While Xiao Jietian reclined in tranquil repose, letting the Little Fairy Doctor's gentle hands and lips gradually restore the vigor of his spirit, far across the vast Central Plains—at the distant Qifeng Mountain—a solitary blood-streaked figure tore through the heavens like a dying comet, hurtling toward the thunder-shrouded peak with desperate speed.
His robes were shredded to rags, hair wild and matted with dust and gore. Once an elder of renown, he now appeared no different from a beggar who had crawled out of ten thousand battlefields.
"Pavilion Master! Calamity has befallen us!" Elder Dian's voice cracked like splintering jade as he threw himself before the grand gates of the North Thunder Pavilion. The cry carried such grief that even the perpetual thunder seemed to falter for an instant.
Atop the highest floor of the North Thunder Pavilion, upon a throne of cold-forged silver inscribed with coiling lightning runes, sat Fei Tian—Pavilion Lord of the Northern Branch, titled Fei Tian in the martial world.
Hearing the mournful wail from below, his sword-sharp brows furrowed deeply. Slowly he opened his eyes; displeasure gathered like storm clouds across his stern countenance.
Elder Dian staggered up the spiraling jade steps, robes fluttering like tattered banners of defeat. Reaching the summit chamber, he collapsed to his knees before the throne and pressed his forehead to the icy stone.
"What has transpired? Why do you return in such a wretched state? Where are your companions?" Fei Tian demanded, his gaze sweeping over the broken figure.
Had he not known this man for decades, he might have failed to recognize him entirely. The once-proud Elder Dian now resembled nothing so much as a stray cur, chased across endless li, prestige shattered, dignity trampled into the dust.
"All dead… all dead… wuuu…" Elder Dian's shoulders heaved violently. Great sobs tore from his throat; tears mingled with blood and mucus streamed unchecked down his face.
He had barely escaped the jaws of death, then burned every last drop of vitality traversing one spatial wormhole after another, fleeing back to the familiar shelter of Qifeng Mountain. Only now, within the protective grand array of his sect, did the terror finally burst free—uncontainable, overwhelming.
"Cease this weeping at once! Speak plainly—what exactly occurred?" Fei Tian's voice cut like a drawn blade.
Yet Elder Dian could only continue sobbing, body quaking as though possessed by demons.
Fei Tian's patience finally shattered.
In one fluid motion he rose from the silver throne, crossed the chamber in three strides, seized Elder Dian by the collar and hauled the weeping elder upright.
Pa! Pa!
Two crisp, resounding slaps rang out across the man's cheeks—louder even than the rolling thunder outside.
The sound struck like cold spring water. Elder Dian's sobs choked off instantly; bright red palm-prints bloomed on his gaunt face. He stared blankly at Fei Tian, dazed, as though uncertain what force had just struck him.
"Are you awake now?" Fei Tian asked in a low, glacial tone.
Elder Dian's mind had yet to fully recover. He nodded mechanically—chiefly because he feared that hesitation would earn him two more resounding blows.
"Then speak! What in the nine hells happened?!" Fei Tian shoved him back to the floor, glanced at his own hands—now smeared with tears, snot, and filth—and grimaced in disgust. Roughly he wiped them on Elder Dian's already ruined robe.
As he did, he noticed his palms had turned an ominous black. Fury surged like wildfire in his chest; he very nearly throttled the man then and there.
Seeing Fei Tian's expression darken further, Elder Dian mistakenly believed the Pavilion Lord was angered by his continued silence. Terrified of another thrashing, he hastily gathered his wits and began to stammer forth the tale.
"This… that… then this occurred…"
For more than the time it takes to burn half a stick of incense he rambled on, gesticulating wildly, looking for all the world like a ragged street performer begging alms.
When at last the disjointed account concluded, Fei Tian's pupils shrank to needle points. His tall frame actually shuddered.
"You mean… that fool Shen Yun attempted to seize a medicinal pill from a Dou Zun… and was slain on the spot by him?"
"Then, upon reaching Tianbei City, Lei Lang continued to provoke the same expert… ultimately causing both Lei Lang and Feng Butong to perish? And you alone barely escaped with your worthless life?"
Elder Dian nodded frantically, tears still leaking from bloodshot eyes.
"Heavens above!" Fei Tian staggered backward several steps, nearly losing balance.
"What was the enemy's cultivation?" he demanded through clenched teeth, silently praying the foe was no higher than a low- or mid-tier Dou Zun—so that the supreme Thunder Venerable of the main pavilion might still intervene.
"Terrifying… utterly terrifying. I sensed an aura upon him far surpassing any ordinary Honored Warrior. Even… even a peak Dou Zun might not be his match."
As a core elder of Fenglei Northern Pavilion, he had been granted audience with Thunder Venerable on several occasions and had personally witnessed the supreme expert's divine might.
Yet the pressure he had felt in Tianbei City had been deeper, vaster, more suffocating than even that legendary figure's aura.
"Great Heavens!" Fei Tian clutched the front of his robe and roared in fury and despair. "You fools ventured forth once and provoked such a monster? Is a Dou Zun someone your trifling lives can afford to offend?!"
"It wasn't me! It was all Shen Yun's doing!" Elder Dian hurriedly disavowed any connection to the deceased fool.
"Weren't you usually closer than blood brothers?" Fei Tian sneered coldly, flicking his sleeve.
Bang!
Elder Dian was hurled through the air and crashed against the far wall, embedding several inches into solid stone.
"Pfft—!"
A jet of fresh blood sprayed from his mouth. Immediately afterward, arcs of strange purple-black lightning began to snake across his body. His skin swelled grotesquely—limbs, torso, face—ballooning at a visible rate, as though some explosive force within him was expanding without limit.
"What are you doing? What madness possesses you?!" Fei Tian stared in alarm at the monstrously inflating figure.
Was the man truly about to self-destruct right here in the heart of the pavilion?
"I merely cursed your good brother—did you really have to resort to this? Cease at once! I'll make an exception and appoint you Vice Pavilion Master immediately!"
At this moment Fei Tian only sought to placate the man; any settling of accounts could wait.
Yet what he did not know was that Elder Dian himself was filled with bewilderment and terror.
He could not control his Dou Qi at all!
The violent, uncontrollable surge tearing through his meridians was none other than Xiao Jietian's parting gift—the Extreme Wood-Thunder Incantation.
Back then, Xiao Jietian had silently planted this lethal seed within Elder Dian's body, intending it as both a deadly surprise and a means to "redecorate" the whole of Qifeng Mountain when the moment was ripe.
Seeing the situation spiraling beyond control, Fei Tian's expression changed drastically.
Without hesitation he unleashed his strongest Dou Technique. Lightning exploded in all directions; the entire upper levels of the North Thunder Pavilion shattered like fragile porcelain.
Fei Tian's figure shot through the breach like a streak of silver-black thunder, fleeing into open sky.
BOOM——!!!
A heaven-rending detonation erupted from within the tower.
The blast swept across Qifeng Mountain like the wrath of the nine firmaments. Thunderclouds churned violently; countless birds and beasts fled in panic.
When the smoke and dust finally dispersed…
Less than half of the once-majestic North Thunder Pavilion remained standing. Jagged ruins thrust skyward like broken dragon fangs.
A hundred zhang distant, a blood-drenched figure in silver-black robes struggled up from a fresh crater. Dim silver eyes flickered with lingering shock and rage.
Fei Tian's arms hung limply at his sides—both shattered. Innumerable wounds large and small covered his body; fresh blood continued to seep, staining the ground scarlet.
"Cough… cough… damnable wretch… what is this 'dying to prove resolve' nonsense?!"
"If you bear a grudge, speak it plainly—why make everything so theatrical? For whose eyes are you performing this grand tragedy?!"
He spat several mouthfuls of blood-flecked spittle, cursing furiously beneath his breath.
All around, the disciples and elders of Fenglei Northern Pavilion stared in stunned silence at the unrecognizable ruins of their sacred tower and at their grievously wounded Pavilion Lord.
An alert elder reacted swiftly. He produced a precious sixth-grade healing pill and offered it with both hands, bowing deeply.
Fei Tian accepted without ceremony. Guiding the pill into his mouth with what remained of his Dou Qi, he felt a warm current spread through his broken limbs—enough to allow slight movement.
Without pause he plunged his hand into his spatial ring, retrieved a fistful of fifth- and sixth-grade healing pills, and swallowed them all in one gulp.
Roughly the time it takes to burn half a stick of incense later—
A stern decree echoed throughout Fenglei Northern Pavilion:
The mountain gates are sealed. All disciples currently abroad are ordered to return at once.
At the same time, Fei Tian hastily composed a jade transmission slip and sent it streaking toward the distant Eastern Pavilion.
The Wind-Thunder Eastern Pavilion was the true heart of the entire Wind-Thunder Pavilion alliance.
And it was there that the supreme Thunder Venerable held court.