Su Qingcheng looked to be in a miserable state as she glared at the remaining monsters. On the sidelines, Lei Zetian had subconsciously prevented the rift portal from releasing more magical beasts, simply because she knew that even if Su Qingcheng could somehow kill the rest of these caged beings, she would most likely pass out on the spot. And even then, Lei Zetian had low hopes for Su Qingcheng eliminating the rest of the creatures. However, it should also be said that these creatures were the equivalent in strength of a single Xiao Tie multiplied by a factor of two. Therefore, Su Qingcheng had been battling numerous creatures who were as strong as a mid-ranked Tianqi Geomancer. This was, in a word, unbelievable. In Lei Zetian’s entire life, she had never seen a person like this. Even her disciple, Fan Yu, could only contend with the monsters once she had also reached a Tianqi Geomancer.

Fan Yu watched in exhilaration as she had similar thoughts to her master. They immediately abandoned the idea of risking her life any further and instead decided if they were suddenly magnanimous to Su Qingcheng, as a junior, they could get her to owe them a favor. In addition, by relinquishing her to Su Ran with some conditions as if holding her ransom, they could easily escape death by the Ghost Calamity Palm. Of course, the precondition was that Su Qingcheng was willing to become their pawn. Over these months, they grew familiar with Su Qingcheng’s temperament which was not quite unlike a typical hard-headed heroine seeking to become strong for not only herself but for those she cares about.

Fan Yu still remembered the scene of Su Yanran breaking down, unable to handle what had happened. This was approximately four months ago. She had the sinking feeling that Su Yanran was more negatively affected by this whole exchange than Su Qingcheng, who had greatly increased in strength due to the power of lightning empowering her Tianqi and fleshly body. She now felt a little bad. Naturally, Lei Zetian wasn’t as sympathetic, as she wasn’t there at the time. However, from what Fan Yu explained to her, she had a feeling that Su Yanran treated her younger sister as more than just a sibling. She wondered idly if Su Qingcheng reciprocated those feelings.

In the cage, Su Qingcheng was panting madly as she roared in an attempt to keep herself conscious. Those dastardly thunderbirds still evaded her clutches because she lacked a long ranged attack. She cursed her low cultivation for once and decided she would deal with the remaining creatures on the ground. Her body was absolutely battered, bloodied, and pretty much ruined with cuts and wounds. However, her eyes showed a grim determination to survive that shocked Fan Yu, who recognized something and then immediately frowned. It really isn’t you, is it? Those eyes… Those eyes which made me fall in love at first sight… Please, please tell me it isn’t you. How could we be in the same place at the same time, yet so far apart…?

If Su Qingcheng knew what Fan Yu was thinking, she would have attempted to kill Fan Yu on the spot for reminding her of such a cruel memory. That memory of being stabbed in the back by her lover back on Earth, simply because she was jealous of her literary success… It made Su Qingcheng more determined to make a mark here in Liandou Continent, so she could protect herself and make sure nothing like that ever happened again. Her new family here managed to alleviate her trust issues somewhat, but she kept on guard against strangers, especially people like Fan Yu who acted intentionally mysterious. Even Lei Zetian had eventually opened up to Su Qingcheng after respecting her strength for a Tianqi User.

The beasts in front of Su Qingcheng that she could actually attack were actually thunder lizards. However, before she could make a move, Lei Zetian bellowed out. “Enough! That’s enough!! I’ve seen enough. I don’t want you dying anymore, you’re too valuable,” Lei Zetian roared out as she immediately made the thunder creatures disappear with a wave of her sleeves. The cage also disappeared, converging into a ball of purple light that rushed into Lei Zetian’s body. Su Qingcheng quickly surmised that the Heaven Thunder Cage wasn’t actually a magical treasure, but an innate ability of Lei Zetian. If she were to connect it with her memories in her past life, it would be the equivalent of a magical being’s ability to create their own “bounded reality.” Lei Zetian was a beast of lightning, and her domineering personality coalesced into the Heaven Thunder Cage, which actually was her trademark as a self-proclaimed Lightning Empress.

“I was originally going to subject you to more tests, but I feel like I only need you to go through one more before I decide to keep you around for a bit.” Lei Zetian nodded. However, Fan Yu looked confused. It seemed as if her master now had a sudden change of plans. She turned to face Lei Zetian with a curious look. “You have untapped potential. I will now deem you my first Lightning Child,” Lei Zetian continued. “Originally, I wanted to see if my process to create Lightning people would work. Not only did it work on you, but it boosted your power to an absurd degree that even went beyond my expectations. I feel like in the future you would absolutely become a heaven-defying existence. I’m afraid I can’t keep you in prison anymore.”

Mentally, Su Qingcheng felt like her mind was blown. Even though she was tired, it seemed as if her exhaustion was wiped away. She was finally given a second chance at life! However, she now knew that she was an asset of Lei Zetian, and definitely had to agree to some of her requests. Being treated so well all of a sudden, even an idiot would know that if a prisoner held great benefit for their captor, the prisoner would have no advantage and be forced to serve their captor. Su Qingcheng was exactly in this position, and Lei Zetian still scared the living bejeesus out of her, so she was in no position to make any demands of her own. She just wanted her life.

“Empress Lei, I will do as you command,” Su Qingcheng weakly bowed, her body in immense pain from all the monster attacks. “Please guide me.”

Lei Zetian smirked. “Good, good. You are already getting into role. Don’t worry. Plans have changed. Your Tianqi is just too abnormal. It reminds me of something, but don’t worry about that. The lightning power infused by Fan Yu into you has allowed your Tianqi the ability to mutate and fuse with it, boosting your fleshly attacks by an even greater amount. Such an existence defies the will of all Gods. Therefore, you must be protected. If any news of this gets out, there will be a target on all our heads. I will let you go eventually, but you have to do some things for me out in the continent.”

“This young girl asks the Empress what she needs.” Su Qingcheng acted even more subserviently towards Lei Zetian than Fan Yu did, giving Fan Yu an awkward feeling. However, everybody, Su Qingcheng included, knew that this was necessary.

“I’ll tell you later. But you don’t need to worry. Your cultivation level is just too low at the moment, and you lack the basic abilities needed to defend yourself. Everything on the ground won’t be your match, but anywhere else…”

Su Qingcheng smiled bitterly. She knew her limits. “Qingcheng understands.”

“Right, good girl. There’s one last thing I need you to go through, but it can wait after you’re fully recovered. You don’t need to worry about rushing to fulfill my requests, either. You need time to get a bit stronger before you’re even qualified to properly complete them.” Lei Zetian continued. Su Qingcheng nodded. Lei Zetian tried her best to be polite and maintain a good expression, since she knew she had already traumatized Su Qingcheng. Actually, if one were to compare Lei Zetian with Fang Li, Lei Zetian actually possessed a much better character than Fang Li, who seemed very kind on the outside, but was a scheming snake, just like her title would suggest. Lei Zetian, on the other hand, was very domineering and seemed absolutely tyrannical, but towards those she deemed close or valuable to her, she would treat them with utmost care and respect.

Su Qingcheng was surprised to see Lei Zetian suddenly treat her so well, and her opinion of the self-proclaimed Lightning Empress improved a little. She weakly stood up and bowed once more. Lei Zetian mentally sent her a message to look for the room next to Fan Yu’s room, which would be her new home. The young user then went off to recover in her new room. Once she left, Fan Yu sighed and looked towards Lei Zetian.

“Master, what was that about?”

“You don’t understand,” Lei Zetian frowned. “While she was battling the monsters, she was using Nightflower Tianqi. Do you know what that is?”

“Disciple doesn’t know.”

“A Tianqi user from the continent was half-a-step into becoming a Tianqi God. She attempted to temper herself by breaking into Cloud Nine,” Lei Zetian explained. “By then, we were already about to be banished. You were just a young kid then, so you probably didn’t recognize it. But I still remember it to this very day.”

“What does that have to do with the ‘Nightflower Tianqi’?” Fan Yu was confused.

“That Tianqi pseudo-God saw us being chased by high level magical beasts, but she saw this as a challenge to her to test herself. She killed all the beasts chasing us and went rampant through Cloud Nine, giving us a chance to survive our banishment. If it weren’t for her, we wouldn’t be alive right now. And now, this young kid… Is using the exact same Tianqi that she was using. Unlike the person we saw, though, this girl is able to fuse the lightning power with her Tianqi. You need to understand that this kind of thing literally defies the laws of the known universe…” Lei Zetian sighed.

“No way… So you’re telling me that she has the Tianqi ability passed down to her by a pseudo-God? How?”

“She tried very hard to hide it, but I would remember that smell anywhere. Yao Meiyue is watching over that little girl. Haha. Imagine the look on Little Miss Su’s face if she knew I already know she has such a powerful backing!”

Fan Yu gulped. She now knew why Lei Zetian was like this. It seemed she had a debt towards that mysterious pseudo-God, and the minute she found out Su Qingcheng was being helped by her, she knew that Su Qingcheng was destined to surpass even her in the future.

That moment…

Su Zhan really wanted to help Su Ran get through this, but he was just too swamped with the clan affairs. He knew about Su Qingcheng’s abduction and was just as worried as Su Ran. However, his main job was to allay the clan’s worries and ensure that their strongest kid would come back unharmed. Su Ran meanwhile was anxiously waiting for news from Fang Li. Eventually, Su Ran, who was sitting in the courtyard of the clan residence, let out a cold snort. Fang Li was right behind her, but Su Ran didn’t even need to turn around to know it was her. “Speak.” She simply said. Her voice contained heavy traces of killing intent that terrified Fang Li.

“Mo Miaoyu has delivered me some good news,” she said. “We know that the Heaven Thunder Prison is high in the sky. It’s highly likely that for Qingcheng’er to be taken there, the prison is somewhere within Bailing Empire airspace. If you want to search for it, it probably wouldn’t be too difficult. However, Mo Miaoyu also discovered through connections that the prison is not only airborne but also mobile. Meaning to say, it can move.”

“Humph… How troublesome.”

“Don’t be too worried. The prison is always blanketed by heavenly purple thunder. So once you see it, you’ll immediately know it’s the Heaven Thunder Prison.”

“…Thank you, Snake Empress.”

“Don’t mind me. This entire thing was my fault. It’s the least I could do. I was just too selfish.” Fang Li frowned. After this incident, she would swear never to get on Su Qingcheng’s case again.

“You’re too vicious Fang Li,” Su Ran growled. “The only reason why I haven’t erased you from the face of this continent is because everybody still needs you. I’m not the woman I once was. But don’t blame me for being merciless if you continue to try and wrest Su Qingcheng’s ability from her hands.”

“I won’t do anything anymore, I swear,” Fang Li frowned. “…But you don’t plan on storming the prison by yourself?”

“I am immune to thunder tribulation. Do you know anyone else in Bailing Empire who dares to do the same thing as me?” Su Ran asked coldly. However, she would laugh bitterly if she knew Su Qingcheng had also developed an immunity to Lightning. Not only that, she became exactly like her kidnappers, able to control the thunder too. She would definitely be confused once she learns that Su Qingcheng actually was empowered by the affair.

Fang Li shook her head and sighed. “Just be careful.”

Su Ran snorted as Fang Li left.

“My child. Mother is going to rescue you now.”