Thunder Sound

"Fourth Brother, Fourth Brother, you're awake?!"

When Huang Tian opened his eyes and slowly sat up in bed, the little girl crouched beside him started in surprise, then lit up with joy. Her soft, pale hands clutched his arm tightly, as if afraid he might suddenly fly away.

Seeing the concern on her face, Huang Tian gently patted her hand to reassure her. Then he instructed, "Heng'er, I'm fine now, just a little hungry. Ask Aunt Qin to bring me some rice porridge."

"Mm-hmm! I'll go tell Mother right away!"

Heng'er was overjoyed. She hurried to her feet, gathered up her skirt, and ran out with light steps, like a butterfly fluttering through the air.

After she left, Huang Tian began silently sensing the spiritual energy between heaven and earth.

"The spiritual energy is abundant, but incredibly, incredibly violent!

"If the spiritual energy on Blue Star is like a docile little white rabbit, then the spiritual energy in this world is like a ferocious tiger roaring as it gallops through the mountains.

"This body—no, any ordinary person's body—couldn't possibly absorb such violent spiritual energy directly. No wonder that, according to the original owner's memories, the first step in this world's cultivation system is to temper the body, refining the skin, sinews, and bones, before drawing in spiritual energy..."

As he pondered, Heng'er came back carrying a bowl of warm rice porridge, with Aunt Qin following behind her, looking astonished. Aunt Qin was never one to keep her thoughts to herself. "Young Master, you're really all right? Could this be a last burst of life before death...?"

She let out a couple of loud wails. Seeing that Huang Tian ignored her completely and focused on drinking the porridge Heng'er had brought, she gave an embarrassed smile. "I knew Young Master was blessed by Heaven. You'd be all right! I knew it!"

After slowly drinking the porridge, he felt waves of warmth spread through his body. Huang Tian gradually rose from the bed and stood up.

"After I transmigrated here, all the illnesses in this body disappeared. I'm still a little weak, but after drinking the porridge, I feel much more energetic. Besides, I can be certain the original owner wasn't poisoned. Years of pent-up frustration, combined with catching a cold, left him gravely ill and beyond saving in just a night or two..."

"Fourth Brother, be careful. Don't rush. I'll help you," Heng'er said, reaching out to support him.

"I'll be fine. I'll walk slowly. I won't fall."

Huang Tian slowly walked from the bedside to the doorway and stepped onto the courtyard's blue bricks. Spring sunshine bathed the scene; the sky was high and clear, and the little courtyard was serene, with a charm all its own.

The scenery was lovely, but this wasn't the time to admire it. Although no one had deliberately caused the original owner's illness, the most urgent thing was still to grow stronger and gain the means to protect himself.

"Although the spiritual energy in this world is violent and I can't absorb it for now, and I can't cultivate immortal techniques yet, I haven't seen this world's Martial Path techniques either. Still, there are ways to strengthen myself..."

He stood in the courtyard, legs naturally apart, his back straight as a spear. From his mouth came two extremely low sounds: "Hng. Hah."

A deep, muffled peal of thunder suddenly rumbled from within his chest. It was as if invisible thunder hammers were pounding away at his skin, sinews, and bones, the violent vibrations tempering every part of his body...

This was a body-forging secret technique Huang Tian had just created. Drawing on eight hundred years of accumulated insight into the Late Han Dynasty World, he had taken a lofty, all-encompassing view and imitated the vibration and disintegration behind the true meaning of Orthodox Earth Thunder.

Vmmm—

Excruciating pain and an unbearable itch washed over him, as though every inch of his skin and bones were being torn apart and fused back together again and again. Beads of cold sweat seeped from his pores, yet his eyes grew ever brighter and more piercing!

"Heng'er, did you hear thunder?"

Aunt Qin and Heng'er hadn't wanted to leave Huang Tian alone in the courtyard. If he fell and hurt himself, it would be trouble, so they leaned against the doorway and watched his strange movements. Hearing a faint rumble of thunder, Aunt Qin was baffled.

"I think... I think it came from inside Fourth Brother's body..."

"Inside his body?"

As the two stood there wondering, a loud, mocking voice rang out from beyond the courtyard.

"Bastard, I heard you were sick. Are you dead yet?!"

Bang!

Someone kicked the courtyard gate open. A youth in a pale green robe, a jade pendant hanging from his waist and a folding fan in his hand, barged in with a servant. He was the original owner's third older brother, Huang Jian. Now seventeen, he was at the most rebellious and arrogant age.

But when he saw Huang Tian standing in the courtyard, perfectly fine, the arrogance on his face froze. "You're not sick?! Those worthless dogs actually dared to lie to me?"

Faced with Huang Jian's insults, Huang Tian didn't get angry at first. Instead, he gave him a strange look, as if studying some incredibly rare curiosity.

He couldn't help it. He'd always known that one kind of rice fed all sorts of people, and that the world was full of every kind of scum and lowlife. But after all these years, he'd never encountered such a bizarre specimen as Huang Jian.

"I don't like the way you're looking at me, Young Master!"

Huang Jian was furious at Huang Tian's strange gaze. He felt like a monkey being dragged into the street for people to gawk at, and a fierce sense of humiliation surged through him.

He strode forward, rolled up his sleeves, and twisted his face into a sneer, ready to teach this bastard a proper lesson and remind him of the Fear he'd once felt under Huang Jian's fists and kicks.

"Don't hit Fourth Brother! He's only just recovered. If you hurt him... hit me instead!"

Heng'er ran over from the doorway in a panic and spread her arms in front of Huang Tian. Her tiny frame was like a mother hen shielding her chicks.

"Third Young Master, please be magnanimous. Don't hold it against Fourth Young Master." Aunt Qin hurried forward, her face settling into a practiced ingratiating smile.

"Bastard with a lowly servant—nothing but rotten trash. Get out of my way!"

Huang Jian suddenly lifted a leg to kick Aunt Qin, but his body abruptly stiffened. A hand like an iron bar had clamped tightly around his right leg.

He looked up and met Huang Tian's calm eyes, deep as a secluded pool.

Whoosh—

The next moment, Huang Jian felt the world spin. His whole body flipped through the air several times before he crashed heavily to the ground with a thud. Blood poured from a gash in his forehead, and dust covered his hair.

His head rang. He instinctively tried to look up and curse, but a black boot came down hard on his head, forcing it to the ground.

"Truly... revolting."

With his boot grinding into Huang Jian's head, Huang Tian felt no satisfaction. It was like crushing a pile of excrement—disgusting.

Silence.

Aunt Qin, Heng'er, and the servant who had come with Huang Jian stared at the scene in the courtyard, dumbfounded. It was as if they'd witnessed something impossible.

How had the usually meek and easily bullied Fourth Young Master dared to fight back—and knocked Third Young Master down with such ease?

Everyone knew that although Third Young Master had neglected his Martial Path training and hadn't reached the first rank, he'd at least cultivated inner force. Ordinary people—two or three at a time—couldn't get near him.

And yet this absurd scene had unfolded right before their eyes!

"You! Let go of Third Young Master, right now!"

Only when he heard Huang Jian's pained cry did the servant snap out of it and shout.

But when Huang Tian's gaze swept over him, his body shuddered as if he'd fallen into an ice cellar. He trembled and couldn't get another word out.

Feeling Huang Jian still struggling beneath his foot, Huang Tian stomped on the back of his head. With just one blow, the latter passed out, sprawled on the ground like a dead dog.