Ruins, Thunder God War Spear

Under the moonlight, in the silent village, Su Zhen and his companions sat around a stone platform, their gazes fixed on the scraps of paper in Zhu Zhuqing's hands.

"Young Master, what kind of script is this? How do you recognize it? And is this place a graveyard?"

Dugu Yan voiced her confusion. She considered herself a top student at the Heaven Dou Royal Advanced Soul Master Academy, yet in front of Su Zhen, she felt like a complete novice in the world of Soul Masters.

"This is not the script of the Douluo Continent, so naturally you wouldn't recognize it. As for whether this is a graveyard, it both is and isn't. It is a graveyard because it contains the relics of a certain existence, serving as a cenotaph. It is not a graveyard because that existence has not truly died in the literal sense; without death, one cannot call it a graveyard."

Su Zhen swept his gaze over the bewildered group and explained slowly.

"Then where is this script from?"

"Young Master, you must have a way to get us out of here, right?"

Dugu Yan posed another question, but before Su Zhen could answer, she was interrupted by Zhu Zhuqing.

Dugu Yan shot a cold glare at Zhu Zhuqing and turned away with a huff. As the only granddaughter of a Titled Douluo, she had suffered more in these past few days than in all the years before she turned twelve, and being interrupted by a Soul Grand Master left her feeling deeply displeased.

Su Zhen glanced at Dugu Yan but had no intention of answering her question; sometimes, knowing too much was more of a burden than a blessing.

"I have a rough idea of the method, but it still requires further confirmation."

After saying this, Su Zhen led the group away from the spot, arriving beneath the stone platform to gaze up at the primitive structure that stood abruptly in the center of the village.

"I never expected that a casual training session would lead me to your relics. This is truly exhilarating."

As Su Zhen spoke, the power of thunder surged within him. His entire body transformed into a humanoid bolt of lightning, and the black thunder dancing around him forced his companions to retreat.

"Young Master, you are still in the middle of your training; you cannot use your soul power."

Yang Fan was aware of the requirements for Su Zhen's training, though he assumed they were set by the Great Enshrined and remained completely ignorant of Su Zhen's acceptance of the Thunder God inheritance.

"I am not using soul power."

Because this is not soul power—it is divine power!

Su Zhen answered the second half of the thought in his heart.

The black thunder suddenly expanded outward. Dugu Yan and Zhu Zhuqing were carried into the air by Yang Fan and his companion, narrowly escaping the agony of having their bodies tempered by the lightning.

Countless bolts of thunder transformed into lightning snakes, slithering toward every corner of the village. Through the vision of these snakes, Su Zhen saw the other side of the village.

In the eyes of the lightning snakes conjured by Su Zhen, the ordinary, deserted village shifted into a different scene: the wooden houses became stone walls, the village paths turned into flowing streams, and the stone platform before him transformed into an ancient, majestic stone hall.

"Thunder, come!"

Su Zhen roared at the sky. Countless black thunderbolts converged above his head, intertwining and weaving together to form a ferocious thunder dragon.

ROAR!

The thunder dragon let out a roar as if it possessed a life of its own, then dove straight down, targeting the stone hall before them.

BOOM!

The thunder dragon collided with the stone hall, transforming into a sea of lightning that swept across the entire village.

Yang Fan and the others witnessed everything from the air, and the true appearance of the village, revealed after the sea of lightning had passed, appeared before their eyes.

"Where is this?"

Dugu Yan landed on the ground under Yang Fan's guidance, staring at the stone walls and streams in utter shock.

"I never imagined this place was actually a valley. What a powerful illusion technique! Has there ever been such a formidable spirit-type expert in the history of the Douluo Continent?"

Dugu Yan scanned her surroundings, unable to help but sigh in wonder.

Su Zhen ignored Dugu Yan's exclamations, his attention remaining fixed on the primitive stone hall before him.

"Yang Fan, Li Hao."

"Your subordinates are here."

Hearing Su Zhen's call, the two men immediately bowed in response.

"I am going inside to take a look. You two are to guard the entrance; no one is allowed to enter. I mean no one."

"Understood."

The two answered in unison, then stood on either side of the stone hall to keep watch.

Su Zhen turned and walked into the stone hall, though before entering, he cast a subtle, sweeping glance at Dugu Yan and Zhu Zhuqing, who were looking around. Anything concerning the Thunder God could not be known by others, not even these two newly acquired subordinates.

"Hmph, so we can't go in. Big deal, acting all mysterious."

Dugu Yan huffed at Su Zhen's arrangements and began to wander around the valley.

Su Zhen pushed open the heavy stone doors, and the scene inside came into view. Emptiness, simplicity, and decay—these three characteristics permeated every corner of the hall. This stone hall was identical to the Thunder God Temple where he had received his inheritance, save for the absence of the Thunder God Pillar in the center. In its place stood a scarlet ancient spear.

The ancient spear was twenty-four feet long, its shaft as scarlet as blood and forged from an unknown metal. Two black symbols were branded into the center of the shaft. The spearhead was over nine inches long, double-edged and curved like a lightning bolt, its tip gleaming with a cold, metallic luster, as if it would pierce an enemy's body like a thunderclap in the next instant.

Su Zhen stepped forward and arrived before the ancient spear, circling it to examine it closely. His fingertips brushed over the scarlet shaft, and the cold sensation that traveled through him made his body tremble. The metallic material of the shaft alone was enough to make Su Zhen's heart palpitate; it was not hard to imagine just how powerful the Thunder God must have been when wielding the Thunder God Spear.

Su Zhen reached the two symbols in the center of the shaft. These two symbols were identical to the one Zhu Zhuqing had found outside; they were ancient characters from the God Realm.

"Divine Spear. It seems a part of this is missing."

Su Zhen gazed at the two ancient characters on the shaft and spoke slowly, his finger reaching out to touch the gap above the character for 'God'. It was this very gap that had caused this spear, once majestic and awe-inspiring in the God Realm, to fall into a silence as deep as common iron.

Su Zhen took a scrap of paper from his Soul Guidance Ring—the very one Zhu Zhuqing had found earlier, which bore the character for 'Thunder'.

The scrap of paper began to glow with a scarlet light the moment it was taken out, and the ancient spear standing before him did the same, the two echoing each other in that instant. The radiance grew increasingly brilliant, eventually illuminating the entire stone hall.

The scrap of paper rose slowly from Su Zhen's hand, drifting toward the space above the character 'God' on the spear's shaft. It moved with incredible speed, branding itself onto the 'God' character in the blink of an eye and transforming into a black ancient character that aligned with the two already present on the spear.

"Thunder God Spear."

The moment Su Zhen spoke the name on the spear, the Thunder God Spear was awakened. A bolt of thunder descended from the circular dome above the stone hall, striking the Thunder God Spear.

The thunder transformed into a sea of scarlet lightning, shrouding the area within a five-meter radius of the Thunder God Spear. Stimulated by the lightning, the Thunder God Spear slowly pulled itself from the ground and hovered in mid-air.

BOOM!

A thunderous roar erupted from within the Thunder God Spear, and the weapon suspended in the air actually began to absorb the lightning surrounding its shaft. Once all the lightning in the hall had been consumed, the Thunder God Spear dropped from the air, coming to rest horizontally before Su Zhen.

Su Zhen leaked a trace of Thunder God aura to guide the Thunder God Spear before him. Upon sensing its origin aura, the Thunder God Spear transformed into a streak of scarlet light and submerged into the lightning mark at the center of Su Zhen's brow.

"Thunder God Spear, return to position!"

A heavy, deep voice resonated within Su Zhen's mind.