Chapter 129: Thunder Technique!

"The first round of the assessment tests both character and wisdom.
Those who fear battle do not last long, and the reckless fail to grasp the deeper meaning.
Only by combining wit and valor can one gather the Seal of Heaven and Earth to pass the first round.
This alone has already eliminated a vast majority of the candidates."

Toggling the Dharma-Storing Jade in his hand, Qi Xiu's eyes carried a thoughtful gleam as he slowly analyzed,
"And this second round tests natural talent and comprehension.
Although the Divine Firmament Sect does not place natural talent as the primary criterion for accepting disciples, such talent and comprehension are the core essentials for disciples of a great and prestigious sect.
Without innate comprehension,
even if you are given the supreme scriptures and secret manuals of a great sect, you will neither be able to comprehend them nor practice them successfully.
Entering a great sect under such conditions would merely be a waste of youth and life.
To master the Palm Divine Thunder within a year—
anyone who achieves this standard is either a peerless monster of a prodigy or an exceptional figure.
The Divine Firmament Sect's assessments may initially appear whimsical and absurd,
but in reality, they are a cruel, step-by-step trial of strategy.
This assessment must have been dreamed up by some cunning old bastard with a sly grin, sucking on his teeth in delight."

"Mastering the thunder technique in a single year? Is the Divine Firmament Sect deliberately trying to torture people for fun?" Frowning as he looked at the Dharma-Storing Jade in his palm, Zhu Mo shook his head repeatedly.
"Even with an ordinary enlightenment technique, a year might not be enough to achieve success,
let alone this thunder technique, whose difficulty is said to surpass all other arts.
Forget one year, even five years would be cutting it close.
Besides, none of us possess thunder-path primordial gangqi; practicing thunder techniques with us yields half the result with twice the effort.
Difficult, difficult, difficult—this is simply too difficult."

"No matter, the seven of us brothers can use a military battle formation to jointly cultivate this thunder technique.
Within a year, success may not be entirely out of reach.
When we practice, we can impart the core essence and secrets to you, so do not give up easily."

Hearing Zhu Mo's soft sigh, Yan Baizhe spoke up from the side to offer comfort.
Having established a solid foundation of cooperation during the first round of the assessment, the bond between them had grown very deep.
The men of Daliang were bold and valued righteousness, Qi Xiu was cultured and refined, and Zhu Mo was kind-hearted and magnanimous.
After spending this period together, they had already become exceptionally good friends.

"Ah, how could I possibly feel good about that?"
Chuckling as he grabbed Yan Baizhe's hand, Zhu Mo's eyes nearly crinkled into a line.
"It's too much trouble, simply too much trouble."

"Is that the expression of someone who is afraid of troubling others?"
Givng Zhu Mo a sideways glance, Qi Xiu shook his head and chuckled softly.

For others,
the requirement of mastering the Palm Divine Thunder within a year was an exceptionally difficult challenge.
But for him,
this was simply akin to telling a blacksmith to forge iron, a carpenter to chisel wood, a gardener to plant flowers, or asking him, Grand Cultivator Qi, to go into secluded cultivation behind closed doors.

Still, one should not appear overly flamboyant.
Discretion is the better part of valor.
Inviting jealousy and hatred would only attract a host of unnecessary troubles.
Let us just time it right around the one-year mark.

Time was pressing, and the task was immensely heavy.
Almost as soon as they learned the content of the second round, the candidates who passed the first round stood up and successively left the terraced plaza.

The area of the lake-heart island was quite vast.
Although the surrounding lake water harbored hidden dangers, lying dormant with hundreds of terrifying alien beasts,
aside from the black ancient trees that restricted escaping techniques and flying lights, the island itself held no other dangers.
It was clearly designated as a place for the candidates to retreat into secluded cultivation.

Qi Xiu, Zhu Mo, and the Daliang wolf cavalry found a spot beneath a rising hillside. The terrain here was open, strewn with rocks, and dry and clean.
A babbling stream flowed right through the middle.
It could be considered an ideal location for secluded practice.

Sitting cross-legged, Qi Xiu took out the Dharma-Storing Jade, which was faintly entwined with flashes of thunder, and held it in his palm. Instantly, strands of scorching white electric light surged from the jade,
resembling tiny white snakes that slowly seeped into Qi Xiu's flesh and blood.

Thunder echoed in his mind, and a thunder-path scripture consisting of nearly five hundred flowing words emerged line by line.

"This is the true thunder technique."

Silently comprehending the thunder-path technique known as the Palm Divine Thunder, Qi Xiu's expression gradually grew focused.
This was a habit formed from years of diligent and bitter practice.
As long as he began cultivating, he could enter a state of deep concentration very quickly.
From a certain perspective, this ability in itself was a rare marvel that ordinary people could only dream of.

"The Heaven of the Primordial, the Method of the Methods; termed Righteous Majesty, thus the thunder descends..."

Reciting the scripture of the *Palm Divine Thunder* line by line in his heart, Qi Xiu's aura grew deep and heavy, his closed eyes blinking slightly.
Compared to others,
the sole difficulty for him in practicing this *Palm Divine Thunder* lay in taking the first step—achieving entry.
Once he successfully crossed the threshold,
allowing this technique to appear on his proficiency panel,
the rest would require nothing more than dedicated, arduous practice.

While Qi Xiu had already entered a state of deep cultivation with his very breaths,
Zhu Mo and Yan Baizhe nearby wore expressions of astonishment and wonder.
*He entered meditative stillness just like that?*

Human hearts are fickle, and distracting thoughts are endless.
To enter a state of single-minded, profound cultivation—even for Buddhist monks who spent their lives accompanied by flickering lamps and ancient statues—required a moment of tranquility to calm the mind and sever distracting thoughts.
For someone like Qi Xiu to close his eyes and plunge directly into cultivation was exceedingly rare.

And no wonder.
Try as they might, neither Zhu Mo nor Yan Baizhe could ever imagine
that the man before them—whose aura was as vast and unfathomable as an abyss—
had, merely two years ago, been a destitute scholar who survived by selling his calligraphy and could only afford to eat meat once every month or two.

Over the course of those two years,
he had never dared to relax for even a single day or a single moment.
The miraculous proficiency system was the greatest aid in forging Qi Xiu's achievements today,
yet his consistent, rock-solid willpower
was the true foundation that allowed him to reach this point.

Seeing that Qi Xiu had already begun cultivating, Zhu Mo and Yan Baizhe also set to work comprehending the thunder technique.
Sitting in a circle forming a special array,
the seven Yan Baizhe brothers pressed their palms together, synchronizing their auras.
A pale red, miraculous light simultaneously spread across all seven of them, coalescing in the void into an ancient, mysterious, and grand battle formation swirling with the aura of blood and iron.

The Grand Righteousness Synchronous Array!
A secret military formation of Daliang!
Once this array was deployed, those forming it could unify their intent and connect their minds.
The practice of one was equivalent to the practice of seven,
and the practice of seven was equivalent to the practice of forty-nine!

However, operating this array consumed a vast amount of mental energy; unless they were in a safe location, the Daliang wolf cavalry rarely used it.

Supporting his chin with his hand as he watched Qi Xiu and Yan Baizhe each displaying their own divine abilities to comprehend the thunder technique, a troubled expression crossed Zhu Mo's plump face.
"If I'm the only one dragging everyone down, it's going to be rather embarrassing."
"Since I can't catch up to the two of them in comprehending the dharma, I'll just stand guard for them instead."

His eyes brightening as if he had found his proper calling, Zhu Mo immediately stood up, various protective grand arrays flashing continuously through his mind.
Although there were no demons or alien beasts on this lake-heart island,
those candidates were certainly no pushovers.
Anyone who could pass the first round and arrive here was a person of both wit and valor.
If someone failed to comprehend the thunder technique and could not complete the assessment,
malevolent thoughts might arise, prompting them to wreak havoc driven by the notion that if they couldn't pass, no one else should either.
Such a possibility was exceedingly high.

Rubbing his hands together and surveying the surrounding environment, Zhu Mo took a step forward, and the cornerstone of a grand array crashed heavily into the ground.

...

In the blink of an eye, three to five months passed.

Immersed in the cultivation of the thunder technique,
Qi Xiu had only opened his eyes three times during this period.

The first time was because he had successfully achieved entry into the Palm Divine Thunder.
When he opened his eyes, he saw Zhu Mo holding a banner and standing in the distance, his body shimmering with magical light, several layers of formations faintly manifesting above his head, sealing the surrounding territory like an iron fortress.
A few shadowy figures with gloomy expressions had glanced at the overlapping layers of grand arrays from afar, and finding them too difficult to breach, flicked their sleeves and departed.

The second time he opened his eyes was because the seven Yan Baizhe brothers had made a mistake in their cultivation; he woke up in time and used calming talismans to help them suppress the turbulent qi within their bodies, preventing any backlash from the thunder technique.

And today was the third time he opened his eyes.

With both palms facing upwards and his five fingers naturally extended, Qi Xiu slowly opened his eyes, a supremely rigid and yang-bound divine energy rising from his heart palace within his body.
It pierced through his lungs, coursed through his kidneys, wandered through his liver and spleen,
and finally returned to the heart palace.

With lowered eyebrows and drooping gaze, Qi Xiu channeled his Primordial Gangqi, slowly infusing it into this wisp of divine energy.
In an instant, the energy suddenly grew fierce and tyrannical, passing through the three yang meridians of his arm and surging violently into his palm.

Boom, boom, boom—

Thunder roared, deafening the ears.
The thunder light condensed in his palm crackled and snapped, resembling a vermilion glazed bead the size of a lychee, exuding an extremely oppressive and terrifying majesty.
Exquisitely brilliant, yet supremely dangerous.

Hearing the sound of thunder, Zhu Mo and the seven Yan Baizhe brothers all looked over simultaneously.

"You've succeeded?"

With joy on their faces, the group hurriedly came to Qi Xiu's side, fixing their gazes on the Palm Divine Thunder in his hand.

"Old Qi, you're amazing! You mastered the Palm Divine Thunder just like that, without making a peep."

Not expecting Qi Xiu to quietly master the Palm Divine Thunder all on his own, Zhu Mo smiled and patted him on the shoulder.
He was genuinely happy for his friend.

"It cannot be considered fully mastered yet; I have merely grasped the essential meaning of this thunder technique." Dismissing the thunder light in his palm, Qi Xiu slowly stood up.
Having sat motionless in meditation for five months, his bones and muscles were nearly stiff; with this sudden movement, a series of crisp, cracking sounds popped throughout his body.

"Give me two days to organize what I've comprehended during this time.
In two days, I will give you a lecture on the Dharma.
As long as you grasp the core essence and key points of this Palm Divine Thunder, it isn't actually that difficult to cultivate."

Casually offering to impart the profound essence of the Palm Divine Thunder just like that, Zhu Mo and Yan Baizhe said nothing in response upon hearing this, merely exchanging a smile.
Zhu Mo even playfully tapped Qi Xiu on the chest with his small fist.

"I won't even say thank you to you."

...

At the same time.

Within the mountain gates of the Divine Firmament Sect.

On a towering, cloud-shrouded peak,
the purple-gold water surface, round as a mirror and devoid of a single ripple, suddenly stirred with a trace of exceptionally faint, light ripples.

Two old Daoists sitting cross-legged beneath a giant lotus leaf opened their sleepy, wine-heavy eyes, struggled to straighten their backs, and glanced at the [Thunder Pool] before them.

"Hmm? Five months? Whose kid is that? He's got quite a bit of comprehension."

"The thunder light is clear, dignified, radiant, and dazzling, dry and scorching... with such complete yang energy, is he a hundred-year-old virgin?"

"Perhaps he cultivated the true scriptures of the Pure Yang orthodox lineage. This kid is not bad—he has comprehension and a foundation. If he can break through the three barriers, he can enter my sect."

"Enter your foot! You've been drinking fake wine again. You already have six disciples, and you're still taking more? What, are you trying to gather seven so you can open two tables of mahjong?"

"If I don't take him, you will? Can you beat me in a fight? Want to spar?"

"Oh, you old scruffy bastard! Do you believe I'll call for backup right now, summon both of our masters, and set up an altar to blast each other?"

"Blast each other then! Master! Someone's smashing the place!"

"Master! Someone's cursing you for having a duck-quack voice!"

...
(End of this chapter)