Chapter Seventy-Four: Shattering the Primordial Spirit

“Thank you for the warning, Master Qingyi,” I said.

At that moment, Zhang Changlu’s face twisted in anger. “You little wretch! How dare you sully the name of Mount Longhu with your underhanded tricks? Today, I will behead you right here!”

With that, Zhang Changlu swiftly drew a yellow talisman from his sleeve. As he began reciting an incantation, the sky changed in an instant—dark clouds swallowed the sun, and blood-red lightning coiled among them like fierce, writhing dragons.

I had heard Master Li mention before that the Taoists of Mount Longhu had a method to summon heavenly thunder, though I’d never seen it myself. Even Master Li, who was said to know the technique, had never used it in my presence. Who would have thought that even someone like Zhang Changlu had been taught such a formidable art? Each year, Mount Longhu selects the worthy, granting only the virtuous the opportunity to learn this method. Yet, it seems their chosen ones are not so virtuous after all.

In the next instant, Zhang Changlu shouted, “By decree!”

The yellow talisman shot skyward like an arrow, piercing the clouds above. Then, with another thunderous command, his voice reverberated, and a crimson bolt of lightning tore through the sky, hurtling straight toward me.

The lightning moved with terrifying speed—barely a blink, and it was upon me. But I quickly stepped into the Seven-Star Gang Step, a footwork Master Li had taught me, and evaded the first strike from the heavens.

The thunderbolt struck the stone ground, blasting a deep crater into the flagstones.

This method of summoning heavenly thunder was indeed formidable, but its power depended on talismans and his yin-yang Bagua sword. If I could destroy that sword, I reckoned his thunder arts would lose their potency.

With that in mind, I dodged another bolt and rushed straight at him.

Seeing me close in, Zhang Changlu summoned a dozen more lightning strikes, all crashing down toward me. Yet Master Li’s Seven-Star Gang Step was a perfect counter to his thunderbolts; no matter how many he called down, none could touch me.

Zhang Changlu, realizing this, gave a sinister grin and began stepping into a different footwork. Unlike the Seven-Star Gang Step, it seemed connected to it in some mysterious way. Suddenly, the thunder changed direction, reversing the path of the Seven-Star step and raining down on me from all sides.

It came so suddenly I had no way to dodge. I could only raise my arms to shield myself.

In that instant, lightning exploded around me, crackling and booming, my hairs standing on end, yet I was only forced back half a meter. More miraculously, I was completely unharmed.

As the thunder struck, I glimpsed a layer of white scales emerging on my arms.

This was an unexpected boon. Aside from appearing when I’d drunk wine, I never knew these scales could manifest naturally—and even withstand the heavenly thunder summoned by Taoist arts.

Of course, this thunder was far weaker than the one that descended when I invoked the Way of Heaven for my grandfather’s apotheosis. Still, for any ordinary cultivator, these strikes from Zhang Changlu would have spelled certain death. But my scales withstood it, rendering me fearless of his thunder arts.

Since his lightning could not harm me, I no longer needed to evade.

I simply stood my ground.

At first, Zhang Changlu was astonished that I remained unscathed. When he saw I was no longer moving, he flashed a wicked smile and hurled three more thunder talismans, each accompanied by a decree. With a furious shout, a dozen bolts of thunder split the heavens and crashed down simultaneously.

This must have been the pinnacle of his thunder arts.

All around, Zhang Changlu’s fellow Taoists retreated step by step, and even the two women had to take shelter beneath the main hall of the temple.

Thunder boomed and crackled across the sky, threatening to engulf the entire Baiqing Temple. The apricot-yellow banners fluttering around the temple caught fire one after another beneath the onslaught.

“Lin Yi, get out of the way!” Master Qingyi called out in alarm.

I glanced at the back of my hand. The white scales had once more appeared. I was genuinely curious about their strength. So, as Zhang Changlu’s final thunderbolt plummeted toward me, I clenched my fists and braced myself, standing firm to meet the pillar of lightning head-on.

In the next second, the roof tiles shattered, the ground trembled, and the half-foot-thick flagstones were ripped apart, blasted to rubble and scattered everywhere.

Dust and debris filled the air, lightning writhed and flickered, and the scene was wild and terrifying. In that instant, I saw a phantom form shimmer around me—my entire body was covered in white scales. Yet, as the dust settled and the thunder passed, the scales faded as quickly as they’d come.

Except for the stone tile beneath my feet, which remained untouched, the ground all around me was a shattered mess, smoke rising from dirt and broken stone.

Zhang Changlu stood drenched in sweat, gasping for breath. When he saw me still standing, unharmed, he staggered back in shock.

“You… What kind of monster are you? Today, I must act for Heaven and cut you down!”

Since his thunder could not harm me, Zhang Changlu gripped his Bagua sword and summoned another technique.

Now it was my turn to strike.

I drew a deep breath, gathering my focus. Power surged beneath my feet, shattering the flagstones with a crackling sound, fissures radiating outward as I moved.

As I stepped forward, the stones crumbled to pieces.

Zhang Changlu’s expression turned savage. He sliced his fingertip to feed the sword with blood, then charged at me, his yin-yang Bagua sword aimed straight for my heart.

With another decree, the sword multiplied—the next instant, a dozen swords thrust toward me at once.

Though his swordsmanship was impressive, I had seen it before. Master Li had tested it against me ten days ago, though we hadn’t settled who was superior. Now, I gathered my strength into my fist and, with one strike, shattered several of the conjured swords instantly.

Zhang Changlu was stunned. Seeing the tide turn, he quickly shifted his technique, using the Bagua sword to block. But under my fist, his yin-yang Bagua sword snapped in two.

A broken piece of the sword flew over his head, smashing the jade hairpin atop his head and sending his hair cascading down.

Yet this punch was not just about breaking his sword—it crashed directly into his chest.

“You insulted Master Qingyi, and you deserved this blow!”

Fueled by anger, I didn’t know how much strength I used, but Zhang Changlu’s chest caved in from the impact.

He was flung backward, crashing into a column some distance away.

Still, he managed to steady himself with a shifting step.

Just as everyone thought the fight was not yet decided, the dark clouds summoned by his thunder arts scattered with the wind.

Seeing this, I thought to myself, “It’s over.”

I ignored Zhang Changlu and turned to walk toward Master Qingyi.

“Master Qingyi, Zhang Changlu has lost. Come, let’s go—make him kneel and apologize to you.” I helped her up, and she seemed puzzled.

“The clouds have cleared, the thunder arts dispelled. Lin Yi, how did you do it?” she asked, gazing at the sky.

“I actually have no idea how to break thunder arts. My guess is, the clouds dispersed not because I broke his spell, but because he can no longer summon the thunder,” I replied.

“He can’t summon thunder anymore? How can that be?” Master Qingyi was even more perplexed.

“Well, never mind. Master Qingyi, let’s go—make Zhang Changlu kneel and apologize!” I said, glancing back at him.

Zhang Changlu gripped the broken hilt of his Bagua sword, now little more than a handle. Hearing my words, rage flared in his eyes. He tossed the sword aside and drew another yellow talisman from his sleeve.

“Careful! That’s Mount Longhu’s Soul-Breaking Talisman—it can wound the three souls and seven spirits!” Master Qingyi recognized it and called for me to stop.

“It’s all right, Master Qingyi. Even with a Soul-Breaking Talisman, he needs the strength to use it,” I said.

Zhang Changlu, stung by my contempt, sneered coldly and began chanting. But no matter how he invoked the spell, the talisman in his hand remained inert.

Unwilling to accept this, he formed hand seals and chanted again, this time spitting blood as the backlash struck him.

“His true qi is exhausted, yet he still forces the talisman arts. The recoil will only harm him further,” I remarked.

At my words, Zhang Changlu’s face turned ashen.

Seeing him cough blood, the woman who had earlier presented him the sword rushed to his side, holding him up. “You’re lying! My father’s true qi is as vast as the sea—how could he…”

“Xier, enough. We’re leaving!” Zhang Changlu’s whole body trembled, unable even to stand without her support. He knew better than anyone: half a month ago, his primordial spirit, formed through years of cultivation, had already been shattered.

With his spirit broken, Zhang Changlu was, from this day forward, a ruined man.