Chapter Nineteen: The Legendary Lei Zhenzi

"My name is, my name is Lei Zhenzi!" The swirl of energy trapped in Tang Yi's palm replied.

"Lei Zhenzi? No way!" Tang Yi was so shocked that he cried out loudly. Standing nearby, Zhang Sanfeng spoke up, "Lei Zhenzi? Isn't it said that three thousand years ago, during the descent of the Investiture of the Gods, Lei Zhenzi was promoted to the divine realm? How could he be here, and in such a state?"

"Investiture of the Gods? Is that real?" Tang Yi turned to Zhang Sanfeng and asked.

"It exists, but I wasn't even born then. You'd have to ask those old fellows—they know more about it," Zhang Sanfeng answered.

"I see. Well, let's leave that for later. Right now, let's figure out what exactly this thing is." With that, Tang Yi resumed his communication with the ball of energy.

"I really am Lei Zhenzi. Three thousand years ago, I ascended through the Investiture of the Gods. I don't know why, but after entering the list, I became like this. Everyone else who entered the list also transformed into pure energy forms, though if we leave the Investiture, we return to our original shapes. So no one minded much. When the Investiture returned to the divine realm, I wasn't paying attention and didn't try to leave. The result was that I became this bundle of energy strands." Lei Zhenzi sighed as he spoke.

"It sounds incredible, but you're not lying—I can feel that," Tang Yi said. "Go on!"

"At that time, I left the Investiture and turned into this state, while the Investiture itself flew away. I couldn't keep up at all. So I wandered aimlessly through the void," Lei Zhenzi continued.

"Wait, I want to ask—how do you survive like this? Can't you return to human form and continue cultivating?" Tang Yi wondered.

"Cultivation—I can't say for sure if it counts as training. Whenever I feel my energy drop, I absorb the power of thunder to replenish myself. Even ordinarily, I can absorb thunder energy, though there's always a limit. At first, my energy strand was only ten meters long, but now, if you stretched it out, it would be about five thousand meters." Lei Zhenzi shook his energy strand, pulling out over ten meters in an instant, but it retracted again under Tang Yi's psychic control.

"Tell me, why did you end up inside my friend's body? What happened?" Tang Yi pressed.

"Actually, I hadn't seen the Ninefold Heavenly Tribulation in ages. That day, I happened to pass by and saw someone undergoing the tribulation—Ninefold, no less. You know, regardless of whether the person succeeds, right after the tribulation dissipates, the leftover thunder energy is the best supplement for me—purest thunder power without the force of the tribulation itself. It's the best time to absorb it! But this time, the tribulation was strange. As I was absorbing the energy, all was fine at first, but halfway through, I suddenly felt pulled by a force and was dragged straight into your friend's body—I know him as Zhang Sanfeng," Lei Zhenzi explained.

"Why didn't you come out, and instead ran wild inside him?" Tang Yi asked again.

"It's not that I didn't want to come out—I had to be able to leave! Zhang Sanfeng's cultivation method is bizarre; I tried to break out, but couldn't no matter what. At first, I didn't pay much attention, but gradually I realized his technique could dissolve my energy. That terrified me, so I desperately darted around inside him, hoping maybe I'd burst out. By accident, I ended up in his brain and found I could influence his actions. I tried to use that to escape, but every attempt failed. If you hadn't intervened, I don't know how long I'd have stayed in Zhang Sanfeng's body—maybe his cultivation would have dissolved me completely," Lei Zhenzi recounted, still feeling apprehensive.

"Haha, then shouldn't you thank me?" Tang Yi seized on Lei Zhenzi's words.

"Of course, but I have nothing at all. How can I thank you?" Lei Zhenzi said awkwardly.

"That's easy. Hehe... But for now, everyone needs rest, including you. Here, enter this box for now, and when I have time, I'll build you a humanoid machine so you can appear in human form." Tang Yi produced a square box, released Lei Zhenzi into it, and closed the lid. He then turned to Zhang Sanfeng, "Brother Sanfeng, now we know—it's just a coincidence. There's nothing to worry about, but your cultivation method—being able to dissolve even a god—is truly remarkable!"

"A coincidence? Tell me, what exactly happened?" Zhang Sanfeng was eager to understand; he'd felt strange these past two days, and now that things were settled, he wanted clarity.

"It's too late tonight. I'll tell you tomorrow. I need to sleep now, you should rest too," Tang Yi said, already preparing to climb into bed.

"Tang Daoist, cultivators can go months with little sleep. Why not just tell me now?" Zhang Sanfeng grabbed Tang Yi.

"No, I must sleep. Not sleeping is bad for the skin. Tomorrow, tomorrow!" Tang Yi refused, immediately ushering Zhang Sanfeng out.

"Tang Daoist, Tang Daoist... Truly a strange man!" Zhang Sanfeng called outside for quite a while, but Tang Yi didn't respond, so he had to leave.

...

Ten days later, aboard Tang Yi's spaceship, Jet.

"Xiaobai, you're just in time. Among the materials you gave me last time, there was something called Heavenly Thunder Stone. Do you have any more?" Tang Yi asked upon seeing Bai Dongfang arrive at his open laboratory.

"Heavenly Thunder Stone? That stuff is the most commonly produced among the odd stones, so it's pretty cheap. I have quite a bit left, but not that much. This is a trading star though, so there should be plenty available," Bai Dongfang replied.

"Exactly. So, do me a favor—purchase as much Heavenly Thunder Stone as you can. I'll take whatever you can find. I have plenty of spirit stones," Tang Yi said, taking out a storage ring for Bai Dongfang. This storage ring was a new model Tang Yi had designed—not requiring blood to bond, just a bit of spiritual energy to activate. He created it specifically to facilitate trading.

Bai Dongfang inspected it—good heavens, one hundred thousand top-grade spirit stones. How many Heavenly Thunder Stones could that buy? Bai Dongfang was a bit dizzy at the sheer amount.

"Tang brother, one hundred thousand top-grade spirit stones? You want to buy all Heavenly Thunder Stone with that? I'm afraid there isn't that much available!" Bai Dongfang replied with a trembling voice.