Battle Through the Heaven: Purple Heaven

Midnight, Magical Beast Mountain Range

The rain had ceased, clouds parted, revealing a starry sky. The storm had swollen the waterfall, its roar deafening. On the cliff beside it, a circular glow shone like a moon's reflection, stark against the dark forest. Closer inspection revealed it as light spilling from a cave.

Inside, moonlight stones cast a soft glow. A naked young man lay on a boulder, eyes closed, his lean frame marred by scorched marks from lightning strikes.

Yao Lao, facing the cave entrance, floated cross-legged, eyes shut. Sensing something, his calm face stirred. Without turning, he said with a trace of joy, "You're awake!"

Xiao Bai felt pain everywhere, a maddening mix of agony and itching, laced with numbness. His sea of consciousness throbbed intermittently, threatening to drag his freshly roused mind back into darkness. Despite his iron will, a soft groan escaped.

Yao Lao sighed at the sound, puzzled. "Why push so hard, kid? With your talent, you're bound to be a continental powerhouse. No need for such reckless risks, putting yourself on death's door."

He couldn't fathom Xiao Bai's actions. Since starting cultivation, Xiao Bai had always been steady, never rushed. During his years stuck at ninth-stage Dou Zhi Qi, even Xiao Xun'er fretted for him, yet Xiao Bai never showed impatience or despair. His demeanor remained gentle, free of complaints—unlike Yao Lao's impulsive disciple.

Must be youth's recklessness, Yao Lao concluded, unable to think otherwise.

Xiao Bai gave a wry smile. Though not his choice, today's ordeal was both unrelated to him and entirely his fault. In the Magical Beast Mountain Range, the abundant wood energy had invigorated his Yi Wood True Lightning and Bing Fire Yang Lightning. Little Yi absorbed wood energy rapidly, and since wood fuels fire, Little Bing gorged too. Their wood and fire attributes surged, but their lightning energy lagged.

Flying during the thunderstorm, surrounded by dense lightning energy, the seeds reacted like parched land meeting rain, their longing overwhelming. Lacking true sentience, they acted on instinct, darting out to feed regardless of Xiao Bai's ability to withstand the thunder.

Being a dad's tough, Xiao Bai sighed inwardly.

In his body, Little Bing, drained, curled into a listless thunder orb in his heart, motionless. Xiao Bai wasn't worried—its core was intact, needing only time to recover. Little Yi busied itself repairing his meridians, clearing residual lightning energy and occasionally funneling excess to Little Bing's heart-bound orb.

Watching their efforts, Xiao Bai didn't resent their reckless act. His current strength simply couldn't sustain their growth. For these and future lightning seeds, he'd been scheming ways to nurture them, though his plans remained vague.

Time to wrap things up and head to Jia Nan Academy, he decided. The academy's dean, a lightning cultivator, surely oversaw a lightning-rich training ground, even if unmentioned in the novel.

"Kid, you alright? Thunder didn't fry your brain, did it?" Yao Lao, turning to see Xiao Bai lying still, staring blankly, grew concerned.

Xiao Bai rolled his eyes inwardly. Can this old guy talk? Gritting through the numbing pain, he rasped, "I'm fine. Thanks for watching over me, Senior."

Yao Lao exhaled quietly, relieved. He'd seen lightning strikes turn people witless, and Xiao Bai's dazed, silent awakening had worried him. If he'd gone daft under my watch, how'd I face Xiao Yan? Or that girl—she'd torch me with her Golden Emperor Burning Flame.

"Guarding you's no trouble, but don't pull stunts like that again. Cultivation's a balance of effort and rest—rushing for quick gains can hinder progress," Yao Lao said earnestly.

"Thank you, Senior. I'll remember," Xiao Bai replied sincerely. Though Yao Lao misunderstood, his words stemmed from care, and Xiao Bai appreciated the sentiment.

"Good," Yao Lao said, nodding with a relieved smile, stroking his beard. Then, with a mischievous glint, he added, "You've got some fine assets, kid."

Xiao Bai blinked, confused. Assets? Following Yao Lao's gaze, he froze, mortified. Sprawled naked on the boulder, he scrambled through the pain to grab a robe from his ring, covering himself. Glaring at Yao Lao, he cursed inwardly, Damn dirty old man! His first time exposed, and it was to this geezer, not a pretty girl. Am I… tainted now?

Half an hour later, Xiao Bai could barely move. Sitting up on the boulder, he assessed his meridians—still healing. At this rate, he'd need two days to minimally restore his technique, meaning no Dou Qi until then.

"Senior, I'll need two days to recover enough to move. We'll be delayed here," he said.

"No issue. Two days is nothing," Yao Lao replied.

Xiao Bai nodded, turning inward to inspect his sea of consciousness. It was desolate, parched, with only wisps of soul force drifting—nothing like its usual vibrancy. A faint heavenly thunder aura lingered, but no trace of lightning energy remained.