Under Lu Ming's grave gaze, the warm yellow lamplight pierced the black fog. Sure enough, six massive, four-armed Rain Spawn riding Spawn Beasts gathered outside the Azure Light Restriction surrounding the herb garden.
Their gray-black eyes stared into the garden behind the Azure Light Restriction, radiating greed and hunger as they stirred, ready to pounce.
"Keep cultivating. Don't let yourself be distracted."
Just as worry rose in Lu Ming's heart, Lu Jin's calm, aged voice sounded beside his ear, immediately putting him at ease.
Boom!
Violent, overpowering Thunderfire Primordial Qi erupted in the herb garden like a great sun of thunder and fire.
The next moment, as Lu Ming watched in astonishment, Lu Jin's aged figure was enveloped in a pillar of thunder and fire. Clad in a Thunderfire Feather Robe and wielding a thunderfire mace, he looked like a divine general of thunder and fire, come to cut down evil.
With one step, he strode straight out of the Azure Light Restriction and appeared before the six Rain Spawn.
"Do you want to eat my grandson's Divine Ability Bone that badly?" Thunder and fire raged in the eyes of the old man clad in the Thunderfire Feather Robe. His voice was calm, but a chilling killing intent erupted from it.
"Since you've come, you might as well leave your Rain Pearls behind. That's about the only thing on you that's still of any use."
Lu Jin thrust out his left palm. In an instant, a dark-gold Flame Blade streak over a dozen zhang long tore through the rain and mist, striking a four-armed Rain Spawn with the force of a thunderbolt.
Inside the herb garden, Lu Ming saw the dark-gold Flame Blade streak stretching over a dozen zhang and sucked in a sharp breath. "That's the Flame Blade?!"
Compared to Lu Jin's strike, his own green Flame Blade, barely a chi long, was a mud loach next to a giant python.
Hiss!
The golden Flame Blade swept past, and the four-armed Rain Spawn it struck was cleaved in two before it could offer the slightest resistance.
Foul-smelling blood splattered everywhere.
But the Rain Spawn displayed astonishing tenacity. Even after being cut in two, it continued to roar. The black rain and mist filling the air condensed around its wounds, growing black granulation tissue in an attempt to stop the bleeding and heal.
Boom!
But in the next instant, a tyrannical, violent lightning fist imprint crashed down.
Middle Divine Ability, Palm Thunder!
The lightning fist descended, blasting the Rain Spawn to death and leaving the ground covered in grayish-green chunks of flesh.
Rumble!
Lu Jin's figure became a streak of thunderfire light and shot forward. Every swing of the Thunderfire Whip in his hand was like the thunder god striking to kill, crushing the four-armed Rain Spawn one after another.
In little more than a dozen breaths, five four-armed Rain Spawn had been smashed to pieces by Lu Jin's Thunderfire Whip, their charred flesh scattered across the ground.
The remaining four-armed Rain Spawn rode its Spawn Beast into the black fog, trying to flee.
But Lu Jin clearly had no intention of letting it go. His Thunderfire Feather Robe stirred, and he became a flash of lightning, catching up in an instant. The Thunderfire Whip came crashing down like an iron mace.
The ground burst apart, and the last four-armed Rain Spawn was killed as well.
Inside the herb garden, Lu Ming stared at the scene in something of a daze. This was the first time he had seen Lu Jin truly take action. His mighty, domineering bearing, like that of a divine general of thunder and fire, stood in stark contrast to his aged appearance on ordinary days.
He had now witnessed the might of a Divine Ability Master with his own eyes.
Lu Qingyan, Lu Jinglei, Qian Shan and the others, however, looked unperturbed. Presumably, they saw it often, so it was naturally nothing unusual to them.
After killing all six four-armed Rain Spawn, Lu Jin bent down and searched through the chunks of flesh for a while before walking back into the herb garden.
By the time he reached Lu Ming, the dazzling Thunderfire Feather Robe had completely dissipated, and he had returned to his usual aged appearance. He held out his hand. "A-Ming, I have something for you."
Lu Ming looked over curiously and saw six gray beads of flesh in Lu Jin's palm. They were the very things that had been between the Rain Spawn's brows.
The beads now gave off a foul stench, but Lu Ming keenly sensed faint, unusual fluctuations of Primordial Qi coming from them.
"These are Rain Pearls, the source of a Rain Spawn's power. They contain Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi polluted by the black rain. If the polluting influence is refined away, the Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi inside can be absorbed and refined. You're currently at the third stage of bone refinement. If you use these together with High-Grade Bone Refining Pills, the effect will be much stronger," Lu Jin explained.
He pinched one of the gray flesh beads between his fingers, and fierce, violent thunder and fire suddenly rose from his palm. As the thunder and fire refined it, the bead's outer layer began to melt. After about the time it took an incense stick to burn, Lu Ming was amazed to see that the foul-smelling gray bead had changed.
The somewhat revolting bead of flesh had become a pale-blue pearl. It was slightly translucent, and a mysterious presence seemed to rise within it.
"Try it." Lu Jin handed the refined Rain Pearl to Lu Ming.
Lu Ming took it curiously. After a moment's hesitation, he circulated the Qi Refining Art, Thunderfire Furnace. The next moment, he felt a somewhat cool current flow from the Rain Pearl in his hand into his body.
It was a special kind of Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi, cool and pure.
The Primordial Qi eventually surged into his Divine Ability Bone. Instantly, an inexplicable feeling of comfort and pleasure rose in Lu Ming's heart.
The progress of refining his Divine Ability Bone advanced a tiny bit.
The effect on bone refinement was no weaker than the medicinal power of a High-Grade Bone Refining Pill. What surprised Lu Ming most was that this gentle, cool Primordial Qi did not conflict with the medicinal power of a Bone-Tempering Pill. On the contrary, the two could be combined to temper his Divine Ability Bone.
"What a treasure!"
Overjoyed, Lu Ming gripped the Rain Pearl tightly and, without further hesitation, hungrily and greedily drew out the remaining gentle, cool Primordial Qi within it.
Half an hour passed.
Still wanting more, Lu Ming opened his hand around the Rain Pearl. As the last trace of Primordial Qi was drawn out, the pearl dulled and withered, finally crumbling into powder that scattered on the wind.
Lu Ming sensed the progress he had made tempering his Divine Ability Bone, and a flash of delight appeared in his eyes.
The bone-refining effect achieved by combining the Rain Pearl with the medicinal power of a Bone-Tempering Pill was more than a simple case of one plus one.
"Grandpa, another one!" Lu Ming said eagerly.
But Lu Jin shook his head and said seriously, "Although the Primordial Qi in a Rain Pearl benefits cultivation, you can't use too much of it in a short time. After all, it comes from a Rain Spawn. Even if the polluting influence is refined away, it still has the adverse effect of eroding one's will. When you absorbed it just now, did you feel even a trace of irritation?"
Lu Ming blinked, then shook his head firmly. He had not felt the slightest irritation.
"?"
Seeing this, Lu Jin was taken aback. That did not seem right.
"Did your mind feel even a little dazed?"
Lu Ming shook his head.
"Did you hear things that weren't there?"
He shook his head again.
Lu Jin was stunned. The two stared at each other, and after a moment, he asked in puzzlement, "That's not right. Everyone knows about the Rain Pearl's adverse effects. How come you had no reaction?"
A thought occurred to Lu Ming. Could it be because of the Buddha's Fury Flame Lotus Divine Ability imprint branded on my Divine Ability Bone? That mysterious stroke of fortune was the only thing he had that could be capable of neutralizing those effects.
While Lu Ming was making his guess, Lu Jin thought of the same thing. He nodded slightly and said softly, "It's said that some legendary Great Divine Abilities do possess a mysterious power to protect their masters. Perhaps it silently eliminated the Rain Pearl's adverse effects."
Hearing this, Lu Ming's heart burst into bloom, and he silently praised it as a fine treasure.
"Then can I keep absorbing Rain Pearls?" Lu Ming asked expectantly. With the aid of these Rain Pearls, his progress in the third round of bone refinement would improve tremendously. Though he might not manage to complete it within ten days, he could at least bring his progress close to completion.
That way, if he had to face those veteran disciples who had completed three rounds of bone refinement at the hall gathering, he would have a much better chance.
Lu Jin pondered for a few breaths, then nodded. His grandson was clearly no ordinary person, and since that was the case, there was no need to restrict him.
"In that case, carry on. I originally thought these six Rain Pearls would be enough for you, but now it seems they won't last long. If I'd known, I wouldn't have wiped out all those Rain Spawn. I should have let one more go," Lu Jin said with some regret.
Realization dawned on Lu Ming, and he widened his eyes at Lu Jin. "Grandpa, you didn't act last night and insisted on waiting until today. Were you using me as bait to fish?"
"Uh..."
"Haha, you caught me, brat. Sharp of you."