Chapter Eight: The Sand Thunder Bat

When he was at the outskirts of the Sea of Sand, Yang Xiao had occasionally spotted traces of sand bats. However, those bats were smaller than the one before him now, and they were far less aggressive, lacking the ferocity displayed by this creature. It was clear that not all the bats in this vast desert belonged to the same species. The ones on the periphery never actively attacked large targets like human cultivators, preying only on small animals. But the bat before him had charged straight at Yang Xiao, its mouth full of fangs and claws gleaming with cold light, clearly intent on tearing him apart.

Witnessing this, Yang Xiao did not hurry to dodge. Though this bat was unusual, it was, after all, just a low-tier spirit beast. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Yang Xiao intended to test the results of his cultivation of the Ninefold Golden Body. He remained calm, and only when the bat was almost upon him did he suddenly strike, sending his palm to meet the oncoming bat head-on.

With a loud clang of metal, Yang Xiao’s palm collided directly with the bat’s claws, leaving his hand tingling from the impact.

The bat did not fare much better; its body was knocked back at an angle, and it took effort to stabilize itself in midair. It then hovered there, no longer attacking Yang Xiao, but watching his every move with a strange expression. Clearly, it too had noticed that Yang Xiao was no ordinary human. The bat’s claws were its hardest weapon, and combined with its terrifying speed, it could easily pierce metal or stone. Yet the human before it had intercepted its attack with nothing but his bare palm—a feat it had surely never witnessed before.

The bat stared at Yang Xiao, weighing its options. A reckless attack would yield it little benefit, but it seemed unwilling to leave, either. Food was scarce in such a barren desert, and a human like Yang Xiao would provide enough sustenance for days if it could bring him down. That would free it from worrying about hunger for some time.

Of course, as a low-tier spirit beast, the bat could not boast human intelligence. Its assault on Yang Xiao was driven solely by instinct and the pursuit of food. After only a brief hesitation, it locked onto Yang Xiao again and dove toward him. At the same time, it opened its jaws wide and spat out a bolt of intense lightning, hoping to disrupt Yang Xiao’s defenses before lunging with its claws. Though a low-level creature, the bat displayed a sliver of cunning, whether from budding intelligence or well-honed hunting instinct; this maneuver was certainly more sophisticated than its previous attack.

“So it can emit lightning—clearly, this is no ordinary sand bat, but one of the sand thunder bats,” Yang Xiao thought, recalling knowledge from books he had read and identifying the creature at last.

This explained why the bats on the outskirts had ignored him, while this one attacked so aggressively. Though they looked similar, these were clearly not the same species. The sand thunder bat was far more dangerous than the ordinary kind; its lightning breath could easily stun or kill large animals, allowing it to prey on creatures larger than itself. This was likely why it dared to launch such a direct attack on Yang Xiao.

The lightning cast by the sand thunder bat stirred another thought in Yang Xiao’s mind. He recalled the lightning mark in his sea of consciousness—a power whose might he had never fully grasped, nor understood its connection to the lightning before him. When last confronted by an enemy, the lightning mark had split and come to his aid. Could it be that the sand thunder bat had a similar organ or source within its body that produced such power? Otherwise, how did it generate lightning with such ease?

Determined to investigate, Yang Xiao resolved to run some experiments. He was still uncertain of the exact strength of the bat’s lightning, and so had no intention of taking its attack head-on. With a swift movement, he dodged the bolt with ease.

When the lightning missed him and struck the ground at his side, Yang Xiao turned his head to observe its effects, and saw that it shattered a stone block a foot square into powder with little effort.

“What formidable lightning!” Yang Xiao thought with a jolt. Had he taken that blow directly, he would surely have been injured, for his body was not yet strong enough to withstand such force. Even if he struck at the stone with his own palm, he could at most crack it, never reduce it to dust. To reach such a level, his cultivation would need to advance further, bringing the first stage of the Ninefold Golden Body to mastery. At that point, perhaps, he could barely contend with the power of the sand thunder bat’s lightning, but even then, forced resistance would still carry the risk of injury. Yang Xiao’s confidence in facing the bat’s claws stemmed from the fact that his physical strength now exceeded that of most low-tier spirit beasts, while the bat itself was not of high rank. In raw strength, he held the advantage.

But lightning’s destructive force was not to be compared with mere physical strength, especially given its terrifying speed. Even if its raw power was only slightly greater, no flesh and blood could withstand it.

Having observed the lightning’s force, Yang Xiao turned his attention back to the sand thunder bat. Seeing its attack miss, the bat opened its mouth and, swelling its chest, spat out another bolt of lightning at him.

Again, Yang Xiao chose to dodge, but this time, as he moved, he tried to communicate with the lightning mark in his sea of consciousness. Imitating the bat, he coaxed some of its power outward, forming flickering sparks of lightning in his hand—larger than those he had conjured before.

This was not an attack; rather, Yang Xiao wanted to see if his lightning and that of the sand thunder bat would interact in any way.

As he dodged the main bolt, he extended his hand toward some of the smaller arcs of electricity that branched off from the bat’s attack, knowing these lesser sparks could do him no harm.

The moment the lightning in his palm touched the bat’s, something strange occurred: the bat’s lightning suddenly fused with Yang Xiao’s, as if the energy in his hand had swallowed and absorbed the power emitted by the sand thunder bat.