Heavy, rolling dark clouds shrouded the skies above the Azure Cloud Sect, as if the entire firmament had been pressed down upon the mountain peaks. Distant thunder rumbled, each sound deeper and more menacing than the last, like an ancient ferocious beast stirring from a million-year slumber. Purple lightning flickered between the clouds, tearing through the darkness with sharp, cold light. Every flash illuminated the terrified faces of the inner and outer disciples gathered below. The wind howled through the valleys and pavilions, whipping robes and hair into a frenzy, carrying a suffocating pressure that made even the most talented disciples feel an inexplicable dread.
For thousands of years, the Azure Cloud Sect had stood tall among the great immortal sects of the Eastern Wasteland. Its mountain-protecting formation was known as impenetrable, its elders powerful, its disciples countless, and its reputation unshakable. Generation after generation of geniuses had emerged from its grounds, stepping out into the realms and shaking the world with their accomplishments. Today, however, an unprecedented storm descended upon the sect, one powerful enough to tear apart its glory and expose its hypocrisy to the entire cultivation world.
At the center of the main peak square stood two figures, merely a hundred feet apart, yet the gap between their auras was as vast as that between heaven and earth.
On the left stood Li Qingyun, the most favored genius of the Azure Cloud Sect. At just twenty years old, he had already reached the late Golden Core stage, a speed of cultivation that shocked the entire Eastern Wasteland. He wore white silk robes embroidered with cloud patterns, his face handsome and cold, his eyes filled with innate arrogance. In his hand rested the radiant Azure Cloud Sword, forged from ten-thousand-year-old profound ice and infused with the sect's foundational spiritual energy. His every movement carried the dignity of a born ruler, looking down upon all living things as if they were beneath him.
"Chen Lei, you discarded outer-sect trash, dare to trespass on the main peak and provoke the dignity of the Azure Cloud Sect?" Li Qingyun's voice was clear and icy, echoing across the square. "Three years ago, you were expelled for your inferior spiritual roots and heretical cultivation arts. You should have hidden in some remote valley, lingering on until death. Yet not only did you survive, but you dare to return with this Chaos Thunder Cultivation of yours? Do you truly believe you have the right to challenge me?"
Chen Lei stood quietly in the wind. His clothes were tattered, his skin covered in old scars, his frame lean but straight as a spear tempered a thousand times in fire. His black hair danced wildly, and deep within his eyes burned a dark purple thunderlight, as if two small storms were contained within them. His surrounding aura was wild and unruly, terrifyingly oppressive, like a thunder god descended from the nine heavens to judge the world.
He lifted his head slightly, his gaze falling upon Li Qingyun, calm yet sharp enough to cut through steel.
"Challenge you?" Chen Lei smiled faintly, his smile carrying endless bitterness, mockery, and suppressed fury. "Li Qingyun, you were born with a supreme spiritual root, granted the sect's finest resources, supported by elders, admired by all fellow disciples. You have never known hunger, never suffered bullying, never knelt in the mud struggling for a single thread of life. You call yourself a genius, but what have you ever accomplished aside from standing on a stage built for you by others?"
"I was abandoned by the sect, labeled trash, humiliated, beaten, and left to die in the cold mountains. I crawled out of hell, gnawed on broken bones, drank icy snow to survive, and risked my life every single day comprehending the Dao of Chaos Thunder. Every step I took was soaked in blood. Every breakthrough I achieved cost me endless pain. You stand there in your clean white robes, speaking of justice and orthodoxy, yet you know nothing of suffering, nothing of perseverance, nothing of what it truly means to become strong."
Li Qingyun's expression turned even colder. "Sophistry! Your Chaos Thunder Art is an evil path, defying heaven and reason, violating the rules of the cultivation world. A road like this will only lead you to fall into the demonic path, never to be reborn. Your very existence is a threat to all immortal sects. Today, I shall execute justice on behalf of heaven and slay you here!"
"Heaven?" Chen Lei threw his head back and laughed loudly, his voice shaking the clouds. "Since when has heaven ever pitied the weak? Since when has heaven ever granted justice to the suffering? All my life, heaven abandoned me, the sect betrayed me, and people insulted me. If heaven truly exists, then I will defy it! If fate truly exists, then I will break it! My Chaos Thunder serves neither heaven nor earth—it obeys only me!"
At that moment, the thunder between heaven and earth erupted violently.
Purple lightning descended from the sky, wrapping around Chen Lei's body, forming an unbreakable thunder armor. The ground cracked, the wind raged, and the entire main peak trembled violently. Chen Lei took a step forward, and each step made the earth roar as if a god was descending.
Li Qingyun's face changed drastically. He never imagined that the discarded disciple from three years ago had grown to such a terrifying level.
"You seek death!"
He raised the Azure Cloud Sword, and golden sword energy surged toward the sky, tearing through the thunderclouds. The sword radiance was incomparably sharp, carrying the full power of his late Golden Core cultivation, slashing fiercely toward Chen Lei.
Chen Lei did not dodge or evade. He raised his right hand, and endless Chaos Thunder gathered in his palm, forming a giant thunder fist that smashed violently toward the sword radiance.
Boom——
The force of the collision shook the entire sect. The sword radiance shattered, thunder raged, and shockwaves swept in all directions. Many disciples were knocked to the ground, their faces pale, their hearts filled with terror.
Li Qingyun was forced back dozens of steps, his blood churning, his eyes filled with disbelief.
"You… how could you possibly become this strong?"
Chen Lei stood motionless, his thunder armor shining brilliantly.
"Because I have never walked the path arranged for me by others."
"The path I walk is forged by my own fists, step by step."
"Today, your arrogance shall be completely crushed by my thunder."
"And the so-called genius of the Azure Cloud Sect will eventually fall into the abyss."
Thunder roared once more, even more violently and terrifyingly than before. The final battle had only just begun.