Chapter 71: Resonance With Thunder

"Miss, look there. Isn't that the kid from Li's Shop, the one who sold the Spirit Gathering Boards to us?"

Upon seeing Qin Lie and Feng Kai's battle atop the bridge, the old servant standing on the other end of the bridge slightly bowed his body and hurriedly informed the woman in white.

The woman in white's eyes were as clear as translucent crystals, containing not even the slightest bit of impurities; she exuded a cold, graceful aura.

She prettily stood there, creating a beautiful scene. A scene that even overshadowed the beauty of the evening sunset. Her disposition caused those around her to feel a sense of inferiority and not dare look directly at her.

"Let's watch first," she indifferently said.

The old servant slightly nodded. Stopping at the end of the bridge, he looked at Qin Lie's battle with Feng Kai, not even sparing a glance at Yan Qingsong.

"Such a beautiful girl!"

Yan Qingsong turned around, and after just a glance, his mind trembled. As if his vision had become rooted in place, it gathered onto the woman in white's body, and an extremely distracted look emerged on his face.

Within Shattered Ice Manor, Yan Qingsong's status was unordinary. After all, he was Yan Ziqian's cousin. Thus, he had seen countless beauties. However, it was his first time seeing someone like the woman in white who was so eye-catching. He couldn't help but become restless, it was as if he had lost his soul.

He only looked at the woman in white, and it seemed like he had temporarily forgotten about everything else, including the fight between Qin Lie and Feng Kai.

"Zing zing zing!"

Ray after ray of sharp sword beams shot out from the silver longsword in Feng Kai's hand. The sword beams were like cold electricity as they cut into the stone bridge and caused stone fragments to fly everywhere, destroying quite a few stone blocks in the process.

Holding the wooden sculpture in his hand, Qin Lie had been forced into a tight corner by the silver sword beams, his body already showing one fine wound after another.

The electricity created by the wooden sculpture could only protect his vitals. However, Feng Kai's sword rays were like silver threads, absolutely everywhere. They attacked from every direction and every angle, preventing Qin Lie from blocking all of them.

Whenever those extremely sharp silver rays stabbed into his body, a fresh bleeding wound would immediately emerge.

Feng Kai was at the early stage of the Natal Opening Realm whereas Qin Lie had just broken through to the ninth level of the Refinement Realm. There was a giant one level gap between them. Regardless of whether it was the density of his spirit energy or his combat experience, Qin Lie was at a disadvantage.

Furthermore, Feng Kai's spirit techniques were more refined. His steps were like the wind, how he wielded his longsword cunning and vicious. He was consistently able to attack Qin Lie's vitals from blind spots.

If the electricity created by the wooden sculpture wasn't able to form such a sturdy defense or if Qin Lie's body wasn't incomparably tough, then he would have long since been unable to hold up and would have already been dismembered alive by Feng Kai.

"Drip! Drip!"

Drop after drop of fresh, bright red blood dripped from the wounds on his chest, back, and arms onto the bridge. It looked like a blossoming flower of blood had bloomed atop the stone bridge.

"Under my sword beam offensive from my Frost Song Sword, your body has actually not been torn to pieces. I must say I am truly surprised." As Feng Kai's figure flickered, he leisurely yet sarcastically said, "Not even your bones are broken! It seems that the amount of toughening your muscles and flesh have gone through is even greater than I thought. However, you will still not be able to escape dying!"

Qin Lie remained silent as he had no extra energy to utter anything. His mind was completely focused on infusing spirit energy with the energy of thunder and lightning within his body and wildly circulating.

"Boom!"

The rumbling of thunder suddenly emanated out from Qin Lie's chest cavity as the explosive thunder energy within his body's acupoints suddenly gushed out like a river overflowing its banks.

"Boom boom boom! Boom boom boom boom!"

Within all of the acupoints on his body, the same rumbling of thunder emanated out. Under the beautiful clear skies, a thunderclap could be heard.

"Boom!"

Under the evening's glow and the setting sun, the sound of exploding thunder suddenly emanated down from the depths of the Ninth Heaven!

"Bzzt bzzt bzzt!"

A blazing, dragon-like bolt of lightning immediately appeared from the glowing sky, spiraling as it surged down and explosively shot into the stone bridge.

"Bang!"

The stone bridge, which connected Commerce Street with South City instantly exploded; the hard stone had been shattered into hundreds of flying stone chips.

Qin Lie, Feng Kai, and Yan Qingsong, who had been atop the stone bridge, seemed to have all been bombarded by the dragon-like lighting simultaneously and were sent flying into the rock and dust filled sky. The three of them all let out miserable cries as they fell together into the long, wide river below.

Eh?

An extremely shocked light emerged within the translucent eyes of the woman in white. She suddenly raised her head and looked up at the void in the glowing red sky, then lowered her head to look at the broken stone bridge, and lastly, at the flowing river below it.

Within the currents of the river, Qin Lie, Feng Kai, and Yan Qingsong were nowhere to be seen, as if they had sunken to the bottom or the river and then swept away by the current.

"With how the sky currently is, how could there be thunder and lightning?" asked the old servant with a look of surprise. "So peculiar. So very peculiar. And how was that lightning so accurate for it to strike the stone bridge right in front of us?"

"Thunder and lightning from the Ninth Heaven is not naturally formed, but something caused by a person," suddenly replied the woman in white after thinking for a moment.

"Eh? Something caused by a person? Miss, do you mean?" asked the old servant, terrified.

"That apprentice at Li's Shop," said the woman in white, definitively nodding. "Before the lightning of the Ninth Heaven shot down from the void, the sound of rumbling thunder emanated out from within his body. I don't know what strange art he has cultivated, but I can confirm... that a change within his body is what brought down the thunder and lightning from the depths of the Ninth Heaven."

The shocked old servant said, "Young miss, you are indeed experienced and knowledgeable. On our Scarlet Tide Continent, do you know of any lightning spirit art that is as overbearing?"

The woman in white furrowed her brows, carefully thinking for a while before gently shaking her head. "He hasn't even reached the Natal Opening Realm, but he can already incite the Ninth Heaven's godly thunder. I have never heard of such an overbearing and violent art formula."

After her remark, the old servant became increasingly shocked. After pondering for a moment, he then said, "If the thunder and lightning from the heavens instantly shattered the stone bridge, then just how will those three have ended up..."

"That apprentice who called down the thunder and lightning should be fine, but for the other two... it's hard to say. Even if they didn't die, they'd at least shed a layer of skin," faintly replied the woman in white.

As the two talked, more and more practitioners were attracted over to this remote area from the earlier sounds of explosions.

Once those people arrived and discovered that the bridge had been destroyed, they were all extremely shocked. They all began to converse with each other, trying to figure out what had happened.

At this time, the woman in white and her old servant changed their direction, crossing onto Commerce Street from another stone bridge.

The two directly went straight to Li's Shop.

Within the shop, Li Mu sat in his rocking chair, rocking back and forth as he lazily looked outside with narrow eyes.

When he saw the woman in white and the old servant enter, Li Mu's expression remained indifferent as he laughingly said, "This is the second time you two have come to my small shop, what would you like to see this time?"

"We still want more of the same Spirit Gathering Boards that we acquired last time. This time, we are willing to buy them two Common Grade Seven spirit stones per board. It has been so long, I wonder if you still have any in stock?" asked the old servant.

"The price doubled. Mn, it seems like you two understand the true value of Spirit Gathering Boards," said Li Mu, faintly smiling. He then continued, "We are temporarily out of stock. We should have another stock after a while, please come again later."

"The closest bridge to South City from here was just destroyed by Heavenly Thunder. You must have heard it," suddenly said the woman in white.

"I heard it," said Li Mu, nodding. Confused, he asked, "But what's it have to do with me?"

"That apprentice from your store was on that exact bridge just now. When we were coming over just now, we coincidentally saw him," explained the old servant.

Li Mu's pupils shrank, his expression suddenly becoming serious as he stopped rocking in his chair.

The woman in white and her old servant profoundly looked at Li Mu as if they had hoped to learn something through him - Qin Lie who was able to incite the thunder and lightning of the Ninth Heaven to descend had clearly piqued their interest. They thought Li Mu might know something, so they silently observed him.

Li Mu suddenly closed his eyes.

The woman in white and the old servant both looked at him with dazzling eyes, but they weren't able to see even the slightest sign of abnormality on Li Mu's body after he closed his eyes.

"Please come again after a while, farewell," politely said Li Mu, sending off his customers with his eyes still closed.

The eyes of the woman in white and the old servant showed surprise as they began to feel bewildered. Nodding their heads, they walked out of Li's Shop with furrowed brows.

Not long after they left, that large, completely snow white wolfdog quietly walked over from the small courtyard in the back.

It strangely looked at Li Mu who had closed his eyes. It seemed as if it had felt some activity from Li Mu's body and came to check out the situation.

After a while, Li Mu's eyes opened as he returned to his usual indifferent attitude. He slightly laughed towards the giant wolfdog, then said, "I was just looking for a person. I didn't think that I would even disturb you. Mn, it's nothing, that brat is still fine. He only suffered some flesh wounds, haha."

The large wolf-dog wagged its tail, seemingly bored as it once again returned to the backyard and crouched under a tree, closing its eyes.

......

Within an alley which headed towards Nebula Pavilion.

Qin Lie suddenly appeared, his body drenched with water. His back, chest, and arms were all covered in obvious, bloody wounds. His face was sullen as he endured the piercing pain, as he stood within a secluded alley to avoid the crowds.

"Yan Qingsong, Feng Kai, if the two of you can survive this time... Next time, I will let you try an even more stimulating flavor!" muttered Qin Lie while grinding his teeth.

The thunder and lightning which had descended from the heavens had instantly destroyed the stone bridge and sent him, Yan Qingsong, and Feng Kai flying into the river.

He didn't know about Yan Qingsong and Feng Kai, but after he had landed in the water, he had dove and swam. While everyone's attention was diverted by the explosion, he had quietly crept ashore and walked towards Nebula Pavilion.

"I was truly fortuitous this time as I was actually able to accidently incite the lightning of Ninth Heaven to descend. Otherwise, I might have actually died at the hands of Feng Kai and Yan Qingsong. Didn't I have to cultivate the Heavenly Thunder Sacred Body before being able to attract the thunder and lightning to descend from the Ninth Heaven? With my body's current state, it shouldn't have reached the stage of the Heavenly Thunder Sacred Body, yet why did it turn out like this?"

Within the alley, Qin Lie furrowed his brows as he silently thought to himself, his expression becoming increasingly puzzled.

"Eh? Why is there such a strong scent of alcohol on me? I didn't drink any alcohol, so just where did this scent come from?" Qin Lie suddenly smelled the fragrance of alcohol, causing his expression to become strange as he looked at his body. "My wounds! The scent of alcohol is coming from my wounds. What's happening? This alcohol smells like Li Mu's extremely strong wine!"

Qin Lie's face showed a strong look of surprise.

......

Chapter 72: A Reason to Move Forward

A strong scent of concentrated alcohol emanated out from the open wounds on Qin Lie's body and filled the entire secluded alley, leaving behind an intoxicating fragrance which completely astounded Qin Lie.

Some kind of tingling feeling pervaded the fine wounds on his arms, chest, abdomen, and back.

When he gathered his mind to carefully examine himself, he discovered to his great surprise that his wounds, which had previously been bleeding, had not only stopped, but seemed to be clotting into scabs as well...

The several relatively lighter wounds, after clotting, had actually quickly healed!

"This..."

Within the alley, Qin Lie looked at his wounds in bewilderment, his face filled with disbelief.

"Uncle Li's... Uncle Li's strong wine actually has this kind of strange effect?!"

After quite a while, his body trembled somewhat as he suddenly looked in the direction of Li's Shop. His eyes lit up.

As he wasn't in a hurry to return to Nebula Pavilion and was instead looking for a secluded place nearby, he simply sat down and waited awhile in silence.

Before the skies began to darken, all of the wounds on his body had stopped bleeding. The tingling feeling which had pervaded his entire body, along with the smell of alcohol, had gradually disappeared as each wound scabbed.

After getting rid of the traces of blood on his body, he returned to Nebula Pavilion under the moonlight.

That night, he quietly gathered spirit energy within his small house and healed his wounds. He discovered that all wounds that had been inflicted by Feng Kai healed very quickly and weren't able to leave him injured for several days.

"Uncle Li, you are indeed an odd person."

The next morning, he continued going to Yao Tai's Artifact Forging Hall, learning about the unique characteristics of the various spirit materials beside Yao Tai. He also tried to figure out the steps for smelting spirit artifacts as he assisted Yao Tai in making them.

With the news spreading throughout Nebula Pavilion, he knew that after being stricken by the lightning bolt, Feng Kai and Yan Qingsong had seemingly been severely injured. As of today, they were both stuck in the Shattered Ice Manor's only Recuperating Manor to accompany Yan Dewu.

"The lightning bolt actually didn't kill the two of you; your two lives can be considered tenacious."

Qin Lie knew that there definitely wouldn't be any reconciliation between him, Feng Kai, and Yan Qingsong. Once those two recovered, they would definitely continue looking for opportunities for revenge. "Next time, you two might not be so fortunate!"

......

Time flew by, and half a year passed.

During this half a year period, Qin Lie had spent his days learning about artifact forging with Yao Tai and the nights bitterly cultivating by either using the whirlpool in his dantian's spirit sea to temper spirit energy or by practicing inscribing spirit diagrams on spirit tablets.

By shadowing Yao Tai, he gradually became accustomed to the steps for refining a spirit artifact. He also memorized all of the unique characteristics of various spirit materials by heart. Other than having tried to refine a spirit artifact, he had completed all of the other steps.

With every circulation, the whirlpool within his dantian's spirit sea would purify spirit energy, refining the spirit energy within his spirit sea as he prepared to break into the Natal Opening Realm.

Of the four spirit diagram types, Amplification, Spirit Gathering, Spirit Storage, and Strengthening, he had mastered yet another one -- Spirit Storage.

The Spirit Storage diagrams which he inscribed were able to create a something similar to the small world in his dantian's spirit sea within the center of the spirit tablet and could also absorb the spirit energy of the world, storing them for later use.

He had once tried to infuse all of his spirit energy into the Spirit Storage diagram and discovered that it was actually able to absorb it all!

This discovery caused him to become greatly excited!

If, if a portion of spirit energy was stored within a Spirit Storage Board, could they replenish themselves using the Spirit Storage Board and instantly recover their ability to fight when they ran out of spirit energy midfight?

Once this question arose within his mind, he was in high spirits and prepared to try it out.

He refined three Spirit Storage Boards in which he respectively stored a portion of his spirit energy. Afterwards, he tested them one by one and found that the spirit energy stored within the Spirit Storage Board could indeed be retrieved!

This meant that his idea was feasible!

"If I refined dozens of these Spirit Storage Boards and stored spirit energy into them, then when I fight with someone, wouldn't I have a never ending source of spirit energy to replenish myself with? This would be much more powerful than using some Spirit Recovering Pill!"

However, three days later, Qin Lie discovered that he had overlooked one big problem -- The spirit energy within the Spirit Storage Board constantly decreased.

It was impossible for the spirit energy to be stored forever.

In order to fill the three Spirit Storage Boards with spirit energy, he had paused his cultivation and spent nine days infusing spirit energy.

However, after another three days, more than half of the spirit energy within the Spirit Storage Boards had already dissipated.

Spirit Storage Boards could store spirit energy, but they couldn't keep it tightly sealed. The stored spirit energy would slowly dissipate over time until all of it disappeared.

If he spent a lot of time and energy on storing spirit energy in those Spirit Storage Boards, his cultivating speed would be greatly affected. Furthermore, the spirit energy that he bitterly stored would slowly dissipate...

-It was obviously not worthwhile.

"That wooden sculpture that Grandpa refined also had a Spirit Storage diagram, and it contained a ball of pure spirit energy. I wonder... if its energy also dissipated in a similar manner?"

With this thought, he took out the wooden sculpture that Qin Shan had left behind and used a strand of mind consciousness to sense it. He felt the scorching white ball of spirit energy within the complex spirit diagram and carefully tried to understand it slowly.