Knowing how incredible the Thunder Seal was, it must have taken years to craft one of these curses. For items of such value, even Lin Jin wouldn’t use them if the situation didn’t call for it.
In other words, Shang’er must have spooked her enemy into using the Thunder Seal.
If the Thunder Seal was triggered, the target would perish completely. If it wasn’t, the enemy would surely return to retrieve the Thunder Seal a few days later.
This was Lin Jin’s guesstimate, and he had no evidence to confirm it. However, he had to make a decision now on how to counter the divine lightning.
Had anyone else been in his position, even if they were Rank 4 or 5 beast appraisers from premium countries, they would never have known what was their next move. Besides running away, there seemed to be nothing one could do to help Shang’er.
No matter how strong a person was, they couldn’t possibly fight the will of nature.
In the era when ancient immortals still roamed the world, perhaps some of them would know how to deal with the situation. However, now that the path of immortality has been destroyed, who would be brave enough to challenge the might of the divine lightning?
Lin Jin was not the same.
Relying solely on his knowledge, skill, and capabilities, he was worthy of being Jade Dragon’s Supreme Appraiser. Even without the museum, he was at the very least on par with Rank 4 beast appraisers. However, that was still insufficient to take on the lightning.
What tipped the scale in his favor was the Museum of Deadly Beasts.
The greatest thing about this Museum was the fact that whenever Lin Jin encountered a devastating situation, it would provide him with an array of effective solutions.
For instance, at the moment, Lin Jin was given two choices on how he could handle the divine lightning.
The first was to dissolve it, and the second was to borrow its strength.
Dissolving it was a simple and straightforward concept. He would use techniques to parry the lightning, reducing its impact so that Shang’er would not die from the strike.
The other method was much more brilliant.
It was a technique that pitted the lightning’s might against itself. By borrowing the strength of the divine lightning, Lin Jin could actually reinforce Shang’er’s cultivation level and strength.
He made a split-second decision.
He would borrow the lightning’s strength.
In terms of risk, both methods had roughly the same chances of failure. However, one yielded no benefits while the other could help Shang’er achieve a physical rebirth should it succeed.
In such a situation, what was there to be conflicted about?
Caressing the fox’s head, Lin Jin said, “Shang’er, a Thunder Seal has been planted inside you and it’s too late to undo it now. However, my solution is to borrow the divine lightning’s powers to help you achieve a physical rebirth. It could even help you condense a Dharma body but it will be painful so you’ll have to endure it for a bit.”
The fox’s eyes lit up and she nodded.
And so, Lin Jin began making his preparations.
“Xiao Huo, Goldy, you both have strong constitutions so try to shoulder some of the divine lightning’s might for Shang’er later. I will try to disperse the lightning with spells,” Lin Jin instructed.
After all, Lin Jin didn’t know how powerful divine lightning would be either. To stay on the safe side, it was best to ‘split the load’ while Lin Jin tried his best to reduce its raw strength.
Even with the museum’s solution, there were bound to be unforeseen risks when they carried it out. Since Shang’er’s life was at stake here, Lin Jin had to make sure that the margin for error was as narrow as it got.
As Xiao Huo was spiritually connected to Lin Jin, he definitely knew what Lin Jin intended to do. Meanwhile, Goldy seemed confused, but Lin Jin wasn’t anxious at all. When the time came, he would just have Goldy revert to his original size and take the lightning head-on.
It could be seen here that Lin Jin wasn’t at all worried about Goldy. Of the many rare creatures around him, even with Shang’er and Xiao Huo included, none of them could compare to Goldy in terms of innate talent.
Once his Golden Crow bloodline was activated, even a true dragon would have to kneel before the mighty bird.
Raising a hand, Lin Jin shot a needle each onto Shang’er, Xiao Huo, and Goldy’s heads. He even put one on his own head just in case.
Just then, there was a flash of lightning outside.
It instantly illuminated the cave, such that it was as bright as day. Quick to react, Lin Jin invoked a spell immediately.
Xiao Huo grew into a large wolf while Goldy was still confused. But Lin Jin didn’t have time to coax him now.
He had a lot of faith in Goldy’s ‘potential’ anyway.
Even if the divine lightning struck him directly, he should be fine.
Quicker than words, the instant Lin Jin attracted the lightning, it split into four parts, striking Lin Jin, Shang’er, Xiao Huo, and Goldy.
It was no exaggeration to say that it was Lin Jin’s first time suffering this level of pain.
Aside from the stinging pain, he felt an invisible force tearing him apart and a scorching sensation that came right after, threatening his dear life. Fortunately, Lin Jin’s constitution was strong enough to withstand the hit. The instant the lightning came striking down, he managed to open the door of the Visitation Hall in time so even if the experience was painful, it would take more than that to kill him.
Of course, he was aware that the lightning’s main body went for Shang’er instead. Thanks to the protection offered by the water reservoir scale, Shang’er shouldn’t die, especially given how the lightning was already split between them.
Withstanding the divine lightning, Lin Jin invoked another spell through gritted teeth, working the needle he left inside Shang’er’s body to regulate her veins. What he used was a secret art obtained from the museum.
Standing beside them, Xiao Huo used his Dharma body and its massive size to soak up his share of the lightning strike. Looks like he should be able to overcome it. Goldy, on the other hand, was startled by the lightning strike.
The rooster had never encountered anything like this before so his first reaction was to flap his wings and run. Although he managed to fly out of the open crack, it was a pity that Lin Jin had stuck a needle on his head. Shortly after it made its daring escape, he was booted back into the cave by another bolt of lightning.
Patches of Goldy’s feathers were scorched off his body, and following the lightning strike, he had bald patches here and there.
The instant he stood up, there came another strike.
Finally, Goldy was forced into a corner.
The intense will to live and rage simply made him explode and Goldy grew several times larger in size with flames burning all over his body. Unlike Xiao Huo who was passive and tolerant, once Goldy got angry, he had zero fear.
Bracing the lightning, the gigantic Goldy flapped his wings and charged at the thunderous clouds. He clucked incessantly while flying up as if he was trying to take on the clouds himself.
Goldy now somewhat resembled a Golden Crow with his fiery feathers and a crowing voice that even overpowered the thunder for a moment. It was so loud that the ground shook.
Several hundred meters away, Chen Ruyuan who was hiding under the dilapidated structure gaped as he watched on. He was too shocked to utter even a single word.
Inside the underground cave, the crack on the stone ceiling was now even wider thanks to the lightning strikes and Goldy’s charge. However, thanks to the water reservoir scale, the area surrounding Lin Jin and his companions were bone dry. The flowing water on the ground simply flowed around them.
Lin Jin’s resistance to lightning was the weakest. Since he wasn’t a beast, enduring this much was already difficult enough for him. Still, he had to free himself up to invoke spells and control the needle inside Shang’er’s body.
The secrets art provided by the museum was too profound and mysterious that even Lin Jin didn’t understand most of how it worked. For instance, he was to use the pulse-seeking technique to draw the divine lightning over, piercing acupoints according to a certain sequence. When that was done, he would introduce divine lightning bit by bit into Shang’er’s body.
