The term “Palm Lightning” is actually a colloquial name. Within the Divine Thunder Sect, its proper name is the “Five Thunder Palm Method of Mountain’s Core.”
Palm Lightning differs from other thunder techniques in the world. It does not distinguish the five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—but rather combines them into a single force. This characteristic bears resemblance to the Divine Thunder Forbidden Arts. When the five elements are employed in thunder techniques, they are individually named as the “Five Thunders.” However, Palm Lightning merges all five elements into one, not manifesting as a single thunder alone. It is akin to the earlier Five-Element Sphere—when unleashed, all five thunders strike simultaneously, and when dissipated, they vanish together.
Precisely for this reason, the power of the Divine Thunder Sect’s Palm Lightning is greatly amplified. In ancient times, it was renowned throughout the cultivation world.
After a brief explanation from Zhang Liusun, Mei Qing realized that the Palm Lightning technique itself was not particularly difficult to cultivate. The true challenge lay in its control and practical application.
Just like the earlier gathering of the Five-Element Sphere, when Palm Lightning is activated, all five thunders erupt at once. Naturally, its power is immense, but the difficulty of control increases significantly. As cultivation techniques become more advanced, precision becomes ever more crucial—striving for perfect balance, neither excessive nor insufficient, is the essence of mastery.
Mei Qing had previously seen fragments of the Palm Lightning cultivation method and had long speculated about the missing parts. After hearing Zhang Liusun’s explanation today, everything became clear. However, to fully master and apply it skillfully would still require considerable effort.
Now that he had obtained the Palm Lightning technique, Mei Qing carefully compared it with the earlier Divine Thunder Sect cultivation methods. As he reflected deeply, he indeed discovered certain parts where his previous interpretations might have been incorrect. When applied to cultivation, a few words might not have caused major issues, but there were several key points that urgently required correction.
He carefully identified these problematic areas and analyzed them one by one with Zhang Liusun. Some parts Zhang agreed with, but others remained points of disagreement.
“Actually, words themselves are not the true essence of cultivation methods,” Zhang Liusun remarked. “As the saying goes, ‘Once one learns to read, confusion begins.’ Some things simply cannot be fully explained in words. However, since human beings must pass down these techniques, and direct transmission through mind and spirit is not always possible, we rely on written records. The key lies in whether you can see beyond the surface of the words and grasp their true meaning. Becoming overly fixated on the wording itself is merely losing sight of the essence.”
These words from Zhang Liusun were indeed profound. Mei Qing was suddenly enlightened, realizing that his earlier meticulous attention to wording had indeed caused him to neglect the fundamental principles.
In the cultivation world, the highest form of transmitting ancient teachings was through direct spiritual resonance—pointing directly to the origin. The next best was verbal instruction combined with practical demonstration. Written descriptions were merely a last resort, the lowest form of transmission.
Moreover, cultivation techniques differ from tangible objects that can be clearly described in terms of size and color. Many aspects of cultivation cannot be simply explained. Therefore, cultivation manuals often use metaphors and symbolic language to describe subtle experiences, making them even more difficult to understand.
In other words, whether a term refers to a “dragon” or a “tiger,” “qi” or “glory,” is not important. What truly matters is understanding the actual meaning behind these terms.
Mei Qing was skilled in textual analysis, which was normally an advantage, allowing him to interpret ancient texts and understand the teachings of past sages. However, this very strength also made him more susceptible to being bound by words, getting lost in their literal meanings. Zhang Liusun had already noticed this tendency during their earlier discussion, which was why he had pointed this out—to prevent Mei Qing from straying down the wrong path.
“Still, don’t let this trouble you,” Zhang Liusun said, noticing Mei Qing’s contemplative expression, smiling as he continued, “You have a rare talent that others can only envy. Even I, despite possessing the Divine Thunder Sect’s secret manuals, still have half of them I cannot decipher. And I no longer even remember where the rest have been scattered. There are some ancient treasures here—you should first become more familiar with the Palm Lightning technique. Later, I’ll let you take a look at those other things.”
Mei Qing nodded. Before he could speak, suddenly the ground shook violently, and the entire stone chamber trembled. Though deep inside the mountain, they could clearly sense the surging seawater outside, the surrounding spiritual energy becoming wildly unstable. A vast, ancient aura instantly filled the entire space.
“Boy, come out now! I have returned!”
Though no actual voice was heard, the immense spiritual pressure caused a ringing in Mei Qing’s ears, and his inner energy surged wildly. Startled, Mei Qing quickly calmed his mind and stabilized his energy.
Meanwhile, Liu Liu had already fainted the moment the spiritual pressure arrived.
Zhang Liusun’s face showed a trace of surprise as he said, “How quickly he has returned! Well, this confrontation was inevitable. You might as well witness how immortals engage in battle.”
With that, Zhang Liusun waved his plump hand, and suddenly a stone door appeared in a corner of the chamber. Then, as light as a feather, he transformed into a wisp of smoke and entered the stone door, vanishing instantly.
“You may come as well, just be careful!” Mei Qing heard Zhang Liusun’s voice say.
Mei Qing glanced at Liu Liu, who lay unconscious on the ground, then shook his head and stepped through the stone door.
Beyond the stone door lay a narrow path winding upward. Whether this path had been carved by human hands long ago or was newly formed by Zhang Liusun’s magic, it was remarkably smooth and spotlessly clean. The walls were uniformly black as iron, reflecting a faint luster.
As Mei Qing ascended, he heard Zhang Liusun’s hearty laughter echoing ahead: “Old Xu, you weren’t my match back then either. If I hadn’t taken pity on your age and let you go, you’d have long since turned into some drifting smoke. Now you dare return to seek revenge? Come on, let me see if you’ve made any progress in these years!”
“Old Xu?” Mei Qing mused inwardly. “Could it be Xu Fu? But Zhang Liusun said Xu Fu perished from backlash. Could it be that his soul survived and has remained here all this time?”
As he pondered, Mei Qing quickened his pace, moving forward with astonishing speed. Suddenly, he heard the deep, powerful voice roar again: “Boy, don’t be arrogant! Last time, you took advantage of my weakness and struck by surprise—what honor was there in that? Today, I return, and it shall be your doom!”
Though Mei Qing’s steps seemed unchanged, his speed was actually extremely fast. In the blink of an eye, he saw light pouring in from the cave exit ahead. He hurried forward and emerged from the cave, gazing around in astonishment.
He now stood atop the Jieshi Peak. The peak was like a massive stone pillar, rising straight from the ocean floor into the sky, as if pointing at the heavens, with steep cliffs on all sides, each a hundred feet high, and no path for ordinary people. Atop the peak was only a small platform, just large enough to stand on, with dark, ink-like stone beneath his feet.
Looking up, Mei Qing involuntarily gasped. Above him, like an overturned bowl, was an enormous energy dome covering the entire peak. It was impossible to tell how many hundreds of feet high it was. Through the top of the dome, he could see the rippling waves of the ocean above.
This energy dome, formed by unknown techniques, not only enclosed the entire Jieshi Peak but also created a sea surface beneath the ocean, surging around the peak in all directions, its vastness unknown. Looking out in all directions, the horizon was dark and boundless.
It was night, and Mei Qing’s vision was keen. Through the dome, he could faintly see the stars in the night sky shimmering through the ocean water, casting cold light down onto the desolate sea and solitary Jieshi Peak, creating a scene of eerie silence.
Mei Qing had often traveled across the sea, either by boat or in flight, gazing down at the endless expanse of blue waves. He had never imagined that beneath this boundless ocean lay an ancient, sacred mountain—the Jieshi Peak. Now, looking around, the stars seemed to hang directly above his head, as if about to fall. The surging waves rolled in all directions, wave after wave, endless and vast, causing a sudden expansion of his heart and mind.
Directly in front of Jieshi Peak, the dark sea was vastly different from the other three sides. Waves rose like mountains, stretching toward the sky. Yet, when they approached within an arrow’s distance of the peak, they abruptly halted, as if blocked by an invisible wall. The crashing waves struck the barrier, sending up countless silver-white splashes, roaring with thunderous echoes that reverberated endlessly.
And upon the highest crest of those waves floated a massive ship! From afar, the ship stood tall upon the wave peaks. Its material was unclear, but it appeared as large as a small mountain, towering over the silver-white waves, exuding an imposing presence that rivaled Jieshi Peak itself without yielding an inch.
“Old Xu, you’re still as boastful as ever. Of course, it was your grand talk that convinced the First Emperor of Qin to fall into your trap. Too bad he couldn’t see through you—a mere windbag—that led to his dynasty’s collapse in two generations, and even you ended up reduced to a lingering soul. And here you are still blowing your own horn. Oh, right—I forgot, you’ve been dead for nearly two millennia. You probably don’t even know what a ‘dharma conch’ is anymore! Ha ha…”
Suddenly, Zhang Liusun’s hoarse laughter echoed in Mei Qing’s ears. Startled, Mei Qing looked around but could not find Zhang’s small figure anywhere. It seemed as if the entire Jieshi Mountain itself had spoken. As he searched, he suddenly heard a voice in his mind: “Don’t bother looking. Both I and this old ghost exist only as spiritual forms, without physical bodies. However, he chose the path of a ‘scattered immortal,’ while I did not.”
“What is a ‘scattered immortal’?” Mei Qing wondered, still puzzled, when suddenly a surge of information flooded his mind—Zhang Liusun had directly transmitted the knowledge through spiritual projection.
It turned out that a “scattered immortal” was another name for a “corpse-releasing immortal.”
Corpse-releasing was a method of abandoning one’s physical body by using external means. Ancient scriptures like *The Taiyi Guard Over the Corpse* stated: “There are many paths to release… some die seated in empty valleys, some vanish standing in hidden rocks…” but the most common methods were sword-release, fire-release, and water-release.
Generally speaking, corpse-releasing was a last resort. Although it might resemble true immortality, it was actually a false path. This method had existed since ancient times but was formalized into a practical cultivation method by Du Guangting of the Tang Dynasty’s Yongcheng Sect. However, even Du Guangting considered corpse-releasing a lower path. In his *True Explanation of Taiyi Corpse Transformation*, he wrote: “The highest immortals ascend with cloud chariots and feathered canopies, their forms and spirits united in flight. The next level hide in valleys and forests, transforming in secret. The lowest are those who discard their forms, like snakes shedding skin or cicadas molting. Among these, those who ascend to heaven are superior, while those who release their corpses are inferior.”
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