This mysterious phenomenon simply lasted too long, forming hundreds—thousands—of flashing lightning bolts. Everything was clearly visible from fifty kilometers away.
Many people could not understand what was going on when they saw this mysterious phenomenon. Everyone thought that a powerful Divine Weapon or peak Emperor Grade Secret Weapon was being forged in the Flame Rock castle.
In the end, this commotion even startled the other Great Bandits of Dark City.
“Flame Rock Sovereign, what are you trying to do, hiding in your Flame Rock castle? You are not even going to inform us when you refine a powerful Divine Weapon.”
“Could it be that you consider your ranking too low and are trying to increase your rank?” the top Great Bandit of the Black Sea, the Blood Shark Sovereign demanded coldly after appearing outside the castle.
This misunderstanding was getting out of hand. The Flame Rock Sovereign broke out in a cold sweat when he saw the hostile gazes of the other twelve Great Bandits standing at the castle’s gate.
The situation was truly hard to explain clearly. The Flame Rock Sovereign had no other choice but to lift the formation of the Flame Rock castle and let these Great Bandits in.
The Flame Rock Sovereign cursed, “Damn brat! You really know how to cause trouble for me. Since when did my Flame Rock castle open up to the other Great Bandits? Yet now, they all entered en masse.”
The other cultivators saw the Great Bandits enter. Taking advantage of the time while the formation was open, they all poured in.
The Flame Rock Sovereign cursed again and could no longer be bothered to care. After all, he had no shameful secrets. Letting these people in would prevent them from spreading baseless rumors.
When everyone saw Xiao Chen, who was covered in wounds with his hair scattered about and his appearance almost unrecognizable, amid the lightning and figured out the truth, they were stunned.
“Who is this? Is he crazy? If one can comprehend the Sharp Spirit Finger just like that, the consummate technique of this Great Bandit would not be valuable at all.”
“I bet that he will definitely not be able to comprehend the Sharp Spirit Finger. Who knows, he might even end up dying.”
“Who’s betting with you? Isn’t this already obvious? The Flame Rock Sovereign’s judgment is too poor. It’s not enough that he taught him personally, but he even had to startle the entire city and make them suspicious.”
When the Flame Rock Sovereign heard all these comments, he felt so frustrated that he wanted to vomit blood. Then, he glanced at Xiao Chen, who turned a deaf ear and blind eye to the things around him.
The Flame Rock Sovereign thought to himself, Little Friend, Little Friend, you have to vent my frustrations for me. Now, the other twelve Great Bandits are all out. If you really cannot comprehend it, I will become a huge joke.
“My old friends, since you already understand the situation here, you can leave now!” the Flame Rock Sovereign said indifferently as he looked at the others after turning away from Xiao Chen.
The Blood Shark Sovereign, the top Great Bandit of the Black Sea, smiled and said, “Flame Rock Sovereign, don’t be in such a rush to chase us away. This is the first time I entered this Flame Rock castle. Its layout is pretty nice.”
The other Great Bandits all smiled, showing no intention to leave.
The Flame Rock Sovereign thought, I just knew that it would not be so easy to chase this group of old fogeys away.
As Zong Boxiong looked at Xiao Chen, who was comprehending amid the lightning, he asked, “Flame Rock Sovereign, how long has he been doing this?”
“Three days.”
“He has been in such a state all day and night?”
“Naturally. Otherwise, how would he end up drawing you old fogeys out?” the Flame Rock Sovereign grumbled.
The moment the Flame Rock Sovereign said that, the Blood Shark Sovereign, Zong Boxiong, and the other Great Bandits showed strange expressions, all of them secretly startled.
Xiao Chen was currently riddled with wounds, his hair disheveled. The lightning mangled his body; the pain was self-evident. However, he had endured this for three days and still showed no intention of stopping.
“Isn’t this little fellow struggling too hard? He wants to go through this self-torture and comprehend the Sharp Spirit Finger with just some pointers from you? That is too naive!” the ninth-ranked Great Bandit said while shaking his head.
These Great Bandits were people who worked together. They understood the power of the Flame Rock Sovereign’s Sharp Spirit Finger. They also knew how horrifying the Sharp Spirit Finger was when the Flame Rock Sovereign used it with his full power.
Most of them did not think that Xiao Chen could comprehend the Sharp Spirit Finger in such a short time.
However, these Great Bandits all still felt shocked at seeing Xiao Chen struggle on. If it were them, at that age, they absolutely could not endure to this level.
Zong Boxiong said, “Even if this person cannot comprehend the Sharp Spirit Finger, he will still be a powerful and formidable person. He truly lives up to being the Azure Emperor’s descendant.”
Smiling, the Blood Shark Sovereign said, “Strange. I heard that your adopted son seems to have a great grudge with him. Why are you still giving him such a high evaluation? This is really not your style.”
Zong Boxiong smiled back and replied, “Those are matters of the past. However, based on the information that I received, your grandson was also ruthlessly beaten up into a sorry state by this person during the Outstanding Talent Summit Meeting.
“Not just yours but all the descendants of the Great Bandits present seem to have suffered at the hands of this person at some point in time.”
Given what was said, no one wanted to pursue the topic any longer.
The thirteen Great Bandits of the Black Sea were all Sovereign Martial Emperors. They worked together to rule the vast Black Sea. All of them were proud and aloof individuals. Given that their descendants were taught a lesson by someone else, they naturally felt a knot in their hearts.
Now, even after knowing the truth, these Great Bandits did not intend to leave. All their thoughts were the same: they wanted to know what this youth, who alone deterred all the outstanding talents of the Black Sea from raising their heads, was like.
The Blood Shark Sovereign smiled in embarrassment and stopped dwelling on this topic. “Flame Rock Sovereign, how long did you give him?”
“Ten days. Now, he has only three days left.”
The people present all sucked in a deep breath of cold air. Ten days to comprehend the Sharp Spirit Finger, this was a little too crazy.
The Blood Shark Sovereign recovered his wits and said, “Then, good. We will wait here for three days and see if he can comprehend the Sharp Spirit Finger!”
All thirteen Great Bandits of the Black Sea came together to watch a talent of a later generation comprehend. If this news were to spread, it would immediately cause a huge commotion in the Black Sea.
Who were the thirteen Great Bandits? They were all Sovereign Martial Emperors, the rulers of the Black Sea. Which of them was not a formidable character? Even when considering the entire Kunlun Realm, when they worked together, they were people of great influence.
Yet, today, these people gathered together and waited for a junior for three days.
“Damn! This really places him in the limelight. If he truly manages to comprehend it, he will definitely leave his name in the annals of the entire oceanic world.”
“Don’t worry. He will absolutely not succeed. Look at his current state, no longer resembling a human or a ghost. How can he possibly comprehend it?”
“That’s right. The Sharp Spirit Finger is a Sovereign Martial Emperor’s consummate technique that is not passed on to others. How can it be comprehended just like that?”
“Absolutely not!”
The many cultivators in the Flame Rock castle all sank deep into something of a worried mood; to be more accurate, it was fear.
Xiao Chen’s appearance already placed enormous pressure on these people. When he defeated the various outstanding talents at the Outstanding Talent Summit Meeting, his feat created a shadow in everyone’s heart.
If he used a mere ten days to comprehend the Sharp Spirit Finger, such pressure would leave them breathless.
Everyone waited with bated breath for the final moment. Before the results came out, they would always feel deeply worried.
It was clear that these people would be ecstatic if Xiao Chen failed in comprehending; schadenfreude would instantly fill their hearts.
However, these people did not think about the fact that even if Xiao Chen failed in comprehending, he still firmly suppressed them. As long as he was alive, he would always stand above them. This was precisely the grief of being in the same generation as someone so excellent.
The various happenings of the outside world did not affect Xiao Chen, who was in the midst of comprehending. He fully immersed himself in comprehending. Although he was aware that many people had come to the Flame Rock castle, he was not distracted at all.
The others only saw the lightning bolts inflicting wounds on Xiao Chen, a cruel sight to behold. However, they did not notice that after each round of testing, his tensed expression slowly eased.
This continued for hundreds—thousands or even tens of thousands—of times. He kept testing, slowly resolving the questions in his heart.
Every time Xiao Chen tested things out, the pain he endured went without saying. However, this opportunity was hard to come by. The Flame Rock Sovereign had personally explained and demonstrated, and even shared every single detail of his process of comprehending the move.
Xiao Chen absolutely could not give up on such a great opportunity.
He feared that if he did not succeed now, then after some time passed, the inspiration he obtained from the Flame Rock Sovereign would fade away, never to be found again.
This was how strange inspiration was. After failing to grasp it once, it might never come back.
Hence, even if the pain were a hundred times—a thousand times—worse, Xiao Chen absolutely could not give up. He had to succeed in comprehending.
If the eyes of humans could peer through the body, they would discover nine clumps of lightning in a circle spinning continuously at Xiao Chen’s chest.
The constantly flashing lightning in the sky and the roaring thunder were all attracted by these nine clumps of lightning.
His thousands of attempts had established that Xiao Chen’s conception was indeed the most suited to himself. These nine clumps of electric light were refined from all of his energy.
With a thought, these nine clumps of electric light would be like lightning horses galloping in the sky, gathering at Xiao Chen’s fingertip.
However, sometimes, they exploded along the way. A bloody hole would instantly appear in Xiao Chen’s chest, the electricity flickering in the wounds inflicting incredible pain.
Sometimes, the electric lights gathered together. However, they would fail to merge perfectly before they reached the fingertip. Hence, they exploded loudly at the same time, nearly destroying his arm.
Sometimes, the energy reached the fingertip after much difficulty. However, he could not unleash it in the final step, and it directly exploded, instead.
After swallowing a Sage Grade Medicinal Pill for treatment from the Thunder Emperor’s inheritance, Xiao Chen’s wounds healed at a visible pace with the aid of the horrifying recovery ability of his half-step Golden Body.
However, the old wounds had just healed when new ones appeared. This was because Xiao Chen started testing again as if he was torturing himself.
As he focused on comprehending, he lost track of time. After a while, he revealed an expression of enlightenment. “The density is sufficient already. However, my energies are more complicated than the Flame Rock Sovereign’s. In order to perfectly merge them, I have to resolve the balance between Law Energy, Vital Qi, and Primordial Energy.”
The Flame Rock Sovereign was right; Xiao Chen’s direction was correct.
As for Xiao Chen’s Sharp Spirit Finger, after the experimentation using means unimaginable to ordinary people, only one problem remained: how to maintain the balance of Vital Qi, Primordial Energy, and Law Energy.
“It is time to meditate,” Xiao Chen muttered to himself. His data gathering was already more or less complete. All that remained was to meditate quietly, digesting properly all the comprehensions he gained from the more than ten thousand rounds of tests, to resolve the final problem.
After that inhuman testing ceased, Xiao Chen’s wounds recovered rapidly.
