Outside Jing Shui Village, Patriarch Huangquan was gazing at the starry sky…
It was midnight.
Old Cai brought Shui Miao back to the surface and immediately spotted Patriarch Huangquan.
Zhuge Abacus hurried forward to ask, “Patriarch, did you sense the guiding power?”
Patriarch Huangquan turned around, fixed his gaze on Zhuge Abacus, and coldly shook his head, “Why did you bring my brother Shui Miao up here? I haven’t even hosted a banquet for him yet.”
“Maybe, maybe we should wait until daylight.”
Seeing the dark expression on Patriarch Huangquan’s face, Zhuge Abacus couldn’t help but feel afraid. His soul body was already weak—if this form were destroyed, he would vanish from this world forever.
“Fool!”
Suddenly, Patriarch Huangquan grabbed Zhuge Abacus by the neck, surrounding him with a surge of lightning, his face twisted with fury, “I asked why you brought my brother up here!”
“He tried to stop me, but I didn’t agree. What, does the Patriarch not want me back?” Shui Miao stepped forward, staring at Patriarch Huangquan.
“Get lost!”
Patriarch Huangquan flung Zhuge Abacus, nearly disintegrating his soul body, sending him flying dozens of meters away. Then he turned to Shui Miao with a faint smile, “Brother Shui Miao, I wanted to discuss something with you. I might need the Nine Tripod Cauldron to refine some pills. Why don’t you hand it over first? Once I finish refining a batch, I’ll give it back to you, how about that?”
“Don’t give it to him!”
Old Qin quickly grabbed Shui Miao’s arm and sent him a mental message.
Old Cai stepped forward protectively in front of Shui Miao and mentally transmitted, “Brother, quickly return your soul to your body. Although Patriarch Huangquan possesses a Thunder Soul Body, once your soul reunites with your body and you have the Yang soul to assist you, it will become much more difficult for him to kill you.”
“Hmph! What do you two mean?” Patriarch Huangquan glared at Old Qin and Old Cai, clearly losing patience, “Don’t forget—you’re just a few minor spirit guards. With my Thunder Soul Body, I could eliminate you in an instant. Be wise and step aside. This is between him and me.”
Patriarch Huangquan pointed at Shui Miao, changing “brother” to “him.”
This clearly showed his patience was rapidly vanishing, revealing his true nature.
“Hehe…”
Shui Miao didn’t retreat to his physical body. Instead, he pushed Old Cai aside and smiled faintly at Patriarch Huangquan, “Senior Patriarch, do you know why you haven’t ascended to the Immortal Realm yet?”
“Why? Did you secretly sabotage me?” The Patriarch’s suspicion deepened.
Shui Miao shook his head, “Of course not. I’ve always been sincere with my friends. I would never betray someone like that. But…” He paused deliberately. Seeing the Patriarch’s disdain, he continued, “You’ve used too much Thunder Soul power. If you hadn’t confronted Ye Xian back then, you should have already ascended. If you keep using this power, I think your chances of ascending will only get worse.”
The Thunder Soul power was essentially Yin energy within the soul, naturally decreasing with each use.
After hearing Shui Miao’s words, Patriarch Huangquan’s eyes flickered, and his expression suddenly changed. He smiled sweetly and said, “So that’s the reason! Oh right, Brother, you still have plenty of Purple Lightning spiritual energy left. Hurry up and give me some more. I don’t need the Nine Tripod Cauldron anymore.”
“Hahahaha!”
Shui Miao laughed heartily, then suddenly turned serious, pointing coldly at Patriarch Huangquan, “Patriarch Huangquan, you’re too naive! I’d gladly take a blade for a friend, but you’re not worthy of being my friend. You’re nothing but a petty, profit-driven traitor who changes sides at the drop of a hat. Do you really think I’d help someone like you? Do you think I’m that stupid?”
“Shui Miao, you’re too confident! I’m not the same as before. I’ve been holding in a deep resentment for a long time. Since you’re asking for death, I’ll gladly oblige you!”
Patriarch Huangquan fully activated his Thunder Soul Body, unleashing a surge of lightning toward Shui Miao.
“Just you?”
Shui Miao’s soul body trembled, and he immediately summoned a large amount of Soul Devouring energy to counter the lightning…
However, the Thunder Soul Body was extremely powerful. Shui Miao was instantly enveloped in lightning, his entire body numb and unable to concentrate his immortal energy.
“Hahahaha!”
Seeing his Soul Devouring energy shattered by the Thunder Soul power, Patriarch Huangquan was ecstatic. He laughed maniacally, “How does it feel? Must be great, right? Immortal Shui Miao, weren’t you so mighty? Where’s your arrogance now? Speak up! Keep showing off! Hahaha…”
Shui Miao was trapped in the lightning, unable to move.
Old Cai and Old Qin looked at each other helplessly, wanting to help but not knowing how.
In this desperate moment, Zhuge Abacus suddenly shouted, “We have over a hundred people! Let’s all attack him together, distract him, throw weapons at him, make him unable to defend both front and back. This way, we can relieve the pressure on Brother Shui Miao and maybe even turn the tide!”
Zhuge Abacus, known for his wisdom, had now fully turned against Patriarch Huangquan without hesitation.
Zhuge Abacus’s strategy was perfectly timed.
Even an elephant can be brought down by a swarm of ants, let alone Patriarch Huangquan, who had only recently mastered the Thunder Soul Body.
“Good! Great idea! Everyone, attack!”
Old Cai and the other spirit guards immediately sprang into action, launching relentless attacks from all directions, forcing Patriarch Huangquan to divert much of his Thunder Soul energy to defend himself.
But that wasn’t all…
“Huangquan eel, you’re nothing but a stinky eel spirit from the Wangchuan River! You’re not even a real person, just a lowly ghost! Do you really think you deserve to ascend to the Immortal Realm? Don’t make me laugh…”
“You think you’re smart, but you’re dumber than a pig. If it weren’t for me and Sima Zongheng, you’d be dead long ago. You’re nothing but a narrow-minded, despicable, filthy creature. You peeped at old women bathing when you were little, and when you grew up, you even mated with beasts. And you thought you were so mighty, only to get the better of a donkey spirit…”
“…”
Although Zhuge Abacus’s soul body was weak, his tongue was sharp. Knowing that Patriarch Huangquan had many shameful secrets, he seized the opportunity to expose them and distract him.
※※※
Faced with the storm of attacks, Zhuge Abacus began to regret…
But he knew this wasn’t the time for regrets.
He tried desperately to concentrate, hoping to finish off Shui Miao quickly. But Zhuge Abacus’s words were just too vicious…
Shui Miao, trapped in lightning, his entire body numb, was completely helpless.
Because of this, the lightning continued to assault his body, even penetrating into his spiritual realm…
“Boom! Boom!”
Suddenly, two stone tablets within Shui Miao’s spiritual realm violently trembled. One was the tablet of the Way of Survival, the other the Way of Destruction. The survival tablet trembled, sending a miraculous energy into Shui Miao’s body. This energy transformed the numbness from the lightning into an indescribable comfort, like an electric massage, incredibly soothing. At the same time, a soul cultivation technique was imprinted into his memory.
Meanwhile, the destruction tablet trembled, and the immortal energy within Shui Miao’s spiritual realm rapidly coalesced into a lightning sphere!
Shui Miao clearly sensed that this lightning sphere was a clever combination of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements, and the technique for creating it was simultaneously imprinted into his mind.
“Huangquan old fool, today I’ll show you what real lightning is!”
Suddenly, Shui Miao opened his eyes, his soul body vibrating, shattering Patriarch Huangquan’s Thunder Soul energy. Then, raising both hands, he formed a lightning sphere the size of a soccer ball between them!
“Zizi!”
With a deafening crackle, the lightning sphere slammed into Patriarch Huangquan, instantly enveloping him in an even larger ball of lightning!
“Aaaaa!”
“What is this…”
“No, I don’t want to die! I surrender…”
“Mercy… mercy… me…”
Screams echoed as Patriarch Huangquan’s Thunder Soul Body slowly disintegrated under Shui Miao’s lightning attack.
Shui Miao willed the lightning sphere back, and suddenly, a flood of memories surged into his mind!
“Ha! Great! So I can obtain an opponent’s memories without using Soul Devouring energy…”
“Wow… Turns out this Patriarch Huangquan really was an eel spirit…”
“Uh, there’s actually a hidden treasure vault beneath the Huangquan Swamp, filled with massive amounts of spiritual energy and medicinal herbs…”
“Hmm? Are these the cultivation methods for the Huangquan No Tears and Thunder Soul Body techniques!”
What a remarkable fellow! He has had quite a number of fortunate encounters. He devoured the soul of a cultivator in the Wangchuan River and thereby acquired cultivation techniques. From another genius cultivator, he obtained the method of absorbing souls to strengthen his powers. He claimed to be collecting lost souls for cultivation within the Huangquan Sect, but in reality, he used them to generate faith energy! He even traded countless soul essences with Cha Lei from the Fire Thunder Academy of the Thunder Bureau, in exchange for Purple Lightning灵气!
“If a scoundrel like him ascended to the Immortal Realm, wouldn’t he disrupt the order of the heavens?”
“It seems I’ve done a service to the heavens today!”
“Hahaha…”
Feeling the flood of memories from Patriarch Huangquan, Shui Miao was ecstatic. This was a huge gain—acquiring the Huangquan No Tears and Thunder Soul Body cultivation methods, uncovering the secret dealings between Cha Lei of the Thunder Bureau and Patriarch Huangquan, obtaining the Nine Tripod Cauldron and the hidden treasure vault, and most importantly, activating the survival and destruction stone tablets, allowing him to master the Supreme Divine Thunder. This was his first demonstration of true power!
“I, Zhuge Abacus, swear eternal loyalty to my master, serving faithfully without betrayal!”
Zhuge Abacus suddenly knelt, pledging his allegiance to Shui Miao.
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