Beneath the monastery's eaves, the Daoists and pilgrims crowded into a row, gazing up at the sky, their amazement gradually giving way to confusion.
"Something's not right..."
The elderly Daoist coughed twice.
"In past years, lightning always struck the mountaintop. Why is it all bottled up in the clouds this year?"
Before his words had faded, the depths of the clouds flashed a brilliant, snowy white. Several bolts erupted within them at once, like a growing tree throwing out branches in every direction. The lightning did not strike downward, but rolled and tangled inside the clouds, lighting the entire sky in flickering bursts that exploded and died away.
No one spoke. Everyone stared, dumbstruck.
The pilgrims visiting for the first time marveled from the bottom of their hearts. It truly deserved to be called a wondrous sight.
People in the distance also noticed the unusual lightning, clustered densely above the Azure Cloud Monastery, as though all the lightning in the surrounding area had been drawn there.
Black Snake had learned a new way to release lightning. Delighted, he writhed through the clouds, darting about wildly in carefree play.
Once he had played enough, a thought suddenly occurred to him: he wanted to fly above the clouds and take a look.
Before, he would begin to struggle without flying very high, as though something were dragging him down and refusing to let him ascend.
Now that his cultivation had advanced, he would try again.
So he raised his head, twisted his body forcefully, and swept his tail to swim upward. Sure enough, he flew somewhat higher than before. He kept going up, and up, and up. The higher he went, the colder the air became; there were even ice crystals.
When he pierced the thick black clouds, his view suddenly brightened.