After crossing the horizon, Damien and Zara didn't pause at all. Neither of them was even close to their limit yet.
As they continued deeper into the lightning sea, they slowly found more and more people around them. These were none other than the Fallen Star Holy Land disciples they'd heard about previously.
Damien shook his head wryly. "These are the weakest geniuses from that Holy Land yet they made it so far into the lightning sea. Their strength doesn't exceed 3rd class either. A Holy Land is truly different."
He praised them sincerely. Damien's breadth of vision had always been high, too high in fact. A genius like Marcus who he killed previously had the talent to reach even the top 100,000 of the Dimensional Leaderboard, but that rank meant nothing to Damien.
Whether it was the Top 100,000 or the Top 100, none of these were good enough for him. Whether it was arrogance or confidence, he knew his worth.
And now that his Celestial powers had become much more flexible and his Void Physique was somewhat integrated, his worth had skyrocketed.
"I don't care about the rest. Let me go find that Atticus character and see what he's worth." Damien muttered. Without another word, he increased his speed and shot into the distance!
The pseudo-Heavenly Lightning slowly became purer and purer with time. At some point, Damien crossed a threshold and was met with genuine Silver Heavenly Lightning!
This was the same lightning he used himself. And while absorbing it wouldn't affect his strength at all, he could surely comprehend something from its existence.
Yet, he didn't stop. He continued, stepping into pseudo-Gold Heavenly Lightning territory and even further into its true form. At this point, he released some Void Mana into the surroundings and activated Devour. Even as he moved, he contained Gold Heavenly Lightning in his body and integrated it with the lightning seed in his Mana Heart.
In normal circumstances, Damien wasn't strong enough to even face true Gold Heavenly Lightning. But this situation was different.
For Heavenly Lightning to show its true power, it needed to be wielded by the universe itself. Even if this space could somehow create and contain the lightning, it could never use its full power.
Due to this, the Mystic Realm unintentionally became Damien's feeding ground. With Transcendent Regeneration making his body nigh-impervious, even this Gold Heavenly Lightning could do nothing to him.
Zara, on the other hand, was different. While she was also strong enough to easily resist the Gold Heavenly Lightning, she could still benefit immensely from studying it. Compared to Damien, her comprehension was lacking.
Even if she didn't have a lightning affinity herself, she could study the way lightning worked and incorporate it into her own abilities. Aside from that, she could also temper her body, which was the ideal path for a beast.
"Damien, I think I'll stay here." She said quietly. Even though she already made the decision, she still looked to him for approval.
Damien laughed and patted her head. "Aren't you grown now? You were so excited to show off, yet you're still acting like a kid. If you want to do something, just do it. You know I'll never stop you."
"Mm," Zara nodded. His respect and encouragement made her happy, but she couldn't help but feel bitter in her heart.
It was true that she was no longer a kid. Having a human form meant she could walk beside Damien, and having strength meant she could help him when he needed it. This was everything she wanted, but for some reason, she felt a subtle change in the way Damien treated her.
He no longer let her stick to him the same way she did in the past, whether it was physically or emotionally. It felt like he'd unconsciously put up a boundary between them, a boundary that she didn't like.
'But, didn't he tell me to do whatever I want to do?' Zara tilted her head, confused. She'd learned plenty from Tang Lingzi, but in regards to relationships, she didn't have any knowledge or experience. After all, how could Tang Lingzi teach her something she herself didn't know?
If Tang Lingzi had a weakness, it would be her "lone wolf" personality that couldn't cooperate well with others.
Naturally, the "unconscious barrier" Damien put up was only because of Zara's new form. Even if her beauty couldn't change his opinion of her, he could still recognize it. Zara was now an incredibly beautiful woman with a mesmerizing face and body. If he allowed her to cuddle up with him like she used to do, things certainly wouldn't end well.
He wanted to evade the awkwardness of that situation, so he pushed Zara away a bit. While this was a comfortable platonic distance for humans, Zara wasn't a human. She was a wolf, and one who craved Damien's affection.
In the end, Zara sighed and sat down to train. She didn't like thinking about things she didn't understand, but Tang Lingzi taught her to face her problems. Now that she'd met with Damien, properly interacting with him was the next hurdle.
'Patience, Zara. You can do it!' She cheered herself on. Shortly after, she closed her eyes and entered meditation. To temper the mind and body, and then temper her social anxiety…
The tasks on Zara's plate really filled it to the brim.
***
Meanwhile, Damien had long since left the Golden Heavenly Lightning zone. In front of him stood a wall, a wall of blackness.
"Black Demon Lightning…" he muttered. Of the different variations of natural lightning, Black Demon Lightning was by far the strongest.
Damien's face hardened. The strength of this next level would be far too exaggerated compared to its predecessors.
Black Demon Lightning was thoroughly untamable. It was like every strand had its own spirit, domineering and unbending to external pressure.
This meant that, unlike Heavenly Lightning, Black Demon Lightning wouldn't be suppressed at all even without the universe's control. If Damien stepped into this next level, he'd face his first true challenge in the Storm Heavens Mystic Realm.
He hesitated slightly. It was true that he wanted to challenge himself, but he wanted to find the Fallen Star Holy Son first. That man was Damien's path forward. He was the guide that'd give Damien the way to true competition.
But before he could hesitate long, his worries all vanished at once. Within the sea of Black Demon Lightning, a commotion broke out.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Just by streaking through the air, the Black Demon Lightning tore holes in the void. Tens of individual strands coiled together to form a snake-like creature. Its burning red eyes glared hatefully in a single direction.
There stood a man. His long black hair spread wildly through the air, his spear carrying an indomitable will within. Facing the Black Demon Lightning, the man broke into raucous laughter.
"Hahahaha! To think that I would find such a treasure on a minor excursion like this one! Come, show me the power of the mythical Black Demon Lightning!"
Raaaaah!
The Demonic Lightning Snake let out a roar and streaked forward. It reached the man's position in an instant and attacked, meeting his spear with its tail!
BANG!
A loud explosion rang out as the two forces collided. Space in the surrounding ten thousand kilometers shattered into pieces, giving way to a mystical cosmic backdrop.
In the center of this destruction, only the man and the Demonic Lightning Snake remained unmoved. And outside the boundaries of the Black Demon Lightning Space, a man stood watching them.
A wide grin spread on his face. He cracked his knuckles and recklessly rushed into the Black Demon Lightning Space.
'I finally found you.'
His battle intent blazed. Damien, Atticus, and the Demonic Lightning Snake, these three heaven-shaking forces were set to collide.
