The days passed by uneventfully. Huofeng returned, having borrowed the Nirvana Divine Fire from the Phoenix Clan to cultivate. With the full assistance of the Phoenix King, her cultivation advanced to the Taiheng realm.
This made Yuan Jun and Qing Wu extremely envious. They had all gone to the Leifeng Realm together, and then to the Immortal Realm together. But ever since arriving in the Immortal Realm, Huofeng had soared like a phoenix.
She was the first to break through to the immortal realm, was noticed by a powerful figure from her own clan, and was also the first to break through to the Taiheng realm.
It was only because Huofeng had a rather detached personality that she remained unfazed by their subtle barbs. If either of them had achieved such breakthroughs first, they would surely have been strutting around with their heads held high.
The three women, one after another, accepted various missions. Including the trio of Wan Liuchuan, they all honed their skills through their respective missions, fully adapting to life in the Five Elements Hall and developing a sense of belonging.
Everyone had their own tasks to attend to. However, as the captain, Wan Lei remained inside the Tower of Creation without emerging.
Han Fengxue's plan and the Immortal Venerable's concerns had instilled a great sense of urgency in him. Time might truly be running short, and he had to improve himself as quickly as possible, to perfect his Dao laws, so that he could exert even greater power in the future upheaval.
The Supreme Dao laws he was currently comprehending were to lay the foundation for his Holy Path and the process of becoming a saint. Preparations had to begin from the moment he became an immortal; otherwise, if the foundation was not firm, even the ladder to sainthood would be unstable.
Days turned into weeks, and the four little ones also remained inside the Tower of Creation. Given their mischievous and lively natures, it was expected that they would be out exploring and having fun soon after entering the Five Elements Hall. The fact that they could stay inside the Tower of Creation to cultivate calmly suggested it was due to an order from the Immortal Venerable.
Otherwise, these four little scamps would have surely turned the Five Elements Hall upside down.
As more than three months passed, the four little ones finally emerged from their seclusion. The Five Elements Hall, which had finally regained its tranquility, once again became lively.
They did not explicitly disclose their performance in the hundredth trial, but their rankings did not surpass Jian Fanchen; they only surpassed those from the ninety-ninth trial.
This indicated that they had succeeded in challenging those individuals, but whether they had challenged Jian Fanchen remained unknown.
Perhaps they had failed their challenge, or perhaps they had intended to challenge Wan Lei, but because Wan Lei's cultivation had advanced, the first level of the Tower of Creation had removed him, preventing them from successfully challenging him, and they had therefore come out directly.
Everyone's missions were gradually completed. Fang Xiaoyu also emerged. Upon learning that Wan Lei was still in seclusion, she went alone to the Wind Hall, to Ruo Shuiqiu's courtyard, and with her master protecting her, broke through her cultivation.
Once her Supreme Dao law comprehension had taken shape, her breakthrough became a natural progression. After all, she and Wan Lei had been stuck in the Tai Xu realm for a long time, and their foundations were solidly built.
It had indeed been a long time, a full 540,000 words since becoming an immortal.
After breaking through her cultivation, Fang Xiaoyu summoned all members of the team and led them into the Tower of Creation. Those who had broken through were to quickly reach their peak, and those who hadn't were to seize the time to break through.
Time flew by, and Wan Lei had been in the Five Elements Hall for a full year and a half. When his cultivation reached the peak of the Taiheng realm, and after confirming for the third time that his comprehension of the Supreme Dao laws had encountered an insurmountable bottleneck, he emerged from the Tower of Creation.
To comprehend further would require the complete mastery of the Dao of Order. At that time, he would be able to step into the Boundless realm by utilizing this perfected Dao law.
After all, the hallmark of the Boundless realm was the consummation of Dao laws, forming one's own domain.
When Wan Lei returned home, he found only Kaka alone, gorging himself on food, and was bewildered.
Where were the people? Where had everyone gone?
He asked Kaka, and after learning from him that he was very hungry, Wan Lei helplessly called everyone one by one, summoning them out.
Fang Xiaoyu, Wan Qianxin, Xia Yubing, Han Xiaoyun, Bao Bao (Why am I always ranked last, ahhhh!), Huofeng, Yuan Jun, Qing Wu, Tian Suanzi, Wan Liuchuan, Liu Yuxin, Duda, Kaka – all fourteen members were present. The Thunderstorm Squad had assembled.
Wan Lei gave everyone a pep talk.
"Brothers, sisters, by now everyone's cultivation has improved considerably, and we've completed enough missions. It's finally time for us to head to the battlefield.
The author has already padded out a lot of words. If we don't start a new chapter soon, the readers will run away. We have to step up.
We need to kill the demon race, we need to stir up trouble, we need to protect our homes and our country, we need to fight the enemy to the death, we need to..."
"Just say you want to earn merit points, no need to sound so righteous and impassioned. If we don't give you merit points, we'll see if you still go to the battlefield."
Xia Yubing's sharp retort, completely without mercy, was identical to her father's demeanor.
"Xia Bing, it's actually fine if you don't go."
"I have a spaceship."
"Actually, you are the most important person to our team."
"Heh heh."
"Tch, hypocrite. One day I'll cut off your dog head!"
Xin'er pouted, muttering with dissatisfaction. It seemed that every time she saw Wan Lei, she had this expression, full of indignation.
(I posted a character design for Xin'er in the circle. You can take a look; it's a little loli with pigtails and a pout, hahaha.)
After the Thunderstorm Squad's pre-battle mobilization, Wan Lei took everyone to inform the Immortal Venerable, asking where they should report upon reaching the Sea of Suffering and where they would engage in combat.
"You should go to the Ghost Realm first and enter the Sea of Suffering battlefield through the spatial rift in the Ghost Realm. Our main logistics base is there. All logistical supplies and expeditionary forces are dispatched from there. Upon arrival, find the Chief Logistics Officer and ask him to pull some strings for you, so that you can be assigned to the fiercest front-line battles."
Xia Dayu said this. Wan Lei pondered for a long time, unable to understand why, with their connections, they would still need to go through the trouble of pulling strings.
Moreover, being assigned to the fiercest front-line battles shouldn't require pulling strings, as those were the places with the highest casualty rates.
Generally, only those who were not favored were sent there.
"Currently present in the Sea of Suffering battlefield are the Human Emperor, the Buddha, the Heavenly Emperor, the lords of the Five Halls of Earth, Wood, Water, and Wind, along with the young monk and Ming Hua Fairy. In total, there are ten Saints, and six High Gods. Basically, the front-line battles are always manned by a Saint on rotation.
Upon arrival, you must obey the Saints. When there is no combat, the disciples of the Five Elements Hall can move freely, whether it's hunting or scavenging. However, if combat occurs, the squad must unconditionally obey the orders of the base commander to defend the base. Do you understand?"
"We understand. Is there anything else we should be aware of?"
Wan Lei asked humbly.
"Be careful not to die. Regardless of who among you dies, you will have to pay five million merit points for resurrection."
"Do the four of them also have to pay five million?"
Wan Lei pointed at the four little ones.