Summon Thunder and Lightning

"Forget it. I'll leave it to the Daoist effigy in my mind and speed up my comprehension of thunder arts..."

He resumed his seated meditation posture, and his consciousness entered the space before that mysterious Daoist effigy in his mind. He continuously stirred his thoughts, visualizing and practicing this thunder art.

Li Qingyun had come to see himself clearly.

On the path of cultivation, he truly could only be considered utterly ordinary. There was no need to mention his Dao Bone Spiritual Root—after being nourished by spiritual power, it had improved by the tiniest bit, but it was only a trace better than the complete trash it had once been.

As for comprehension, he could barely be considered of middling aptitude. The wisdom and accumulated knowledge from his previous life could help somewhat, but not by much.

Fortunately, the mysterious Daoist effigy gave him some comfort.

After "reciting" the thunder seal incantation over a dozen times in his mind, a ripple of light finally slowly emerged on the invisible wall of condensed darkness behind the effigy, like a symbol of lightning stamped upon water.

"It really works!"

Li Qingyun was overjoyed. He gathered his focus and looked inward, studying that Z-shaped lightning sigil.

At once, his understanding of the thunder art rose at more than ten times the speed of his own comprehension, like a great flood pouring in and smashing through every obstruction.

It was merely a low-grade spell. Before the mysterious Daoist effigy, it seemed hardly worth mentioning.

Half an hour later.

Bzz!

In that instant, inspiration struck Li Qingyun. He felt that his understanding of the thunder seal had reached a profound realm.

His fingers suddenly formed seals at speed, their shadows illusory. Six thunder seals formed in an instant, smooth as flowing silk, while the sound of clear thunder seemed to ring from between his lips.

"Summon Thunder and Lightning, heed my command—Lightning, come!"

Crack!

A streak of electricity suddenly exploded from the void before him. Though thin as a grass rope, it carried a trace of Heavenly Dipper might. The lightning cleaved through the boundless mountain mist, blasting open a patch of clarity.

The thunder art was achieved!

"Using the Daoist effigy in my mind as the target of visualization, with seal, incantation, and intent as one, I actually bypassed that Divine Firmament Demon Subduing Dao Lord and successfully summoned lightning!"

At this moment, faint lightning patterns flickered over Li Qingyun's body. Mountain mist drifted and wind from the pool stirred the young man's black hair, giving him an inexplicable hint of Dharma might.

This feat of summoning thunder and condensing lightning was completed in less than half a breath, displaying an exceptionally deep comprehension.

Most importantly, he could directly ignore and bypass that Divine Firmament Demon Subduing Dao Lord who had treated him with complete indifference from now on!

Otherwise, if he had to "build a good relationship" with that Dao Lord, successfully summoning lightning would probably have to wait until the year of the monkey and month of the horse.

In his heart, he felt several degrees more reverence toward the phantom of that mysterious Daoist effigy in his mind—and even a faint sense of wariness.

Something always felt off, yet he had no choice.

Next, he continued comprehending and driving lightning. From deep within the night mist around this spring pool in the back mountain, a low rumble of thunder sounded from time to time.

"At present, one furnace of spiritual power can summon lightning three times. The lightning's power is fairly ordinary for now, but it can still split stone and frighten ghosts. I also count as having gained a little strength to protect my Dao!"

By now, it was deep into the night, and the Zi hour had long passed.

Li Qingyun had spent over half his spiritual power practicing thunder arts. It was just the right time to sit in meditation and cultivate the Precious Furnace Qi Absorption Art again.

Traces of clear qi spilled from atop the mysterious Daoist effigy in his mind, while specks of spiritual power continuously formed within his body. A new day of seated cultivation began once more.

He also discovered that while meditating, his spiritual power recovered very quickly, unlike the "slowness" of condensing spiritual power for the first time.

For instance, when he first cultivated one furnace of spiritual power, it had taken about an hour and a half.

After his Qi Sea formed a "Precious Furnace," using up one furnace of spiritual power through spellcasting required only a little over a quarter of an hour of normal breath regulation to fully recover.

With the aid of the mysterious Daoist effigy in his mind during meditation, his recovery speed doubled again. In the future, this would save him much recovery time. Without medicinal pills, his "endurance" was also greatly assured.

At dawn, the sun rose in the east, turning dew to vapor and melting frost. By noon, the autumn sun shone high, illuminating the maple trees blanketing the mountain in brilliant, vivid red.

Daoists came and went by the water pool to wash up, bathe, and launder clothes. Their laughter and conversation occasionally echoed through the mountains, yet none of it disturbed Li Qingyun's cultivation.

From before dawn until noon, he completed today's cultivation "homework," a full six hours.

Not only could he now wield thunder arts with considerable proficiency, but the spiritual power in his body had also increased by more than eight furnaces. He was very close to the second layer of Qi Refining.

"I'll stop here for today. After meditating all night, I'm rather hungry. Just in time to head to the Dining Hall."

Li Qingyun rose and stretched his sore, numb limbs.

He felt his endurance was somewhat stronger than yesterday.

His spiritual power had multiplied, and its nourishment should have strengthened his physique somewhat as well.

"Junior brother, please wait a moment. Sorry to disturb you!"

Just as Li Qingyun lightly left the spring pool and was about to enter the little path through the maple woods, a figure flashed at his side. A young Daoist with thick brows and a square face stepped out and called to him.

Li Qingyun paused, cupped his hands toward the thick-browed Daoist, and said with a smile, "Senior brother, what guidance do you have?"

His gaze swept over the man without a sound, and he saw the disciple token at the thick-browed Daoist's waist, bearing the two words "Scripture Hall."

The visitor was a formal disciple of Maple Mountain Lingbao Temple. His token indicated that he belonged to the Scripture Hall, and judging from the aura of spiritual power around him, Li Qingyun estimated that his cultivation was around the third layer of Qi Refining.

This thick-browed Daoist already counted as one of Maple Mountain Lingbao Temple's elite disciples.

The thick-browed Daoist sized Li Qingyun up, his smile growing ever friendlier as he introduced himself:

"I'm Zhao Yifan. I happened to be cultivating and gathering qi on a nearby hilltop last night when I saw flashes of lightning flickering now and then over by the spring pool. Curious, I came over for a look and found that Junior Brother was practicing the Thunder Seal spell in the temple. I wished to make your acquaintance, but you were so focused on cultivation that I didn't want to disturb you, so I could only wait until now."

Zhao Yifan smiled with easy familiarity. "I still don't know Junior Brother's name. You're heading to the Dining Hall, right? I happen to be hungry too—why don't we go together?"

The moment Li Qingyun heard this, he understood Zhao Yifan's intentions. Smiling, he said, "My name is Li Qingyun. I've only grasped a little superficial knowledge of lightning arts. I'm hardly worthy of Senior Brother's high regard!"

"Haha, Junior Brother Qingyun, don't be so modest. In my eyes, your lightning art already packs considerable power. I only wonder whether you've decided which Daoist master you intend to take as your teacher?" Zhao Yifan had naturally noticed Li Qingyun's token, and there was a hint of eagerness in his eyes. He clearly meant to recruit him for the Scripture Hall.

Under the concealment of the Qi Concealment Art, Li Qingyun's cultivation aura remained at the level of surging qi sense, not yet reaching Qi Refining Layer One.

Outsiders like He Xiao and Yin Huan simply could not see through his Details. Only cultivators with accomplished cultivation could sense that his qi perception was particularly vigorous.

And under the "guidance" of the mysterious Daoist effigy, Li Qingyun's lightning art had already taken initial form and could be put to use. In Zhao Yifan's eyes, it was already quite impressive.

Competition among the Daoist masters and stewards in the temple was fierce. Any disciple with even a little talent or potential would be courted.

Lingbao Temple had an unspoken rule: once one had entered the path of cultivation and refined a furnace of dharma power to step into Qi Refining Layer One, one could choose from the temple's Daoist masters, become their disciple, and receive further guidance.

It was equivalent to changing from a "temporary worker" into an "official employee."

Disciples could choose Daoist masters, and Daoist masters could choose disciples. Promising seedlings were naturally in demand wherever they went.

"Senior Brother Zhao, I only came up the mountain and entered the temple because I received Master Lu's Dao Affinity Token..."

Li Qingyun did not finish the sentence, merely offering a light hint—enough for Zhao Yifan to understand.

With the mysterious Daoist effigy in his mind supporting him, he was in no rush to become the disciple of any Daoist master. Before the Qi Concealment Art was fully mastered, those deeply cultivated Daoist masters might see through his Details at a glance.

Faced with Zhao Yifan's enthusiastic recruitment, Lu Nanling became Li Qingyun's shield.

"Hehe, Junior Brother, you worry too much. Our temple has no rule saying that whoever's Dao Affinity Token you used to enter must become your master. The atmosphere in the Scripture Hall is excellent. Qingyun, you should give it more thought..."

"Mm, my cultivation is still shallow. I'll wait a while longer."