Chapter 356: Pearl’s Choice

The onlookers stared in astonishment at what was unfolding before their eyes—Dao Feng was completely engulfed by those golden lightning bolts.
“Is that it already?” Those who had once held hopes felt disappointed. Though they knew full well the power that would result from all those lightning bolts, each one as fierce as a divine calamity, most of them had hoped Dao Feng would create a miracle. But now, with no miracle occurring and Dao Feng utterly consumed, it was entirely expected. After all, his opponent was Zi Ji Zunzhe, the strongest being in the Immortal Realm, the pinnacle of power in the entire Heavenly Realm. Dao Feng, at the Absolute Demon level, had already done remarkably well by holding out until the third move.
The Third Demon Emperor frowned slightly and glanced at the golden lightning sphere in the sky. “Is it really over this quickly?”
He seemed unwilling to believe the battle ended so abruptly.
In the sky, those immensely powerful mental forces also refused to give up on probing, patiently waiting for something. Those golden lightning bolts could not only corrode flesh but also attack mental forces, which was why many strong warriors dared not use their mental powers to probe—instead, they kept their mental forces at a distance, waiting for the lightning to dissipate.
“This is the ‘Break’ technique…” Inside the lightning, Dao Feng floated there with a relaxed expression. “Even these lightning bolts have been shattered into the most basic lightning particles.”
“I just reviewed the ‘Condense’ technique again and gained new insights into the ‘Wu Dian.’ Let me try out its true power!” Ye Feng moved slightly, switching from his ultimate puppet to his true form, then sat cross-legged in midair with his eyes closed.
“Condense for me!” Ye Feng uttered a low command. A large number of lightning particles began to flow into his body through his pores, circulating along his meridians according to the ‘Condense’ technique before slowly gathering in his dantian.
Inside his dantian, the two crystals—one black and one white—remained unaffected, while not far away, a faint purple light began to form slowly. At first, that purple dot was smaller than the tip of a needle, but as more lightning particles flowed in, it gradually grew larger, stopping only when it reached the size of a grain of rice. It was much smaller than the white and black crystals.
Only then did Ye Feng slowly open his eyes. “Indeed, the ‘Condense’ technique can not only control the energy on the surface of the body but also condense it within the dantian. This lightning energy is also extremely destructive. I need to find a way to nurture this purple crystal inside me.”

“Now, there are three crystals inside me. The white one is the energy generated from my own cultivation—it’s the energy of a Void Walker and can be continuously enhanced. The black crystal is the energy from the invasion by a powerful being inside Brother Dragon last time; it has a strong devouring ability. For now, I’ll call it the Devouring Power. However, activating the martial code prematurely last time seemed to deplete its essence, greatly reducing its devouring ability. I still don’t know how to improve it. As for the purple crystal this time, it’s the power of lightning—something I actively absorbed and condensed. Its foundation is the weakest, but if nurtured in the future, it will surely possess immense offensive power, which can be enhanced by concentrating lightning energy.” Ye Feng quickly analyzed his internal condition.

An hour passed. The floating thunderball remained, but the violent energy fluctuations inside had disappeared, leaving only a thin layer of lightning shell. Still, no one dared to test it lightly.

Dao Feng’s body hadn’t fallen from the air; it might have been burned to ashes by the lightning power. That was the only conclusion everyone could draw.

The woman named Scorpio clenched her fists tightly, staring intently at the thunderball, so much so that she didn’t even notice her nails piercing her palms. Crimson blood flowed through the gaps between her fingers and dripped to the ground…

“This ultimate-grade puppet is indeed convenient to use. Although it can only be rented for ten days at a time, that’s still 240 hours. Time is accumulated, and one can switch back to the original self at any time.” Ye Feng smiled inwardly as he sent his mental energy into the storage cabinet in the Void Realm. In an instant, the power of the ultimate-grade peak filled his body again.

After looking around, Ye Feng realized that although he had absorbed most of the lightning particles, the dense outer network still glowed with electricity, enclosing him.

He was slightly stunned before smiling. It turned out that his finger had only created a gap the size of a finger under the outer lightning barrier. The real energy had exploded inside, crushing the internal lightning energy into particles. Apart from that finger-sized gap, the outer layer remained intact, resulting in the scene before him.

After understanding everything, Ye Feng reached out toward the lightning barrier. The spherical barrier surrounding him finally collapsed at his touch.

Without internal energy to support it, the lightning barrier, which was barely maintaining balance, would be instantly disrupted even by a fly hitting it, let alone a slap from Ye Feng, even though he didn’t use much force.

Seeing the lightning barrier vanish in an instant, a familiar figure still stood there proudly, leaving the onlookers in awe. They waited for a whole tea break just to see what would happen after the barrier disappeared. To see the blade emerge unharmed shocked them greatly. “Nothing happened even after a tea break—I thought this guy was dead!” “I thought if he was still alive, he’d be in a terrible state, but he’s completely unharmed…” “Did he fall asleep inside? It took him a whole tea break to get out…” “…” The onlookers had various opinions, but it was clear that Ye Feng was extremely popular. The woman named Scorpio in the distance seemed to relax, releasing her clenched fists, and the moisture in her eyes disappeared quickly. “What on earth did this guy do in there?” The Third Demon Emperor seemed to sense something unusual. “Did he absorb the lightning energy inside? When the lightning barrier disappeared, not a trace of residual energy leaked out…” Loud applause came from not far away—it was Zi Ji Zun Zhe. “Not bad! Though I don’t know what method you used, you indeed deflected my attack. I never break my promises.” Then, a memory appeared in Ye Feng’s mind—events that happened after Zi Ji Zun Zhe met Scorpio. After investigating, Ye Feng finally exhaled deeply, shaking his head with a helpless smile. He slowly descended from the sky and landed across from the woman named Scorpio. “Sister Pearl, I know you were reluctant to acknowledge me before because you were worried Zi Ji Zun Zhe would attack me. Now, you don’t need to worry about that anymore. You’ve seen my strength, and after spending time with Zi Ji Zun Zhe, I believe you must have some understanding of his character too.” Ye Feng looked at the woman before him. She remained silent, merely staring at him. “Do you remember our first meeting?” Ye Feng smiled happily. “The moment I saw you, I knew you were someone with a story… Not just because you’re beautiful, but because of your eyes… So even after Brother Long warned me, I still couldn’t fully believe you were a bad person.”

“Later, because of Brother Long’s affairs, we became enemies. I even almost killed you… I also realized that though you’ve done many things that disgusted me, your heart is good. You donated to orphans and did everything you could to help those without parents so they could survive…”
“After that, you were being hunted and turned to me for help… And then there was the matter with your parents… I finally understood that you too are a poor soul tormented by fate…” Ye Feng shook his head with a bitter smile. “That’s why I began to accept you and treat you as a friend…”
“Among those old friends, you were the second person I met, even earlier than Long Yue and the others…” Ye Feng continued, “No matter what the reason, I don’t want you to pretend not to know me in the future, even if your pretense could save my life!”
Scorpio’s body trembled slightly, her eyes filling with tears. After taking a deep breath, she forced out a smile. “Thank you!”
“I’m really happy to hear you talk about these things,” Pearl finally admitted her identity. “Those days on Earth were truly nostalgic. Although the cultivation world is a much vaster realm, and the Heavenly Realm even more so now, Earth remains the most beautiful in my memories.”
“When I first arrived in the Heavenly Realm, I was really at a loss and wanted to find you right away. But now I’ve decided to stay by Brother Wuji’s side.” Pearl’s smile didn’t seem fake.
“Venerable Zi Ji?” Ye Feng raised his eyebrows slightly.
“Your cultivation speed is too fast. Being with you would only be a burden to us,” Pearl seemed to have thought it through clearly. “Besides, I’m already an older unmarried woman on Earth. I need to find a man to marry soon. After thinking it over, the only decent men around are you and Long Tian. You’re too young, and Long Tian is too flirtatious—neither is a suitable choice. Moreover, we’re too familiar, making it hard to take the first step. Not to mention those sisters watching over us…”
“Brother Wuji has status and influence in the Heavenly Realm, and he’s kind and single. It’s not easy for me to come across such a man, so of course I can’t let him slip away.” Saying this, Pearl wrapped her arm around Venerable Zi Ji’s arm.
Venerable Zi Ji was stunned by this sudden happiness, his face filled with a silly smile as he couldn’t say a word.
“Uh… well then…” Ye Feng didn’t know how to respond for a moment. Though he had complex feelings for Pearl, they were definitely not love—he knew that clearly.

“I have something that I obtained from the Dark Witch Clan earlier. It was originally meant for my own use, but after some thought, I felt you would be more suitable for it,” Ye Feng said, as a simple box appeared in his hands.
“What is this?” Pearl looked at the box in Ye Feng’s hands with curiosity.
Ye Feng slowly lifted the lid of the box…