Chapter 76

"Um, you must be that little Sun who got struck by lightning! Hmph, I didn’t think you’d dare. Were you planning to transcend directly through the tribulation?"

An elderly voice came from a stone house in the middle of the courtyard, and then an old man slowly walked out.

At first glance, this old man didn’t seem particularly special. His hair was thin and white, his face was full of wrinkles, and his skin was slightly yellow. He wore simple clothes, without the elaborate decorations of the scholar-gentry, looking more like an ordinary peasant farmer.

"You are the ancestor? Hmm, I don’t know you!"

Zhu Lingwu deliberately put on a childlike act, and soon his gaze swept over the other two stone and wooden houses. Two more people emerged from them.

One looked slightly younger than the first, with fewer wrinkles on his face. However, his skin seemed to have many hard lumps, as if a layer of stone covered his body. He was dressed like an ordinary peasant, with no decorations of the scholar-gentry.

The last one looked much younger, appearing to be in his forties. His face was rosy, and he was dressed like a normal member of the scholar-gentry, wearing a white, clean robe. His black hair was tied up with a white ice-like jade hairpin, and he had several jade pendants hanging from his body.

The three of them standing together looked like a nobleman of the scholar-gentry class accompanied by two peasant farmers. However, Zhu Lingwu knew that all three were the ancestral cultivators of the Zhu family’s seven branches. The one who looked the youngest was actually over two hundred years old.

Zhu Lingwu looked at the last person, and he seemed to have a vague memory. This person was the ancestor who had used magic to heal him in Tongshan County.

"Haha, Elder Crane, Elder Stone, this little Sun seems to remember me. It’s good to know that my journey of a thousand miles to save him wasn’t in vain!"

The ancestor who looked like a middle-aged man seemed pleased that Zhu Lingwu recognized him and couldn’t help but boast to the other two ancestral cultivators.

"Little Sun greets the three ancestors!"

Zhu Lingwu, after all, wasn’t a real child. He knew what to do at this moment and bowed respectfully to the three ancestral cultivators, appearing obedient.

The oldest ancestral cultivator, known as Elder Crane, was the eldest of the Zhu family’s seven branches. His cultivation was naturally the highest among the three. Unfortunately, if he couldn’t break through the Golden Core stage, he probably wouldn’t live for many more years.

Seeing Zhu Lingwu’s respectful demeanor, Elder Crane’s hand gently lifted, as if an invisible hand was supporting Zhu Lingwu.

"Hmm, good child, that’s enough. No need for so much formality. I heard that you were attacked on your way here? The assassin was a Qi Cultivator? Good child, how did you survive that Qi Cultivator’s attack? Little White, didn’t give you any magical treasures for protection, did he?"

The "Little White" mentioned by Elder Crane was naturally the youngest-looking ancestor, the only one who had met Zhu Lingwu. Zhu Lingwu had always made excuses, saying that he had given him magical treasures, but now the truth was revealed.

Zhu Lingwu thought to himself that it was indeed coming, and they were still going to ask about this. So, he followed the invisible force released by Elder Crane, straightened his body, and blinked at Elder Crane.

"How did the ancestor know about this! Oh, I know, it must have been Liu Ping. Hehe, Little Sun lied to Liu Ping, saying that the magical treasure given by the ancestor protected him!"

Zhu Lingwu deliberately made a look of sudden realization, smiling at Elder Crane as if he had done something very clever.

The three old men exchanged glances. Combined, they were over a thousand years old and wouldn’t be easily fooled by Zhu Lingwu’s words.

"Oh, then, Little Sun, tell us, how did you kill that Qi Cultivator? Hmm, I see that you haven’t started cultivating Qi yet! Tsk tsk, that’s strange. How did you survive?"

Elder Stone, the other one, deliberately asked Zhu Lingwu with a curious tone. His divine sense had already scanned Zhu Lingwu, confirming that he hadn’t cultivated Qi.

"Hmm, that’s because Little Sun has developed a special ability. Little Sun can control lightning. The assassin, though very powerful, didn’t expect Little Sun to control lightning. So, Little Sun took advantage of his surprise, used the Swift Swallow Step from the martial arts he learned to get close to him, and then hit his head with the Thunder Palm, killing him completely! But he had some troublesome magical tools. If Little Sun didn’t have lightning protection, the three ancestors wouldn’t see Little Sun now!"

Zhu Lingwu put on a proud demeanor, revealing his ability to control electricity. He had long thought about this, knowing that he would definitely need to use this ability in the future, so there was no point in hiding it.

If he revealed it now, it could explain everything that had happened before. In fact, he had indeed relied on this ability to kill Meng Yashi.

The three old men exchanged surprised glances, and Elder Crane spoke, "Good child, what did you say? You can control lightning? Hmm, could it be that being struck by lightning gave you this extraordinary ability! Good child, show the ancestors!"

"Hmm, the three ancestors, Little Sun’s ability has a flaw. It requires a source of lightning to control it. Without a source, I can’t produce lightning out of thin air!"

Zhu Lingwu deliberately showed a bit of difficulty. It wasn’t easy to deceive these three ancestors, so he decided to be honest.

Hearing his words, the three old men exchanged glances again. Then, the one called Little White spoke, "Oh, there’s such a limitation. Hehe, but that’s not a problem. Watch the ancestor create some lightning for you, Little Sun, and you can demonstrate it to us!"

As he spoke, he waved his left hand forward, and a water-like energy ball formed in front of him. This energy ball then exploded, transforming into a flickering arc of lightning in the air.

"The ancestor is so powerful!"

Zhu Lingwu deliberately put on an admiring look, but with his soul consciousness retracted, he naturally didn’t know what method the old man used to create the lightning arc.

Then, Zhu Lingwu reached out and grabbed the lightning arc, bringing it to his palm. The lightning arc, now tamed, flowed obediently in his hand.

"Ancestors, look, this is how Little Sun plays with lightning. Hmm, the Nine Revolutions Lightning Body Technique that Little Sun is currently cultivating also requires absorbing this kind of lightning! Ancestor, can you teach Little Sun how to create lightning? It would make my cultivation much easier!"

While playing with the lightning arc, Zhu Lingwu had other thoughts. Since he had come to see these three old men, he couldn’t let this visit be in vain. As an eight-year-old child, it was normal to ask for benefits.

Zhu Lingwu knew that the method of creating lightning arcs was definitely a spell, which he couldn’t learn without cultivating Qi. But if he could get something else, that would be good too…