Staring at the bolt of lightning crashing down from the sky, Evan Chu couldn’t help but flinch. The lightning wouldn’t really hurt him, but the intense tingling and numbness all over his body was still seriously uncomfortable.
In the blink of an eye, a barrel-thick blue lightning bolt slammed down. Evan could only wear a helpless look as he endured the electrifying sensation—like thousands of ants gnawing at him—until he was blasted deep into the yellow sand. Strangely, the Five-Element Tree wasn’t damaged at all.
After a long while, Evan finally crawled out of the sand, looking like a coal miner—his whole body pitch-black, clothes completely gone, basically a wild man.
Evan glanced at his sorry state and forced a bitter smile. "Son of a—! There are still four Five-Element Fruits left, which means twelve more lightning strikes. I really went all in this time. My luck just sucks."
"You brat, you really don’t know how good you have it! Complaining after getting all these benefits? This lightning is refining your body—people would kill for a chance like this! You think just anyone can survive Five-Element Lightning? If you let it fully transform you, I bet it’ll purge more than eighty percent of your impurities. Your cultivation speed will skyrocket!" Luna snapped.
"I’m jealous to death! Even top Immortal Realm experts might not have a body as pure as yours, and you’re getting Five-Element Fruits on top of it! Why couldn’t the lightning just fry you? You’re infuriating!" Luna couldn’t help but rant.
"Heh, I was just venting! No need to get so worked up. Besides, look at me—I really do feel miserable right now." Evan chuckled.
He looked up at the sky. The thunderclouds had vanished, replaced once again by a dark red hue—no sign of the storm just moments before.
Evan checked inside himself with his spiritual sense and found blue crystalline granules in his meridians, each one flickering with arcs of lightning. The sight left him puzzled.
"Big Sis Luna, do you know what these blue crystals are?" Evan asked, still confused.
"That’s a water-thunder crystal. It’s an extremely rare thunder element, and since you have the Thunder Spirit Body, it naturally forms inside you. Once you’ve endured all five types of Five-Element Lightning, the other elemental thunder crystals will appear too. You’ll be the first cultivator ever to possess all five thunder crystals, and when your strength is high enough, you’ll be able to unleash attacks that rival the Five-Element Lightning itself," Luna explained.
"That powerful? Am I about to hit the jackpot or what? Once I master Thundershift, who in the Netherworld could possibly be my match?" Evan grinned, already imagining himself frying enemies with thunder.
Just a casual blast of lightning could leave an enemy twitching like a dog, maybe even cripple them outright. Getting struck would numb them up, basically leaving them standing there for the slaughter. Talk about the ultimate assassination skill.
"Don’t get cocky yet. You’ve still got four fruits left to infuse with elemental power. Remember, save fire for last—if you use it too soon, you’ll burn the Five-Element Tree to death and lose everything," Luna warned urgently.
Evan’s heart skipped a beat. If Luna hadn’t warned him, he really would’ve tried fire first. He quickly switched to Earthshift, channeling earth element into the fruits until one started greedily absorbing it.
Once he found the target, Evan started the tedious process of infusing earth element. Just like with the last fruit, it took him almost two days to ripen the earth fruit, and the earth-thunder tribulation left him thoroughly annoyed.
Time flew by. The gold and wood fruits ripened much faster, but the biggest gain came from the wood fruit—its green life lightning massively boosted Evan’s vitality.
His recovery abilities skyrocketed too. If the Nether Viper struck him now, he was sure he’d be fully healed in less than an hour—totally on another level from before.
By his calculations, only two days remained before he’d have to leave. If he could get the fire fruit, he’d make it in time—but just as it was about to mature, trouble hit.
The desert’s climate was dry and scorching, and countless fire-attribute Netherbeasts roamed the area. When the first four fruits matured, the terrifying lightning in the sky kept the beasts at bay, but now the fire fruit’s blazing aura was something every fire-type Netherbeast desperately craved.
Evan kept pouring fire element into the final fruit, but all around him, dozens of Netherbeasts began to appear—some huge, some small. These weren’t ordinary Netherbeasts either; besides craving Phantasite energy, they desperately needed fire-attribute power.
People die for wealth, birds die for food—nothing’s truer in this world. Evan glanced around and spotted a fire scorpion whose strength rivaled the Tyrant Earthwyrm, just like the one he’d faced back in Misty Forest.
Its massive pincers gleamed with a sinister light—if those clamped down, even a steel body would snap. Evan grumbled, "Damn it, of all times, you monsters just had to show up now. Guess I’ll have to teach you a lesson and show you who’s boss."
The fire fruit was about to ripen, thunderclouds gathered overhead, and thunder rumbled through the sky. Evan felt a wave of anxiety as a few reckless beasts closed in.
Evan knew he had to survive the fire-thunder tribulation to claim the fruit, but the last bolt could easily blast him meters away or bury him in sand—making it easy for the monsters to snatch the fruit. Getting it back would be a nightmare.
"Big Sis Luna, can you help me pick the fire fruit once it matures? I can’t split myself in two!" Evan pleaded.
"That’s impossible. The fire fruit’s heaven-and-earth fire element is lethal to soul-bodies like me. If I tried to pick it, I’d probably get devoured by its fire power. You know what that means," Luna replied seriously.
Evan instantly panicked. If even Luna couldn’t help, wouldn’t the fire fruit fall straight into the monsters’ claws? But as his anxiety peaked, Luna added:
"I can’t pick the fruit, but I can help you hold off these Netherbeasts for a bit. My power is limited, so you’ll have to hurry," Luna said.
"Just hearing that is enough—I won’t let you down!" Evan grinned. The fire fruit was finally mature, and once the lightning tribulation passed, he could claim it.
At first, Evan thought each fruit would ripen after a single lightning strike, but the last three needed three bolts each to fully mature. He still didn’t get why, but at that moment, a blazing red bolt of lightning crashed down from the sky…