"Yu Lumin, that brat… he's learned the Four Liang Breaking Thousand Jin from Mount Wudang like Yan Shouyi! Aren't our own Dragon Tiger Mountain techniques powerful enough?" Zhang Shantong grumbled from the audience.
Yan Shouyi turned and said, "I knew Tai Chi long ago, but Yu Lumin must have learned it on the spot. His talent is immense."
"That's true," Zhang Shantong nodded. While protective of his own, he had to acknowledge Yu Lumin's excellence.
On the stage, Yu Lumin and Liu Yiren had already exchanged over twenty blows. After their initial probing, Liu Yiren gradually found her footing, matching Yu Lumin blow for blow. However, despite the impressive display, the audience felt something was missing.
Yes, surprise.
Yan Shouyi and the others had brought so many surprises to this Luotian Grand Ceremony. Now, with Yu Lumin, who possessed the Dragon Tiger Secret Script, fighting Liu Yiren, even though both showed great strength, the match was surprisingly calm, lacking the excitement of previous bouts.
Just as a hint of disappointment began to creep in, Liu Yiren seized the initiative, finally unleashing Dragon Tiger Mountain's techniques!
Without any talismans, Liu Yiren simply chanted an incantation, summoning thunderclouds to gather above the Myriad Dharma Altar. Deep rumbles echoed within the clouds, accompanied by intermittent flashes of heavenly lightning.
"Heavenly lightning faintly glimmers, divine thunder roars. Dragon lightning surges, water thunder waves crash. Earthly commands summon fire and lightning, thunderbolts crisscross. Divine might unleashed, evil spirits annihilated. By the Emperor's decree, execute with utmost haste!"
The ultimate skill of Dragon Tiger Mountain, the Five Thunders Orthodox Law!
Liu Yiren pointed her twin staffs to the sky. From the thunderclouds, a golden bolt of heavenly lightning descended, striking directly at Yu Lumin!
Yu Lumin dodged frantically, but the heavenly lightning seemed to have eyes, relentlessly pursuing him! Ordinary heavenly lightning flashed and vanished in an instant. But this lightning, unleashed by Liu Yiren, was entirely different!
The bolts intertwined, forming a massive net. After striking Yu Lumin's head, it imprinted a vast magic circle beneath his feet! The magic circle on the ground and the thunderclouds above were connected by this heavenly lightning, allowing the lightning, which should have been fleeting, to shuttle incessantly between heaven and earth! The range of the lightning expanded and contracted, at its widest capable of engulfing a small car, and at its narrowest, no thicker than a bowl's mouth! Yu Lumin was enveloped in the center of this lightning, his form obscured, enduring its relentless assault!
"Is… is this still the Five Thunders Orthodox Law we know?" the audience members gulped, awestruck by Liu Yiren's move, their perception of the technique completely rewritten. Even Yan Shouyi couldn't immediately decipher the trick behind Liu Yiren's technique, likely an improvement devised by Zhang Sishui.
"With such powerful Five Thunders Orthodox Law, could it possibly strike Yu Lumin dead?" Long Feicheng whispered.
"Want to bet on this too?" Wang Jizhang asked Long Feicheng with a smile.
"Bet what?" Long Feicheng asked warily.
"Whoever loses will wash the other's smelly socks for a month, how about that?"
Long Feicheng thought for a moment. "Haha, alright, a bet it is!" In his eyes, Liu Yiren's Five Thunders Orthodox Law was terrifying; Yu Lumin, being mortal, couldn't possibly withstand it.
However, the next second, Long Feicheng noticed Wang Jizhang communicating with Wang Zilai through sign language.
"Damn, I forgot Wang Zilai can predict the future!" Long Feicheng hastily reneged. "No, no, I'm not betting with you anymore."
"A true man's word is his bond, a chariot cannot overtake it. How can you go back on your word so easily?" Wang Jizhang said deliberately.
"Your brother already knows the outcome. This is a sure loss, I'm not betting with you." Long Feicheng shook his head like a rattle drum.
Listening to their idle chatter, Yan Shouyi frowned. Wang Zilai already knew the result? He himself had an inkling that Yu Lumin could withstand this move. He just couldn't figure out how Yu Lumin would manage it. In Yan Shouyi's eyes, Liu Yiren's Five Thunders Orthodox Law was already incredibly powerful; facing it himself would carry a degree of peril.
Outside the Heavenly Master's Hall, the Old Heavenly Master sat alone. The moment Yu Lumin made his move, the Old Heavenly Master had already known the outcome of the match. Even now, as Yu Lumin endured the lightning and remained motionless, the Old Heavenly Master's eyes were filled with admiration. He couldn't help but recall the first time he met Yu Lumin.
He first met Yu Lumin fifteen years ago. Fifteen years ago, the Old Heavenly Master descended the mountain incognito to buy supplies in a nearby village. It was in that village that the Old Heavenly Master encountered Yu Lumin selling sweet potatoes by the roadside. Yu Lumin was an orphan, having lost both parents and wandered to the village. The villagers, taking pity on him, let him tend the sweet potato stall, providing food but no lodging. Yu Lumin was very sensible and got along well with the villagers. Several childless families even wanted to take Yu Lumin in, but he refused, saying he wanted to find parents who could teach him to read and write. Alas, in that poor, remote area, learned individuals were revered scholars. Scholars held high status and lived comfortably; if they were to adopt a child, it wouldn't be Yu Lumin. And so, Yu Lumin waited and waited in the village, selling sweet potatoes while using branches to practice writing characters on the ground. Even though he had been practicing the characters for one, two, and three for three months, he still did so with great enthusiasm. Until he met the Old Heavenly Master.
The Old Heavenly Master, upon first seeing Yu Lumin, felt the child was exceptionally gifted. In Yu Lumin's eyes, he saw a state of selfless absorption, a crucial hurdle for any aspiring immortal. Even the Old Heavenly Master himself had not reached this level, yet Yu Lumin had. He asked Yu Lumin if his wandering life in the village was bitter and tiring, if he had a place to stay. Yu Lumin replied, "I use the sky as my blanket and the earth as my bed. The world is my home. Though it's a bit bitter and tiring, I can go wherever I please, unfettered."
The Old Heavenly Master then asked, "Is there anything you wish to do?" Yu Lumin replied, "I wish to learn to read, and to study, to read many, many books." The Old Heavenly Master couldn't understand Yu Lumin's obsession with studying. Yu Lumin explained, "I heard the adults say, 'In books lie golden houses, in books lie beauties,' but I don't care for those. When I see those characters, though I don't recognize them, I can feel the genuine meaning woven within. I want to study to experience the myriad aspects of life, to understand the spirits of others, to understand where I came from and where I am going, to understand the principles of this world." The six-year-old Yu Lumin's words had profoundly impacted the Old Heavenly Master. And so, the Old Heavenly Master immediately took Yu Lumin's hand and softly said, "Become my disciple and come to Mount Dragon Tiger with me."
"What can I do on Mount Dragon Tiger?"
"Mount Dragon Tiger has books, many, many books."