From the Metropolis to the Strongest in the Cosmos

A thought crossed his mind, and the Spirit Speed Combat Boots on Li Yang’s feet rapidly changed size. The fluctuations they emitted subsided, making them look just like an ordinary pair of combat boots at first glance.

Li Yang now possessed three Divine Artifacts, in addition to the Sacred Artifact, the Profound Annihilation Spear!

Moreover, no one knew about the mysterious small sword in his mind—a treasure that was undoubtedly even more terrifying than the Profound Annihilation Spear!

With the transaction complete, Emperor Xu Lun looked at Li Yang and said, "Human Li Yang, you have already been inside the Thunder Pool. Now, enter the Spirit Pool. You may stay for up to three months."

SWISH!

After speaking, Emperor Xu Lun vanished on the spot.

’The Spirit Pool?’ Li Yang thought to himself.

The Spirit Pool was different from the Thunder Pool. The Thunder Pool allowed one to continuously absorb Evil Qi to consolidate their strength.

As for the Spirit Pool, it stabilized one’s Evil Qi during Body Refining, allowing for perfect control.

If one gained control quickly, a month was enough to achieve perfect stabilization.

Once it was perfectly stabilized, one could leave the Spirit Pool.

Therefore, it wasn’t a matter of how long one could endure.

In three months at the latest, Li Yang would surely be able to perfectly consolidate all that Evil Qi.

"Master Li Yang, please follow me. I will take you to where the Spirit Pool is," Elder Yuan Ye said with a smile as Li Yang was thinking.

At this moment, a complicated look flickered in his eyes.

Previously, the human Li Yang had caused a massive stir among the Star Moon Race, and he privately disdained their methods.

Then, when the human Li Yang was scheduled to visit their Thunder Spirit Race, he, as the elder assigned to host him, had only planned on taking Li Yang to the Thunder Pool. After the Body Refining session in the pool was over, he would send him away.

He had no intention of currying favor with Li Yang and planned only to maintain a superficial politeness.

But who would have thought that in such a short time, Li Yang would stir up so much trouble within their race.

The Spirit Pool Token, the Spirit of Lightning, and so on... This commotion was even bigger than what had happened with the Star Moon Race.

From the looks of it, their race’s Emperor had even come out repeatedly to give the human Li Yang treasures. The Evil Qi Crystal Stones were one thing, but that mid-tier speed-type Divine Artifact from just now was also extremely precious. Even he only had one mid-tier Divine Artifact; the rest were all just common Divine Artifacts.

"My apologies for the trouble."

Li Yang replied with a smile upon hearing Elder Yuan Ye’s words.

They soon arrived at their destination.

Here, too, was a vast area, but there was no lightning within it—only roiling waves of Evil Qi!

’So this is the Spirit Pool?’

From the name "Spirit Pool," one would expect less Evil Qi than in the Thunder Pool. But upon actually entering, the energy felt even more berserk!

The Thunder Pool had lightning, but this Spirit Pool had nothing but endless Evil Qi!

’Let’s see how effective it is!’

Without hesitation, Li Yang stepped directly into the Spirit Pool.

BOOM!

The moment he stepped inside, countless streams of Evil Qi assailed him. At the same time, the Evil Qi he had already absorbed into his body began to stir restlessly, as if wanting to surge out.

Li Yang felt that the Evil Qi he had thought was under his control was now on the brink of spinning out of control.

His Evil Qi domain unfurled uncontrollably. The domain’s fluctuations trembled slightly, showing signs of instability.

’Is this the side effect of Evil Qi?’ Li Yang thought as he assessed the feeling.

Everything has two sides. For example, if you consumed a fruit that granted a massive surge in power, your strength would skyrocket for a short time, but after the effect wore off, your body would enter a long period of weakness.

As for Body Refining in the Thunder Pool, the Evil Qi could continuously enhance one’s physical body and even allow one to form a powerful Evil Qi domain!

An Evil Qi domain could grant a massive boost in strength and even help one comprehend the profound mysteries of domains more quickly.

One could only imagine how significant these benefits were.

But using Evil Qi for Body Refining, despite allowing for a rapid increase in strength over a short time, also had its drawbacks.

Namely, as one’s cultivation progressed, the Evil Qi could become unstable.

This trace of instability could even affect future breakthroughs into major realms!

And the Spirit Pool was what could eliminate this side effect.

Therefore, although the effects of the Spirit Pool weren’t as dramatic as the Thunder Pool’s, it was still one of the Thunder Spirit Race’s greatest treasures.

That was why when Li Yang had arrived with the key to the Spirit Pool, the Emperors of the Thunder Spirit Race had been so alarmed that they had all descended to see him.

As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Li Yang took a deep breath.

’Time to stabilize it!’

BOOM!

Endless Evil Qi surged in, pressing down on his body, hammering it over and over again as if tempering steel.

The drawbacks of Body Refining with Evil Qi were normally impossible to detect.

It was like a machine with a minor, imperceptible flaw. Once those minor flaws accumulated and became a major problem, the machine would break down.

By then, even if the problem was visible, it would be too late. Who knew what it would cost to repair it.

The Spirit Pool, however, could expose all these minor flaws within Li Yang’s Evil Qi. And since they were now laid bare before him, all he had to do was apply the right remedy!

Since they were only minor flaws, resolving them was not a difficult task.

Thinking no more of it, Li Yang began the refinement process, steadily stabilizing the Evil Qi he had absorbed and eliminating any possibility of losing control in the future.

...

Time flowed on. This time, there were no unexpected disturbances. After more than a month, Li Yang felt that the Evil Qi in his body had finally been completely stabilized, and he left the Spirit Pool.

With the refinement in the Spirit Pool complete, Li Yang’s trip to the lands of the Thunder Spirit Race had also come to an end.

"We’ve imposed on you for quite some time, Elder Yuan Ye. It’s time for us to be on our way," Li Yang said with a small smile, looking at the elder who had been his host.

"Haha, Master Li Yang, don’t mention it! If you have time in the future, you are always welcome to visit the Thunder Spirit Race again," Elder Yuan Ye said, his face wreathed in smiles.

At the same time, he was muttering to himself, ’The Supreme Elder issued an order: the human Li Yang can visit the Thunder Spirit Race again, but he absolutely must not be allowed near the Thunder Pool. Do my polite words count as a violation of that order? I won’t be punished for this, will I?’

He felt a little apprehensive, terrified that Li Yang would immediately agree and say, "Alright, I’ll be back next time."

However, Li Yang knew that Elder Yuan Ye was just being polite.

On this trip to the Thunder Spirit Race, leaving aside all other matters, the Spirit of Lightning alone had thrown the powerful Emperors of the race into a panic, terrified that it would run off with him.

His gaze shifted toward the Thunder Pool, and he couldn’t help but feel a sense of helplessness.

’Sigh, I guess the Thunder Pool and I just weren’t meant to be,’ he thought to himself.

’A powerful Sacred Artifact was right there, wanting to acknowledge him as its master, yet he couldn’t accept it. Was there anything in the world more agonizing than that?’

’In terms of grade, the Thunder Pool likely surpassed the Profound Annihilation Spear!’

Noticing Li Yang’s gaze, Elder Yuan Ye’s heart skipped a beat. ’What is this human Li Yang doing? Is he still fixated on our race’s ultimate treasure, the Thunder Pool?’

Without betraying any emotion, he took a step forward, blocking Li Yang’s line of sight.

"Haha, Master Li Yang, allow me to see you out," Elder Yuan Ye said with a laugh.