As the golden "thunder" character flashed into Ye Xuan’s forehead, his consciousness momentarily drifted into confusion. When his mind regained stability, he found himself in a space that seemed extraordinarily ancient.
Before him lay a vast world where the land stretched flat and uninterrupted as far as the eye could see, where the heavens and the earth seemed to merge at the horizon.
Suddenly, from beneath the distant ground, a malevolent screech erupted, followed by the trembling earth as a demon, towering over a hundred meters tall, climbed out. Its presence alone shattered the surrounding mountains into dust. With each stomp, the ground cracked and magma spewed, evidencing a terrifying level of power.
In front of this massive demon, Ye Xuan’s figure seemed as insignificant as a grain of sand, utterly powerless.
As the demon wreaked havoc, several loud booms thundered across the sky. Dark clouds gathered quickly, turning the daylight dim.
Within the ominous black clouds, a figure stood faintly visible. However, in the blink of an eye, the figure was engulfed by a sudden burst of lightning. The next moment, a crack ripped across the sky and a resplendent thunder, transformed into an indescribably huge flood dragon, shot ferociously out of the gash, its vast shadow eclipsing the sun.
The thunder dragon plummeted, dragging a river of lightning that resembled a waterfall and instantly obliterated the demon, which was as large as a mountain, reducing it to dust. Where the demon had stood, a huge crater now marred the landscape, leaving the entire area fractured and fragmented.
At that astonishing moment, the figure in the sky stirred once more and another massive thunder dragon plummeted straight towards Ye Xuan, leaving him no time to dodge. He was struck by the thunder light and his body disintegrated into nothingness.
In an instant, Ye Xuan’s body was shattered to pieces, but his consciousness remained, interwoven with the thunder light. A wealth of information, manifesting as golden characters, swiftly raced through his mind.
The first to appear were the words "Nine Heavens Thunder Scripture!"
Ye Xuan’s consciousness then fully immersed in it. Under the relentless strikes of the thunder, he slowly absorbed the essence of the Nine Heavens Thunder Scripture...
Meanwhile, in the quiet chamber of the external world, a dead silence enveloped the air, making it almost suffocating.
Beside him, Murong Yun stared intently at Ye Xuan, knowing that he was in a critical stage of comprehending the Nine Heavens Thunder Scripture. There was no room for a single mistake, and with the domineering nature of the Nine Heavens Thunder Scripture, Ye Xuan could very well be injured by the scripture itself during the process.
The Nine Heavens Thunder Scripture had four levels, each connected to the next, demanding a one-shot comprehension. Only by mastering the first three levels could one obtain the formulas and methods for the fourth level; otherwise, if one were to attempt comprehension again, the stone wall would produce a resistant force, blocking any further understanding.
Thus, the opportunity was singular. Whether Ye Xuan could learn the entire four levels of the Nine Heavens Thunder Scripture was dependent on this one chance!
Previously, Lu Yan had only managed to learn the cultivation methods of the first level, and he had only obtained the first two levels. The latter sections remained out of their reach.
After approximately half a day of enduring silence, Ye Xuan, who was sitting in meditation in front of the stone wall, suddenly trembled. Traces of lightning appeared on him, slithering like tiny snakes across his skin’s surface, eventually all converging at the spot between his eyebrows.
As the lemniscus intensified, the skin at Ye Xuan’s brow split open, and blood wriggled, coagulating into a blood seal. A trickle of blood flowed from it, dripping down from his nose and chin to the ground.
Seeing this, Murong Yun’s expression changed, and he grew anxious. Such a phenomenon had not occurred to either him or Lu Yan before. His nerves taut, he considered whether to intervene should anything further happen to Ye Xuan.
After pondering, however, Murong Yun decided against it. Ye Xuan had endured all seventeen heavenly thunders. To interrupt him now might impede his comprehension of the Nine Heavens Thunder Scripture, which would be a greater loss.
He decided to take a risk. After all, Ye Xuan was never someone he could fully comprehend. Just because others couldn’t achieve something didn’t mean Ye Xuan couldn’t either.
Suppressing his worries, Murong Yun endured the agonizing wait, which lasted another two days. After these two days, the blood seal at Ye Xuan’s brow underwent a stark transformation.
The fresh blood had dried up, replaced by strands of extremely dense thunder plasma. This plasma, condensed from the potent power of thunder and lightning, seemed now to have completely merged into the blood seal, occasionally emitting piercing golden light...
"Has he succeeded or not..."
The two days of waiting made Murong Yun increasingly impatient. However, the closer they got to the crucial moment, the less he dared to disturb Ye Xuan. Given Ye Xuan’s increasingly strange condition, a condition Murong Yun had never seen before, all he could do was wait for Ye Xuan to awaken on his own to learn of the outcome.
And so, another two days passed.
Murong Yun was growing numb from the wait. His prior anxiety had lessened, as he had no idea where Ye Xuan was in his cultivation process. Worrying was futile.
Just as Murong Yun was about to close his eyes and continue meditating, the stone wall in front of him suddenly began to tremble. Then he saw all the patterns and characters on the stone wall suddenly light up and, after a brief reorganization, they condensed into a golden "thunder" character. Under Murong Yun’s incredulous gaze, the character, with its terrifying fluctuations, forcefully embedded itself into the Blood Seal on Ye Xuan’s forehead.
The astonishing thunderous light wreaked havoc, invading Ye Xuan’s forehead and evidently causing him immense pain. Fortunately, this invasion lasted only a very short time. After barely a dozen seconds, the thunderous light completely dissipated.
What remained on Ye Xuan’s forehead was an ancient golden imprint from which, occasionally, terrifying streams of violent thunderous light could be heard emanating.
Murong Yun involuntarily uttered these four words and then his face showed a deep sense of shock. Although he hadn’t fully mastered the Nine Heavens Thunder Scripture, when he studied it, he could vaguely see the concept of the Mark of Thunder existing within the vast texts.
The Mark of Thunder was exactly the part he hadn’t learned. This undoubtedly showed that Ye Xuan’s comprehension had at least reached the Third Level.
In his vision, the thunder mark on Ye Xuan’s forehead slowly faded away, and those eyes, which had been closed for four days, finally slowly opened.
In those opened eyes, there seemed to be streaks of electric light flickering, shooting into the air, carrying a wild aura.
"Boy, congratulations."
Once the pressure on Ye Xuan’s body completely dissipated, Murong Yun took a deep breath, suppressed his somewhat excited emotions, and walked up to him.
"Thank you, Hall Master, for your protection."
Ye Xuan exhaled lightly, and a smile quickly appeared on his face. He stood up, bowed to Murong Yun, and said.
Comprehending the Nine Heavens Thunder Scripture had taken a huge toll on his spiritual power. Although his True Qi wasn’t much depleted, Ye Xuan felt somewhat listless.
"No problem, I want to know, to what extent have you comprehended the Nine Heavens Thunder Scripture?"
Murong Yun’s face remained smiling; he was very eager to know whether Ye Xuan had fully understood this miraculous scripture from the Heavenly Martial Hall. This was crucial.
"This... is a secret."
The corners of Ye Xuan’s mouth lifted into a curve, "To what extent I’ve reached, I think you, Hall Master, will soon find out."
Not having received a precise answer, Murong Yun didn’t ask further. From Ye Xuan’s response, he could guess that Ye Xuan had definitely not disappointed him; if he hadn’t fully grasped the scripture, he wouldn’t be so relaxed as he was now.
"Since your cultivation is complete, let’s go outside, and then you should get a good day’s rest."
Murong Yun patted the dust off himself and waved his hand.
Ye Xuan nodded, his spiritual power was significantly depleted, but a few days of rest should suffice for recovery. Although he had comprehended the Nine Heavens Thunder Scripture today, it didn’t mean he had fully learned it; there was still a great distance between comprehension and mastery, especially since it was the top secret art of the Heavenly Martial Hall. He needed to deliberate it further upon returning.
The First and Second Levels were manageable, but mastering the latter two levels would likely require reaching the level of a Martial Sect to be possible.
"By the way, I remember, in two days, it’s that time of the year again, the day for the Wildfire Sect disciples to challenge us. If nothing unexpected happens, there will definitely be several intense exchanges at the central square. If you’re interested, you can go and watch."
As they descended from the third floor of the Secret Martial Pavilion, Murong Yun suddenly recalled something, turned around, and said to Ye Xuan.
Ye Xuan looked slightly surprised, then remembered. The Wildfire Sect was the next highest Third Grade Sect in the Tiannan Region after the Heavenly Martial Hall, and its strength was only slightly weaker than the Heavenly Martial Hall. The True Disciples of the Wildfire Sect likely weren’t far off from the four great True Disciples of the Heavenly Martial Hall.
"Over the years, the Wildfire Sect sends disciples annually to challenge us, merely trying to steal some spotlight from us. However, they’ve almost never won. You should go tomorrow and gain some experience. I believe you haven’t seen the Martial Arts of the Wildfire Sect before, so consider it a learning opportunity," Murong Yun said casually.
"Then, I might as well join in the fun."
Ye Xuan nodded; his strength now was certainly not inferior to that of a True Disciple. Tomorrow, he would go and enjoy the show.