Free Web NovelChapter 339: Chapter 204: Thunder Stone (Part 2)
After hearing her out, Lü Zhong patted Yu Feng’Er’s head and said with a smile, "It’s a trivial matter. Just a single Silver Armored Corpse. Just you watch me work my magic!"
His Star Mirror had just been refined, and this Silver Armored Corpse was the perfect target to christen it.
...
「Xunmu Mountain.」
It was once home to the Chen Family, a great Golden Core Race.
Many years ago, it suffered an unknown catastrophe. Not only was the Tier Three Spiritual Vein within the mountain destroyed, but even the Chen Family, with its legacy of several thousand years, had its lineage extinguished overnight in the disaster. Xunmu Mountain was reduced to a barren wasteland.
It was here that the Chengde Commerce Association discovered the Chen Ancestral Tomb.
They subsequently built a camp and began plotting to acquire the Thunder Stone from within the tomb.
When Lü Zhong arrived, it was precisely noon.
He could see the cultivators in the camp were terrified, their faces etched with anxiety. They were clearly afraid that the Silver Armored Corpse from the tomb would emerge again after dark to claim more lives.
The camp had already suffered many casualties during the previous attacks.
Although the Commerce Association would provide ample Spirit Stones as compensation, who would want money they couldn’t live to spend?
Without alerting them, Lü Zhong used Concealed Breath and entered the camp.
In a wooden hall at the center of the camp, he met the camp’s Steward. She was a mature, still-beautiful woman with an Early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivation. Her complexion was pale, and she was wrapped in bandages, clearly having been injured recently.
"Liu Ying greets you, Pavilion Master! The matter you entrusted to me is ready. We have prepared a hundred vats of blood from cows, sheep, and pigs—all of it taken from Spiritual Beasts. We can lure out the Silver Armored Corpse at any time."
"Mm. Tell me the details of what happened, from the beginning."
Lü Zhong felt that something was amiss. The Chengde Commerce Association had inherited his cautious nature; logically, they shouldn’t have made such a major mistake.
"Yes!" Liu Ying cupped her hands and recounted everything from the beginning.
The exploration of the Chen Ancestral Tomb had been proceeding smoothly.
They had encountered some difficulties along the way, but she and her team had resolved them one by one.
Yu Feng’Er had long since ordered the Commerce Association to provide its full support. With such a powerful organization as their backer, they could get whatever they needed. Dealing with the Tier One and Tier Two Zombies in the tomb was no problem at all.
"Until half a month ago..." As Liu Ying spoke, her arm, which had been infected with corpse poison, began to ache faintly again, but she grit her teeth and continued.
"Two things happened that day. First, one of our patrol teams on the perimeter inexplicably vanished. I led a team to investigate but found no clues whatsoever. Then, that very night, something bizarre occurred. A zombie inside the tomb advanced into a Silver Armored Corpse, causing the Thunder Stone we were transporting out to be lost back inside."
"Are you suggesting the two incidents are connected?" Lü Zhong asked, his expression calm.
"I dare not say for certain, but that is indeed what I believe."
"Alright, you may go." Lü Zhong waved his hand.
Hearing this, Liu Ying cupped her hands and slowly withdrew.
Gazing outside the hall, Lü Zhong watched the Commerce Association’s men unload vat after vat of beast blood, preparing for the zombie hunt. He decided it was necessary to investigate further, especially the team that had mysteriously disappeared. He might be able to uncover something.
A moment later, he appeared in a canyon.
There weren’t many roads leading to Xunmu Mountain, and this canyon held one of them.
At Lü Zhong’s feet was a hidden campsite. It showed many signs of life, including a pot of burnt Spirit Rice and some spoiled dishes.
From this, he deduced that the team must have vanished right around mealtime.
’Judging by the scene, their disappearance was very sudden...’
There was no such thing as a haunting in the Cultivation Realm; cultivators had plenty of ways to deal with ghosts.
This meant they must have encountered an irresistible force.
’What kind of irresistible force?’ Lü Zhong had no immediate clues. Fortunately, he had the Gray Mist Space. He could rewind time and ’be there in person’ to see what had happened.
After a long moment, he slowly opened his eyes, his expression turning cold.
’So it was you, Yuan Xing!’
The team had disappeared so suddenly because they had discovered Yuan Xing.
For a Golden Core Master, making three Qi Refining cultivators vanish was insultingly simple.
Lü Zhong continued to rewind time, following the events back to the Chen Ancestral Tomb.
He kept going.
Yuan Xing entered the tomb, only to leave again a moment later.
An hour after that, a newly advanced Silver Armored Corpse charged out of the tomb, fresh blood still wet on its body, and began to slaughter its way through the Chengde Commerce Association’s camp.
The truth was finally revealed!
’It seems my plans for the resale trade in the Western Realm will have to wait. I need to eliminate this hidden threat from the Yuan Family first,’ Lü Zhong thought. ’Otherwise, how can the Chengde Commerce Association ever develop in peace? If things escalate, even Yu Feng’Er could be in danger.’
He immediately pushed the thoughts aside.
Since Yuan Xing had chosen to act in secret, it meant he didn’t yet dare to openly turn hostile. The most pressing matter at hand was to deal with the Silver Armored Corpse in the tomb.
Soon, dusk fell.
At his command, the hundred vats of Spirit Beast Blood were overturned.
ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!
Provoked by the potent, bloody scent, the Silver Armored Corpse in the tomb could not resist. It had just advanced and was in desperate need of nourishment. It flew out from the tomb, leading a horde of Iron and Copper Armored Corpses.
"Fire!" Liu Ying commanded.
Behind her stood rows of massive Bed Crossbows.
All the crossbow arrows were tipped with Fiery Sun Stone Arrowheads and had Evil-breaking Talismans attached.
With a series of WHOOSHES, the arrows shot through the air.
An instant later, the air filled with the sound of explosions.
Lü Zhong held the Star Mirror, Star Force gathering around him. His aura surged, rising higher and higher until it was no weaker than that of a veteran Early-stage Core Formation cultivator. However, he didn’t attack immediately, choosing instead to stand aside and observe.
The measures prepared by the Commerce Association would significantly weaken the horde of corpses. It wouldn’t be too late for him to step in once only the Silver Armored Corpse remained.
The originally cold and sinister area grew hot and arid as it was washed over by a massive wave of Yang Qi.
The crossbow arrows continued to fly, relentlessly bombarding the charging horde of corpses.
Soon, the Iron and Copper Armored Corpses suffered heavy casualties. As for the unranked zombies and ghosts, they had long since been engulfed by the Yang Qi and turned into living torches, reduced to piles of filth in mere moments.
Just then, the Silver Armored Corpse let out a long howl to the heavens and shot forward as a silver shadow, about to unleash a massacre among the crowd.
Seeing this, Lü Zhong finally made his move.
"Star Mirror, release!"
In an instant, beams of Mirror Light illuminated the night sky, striking the Silver Armored Corpse one after another. Just a few beams of this Mirror Light dealt as much damage as all the previous volleys of crossbow arrows combined, a testament to the power of a Magical Treasure.
And this was a Magical Treasure that had only just been refined.
The man and the corpse began to fight fiercely.
Everyone else retreated, lest they be caught in the shockwaves.
In just a matter of minutes, the battle was decided.
With his Lifebound Treasure Star Mirror and the Purple Nether Extreme Fire—a type of Yang Fire—Lü Zhong’s strength clearly suppressed the Silver Armored Corpse. Despite its tough hide, it could only hold on for less than an hour.
THUD! With a tremendous crash, the mangled corpse, still wreathed in purple flames, hit the ground and kicked up a column of dust.
"Let’s go. Follow me into the tomb!"
With that, he walked straight toward the tomb passage.
With Liu Ying leading the way, they soon arrived in a burial chamber.
A great battle had clearly taken place here.
The ground was still stained with blood and littered with fragments of Magical Artifacts and clothing.
This was where the Commerce Association team transporting the Thunder Stone had encountered the abruptly advanced Silver Armored Corpse. After a fierce struggle, they proved no match for the Tier Three Silver Armored Corpse, and all of them had perished here.
His gaze shifted to a corner where various items lay scattered, among them an overturned golden casket.
The casket was about ten feet square. Its surface was covered in damage, but it had not been breached. The body of the casket was inscribed with dense Runes, clearly intended to seal its contents.
Lü Zhong shattered the golden casket with a single sword strike, and a blue Crystal Stone rolled out.
"This is the Thunder Stone?"
Remembering the properties of the Thunder Stone—that it could damage a Storage Bag if unsealed—he formed a series of hand seals and cast several Prohibitions. Once a simple Sealing Array took shape, he placed the Thunder Stone into his Storage Bag.
Only then did a smile finally spread across his face.
’With the Thunder Stone in hand, I can finally cultivate the Wood Thunder Skill!’
...
Afterward, Lü Zhong entered secluded cultivation.
The key to mastering the Wood Thunder Skill was to use the Thunder Stone while simultaneously circulating the Thunder Skill Method to condense a Wood Thunder Seal within his Sea of Consciousness. This would mark the initial success of the Thunder Skill.
Condensing the Thunder Seal was no easy feat; its difficulty was comparable to cultivating the Jade Vein Technique.
He lived a simple, reclusive life each day.
As time passed, his progress in the Magic Skill was steady.
Lü Zhong would occasionally emerge from his seclusion.
Sometimes, it was to share tender moments with Yu Feng’Er; other times, he would seek out his concubines to balance the Yin and Yang of his True Essence.
Day by day, his life felt incredibly fulfilling.
「Two years passed in the blink of an eye.」
On this day, just as Lü Zhong stepped out of his Quiet Chamber, Yu Feng’Er threw herself into his arms.
"Husband, look at my cultivation!"
He checked her cultivation and was surprised to find she had already reached the Late-stage Foundation Establishment.
It made sense, though. Yu Feng’Er had Dual Spirit Roots and the Ice Soul Spirit Body. How could her cultivation speed possibly be slow? After so much time, her breakthrough to the Late-stage Foundation Establishment was inevitable.
"A joyous occasion indeed! Don’t you think we should do something to... celebrate properly?" Lü Zhong said, pulling her close.
Yu Feng’Er’s cheeks flushed crimson, but surprisingly, she didn’t refuse.
