Heaven-Bestowed Opportunity

Lin Tianlu's eyes twitched, his expression strange.

Looking at the miserable state of this sophora tree... what kind of suffering had it endured?

As he approached, he saw the tree was covered in scorch marks from lightning strikes, riddled with cracks that spread from the top all the way to the flowerbed, turning much of the surrounding flora into ash, with black smoke billowing upwards.

Could it be that the two angry shouts he let out earlier had actually incurred Heaven's punishment?

When he had shouted on Taiyi Mountain, it took him half a month to get a response. How could it have 5G signal now, reacting so quickly?

Moreover, this lightning didn't strike him, but rather the tree in his house...

Was this a ricochet, missing its target?

While Lin Tianlu muttered to himself, he soon frowned.

"No."

He rubbed his chin, a thoughtful expression on his face.

Upon further reflection, the accumulation of thunderclouds clearly predated his shouting at the sky.

At the time, he was solely focused on the road ahead and hadn't looked up at the sky, but he had seen the reflection of an unusually bright flash of lightning. And his curses seemed to be directed at the lightning striking the tree, wanting it to strike and disappear sooner?

He pondered inwardly, "Could it be that I truly possess the ability of 'words become law'?"

He had dismissed it as a joke before, never taking it seriously, as Hua Shuya's arrival at the mountain had been a mere coincidence.

But now—

Perhaps, there was indeed something mystical about it.

"Mister, since this tree has been struck by lightning, why not move it out of the courtyard?"

As Lin Tianlu was lost in thought, Mao Ruoyu hesitantly broke the silence.

Her mind was also in turmoil.

After all, the sophora tree was associated with yin energy, and planting it in a home could disrupt the feng shui. In her opinion, this tree being struck by lightning was definitely due to its excessive yin energy.

As for the origin of this tree...

She had planted it deliberately herself.

Mao Ruoyu felt both regret and a sense of relief.

In order to more smoothly seize the vital energy of the residents, she had made many arrangements in this courtyard to gather yin energy, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of her remote yin arts.

But as she got to know Lin Tianlu, she had repented and secretly cleared out most of the arrangements in her home, except for this tree...

She didn't know what to do with it.

That was why she had climbed the tree a few days ago, intending to use some methods to collect the yin energy gathered within it, to prevent it from clashing with the yang energy in the house and harming Miss Hua and Mister Lin... Although halfway up, a rather comical misunderstanding had occurred.

Now, seeing the sophora tree destroyed, she quickly spoke up, feeling a slight sense of secret joy.

"Madam is right. A charred stump like this standing in the courtyard is indeed inappropriate."

Lin Tianlu put aside his myriad thoughts for the moment, preparing to push over this charred sophora tree.

Afterwards, he would find some seeds and plant a new one.

"--Huh?"

But the moment his finger touched the surface of the sophora tree, Lin Tianlu's expression changed slightly, and he immediately raised his hand and shouted, "Madam Mao, please wait a moment."

Mao Ruoyu quickly stopped, her eyes filled with surprise. "What happened?"

"It seems there's still some residual electricity within the sophora tree's trunk."

Lin Tianlu's eyes narrowed, and the world before him transformed into a mystical scroll, filled with faint, strange lights.

Within the blackened tree trunk, a large amount of peculiar electrical light flowed, flickering erratically.

"This lightning seems to carry some kind of..."

Just then, these strange lightning bolts seemed to have found an outlet and surged out all at once!

BOOM--!!

A thunderous explosion, like lightning striking from a clear sky, the sound instantly traveled for several miles.

The sudden roar startled Mao Ruoyu, causing her to collapse onto the ground in terror.

"Mis- Mister?!"

Lin Tianlu, before her eyes, was enveloped and entangled by dark lightning, sparks flying everywhere!

Mao Ruoyu's face paled in horror, and she quickly got up from the ground.

Even just looking at this lightning made her heart tremble. The slightest breeze from it made her feel stiff all over. If she were to be hit directly, even a head of iron and body of steel would likely be charred black by the electricity!

—Dangerous!

She forced herself to concentrate, intending to use her yin arts to save him.

But the moment she formed a hand seal, the scene before her made her eyes widen in shock.

Lin Tianlu casually patted himself a few times, and the electrical light dissipated like a phantom, leaving only wisps of blue smoke rising from his clothes.

"Are you… are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

Lin Tianlu turned back and smiled at her. "Don't let the ominous color of this lightning fool you; its power is actually quite ordinary."

He had been slightly startled just now, thinking a sudden change had occurred. But it wasn't until the lightning struck him that he belatedly realized what had happened.

Hmm…

I got zapped?

Although the display was rather intimidating, the strange energy contained within the lightning wasn't that astonishing. A couple of casual pats and it dissipated completely.

Kind of like static electricity in the winter?

Of course, Lin Tianlu wouldn't actually mistake this lightning for mere static electricity. What kind of static electricity in the world was purple and black?

"It seems this really is a heavenly tribulation falling from the sky?"

Lin Tianlu glanced at the sky with mild curiosity.

Having lived in Changling County for over ten days, he was beginning to understand that possessing abundant Spiritual Energy might indeed lead to phenomena described in cultivation novels – like tribulation lightning encountered during breakthroughs, such as from Qi Refining to Golden Core, or Golden Core to Nascent Soul… even though he only had a mountain inside him.

It was just the color of this tribulation lightning that was a bit confusing.

After all, novels featured all sorts of lightning: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple – like a painter's palette. He wasn't sure what kind or level this lightning was.

And its power was truly underwhelming. It struck the courtyard and only managed to damage a tree, not even affecting the house. It was a complete letdown.

The only thing worth mentioning… was how noisy it was.

Was this the so-called "loud thunder, little rain"?

Lin Tianlu shook his head.

What a disgrace to heavenly lightning.

"Sir, are you truly alright?"

Mao Ruoyu rushed forward anxiously, constantly patting his body all over, afraid of any hidden injuries.

Lin Tianlu chuckled and waved his hand. "Madam, there's no need to worry. I am truly unharmed."

Seeing that his expression was normal and even his clothes were not significantly damaged, Mao Ruoyu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"You really scared me to death. Where did this strange lightning come from so suddenly?"

"I'm just as clueless."

Lin Tianlu cupped his hands and said softly, "But the heavenly lightning has passed. Madam, please return to your room and rest well. I will tidy up this courtyard."

"This humble one… Huh?"

Mao Ruoyu blinked her beautiful eyes, looking at the charred Sophora tree beside them with slight astonishment. "Sir, look quickly, this tree—"

Lin Tianlu quickly turned his head.

The Sophora tree, which had been charred black, began to shed its burnt bark, revealing a layer of completely intact, brand-new bark!

"What… what is happening?"

Lin Tianlu murmured.

As soon as he spoke, a gentle breeze blew, and all the charred pieces turned into ashes that scattered in the wind, revealing a peculiar Sophora tree with its trunk entwined and spiraling upwards!

Although it was smaller, and all its leaves had vanished, leaving only the bare branches. One could see that each branch of the Sophora tree was as smooth and lustrous as jade, incredibly beautiful. In the sunlight, it seemed to shimmer with a faint rosy glow.

But the most astonishing thing was—

In the center of the entwined Sophora tree trunk, a section… of a sword hilt had grown?!

Lin Tianlu was slightly taken aback.

This heavenly lightning strike actually grew a sword inside a tree?!

He calmed himself down and simply reached out, grabbed the hilt, and pulled with all his might.

Zzzzzzzzz—!

A burst of sparks flew from the tree trunk, like a peerless sharp blade being unsheathed.

But after pulling the sword out, Lin Tianlu was surprised to find that this sword was also made of wood, though it gleamed with a golden hue and looked quite sturdy. Faint sparks of lightning could still be seen, scorching arcane patterns onto the sword's surface.

Mao Ruoyu beside him was even more astonished, covering her lips as she murmured, "Heavenly lightning descends, a sword is born from a tree, accompanied by the essence of lightning and fire… Could such a bizarre event exist in this world?"

In all her twenty-plus years of life, she had never heard of such a bizarre tale. She suspected even those strange tales and anecdotal biographies wouldn't record something like this.

Mao Ruoyu calmed herself down, but soon her face lit up with joy.

This item… could it be an opportunity bestowed upon Mister Lin by Heaven?

"This sword came from the heavens and landed right in our home. It must be a Heaven-bestowed opportunity. Sir, why don't you give this sword a name?"

"A name?"

Lin Tianlu flicked the sword body twice and chuckled, "How about the Thunderfire Sword?"

"Thunderfire…"

"Cough cough! Just kidding. If we were to actually name it, let's just call it 'Sophora Sword'."

"This name is indeed simple and direct, but it also carries quite a bit of meaning—"

Seeing the beautiful woman beside him pondering, Lin Tianlu chuckled twice and casually reinserted the wooden sword back into the tree trunk.

Mao Ruoyu asked in surprise, "Mister, this is…"

"I don't usually practice swordsmanship, and carrying a sword around is a hassle. If you like it, Madam, you can take it home for self-defense."