Chapter Eighty-Nine: Spirits and Divine Thunder

"Do any of you recognize Gan Huan?"

Elder Fan asked this first.

"Gan Huan, Jin Lan, Han Yu," the old man surnamed Guo said thoughtfully. "All three are honored cultivators at the fourth heavenly tier, and in Mount Fu Zhong, apart from the various sects, they are the three great independent masters. We ourselves were born as free cultivators; how could we not know of them? What leads Brother Fan to ask this?"

Friend Feng said in a low voice, "Surely this cannot involve Master Gan Huan, can it? To seize divine thunder from his hands would be a task that would cost one’s life and still not succeed. It would be no different from going to die."

"The matter was originally related to Gan Huan, but now it has nothing to do with him," said the old man surnamed Fan with a quiet laugh. "If a master cultivator were involved, no matter how bold I were, I would not dare to make a move."

"Then why is that?" asked the old man surnamed Guo.

"Listen while I tell you," said the old man surnamed Fan. "Earlier, when I was searching for divine thunder, I encountered a spirit creature that had taken some thunder, but it was driven back and robbed of it by Gan Huan’s disciple, Lu Yu."

The man surnamed Xu asked, "So the divine thunder ended up in Gan Huan’s disciple’s hands?"

Elder Fan nodded. "Exactly."

Elder Guo said, "You are not asking us to help you intercept Gan Huan’s disciple, are you?"

"That would not be so," the old man surnamed Fan said with a laugh. "Gan Huan is a master cultivator of the fourth heavenly tier; of course I cannot provoke him. And his direct disciple Lu Yu is likewise a figure who has condensed a law intent, also beyond our ability to contend with. The one I intend to deal with is that spirit creature..."

The other three were all startled. "That spirit creature?"

"Yes." The old man surnamed Fan paused, then slowly said, "Because the divine thunder that creature obtained was not just one."

"What?"

The three of them cried out in surprise.

"I was nearby at the time and saw it with my own eyes: the creature took two bolts of divine thunder. I was just about to kill this beast when Lu Yu appeared, so I had no choice but to remain hidden."

The old man surnamed Fan said, "Yet unexpectedly, that creature was no weakling. It actually escaped with its life beneath Lu Yu’s hand. Lu Yu obtained one bolt of divine thunder and fused it into one of his magical instruments, forming the rudiment of a treasure."

"Lu Yu did not know that the creature had two bolts of thunder. Having obtained one himself, he paid no more heed to the creature’s escape. After refining it, he hurried away to seek more divine thunder."

"But I was different..."

His voice turned heavy. "I knew the creature had obtained two bolts of divine thunder, so I gave chase, intending to seize the thunder in its possession. But that creature was indeed formidable; even though I was at the peak of the second heavenly tier, I still could not bring it down."

Elder Guo chuckled. "Even Lu Yu, a man who has condensed law intent, failed to kill it. You were unable to keep it; that hardly counts as disgraceful, does it?"

"The disgrace was..." The old man surnamed Fan lifted his robes and pointed beneath his abdomen.

The wound nearly cut through his belly, faintly exposing his viscera.

Fortunately, he had used medicine, and by relying on his profound cultivation, the injury no longer endangered his life.

"If it had only injured me, then so be it."

"But at that time I was wearing an ice-silkworm dao robe. It seized my robe and then wounded me. Without the robe protecting me, it could have taken my life directly."

The old man surnamed Fan said gravely, "That is the true disgrace."

At his words, all three fell silent.

After a long while, Elder Guo asked, "That creature surely was not at the third heavenly tier, was it?"

The old man surnamed Fan suddenly smiled. "If it were a third-tier creature, then even if it killed me, I would still be convinced. But it was also a second-tier creature, and not even at the peak of the second tier. Its cultivation was far shallower than mine, and that is precisely why I felt so troubled."

"If that is so..." Friend Feng said, "Brother Fan failed to seize it, and it has already escaped, with the divine thunder still in its hands. How do you know it will not refine the thunder?"

Elder Guo nodded. "Just so. Once divine thunder is refined, it merges into the body. Even if you kill it, you will never find it again."

"Since I summoned the three of you here, I naturally have confidence," said Elder Fan. "That day, when I followed after it, I saw the creature use some method to seal the divine thunder, muttering that it would send it to someone."

"What?" The other two had not yet reacted, but Elder Guo was older and immediately heard the most inconceivable part, exclaiming, "It can speak?"

As soon as he said this, the other two were suddenly shocked as well.

Elder Fan nodded. "I saw this creature speak human language. It is an exceptional strain, and I fear its inherited bloodline is extraordinary. After fighting it, I found it truly was not my match. That is why I invited the three of you to help."

Qingyuan, in the neighboring chamber, was likewise astonished.

Ever since the great sealing scheme was fully opened and heaven and earth fell into chaos, all manner of strange beings seemed to be appearing everywhere.

For a spirit creature to speak was a rarity in ancient times, yet Qingyuan had already encountered many such cases. Even the ancient Cang beside him had once been struck by a staff, shattering the horizontal bone in his throat and allowing him, in his spirit-creature form, to speak.

In Mount Fu Zhong, he had also met that little girl, a spirit creature transformed into a human, wielding methods comparable to those of demon-kind, and even traveling alongside disciples of the Flower-Washing Pavilion.

"Another spirit creature that can speak?" Qingyuan thought. "In this age of chaos, dragons and snakes rise together, and strange beings multiply..."

As he thought this, voices again came from the neighboring cave.

"How does Brother Fan determine the creature’s whereabouts?"

"I have reared a small beast that can scent flowers," said Elder Fan slowly. "During the struggle, knowing I was no match for it, I scattered some powder. This little beast recognizes the smell of that powder; so long as it is within fifty li, it can know its direction."

Elder Guo praised him. "Brother Fan truly has remarkable means."

"After so many years of cultivation, one ought to have a few small abilities," said Elder Fan. "Very well, the three of you should discuss the next matter with me."

...

Qingyuan, in the neighboring cave, heard everything clearly.

"Another bolt of divine thunder?"

He closed his eyes and remained silent.

The other side had four people: two at the peak of the second heavenly tier, while the remaining two had slightly lower cultivation and were only middling by comparison.

Still, cultivation refers to the height of one’s own strength and the depth of one’s realm, and it is not identical to the skill of fighting.

Both being at the peak of the second tier, that young man of the Sun family, as a scion of a powerful clan, was far superior to these two independent cultivators at the same level.

Qingyuan had already been able to defeat that young man from the Sun family. Now that he had obtained thunder arts, his ability had greatly increased; he could even unleash thunderbolts, approaching the dao techniques of a third-tier cultivator.

Thus, even if these four joined forces, he need not fear them.

Moreover, if that spirit creature truly was extraordinary, it might even be able to wound these four.

The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

After making a calculation, Qingyuan wore a strange expression.

It seemed he had a full certainty of obtaining that divine thunder?

"No matter. We are strangers, with neither grievance nor enmity. Why should I invite hostility? Besides, even if I gain another bolt of divine thunder, and even if it is still a thunder art divine ability, it will not be of much use to me."

He shook his head and thought, "There is no need to create trouble and delay the time. Right now, I should set another course and go to where the treasure is hidden."

To avoid unnecessary trouble and a round of fighting, he did not go out at once. Instead, he sat down cross-legged, calmed his mind for a moment, and waited for the four to finish their discussion before setting out from there.