Xiang Shaoyun flashed everyone a wide smile as he said, "Wait for my good news."

Then, he stepped into the purple tunnel without any hesitation. The eight Heaven Battling Realm cultivators' auras weakened the moment he entered, allowing the seal to reform.

Haha, let's see how you'll survive this, thought Xiang Yangxuan smugly.

He did not think that Xiang Shaoyun would survive the ancestral pond's baptism. After all, over the years, everyone they had sent was the strongest among those beyond the Heaven Battling Realm, but so many had failed. Xiang Shaoyun was only a second-stage Soul Foundation Realm cultivator. Even with the bloody robe helping him, he would still die.

However, Xiang Shaoyun naturally had his reasons for remaining so confident despite knowing how dangerous the pond was. Starfall lightning energy wrapped around Xiang Shaoyun's body, protecting him as he stepped into the pond with boundless lightning origin energy. The destructiveness of this energy was beyond anyone's imagination.

Xiang Shaoyun's strength had increased considerably with the robe's help, but he still felt like his body was on the verge of being blasted into pieces. He had a body tempered by the Limit Stimulation Technique. Even so, he still suffered greatly amid the boundless lightning origin energy. 

He wailed in pain.

Numerous lightning tendrils flickered about like snakes, each as powerful as a Saint's attack. A regular Sovereign would be instantly killed. Xiang Shaoyun had to use both the bloody robe and the Radiant Saint Armor before he dared to even step into the pond. Without these two pieces of equipment, he would definitely have much less confidence.

He also activated the Nether Soul Dragon Headband to protect his saint soul. He could not afford to have his soul destroyed by the lightning energy. He clenched his teeth and ignored the intense pain as he charged madly ahead. The ancestral pond wasn't a place of sure death. Otherwise, nobody would have been able to survive in the pond. There was a certain spot in the pond that was actually a land of life.

This land of life wasn't near the entrance. One could only reach it after enduring the lightning origin energy near the entrance. At the land of life, one could find top-quality lightning liquid one could use to heal one's injuries. One could also slowly temper one's lightning bone there. Additionally, one would also be tested by the first ancestor's willpower. One could only reap the benefits of the ancestral pond and leave after passing all the tests.

Xiang Shaoyun was aware of all that. Thus, he naturally wouldn't waste any time staying near the entrance. Instead, he did everything he could to reach the center of the pond. The boundless lightning origin energy torched his entire body black. Not even the bloody robe and Radiant Saint Armor could fully protect him from the lightning energy that seemed to penetrate everything.

The intense pain almost caused his willpower to collapse fully. His lightning bone worked at full power to absorb the lightning energy all around him. A part of the lightning also entered his lightning star, causing the star to overflow with energy.

Xiang Shaoyun was already at the very peak of second-stage Soul Foundation Realm. He was ready to enter the third stage at any time. At this moment, he felt like he could no longer suppress his cultivation. However, this wasn't the most optimal time for a breakthrough.

"Charge! Charge!" Xiang Shaoyun repeatedly roared as he ran. He had never moved so fast in his life. He rushed through the sea of lightning, arriving at the center of the pond.

When he arrived at the center, he found a clump of incredibly pure lightning liquid filled with thick life force. Just by being near the lightning liquid, Xiang Shaoyun felt himself recover considerably.

He dove right into the clump of liquid and stopped moving. He was so tired he couldn't even lift a finger. He only wanted to lay down and forget about all the torture he had just gone through.

The top-quality lightning liquid was much better than regular lightning liquid. Even Saints would rarely stumble upon something of such quality. The lightning liquid in the pond could instantly heal even a Saint's injuries.

Xiang Shaoyun was still not a Saint, so he naturally didn't have any trouble recovering. Soaked amid the top-quality lightning liquid, his badly battered body healed at a speed visible to the naked eye. It was rare to see a substance with such thick life force.

With renewed vigor, Xiang Shaoyun felt like he had just taken a walk through hell before reaching heaven, two completely contrasting sensations. The peace did not last long. Suddenly, a long purple silhouette charged toward him. With a furious roar, it bit down at him.

Xiang Shaoyun immediately reacted. He opened his eyes, and his soul clone charged the purple silhouette.

"Corporeal willpower? Break!" Xiang Shaoyun roared as he blasted the silhouette with a boundless lightning strike.

He pushed his punch to its limits, and it erupted with a destructive profundity of lightning, attempting to destroy the purple silhouette. However, the purple silhouette actually behaved like a living being and twisted its body to dodge the attack. Its heavy body then swept toward Xiang Shaoyun.

Rumble! Rumble!

Two different energies collided and exploded, causing the lightning liquid to splatter in all directions and dissipate. Anyone would feel terrible when witnessing such wastage. 

Xiang Shaoyun's soul clone sent out a boundlessly powerful punch only to end up beaten back instead of defeating the silhouette.

When he focused, he noticed that the silhouette was actually a purple lightning dragon formed of lightning origin energy. It was also the manifestation of the first ancestor's willpower. Only by defeating the dragon would one be able to cultivate peacefully at the center of the ancestral pond.

Xiang Shaoyun's soul clone unleashed all its strength and started battling the lightning dragon. Borrowing the lightning origin energy in his surroundings, Xiang Shaoyun displayed a strength comparable to even a fourth-stage Saint.

Currently, his physical body was still far weaker than his soul. In fact, the two were in two completely different realms. Thus, it wasn't easy for him to fight those with cultivation levels higher than his soul clone. He had to wait until his physical body caught up in terms of strength before he could further strengthen his soul clone. 

The purple lightning possessed a tiny bit of wisdom that mainly concerned matters of battle. The lightning was nimble and unpredictable, possessing powerful combat strength. It was at least a fifth-stage Saint and strong enough to deal with him.

However, Xiang Shaoyun had already battled the lightning dragon in his past life. He knew its weakness well and was only waiting for the moment to defeat it with one strike. 

Right when the purple dragon wrapped its body around Xiang Shaoyun's clone, the clone turned incorporeal and phased through the dragon. His clone attacked the dragon's head.