Three Kinds of Thunderfire

Collect purple qi!

Study the Daoist Scriptures!

Oversee the spirits and monsters at work.

Across the vast Seven Maidens Mountain, Wang Quan was the only cultivator left.

Qian Xiuyue and the others had yet to return.

Wang Quan neither left nor worried.

As noon approached, he prepared to begin refining his arts:

He was going to refine thunderfire.

Thunderfire refinement fell into roughly three categories.

The first involved refining thunderfire from large quantities of sun-moon essence and the essence of heaven and earth.

This thunderfire was single-use and the most powerful.

One had to reach the Purple Mansion realm before even attempting to refine it.

The second involved using sunlight, moonlight, and forces such as earth, fire, wind, and water, combined with materials such as gunpowder, yin soil, and flesh, to refine a thunderfire seed.

The thunderfire seed was then planted in the Inner Landscape.

Whenever it was needed, one could inject a strand of Dharma Power into the thunderfire seed and rub both hands together to release the corresponding thunderfire without any materials.

However, this thunderfire was the weakest.

The third used the same method of making thunderfire, except the result did not form a seed. Instead, it was sealed away and thrown out when needed, killing enemies directly.

However, this thunderfire consumed a great deal of resources.

Though powerful, it was far beyond what an ordinary cultivator could manage.

Most cultivators chose the second method of thunderfire refinement; at most, when they had resources to spare, they would refine a few additional, physical thunderfires and store them as their last-resort trump cards.

Naturally, Wang Quan also chose the second kind of thunderfire first.

Though this thunderfire was the weakest, it would flow without end as long as he had enough Dharma Power.

"I have a First-Turn Outer Elixir that can replenish ten thousand strands of Dharma Power!"

"Using this thunderfire is not only convenient, but also saves me the time needed to gather resources."

He had collected three portions of thunderfire moonlight the night before, so he could now refine three kinds of thunderfire.

From among the many strange thunderfire spells, he selected three:

Great Yin Yin Thunder, Cold-Ice Yin Thunder, and Illusory Moon Yin Thunder.

Great Yin Yin Thunder specialized in slaughter.

Cold-Ice Yin Thunder had a wide attack range.

The last, Illusory Moon Yin Thunder, was the least powerful, but its thunderfire explosions could shake a Yin Spirit and make a cultivator see illusions.

Since these were Qi Refining Realm arts, refining the thunderfire was relatively simple.

Wang Quan sent the Paper Eagle back to the Lower Court to contact the Round-Faced Daoist Nun and have her bring a portion of moon soil, three portions of gunpowder, and materials such as ice and moonlight dust.

Wang Quan refined Great Yin Yin Thunder first.

He mixed one portion of gunpowder with one portion of moon soil, then poured out a gourd of yin water, along with thirty-six kinds of yin wind and seventy-two kinds of yin baleful qi.

He poured all these things into a White Jade Box, then stirred them with a White Jade Rod while exhaling mouthful after mouthful of Dharma Power and chanting the Great Yin Yin Thunder Scripture.

Bili-bili!

Jibber-jabber!

When the scripture ended, over a hundred strands of Dharma Power had fallen into the mixture, and the materials finally transformed into an egg-sized sphere.

Finally, Wang Quan abruptly opened his mouth, and a strand of Dharma Power swept the yin thunder inside. It first dropped into the Twelve-Story Tower, then entered the Inner Landscape out of thin air.

After entering the Inner Landscape, the yin thunder became both real and illusory, hanging overhead like a star.

"There are thirty-six major categories and seventy-two minor categories of thunderfire that can be refined in the Qi Refining Realm."

"Each category is further divided into hundreds or thousands of different thunderfires because of differences in materials and spell versions, making a final total of one hundred and twenty-eight thousand kinds of thunderfire."

"How magnificent would it be if I could put a seed of every kind of thunderfire into my Inner Landscape?"

After merely entertaining the idea, he shook his head and dismissed it.

The materials alone for any single kind of thunderfire cost a hundred thousand Green Fly Coins.

Refining these three kinds of thunderfire had used up all his Green Beetles.

Now he was penniless again.

The wealth needed to refine over a hundred thousand different kinds of thunderfire was impossible to calculate.

He dismissed that mad idea, then began refining Cold-Ice Yin Thunder and Illusory Moon Yin Thunder.

As dusk approached, the three thunderfire seeds settled into his Inner Landscape.

With that, he had a few more means of slaughter at his disposal.

If he encountered New-Method Cultivators again now, he would only need to rub his hands together and launch a yin thunder to easily blast apart their protective spells and destroy their bodies outright.

Only at dusk did Qian Xiuyue and her party return.

When she came back and saw Wang Quan actually overseeing the spirits and monsters at work, she froze for a moment.

Then she said excitedly, "Something huge happened!"

"Something huge happened last night in the Second-Layer World that Yin Spirits can enter!"

"Our Drowning Dao Lower Court outpost gained another building!"

"That building has made the Lower Court outpost safer!"

"Even weaklings like us can send our Yin Spirits inside now."

"They say we can study Daoist Scriptures in the Scripture Repository there!"

"And then master the Daoist Scriptures more quickly!"

"Wang Quan, shall we go try it together tonight?"

Wang Quan shook his head. "No, I have something else to do tonight!"

"By the way, between the New Method and our Old Cultivation Method, who won in the end?"

Qian Xiuyue's emotions were complicated.

"So many Yin Spirits entered the Second-Layer World last night because of the building that suddenly appeared."

"There was no clash between the old and new methods at all."

"It was all the fault of those people spreading wild rumors!"

Wang Quan smiled. "Then how are things between you and Zhao Hongyi now?"

Qian Xiuyue sighed. "We had a long, frank talk."

"Though things eased somewhat, those who follow different paths cannot make plans together, after all."

"She's wholeheartedly on the New Method's side now and quite hostile toward us."

"Sadly, she hasn't realized at all that she came from the Old Cultivation Method herself. Her eventual fate is certain: once the millstone is unloaded, they'll slaughter the donkey!"

Wang Quan smiled without saying anything.

Qian Xiuyue, on the other hand, chattered on and on.

Most of what she said, however, was about how vain Zhao Hongyi was, how much she fawned over the New Method, and how much she courted the powerful backer behind her.

Wang Quan did not care about Zhao Hongyi, and he did not care about Qian Xiuyue either.

He appeared to listen attentively to her chatter, but his entire mind was occupied with pondering and comprehending the Daoist Scriptures.

Qian Xiuyue rattled on for a long time before finally leaving.

Night fell.

No myriad points of starlight appeared on the mountaintop.

Clearly, Qian Xiuyue and the others had entered the Second-Layer World.

Wang Quan made all his preparations and entered as well.

This time, he found the Lower Court outpost packed with Yin Spirits-at least several thousand of them, bustling to and fro in a lively throng.

Many cultivators who had not dared enter freely before were now bolder. They gathered in groups, either lingering around the stalls or preparing to conquer other buildings.

Even more Yin Spirits, however, were holding booklets and studying and deciphering them furiously.

They, too, wanted to decipher the People-Crossing Scripture and make a name for themselves.

Wang Quan came to the Scripture Repository and exchanged the password with the cultivators stationed at the entrance who had descended in their physical bodies, confirming his identity.

The cultivator in charge laughed heartily. "Fellow Daoist of the People-Crossing Scripture, you're famous now!"

"Many Yin Spirit cultivators who wouldn't come even once in a year or two have entered now. They all want to master the People-Crossing Scripture just like you and then be admired!"

Wang Quan smiled. "At least it's a dream!"

"Perhaps that dream will help more people master the Ten Thousand Scrolls Dao Canon and go farther along the path of cultivation!"

The physically present cultivator paused, then chuckled. "Indeed!"

"By the way, fellow Daoist, which building do you plan to clear next?"

Wang Quan shook his head. "My strength is ordinary, and my knowledge is limited. You should choose!"

The physically present cultivators all shook their heads. "Strength alone is useless. Without you, the third building would never have been reflected here."

"You have the People-Crossing Scripture. You're the most qualified to decide which building to clear."

"From now on, we'll probably only be able to follow behind you and lend a hand."