Apprenticeship

Thanks to the peculiar nature of his divine sense, Dong Lin had greatly shortened the time needed to gain entry into the Dao Xuan Heart Sutra.

Though it might seem that Dong Lin had taken quite a while—two full months—to get started with the Dao Xuan Heart Sutra, those two months had been the result of his tireless efforts,

and dedicated study and cultivation day and night.

Unlike the difficulty of entering the Heart Sutra, the Thunder Summoning Art was hardly any easier.

Yet without spending much time cultivating it, Dong Lin had already successfully reached the major mastery realm.

The Mystic Spirit Heavenly-Thunder connected heaven and earth and possessed boundless might.

Dong Lin vaguely sensed that the Mystic Spirit Heavenly-Thunder would surely pose a tremendous threat to Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Another ten days passed, and Dong Lin arrived punctually at the sect's spirit fields.

Having greatly increased his strength, Dong Lin intended to take this opportunity to test the power of the Mystic Spirit Heavenly-Thunder.

By now, Dong Lin's divine sense could cover an area nearly thirty meters around him.

His efficiency at killing the strange insects had thus improved considerably.

Thanks to the sect spirit fields' thorough protective measures, there were only around a dozen strange insects across the entire ten mu of fields.

During his previous pest-clearing trips, Dong Lin had successfully developed a move from the Thunder Summoning Art: Thunder Net.

With this move, Dong Lin could bind any strange insects he caught.

After gathering all the strange insects in an open patch of ground, Dong Lin silently connected with heaven and earth and began building up Mystic Spirit Heavenly-Thunder.

The Mystic Spirit Heavenly-Thunder required a far longer windup than ordinary spells.

Even when exerting himself fully, it took ten breaths before he could call down a bolt of Mystic Spirit Heavenly-Thunder.

Today happened to be overcast, which gave Dong Lin great convenience in casting the spell.

The strange insects that had been bound by the Thunder Net and driven into the open ground were crashing about wildly, liable to break free at any moment.

"Two late-stage Profound Locusts? Looks like I can earn at least a hundred low-grade spirit stones this time."

Dong Lin nodded in satisfaction at the haul before him.

Two breaths passed. The lightning essence was still gathering, but two late first-rank Profound Locusts had already broken through the Thunder Net,

and shot toward Dong Lin, the creator of the Thunder Net, who was still in the windup for his lightning art.

Filled with rage, the Profound Locusts beat their wings furiously, whipping up powerful gusts and sending dust flying everywhere.

The sharp, piercing hiss of air friction rang out.

Even to the naked eye, the Profound Locusts' power was clearly not to be underestimated.

At the final breath,

"Thunder! Descend!"

A bolt of lightning tore through the oppressive sky.

In an instant, lightning essence roiled across the open ground before Dong Lin.

All thirteen strange insects, including the two late first-rank Profound Locusts, were reduced to ashes in an instant.

Dong Lin, who had been smiling and immensely pleased with his spell's might, was stunned speechless.

"Damn it! My spirit stones!"

Their fragile shells had not even left behind dregs after being tempered by that heavenly lightning.

Dong Lin stared helplessly at the scorched earth before him.

In the distance, two figures flew toward Dong Lin.

They moved at incredible speed, landing on the patch of earth Dong Lin had blackened with lightning within a few breaths.

One was an elderly man in a moon-white Daoist robe; the other was a dark-faced, burly man with broad shoulders and a powerful build, clad in heavy armor over his upper body.

The two studied the traces left by the lightning strike for a moment.

"It truly is Mystic Spirit Heavenly-Thunder at major mastery, nearly complete mastery. Good! Good! Good!"

The burly man gave Dong Lin a satisfied look, then turned to the elder beside him.

"Elder Zheng, what did I tell you? I said there was something special about this lightning."

"Not bad. Only mid-stage Qi Refining, yet his talent for lightning arts is so outstanding.

Why have I never heard the Immortal Arts Hall mention a new disciple with exceptional lightning elemental affinity?

Young friend, which inner sect division do you belong to?"

Fifth Elder Zheng Huayuan had mistaken Dong Lin for an inner sect disciple because of the mysterious-rank Daoist robe he wore.

Generally, only inner sect disciples with some cultivation accomplishments would be issued such a mysterious-rank Daoist robe during the Qi Refining realm.

Of course, Dong Lin had successfully advanced to become a probationary inner sect disciple two months earlier.

He had achieved success in cultivating the Dao Xuan Heart Sutra, but had not yet had the chance to visit the Merit Affairs Hall and update his inner sect rank.

Only after formally becoming a yellow-rank inner sect disciple would he be assigned to one of the inner sect divisions and receive the corresponding benefits.

"Reporting to the two elders, I am Dong Lin, a probationary inner sect disciple. I was just promoted to the inner sect two months ago and have not yet been assigned to a division."

"Dong Lin?" The burly man rubbed his chin and pondered for a moment.

"Elder Zheng, a few months ago, Elder Xu, who passed on cultivation arts, seemed to mention an unusual case.

His elemental affinity was not high, yet he was compatible with the lightning element, and he was even specially granted a copy of the Thunder Summoning Art.

I specifically looked into it. He is the orphaned son of a subordinate of Old Qing's who died unexpectedly in battle.

Good heavens, reaching major mastery in the Thunder Summoning Art in two months? And they call that low elemental affinity?

Could it be that the Immortal Arts Hall was trying to keep him hidden?"

"Oh, I seem to recall something. Rongsheng did indeed mention him in passing.

The moment I heard his elemental affinity was ordinary, I did not look further into it. I nearly allowed a fine piece of jade to be buried."

Zheng Huayuan stroked his beard and said with a smile.

"Dong Lin, would you be willing to take me as your master?"

The burly man stepped two paces closer to Dong Lin and patted him on the shoulder.

"Why aren't you thanking him? This is Zheng Huayuan, the fifth elder of the Elder Hall of our Profound Dao Celestial Sect. He specializes in lightning arts

and is the only lightning cultivator among all the sect elders.

If you wish to delve deeply into lightning arts, there could be no better choice than entering Elder Zheng's lineage."

An elder of the inner sect Elder Hall, those legendary figures whose beginnings and ends were never seen, high above in the heavens?

They say that to enter the Elder Hall, one must not only make outstanding contributions to the sect, but also reach the Nascent Soul realm. A Nascent Soul Patriarch could change heaven and earth with a single thought. I knew these two were no ordinary figures.

Dong Lin sighed inwardly.

"This disciple, Dong Lin, pays respects to Master."

Elder Zheng nodded. "Rise. From this day onward, you shall be my seventh disciple.

Come see me at the Profound Mountain Thunder Division tomorrow. Take this token.

When you arrive, show it to Old Feng, the mountain guard, and have him take you up the mountain.

For now, I must discuss something with Chief Steward Li and the Sect Master."

"This disciple obeys."

Dong Lin accepted the access jade token Elder Zheng tossed to him.

After watching the two leave, Dong Lin thought for a moment before recalling who the burly middle-aged man was.

He was Li Lei, chief steward of the Four Outer Sect Divisions. Dong Lin had only seen Chief Steward Li once, during a collective outer sect event.

The surprise had come so suddenly that Dong Lin's mind was still somewhat dazed.

Dong Lin had originally intended to keep a low profile and cultivate diligently.

He had never expected that, while practicing his spells, he would be spotted by elders flying overhead.

Unlike other sects, the Celestial Sect did not distinguish between inner sect elders and outer sect elders.

At present, apart from several teaching elders self-appointed by the Immortal Arts Hall, there were only six elders in the sect, the true giants of the sect.

Figures so influential that a mere stomp of their feet could make this land tremble three times over.

At this time, Elder Zheng was the rotating elder overseeing the outer sect.

The sect's outer sect was overseen in rotation by the elders of the Elder Hall, with a new elder taking over every five years.

Elder Zheng had only been on rotation for less than half a year when the sect-sealing incident occurred.

He was surely overwhelmed by the massive amount of work brought about by the sect's drastic upheaval.

Sometimes, when heaven closed one window, it turned around and opened a city gate for you.

Being able to take such a weighty figure of the Celestial Sect as his master

would provide tremendous security for Dong Lin's future cultivation and personal safety.