After destroying all the puppets on the first floor, Lei Qi could barely stand. His Dou Qi was completely depleted.
Without wasting a second, he sat cross-legged and began to cultivate.
"Zzzzzzzz..."
The sound of crackling lightning filled the air as energy surged into his meridians. After the intensity of battle, the warm flood of Dou Qi returning to his body was almost intoxicating.
A full day passed like that, broken only by a few bites of dry rations. His initial plan to rush to the second level faded away.
He had nearly ten years to train here. There was no need to hurry. More importantly, as a descendant of a Dou Emperor family, once his bloodline power awakened further, his cultivation speed would only accelerate.
Three months later, through constant battle and cultivation, Lei Qi finally broke through to Da Dou Shi.
At this level, a cultivator could manifest Dou Qi as external armor, condensing it into a solid, diamond-shaped shield.
At Dou Ling, Dou Qi could form tangible objects.
At Dou Wang, it could take shape as wings, allowing flight by drawing on external energy.
At Dou Huang, those wings could mobilize massive amounts of energy, enabling longer flight and even brief suspension in the void.
Upon reaching Dou Zong, one could remain in the void indefinitely and begin to master the power of space.
Dou Zun meant tearing through space itself.
Peak Dou Zun was a major threshold, where most of the Dou Di bloodline cultivators would eventually stall.
And beyond that... Semi-Saint, then Dou Sheng.
A Dou Sheng could crush mountains, split the earth, and shatter space with a single move. Six-star Dou Shengs could even teleport through space.
For Lei Qi to go from Dou Shi to Grand Dou Shi in just over a year was proof of just how monstrous his cultivation speed truly was.
Now that he had broken through, it was time to move on.
The strongest puppets on the first floor were Dou Shi puppets. They had yielded plenty of Xuan-tier thunder attribute techniques, but Lei Qi needed stronger opponents.
The entrance to the second floor was said to be at the very center. The world was far larger than he had expected, and it took him nearly a month of traveling through endless thunder plains to reach it.
When he finally stepped into the entrance, the scenery didn't change much. Another endless plain.
No beasts. No people. Only puppets.
I wonder how Lei Dong is doing now...
He didn't rush forward. Instead, he chose to stay and cultivate, hoping Lei Dong might arrive.
Half a year passed. Lei Qi had reached Five-Star Grand Master.
But the entrance remained silent. Not a single shadow of Lei Dong.
With a small shake of his head, Lei Qi gave up waiting and moved on.
Ironically, just moments after he left, Lei Dong finally appeared—slower, but Grand Master level nonetheless.
Lei Qi roamed the second floor, hunting down puppets. With each kill, he noticed something:
These weren't just opponents. They were ancient vaults.
Inside their bodies were techniques, artifacts, and treasures from ages long past.
Zzzzzt… Zzzzzt...
His patience paid off. He stumbled upon a Da Dou Shi puppet.
"Rip!"
Without a word, the puppet unleashed a bolt of lightning.
Boom!
Lei Qi reacted in an instant. His Dou Qi armor materialized, shielding him from the blast as cracks split the ground beneath his feet.
He thrust his spear forward.
Swish!Bang!
The puppet parried with frightening speed. Unlike the Dou Shi puppets, these ones knew how to defend. It blocked the thrust and countered with a thunderous punch.
Lei Qi released his spear and met it head-on with his fist.
BOOM!
The two forces collided, sending Lei Qi skidding back several steps.
The puppet tossed the spear aside and charged.
Lei Qi gritted his teeth. Without proper spearmanship, the weapon was more burden than blessing.
"Thunderbolt Dance!"
Lightning exploded from his fingertips. A sharp beam of thunder surged forward——but the Grand Master puppet wasn't some mindless hunk of metal. It retaliated with its own attack.
BOOM!
The collision sent Lei Qi flying. His earth-level technique was powerful but not fully mastered, and it couldn't overpower the puppet's counter.
But the puppet staggered too.
Lei Qi seized the moment and dashed forward.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
His thunder-charged fists hammered against its body like a storm.
"Bang!"
The puppet's head finally shattered.
A golden glow shimmered in the air. A fighting skill appeared before him.
Sparks Spread Across the Prairie. A low Earth-tier fighting skill with a Fire Attribute.
What made it even better — it could be integrated into the spear.
Lei Qi smirked. Perfect. He was Thunder and Fire attributed, with a trace of Wood within his Fire. That made cultivating this technique even more powerful.
In the original timeline, someone like Feng Qing'er of the Sky Demon Phoenix could cultivate two attributes.
If she can do it, why not me? Lei Qi thought, a playful glint in his eyes.
The path forward was clear. His foundation was solid. His arsenal was growing.
The second floor had just become his new hunting ground.