World's No. 1 Swordsman-Chapter 683: First Insight into the Heavenly Lightning Technique!
Unaware that the situation outside had already spiraled into chaos, Wang Sheng sat above the volcanic crater, forming different hand signs. The tribulation cloud, which covered a radius of one li around him, churned and surged.
Before long, streaks of silver light appeared in the cloud. Countless lightning bolts struck and spread through the dim, gray sky like the crown of a vast silver tree. They then converged toward a single point and fused into violet divine lightning. It tore through the tribulation cloud instantly and slammed down outside the crater.
Moments later, the ground rumbled. Another enormous trench appeared beyond the volcanic crater.
From the corner where he was hiding, Hu Chang stared with his mouth slightly open. He muttered, "How did it become even stronger?"
For Wang Sheng, however, it was still not enough.
His heavenly tribulation lightning was far too weak to threaten a Golden Immortal. It could injure one in a surprise attack, but it took too long to prepare such divine lightning. If the next group to enter the array had even one Golden Immortal who could counter Ling Sheng's divine ability, Wang Sheng would be in absolute danger.
Again!
Wang Sheng's brow slowly relaxed as he closed his eyes and sank into thought. Soon, new tribulation clouds gathered and circled him once more.
The heavenly tribulation he faced during his ascension contained many traces of the Dao of Heavenly Tribulation itself. Unfortunately, he could only incur one last warning from the heavenly might. The Great Dao of Heavenly Tribulation was far beyond an ordinary Great Dao. With no predecessor to guide him, he had no choice but to explore and comprehend it on his own. Breaking through would be extremely difficult.
Still, he refused to give up.
"Old Wang, why don't you take a break for now?!" Hu Chang shouted. "You need balance in everything! Even after multiple days of trying to comprehend that Dao, you still haven't gotten any results. Why not relax a little?"
Wang Sheng opened his eyes and looked at the burly man below.
For reasons Hu Chang could not explain, he now felt a strange unease whenever he faced Wang Sheng.
He forced an embarrassed smile. "Or you can just keep going, Big Brother. Please, carry on."
"You do have a point."
Wang Sheng waved his hand, dispersing the tribulation clouds. He slowly descended and stopped a short distance from Hu Chang, stretching his arms and legs.
The mask on his face still refused to come off. At the very least, though, the ten-year countdown had begun.
"Hehe, Old Wang, why not summon Ling Sheng out to get some fresh air?" Hu Chang asked while rubbing his large hands together.
Physical cultivators truly had astonishing recovery ability. In only three days, most of his injuries had already healed. It was hard to believe that he had just been standing at death's door until recently.
Wang Sheng stared into Hu Chang's large eyes for a moment. He then asked, "Do you have feelings for Ling Sheng?"
Hu Chang immediately grew flustered. "N-no, what makes you say that? We have only met twice..."
He fumbled with his hands and feet. His face turned red before he finally forced out a sentence.
"We still need more time to get to know each other. The cultivation technique I practice does not allow me to lose my virginity anyway."
Wang Sheng seriously replied, "Ling Sheng is not an ordinary woman. Since you two are now my subordinates, you should treat her as a friend. Don't think too much about it."
He then lightly brushed a finger over the Qiankun Ring, making Ling Sheng appear beside him at once. The Spirit-Stabilizing Tea Tree accompanied her.
With a gentle smile, the old woman respectfully offered a cup of hot tea to Wang Sheng before returning to the Qiankun Ring. She had likely noticed that he was trying to comprehend a technique. Hence, she offered him several tea leaves to help him get past this hurdle.
Ling Sheng quietly knelt beside Wang Sheng. Her eyes were closed and her mind calm, like a jade statue carved in perfect stillness.
Wang Sheng slowly sipped the fragrant tea while pondering the many possible transformations that the tribulation cloud could take.
The cup of tea was extraordinary. The spirit spring water itself was nothing special, but the Spirit-Stabilizing Tea Tree's leaves, which were hundreds of thousands of years old, floated in it. Their medicinal power had completely dissolved into a single cup.
Even the burly man beside him felt lighter, even though he only caught a whiff of the fragrance.
After taking a few sips, Wang Sheng discovered that his Primordial Spirit had grown noticeably stronger. The connection between his Primordial Spirit and his Dao Body also further hardened. He could even see the path of his own Dao clearer now.
The Spirit-Stabilizing Tea truly deserved its reputation as one of the three most precious spiritual teas in the Three Realms.
Gulp!
Hu Chang gulped as he stared longingly at the teacup in Wang Sheng's hand. Wang Sheng seemed to be teasing him on purpose, drinking slower and slower.
Perhaps the Spirit-Stabilizing Tea had begun to take effect. Wang Sheng's thoughts gradually became more active.
"Um, Old Wang—Big Brother! That tea of yours," Hu Chang said while rubbing his chin, "seems rather special."
Wang Sheng nodded. "Mm."
Hu Chang grinned and smacked his lips. "I'm basically a fierce general under your command now. Let me have a sip."
"You still haven't even made any contributions, yet you're already asking for a reward?" Wang Sheng downed the rest of the tea in one gulp, then deposited the cup into his ring. "Once you've helped me in the future, you will naturally receive your share."
Hu Chang frowned in annoyance. "Tsk. I'm already useless to you now. What makes you think I'll be more useful in the future? Anyway, who exactly are you?"
"Just a minor Heavenly Immortal who got caught in a web of complicated forces." Wang Sheng rubbed his forehead. "What about you? Who are you supposed to be?"
Hu Chang grinned. "I am no one special. My old man is a ruthless being who cultivated physically until he reached the Taiyi Golden Immortal Realm. He has beaten flat even some of the weaker Grand Dao Golden Immortals."
With a smug expression, he winked at Wang Sheng.
"Impressive." Wang Sheng gave him a thumbs up, then lowered his head and muttered, "If I subdue him in the future, he would make quite a good general."
Hu Chang froze for a moment. He then suddenly remembered the gaunt man who had captured him before. Quickly, he shouted, "Hey! Do not get any ideas about my Old Man! I already sold myself to you. Is that not enough?!"
Wang Sheng only smiled. He lowered his head and watched the surging lava below.
How do I concentrate the heavenly tribulation power in my tribulation cloud into one point and unleash it in an instant? That wouldn't be difficult to do if it were my enchanted power in there. I won't be able to endure the physical strain, but it's theoretically doable. However, tribulation clouds created with immortal power are far harder to control with such precision. It also puts enormous strain on my Primordial Spirit.
Wang Sheng casually asked, "Ling Sheng, how do you scatter those 'seeds' of yours without anyone noticing?"
"Um..." Ling Sheng opened her eyes and thought for a moment. She then answered, "Innate skill."
Wang Sheng was rendered speechless.
"Pretend I never asked."
Hu Chang snortled beside them. With obvious schadenfreude, he said, "Old Wang, you might as well stop wasting your energy. The lightning technique you created earlier is already powerful enough. Why are you still—"
Wang Sheng turned to Hu Chang with a sharp glint in his eyes. "What did you just say?"
The burly man shrank his neck slightly and began to doubt himself. "I said, Big Brother, you should not waste your energy. You should rest properly instead."
Lightning technique!
Wang Sheng clapped and jumped up.
What would happen if I combine a lightning technique with heavenly tribulation power? Can the methods used to control lightning give me inspiration on how to improve my control over my heavenly tribulation power? Perhaps I can even imbue the technique with it! I have to get one right now!
Wang Sheng sent his immortal perception into the Qiankun Ring and searched through the Daoist canon he had seized earlier.
He did not require an especially powerful lightning technique. After all, he just needed a train of thought. In fact, the more basic the lightning technique, the easier it would be for him to grasp it quickly. It could even produce clearer results.
Before long, Wang Sheng took out and held two jade slips.
Five Heavenly Yang Lightning True Method.
Dao-Protecting Divine Lightning.
After examining them closely, he found them acceptable. He swiftly read them first before considering other options.
Beside him, Hu Chang slapped his own forehead.
What have I done? Did I just give him another idea? Haaaa. What rotten luck.
***
Deep underground, inside a qi bubble in magma, Yaoyun sat cross-legged with her eyes closed. As she meditated, her lips curved into a faint smile.
Sitting nearby, Huai Jing played Chinese chess, pitting his left hand against his right hand. Swiftly noticing the subtle change in Yaoyun's expression, he could not help but ask, "Did something good happen to Fei Yu?"
Yaoyun gently replied, "I'm not sure what caused it, but after being stuck for several days, I suddenly felt him growing happy."
"He probably comprehended something," Huai Jing stretched lazily. "I wonder what expression Wang Shan is making right now."
Yaoyun snorted softly. "Hmph. Stop mentioning him. Since I once believed the Great Divine Guardian to be a peerless hero, I never expected this to be his true colors."
Huai Jing sighed. "As the saying goes, a starving camel is still larger than a horse. The Heavenly Court was extremely powerful—enough for me to be confident that many of its members are still around. Someone with Wang Shan's stance appearing among them is actually quite normal.
"If every immortal and god of the Heavenly Court followed the same belief or responded to Emperor Ziwei's call back then, they wouldn't have been described as 'a group of dragons without a leader.'"
Yaoyun still looked somewhat displeased.
Huai Jing yawned. "Do not worry. Fei Yu won't truly be trapped here for ten years. After all, heavenly fate protects him. As long as Wang Shan does not take matters into his own hands, only a few people out there can harm him."
"It would be wonderful if Emperor Qinghua returned."
"Didn't the emperor just obtain the Great Dao of Death? If he still hasn't stabilized it, he probably cannot rescue anyone from Wang Shan yet."
"Oh? Buddhist Master, are you perhaps overestimating Divine Guardian Wang? If he is truly that powerful, then why—"
Huai Jing smiled. "Your Highness, have you ever heard of the rumors that the Heavenly Court members who appear in public are mostly there for show? The true experts are those who appear unremarkable and usually have cheerful smiles.
"Take Taibai Jinxing, for example. He served as the Immortal Emperor's personal messenger, yet few people know that, as the chief civil official of the Heavenly Court, he actually governed slaughter and transformation. He was strong enough to rival even the fiend emperor of the Ancient Era. Unfortunately, he has disappeared as well."
"What about Wang Shan?"
Huai Jing smiled. "Wang Shan was originally named Wang'e. The Immortal Emperor probably trained him himself and even considered him a truly trusted confidant. Since he rarely appears in public, people often overlook him.
"However, long ago, one of our Buddhist sects sent a Battle Buddha to fight him three times. The Battle Buddha was strong enough to rank firmly within our top five most powerful combatants during the peak of the Buddhist sects. Still, not only did each fight end in a draw, but he never even managed to force Wang Shan to go all out. That alone shows how powerful that guardian truly is.
"Though the Battle Buddha rarely praised others, he also said that Wang Shan truly deserves his title as the leader of the Five Hundred Divine Guardians. Besides, times are no longer what they once were."
"Who can restrain him, then?"
Huai Jing shook his head and sighed. "It might be easier to wait for him to grow a conscience."
Lost in thought, Yaoyun could not help but press a hand to her forehead.
Her brow was still tightly furrowed when another wave of joy surged from deep within her heart. Along with it came a sense of excitement.
Another breakthrough?
Yaoyun gently breathed out and closed her eyes to continue meditating. She guided her slowly growing spiritual power and made it speed up slightly.
As the sword spirit of her sword master's main sword, she would struggle to keep up with him unless she worked harder.
