Chapter 152: Thunder God Dao Body
[Are you ready?] The Empress asked, standing next to Li Yao in her spiritual manifestation form. Unlike her previous appearance in the Heaven Testing Pagoda, she now seemed almost solid—a casual observer might not even notice the difference between her and a physical person.
The Empress examined herself with fascination, marveling at the transformation. After days of consuming Xiang Yu’s spiritual food, her soul’s condition had improved dramatically. She had already reached the adult stage, and at this rate, it wouldn’t be long before she recovered her eternal soul status. At the eternal soul level, one could regenerate their entire body with a mere thought, even if completely destroyed.
A question lingered in her mind about Xiang Yu’s real identity. Was he knowingly helping her recover, or was she overthinking his intentions?
"I’m ready," Li Yao declared, interrupting the Empress’s contemplation.
"Well, let’s first focus on this," the Empress thought as she returned her attention to Li Yao.
[We don’t have any materials to refine pills. Luckily, this place had some useful ones. It seems that guy was quite rich—he even had two rebirth pills. He probably had three at the start but used one for his breakthrough attempt,] the Empress explained, examining their treasure haul.
[This is perfect. We can use one for you and you can give the other to your senior brother,] she continued.
Li Yao nodded in agreement.
[Alright, take the rebirth pill first,] the Empress instructed.
Li Yao, who had been sitting with her eyes closed in a meditative posture, opened them in surprise. "The rebirth pill? Aren’t we supposed to save that for when I reach the Soul and Body Integration realm?" she asked, confusion evident in her voice.
[Usually, yes. But since you have me, you don’t need to worry about making your soul more in tune with your body. I’ll help you with that when the time comes,] the Empress explained with confidence.
[For now, take the pill. We’ll not only form a special golden core but also develop a special physique and acquire a bloodline,] she elaborated.
[If everything goes smoothly, you might even gain an immortal-level spiritual root,] the Empress added, unable to hide her excitement.
Li Yao’s eyes widened at this revelation. "A special physique? Which one?" she asked enthusiastically.
The Empress wore her characteristic smug smile, clearly enjoying the moment. [I want you to form the Thunder God Dao Body. Although it isn’t among the top ten of the three thousand dao physiques, it’s still a top one hundred contender,] she explained, glancing at Li Yao to gauge her reaction.
To her surprise, Li Yao’s expression morphed into one of disgust, her earlier enthusiasm completely evaporated.
The Empress wondered if she had misspoken. Then she remembered they were in the mortal world—Li Yao probably had no understanding of physiques and their significance.
[A dao physique is a level above the saint physique, so don’t worry if you haven’t heard about it,] she clarified, trying to salvage the situation.
But Li Yao’s expression remained unchanged, her disappointment palpable.
"Just a top one hundred contender?" Li Yao asked, her voice dripping with dissatisfaction.
The Empress was taken aback. What did she mean by "just"? Was that word seriously coming out of her mouth? She took a moment to compose herself, reminding herself that this girl was simply naive.
[Actually, top hundred isn’t bad. All three thousand dao bodies are great in their own right—the ranking doesn’t mean much, to be honest,] she explained, hoping to temper Li Yao’s expectations.
Li Yao continued staring at her with undisguised disappointment, completely unmoved by the explanation.
The Empress finally snapped. [You brat, do you think forming a dao body is that easy? Even forming a lesser one like the Thunder God Physique requires careful planning! We didn’t even utilize your other mutated element so it wouldn’t interfere with the process, yet this is how you behave?] she scolded, her patience exhausted.
"So you admit that it’s lesser," Li Yao replied smugly, totally ignoring everything else the Empress had said.
The Empress facepalmed in exasperation. What sins did I commit in my past life to deserve this? she wondered silently.
[Alright, fine. Since you want it that much, you can have it,] she conceded with visible frustration. [Change of plans—we’ll be unlocking the Nine Heavens Thunder Body, one of the top ten among the three thousand dao bodies. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!]
"Hehe, that’s more like it," Li Yao grinned triumphantly as she swallowed the rebirth pill.
She thought to herself that she knew the Empress had been gatekeeping the good stuff all along. The Empress was clearly exaggerating—just how hard could it possibly be?
...
Pretty hard actually.
[More energy, don’t stop yet!] the Empress screamed out, her spiritual form radiating intense pressure as she monitored Li Yao’s cultivation process.
"Dammit, I’m trying," Li Yao thought, though she didn’t dare speak aloud for fear of breaking her concentration. She hadn’t even begun unlocking the physique yet, and it was already pushing her to her limits.
According to the Empress’s detailed instructions, she needed to transform all her qi into thunder qi—a challenging conversion by itself. Then came the truly difficult part: swirling the lightning-natured energy around her core in precise patterns, letting it accelerate gradually, gathering more and more speed with each revolution. Throughout this delicate process, she needed to ensure the thunderous energy didn’t damage her core while simultaneously refining it.
This method would slowly transform her ordinary golden core into a lightning core—a superior version that forms when a core bathes in endless lightning energy. Such a core would grant her unprecedented power over the thunder element, making her techniques vastly more potent.
As if this internal struggle wasn’t taxing enough, Li Yao’s attention briefly drifted toward the darkening sky where ominous clouds had begun to gather. From the golden core realm and above, every major breakthrough required facing a lightning tribulation—a test from the heavens themselves. The gathering storm clouds were merely the prelude to what promised to be an excruciating ordeal.
[Pay attention to your core! The tribulation hasn’t even started yet,] the Empress admonished, her voice cutting through Li Yao’s wandering thoughts.
Li Yao acknowledged the Empress was right. She refocused on her core, knowing she needed to ensure the internal lightning had thoroughly bathed her core before the external tribulation struck from above.
Originally, the Empress had planned to use the lightning tribulation for dual purposes: refining the golden core into a lightning core, then using the leftover energy to form the Thunder God Physique. But since Li Yao had insisted on the superior Nine Heavens Physique, they’d been forced to change strategies. Now she had to bathe the core with her own lightning energy, as the entire lightning tribulation would be needed just to form the Nine Heavens Thunder Body.
Li Yao was beginning to understand why the Empress had called her a brat for demanding the superior physique. This was just the preparation, and she was already straining against her limits while the true challenge had yet to begin.