Chapter 9

"Don't worry, with me here, a mere soul weapon won't hurt you."

In Zhong Yue's mind, the voice of the little薪火 (Xin Huo) child suddenly sounded, sighing deeply: "However, I can only act through your body. After I act, I might be exposed, and many people will have designs on me. We can only flee for our lives... Hey? Someone has already made a move!"

The soul weapon was just about to pierce Zhong Yue's forehead when a hand suddenly reached out from the side, and the thumb and index finger gently pinched the soul weapon, holding it between the fingers.

Cold sweat broke out on Zhong Yue's forehead as he felt his soul tremble from the faint sword qi emanating from the soul weapon.

That moment was extremely dangerous, making him feel as if he had just walked between life and death!

"Pity!"

In Zhong Yue's mind, the little薪火 (Xin Huo) child flew back and forth, sighing deeply: "I had planned to expose myself and detonate the suppressed demon souls here, releasing them to slaughter everyone on this Sword Gate Mountain, then we would wander the world to find the pure-blooded Fuxi divine race..."

Zhong Yue shivered, finding the little薪火 (Xin Huo) child's words even more terrifying than the sword just now.

The soul weapon continued to vibrate, seemingly trying to escape from the two fingers.

"Second Uncle, stop."

The owner of the two fingers was a young man in purple, with a handsome appearance and eyes like stars, smiling at the old man of the Tianfeng clan: "You can't sneak an attack on a cultivator. Even if you kill him, it will only make people laugh at the Tianfeng clan's lack of tolerance."

The old man of the Tianfeng clan was startled and quickly stood up, walking out of the Scripture Hall: "Why did you come to the Upper Academy?"

"Zuoxiangsheng defeated Second Uncle and took the Sky Hall from the Tianfeng clan, tarnishing our clan's reputation. How can the Tianfeng clan tolerate this?"

The young man smiled gently: "I came to challenge him and see what he's made of!"

The old man's eyes lit up: "With you here, we can definitely take back the Sky Hall!"

The young man shook his head and smiled: "Zuoxiangsheng did well, indeed giving the poor students a chance to rise. The Sky Hall should remain under his management. I came down the mountain mainly to restore the Tianfeng clan's reputation by defeating him and showing that the Tianfeng clan is not without talent!"

He turned to Zhong Yue and bowed: "My second uncle was rude. I apologize on his behalf."

Zhong Yue hurriedly returned the bow, feeling a bit of goodwill towards him: "Senior Brother, who are you?"

"Sword Gate cultivator, Tianfeng clan Tian Yan Zong."

Tian Yan Zong stood up and floated away: "Second Uncle, don't make things difficult for him. I came down the mountain to challenge Zuoxiangsheng and restore our clan's reputation. Don't make the Tianfeng clan lose face again!"

The old man's face was dark and light, and he suddenly swept his sleeves and returned to the Scripture Hall.

"Ha ha ha ha, is Senior Brother Zuoxiangsheng of the Zuqiu clan here?"

Tian Yan Zong laughed loudly in mid-air, his laughter echoing through the mountains: "Tianfeng clan Tian Yan Zong, here to learn!"

Zhong Yue watched Tian Yan Zong leave and whispered: "Tian Yan Zong's breadth of mind and spirit are no less than Zuoxiangsheng's. With such a spirit and such a demeanor, he is a hero..."

"Whether it's Tian Yan Zong or Zuoxiangsheng, they are both young, around twenty years old, only five or six years older than me, yet they already have such a presence and spirit. In the future, they will surely become remarkable figures in the Great Wasteland!"

"Cultivators, they are the true cultivators I admire!"

Zhong Yue's heart surged like the sea. If he only saw the actions of the old man of the Tianfeng clan, he would not be eager to become a cultivator. But seeing Tian Yan Zong and Zuoxiangsheng, he realized what the spirit and demeanor of a cultivator should be!

"This encounter has suddenly broadened and settled your mind, giving you a bit of the demeanor of a cultivator."

In Zhong Yue's mind, the little薪火 (Xin Huo) child praised: "In the future, you might become a remarkable cultivator. Of course, a cultivator of this level is far inferior to a pure-blooded薪火 (Xin Huo) inheritor."

Zhong Yue, used to being criticized, did not take it to heart. He thought: "Although the Tianfeng clan won't cause me trouble, no one has taken me in to teach me cultivation techniques. Without combat techniques, I cannot fully utilize my strength."

For example, just now, when the Upper Academy student summoned the soul weapon and used sword techniques, Zhong Yue could not resist and had to rely on the little机灵 (Ji Ling) to create a distraction. If he were proficient in combat techniques, he would not have to just dodge.

Although the Tianfeng clan won't cause him trouble now, no Upper Academy cultivator has taken him in to teach him cultivation techniques, so Zhong Yue cannot learn those combat techniques and fully utilize his strength.

"Life is short. If one's aspirations are small, even with great talent, it is hard to achieve anything! They don't take me in, but can't I listen to lectures on my own? As long as I can learn, why should I care about the title?"

Zhong Yue's eyes lit up, and he stepped into the Scripture Hall. When Sword Gate cultivators descend to the Upper Academy, they often teach the Upper Academy students in the Scripture Hall. Today, there were over a dozen cultivators in the Scripture Hall, each teaching dozens of Upper Academy students the principles of cultivation.

Zhong Yue entered a quiet room and stood in a corner. He saw over a hundred Upper Academy students sitting cross-legged, listening quietly to an old cultivator on the platform.

The old cultivator was slightly surprised to see him enter and nodded slightly.

The other Upper Academy students also looked over, and the old cultivator continued his lecture, his voice like a bell: "Mountains have mountain spirits, rivers have river spirits, trees have tree spirits, grass has grass spirits, clouds have cloud spirits, winds have wind spirits, metals have metal spirits, earth has earth spirits, the moon has moon spirits, and the sun has sun spirits!"

"By sensing the spirits of heaven and earth, corresponding spirits will form in the mind."

"The spirits are totem spirits, sacrificial spirits."

"The people of the Great Wasteland have long worshipped mountains, rivers, divine trees, sacred herbs, winds, clouds, the sun, and the moon. Over time, these elements have gained spirits. Only those with strong enough souls can sense the spirits of heaven and earth and draw them into their bodies."

"Only those with spirits can become cultivators! When the spirit and soul combine, they form the soul, which is the primordial spirit!"

"Look, this is my spirit!"

Suddenly, a sword gate appeared above the old cultivator's head. From the gate, a stone figure about a foot tall walked out, with four arms, each hand open, and an eye in the palm, glowing with a strange light!

"My spirit is a mountain spirit. When the mountain spirit combines with the soul, it becomes the soul, also called the primordial spirit! The mountain god has four eyes, seeing all directions, so my soul also has four eyes!"

The old cultivator's soul flew out and combined with the mountain spirit, merging into one. Then, his primordial spirit grew larger and taller, becoming a hundred-foot-tall four-armed stone figure standing behind him, majestic and awe-inspiring, with four arms spread wide and four eyes looking in all directions, leaving the Upper Academy students in awe!

Zhong Yue was also deeply moved. He had always heard others talk about "spirits," also called "totem spirits" or "totem spirits," but he never knew what they were. Now, he finally saw a spirit and gained a preliminary understanding of it.

"To sense a spirit, one must have a sufficiently strong soul. To have a sufficiently strong soul, one must practice diligently, undergo trials, and hone oneself. To undergo trials in the depths of the Great Wasteland, one needs great strength."

The old cultivator patiently guided them, gradually leading them into the topic, smiling: "And great strength can only be achieved through combat techniques. You have entered the Upper Academy of the Sword Gate, so your foundation is good, your mental strength is strong, your soul can leave the body, and your combat awareness is not weak. You can practice the combat technique I will teach you today, the Thunderbolt Sword Technique!"

His words were captivating, gradually drawing Zhong Yue and others into a wondrous realm.

"The Thunderbolt Sword Technique involves using mental strength to visualize spring thunder. Spring thunder is the first thunder of the year. You need to use your mental strength to construct a thunder totem. Then, refine the thunder totem into sword qi, and the Thunderbolt Sword Technique will be considered initially mastered."

"When the Thunderbolt Sword Technique's sword qi is activated, it is like the first thunder of spring, blooming far away, covering a thousand miles in an instant, slicing through a thousand miles away! In close combat, it can kill within ten steps, bursting with thunderous power, destroying everything in its path!"

Time passed unnoticed. The old cultivator imparted all the essentials of the Thunderbolt Sword Technique, using his powerful mental strength to demonstrate how to construct the thunder totem, holding nothing back.

Zhong Yue listened with rapt attention. When the Thunderbolt Sword Technique was finished, the old cultivator closed his eyes and stopped speaking, and the Upper Academy students in the quiet room finally came out of their trance.

The Upper Academy students were excited and began practicing the Thunderbolt Sword Technique, even engaging in sparring to observe and improve their weaknesses.

"Thunder is extremely fast, striking from the sky and disappearing in an instant. In ancient times, living beings worshipped thunder, which led to the creation of the thunder totem, containing the power of thunder."

Zhong Yue did not immediately try to construct the thunder totem to test the Thunderbolt Sword Technique. Instead, he continued to visualize, thinking: "The key to the Thunderbolt Sword Technique lies in the thunder totem. The old cultivator's thunder totem was vivid, but the key is not in the form of the thunder totem, but in whether it can fully express the momentum of the first thunder of spring!"

"The thunder totem is very complex and difficult to master all its changes in a short time. Only by capturing the essence of the thunder totem can one quickly learn the Thunderbolt Sword Technique and apply it in combat, then refine the thunder totem to increase the power of the Thunderbolt Sword Technique!"

He fell into deep visualization, recalling the times he had seen lightning strike from the sky, like a sword piercing through heaven and earth, its light covering thousands of miles!

And the first thunder of spring, breaking the winter cold, shaking the soul, was another kind of realm!

After a long time, Zhong Yue opened his eyes, stood up, and began practicing the Thunderbolt Sword Technique.

By then, many Upper Academy students had already practiced the Thunderbolt Sword Technique to a decent level, their sword techniques almost indistinguishable from the old cultivator's.

However, when Zhong Yue practiced the Thunderbolt Sword Technique, it was very different from the old cultivator's, appearing very clumsy, lacking the agility of thunder.

The old cultivator remained seated with his eyes closed, while behind him, the mountain god with four hands and four eyes opened its eyes, closely watching all the Upper Academy students' every move.

After a long time, the old cultivator sighed, stood up, and left, saying dejectedly: "Only one person has truly inherited my teachings..."

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Zhu Zhi knows that this chapter was uploaded three hours late, but do you know, brothers, that I wrote this chapter three times! I wrote a total of 9,000 words! The first draft was written according to the outline, but after reading it several times, I felt it lacked spirit, so I rewrote it. The second draft was still unsatisfactory, but it was already time to release the chapter, and I was in a panic, so I gritted my teeth and rewrote it again. The chapter you see now is 3,000 words, but it is 3,000 words out of 9,000, the part I am satisfied with!

Such painstaking effort, nothing more! What else can I say? Give Dao Zun a recommendation vote!

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