, but the Illusion Space has also become much more stable. Even if the Sleeping Witch were trapped, it would be hard to get out in a short period," Yuan Ming was very satisfied with the power of the Illusion Space before him.

If he used the power of the White Jade Lotus Platform as well, not even the Sleeping Witch could hope to escape from here.

Yuan Ming checked the other aspects of the Illusion Space and was very pleased with all of them.

He unraveled the Illusion Space to return to the Stealing Heaven Tripod, preparing to leave when his expression suddenly shifted. He picked up a Spiritual Beast Bag from his waist.

The Spiritual Beast Bag bulged, its surface flickering with faint purple arcs of electricity.

"After such a long time, has it finally made a breakthrough?" Seeing this, Yuan Ming's face lit up with joy.

The occupant of the Spiritual Beast Bag was Lei Yu, who had endured three months of arduous cultivation within Shura Palace, absorbing the power of thunder and lightning for the same duration.

The Thunder Seal, a treasure of Nascent Soul cultivators, contained immensely powerful thunder and lightning energy. Although it wasn't as pure as the thunder and lightning from the Thunder God Hammer, it was certainly enough for Lei Yu, whose strength soared rapidly, reaching the Second Rank Upper Stage.

Lei Yu was Yuan Ming's mount. Since Shura Palace was hard to relocate, he had placed Lei Yu into the Spiritual Beast Bag upon leaving the palace and let it continue to absorb the Power of thunder and lightning from the Thunder Seal.

Seeing the situation now, it seemed to be on the cusp of another advancement, breaking into the third level.

The demon power of a third-level spirit beast was no small matter. The Spiritual Beast Bag couldn't support it; taking Lei Yu to somewhere near Evergreen Island for breakthrough would certainly not go unnoticed.

Even if he managed to cover it up, he couldn't guarantee there wouldn't be slip-ups, which could lead to unnecessary troubles.

Yuan Ming pondered for a moment, then once again stimulated the All Living Beings Dream Rune and the Crow Formation. The environment inside Stealing Heaven Tripod Space transformed dramatically, turning into a vast sea area, with salty sea breezes and waves crashing rhythmically.

He urged the Spiritual Beast Bag, and Lei Yu's figure appeared in mid-air, surrounded by a dense cluster of black thunderclouds, with blinding arcs of electricity darting within, producing terrifying roars.

From the aura of demon energy emanating from Lei Yu, it indeed had reached the peak of the second level, fluctuating violently, ready to break through to the third level realm at any moment.

The Thunder Seal also floated within the black thunderclouds, continuing to release threads of pure thunder and lightning.

After such a long period of absorption, the Power of thunder and lightning within the Thunder Seal had been consumed by more than half, but it was still enough to support Lei Yu's breakthrough.

Yuan Ming waved his hands, and the Spiritual Energy in the space slowly flowed, converging towards Lei Yu bit by bit.

He had begun to refine Stealing Heaven Tripod, enabling him to slightly control the Spiritual Power contained within this space.

Time ticked away, and soon most of the day had passed. Lei Yu's demon energy was still rising and falling dramatically, but it couldn't make the breakthrough to the third level.

"Why is it like this? Could it be that the Spiritual Energy in Stealing Heaven Tripod Space is insufficient?" Yuan Ming furrowed his brow.

The Stealing Heaven Tripod Space was not large, and the Spiritual Energy it contained was not particularly dense, which indeed was not conducive to breakthroughs.

However, he quickly came up with an idea and took out an item with a flip of his hand. It was the Third-level Peak Thunder Attribute Demon Core he had obtained from Cha Yancai's storage magic tool, and he threw it into the black clouds.

Not only did this Demon Core contain powerful Power of thunder and lightning, but it also contained pure demon energy, making it very suitable for the current situation.

In the Cultivation World, it was a common practice for spirit beasts facing a bottleneck in strength to use a Demon Core of the same attribute to assist with breakthroughs.

Lei Yu let out a joyous chirp, grasped the Demon Core in its mouth, and swallowed it down to refine the demon energy within.

The demon energy inside the black clouds quickly became denser. The Power of thunder and lightning surged once more, and ordinary lightning began to show dazzling golden arcs.

With the support of the demon energy from the Demon Core, Lei Yu's breath steadily climbed.

Seeing this sight, Yuan Ming settled down, took a seat on the White Jade Lotus Platform, and kept an eye on Lei Yu, ready to assist at any moment.

Half a day later, the sounds of thunder roared tremendously as the black thunderclouds in mid-air suddenly expanded several times, covering a span of more than ten miles in the sky. The aura from inside the clouds finally broke through to the third level realm.

Boom!

Dozens of thick bolts of lightning fell from the clouds, striking the sea below, creating a rain of thunder and lightning.

The sea beneath burst open, throwing up waves several yards high, followed by the emergence of countless foam and arcs of electricity darting through the water, stirring up waves of after-effects.

Everything within this space is a simulation of the outside real world, and the effects of the thunderstorm and thunder attacks are basically true.

A loud and clear shriek rose from within the dark clouds, filled with joy.

Yuan Ming's mouth curved into a smile; although Lei Yu's potential was not as great as that of Vajra or Hua Zhi, it still had value for training and had not disappointed him.

The dark clouds in midair did not dissipate but continued to churn for half a day before retracting like a long whale sucking in water.

Lei Yu's figure appeared, its size more than doubled than before, with a longer beak and claws, especially its talons, which flickered with a sharp cold light as if they could tear through any obstacle.

Its most significant transformation was the thunder patterns on its body, which became even more distinct, especially the wing-shaped thunder patterns on its wings, making it look as if it had grown an additional pair of wings.

"Master... Master..." Lei Yu turned its head toward Yuan Ming, flapped its wings, and disappeared into thin air, immediately reappearing beside Yuan Ming like instantaneous movement.

Lei Yu looked surprised, as if it was not yet accustomed to its own speed.

"You can speak now? Your speed has also increased significantly. Not bad, it seems like after advancing to the third-level, your strength has improved a lot," Yuan Ming nodded and said.

"All thanks to the... Demon Core Master just gave me... Nearly half of the demonic power from that core is still within my body... The Thunder Strike Treasure too, after completely refining the power of thunder and lightning within these two, I should be able to reach the Third-level Middle Stage," Lei Yu initially spoke with some hesitation but soon became fluent.

Yuan Ming hummed in response, then began to inquire about Lei Yu's ability changes after the breakthrough.

Lei Yu's Divine Abilities were still the same three as before, but their power had greatly increased.

Thunder Strike Divine Ability's power had surged several times, and possibly due to refining the Demon Core at the Third-level Peak, the Thunder Strikes that Lei Yu emitted were no longer ordinary thunder and lightning but were mixed with the Golden Thunder contained within the Demon Core.

The power of Golden Thunder far surpassed the thunder and lightning Lei Yu had mastered before and had a feeling of pure Yang that banished evil, significantly increasing the damage dealt to Yin Spirit Ghosts and the like.

"This Golden Thunder is somewhat similar to the power of thunder and lightning in the rune Shura Master gave to Xi Ying; could it be that the two have the same origin?" Yuan Ming thought to himself.

Unfortunately, his understanding of the power of thunder and lightning was limited, and he could only wait to slowly consult the classics and investigate later.

Like Thunder Strike, the range and power of Lei Yu's ability to summon thunderclouds also improved to varying degrees.

Yuan Ming had the Thunder God Hammer, so he was not particularly concerned about these two abilities of Lei Yu; what he cared most about was Lei Yu's flying Divine Ability.

Once Lei Yu became accustomed to its own speed, it carried Yuan Ming to trial fly in the Illusion Space.

After the breakthrough to the third level, Lei Yu's tunneling speed had greatly increased, especially after activating the wing-shaped thunder patterns on its wings. Wrapped in the power of thunder and lightning, Lei Yu could cross distances of a hundred yards in an instant.

One could see an arc-encased shadow appearing far away above the sea one moment and disappearing close by the next, flickering erratically as if a ghostly specter.

"Haha, after Lei Yu's breakthrough to the third level, its tunneling speed is truly exquisite, almost comparable to the legendary Thunder Escape," Yuan Ming felt exhilarated and exclaimed with great joy.

With Lei Yu's current tunneling speed, let alone Core Formation Stage cultivators, even those Nascent Souls would have difficulty catching up if they were not skilled in Escape Techniques.

"Well done, Lei Yu. Continue to cultivate inside the Spiritual Beast Bag, absorb the power of thunder and lightning from the Demon Core and the Thunder Strike Treasure, and strive to break through to the Third-level Middle Stage as soon as possible," Yuan Ming encouraged.

Lei Yu, planning to continue its arduous cultivation, offered no objection and flew back into the Spiritual Beast Bag.

Yuan Ming dispelled the illusion and left the Stealing Heaven Tripod, heading outside.

He did not continue to cultivate, but instead went to visit his parents, where laughter and cheerful voices soon followed.

Cultivation could happen at any time; during his stay on Evergreen Island, his main focus was to accompany his parents.

When he was a teenager, he yearned to grow up every day, yearning for strength, but now, that yearning has turned into worry; worried that his own strength was insufficient to protect his parents, worried that his parents were aging, he wished that time could slow down a little, to give him more time to spend with his elders, and to become strong enough to better protect them.

In the blink of an eye, another half a year passed, and the day of his appointment with Xi Ying was near.

Despite his reluctance, Yuan Ming had no choice but to part from his parents.

However, before leaving, he still needed to make some preparations.

Yuan Ming sat cross-legged in his residence, his hands moving through gestures like turning wheels, finally stopping abruptly and touching his temples; his Divine Soul within the Sea of Consciousness slowly undulated.

"Soul Split!"

He gritted his teeth, uttered a low shout, and a piece of his Sea of Consciousness's Divine Soul suddenly split off, forming a fist-sized black sphere containing a faint image of Yuan Ming's face.

What Yuan Ming was performing was the "Soul Splitting and Soul Merging Technique" taught to him by Shura Master, attempting to split off a soul that was one with his own.

An excruciating pain erupted from his Sea of Consciousness!

Yuan Ming's head felt as if it had been cleaved in two with a blunt ax, and even his strong will teetered on the edge of endurance; his entire body collapsed to the ground, clutching his head and screaming in agony, curling up and rolling uncontrollably.

Not only was there physical pain, but the two Divine Souls in his Sea of Consciousness were also trembling violently, like flames swaying in a gale, as if they could be extinguished at any moment.

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