In this world shimmering with silver, the thunder roared like a great dragon, its thunderous clamor echoing endlessly throughout the void. Such a marvel likely existed only within this realm of emptiness. Inside the silver thunder pool, a figure sat in meditation, while eleven automata sat cross-legged nearby, forming a circle that encircled Xiao Yan at its center. The furious thunder roared wildly beyond the circle, with massive thunder serpents continuously crashing against the eleven figures. Yet despite this relentless assault, the automata remained utterly still—indeed, their luster grew even more brilliant. In this monotonous realm of thunder, the thunder seems endless. Under the relentless roar, time flows like a stream, passing swiftly—within a blink, nearly half a month slips by unnoticed. During this period, Xiao Yan paid little attention to the puppets. After observing for several days and finding no unusual occurrences, he closed his eyes and entered a state of cultivation. The deafening roar surrounding him was completely filtered out, leaving him serene within. Meanwhile, while closing his eyes to meditate, Xiao Yan was absorbing the turbulent energy from the Thunder Pool. In just under a month, this had brought noticeable refinement to his internal Qi, and he had even begun to touch upon the invisible barrier that marked the threshold of a Five-Star Battle Sovereign—though it remained just out of reach. The last time he had devoured the Bone Spirit Cold Flame, he had leaped from two-star to near-four-star status. However, during the process of refining the Dragon-Phoenix Crystal layers for Zǐ Yán, the Qi consumed within him had amounted to nearly half a year's worth of normal consumption. Combined with the five substantial drops of ancient dragon essence blood and the lingering trace of Dragon-Phoenix power left behind by Zǐ Yán, Xiao Yan began to feel a subtle sense of breakthrough after just this month of meditation. Yet, this was merely a sensation—true breakthrough had not yet followed. Indeed, during his meditation, unforeseen developments involving the Heavenly Demon Puppet compelled him to halt his continuous cultivation. … "This is..." Within the shimmering pool of lightning, Xiao Yan furrowed his brows, gazing at the Tian Yao Gui before him. Now, the latter radiated an even more brilliant shade of deep golden hue, richer and more intense than ever before. Of course, what captured Xiao Yan's attention wasn't the color itself, but the crack that had formed in the dark golden skin on the Gui's chest—through which faint silver lightning could be seen flickering. "Has it absorbed too much lightning power, reaching its limit now?" Touching the crack on the Gui's chest, Xiao Yan pondered for a moment before shaking his head in resignation.受限 by the materials available, the Tian Yao Gui could not evolve indefinitely. According to Xiao Yan's expectations, the current state likely represented the very limit of this particular, personally crafted automaton. "Oh... I'm sorry..." Xiao Yan shook his head with a touch of regret. The materials used to craft the Heavenly Demon Automaton were merely a few Douzong cultivators of around seven to eight stars in strength. In the past, such cultivators seemed unattainable to him, but now, in his current perspective, they were nothing special. Yet, with just these materials, achieving the present strength of a Five-Star Douzong was already an incredible feat. With a heart full of regret, Xiao Yan only reached out and stored the perfected Heavenly Demon Automaton in his storage scroll, then turned his gaze toward the other ten Earth Demon Automatons. After absorbing lightning power for over a month, fine golden spots were beginning to appear on the once-stunning silver bodies of these Earth Demon Automatons. As someone who had witnessed this phenomenon before, Xiao Yan knew well that once the golden spots fully covered the metallic bodies of the Earth Demon Automatons, they would be able to advance and become true Heavenly Demon Automatons. "These puppets were left behind by that Divinity Saint powerhouse. From the Divinity Saint's perspective, the materials used to craft them should be significantly superior to mine. I simply wonder—what is the limit of these puppets' capabilities?" Xiang Yin pondered for a while, yet this time he did not harbor high expectations. After all, puppets are puppets; no matter how strong the materials, the limit likely rests at the Divinity Sovereign level. As for puppets capable of rivaling a Divinity Saint—would such extraordinary beings truly exist in this world? Otherwise, how could those who had labored tirelessly to reach such a level feel justified? Xiao Yan sighed lightly, glanced once more at the ten puppets who remained motionless around him, and then settled back into meditation once again. ... In the world of Thunder, days passed one after another, and the golden spots on the puppets grew steadily more numerous, eventually occupying half of each puppet's body. At this pace, within ten days, these ten Earth Demon Puppets would surely be fully upgraded into true Heaven Demon Puppets! As the golden spots on the earth spirit puppet's body grew in number, Xiao Yan remained motionless, seated in stillness at the center of the puppet, his expression solemn. Waves of unusual energy rippled around him. The thunder vortex, whose intensity had remained uncertain for an indeterminate duration, finally began to weaken. At this moment, Xiao Yan's body was encircled by shattered lightning, appearing as if the Thunder God had descended, radiating an overwhelming and heart-stirring pressure. The vortex gradually diminished, eventually ceasing abruptly and then slowly dissipating. Simultaneously, the lightning swirling around Xiao Yan burst in sharp flashes, surging into his skin and vanishing entirely. After both the vortex and the surrounding lightning had fully dispersed, Xiao Yan's tightly closed eyes trembled slightly before slowly opening. "Boom!" As Xiao Yan's eyes opened, a massive, tangible surge of lightning erupted from within them, roaring like a great dragon, tearing through layers of thunder and rushing furiously into the depths of the thunder pool, before gradually fading away. "Hmm…" A surge of thunder roared forth like a dragon, and a stream of electric aura flowed out from Xiao Yan's throat. Even on his face and robes, faint sparks of electricity still shimmered. "Five-star Battle Sovereign, then?" Gently clenching his hands, feeling the strength multiply exponentially, Xiao Yan couldn't help but smile. He hadn't expected to successfully advance here within the Thunder Pool—this place truly was a rare haven and treasure ground. With his current five-star status, if he activated the Heaven-Fire Three-True Transformations, he would approach near seven-star strength. Combined with the power of the Unique Fire and the Burned Technique, even a direct confrontation against a seven-star Battle Sovereign would no longer be something to fear. "If I were to meet the Nine Heavens Sovereign again now, and if he allied with these puppets, perhaps I could finally defeat him..." With a flash of fierce determination in his eyes, Xiao Yan lifted his gaze to the ten puppets surrounding him, a look of delight spreading across his face. Now, the bodies of the ten Earth Demon Puppets had completely transformed into a golden hue—clearly, they had successfully advanced to become Heaven Demon Puppets! "Hah! What a wonderful turn of events! Today truly is a blessed day!" Seeing this, Xiao Yan could not help but burst into laughter. He then stood up, stretched, and was about to temporarily set aside the ten Heaven Demon Puppets to examine them closely when his mind suddenly snapped to attention. He swiftly raised his head, his gaze fixed firmly on the depths of the Thunder Pool—there, an intense surge of energy had just erupted. "Could it be I've misjudged the situation?" He studied the scene carefully, yet found no signs of anything out of the ordinary. With a furrowed brow, he murmured softly. However, as Xiao Yan's murmured words had just finished, an intangible gust of wind surged forth from the depths of the lightning pool. Wherever this gust reached, the terrifying thunder instantly turned to oblivion. "Such a powerful wind!" Feeling the intangible gust, Xiao Yan's hair stood on end all over his body. "Shriek!"