For the next few days, Lu Ming stayed indoors and devoted himself to cultivation.
He regularly sparred with the other disciples in the hall to hone his divine abilities.
With such diligent, unceasing cultivation, Lu Ming finally sensed that his Divine Ability Bone's second bone refinement had reached complete and utter perfection on the third day after his fight with Luo An.
Lu Ming sat cross-legged on a stone platform in the courtyard.
Boom!
His eyes were shut tight as Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi surged toward him in an endless stream, entering his body strand by strand with each breath. Soon afterward, a profound, rumbling thunder sound came from within him.
It was the Tiger and Leopard Thunder Sound that signified the perfection of bone refinement!
The profound Tiger and Leopard Thunder Sound spread through Lu Ming's body, and every piece of flesh it reached trembled, as though it too were being tempered in some way, growing ever tougher and stronger.
His blood surged like a mighty river, powerful and vigorous.
The transformation of a Divine Ability Bone not only increased one's Primordial Qi, but also strengthened every part of the body.
This continued for a full incense stick's time.
When the last strand of Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi surged into Lu Ming's body, his tightly shut eyes snapped open. Light from fire and lightning flowed through them, exceptionally sharp and fierce.
Lu Ming moved, leaping down from the stone platform. He carefully sensed the changes within his body. The most obvious was the increase in his Primordial Qi, but his physical strength had also risen a level.
He extended a palm, and Primordial Qi circulated. In an instant, a blade of flame about a foot long flickered into being, its condensed edge scorching and sharp.
The flame shone cyan.
Flame Blade, Major Accomplishment Realm!
This time, Lu Ming had not relied on Fire Lotus Yuan Qi to strengthen it. He had used his own Primordial Qi alone.
Boom!
Lightning flashed beneath Lu Ming's feet and rapidly spread up his body. The next instant, the lightning roared, and his figure seemed to turn into a faint streak of lightning, appearing at the other end of the courtyard.
He was more than twice as fast as before.
Lesser Thunderlight, Major Accomplishment Realm!
Sensing that both Lower Divine Abilities had reached the Major Accomplishment Realm, Lu Ming's eyes filled with delight. His hard cultivation over this period had finally paid off.
If I converted my Primordial Qi into Fire Lotus Yuan Qi and used it to cast Flame Blade, could I reach the Perfection Realm? The thought turned in Lu Ming's mind, but he soon shook his head and dismissed it.
Even veteran disciples like Gao Yu and the others, who had completed their third bone refinement, had yet to bring a Lower Divine Ability to the Perfection Realm. In the entire Thunderfire Hall, only Great Divine Ability Practitioners like his father and second uncle could cultivate Flame Blade to that realm.
Although Fire Lotus Yuan Qi was pure and wondrous, it could not yet push his Flame Blade, which had only just reached Major Accomplishment, to the Perfection Realm.
Still, Lu Ming believed that as his own Primordial Qi grew more abundant, perhaps that day was not far off.
"Not bad. In less than twenty days, you've brought your second bone refinement to perfection and reached Major Accomplishment in both Flame Blade and Lesser Thunderlight."
Laughter came from the courtyard gate. Lu Ming looked up and saw Lu Jin standing there with a tobacco pipe in hand, his aged face wreathed in smiles. Lu Qingyan and Lu Jinglei were beside him.
Lu Jin walked over and looked at the youth before him, his eyes full of undisguised satisfaction and comfort. Lu Ming's cultivation had progressed even faster than he had imagined.
"Good, good! Our Lu Clan's Divine Ability Child really is different. Compared to A-Ming, that filthy thing Zhang Yue is nothing but a piece of trash." Lu Jinglei laughed heartily, cursing Zhang Yue as he did every day.
Lu Qingyan's eyes were full of undisguised joy as well. Lu Ming had completed his second bone refinement in less than twenty days, a speed far greater than Zhang Yue's back then.
"Now that your progress in the Lower Divine Abilities has started to catch up with veteran disciples like Yuan Da and Gao Yu, you can also try cultivating the hall's Middle Divine Abilities."
"Which one do you plan to learn first? Middle Divine Abilities are quite difficult to cultivate, so it's best to learn them one at a time," Lu Jin asked.
Lu Ming considered the question. The Thunderfire Hall had two Middle Divine Abilities: Palm Thunder and Golden Plasma Fire. Palm Thunder controlled lightning Primordial Qi. It was fierce and overbearing, with tremendous destructive power. Golden Plasma Fire, on the other hand, was a kind of "divine ability fire." Once mastered, it could be used with Flame Blade, and its power was just as formidable.
"I'll cultivate Golden Plasma Fire first," Lu Ming quickly decided. He chose it mainly because of the fire lotus opportunity within his body.
He had always been curious about the fire-fusing method contained within the Fire Lotus Mark.
That mysterious divine ability called Buddha's Fury Flame Lotus.
Once Lu Ming completed his third bone refinement, he would find a way to obtain the Flame of Life's fire seed inside the black ring's space. Then he wanted to try fusing it with a divine ability fire like Golden Plasma Fire to cast Buddha's Fury Flame Lotus.
Lu Jin nodded and reached into his robes, taking something out.
Lu Ming looked over curiously and saw a piece of golden ore about the size of a palm. Its edges were sharp as blades, and it constantly gave off a keen, cutting presence.
"This is a Lesser Geng Metal Stone, an essential item for cultivating Golden Plasma Fire. I'll use my Primordial Qi to melt it and guide its strands of Geng metal fire Qi into your body. Memorize the path my divine ability follows. Once you inscribe the divine ability mark on your Divine Ability Bone, you'll have achieved an initial mastery of this Middle Divine Ability."
Lu Jin was clearly much more attentive when teaching a Middle Divine Ability, even personally lending a hand.
Whoosh.
Lu Jin took a draw on his pipe, then blew out a cloud of intensely hot smoke. The smoke, formed from his own abundant Primordial Qi, was as hot as molten rock. The Primordial Qi enveloped the Lesser Geng Metal Stone and melted it into a golden liquid in just over ten breaths.
"When the Geng metal Qi enters your body, it will feel like ten thousand needles piercing you. The pain will be terrible, so you must endure it."
As soon as Lu Jin finished speaking, he flicked a finger. Strands rose from the golden liquid, giving off a sharp presence. Like sword blades, they instantly pierced Lu Ming's palm, then followed a certain course, forcibly carving out a path through his body.
Hiss!
The sudden, excruciating pain made Lu Ming suck in a breath. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and his tightly clenched jaw trembled violently.
The pain of cultivating Golden Plasma Fire was far worse than that of Flame Blade.
Gritting his teeth, Lu Ming forced himself to endure the pain inside him. Then he focused his mind and circulated his own Primordial Qi, following Lu Jin's guidance as he began cultivating the first Middle Divine Ability of his life.
Half an hour later.
Lu Jin watched Lu Ming's expression gradually ease and nodded slightly, somewhat gratified. His grandson was talented and had a remarkably tenacious character, unlike those other young geniuses who grew frivolous because of their talent.
This was the good fortune of their old Lu Clan, a turn for the better after all their hardships.
His desperate gamble, pouring out the accumulated resources of the Lineage's ancestors to preserve the grade of Lu Ming's Divine Ability Bone, had not been in vain.
"Father, I've prepared all the materials needed to repair the Divine Ability Restriction at the medicinal herb garden. When are we leaving the city for it?" Lu Qingyan stepped forward and asked.
Lu Jinglei added, "The Rain Fog Period comes once every three months, and the next one starts in three days. We need to secure the medicinal herb garden quickly, so nothing goes wrong when the time comes."
The source of the so-called Rain Fog Period was the dreaded Black Rain Zone.
At intervals, the curtain of rain in the Black Rain Zone would grow stronger. Although the black rain would not spread beyond the sealed area, its eerie rain Qi would form a black rain fog that spread in every direction.
Some Rain Spawn would then use the power of the rain fog to evade the seal and rampage everywhere.
Although the Thunderfire Hall's medicinal herb garden lay outside the Black Rain Zone, it was sometimes affected when the rain fog spread. Thus, whenever this season came around, Lu Jin and the others would go to the garden to hold the fort, repair the Divine Ability Restriction, and protect it.
That medicinal herb garden was the fruit of Lu Jin's many years of work. It had contributed greatly to the Thunderfire Hall becoming the third-tier Divine Ability Hall it was today. It absolutely could not be destroyed.
Lu Jin's expression grew somewhat grave. He took a hard draw on his pipe, the sparks burning the tobacco with a faint crackle. After some thought, he said, "We'll set out the morning after tomorrow. I'll go this time, and we'll bring A-Ming along too."
"A-Ming is going too? Rain Spawn might appear that day. Won't it be dangerous?" Lu Qingyan hesitated.
"You can't raise a fierce beast in a garden. What A-Ming will face in the future is beyond anything we can imagine. We won't be able to do much to help him then, so while we still have the strength to help him now, we can only help him develop sharp claws and fangs and the toughness to face hardship without fear." Lu Jin's aged face appeared and disappeared in the smoke as his deep voice sounded.
Lu Qingyan fell silent for a moment, then slowly nodded.
Two days later.
Lu Ming watched a small golden flame rise slowly from his palm. The flame was quite wondrous, flowing slowly like liquid formed from melted metal. Within it, a scorching heat and a sharp, cutting presence faintly intertwined.
Middle Divine Ability, Golden Plasma Fire!
Although this strand of Golden Plasma Fire was extremely faint, Lu Ming had suffered plenty for it over the past two days. He could not help letting out a relieved breath. "Middle Divine Abilities really are unusually difficult to cultivate. It actually took me two days just to barely condense the first strand of golden fire."
"You little brat. If Gao Yu and Yuan Da heard that, you'd probably make them so angry they'd quit the hall on the spot," Lu Qingyan scolded from the side, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
Even Zhang Yue had taken more than half a month to condense his first strand of golden fire when he cultivated Golden Plasma Fire, while Gao Yu had taken a full two months. As for Yuan Da, with his Low-Grade Divine Ability Bone, it was enough to bring tears to one's eyes. Teaching him had nearly driven Lu Qingyan to despair; he had almost thought Yuan Da had come to the hall to mooch meals.
If word got out that Lu Ming had made such progress in just two days, it would truly leave everyone in the hall battered and bruised.
Lu Qingyan felt both proud and pained about it.
He was proud that his son possessed heaven-bestowed talent, but pained because he seemed to be among those dealt a blow.
"No wonder your second uncle refuses to come supervise your cultivation."
Ever since Lu Jinglei had seen how quickly Lu Ming cultivated Golden Plasma Fire on the first day, he had not shown up again.
"Let's go. Your grandfather and the others are ready. We're leaving the city for the medicinal herb garden today."
"The medicinal herb garden..."
Lu Ming was slightly lost in thought. He remembered that he had met Jingyi amid the chaos back then because he had been on his way to the medicinal herb garden.