Chapter 10

Boom! Boom!

With a boom, lightning struck again, tearing at Zhao Yun's flesh and making it split open. Threads of lightning were absorbed through the wounds, merging with the lightning inside his body, making the thunder even more powerful, refining his physique until it radiated with lightning.

At this moment, if anyone were here, they would surely be amazed.

Being struck by lightning and coming out unscathed, if this news spread, it would surely be a marvel of the world.

Ugh…

Zhao Yun groaned continuously. Although the lightning couldn't kill him, it hurt! His bones crackled, his muscles and tendons felt as if they were being hammered by iron, and it was like a fierce flame was burning him, causing his whole body to tremble with pain.

By now, a torrential rain had begun to fall.

Looking into the distance, he appeared as a flickering light, his figure blurred by the lightning and rain.

Drawing lightning in the rain, refining his body with the lightning.

His enlightenment and cultivation had advanced, moving from the fourth level to the fifth.

By midnight, the heavy rain had ceased.

Zhao Yun did not rise, remaining as still as a rock, his appearance solemn and dignified. He had already begun to circulate the Bone Washing and Sinew Changing Classic. This heart scripture truly had some divine power; the bloody gashes caused by the lightning slowly healed as it circulated.

When the stars filled the sky again, he slowly opened his eyes.

The lightning had refined his body, making it even stronger, and even the breath he exhaled carried a hint of lightning.

"This feeling is truly wonderful," Zhao Yun said as he flipped to his feet, delivering a powerful Dragon Roar Palm. A deep and resonant dragon's roar echoed, and a boulder several dozen feet away was struck with a five-fingered imprint, causing the massive stone to crack.

Seeing this, he flipped his hand and delivered another palm strike.

This time, he infused it with lightning, and the dragon's roar was accompanied by the sound of thunder.

Boom!

On the spot, the boulder exploded, and Zhao Yun's palm sent fragments of stone flying in all directions.

The palm strike was even more formidable.

Such power, if it hit a person, would surely be very painful.

"A solid foundation indeed has many benefits," Zhao Yun smiled. Previously, when he used the Dragon Roar Palm, he would be injured by the internal force. Now, he only felt a tingling sensation.

This was all thanks to the Bone Washing and Sinew Changing Classic and the Primordial Heavenly Lightning Technique, two methods that, when used together, were truly profound and boundless.

Suddenly, a series of golden characters appeared in his mind.

The Moon Goddess was transmitting a secret technique, the golden characters as dazzling as ever, revealing the secrets of forging.

Zhao Yun stared intently, always eager and studious at such moments.

Sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, he focused his mind to comprehend.

The Moon Goddess, meanwhile, lounged leisurely on the moon, enjoying a comfortable nap, occasionally glancing at the vast expanse of the universe.

Seeing Zhao Yun, she knew his mind was deeply engrossed.

The secret technique explained that forging and refining the body were quite similar. Removing impurities was essential to enhance the hardness, flexibility, and density of a weapon, much like solidifying the body's foundation to create a good weapon.

Of course, this was just the basics.

The secrets of forging were vast and profound, and what the Moon Goddess transmitted was just the tip of the iceberg, but it was more than enough.

At some point, he opened his eyes.

He stared for a moment, then slightly tilted his head, his eyes moving left and right. In the sky, a star had fallen, drawing a beautiful arc in the night.

"Is that a meteor?" Zhao Yun murmured softly.

Boom!

As he spoke, a deafening explosion echoed. The meteor he mentioned hit the ground, causing a distant mountain peak to collapse, and many fragments of rock were scattered to the mountain where he was.

"Fetch it," the Moon Goddess said casually.

"Is there a treasure?"

Zhao Yun's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly got up and ran down the mountain toward the collapsed peak.

The distance was not short.

When he arrived, he saw a scene of chaos, the ground covered with broken rocks. The impact was so great that many towering ancient trees had been knocked down and burned.

Zhao Yun narrowed his eyes and looked around.

Finally, his gaze settled on the center of a pile of broken rocks. There was a black, irregularly shaped stone, about the size of a wine jar, pitted and uneven.

"Xiu'er, is this it?" Zhao Yun asked.

"Hmm," the Moon Goddess responded indifferently.

"Could this be a treasure?"

Zhao Yun approached the black stone, crouching down and examining it from all angles, occasionally tapping it with his hand. He couldn't figure it out and wanted to pick it up to study it further. To his surprise, this small stone was much heavier than he imagined, weighing about 500 pounds. He had to use his true essence to lift it.

"What is this?" Zhao Yun asked, holding the stone in his arms, curious.

"Extraterrestrial meteoric iron, to be precise, extraterrestrial meteoric rock. After removing the impurities, what remains is meteoric iron."

"Good stuff."

Zhao Yun licked his lips, his eyes shining. He had heard of meteoric iron before, a material for forging weapons that was always in demand but rarely available. Even if it were available, nobles and aristocrats might not be able to afford it. He had only heard of it and never seen it, let alone extraterrestrial meteoric iron. The addition of "extraterrestrial" made it sound even more impressive.

Just as he thought! When luck comes, it can't be stopped.

He was in dire need of a suitable weapon, and using this meteoric iron to forge one would be perfect, surely making it formidable.

"Put down the stone, and you can live," a cold voice sounded from behind, the voice hoarse, as if smoked.

Zhao Yun turned sharply.

He saw a man in black, with a scruffy face, a fierce and terrifying appearance, and a prominent scar on his face. He was smiling at Zhao Yun, but the smile was chilling.

His eyes were bloodshot and red, sinister and violent.

"True Spirit Realm," Zhao Yun thought. He had been too focused on the meteoric rock to notice someone approaching.

It made sense; with such a commotion, anyone in the mountains would have been alerted.

He glanced at the Moon Goddess, who must have known beforehand but didn't inform him.

"Hand it over," the man in black said casually, extending his large hand. His demeanor suggested he intended to rob and kill.

"Since you want it so much, here you go," Zhao Yun said, and he threw the meteoric rock to the man in black from a distance.

"You're quite sensible," the man in black sneered, casually raising his hand. He was certain the falling meteoric rock was a treasure.

However, he underestimated its weight.

Not knowing it weighed 500 pounds, he caught it with one hand and staggered backward.

"Dragon Roar,"

Before he could steady himself, Zhao Yun pounced, delivering a powerful Dragon Roar Palm.

No way, a True Spirit Realm one could think of taking my treasure?

The man in black was caught off guard and took a full hit from Zhao Yun, which was indeed very painful.

A mere Condensation Essence Realm, how could he have such a powerful palm strike?

The man in black was shocked; the force of the palm strike was substantial, causing him to spit blood.

"Dragon Roar,"

Zhao Yun shouted, his palm striking again, aiming to finish the job.

"You little brat, asking for death," the man in black roared, standing firm and delivering a punch with a whistling sound.

Bang!

The punch and palm collided, and Zhao Yun was forced to step back, his palm bloody and his internal organs aching.

The man in black, however, remained unmoved.

The disparity in martial cultivation was evident; in most cases, a True Spirit Realm would easily overpower a Condensation Essence Realm.

"Die!"

The man in black coldly hummed, taking a step forward and leaping, delivering a palm strike from the sky.

Zhao Yun did not move, allowing the palm to strike him.

To the man in black, this small Condensation Essence Realm martial cultivator seemed to have been scared stiff.

In reality, Zhao Yun was not foolish.

At the moment the palm strike was about to hit, he used the Earth Escape Technique.

The man in black's powerful palm strike missed, causing him to lose balance.

Zhao Yun, meanwhile, emerged from the ground.

The man in black had just landed and was still unsteady when Zhao Yun grabbed his arm and swung him around.

Bang!

The scene that followed was quite satisfying. The True Spirit Realm one was thrown to the ground by the Condensation Essence Realm five, creating a large human-shaped pit in the ground covered with broken rocks.

Pfft!

The man in black spat blood, his eyes bulging, almost popping out of their sockets. Inside his body, his organs were displaced, his bones shattered, and his meridians severed.

Damn, one wrong move, and he was stunned.

This fall not only injured his muscles and bones but left him paralyzed on the spot, his physical strength being too weak.

"Have a good journey,"

Zhao Yun said casually, delivering a final palm strike to the man in black's forehead, ending his life.

The man in black's pupils contracted, his face full of frustration as he died.

He had every reason to be frustrated. He had come with great confidence and was killed by a Condensation Essence Realm. He had been too careless. If he had known Zhao Yun was not an ordinary opponent, he would have been more cautious, and he still had many hidden techniques he hadn't used.

Zhao Yun squatted down and took the man in black's money bag.

When he opened it, he was surprised to find it full of silver bills, totaling over a thousand taels.

"Did he rob a bank?"

Zhao Yun whistled, the richness of the spoils catching him off guard.

Putting the money bag in his pocket, he continued to search.

There were various small items, but they didn't seem very valuable.

Finally, he found a piece of jade in the man in black's pocket.

The jade was black, square, and about the size of a baby's fist, with a pattern carved on the bottom.

"A seal," Zhao Yun recognized.

A seal, in essence, was something that people of status would have made to avoid the hassle of signing documents. Like the emperor's jade seal, every imperial edict would bear a seal.

Zhao Yun breathed on the bottom of the black jade seal and pressed it on his arm to see the man in black's identity.

However, what appeared was not a name but a wolf-shaped symbol.

"Interesting," Zhao Yun muttered, putting away the black jade seal and taking a small purple bottle, also found on the man in black. The bottle contained corpse-dissolving powder, used to destroy evidence.

This was a valuable item, only available on the black market.

A pinch of powder from the bottle was sprinkled on the man in black's body, which gradually turned into blood.

"A powerful cultivator is approaching, a Profound Sun Realm," the Moon Goddess said casually. The True Spirit Realm one had been a test for Zhao Yun.

A Profound Sun Realm? Better to be cautious.

For Zhao Yun, such a cultivator was not to be trifled with; a single palm strike could cripple him.

He picked up the meteoric rock and ran.

After a few dozen feet, he used the Earth Escape Technique again. Running wouldn't be fast enough; the Profound Sun Realm was already there.

Soon, a black shadow flashed by.

It was an old man in a hemp robe, looking around and narrowing his eyes when he saw the pool of blood.

Underground, Zhao Yun held his breath, not daring to reveal his presence.

The Earth Escape Technique, though profound, had its weaknesses. Revealing his presence could still lead to discovery. The old man, being a Profound Sun Realm, had a keen sense of perception. A moment of carelessness could expose him.

The rest of the scene was not hard to imagine.

A dark and windy night, deep in the mountains, was a perfect place for murder and robbery.

"Where is he?" the old man in the hemp robe murmured, looking around. He had clearly sensed something, but it had disappeared in an instant.

After a moment, he left, though cautiously.

Even after he left, Zhao Yun did not emerge. The old man in the hemp robe was cunning and had hidden nearby.

It took about half an incense stick before the old man finally turned and left.

After a long time, Zhao Yun emerged from the ground, drenched in cold sweat.

As the saying goes, the older, the wiser. It was true.

If the Moon Goddess hadn't warned him, he would have foolishly come out, and that would have been disastrous.

"The world is full of dangers!"

Zhao Yun sighed, holding the meteoric rock and fleeing deeper into the mountains.

He soon found a cave and used branches to cover the entrance before sitting down and placing the meteoric rock with a thud. The thought of the old man in the hemp robe still made him shudder with fear.

Looking at the Moon Goddess, she was still as leisurely as ever.

Zhao Yun glanced at her, knowing she was not a simple being.