Chapter 48: Deep into the Thunder Sea

"Enter the Thunder Sea and cultivate this divine ability." Ji Ning had no choice.

In the aquatic mansion Ji Ning carried with him, there were still fifteen true body clones. At this moment, one of the true body clones left the aquatic mansion and flew toward the boundless Thunder Sea.

After flying for a while, he reached the border of the Thunder Sea.

"Whoosh."

Ji Ning looked at the endless white lightning bolts before him, unable to suppress the trembling in his heart.

"Go." With a bang, Ji Ning charged into the endless lightning. Crackling sounds filled the air as countless lightning bolts surrounded him. Ji Ning had long since removed his dharma robe, naked in the Thunder Sea, letting those white lightning bolts strike his body time and again. In an instant, hundreds or even thousands of lightning bolts struck him.

This was far more terrifying than the Nine-Nine Thunder Tribulation he had faced during the Heavenly God Tribulation. Fortunately, Ji Ning had already mastered the ninth cycle of the Eight-Nine Arcane Art and could withstand it head-on.

"Hmm, begin cultivating the 'Nine-Horned Electric Serpent Evasion Technique' and transform the divine body." Bathed in lightning, Ji Ning stood naked, closed his eyes, and focused on executing the divine ability. Immediately, golden divine runes began to appear on his skin, surging forth. The white lightning that had been assaulting him seemed to grow gentler upon contact.

Gradually.

A罩子 formed on Ji Ning's body from countless golden divine runes, completely interconnected, faintly forming a character—the character 'lightning' from the Nine Chaos Nations' script.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..." Once the golden divine rune罩子 formed, the surrounding white lightning began to swirl around it, gradually forming a lightning vortex. At the center of the vortex was a 'thunder cocoon' resembling a silkworm cocoon. Ji Ning was inside this thunder cocoon.

Inside the thunder cocoon.

Naked, Ji Ning's skin and muscles twitched faintly, with strands of white lightning seeping into his body.

Previously, Ji Ning could easily withstand these white lightning bolts because the Eight-Nine Arcane Art completely blocked them. But transforming the divine body required allowing lightning to enter the body, penetrating every fiber of the divine body, altering its very nature. At this moment, the divine body was defenseless, its resistance to lightning rapidly weakening. A single mistake could reduce it to ashes.

But this was only the beginning. The nature of the divine body had to change, just as some are born with a Water Dao Body, others with a Fire Dao Body.

Bodies inherently have elemental affinities.

Ordinary so-called Dao bodies mean nothing to someone of Ji Ning's level. Even the 'Thunder God Heavenly Lord,' born from mastering the Grand Dao of Lightning, could not allow 'Thunder Sea Serpents' or 'Nine-Horned Electric Serpents' to roam within his divine body without injury. Ji Ning needed to transform his divine body into a lightning attribute, a perfect Thunder God Body, allowing Thunder Sea Serpents and Nine-Horned Electric Serpents to roam within it.

Perhaps in raw power he could not compare to the Thunder God Heavenly Lord, but his affinity with lightning would surpass even that of the Thunder God Heavenly Lord.

From this, one can imagine how difficult 'transforming the divine body' would be. The great power who created this 'Nine-Horned Electric Serpent Evasion Technique' was clearly extraordinary. The true god Ji Ning had dealt with had obtained this technique through a fortuitous adventure.

"Ah." Ji Ning felt intense pain throughout his body.

Transforming the divine body required gradual progression.

First, use weak lightning to transform, then gradually increase the intensity, perfecting the divine body's lightning attribute until it could finally accommodate the Nine-Horned Electric Serpent.

Other levels of lightning were easy to obtain, only the 'Nine-Horned Electric Serpent' was precious and rare. Originally, Ji Ning planned to cultivate slowly in the Three Realms, but now he had to enter the Thunder Sea. From the periphery to the core, the lightning's power increased steadily, which suited him well. However, at the core, he would face not Nine-Horned Electric Serpents but the more狂暴 and utterly mindless Thunder Sea Serpents.

The final step of transforming the divine body...

Ji Ning had to use Thunder Sea Serpents to transform his divine body. Thunder Sea Serpents were more狂暴, making the transformation more dangerous. But since he couldn't obtain a Nine-Horned Electric Serpent, he had to settle for the next best thing.

...

Time passed.

The transformation of the divine body was slow. Occasionally, parts of his body would collapse. Ji Ning would use divine power to restore them and continue trying. After more than a month, the naked Ji Ning, bathed in white lightning, let the white lightning flow over and through his body without any harm.

"Continue." Ji Ning quickly advanced deeper into the Thunder Sea.

Gradually...

The color of the lightning shifted toward black, and its power grew stronger.

Ji Ning stopped and began to cultivate again, guiding these faintly white lightning bolts to transform his divine body. This time, it took only half a month to succeed. Ji Ning then continued deeper...

In the region of pure gray lightning, Ji Ning stopped and used these gray lightning bolts to transform his divine body. This time, it took only a few days to succeed.

"The final step of transforming the divine body." Ji Ning looked ahead. Beyond the gray lightning region lay the black lightning region.

Black lightning serpents slithered about, capable of reaching light speed when they burst forth, fierce and狂暴.

Ji Ning looked and saw only these 'Thunder Sea Serpents,' not a single 'Nine-Horned Electric Serpent.'

"Using Thunder Sea Serpents to transform the divine body is very dangerous..." Ji Ning felt a suffocating pressure just from looking at them. His Eight-Nine Arcane Art could not withstand such terrifying lightning. Even great powers feared it; what was he?

"If I had a Nine-Horned Electric Serpent, it would be relatively safer. No choice."

Ji Ning once again executed the divine body transformation technique of the Nine-Horned Electric Serpent Evasion Technique. Golden divine runes appeared around his body again, quickly forming a golden divine rune罩子, causing the surrounding lightning to swirl around him.

Ji Ning advanced, continuing until he reached the boundary between the black and gray lightning regions.

"Whoosh."

"Crackle."

Thunder Sea Serpents rampaged wildly, mindless, serpentine in shape but merely lightning. Finally, a Thunder Sea Serpent swept across Ji Ning at the boundary. The black lightning was attracted by the golden divine rune罩子, forming a black lightning cocoon. Ji Ning immediately retreated back into the gray lightning region.

"The transformation begins." Inside the black lightning cocoon, Ji Ning carefully guided a strand of the cocoon-like black lightning to seep into his divine body.

Thunder Sea Serpents and Nine-Horned Electric Serpents were both types of lightning, only the Nine-Horned Electric Serpent had sentience.

If the divine body could be successfully transformed using Thunder Sea Serpents, it would also be able to accommodate Nine-Horned Electric Serpents...

"Pfft!"

Naked, Ji Ning's arm instantly annihilated, followed by the collapse of the black lightning cocoon. The black lightning swept over Ji Ning, and his残躯 turned to ashes, leaving nothing behind.

...

"Failed." Outside the Thunder Sea, Ji Ning on the void boat changed expression. The death of a true body clone, the pain of soul and spirit annihilation, tormented him. The Thunder Sea Serpent was too可怕; that true body clone's true spirit had turned to ashes. "Damn it, this Thunder Sea Serpent is too狂暴. I only guided a wisp into my body, but I couldn't even transform one hand."

"Go again."

Ji Ning sent out another true body clone.

Although only one true body clone entered the Thunder Sea, the other clones quickly absorbed the experience, pondering how to increase the chances of success in transforming the divine body. Though the 'Nine-Horned Electric Serpent Evasion Technique' was recorded in great detail, experience made a world of difference in practice.

Having died once, Ji Ning now had experience using 'Thunder Sea Serpents' to transform the divine body. Next time, he could avoid some mistakes and do better.

After more than three months, another true body clone died.

"Go again."

...

The other clones carefully contemplated and pondered, while the true body clone entered again and again, continuously attempting. Transforming the divine body was indeed the most dangerous step in cultivating this divine ability. The technique recorded 'nine deaths and one life'—no exaggeration, especially since Ji Ning was using the more difficult Thunder Sea Serpents.

In the blink of an eye, over four years had passed.

Ji Ning still stood on the void boat, gazing at the vast Thunder Sea.

"Over four years."

"My other fifteen true body clones have all died, but I still haven't succeeded. Still lacking, lacking something." Ji Ning gritted his teeth.

When a true body clone dies,

As long as one true body clone survives, it can slowly recover. But nurturing a new true body clone requires true spirit, soul, divine body, and everything else—a relatively long time. Restoring all fifteen true body clones would take eons. That was why Shaoyan Chou had been so desperate when Ji Ning killed his sixteen clones.

There was another way to quickly restore all true body clones: use the mysterious 'Chaos Nectar.' With this Chaos Nectar, Ji Ning could break through from the first layer of the Taowu Eighteen Fiendgod Art to the second. Using it to restore true body clones was actually overkill.

But the calamity was descending...

Ji Ning had no time to wait for the true body clones to recover slowly.

"I have to use the Chaos Nectar."

Swoosh.

Ji Ning first spent half an hour arriving at a giant star in the chaos, choosing a cave to temporarily go into seclusion.

Then he entered the aquatic mansion and began to cultivate.

"The Chaos Nectar that could have let me cultivate to the second layer of the Taowu Eighteen Fiendgod Art, I'm using it to restore clones..." Ji Ning's heart ached, but all this was for the Nine-Horned Electric Serpent Technique, a evasion technique coveted even by great powers. It was absolutely the number one evasion technique, granting complete initiative.

Back when the ten Golden Crows ravaged the ancient times, even Goddess Nuwa and the others had no solution, because the 'Solar Golden Rainbow' divine ability was too powerful.

Ji Ning took out the black bottle, pulled out the stopper with a 'pop,' then stopped thinking and closed his eyes to execute the restoration technique of the Taowu Eighteen Fiendgod Art. Drops of Chaos Nectar flew out of the black bottle. Each drop contained countless tiny bubbles, each bubble like a world, sometimes born, sometimes destroyed, wondrous and strange.

Gradually, as Ji Ning absorbed the Chaos Nectar,

Whoosh.

A shadow separated from Ji Ning's body, then solidified, producing another Ji Ning.

As time passed, one true body clone after another was restored. When there were sixteen Ji Nings in the aquatic mansion, it reached the limit. No more could be restored.

"The Chaos Nectar consumed to restore the clones is almost equivalent to breaking through to the second layer of the Taowu Eighteen Fiendgod Art." Ji Ning's heart ached.

"Go again."

"I don't believe I won't succeed this time."

Ji Ning left the cave, mounted the void boat, entered the chaos, and headed back to the Thunder Sea.

...