Dai Tianling's brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this. Yali's refusal to stay had left a very sour taste in his mouth. Even with this Limit Douluo among their ranks, there was no way that Tang Wulin and the others would be able to stall the federal fleet for any meaningful amount of time.

As such, in his eyes, Yali was simply using this excuse to get away from the Star Luo Empire, which was about to be ravaged by war soon.

However, he made no outward display of his displeasure. After all, if Yali hadn't come back all this way to deliver this message to them, he would still be completely oblivious to the massive threat that was looming on the horizon.

"Alright, then I wish you all the best, and please pass on my regards to Sect Master Tang. If we can survive this ordeal, I'll be sure to pay Sect Master Tang a visit in person to deliver a formal apology."

If there were any medicine in this world that could remedy remorse, then he'd down an entire bottle right away! If he hadn't decided to organize that Trial of Five Gods in a moment of hotheaded idiocy, the agreement with the Tang Sect would've been established much earlier, and they would've set everything up by now.

It was exactly because of his inability to swallow his own pride that the entire empire had now been plunged into such a perilous situation. However, remorse wasn't going to do any good in this situation; he had to think of a way to address this dire situation.

Right at this moment, a servant suddenly rushed into the room. "I have a report to make!"

"What is it?" Dai Tianling hurriedly asked.

"Your Majesty, the meteorology department just delivered an emergency report, stating that a storm of a magnitude and intensity that hasn't been seen for over 100 years has suddenly appeared over the western sea. The storm is visible even from the western coast, but instead of approaching the mainland, it seems to be gradually moving further away. The meteorology department has only delivered this report due to the ferocity of the storm, and the abruptness of its emergence."

"The western sea?" Dai Tianling and Yali exclaimed in unison.

The federal fleet was coming from the western sea!

Both of them exchanged a glance, and they each could see their own astonishment mirrored in one another's eyes.

What did such a fearsome storm entail? It entailed that the federal fleet was most likely going to be affected by the storm, thereby buying the Star Luo Empire some more time.

Dai Tianling's expression immediately changed drastically as this thought occurred to him. Just a moment ago, he had been under the impression that Yali was merely using this as an alibi to get away, but his mind had been completely changed.

He had arrived at the conclusion that there had to be an extremely powerful being capable of controlling the weather among the Tang Sect entourage, and that person was stalling the federal fleet for their sake!

"You have my thanks, Holy Spirit Douluo!" He immediately extended a deep bow toward Yali. Regardless of whether the Tang Sect was behind this, he had to do this. If the Tang Sect really were responsible for this, then his gratitude was warranted. Even if that weren't the case, he didn't lose anything by doing this, and it would improve the impression that Yali had of him.

"Now's not the time to be thanking me, Your Majesty; I'd advise you to begin making preparations right away. I'll be taking my leave now," Yali flew out of the palace as a streak of white light as soon as her voice trailed off.

Unlike Dai Tianling, she was well aware that there was no one in the Tang Sect entourage capable of conjuring up such a fierce storm!

......

There seemed to be no end in sight to the violent storm, and high up in the sky, the purple light around Tang Wulin and Xie Xie had been completely turned into a purplish-golden color.

Even Xie Xie could clearly sense the terrifying aura emanating from this purplish-golden light. A series of Bluesilver Emperor vine had already risen up from Tang Wulin's body and intertwined with this purplish-golden light. The purplish-golden color began to spread over the Bluesilver Emperor vines, while the Bluesilver Emperor vines were releasing bluish-golden light that was being injected into the Infernal Lightning Vine's body to stabilize it.

Through its constant engulfment of lightning, the Infernal Lightning Vine had already reached a state of saturation, but even so, it was still devouring lightning like there was no tomorrow.

This was the nature of the Infernal Lightning Vine; it would continue to devour so long as there was still more lightning for it to devour.

At this moment, Tang Wulin's entire body was completely numb. The lightning power that was purified by the Infernal Lightning Vine was simply far too fearsome; it was unadulterated destructive power without any impurities. He was currently using this power to cleanse his own body of all minor impurities, and also using this experience to consolidate the powers he had attained through this recent period of rapid improvement.

Essentially, he was using lightning to refine his own body. If he didn't have the Body Sect's congenital secret method to support himself, he wouldn't dare to do this. Even at Xie Xie's level of power, guiding such pure lightning power directly into his body would immediately reduce him to dust.

Under the stimulus of the electric currents, a purplish-golden color began to appear in his body as the congenital secret method gradually combined with the lightning.

The most prominent attribute of the Body Sect's congenital secret method was that it completely stimulated one's latent potential to trigger evolution and take one beyond human limits.

The Body Sect was once considered to be one of the most powerful sects on the entire continent as almost all of its forefathers who had successfully cultivated the congenital secret method had become Limit Douluos. At the same time, they also possessed the most stamina when it came to combat.

The congenital secret method allowed a Soul Master to withstand far more impact than their cultivation rank would otherwise allow, and through the refinement Tang Wulin was receiving from this pure lightning power, the negative after-effects brought on by his sudden breakthrough to become a Titled Douluo were gradually being ironed out.

On top of that, his powers were rapidly being consolidated, and he had also begun to fuse with the Infernal Lightning Vine to make it his fourth soul spirit.

Even though the Infernal Lightning Vine had become extremely violent after devouring so much lightning, it wasn't resisting Tang Wulin at all.

There was no one more suitable for it than Tang Wulin, and it was already in a soul spirit state, so it would immediately die if it were to leave Tang Wulin's body. On top of that, following Tang Wulin gave it a chance to ascend to a higher level!

Tang Wulin's Son of Nature aura was able to iron out its biggest inherent flaw, and Tang Wulin's Bluesilver Emperor was a top-tier martial soul in the plant world, so it was an exceptional match for the Infernal Lightning Vine. The Bluesilver Emperor could bestow upon the Infernal Lightning Vine resilience, while the Infernal Lightning Vine could bestow upon the Bluesilver Emperor violent explosive power. Under the influence of Tang Wulin's Golden Dragon King bloodline, the Infernal Lightning Vine was rapidly evolving amid the violent lightning storm.

Throughout this entire process, the storm had shown no signs of subsiding at all.

Xie Xie was standing on the spot, not even daring to move a single inch as he appraised Tang Wulin in silence. He could sense the terrifying power imbued within the purplish-golden light, so he didn't dare to touch it; even the slightest physical contact could instantly reduce him to dust!

In his eyes, Tang Wulin had become so far out of reach that he couldn't even muster up the urge to try and catch up to him anymore!

It was downright unimaginable that a human being could bathe in this terrifying realm of lightning.

Surely even a Limit Douluo wouldn't be able to accomplish this! Was the Vast Sea Cosmic Crystal alone really enough to allow him to do this?

If the Vast Sea Cosmic Crystal possessed this much power, why hadn't the Atlas Douluo used it against that Godslayer missile? Perhaps it could only display its power in the sea?

All types of thoughts were flashing through Xie Xie's mind, and a hint of awe and veneration had crept into his eyes.

After Tang Wulin became the Tang Sect Master and Sea God's Pavilion Master, he had constantly been evolving and also becoming more intelligent and authoritative.