"Damn... this looks like a prison of lightning monsters. But then again, it's a prison of lightning monsters," Klaus smiled, watching the thousands of creatures, each made of pure lightning.
They were now as docile as flowers inside his Tribulation Prison just waiting to be devoured.
'Too bad that bastard only left me one refining technique,' he sighed. Looking at the multitude of lightning monsters, Klaus knew he could do a lot with them.
First, he could use them to strengthen his lightning element, which had grown powerful but hadn't yet awakened—just like his ice element. Klaus would need to absorb a great deal of lightning to awaken it fully.
However, the Lightning Source Diagram, which Number Three had him steal back from the heavens, was intended to be his path forward. With the diagram, he could channel and use the lightning far more efficiently.
Klaus wasn't sure if the diagram contained other heavenly constitutions like the 10,000 he had stolen for his sister, but for now, he just wanted to learn how to use the diagram to its fullest. Number Three had left him with nothing more than this vague starting point.
But aside from the Diagram, he could also use the lightning monsters he stole during the tribulation to strengthen his Nine Stars Ice Lotus Bloom or even the Nirvana Flame Dragon. However, Klaus didn't want to do that just yet.
Returning to the diagram, he didn't know much about it, but from the memory Number Three had left him, he knew there was a refining method that would allow him to refine anything he desired from the lightning.
Strangely, or perhaps mischievously, Number Three had only left him instructions on how to use the refining technique for one purpose: to refine angel wings.
Once completed, he would gain a skill called Lightning Wings, which would grant him the ability to soar through the air.
"Senior, is there a chance you have any refining techniques I could use with the Lightning Source Diagram?" Klaus asked the senior.
[I can't help you with that, kid. You'll have to figure it out on your own.]
"I figured as much," Klaus sighed again.
'Damn you, Number Three,' Klaus cursed inwardly. However, no matter how he looked at it, he couldn't complain. Right now, the only thing he lacked was the ability to fly.
Aerial combat is something even Saints who can walk in the air struggle with; in fact, even Sages don't yet have a firm grip on it. It's only after they become Great Sages that their control over gravity is high enough to fight effectively in the air.
Then there's the issue of flight speed. In the air, movement is more challenging compared to land, so regardless of their ability to move in the air, their speed would be significantly lower than on the ground.
However, with wings, flying in the air could be just as fast as running on land, and in some cases, it might even be faster. In that scenario, it would depend on the type of wing you are using.
"According to the technique, I can refine wings that would grant me a speed of over 28,000 miles per hour. However, I won't be wasting all my tribulation lightning just on the wings. At best, I'll aim for 12,000 miles per hour to be safe.
Who knows what might happen to me if I tried going 28,000 miles per hour with my current strength?" Klaus wondered with a smile. He then formed a hand seal, and the diagram appeared.
"Using about 40% of the tribulation lightning for the wings should be enough to achieve a speed between 8,000 and 12,000 miles per hour."
He directed the diagram into the Tribulation Prison, and with just a thought, the monsters started transforming into tribulation runes, entering the diagram. All Klaus had to do was activate the refining method; the rest was up to the diagram.
"Let me kill three birds with one stone," Klaus said, bringing out the Nine Stars Ice Lotus Bloom and directing 30% of the runes into it.
He also sat down and began absorbing the other 30%. At first, he wanted to save some for the dragon, but seeing that the dragon had started upgrading for the second time, he figured he might as well boost his lightning for now.
With fire, ice, and now lightning at his disposal, who knew what he could accomplish?
Within 20 minutes, he had absorbed millions of runes thanks to the Second Paragon Star cultivation technique. He then moved forward and began absorbing the golden energy, which quickly started refining the first qi sea.
Now that he had expanded and stabilized his nine qi seas, all that remained was to refine each one of them into Star Cores. Once that was done, he would be able to break through.
"Although the Second Paragon Star diagram is great, it seems refining this golden energy is rather slow," Klaus sighed.
"But it's speeding up the formation process. At this rate, I will form the first core within the next three weeks if I continuously absorb this energy."
Twelve hours later, the Lotus Flower finished absorbing the runes, becoming even more refined.
"The moment I awaken the ice elements, I can start using the golden energy to upgrade it," Klaus said with a small smile before putting the lotus away.
Thirty-six hours later, the wing was finally done refining. It used only 34% of the lightning, allowing Klaus to save the rest for the diagram. Now that the wing was refined, all that was left was to use it.
Klaus spent a little more time in his soul sea, and after making sure everything was okay, he exited.
"Are you done stabilizing it?" Ohema immediately asked. She had stopped practicing the technique and decided to wait for Klaus to finish so she could finally get back to it.
"I did, and more," Klaus said, standing up. "Watch this." He activated the wings, making the first star tattoo on his back glow faintly.
At once, a pair of whitish-blue wings, resembling those of an angel, appeared on his back.
"Wow," Ohema exclaimed, stepping back.
"Cool, right?" Klaus asked with a beaming smile. Ohema nodded, clearly taken aback by the sudden appearance of the wings.
"Here I go," Klaus said, running off the edge of the mountain. Ohema wanted to shout, but before she could, Klaus was soaring through the air like a natural.
"I guess he can do everything," Ohema sighed, but a small smile played on her lips as she watched Klaus soar through the air like a birdman.
A few minutes later, after getting accustomed to the wings, he flew back down, landing perfectly on the mountain.
"You can fly now," Ohema said, watching the wings with interest.
"I guess so," Klaus replied, reaching for her waist. "Wanna go for a flight before heading home?" he asked, pulling her closer.
"Put on a shirt first," Ohema said with a blush. Klaus smiled, deactivating the wings. He then put on a shirt before activating the wings again.
He scooped up Ohema like a princess, and before she could protest, they were in the air. They flew across the forest for a while, and when they had enough, he flew them away, heading back to Ross City.