Chapter 864: The Duke of Thunder's Return

The Divine Court of Thunder trembled in response to the Thunder Dragon's voice.

Pang Jian's divine sense, blood essence, and perception were swept clean from the divine artifact.

The Divine Court of Thunder had changed hands!

Departing from the battlefield, the Divine Court of Thunder relocated to a distant region of the Ruin Realm.

The azure Thunder Dragon weaved through the halls of its palaces, greedily absorbing torrents of surging energy. Its body swelled at a startling pace. On its forehead, a crystalline azure gem took shape, glimmering visibly to the naked eye.

"It's already ascended to godhood!" Yuan Yi was left in shock, eyes brimming with wariness as he shouted, "Has the Duke of Thunder been reborn?!"

Yuan Yi had vaguely heard of the name Long Xiao before. This Thunder God from the Abyss had been known to be anything but ordinary, but even that Thunder Dragon would never speak so dismissively of the God of Wisdom, Fu Ya.

Pang Jian had only three suspects in mind.

If it's not Long Xiao or Fu Ya, then it can only be the Duke of Thunder!

"The Duke of Thunder!"

The other World Gods all paled, but none more so than Great Demon God Fa Ji.

His injuries had been recovering at astonishing speed after having his wounded body wrapped in the demonic cloak. He had even started to comprehend many of the profound and esoteric demonic arts that Sovereign Demonheaven had left behind through the cloak. This filled him with newfound hope that he could soon face Yuan Yi again.

The emergence of this reborn Duke of Thunder, however, left him trembling in fear.

Before his fall, the Duke of Thunder's renown in the starry skies had surpassed even Heretical God Du Ling.

If not for the schemes of the Demon and Ghost Races, the Duke of Thunder's path to Sovereignhood would have long been forged, and none of the other Sovereigns would have opposed his ascension.

For him to return after so many years was nothing short of a nightmare for the Demon and Ghost Races!

Even Pang Jian was shaken.

"You're really the Duke of Thunder?" he asked in disbelief.

He had initially believed that the God of Wisdom, Fu Ya, had planted a soul fragment into the azure Thunder Dragon, guiding it to sentience before preparing to seize control.

However, neither Fu Ya nor Long Xiao could have taken instant command of the Divine Court of Thunder. Only the Duke of Thunder could!

The Duke of Thunder was the strongest Thunder God in existence. He was also the oldest.

The Divine Court of Thunder was a divine artifact of the Duke of Thunder's making and would naturally welcome his command.

"A supreme high-ranking God like me, just one step from becoming a Sovereign, would of course leave behind a means of resurrection in case anything went wrong." The azure Thunder Dragon's coiling body emerged from a silver-white palace as it started its first transformation. "My means of resurrection was none other than this Divine Court of Thunder, born of the Thunder Pool.

"The Thunder Pool, a boundless sea of lightning, is the source of the Divine Court of Thunder's power. So long as lightning continues to pour into the Thunder Pool, the Divine Court of Thunder will grow stronger. None can stop it.

"When the Divine Court of Thunder was restored to its former glory, the soul fragments I left at the bottom of the Thunder Pool gathered together to form a complete soul."

As he spoke, the azure Thunder Dragon had transformed into a brawny elder of the Thunder Race. His broad shoulders and towering frame were crowned with long silver hair braided into an intricate style. His matching silver beard and eyebrows flowed freely like streaks of lightning.

"This Thunder Dragon born of the Abyss had a body attuned to lightning, and his Dao of Lightning perfectly aligned with mine. Its body is even better suited than my old body to channel lightning."

The brawny elder glanced upward, looking past the blood-colored radiance tangled with the starry expanse.

"That Sovereign of the Fey Race chose to be reborn as a human. She greatly inspired me to forge a new path as well!"

The sound of bones shifting echoed loudly as the elder once again took on the form of the azure Thunder Dragon, though significantly larger than before.

"Did you think it was a coincidence that the Ruin Realm appeared beneath the Thunder Abyss?"

The Thunder Dragon swayed his massive tail and soared gracefully over the palaces that filled the Divine Court of Thunder.

"My understanding of this realm surpasses all of yours."

The force coming from the heart of the Divine Court of Thunder abruptly intensified, pulling in more violent lightning from the bottom of the Thunder Abyss.

Massive lightning bolts exploded in the sky of the Ruin Realm, ripping apart both Yuan Yi's blood-colored "barrier" and Pang Jian's radiant starry expanse.

"I was once the Lord of the Thunder Abyss, the mightiest Thunder God in the bizarre mist and the starry skies. Now that I've resurrected in this unprecedented era, it's only right that I become a Sovereign."

The Duke of Thunder's draconic form bathed in the descending torrents of lightning, his rank advancing unstoppably upward.

The Divine Court of Thunder was his personal divine artifact, the foundation from which he would ascend to even greater heights.

"The Duke of Thunder!"

"It really is the Duke of Thunder!"

"Heavens! Is the chaotic era truly upon us? First, it was the Black Empyrean Phoenix, then it was Du Ling. Now, even the Duke of Thunder has returned! How could the grand event awaken so many fallen mighty beings?"

"This is bad!"

Mu Duo, Xing Huan, Bai Zi, Fa Ji, and Yu Hang were at a complete loss in the face of the Duke of Thunder's resurrection.

They each felt that stepping into the Ruin Realm had been a grave mistake. Even the towering Yuan Yi fell into rare silence at the confirmation of the Duke of Thunder's return.

The Duke of Thunder...

Yuan Yi's blood-colored eyes flickered as he silently pondered the Duke of Thunder's stance, and the special connection that was implied to exist between this realm and the ancient Thunder God.

***

In the Thunder Abyss, Lei Ying and Lei Fan, two low-ranking Thunder Gods of the Thunder Race, could no longer hold back. They flew from their race's sacred grounds and arrived at the summit of Thunder God Mountain.

The sight of the towering Nine Heavens Thunder Divine Tree greeted them. Beneath it sat a bright-eyed, fair-skinned young girl.

The young girl looked up as they tore through the lightning and landed before her.

"Lei Ying? Lei Fan?" The girl smiled gently. "I'm Pang Lin, Pang Jian's younger sister. My brother allowed me to come here to cultivate in seclusion atop this mountain."

"Pang Jian's sister?" Lei Ying exclaimed in surprise. Then, recalling something, he added, "Our race's sacred artifacts and lightning-attribute arrays suddenly stirred to life. We thought our ancestor had returned!"

They had long known that an outsider had taken up residence on Thunder God Mountain. Before this, whenever they approached, a terrifying surge of energy would overwhelm them. Still, despite sensing the anomaly at the summit, they had not dared to investigate.

Only when the Thunder Race's artifacts and arrays started behaving abnormally did they finally muster the courage to come see for themselves. Unexpectedly, all they found was a young girl claiming to be Pang Jian's sister.

The expression on Pang Lin's charming face shifted.

"Your ancestor has revived? Did you mean the Duke of Thunder?!"