Chapter 16

# Chapter 16: Electricity

"The nights in Xia Country are never quiet."

Baili Qingfeng walked along the campus path, listening to the commotion within the school grounds.

The midday incident had fermented, stirring up powerful repercussions among the hot-blooded students of Xia'er University. Even now, the students were still seething with righteous indignation.

Just like now, five people were walking toward him, each one burning with fury: "If I'd been there, I'd have charged up first and beaten those bastards to death."

"Hmph, scum like that ought to be sunk in the Wuhe River. Living is just a waste of food."

"If I weren't afraid of getting expelled, I'd storm over to their place right now and give them a beating they won't forget."

They vented their anger.

And yet...

What Baili Qingfeng heard was the resentment of the weak, voiced only behind their backs.

Because they were weak, they could only vent their grievances here. Though their hearts were stifled and furious, they dared not take any real action.

And for the same reason—weakness—the Aurora Empire pressed Xia Country relentlessly, while Xia could only yield step by step. Because even an ordinary Xia citizen knew: if Xia truly went to all-out war with Aurora, Xia would be destroyed. And Aurora...

At most, it would bleed a little.

If Aurora's foundation were as tough as Baili Qingfeng's own constitution, perhaps before the scent of blood could draw the wolves, the Aurora Empire would have already recovered—just like him, when a knife cut his skin, the wound would be gone before he reached the hospital.

"Still only at Qi Refining Blood Renewal. The Nourishing Essence Soup has shortened my training time, but if I keep going like this, it'll still take three or four months to finish four rounds of Rushing Thunder Thirty-Six Forms in ten minutes. A bit slow... If only I could soak in Nourishing Essence Soup once or twice more."

Baili Qingfeng decided to return to Wuhe City on Sunday and ask his Little Uncle, Baili Tianxing, what ingredients went into the Nourishing Essence Soup.

When Baili Qingfeng got back to the dormitory, Batu, Gule, and Momier hadn't returned yet. He opened his book and started reading.

The lightbulb seemed unstable—the orange glow flickered on and off. After a few minutes, it simply gave up...

Darkness.

"Burned out?"

Baili Qingfeng glanced outside. It was almost eleven, pitch black. The dorm supervisor was probably already asleep.

Remembering there was a spare bulb, he decided to change it himself.

Zzzzt!

While swapping the bulb, something went wrong. A spark flashed, and Baili Qingfeng clearly felt an electric shock.

The jolt made his right hand instinctively twitch, as if to shake off the pain. But just as he was about to fling the current away, his consciousness moved with it, and in the end...

It seemed he really did fling out a faint spark of electricity.

The light was startlingly bright in the pitch-black dorm room.

"Hm!?"

That peculiar change caught his attention.

"Electricity?"

He thought of the techniques he practiced.

Rushing Thunder Thirty-Six Forms, Thunder Breath, Thunder Sovereign Visualization Method—all inherited from the lineage of the Ancient Thunder Beast.

Rushing Thunder Thirty-Six Forms mimicked the Ancient Thunder Beast's movements, Thunder Breath mimicked its breathing, and Thunder Sovereign Visualization was the visualization of the Ancient Thunder Beast itself.

The Thunder Beast was a Divine Beast that commanded lightning, and it had truly existed in this world.

Of course, it wasn't as legendary as the myths claimed—commanding all the world's thunder as its own—but it was still a powerful beast. Like an electric eel, it had the ability to discharge electricity, and the voltage it could release was several times greater than an electric eel's.

"If the Thunder Beast's body contained powerful bioelectricity... then maybe I can make Rushing Thunder Thirty-Six Forms and Thunder Breath flow more smoothly? Let's try?"

Baili Qingfeng had always been a man of action.

Xia Country's safe voltage was two hundred volts, but the human body's safe voltage was only thirty-six. Even a martial artist with a strong physique would die from prolonged electrocution. He found a resistor, connected a wire from the plug, and grabbed the wire...

Zzzzt!

And then...

The breaker tripped?

Baili Qingfeng was a bit stunned.

He looked at the darkened light. The breaker really had tripped.

Well, tripped was tripped.

He ignored it and practiced Rushing Thunder Thirty-Six Forms in the room.

"It has some effect, but very little. Without the resistor, it should work better."

Baili Qingfeng carefully sensed his body.

Having reached the fifth level of Thunder Sovereign Visualization Method, he could already perform Internal Reflection on himself, so his self-awareness had become very sharp.

"Looks like I'll have to seriously study some books on electricity."

That night at midnight, Batu, Gule, and Momier returned to the dorm, all reeking of alcohol. Gule in particular was being carried back by Batu and Momier.

As if emboldened by the drink, Gule caught sight of Baili Qingfeng and shouted loudly, "It was Qingfeng who held me back! If he hadn't grabbed me, I'd have charged up there and beaten those bastards to death! You're too scared to go, but I'm not!"

"Baili Qingfeng, I never thought you'd look so big and strong but have absolutely no guts."

Batu chimed in drunkenly from the side.

Momier frowned in dissatisfaction. "Alright, everyone has their own choices. Don't force your views on others. Gule, if Qingfeng hadn't held you back at noon today and you really had charged up there, you'd either be in the hospital or hauled off to the Guard Division. They arrested over thirty people at noon."

"What's there to be afraid of! Those Aurora People dare to throw their weight around in our Xia, so we fight back! That guy named Russell, just because he knows martial arts... If we pool some money and hire a real expert, we can sink him straight to the bottom of the Wu River."

"Stop talking nonsense."

Momier said a word, then added to Baili Qingfeng, "He's drunk. Don't mind him."

Baili Qingfeng nodded and said nothing.

The night passed amid this clamor.

The next day at five in the morning, Baili Qingfeng left the dormitory building, found a spot on campus, and began practicing the Rushing Thunder Thirty-Six Forms.

Though it was September, the campus at five in the morning was still very quiet.

As Baili Qingfeng practiced the Rushing Thunder Thirty-Six Forms, watching the sky at the horizon gradually turn a fish-belly white until it was fully bright, his heart slowly calmed down.

Handle what should be handled; leave what shouldn't be handled alone.

Keep company with those worth keeping; stay away from those not worth it.

Life is full of disappointments nine times out of ten. How laughable it would be to hang oneself from a southeastern branch over a mere setback.

After practicing the Rushing Thunder Thirty-Six Forms for a while, Baili Qingfeng didn't return to the dorm. Instead, he left the school gates and went to an internet café not far from the campus, logging onto the Sword Rain World forum.

As soon as he entered the forum, the first thing he saw was a declaration pinned in bold red.

"'Proud Heaven Sword God' Bai Yuxiao has returned. A true warrior dares to face a bleak life, dares to look directly at dripping blood."

Baili Qingfeng clicked into the post. Inside was a passionate declaration from Bai Yuxiao, claiming himself to be an unyielding warrior of the new era, vowing to fight to the end against the old, decayed fossils.

After the declaration, he also attached a messaging software number, inviting like-minded individuals.

At the end, he added a note: download for bonus content.

Baili Qingfeng looked it over, downloaded the software, and logged in with his own account.

It was a group instant messaging software, though its functions were still quite simple.

After Baili Qingfeng joined and greeted everyone, a deputy moderator immediately posted a message: "The moderator just got hospitalized again after uploading thirty boxing techniques and breathing methods, beaten by the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion master. Please understand that updates on bonus content will be paused for a while..."