What Use Do I Have for This Iron Rod

Around noon, Xu Wen arrived.

The two sat on the heated brick bed, with charcoal fires burning under two hot pots on the low table, bubbling away.

Outside, snow fell heavily, while inside, the room was steamy and filled with an enticing aroma.

Xu Wen poured Su Fan a cup of Spirit Wine and gestured to the two hot pots on the table.

"Brother, these two pots are excellent..."

Su Fan raised his cup, clinked it against Xu Wen's, and then tilted his head back, draining the wine in one gulp.

"It's getting colder and colder, so I thought I'd prepare two pots and have them stewing for when you came over, old brother."

"Mmm... eating from these pots, and drinking this wine, it's incredibly satisfying..."

The two drank and chatted, though it was mostly Xu Wen talking while Su Fan listened.

Su Fan's previous self had been a man of few words, and while Su Fan himself had a lot going on internally, to outsiders, he appeared to be a quiet, reserved person.

"Old brother, how are things over in Qin State?"

"How else could they be? Both sides are holding onto that spirit vein, and it won't calm down without fighting for months."

Xu Wen took a sip of wine and continued, "You shouldn't be running around outside at night recently..."

Su Fan was taken aback when he heard this.

"Old brother, what do you mean?"

"A few days ago, the Foundation Establishment ancestor of the Lesser Yang Sect, along with a group of elite disciples from the sect, went to Qin State. They've even sealed off their mountain gate."

Su Fan quickly asked, "There won't be any trouble around the Market Town, will there?"

"The Market Town should be fine. A few elders in the late Qi Refining stage have come down the mountain and will be stationed here from now on."

Su Fan breathed a sigh of relief. If the Market Town descended into chaos, his future days would be anything but peaceful.

Xu Wen took a sip of wine and whispered, "In the last few days, it's rumored that Evil Cultivators have been spotted again. The Lesser Yang Sect is short-handed right now, and while the Market Town is okay, other places are hard to say. You shouldn't go out and spread rumors, alright?"

Su Fan's hair stood on end upon hearing this.

It was said that Evil Cultivators were skilled at raising ghosts. Could the unsettling entity he encountered that night be related to Evil Cultivators?

The two drank until evening, and only then did Xu Wen stagger home.

After Xu Wen left, Su Fan found himself unable to sleep.

The incident last time had been too terrifying.

In truth, a question had been lingering in his mind: how had he managed to escape that vile entity that night?

Su Fan recalled carefully. At the time, he had almost lost consciousness, and the entity had already begun to infiltrate his body.

He had only heard a shrill shriek in his ears at the time. It must have been the ghost creature being harmed, causing it to detach from his body.

But what exactly had helped him drive away that foul thing?

Su Fan pondered for a while. Could it have been the Lightning Dao Body?

It must have been. The Lightning Dao Body had only just been activated a few days prior.

And heavenly lightning was the natural bane of all specters and phantoms; dealing with a mere ghost was child's play.

Having witnessed the power of the ghost, Su Fan couldn't settle down and tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

That chilling aura, silently seeping into your body.

That feeling of almost losing consciousness, only to watch helplessly as that cold aura permeated your body, unable to do anything about it – he never wanted to experience that again.

If something like that were to happen again, he wouldn't have the Dao Seed to help him now.

Malevolent spirits and ghosts all came out at night. If he were asleep, they could drift into his room. Even if an Evil Exorcising Talisman could warn him, he wouldn't have time to retrieve it.

Thinking of this, Su Fan felt even more pressure.

At that moment, he suddenly remembered the "Lightning Eye Dharma Eye" spiritual power.

If he could master this spiritual power, he wouldn't be so passive when encountering malevolent spirits and ghosts again.

But cultivating this prodigal spiritual power required drawing heavenly lightning into the body.

If only he had a treasure that could resist lightning, something that could at least help him contend with the heavenly lightning.

At that moment, a thought struck him.

Could the lightning rods from his previous life help him share the burden of the lightning strikes?

The more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. At least he could try.

Damn it, he wasn't going to sleep.

He climbed out of his dilapidated bed, relit the candle, and hunched over the low table, sketching and drawing until dawn.

The next afternoon, Su Fan returned from the Market Town, carrying several iron rods on his shoulder.

He connected two iron rods, each as thick as a baby's arm, to form a long pole over ten meters in length, with the sharp end pointing upwards and the other end inserted about three to four meters into the ground.

Six other iron rods, each as thick as a finger, were connected from various directions, close to the ground and to the long pole.

The tips of the several thin rods extending outward were bent into right angles and stuck into the ground.

In his past life, Su Fan had never seen a lightning rod before, so he made a simple one based on his own conjecture.

He had it made at the same shop where he bought his sword. The burly man there looked at him like he was an idiot after hearing his request.

"What are you going to use this thing for?"

Su Fan didn't know how to explain it. He couldn't exactly say it was to avoid lightning when he got struck, could he?

After a long pause, he finally managed to stammer out, "...Cultivation..."

Anyway, the thing was simple to make. The burly man didn't ask any more questions and just found an apprentice to finish it that afternoon.

After finally managing to prop up the lightning rod, he smacked his forehead, having forgotten something.

"It's winter now, where the hell is the lightning coming from..."

Su Fan glanced at the lightning rod again. He'd just set it up for now.

At midnight, snowflakes began to fall again.

After drawing a few "Evil Warding Talismans," Su Fan went out into the courtyard and looked at the sky.

"Why not... give it a try..."

It was true that winter rarely had lightning on Earth, but this was a cultivation world.

With that thought, Su Fan went next to the lightning rod and sat down cross-legged.

He closed his eyes for a moment before beginning to circulate the "Demonic Saint Body Art."

Spiritual energy from the heavens and earth surged into his body, circulating back and forth through his meridians.

After a long while, there was still no reaction.

It seemed it wouldn't work.

Lightning in the dead of winter, wasn't that just ridiculous?

Just then, a profound and unfathomable aura rose from his heart, inexplicably resonating with the world.

"Could it actually be going to thunder..."

At this moment, the sky was covered in dark clouds, churning like waves.

One wave rose higher than the next, like the deep sea before a storm.

The sea of clouds slowly rolled, gradually forming a massive vortex of dark clouds.

Within the vortex of dark clouds, streaks of lightning and electric snakes filled the air.

It was as if a colossal being was about to descend from the vortex.

A massive pressure descended, making Su Fan feel incredibly insignificant and humble.

This aura was too terrifying, making his heart palpitate uncontrollably!

It was f***ing terrifying.

BOOM...

Suddenly, a thunderous explosion rang out.

Su Fan's heart suddenly tightened.

In an instant, he was jolted awake from his dazed state.

He saw a massive bolt of lightning descending with a roar.

Holy crap...

This was too fast; he wasn't ready yet.

Su Fan wanted to stop circulating his cultivation method, but it was too late.

"CRACKLE..."

A soul-stirring explosion suddenly came from the sky.

It was as if the heavens and earth were collapsing, shaking the mountains and the ground.

Finally, the first heavenly lightning roared down.

The blinding electric light, like a sharp sword, instantly sliced through the pitch-black night sky, fiercely stabbing towards the ground.

Facing the lightning rod, the heavenly lightning paid no mind and instead struck Su Fan directly.

Running was definitely too late.

With no other choice, Su Fan could only brace himself and bear it.

The violent lightning instantly struck his body, his skin directly bursting open.

His entire body was covered in shocking bloodstains.

A torrent of scorching heat rampaged through his body without restraint.

His cultivation method began to cycle uncontrollably, drawing the scorching electric current towards the Dao Seed at his heart.

The bone-deep pain almost made him pass out.

Fortunately, he had now achieved the Lightning Dao Body, so it would take more than this to shatter him.

Boom...

Another thunderclap exploded.

Immediately after, streaks of heavenly lightning roared down, continuously striking him.

Scorching currents rampaged wildly within his body. His skin, flesh, tendons, bones, and marrow felt as though they were being licked by flames, causing unbearable pain.

Su Fan endured the intense agony, his mind entering a profound state of emptiness, untouched by any worldly concerns.

He cast aside distracting thoughts and began cultivating the "Lightning Eye Dharma Eye" Spiritual Power.

Countless hot currents surged towards his eyes, like steel needles churning within them, causing him to twitch in pain.

After an unknown amount of time, the surging thunderclouds in the sky gradually subsided.

Su Fan had been tormented to the point of losing all sensation.

It took him a long while to recover before he could stand up.

His Daoist robes were completely tattered, and the bloody gashes crisscrossing his body made him look like a bloodied man.

The sight was even more shocking.

He tried to move his body, which emitted crackling sounds. His bones vibrated non-stop, like popping beans.

Su Fan knew clearly that despite his bloody appearance, all the injuries were superficial.

He already possessed the Lightning Dao Body. Being struck by lightning not only left him unharmed but actually made his physical body a tiny bit stronger.

Of course, it still hurt like hell.

The pain earlier had made him wish he could just smash his head against a wall and die.

Su Fan walked over to the lightning rod and kicked it down with a single blow.

"What use is this iron rod to me..."

Damn it, after all that effort, this thing was useless. All the heavenly lightning fell directly onto my head.

After kicking down the lightning rod, his mood improved slightly.

Su Fan closed his eyes, then suddenly opened them, his gaze flashing like a bolt of lightning.

He opened his status panel, and his data updated once more.

[Name] Su Fan
[Lifespan] 36/92 years
[Realm] Qi Refining Third Layer: 9/100
[Cultivation Methods]
1. Primordial Chaos Technique (Tier 1): 26/100
2. Body Tempering Art (Tier 2): 45/200
3. Demonic Saint Body Art (Tier 1): 100/100
[Spells]
1. Qi Gazing Art (Microscopic): 85/800
2. Light Body Art (Microscopic): 242/800
3. Spirit Concealment Art (Microscopic): 72/800
4. Xingyi Quan (Mastered): 265/400
5. Nine Extremes Consecutive Slashes (Mastered): 151/400
[Skills]
1. Green Lamp Talisman (Beginner): 35/100
2. Evil Warding Talisman (Beginner): 12/100
[Spiritual Powers]
1. Lightning Eye Dharma Eye (Beginner): 1/100

Su Fan let out a long breath. He had finally achieved beginner level.