Jiuxuan Golden Thunder, if ranked akin to the special fire rankings, would hold a status comparable to Jinglian Immortal Flame or Xuwu Tunian Flame. This thunder manifests only when a ninth-rank golden pill is crafted—each appearance of Jiuxuan Golden Thunder is a moment of world-shaking magnitude, causing the very heavens and earth to tremble. Even the mightiest Dousheng cultivators are rendered insignificant beneath its thunderous might. In ancient texts dating back to antiquity, there are numerous accounts of peak-level alchemists who, during the creation of ninth-rank golden pills, summoned extraordinary celestial phenomena. Among these phenomena, Jiuxuan Golden Thunder stands out as the most awe-inspiring—such that even a mere Dousheng cultivator exposed to a single strike is instantly reduced to ash. Certainly, even during the most prosperous ancient era, the Jiuxuan Jinlei was exceptionally rare. On the current continent, there have been no records of Jiuxuan Jinlei for several thousand years—meaning, over this span of millennia, no Nine-Rank Jin Dan has ever appeared on the Battle Qi Continent. Such a nearly divine medicinal elixir may now be beyond the reach of any practitioner on this land. Regarding this claim, even Xiao Yan could only remain silent. While his alchemy skills might not rank among the very top on the continent—definitely not first—he certainly stood among the top three, and that was no great feat. Yet even now, the highest-quality pills he produced were merely ninth-rank treasure pills. He had never attempted a ninth-rank spiritual pill, let alone a ninth-rank golden pill of higher rank. Thus, his knowledge of the legendary Nine-Heaven Golden Thunder remained confined to ancient texts. Though he had never seen it in person, his keen spiritual perception allowed him to recognize it instantly upon first sight. The golden thunder dragon lay coiled at the deepest part of the Sea of Lightning, its eyes closed, golden arcs constantly flickering across its body. A subtle, destructive force gradually spread outward, causing the otherwise empty space to warp and distort profoundly. Dense clusters of black magic lightning encircled the golden dragon at a thousand paces away, arranged as if in solemn homage to their sovereign. "Gurp..." Staring at this scene, Xiao Yan couldn't help but swallow hard. The soft sound stood out remarkably in the otherwise silent space, prompting several black magic lightning bolts to suddenly turn and surge toward him like furious, serpentine giants. Seeing these Black Magic Lightning surge toward him, Xiao Yan kept retreating, his eyes rapidly darting around, then turned and fled. He wasn't afraid of the Black Magic Lightning itself, but he was deeply afraid of the seemingly slumbering Lightning Dragon. From the Dragon's presence, he sensed an utterly terrifying aura—one that he believed he far surpassed. Based on his assessment, if measured against human rankings, this Lightning Dragon likely equaled the level of a Seven-Star Battle Saint. For Xiao Yan, such a level was completely unassailable. Once discovered, he immediately turned and ran without hesitation. "Boom! Boom!" Xiao Yan's escape drew an ever-increasing number of Black Magic Lightning pursuing him, and at once, the depths of the Lightning Pool erupted into chaos. By intruding upon their sacred grounds, Xiao Yan had seemingly deeply enraged them, prompting a deluge of Black Magic Lightning to surge forth from all directions, converging on him. Under the sheer volume of these Lightning assaults, even Xiao Yan felt his scalp grow numb. With a wave of his hand, Northern King appeared above him; with a shoulder shift, Xiao Yi reappeared and settled beneath him, forming a protective shield above and below. After summoning Xiao Yi, the waves of Black Magic Lightning arrived instantly. However, as they approached within ten zhang of Xiao Yan, a powerful suction force erupted from within Northern King and Xiao Yi, drawing each Lightning bolt into their bodies. "Move." "Easily withstanding the impact of the Black Magic Lightning, Xiao Yan still dared not linger. His back bone wings unfolded, yet as he hurried to escape, his entire body bristled with cold hairs. He swiftly turned his head, just in time to witness the golden Lightning Dragon coiled deep within the lightning pool slowly opening its closed eyes. Within those eyes, lightning flashed and thunder roared, as if the entire heavens and earth had been inverted and poured into the vast dragon's gaze. "Oh no—the giant has awakened," Xiao Yan thought, his scalp tingling under the unwavering, emotionless gaze of the dragon. With his jade and crimson wings beating fiercely, his figure surged forward, blazing into a rainbow streak, racing toward the pool's edge. "Boom! Boom!" As Xiao Yan sped up, the golden Lightning Dragon opened its mouth, and a colossal golden lightning bolt—spanning roughly a hundred paces—shot forth with a sharp crack, traveling at nearly light speed. In mere moments, it closed the distance and caught up with Xiao Yan. A sudden surge of golden lightning burst forth behind him, causing Xiang Yan's pupils to tighten in shock. The speed was simply unescapable. He promptly turned around, swiftly gathering his potent qi into massive vortexes resembling black holes across his body's surface. With a wave of his hand, he placed the Northern King in front of him, while Xiao Yi flashed with a burst of flame and once again settled onto Xiang Yan's shoulder, her small face now unusually serious. The body was thrown backward, yet the effect of Northern King absorbing the power of thunder once again manifested. Golden arcs of lightning danced across its form, resembling creatures crawling inward, continuously penetrating deep into its body. Moreover, due to the contact with Xiao Yan's palm, the Northern King was swiftly enveloped by the golden lightning, and the fierce, turbulent energy upon contact immediately shattered the aura spirals on its surface. Fortunately, Xiao Yi promptly stepped forward, unleashing her full absorption power and fiercely determined to consume even this surge of golden lightning. Amidst the lightning surge, Xiao Yan clenched his teeth. After Little Yi absorbed the golden lightning bolt, a powerful, destructive energy suddenly surged within him—energy fed back from Little Yi. Startled, Xiao Yan quickly focused his attention, firmly controlling this vast energy and guiding it to flow along his meridians. As the energy passed through, delicate golden lightning arcs flickered, causing sharp pains throughout his body. Even after being filtered by Little Yi, the Nine-Heaven Golden Lightning energy proved quite taxing. However, thanks to the earlier strengthening of his internal constitution by the Black Demon Lightning, although the strain was considerable, he faced no immediate danger. Golden lightning flashed, and Xiao Yan desperately refined the turbulent energies within his body. After roughly a few minutes, the cold sweat on his forehead gradually faded. The once wild, unruly energies, like restless steeds, began transforming into steady, wave-like streams of pure combat qi, flowing through his entire body. Under this refinement, Xiao Yan suddenly realized that his strength, which had previously stopped growing, was now slowly ascending once more. With this pace, reaching the late stage of Five-Star Combat Saint was now merely a matter of moments. Witnessing this scene, Xiao Yan's heart instantly chilled. Without Xiao Yi's fire spirit serving as a transitional refining hub, even Xiao Yan himself would have been unable to absorb such purely destructive energy. At once, he waved his hand and swiftly stored the Northern King within his storage relic. To refine and strengthen the Northern King had consumed Xiao Yan's entire energy and dedication—should it be destroyed here, it would indeed be a great loss. With the Northern King secured, Xiao Yan stepped back once more. Xiao Yi, now channeling her devouring power to its fullest, swallowed the entire surge of golden lightning into her body. Golden lightning erupted across her small frame, and the pure lotus spirit fire within her surged to its peak, intensely refining and assimilating the energy. "Breakthrough!" "As an ever-increasing surge of vast energy flowed into Xiao Yan's body, at a certain moment, his frame suddenly trembled, his eyes blazing with exhilaration. Harnessing the power of the Jiuxuan Golden Thunder, he had managed to elevate himself to the late stage of Five-Star Battle Saint—saving him nearly half a year's worth of cultivation efforts! 'Move quickly!' Reliant on Xiao Yi absorbing this Jiuxuan Golden Thunder, Xiao Yan swiftly retreated. As he retreated, his gaze once again turned toward the depths of the thunder sea, where the colossal body of the golden dragon suddenly erupted in massive arcs of thunder, each crackling with a piercing dragon's roar, shaking the very heavens and earth. The surrounding black magic thunders were startled and retreated far away. The spiritual energy was gathering—the Jiuxuan Golden Thunder was concentrating the essence!" This scene caused Xiao Yan's initially retreating posture to suddenly halt, his eyes flashing rapidly. Though the Jiuxuan Golden Thunder was extremely formidable, it still lacked consciousness—meaning it had not yet evolved into a true being. The so-called "concentration of spiritual essence" was essentially the process of cultivating consciousness. If successful, the Jiuxuan Golden Thunder would transform into a being akin to the previous Jinglian Spirit Fire—a conscious Jiuxuan Golden Thunder. Of course, this was not something Xiao Yan had anticipated. During the process of spiritual essence concentration, the Jiuxuan Golden Thunder would enter an extremely vulnerable phase. Upon realizing this, even with his remarkable composure, Xiao Yan's heart began to pound vigorously.