The world was white.
Bolts of lightning rained down like spears from the heavens. The ground in the clearing turned into molten glass. The air smelled of ozone and death.
The **Thunder-Spine Ape** was no longer a beast; it was an avatar of destruction. Covered in armor of pure blue plasma, it moved at the speed of the storm.
*ZAP.*
It vanished.
*BOOM.*
It appeared behind Kaelen. A plasma-coated fist the size of a boulder slammed into Kaelen's back.
Kaelen flew.
He smashed through three petrified trees, his body skipping across the ground like a stone on water. He skidded to a halt, burying his boots in the dirt.
Smoke rose from his back. His robe was gone, burned away. His skin was charred black.
> **[Critical Damage]**
> **[Back Muscles: Cauterized.]**
> **[Regeneration: Slowed by Paralysis.]**
"Fast," Kaelen spat out a glob of blood. "And it hurts."
The Ape didn't give him time to breathe. It raised both hands. The storm clouds swirled.
**Thunder Art: Lightning Rain.**
Hundreds of lightning bolts arched down, targeting Kaelen.
Kaelen looked up.
Dodge? No. The paralysis was slowing his **Phantom Step**.
Block? The Slab would just conduct the electricity straight into his heart.
Kaelen dropped the Slab.
He stood unarmed. Open chest.
"If you can't beat the heat," Kaelen grinned, his teeth stained red.
"Eat it."
He spread his arms.
**Heaven-Devouring Scripture: Lightning Rod Mode.**
He forced his meridians open. He didn't build a barrier to keep the energy out. He created a vacuum to suck it in.
*KRACK-BOOM.*
The lightning rain hit him.
It didn't explode. It connected to him.
Kaelen became a conduit. The blue energy poured into his body, coursing through his veins, lighting up his skeleton like a neon sign.
Pain.
Absolute, blinding pain. His cells were popping. His blood was boiling.
But the **Demon Soul** laughed.
> **[Energy Source Detected: Heaven Lightning.]**
> **[ refining... ]**
> **[ refining... ]**
> **[Resistance Acquired: Lightning (High).]**
The Ape stopped. It watched in confusion. The human wasn't turning into ash. He was... glowing?
Kaelen lowered his arms. His charred skin flaked off, revealing fresh, unblemished skin underneath—skin that crackled with blue arcs.
His eyes were no longer black. They were blue.
"My turn," Kaelen said.
He didn't run. He *flashed*.
He moved with the speed of the lightning he had just absorbed.
He appeared in front of the Ape.
The Ape roared and threw a punch.
Kaelen caught the fist.
*ZZZT.*
The plasma armor burned his hand, but Kaelen didn't let go. He dug his fingers into the beast's fur.
"**Discharge.**"
Kaelen reversed the flow. He dumped all the lightning he had absorbed, plus his own dark Qi, back into the Ape.
*BOOOOM.*
The Ape screamed. Its own element turned against it. The overload short-circuited its plasma armor. The blue light flickered and died.
The beast fell to one knee, stunned.
Kaelen didn't hesitate.
He recalled the **Nameless Slab** with a wave of his hand (utilizing his new magnetic field). The heavy sword flew into his grip.
He jumped onto the Ape's shoulder.
"Good fight," Kaelen whispered into the beast's ear.
He placed the tip of the slab against the Ape's temple.
"**Hydraulic Press.**"
He pushed.
**Strength: 100 + Gravity + Momentum.**
*SQUELCH.*
The slab pierced the skull. The massive beast went rigid. Then, it slumped.
The storm clouds above began to disperse. The lightning faded.
Silence returned to the burnt forest.
Kaelen slid down the corpse. He was panting. His body was trembling from the aftershocks of the lightning.
He stood before the massive chest of the Beast King.
He plunged his hand into the open wound in the chest.
He pulled out the heart.
Inside the heart was a crystal the size of a fist. It pulsed with violent blue light.
**The Beast Core (Thunder King).**
> **[Item Analysis]**
> **Grade:** Peak Mortal / False Foundation.
> **Purity:** 98%.
> **Effect:** Violent mutation.
Kaelen looked at the core.
"Sect Master Han is coming," Kaelen muttered. "Foundation Establishment. Flight. Spells."
He looked at the crystal.
"I need wings."
He didn't hesitate. He bit into the crystal.
It crunched like glass.
He chewed and swallowed.
*WHOOSH.*
His aura exploded. The ground beneath him shattered.
A cocoon of black and blue energy wrapped around him.
Inside the cocoon, the Sovereign was evolving. The Mortal Limit was about to be broken.
And the Calamity was about to take flight.