“Honorable Teacher, elders, please follow me.”
Chu Kuangren said.
He then led Honorable Xuan Qi and the few other people to a mountaintop, where the surroundings were immaculately quiet. It was the place that was designated for Honorable Xuan Qi’s ascension.
At the place.
There were four black metal rods, which stood tall and lined up in a square. There were even mysterious runes carved on them.
The few of them stared at the four metal rods with confusion.
“What the hell is this? I don’t remember these being here the last time I came.”
“These metal rods are made of unique material, and they vaguely contain some sort of Daoist Rhyme. By my guess, this should be some kind of treasure.”
“Kuangren, don’t tell me that you’re the one who set these up?”
Honorable Xuan Qi asked curiously.
Chu Kuangren nodded slightly. “Yes, these four metal rods are called the Thundersoother Rods. They are able to redirect the surges of tribulation into the ground.”
Upon hearing that, all of them were shocked.
The ability to redirect the surges of tribulation was something that they had never heard of before. Did these metal rods really have such special abilities?
“Lead Disciple, not that I don’t believe you, but the Sect Leader’s ascension is not a matter to be taken lightly. Are these metal rods really as magical as you’ve described?”
One of the elders questioned.
Chu Kuangren smiled but remained silent. He then walked into the middle of the four metal rods before he turned back towards that elder and said, “Second Elder, I remember that you cultivate the Nine Heavens Lightning Sword Art. You can deliver an attack at me now.”
“This, this is not a good idea.” Second Elder hesitated.
“Just do it.”
“This…” Second Elder glanced at Honorable Xuan Qi.
“What are you looking at me for? If Kuangren allows you to strike at him, then just do as he wishes. With that little cultivation base of yours, I don’t think you’ll be able to hurt him.”
Honorable Xuan Qi replied amusingly.
He had already obtained knowledge of Chu Kuangren’s abilities from the Seventh Forefather. Not to mention the Second Elder, even he himself would not be able to do any damage to Chu Kuangren.
He felt rather insecure whenever he thought of that.
His student was so capable that the pressure on him as a teacher was just too immense.
“Alright then.”
Second Elder nodded as he formed a sword hand sign with one hand. A Lightning-based Daoist Rhyme was then unleashed from his fingers, turning into a lightning-based sword qi that struck out instantaneously.
The lightning-based sword qi swept towards Chu Kuangren, but Chu Kuangren remained standing within the metal rods, undeterred by the attack.
When the sword qi was close to him, the lightning energy made a quiver before it was unexpectedly twisted towards another direction by an invisible force. It crashed onto the metal rod and then vanished.
“Eh.” Second Elder gasped in surprise and let loose another sword strike which was even more powerful. However, just like before, the lightning energy was sucked into the ground by the metal rod, not harming Chu Kuangren even the slightest bit.
“Interesting.”
Second Elder leaped into the air, and a terrifying Lightning-based Daoist Rhyme was emitted instantly. Dark clouds amassed, and thunder started to rumble.
The majestic force of nature encased the entire place, sending shudders down the spines of everyone present.
“Lead Disciple, I’m about to unleash my full power.”
“Please do.” Chu Kuangren smiled faintly.
The crowd watched on intently.
“Nine Heavens Lightning, I summon you!”
Second Elder let out a loud cry, and the turbulent lightning energy from the dark clouds instantly condensed above the top of his head, forming a giant Lightning Sword!
The giant sword swung down, its sheer force of nature shaking the earth!
No one would have dared to be sloppy or complacent in face of this sword strike, even for Honorable Supremes.
Even so, Chu Kuangren still remained unmoved.
Boom!
The giant sword landed and shook every air particle in the void!
However, just when the giant sword edged close to the four metal rods, that violent lightning energy was instantly manipulated and directed into the ground once again.
A stripped-off, pure sword qi was the only thing left that was facing Chu Kuangren. Without the incantation of the lightning energy, this sword qi was no threat to Chu Kuangren. So he cast the White Lotus Light of Purification and dispelled this sword qi effortlessly.
Everyone at the scene was dumbfounded by what they saw.
“This metal rod could indeed divert Lightning energy?!”
“Heavenly tribulations will emerge in the form of lightning. This means that this metal rod truly has the ability to divert the surges of tribulation!”
“Splendid.”
Second Elder slowly landed back onto the ground. He stared at the Thundersoother Rods and exclaimed in admiration, “Lead Disciple, where did you get this treasure from?”
“Obtained it via good fortune.” Chu Kuangren smiled and said.
When the rest of them heard his words, the edges of their lips twitched.
‘That pill recipe was via good fortune, and this Thundersoother Rod was also via good fortune… Why does he always seem to have so much good fortune!’
“Lead Disciple, fortune truly favors you.”
Second Elder could not help but sigh.
Chu Kuangren responded with a slight smile. It was not his fault that he was such an overpowered “hack”.
He had gotten this Thundersoother Rod from the gacha roll. He had drawn quite a number of valuable items from some time ago, and since some of them were rarely used, he kept them in his inventory and never took them out again.
This Thundersoother Rod was one of those items.
He had to take another look at his inventory when he got back, to see if there was any other stuff that could be used in this ascension.
It felt necessary to make a more thorough preparation for it.
Looking at Honorable Xuan Qi staring at the Thundersoother Rod in awe, Chu Kuangren felt relieved. He, as a student, had given his all to help out his Honorable Teacher in his ascension.
“With the Vibrant Rejuvenation Pill and this Thundersoother Rod, I am almost one hundred percent confident now that I will succeed in the ascension.”
Honorable Xuan Qi burst into laughter. After that, as if something had crossed his mind, a hint of coldness flashed in his eyes. “As long as those people don’t come and cause trouble.”
Chu Kuangren’s heart sank upon hearing that.
He knew that during Honorable Xuan Qi’s younger days he had offended a number of people in the Firmament Star while trying to create a name for himself. These people had all gone on to become greats, so neither their strength nor influence should be taken lightly.
Now that Honorable Xuan Qi was attempting ascension, would they really just sit back and watch?
“Black Heaven Sect has a Sage to back us up. If those people were to come and wreak havoc, they would need to figure a way to deal with our Sage.”
“And only another Sage… could contend with a Sage!”
“There are plenty of sage orthodoxies in the Firmament Star, but only a few hold against the Black Heaven Sect. Who should we expect this time?” Chu Kuangren thought to himself.
…
Inside a restaurant.
A disheveled man with a broken arm was sitting at a corner, drinking.
Just then, a middle-aged man dressed in a splendor robe arrived. He walked to the front of the disheveled man and said, “Who knew that an outstanding swordsmanship talent, whose name was famed all over Azure Dragon Domain thousands of years ago, would fall off the glory and stoop to such a low point in life.”
The disheveled man turned a cold eye at the middle-aged man. “Who are you?”
“Linghu Hong.”
“Linghu? Rare surname. From my impression, the most famous Linghus are from Scarlet Phoenix Domain’s swordsmanship family sect, the Linghu clan.”
The disheveled man let out a wine burp. “Are you one of them?”
“Yes.”
“What are you here for?”
“Honorable Xuan Qi is about to attempt ascension. Do you know this?”
Bam!
The wine jar in the disheveled man’s grip suddenly cracked. He stared at Linghu Hong with blood-streaked eyes. “Don’t mention this name in front of me!”
Linghu Hong was not deterred by his big reaction as he continued, “You now live a penniless and destitute life, while he’s now the Sect Leader of a prestigious sage orthodoxy. Now that he’s about to attempt ascension, he will become a Sage once he succeeds!”
“By then, you and I would be nothing but ants to him. Tell me, are you really willing to see all this come to reality? If I remember correctly, your arm was chopped off by him, right?”
“What else am I supposed to do? That’s a sage orthodoxy you’re talking about. They have a Sage defending them. Do you really think I can go there and kill them?”
The disheveled man said dejectedly.
“The Linghu clan has a Sage too!”
“What?”
“Let my family sect deal with the Black Heaven Sect’s Sage. You and I will storm all the way into Black Heaven Sect and thwart Xuan Qi’s ascension. If you are content to remain in this dreadful state of yours, I shall leave at once.”
The disheveled man gulped down the last bit of his wine, then a formidable sword qi suddenly erupted from his body. “Why I’ve never reattached this broken arm of mine is because I wanted to keep it as a reminder of the shame that Xuan Qi has brought unto me!”
“All these years, I may have slacked, but I’ve never given up on cultivating. Now it’s about time I go and settle an old score with Honorable Xuan Qi!”
