Chapter 43: Divine Thunder Unleashed

Manzhu Lver’s initiation task was to obtain an inner elixir from a Level 30 Iron-Armed Battle Ape. Although the Iron-Armed Battle Ape was powerful and ranked among the top task monsters, it didn’t command large groups of underlings like other elite monsters. This made the task relatively easier to complete.

“I’ll just borrow a magic treasure from my master later. I’ll probably be able to slay this Iron-Armed Battle Ape in about half a month.”

“Alright then. Let’s watch this sword duel for now.”

Dongliu Cangshui nodded. Once their team had a single Formal Disciple, it wouldn’t take long for that person to lead the rest through their initiation tasks smoothly.

“Ah! It’s that rogue!”

“What rogue?”

Dongliu Cangshui was confused. He turned his head and asked in puzzlement.

“N-nothing. I meant that man just looks like a rogue.”

A blush crept onto Manzhu Lver’s small face. Admitting she’d seen a man naked was far too embarrassing. She quickly denied it.

…

Houdao Xiaosheng swung his dual flying swords. Surprisingly, they split into two blade shadows, one left and one right, stabbing toward Ye Rong. On the surface, both blade shadows looked solid. There was no sign of fakeness, making it impossible to tell which was real.

“Go!”

Ye Rong had maintained a faint smile, showing no emotion. Only when Houdao Xiaosheng closed in nearby did he raise his hand. A ball of thunder and fire shot from his palm, smashing violently into Daode Xiaosheng’s body.

It was the incomplete version of the Lesser Yang Divine Thunder that Chen Taizhen had just taught him—instantly arriving the moment his thought willed it.

Bang!

A charred hole appeared in Houdao Xiaosheng’s chest. His lips curled into a confused, bewildered expression. His body instantly burned to charcoal, transforming into white light as he respawned.

Instant kill!

This was a derived spell learnable only after reaching layer 20 of the Qingcheng Qi Refining Method. One Lesser Yang Divine Thunder against a Level 20-ish player naturally produced an undebatable result: he was instantly incinerated into ash on the spot.

“Holy crap, such a broken spell!”

“Is this guy hacking? Houdao Xiaosheng got instantly wiped out!”

“Are Formal Disciples really that strong?”

…

Ye Rong had no time to care about what kind of thoughts stirred within the players watching, astonished. This incident had already wasted too much of his time. He couldn’t linger here any longer.

The Registered Disciples hastily stepped aside, clearing a path ahead of him. They hadn’t yet recovered from the shock of Houdao Xiaosheng’s instant demise. Even those who had come with him earlier to provoke Ye Rong no longer dared to make a noise, meekly shrinking back into the crowd.

Before, Ye Rong had only sensed intense jealousy from their stares. Now, he could feel traces of reverence mixed in. This feeling was simply awesome.

Forget how cool your flying sword moves were, or how strong your magic treasures might be—one Lesser Yang Divine Thunder reduced everything to ashes.

“Brother, what kind of spell was that? So powerful!”

Manzhu Lver covered her small cherry lips. A strong flash of curiosity shone in her bright eyes.

“Lesser Yang Divine Thunder. During the Closed Beta, I cultivated the Qingcheng Qi Refining Method to perfection and saved up Sect Contributions for months. Only then was I qualified to enter the Ancestral Hall and learn this Thunder spell. It’s also the only Divine Thunder within the Qingcheng Sect one can learn. When I mastered this Divine Thunder during the Closed Beta… I was already Level 56…”

Dongliu Cangshui’s tone grew somewhat dim and powerless toward the end. He felt left behind by an unknown newcomer; now even a high-level Thunder spell like the Lesser Yang Divine Thunder had appeared on him. He shook his head vigorously, driving away the feeling of defeat and returning to clear thought.

“The System would absolutely not allow such a heaven-defying, game-progression-breaking thing to happen. So, Yijian Kurong’s use of the Lesser Yang Divine Thunder definitely has major restrictions—either an extremely long cooldown time or excessively harsh usage conditions requiring heavy sacrifices.”

“Didn’t sound like much!”

Manzhu Lver’s impression of Yijian Kurong remained firmly rooted in the fact that he had bathed in the Sword-Washing Pool, even walking around naked for her to see—a thoroughly unforgivable pervert. To admit that this pervert was actually a master far above both her and her elder brother? Naturally, she felt immense resistance to the idea.

“Don’t think that way. Learning the Lesser Yang Divine Thunder so early isn’t necessarily impressive itself. But it represents the degree of favoritism Yijian Kurong has received from the sect elders. When we compete for the position of Inner Hall Disciple later on, that guy will be a formidable opponent.”

It must be said that Dongliu Cangshui, being one of the Seven Great Disciples of Qingcheng from the Closed Beta, lived up to his reputation. In just a few sentences, he guessed both the specific circumstances surrounding Ye Rong’s Lesser Yang Divine Thunder and the rough situation with impressive accuracy. Moreover, his understanding of the Qingcheng Sect’s internal structure surpassed Ye Rong’s, a Formal Disciple. At least, Ye Rong was completely clueless about what this “Inner Hall Disciple” thing was.

“Hah! That felt so good!”

Ye Rong soared through the sky with Sword Flight. Even with his eyes closed, he could perfectly picture Houdao Xiaosheng’s ugly face after his respawn. His mood brightened considerably.

Choosing him as a stepping stone for establishing authority and reputation? They should look at themselves first and see if they had the capability!

Even in a pure flying sword duel, relying on conventional skills, Ye Rong likely wouldn’t have lost to Houdao Xiaosheng. Not to mention, with his pure defensive Fourth-Rank Magic Treasure, the Mystic Purple Turtle Shell, he was already invincible.

But whittling down an opponent’s Health Points slowly with flying swords would take more than ten minutes. How flashy could that be? It couldn’t compare to the thunderous awe of a single Lesser Yang Divine Thunder.

Ye Rong believed that with this Divine Thunder in his arsenal, and before anyone managed to figure out his full strength, it was unlikely any challengers would dare provoke him for quite a while.

“Heh heh, honestly, I should thank that Houdao Xiaosheng fellow. Acting as a free test target for the Lesser Yang Divine Thunder showed me exactly how potent it is against current players.”

Ye Rong assessed: without a defensive magic treasure comparable to his Mystic Purple Turtle Shell, any player below Level 30 stood a high chance of being instantly killed by the Lesser Yang Divine Thunder.

Sadly, this incomplete version could only be used once per day, with no possibility for upgrades. Ye Rong reluctantly shelved his longing for the Divine Thunder and settled into the grind of monster farming.

He tweaked his Experience Point allocation ratio slightly to 40:60, spurred by that encounter with Houdao Xiaosheng. That guy, though a Registered Disciple, clearly trained some powerful evil-path method of unknown origin, evidently surpassing Ye Rong’s Qingcheng Qi Refining Method by several layers.

After all, in Far Shore, Dao Spells, Flying Swords, and Magic Treasures reigned supreme. Levels often mattered less. The meager boosts to Qi and Blood Energy from leveling up held no real significance in Ye Rong’s eyes.

Resolving this in his mind, Ye Rong steeled himself—he desperately needed to rapidly increase the layers of his Qingcheng Qi Refining Method. Otherwise, his regular combat tricks were simply too lacking.