Chapter 170: The Destined Thunder King?

Chapter 170: Chapter 170: The Destined Thunder King?

He had also gained several opportunities to awaken or improve his special abilities as his stars increased.

The first major change had occurred when his four hundred and twentieth star lit up.

It hadn’t granted him an entirely new ability. Instead, it had strengthened his existing speed ability.

Previously, his maximum speed multiplier had been eight times his normal speed. Now, according to his understanding of the upgraded ability, he could reach twelve times his original speed.

That was a considerable improvement.

It was easy to underestimate the importance of speed, but in a battle between two martial artists of similar strength, even a small difference could determine the winner.

Increasing his maximum speed from eight times to twelve times was far from a minor improvement. It gave him a significant advantage in combat.

After that, three more awakening opportunities had been triggered when his five hundred and twentieth, five hundred and twenty-first, and five hundred and ninety-eighth stars lit up.

All three opportunities had been used to strengthen his lightning ability.

"My lightning ability has become more than six times stronger!"

Xavier raised one hand.

A violent surge of deep purple lightning erupted from his palm. The bolt was as thick as a water barrel and shot straight into the sky, stretching for more than two hundred feet.

He stared at the enormous lightning current with satisfaction.

The Thunder Tree inside his body had also undergone a remarkable change. Along its massive central trunk, new branches had emerged at regular intervals. Some were only several meters long, while others stretched for dozens of meters.

The entire structure now resembled an enormous tree, with a thick central trunk and countless powerful branches spreading outward.

It was an impressive sight.

From the five hundred and ninety-ninth star all the way to the seven hundred and thirty-sixth, no further awakening opportunities had appeared.

But Xavier wasn’t disappointed.

He understood that his progress was already far beyond what most martial artists could achieve.

"Most Star Sea Realm martial artists only get around five to eight opportunities to awaken their special abilities between their first star and the peak of the realm. Even then, they end up with an average of about two or three different abilities."

He examined the energy flowing through his body and smiled.

"I’m only at the Seventh Star, yet I’ve already received so many awakenings. That’s more than impressive enough."

Xavier had only recently learned about the average number of ability awakenings a martial artist could receive in the Star Sea Realm.

Before that, most of his understanding came from rumors and discussions he had found online. Unfortunately, much of that information was unreliable. People often exaggerated their experiences or repeated things they had heard from others without checking whether they were true.

The information stored in the Extraordinary Department’s library was far more dependable. It had been gathered, studied, and organized over the past century of the New National Calendar. It represented the combined research and experience of countless martial artists.

According to those records, the number of awakenings he had received was already quite impressive.

"If I count the times my existing abilities have evolved as well, I’ve awakened seven times by the time I’ve reached the Seventh Star of the Star Sea Realm. That’s already close to the upper end of the average range."

Xavier considered this for a moment before nodding.

"Having fewer abilities isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It means I can focus on developing the ones I already possess. It’s better to have a few powerful abilities than a large collection of weak ones."

Besides, his cultivation journey was far from over.

He had only reached the Seventh Star. As he continued advancing, he might receive more opportunities to awaken new abilities or improve the ones he already had.

After calming himself, Xavier turned his attention to another reward.

He reached into his system space and brought out the peak fifth-tier Demon Core.

He was no stranger to demon cores. However, absorbing one wasn’t as simple as swallowing an ordinary pill.

A martial artist with insufficient strength could easily be overwhelmed by the violent energy contained inside a high-grade demon core. If their body couldn’t withstand it, they might suffer severe internal damage.

That was precisely why Xavier had consumed the First-Stage Golden Pill first.

Now that he had reached the Seventh Star of the Star Sea Realm and possessed a Chaotic Body, he was confident he could handle the energy of this demon core.

"A peak fifth-tier demon beast is roughly equivalent to a martial artist at the Ninth Star of the Divine Power Realm. With my current strength and resources, refining its core shouldn’t be a problem."

Having made up his mind, Xavier tilted his head back and swallowed the demon core.

The core was about the size of a ping-pong ball, but the moment it entered his body, something extraordinary happened.

Boom!

A violent burst of energy erupted inside him.

Every meridian and even the surface of his skin was struck by an intense, stinging sensation. The pain was difficult to describe.

Unlike the energy contained in medicinal pills, the power inside a demon core was extremely aggressive. It immediately began spreading through his body, tearing at everything in its path.

For a moment, it felt as though his body might burst apart.

Fortunately, his chaotic energy reacted almost immediately.

A force far more powerful than the demonic energy surged out from every part of his body. It surrounded the invading energy and began crushing it from all directions.

The two forces turned Xavier’s body into their battlefield.

They collided repeatedly, each trying to overpower the other.

Anyone standing nearby would have been shocked by the scene. Xavier’s body temperature was rising at an alarming rate, making him feel like a blazing furnace.

However, the confrontation didn’t last forever.

Under the overwhelming pressure of his chaotic aura, the demonic energy gradually lost ground. His chaotic energy swallowed it, broke it down, and assimilated it before directing the refined power toward the star space within his body.

The process continued for hours.

As the energy was consumed, the demon core itself gradually shrank.

After the first hour, it had become no larger than a thumb.

By the second hour, it was about the size of a peanut.

After three hours, only a tiny grain of rice remained.

Eventually, even that disappeared.

Xavier had completely refined the peak fifth-tier Demon Core.

The results were astonishing.

His cultivation had increased by another considerable margin.

"Eight hundred and eighty-eight stars!"

Xavier couldn’t hide his excitement.

"I’m already at the Eighth Star of the Star Sea Realm! Only three more stars, and I’ll reach the Ninth Star!"

Anyone who could advance from the Third Star to the Eighth Star of the Star Sea Realm in a single afternoon would have every reason to celebrate.

Ordinarily, such a rapid increase in cultivation would be a cause for concern. Advancing too quickly could leave a martial artist with an unstable foundation and poorly consolidated energy.

But Xavier had no such problem.

The First-Stage Golden Pill he had consumed earlier had not only raised his cultivation but also strengthened his foundation. His current realm was remarkably stable, as though he had spent several years steadily building up his strength.

He hadn’t merely gained more cultivation, either.

His special abilities had also become stronger.

"After reaching the Eighth Star, my lightning ability has improved twice more. Counting all the enhancements, it’s probably five or six times stronger than it was before."

Xavier looked at his palm with a satisfied smile.

"Am I destined to become the Thunder King?"

He stretched out his hand.

A brilliant bolt of lightning suddenly erupted from his palm. Its color was a pale shade of purple, and its powerful light seemed to pierce the heavens, illuminating the darkening sky.

The scale of the lightning was astonishing.

It was comparable to the first three lightning bolts Victoria had faced during her Nine Heavenly Tribulation.

Xavier examined it carefully.

"Compared with before, its size has increased by roughly four times. Its destructive power has also improved considerably."

He could clearly sense the difference.

The increase came from two sources. His lightning ability had received two additional enhancements, while his improved cultivation had also strengthened the power he could release.

But that wasn’t the only change.

The latest advancement had allowed him to comprehend a secret technique for controlling thunder.

Thunderous Might!

Xavier carefully examined the information that had appeared in his mind.

By activating this technique, he could create a powerful thunder domain with a radius of more than five hundred meters. Every living creature caught within that area would be subjected to devastating lightning attacks.

It was an extremely destructive ability.

Unfortunately, the back mountain of Arcadia Academy wasn’t an appropriate place to test it. He couldn’t unleash such an attack without risking serious damage to the surrounding area.

As a result, he still didn’t know its full destructive potential.

One thing was certain, though. The energy consumption would probably be enormous.

"I’ll have to test it properly when I fight Liam."

Xavier was already looking forward to seeing what the technique could do in actual combat.

He then checked the time.

"By now, Liam should be getting close to Valemont."

He took out his phone and noticed several missed calls on the device registered under his name in the Extraordinary Department.

There were three in total.

Victoria had called once, while Liam had tried reaching him twice.

Xavier didn’t return the calls immediately. Instead, he decided to inspect the final reward from his thousandfold investment returns.

The item appeared in his mind.

Space Rune Armor

Description: This special armor was forged using a unique method involving twenty-four spatial runestones. Its defensive capabilities are comparable to Heavenly-level armor. By channeling energy into it, the wearer can activate five spatial abilities: Instantaneous Teleportation, Group Teleportation, Spatial Freeze, Spatial Transfer, and Ultra-Long-Distance Teleportation. Through repeated use and accumulated experience, the wearer may gradually comprehend the Laws of Space.

Xavier’s eyes immediately lit up.

A suit of soft armor with a faint gray sheen appeared before him.

"Heavenly-level armor? That’s a level above ninth-grade equipment!"

He couldn’t help feeling excited.

The armor already possessed extraordinary defensive properties. On top of that, it came with five different spatial abilities.

But the final part of the description was what truly caught his attention.

Repeated use could help the wearer comprehend the Laws of Space.

"Hiss! That’s incredible!"

Even Xavier, who had become accustomed to receiving valuable rewards from the system, couldn’t help taking a sharp breath.

The ability to comprehend laws was normally associated with extremely powerful martial artists.

A martial artist generally needed to reach the peak of the Star Sea Realm and approach the threshold of the Divine Power Realm before gaining the opportunity to touch the power of laws.

Yet this armor offered a way to begin understanding spatial laws much earlier.

In theory, once a martial artist reached the Foundation Establishment Realm and gained the ability to sense and absorb spiritual energy, they could potentially start comprehending the Laws of Space by using this armor.

That was an astonishing advantage.

Xavier immediately thought of Mira.

If he eventually obtained an even better set of Rune Armor, he could give this one to his wife. With regular use, perhaps she would be able to gain some understanding of spatial laws even while she was still in the Spirit Platform Realm.

The thought made him rather pleased.

He then turned his attention to the remaining system rewards.

Unfortunately, the rest weren’t nearly as impressive.

"Ghost Shadow Flash only improved to the Beginner Stage. That’s disappointing."

He shook his head.

"The investment in the willpower-type runestone only gave me a onefold return, and I received another willpower-type runestone in exchange. What a waste."

He continued reviewing the notifications.

The five sixth-grade pills had produced a total return of nine pills, while the two seventh-grade pills had yielded four.

"At least those returns aren’t completely useless."

Still, after receiving three thousandfold returns, he found it difficult to get excited about the smaller rewards.

As for the fifth-grade pills and anything below that level, he barely bothered to examine them.

Xavier put the remaining items away.

"All right, it’s about time I went to meet Liam. I also need to discuss our departure for the Tree Demon’s territory with Victoria."