Chapter 10

In Zhu Junyan's view, these days Zhu Lingwu had basically been recuperating in the private residence at the back of the county office, where outsiders could not easily approach him.

In Zhu Lingwu's private residence, there were three maidservants who, following his instructions, watched over him, so it was naturally impossible for strangers to enter casually.

According to the reports of those maidservants, only Liangcai, the little servant, had seen Zhu Lingwu during this time. It was unlikely that he would have the audacity to pass on messages from outsiders to Zhu Lingwu.

Moreover, when Liangcai initially reported, he said that Zhu Lingwu had instructed him to do so. This must not have been something he heard from somewhere else and falsely claimed as Zhu Lingwu's orders.

After such deliberation, it seemed that only the demons from the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge could easily infiltrate the county office and use some means to convey messages to Zhu Lingwu. However, the true intentions of these demons were difficult to guess.

A scholar like Zhu Junyan, naturally, would not think of demons as terrifying beasts that would open their bloodthirsty mouths to devour people upon sight, as ordinary commoners might.

In fact, many demons, after reaching the Transformation stage, enjoy transforming into human form and wandering in the human world to experience human life, which allows them to better learn human wisdom. This is very significant for their later cultivation.

They usually also learn to eat human food and rarely hunt humans for food, unless they are fierce beasts by nature and happen to be hungry.

It's like the carnivores in a zoo; they can eat a lot of food provided by the keepers, so they naturally wouldn't consider the keepers as food. Moreover, they possess a certain level of intelligence, which improves as they travel through the human world.

However, the way of thinking of demons is still different from that of humans. Often, they will do some strange and unusual things in human society based on their preferences, much like the legendary cultivators who play among humans.

Now, Zhu Junyan was somewhat suspicious that the lightning strike on his son had attracted the attention of a great demon in the Transformation stage from the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge, who then came to the county office and set some kind of trap for his foolish son.

After all, the Tongshan County Office was not just any place. There were high-ranking cultivators from the guardian sects of the Chong'an Kingdom who had set up protective restrictions during its construction. If it were not a demon of a certain level, it would likely be detected by the restrictions upon entering the county office.

Thinking about this, Zhu Junyan felt something was amiss. Even if a great demon from the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge came, it would be impossible for it to completely avoid triggering the restrictions of the county office. If that were the case, his position as the magistrate of Tongshan would be in constant jeopardy.

Moreover, according to his knowledge, the demon king of the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge was a monkey, whose strength far exceeded his own, a mere Seventh Layer Qi Cultivator, but it had not yet reached the Transformation stage.

For a moment, Zhu Junyan could not figure out what was happening. He could only stare at Zhu Lingwu, hoping that his son would be more obedient and tell him the truth, so he wouldn't worry.

Zhu Lingwu, of course, had no idea that Zhu Junyan had thought so much in such a short time. Hearing that his father had linked the matter to the demons of the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge, he couldn't help but think about how to explain it.

To be honest, Zhu Lingwu really didn't know how to explain where he had learned about the origin of the Baghdad battery, but the current situation seemed to give him an excuse.

So, Zhu Lingwu looked at Zhu Junyan and blinked, feigning difficulty, and said, "Father, I... I don't know how to say it. While I was recuperating in my room, I was still unwilling to give up on cultivating the Ninefold Thunder Dominance Body Technique. I didn't dare to seek out lightning again, but I was unhappy about giving up. Then, I kept thinking about how to find lightning to cultivate. Suddenly, a voice asked me if I wanted to cultivate this technique. If I did, it could tell me the true method of cultivation!"

"The true method of cultivating the Ninefold Thunder Dominance Body Technique? You mean, this training platform and the magical treasures below that can release electric currents were all told to you by that mysterious voice? Hmph, so you don't know who it is, whether it's a human or a demon?"

Zhu Junyan looked at Zhu Lingwu with some suspicion. He felt that his son seemed to have changed, becoming much smarter. The words he spoke were unclear and not like what he used to say.

As a father, Zhu Junyan knew his son best. He knew that his son's mind was somewhat single-minded, which was why he had gone to seek out lightning.

To maintain the innate spiritual power in their bloodline, noble families often married within their own clans, leading to many deformed or mentally challenged children, a consequence of inbreeding that could not be avoided even in the world of cultivation.

So, the original owner of Zhu Lingwu's body, that eight-year-old child, was somewhat intellectually weak. This might also be a side effect of the breakthrough of the Witch God Body, similar to Li Yuanba of the Sui and Tang dynasties, not entirely a fool, but clearly lacking in intelligence.

But now, Zhu Lingwu could no longer pretend to be a half-witted boy. Speaking in a child's voice was already a stretch, and pretending to be a fool was impossible.

Zhu Junyan hadn't thought about the possibility of soul possession. He just felt that the heavens had eyes, and perhaps his son had become more perceptive after being struck by lightning, no longer so single-minded.

Thinking about this, Zhu Junyan couldn't help but feel a bit happy. Ancestors be praised, this little fifth one had finally become more perceptive.

"Father, don't ask me these questions. I don't know anything. All I know is that this training platform can help me cultivate the Ninefold Thunder Dominance Body Technique. I want to cultivate it, Father. You should know that the electric currents released by these jars are not very strong and won't kill anyone. They are perfect for my cultivation. I don't care, but I want to cultivate it!"

Zhu Lingwu sensed the change in Zhu Junyan's mood and quickly took advantage of this subtle psychological shift, putting on a childlike act and starting to act spoiled.

In his previous life, he didn't have children, but he had seen on TV how annoying children would cry and fuss.

Seeing Zhu Lingwu take such an attitude, Zhu Junyan's brows furrowed slightly. He knew his son's temper, and to be honest, the electric currents released by the jars were indeed not very dangerous.

Moreover, although his son had not revealed who taught him to make these electric jars, it seemed that with these jars, he could indeed cultivate the so-called Ninefold Thunder Dominance Body Technique.

However, he was still somewhat worried about whether his single-minded son could truly cultivate the martial arts techniques he had bought from commoner charlatans.

The authenticity of the so-called Ninefold Thunder Dominance Body Technique needed to be verified. After all, if there were any mistakes in the cultivation of martial arts techniques from the commoner class, it could be fatal.

Zhu Junyan thought for a moment and decided to have Liu Ping come over to verify it...