Qin Shilei said with a smile, "Alright, everyone stand up."
He then pointed to Nova beside him and said, "From now on, Nova will be your chief commander. Anyone who dares to disobey her orders will be acting against me, Qin Mouren."
"We respectfully obey King Qin An's decree."
The crowd then turned and bowed to Nova, greeting her, "Greetings, Commander Nova."
Having one of their own as their commander greatly reduced the sense of resistance in their hearts.
The livestream screen switched, leaving only a frontal view of Qin Shilei.
"Those who dare to offend King Qin An's Mansion, I will hunt them to the ends of the earth and kill them!"
As the words fell, Qin Shilei's figure vanished, leaving only a blood-red character for 'kill' on the screen.
Watching the blood-red 'kill' character, those watching the livestream felt their breaths catch, and a chill ran down their spines.
They all silently reminded themselves not to provoke King Qin An's Mansion, or even with the vastness of Blue Star, they might not find a place to hide.
Even a powerful nation like the United States, located tens of thousands of kilometers away from Great Xia.
For some unknown reason, they had angered King Qin An, leading him to travel thousands of kilometers to capture all the golden-tier experts within the United States.
From then on, the United States would likely become a vassal state of King Qin An's Mansion, forced to bow its head in submission before King Qin An.
With such a stark example before them, everyone had no choice but to show reverence.
Even the keyboard warriors dared not post any more provocative remarks in Qin Shilei's livestream, fearing that Qin Shilei would trace them through the internet and cleave them with a sword.
Qin Shilei had temporarily halted his advancement. He had gone to such lengths to make a bet with those people precisely to intimidate the numerous evolved beings on Blue Star.
Now that his objective was achieved, he looked up at An Qian and the others and said, "I plan to attempt my advancement. You three will guard me."
"Okay!" The three women replied in unison.
The trio rode their Golden-winged Thunder Rocs towards a lightning zone located within the United States.
It was a valley surrounded by mountains.
Nothing grew in the valley, and the ground was covered in scorched black soil.
Dark clouds perpetually loomed in the sky above the valley, and every ten minutes or so, a bolt of thunder would descend from the heavens, striking the ground below.
Once, an evolved being, while being chased by a ferocious beast, happened to escape into this area and used the environment to deter the beast.
The evolved being who escaped death then shared his experience with his friends. Upon hearing this, a lightning-element evolved being came to cultivate here, and his strength greatly increased.
Later, this information somehow spread on the chat channels, and many people learned of this place.
When Qin Shilei and his companions arrived, there were thirty to forty evolved beings standing near the valley's only exit.
He flew to the front of these people and announced loudly, "Qin plans to cultivate here for a period. Would you all please depart temporarily?"
The evolved beings on the ground quickly recognized Qin Shilei and responded, "King Qin An has commanded, and we will naturally obey. We will leave now and wish King Qin An a great increase in cultivation after his seclusion."
In the blink of an eye, those people vanished into the distance.
Qin Shilei turned to An Qian and the others who had flown over and said, "Stay nearby, I'm going in to experience it."
With that, he directly flew into the valley.
As soon as he stepped into the valley, a lightning bolt as thick as an arm crashed down towards his head.
Qin Shilei did not resist or dodge, allowing the lightning bolt to strike his head directly.
A tingling sensation spread from his head throughout his body.
"The Heavenly Thunder here is truly extraordinary."
Qin Shilei instantly sensed that the Heavenly Thunder here was different from the naturally occurring Heavenly Thunder outside.
It was neither the yang energy that repelled evil nor the lingering, yin energy.
It seemed to contain a trace of life's vitality within destruction.
His cells, under the bombardment of this Heavenly Thunder, suffered minor damage, and then seemed to regain a stronger vitality.
Qin Shilei took a cup of brewed Enlightenment Tea and drank it down.
Then, he stood still, carefully savoring the trace of vitality.
Bolt after bolt of Heavenly Thunder continuously struck down from the dark clouds.
The Heavenly Thunder seemed to have identified Qin Shilei as an enemy, each strike accurately hitting his head.
Although the Heavenly Thunder possessed immense offensive power, Qin Shilei, bearing the mark of thunder, did not show any signs of injury from the constant bombardment. Instead, a hint of a comfortable smile appeared on his face.
As the Heavenly Thunder continued to strike, Qin Shilei's comprehension of thunder deepened.
Driven by this comprehension, the yuan qi and cells within his body underwent subtle changes.
Qin Shilei had a premonition that if he continued to cultivate like this, he would likely be able to successfully advance to the Diamond realm within three months.
"Too slow!"
He sighed and flew out of the valley.
"How is it? Is it not effective?" Zhang Xiaoli asked with concern.
Qin Shilei shook his head. "The effect is decent. If I continue to cultivate for two to three months, I should be able to advance to the Diamond realm, but I feel it's too slow. I plan to try another method."
Zhang Xiaoli chuckled, "If people heard you say that, they'd probably want to kill you."
"Hehe!" Kong Qingshu giggled, "You're showing off in front of us three. You're asking for it."
As she spoke, she raised her delicate hand and lightly patted Qin Shilei a few times.
Hearing Qin Shilei say that he would definitely be able to advance within three months, the three women relaxed and made a few jokes before resuming their guard duty for Qin Shilei.
Qin Shilei took out the Staff of Tuss and mobilized his mental power to communicate with the staff.
Instantly, a lightning ball emerged from the tip of the staff.
Qin Shilei painstakingly controlled his mental power, preventing the lightning ball from being unleashed, allowing it to hover at the tip of the staff, shining.
This lightning ball was of a completely different nature than the Heavenly Thunder he had felt in the valley or the lightning abilities he had unleashed before.
Three minutes later, he had no choice but to unleash the Yin Thunder's continuous attack.
Countless dazzling lightning balls shot out from the staff, bombarding Qin Shilei's body.
His body was instantly illuminated with lightning, and streaks of electricity erupted from him.
With Qin Shilei's strength, the lightning balls he unleashed were countless times more powerful than those unleashed by Steve at that time.
Even though he could immunize himself against the vast majority of lightning attacks, under the bombardment of these lightning balls, his hair stood on end, and he was on the verge of becoming a scene kid.
After one minute, the power of the Yin Thunder dissipated. Qin Shilei exhaled a puff of black smoke, turned, and re-entered the valley to continue experiencing the lightning within.
Eight hours later, after the cooldown period for Yin Thunder's continuous attack was completed, he emerged again and experienced the Yin Thunder unleashed by the staff once more.
He alternated between these two methods of experience.
Soon, three days passed.
Qin Shilei felt that the time for his breakthrough had arrived, so he took out the last Yuan Breaking Pill and swallowed it in one gulp.
He then unleashed the Yin Thunder's continuous attack upon himself again.
This time, the lightning balls struck him but did not dissipate. Instead, they adhered to his body, condensing and not dispersing.
The aura emanating from Qin Shilei grew stronger and stronger.
Boom!
An invisible wave suddenly spread outwards, stirring up a fierce gust of wind.
Countless lightning balls also shot outwards like scattered flowers.
An Qian and the other two women quickly flew further away, avoiding these surprisingly powerful lightning balls.
"Ding, host has successfully advanced to the Diamond realm!"