He gently set down the incomplete scroll of the Thunderclap Saber Art. With a wave of his hand, Chu Ning set Little Snow Fox on the ground, where she crouched beside him and watched with her round, glistening eyes. He sat cross-legged, the meridian circulation routes from the technique, the methods of guiding thunderous force, and the changes in saber momentum echoing repeatedly through his mind.
He began with the most basic method of drawing forth the lightning current. Every streak of lightning that coursed through his meridians felt like a flaming blade carving through flesh and bone.
Agonizing pain swept over him. His entire body convulsed, yet he clenched his teeth and refused to stop.
"Thunder's power is untamed and unyielding. Only a tranquil heart can command it."
He sat motionless amid the lightning like a stone statue for an entire night. His body was charred and mottled from head to toe, the surface of his skin cracking inch by inch, but his mind grew ever clearer, and his perception of thunder ever sharper.
When dawn arrived, he began attempting the movement trajectory of "Nine Shadow Lightning Flash."
One step, two steps, three steps... Each footfall contained the momentum of a thunderclap, its speed so swift that it was nearly impossible to catch with the naked eye.
Yet although the thunder moved swiftly, the momentum of the nine shadows stubbornly refused to take shape.
"It isn't merely speed, nor is it deliberately creating afterimages..."
Little Snow Fox anxiously paced around the perimeter. Every attempt she made to approach ended with her being flung away by the lightning force.
Chu Ning's gaze sharpened, and he suddenly understood.
He abruptly recalled a line of commentary at the beginning of the Third Form:
"The extreme of thunder is not the speed of