After carving out the cave, Elder Yun used a gentle wind to lift Min Hong and place him within the cave. Then, Min Qing stood guard at the cave entrance while Elder Yun soared into the sky and hovered over the entire mountain area, circling around it like a scout.

The vortex spun faster and faster until it began to rage and howl.

​​

Trees were uprooted and sent hurling far away. The clouds swirled with this vortex until a gaping hole appeared within it, and the clear sky was laid bare.

Then an invisible lightning bolt descended towards the cave entrance. Min Qing and Elder Yun couldn't see it, but they could hear a clear resounding thunder boom across the clear sky.

Min Hong who was within his Sea of Consciousness clearly knew about it and could clearly sense it.

The invincible lightning slammed into Min Hong's body, but didn't hurt him in the slightest, instead it headed straight for his Mind Palace.

The moment the lightning entered his Sea of Consciousness, it became visible. It was a python made entirely of lightning!

It dashed towards Min Hong's Mind Palace looking to destroy this somewhat heaven-defying construct.

It bolted through the forest and grasslands leaving charred plants and grasses in its wake, and as it approached, a white beam of light shot into the sky and when it got to a certain height, it began to spread out.

It spread outwards until it actually covered the entire castle in an energy dome.

This energy dome was like an inverted bowl that shielded the entire castle on all sides. This was the same energy barrier that covered the altar within Min Hong's former Sea of Consciousness.

The lightning python slammed into the energy barrier trying to bore its way into it, but after a long period of time, it lost its energy as it vanished.

Then in the outside world, as if being challenged, the vortex roiled fiercer and two invincible lightning descended once more.

This time, the thunder that boomed rippled all over the mountain chasing all the beast that were making their way over to the source of the huge commotion.

The two invincible lightning slammed into Min Hong once again as they made their way into his Sea of Consciousness.

When they entered, they appeared once again. This time, there were two lightning pythons and were at least twice as huge as the first.

They also slammed into the energy dome which brightened blindly and tried to withstand their impact.

The two lightning pythons battled fiercely and just like their predecessor, they soon ran out of energy.

By that time the energy dome barrier that was protecting the castle had dimmed by half.

Then in the outside world, another set of furious and ferocious thunder boomed across the sky as three invincible lightning descended.

Following in the footsteps of their predecessors, they appeared within his Sea of Consciousness once more.

But this time, these three lightning pythons actually began to merge with each other as their energy and size began to swell.

By the time they were done merging, they had transformed into a lightning flood-dragon!

It was about twenty times bigger and longer than the earlier python and carried about fifty times more energy and ferocity.

The flood-dragon violently bolted towards the energy dome and slammed into it.

This time the energy dome dimmed on impact and began to crack.

The instant the first crack appeared; Min Hong who was sitting within the cave began to bleed from his nostrils.

The cracks continued to spread out as everything became a battle of attrition between the lightning flood-dragon and the energy dome barrier.

This battle raged on for ten breaths, before both the energy dome and lightning flood dragon ran out of energy simultaneously.

At this point, the Min Hong within the cave was now bleeding from both his eyes and ears too.

The moment the lightning flood-dragon vanished, the vortex in the sky then began to spin in reverse as pure and unblemished mental energy surged into the cave and washed upon Min Hong.

Min Hong was washed with this divine mental energy for about two breaths, before they bored through his body and went straight for the castle and began to fill it up.

After filling it up to the brim, they washed over the energy barrier and repaired its cracks.

After the cracks were completely repaired, three ancient runes could be seen slithering all over the barrier.

After that the energy took the same route and repaired all the damages the lightning snakes had caused on their way in, before it then poured into his Sea of Consciousness, filling it until huge waves began to smash against the shores of his Mind Palace, just like a beach.

"So, that is what a tribulation looks like unh…" The Soul of Min Hong which was way within the castle inside his residence mumbled to itself.

"That's one of the advantages of having a sturdy Mind Palace, or else; that lightning tribulation would have blasted the building apart."

"But mine is different, the tribulation couldn't even touch my gates, not to talk of coming all the way here." Min Hong had an ecstatic smile when he thought about this.

"Now that I have completed this task, I should pay a visit to that monkey to know the process of receiving the inheritance. If I am to join any school or sect in the Dogon Empire, I have to at least be in the Emperor or Dan Formation stage."

"But I should first take care of my matters with that Azure Queen in that lake, then I can spend the remainder of our journey cultivating." Min Hong then left his Mind Palace via the futon and appeared in the outside world where he was greeted by a virgin fragrance.

He looked up and the only thing in sight was the plum chest of Min Qing.

She was currently wiping off the blood that was leaking from his ears, eyes and nostrils, so she knelt on the cave floor and placed Min Hong's head on her laps.

Min Hong could see the worried expression on her face and it caused warmth to flood throughout his entire body.

He was really happy; this level of care had been shown to him by only two people; his grandfather, Min Tian and his mother, Min Rou.

"You really know how to take good care of a man… Any man would surely be extremely lucky to have you as a maiden…" He murmured to Min Qing as he sat up.

"What are you saying?!" Min Qing's face flushed red and became flustered at the topic. "I…I…d…don't have such thoughts on my mind at all" she stuttered.

"Moreover, were you cultivating, or what is you were doing that prompted such a massive commotion in the atmosphere?" she hurriedly changed the topic.

"In a way. But it is more like setting everything in place for the restart of my cultivation." Min Hong knew there was no way Min Qing would understand the phenomenon that just occurred.

Moreover, he only knew the little that the monkey explained to him earlier.

"Since we have gotten to the Mist Mountain, it would be better to finish my business here on time. Furthermore, I don't think the Soaring Cloud Alliance would just let us leave like that, there must be an extensive search going on at the moment."

"So, we really need to leave the East Wind Empire as soon as possible. Within the storage are enough resources to get you to the Peak of Dan Formation, use them and quickly raise your cultivation. We don't have much time to waste." He added.

"What about you, Hong-ge?" Min Qing asked with furrowed brows.

"I'll be fine. Moreover, because I will be cultivating from scratch, these resources won't be enough to get me to the Emperor or Dan Formation stage. So, it would be best if you make use of it instead." Min Hong responded.

"No! If it is the way you say it is, then you should be the one to make use of it. At least, that way, even if you don't reach the Dan Formation stage, you will be able to at least reach the Peak of Qi Sea stage and Warrior stage…"

"That way, I would be in the Dan Formation stage and you will be very close behind. This would allow us to at least manage in the Dogon Empire…" Min Qing protested.

"Little Qing, we might not even survive long enough to make a name for ourselves in a foreign land with such a weak cultivation base. Since I have told you to use the resources, naturally, I will have my own way of obtaining my cultivation resources."

"Or are you insinuating that I am not in a right state of mind, or that I will jeopardize the sacrifices of our Families and Friends by doing something unreasonable with my life." Min Hong's voice was already rising as a heavy pressure descended on the entire Mist Mountain.

The pressure was so heavy, that weaker beasts bowed, some knelt, others that were flying descended as if they had met a higher existence than theirs.

The stronger ones felt stifled and even Elder Yun who was still circling over the mountain felt some resistance in the atmosphere.

Min Qing who was in front of Min Hong felt it the most. The pressure didn't affect her physically, rather it was pulling out a great sense of reverence from deep within her mind and soul.

She was already sweating and could not even look Min Hong directly in the eye as she bowed her head.

Throughout this moment, everything Min Hong said to her felt like a heavenly decree that shouldn't be challenged or questioned.

"Oi! Little punk! Reign in your mental aura, or are you trying to turn her into a mindless slave…" the monkey's anxious voice rang out within Min Hong's Mind Palace as he quickly snapped him out of his tensed state.

"M…Mi…Min H…Hong-ge…I… I…am very sorry." Min Qing quavered as light tears began to form on her face.

Seeing this, Min Hong was shocked. "Did I just unknowingly attack little Qing mentally?" He thought to himself still stunned by the level of his mental prowess.

"No. I am sorry. I shouldn't have acted up that way. Come here…" Min Hong apologized as he hugged the teary Min Qing whilst caressing her hair.

"Little kid, where are you planning to go and what do you plan on doing there?" Elder Yun descended to the cave mouth and interrupted the two of them.

"Elder Yun, I am very sorry, but I will have trouble you to take me to the lake right in the middle of the Mist Marshland." Min Hong spoke as he and Min Qing stepped atop Elder Yun; the Void Soul Owl.

"There is someone, I really wish would come with us on this trip" Min Hong voice drifted off in thought as he recalled a certain beast that stimulated his breakthrough with an intense battle.

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The Min Hong trio arrived at the lake within the Mist Marshlands in less than ten minutes.

Elder Yun soared across the lake as it approached a nearby tree on a patch of land near the centre of the lake.

The moment they passed over the spot where the whirlpool formed back then, several plopping sounds rang out as several beasts dashed into the lake with great haste.

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Deep underneath the Mist Marshland lake….

"Great Queen! Great Queen!"

"Great Queen!" Several lesser beasts came charging over.

"What is it?" The Azure Queen Boa replied in beast language.

One of these lesser beasts answered, quavering. "Great Queen, that boy you fought with the last time is back. He is currently standing on a tree near the centre of the lake…"

Hearing this, the Azure Queen Boa didn't even allow the beast to finish its statement before storming out of its nest.

he had been hoping to meet the little human child for a while now.

The last time they fought, Min Hong had really pushed her to the limit. She had vigorously used her bloodline power when she shrunk her size to almost a quarter of her original size.

Due to this, a few days after their battle, she saw her bloodline purity surge upwards, and as a result she now possessed a 25 percent bloodline purity which brought about a new bloodline technique for her.

Furthermore, she also saw a single stage increase to her cultivation base.

These few incidents had really sparked a strong evolution in the Azure Queen Boa. She was already transforming into a python and with just a similar kind of battle, she might just get the little boost she needed to finally transform completely.

So, at this point, the Azure Queen Boa was a magic beast with a 25 percent bloodline purity, a 3 Star Dan Formation beast and was finally capable of speech.

Seeing the amount of fortune her little, intense encounter with Min Hong had brought her, she had always felt distressed that Min Hong might never show up again.

She was really hoping she would be able to have a duel with him once again.

So, when she heard that the person she most wanted to meet once again was actually here, she instantly darted for the spot he was reported to have been seen.

Boom! Shraa!

The lake surface exploded as a huge amount of water was sent into the sky. Then an azure streak of light flashed out of the gaping hole that was made as a result of the explosion.

Some water droplets rained, before the larger portion of the water slammed into the lake causing huge waves to ripple across.

On a tree not far away, Min Hong saw the explosion and smilingly spoke. "Little Queen, I can sense great changes radiating from you. It seems our little spar back then was really beneficial to you."