Thunderclap Art!

"Two bottles of Great Return Pills, one bottle of Spirit Calming Pills, and a Daoist Magic cultivation manual."

Rong Zimo curled his lip. "This Qi Cultivation True Person, is that all he has?"

Twenty Great Return Pills are worth ten thousand taels. Spirit Calming Pills are for condensing the spirit and consciousness, and are a bit more expensive, eight thousand taels per bottle.

"That's not too little," Han Mao chuckled. "How much can a person carry? His self-destructing Daoist robe and the ghost minions were probably the real bulk of it."

The others nodded. Acquiring a treasure that could withstand Yan You's Second Summon of Deity's binding power wouldn't be cheap.

Not to mention that Daoist Xiangyang had also refined two ghost minions comparable to early-stage Xiantian. It was normal for him not to have many valuable items.

"Great Return Pills, four for each person, just in case. Spirit Calming Pills are helpful for breaking through to Xiantian, everyone needs them, two per person," Han Mao quickly decided.

"Brother Han, I don't need the Great Return Pills. You and Brother Hu are both injured," Rong Zimo quickly said.

Shen Zhui also nodded in agreement. With the Yuanpin Pearl in hand, the Great Return Pills were somewhat optional for him.

Han Mao directly put the pills into his hand. "We all risked our lives, so let's not be so calculating. There are still tough battles ahead. If you need more Great Return Pills, just ask me. It's settled."

Seeing that he had put it that way, Shen Zhui and the others said no more and accepted the pills.

"This nameless booklet is likely the evil cultivation method that Daoist practiced. Such an evil item is best destroyed to prevent it from harming the world." Han Mao frowned and was about to burn it.

"Hold on, Brother Han," Shen Zhui stopped him. "May I see it?"

"Brother Shen Zhui, you..."

"Don't worry, Brother Han," Shen Zhui smiled. "We can't cultivate it until we reach Xiantian anyway. I just want to take a look. Knowing oneself and one's enemy leads to victory in every battle."

"Alright." Han Mao hesitated for a moment before tossing it directly to Shen Zhui.

"Thank you, Brother Han."

After a long while, the sky gradually darkened, and stars filled the sky.

Under the starry sky, Shen Zhui sat quietly by the campfire, keeping watch and contemplating the previous battle. "This fight didn't put enough pressure on me. I still haven't figured out the second form of the Falling Snow Saber Technique. On the other hand, my first form, which stirs up spiritual energy to form snow-like attacks, has improved further."

With that thought, Shen Zhui walked to the side and picked up his steel saber.

Swish~

With a flick of his wrist, the steel saber spun, slicing across the campfire. Immediately, a small pile of flames was cut into countless sparks, dancing in the air.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh~

One hundred sparks fell from the air, flew several meters, and then shot into the Kitsuchi.

Puff puff puff~

A series of faint impact sounds rang out, creating pits of roughly the same size on the ground.

"As expected, previously it was only about eighty spiritual energy snowflakes, but now it has broken through to over a hundred."

An increase in the number of spiritual energy snowflakes meant that within a certain range, the power of heaven and earth was being invoked more strongly. It could barely be considered comparable to a normal early-stage Xiantian attack.

"Still not strong enough. If I could figure out the second form, I might have the strength to kill an early-stage Xiantian," Shen Zhui lamented.

Firstly, although the spiritual energy snowflakes had a large attack range, they only counted as an early-stage Xiantian attack when concentrated.

If they were dispersed? They probably wouldn't affect a Xiantian realm expert at all, and might barely be able to kill a Houtian level seven or eight who lacked movement techniques.

Secondly, the distance was not far enough.

Under normal circumstances, for Xiantian realm martial artists, sword qi could travel dozens of meters.

Qi Cultivation True Persons were even more terrifying, likely reaching a hundred meters.

As for Shen Zhui's spiritual energy snowflakes, thirty meters was the limit.

Any further, and the power would decrease. Beyond fifty meters, he couldn't control them at all, and they would simply dissipate.

"If only I could unleash a saber strike where every snowflake had the attack power of an early-stage Xiantian, and the range reached a hundred meters. That would be terrifying."

Shen Zhui thought, but he knew it was impossible now. He would probably have to wait until his saber technique improved further or his realm reached Xiantian.

"Now, I have the Bright Light Armor for defense, and the Falling Snow Saber Technique for offense. With the Unity of Heaven and Man, my saber technique can weaken the opponent's attacks. Apart from not being able to fly, I am almost no different from a Xiantian Master."

If he could borrow Divine Power again, Shen Zhui felt that with the amplification from his Second Summon of Deity, combined with his saber technique, even a mid-stage Xiantian martial artist would not be his opponent.

"I wonder what the difference is compared to a Qi Cultivation True Person."

Flipping through the nameless booklet, Shen Zhui tried to gain some insight from the Daoist Magic that Daoist Xiangyang practiced.

"Thunderclap Art," Shen Zhui was stunned. This was quite different from the evil cultivation method he had imagined.

"Let's see." Shen Zhui continued to examine it carefully by the firelight.

"The Thunderclap Art has two major characteristics!"

"One is speed: fast formation, fast attack, fast movement. It can cross the distance between oneself and the enemy almost instantly! A lightning strike is just a flash. When the enemy can barely capture your attack with their eyes, they naturally cannot defend against it and will only be defeated!"

"The second is strong penetration!"

"Nowadays, cultivators all over the world, whether martial artists or Qi Cultivation True Persons, almost all wear personal treasures when they travel!"

"A slightly better defensive treasure can instantly weaken a Daoist attack by several tenths. With this advantage, the attacker faces such defensive treasures as if fighting at a reduced realm!"

"The Thunderclap Spell controls the power of heaven and earth, formed entirely by lightning!"

"Highly condensed lightning power, possessing extreme penetrative force!"

"It can instantly pierce the core of defensive treasure formations. Even if they can withstand it, it will cause severe paralysis to the enemy encased within the armor or treasure, potentially leading to the treasure remaining intact while the person dies!"

The more Shen Zhui read, the more astonished he became.

According to this booklet, this lightning spell was practically designed to counter defensive armor!

"The lightning spell has five stages of transformation. The first stage is the Thunderclap Lasso, which can be cast by a Xiantian Realm Martial Artist or a Qi Cultivation True Person of the Spiritual Inspiration Realm."

"When one can manifest ten Lassoes of lightning at will, controlling them with ease, the first stage is considered perfected. An early-stage Xiantian can fight a mid-stage one!"

"The second stage is the Lightning Grasping Hand! Its size can be altered at will and it possesses a paralyzing effect, allowing one to quickly strip the enemy of control over their body! The Lightning Grasping Hand can be cast with eleven Lassoes and can be composed of up to ninety-nine Thunderclap Lassoes! When perfected, an early-stage Xiantian can fight a high-stage one!"

"The third stage is the Thunderclap Cage, controlling one hundred Thunderclap Lassoes... When perfected, an early-stage Xiantian can trap a Spirit Bridge Realm cultivator!"

My heavens?!

Shen Zhui couldn't help but be shocked. This Thunderclap Art could allow an early-stage Xiantian to leap over an entire major realm and trap a Spirit Bridge Realm expert?!

Although it was only trapping and not killing, it was still incredibly monstrous!

Who was the great master who researched this cultivation method, and how did it end up in Daoist Xiangyang's hands?!

"Hm? Why is the rest missing?" Shen Zhui was engrossed in his reading when he noticed that the latter part was gone, with the last two stages of transformation seemingly erased by someone.

"So it's an incomplete copy. But even as an incomplete copy, it's still extraordinary."

Shen Zhui felt a touch of emotion. Otherwise, Daoist Xiangyang wouldn't have carried it around. He didn't know if the Daoist had managed to master it or not; Shen Zhui had never seen the Daoist use it.

"This Thunderclap Art requires the learner to have an extremely strong control over the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Its structure is extremely complex and difficult to comprehend."

"For the first stage, a normal martial artist would typically need three years to learn it, while a Qi Cultivation True Person could do it in one year."

"If one exceeds this time limit even for the first stage, it is recommended that the learner give up. Their comprehension is too low, making them unsuitable for this sect's magic. Forcing cultivation would only be a waste of time."

Shen Zhui was taken aback when he saw this requirement.

Comprehension?

Seeking votes!