Having left Yuelu Hall and bid farewell to the two red-robed disciples, Han Li urged his flying sword toward the Hundred Herb Garden.
As he soared through the sky, his thoughts lingered on the matter of the Foundation Establishment Pill while his gaze drifted indifferently over the rolling hills below. Suddenly, a tremendous crack of thunder echoed from beneath him, startling him into alertness. He looked down sharply.
On a small hill below, flashes of lightning and electrical arcs danced across the ground, accompanied by the faint sounds of cheering and exclamations. Curiosity piqued, Han Li descended and landed his flying sword near the source of the commotion, then made his way toward it on foot.
"Brother Murong, do it again! Let us see more!"
"Yes, yes! It's my first time seeing lightning shaped like that up close—how terrifying!"
...
The moment Han Li reached the hilltop, he heard the clamor ahead. The mention of "Brother Murong" in particular caught his attention.
"Those newly admitted brothers with lightning-attribute spiritual roots—aren't they surnamed Murong? Coupled with that thunderous display, could it really be the pair everyone's been talking about, showing off their abilities here?"
By now he could see roughly thirty or forty disciples of varying ages arranged in a loose circle on the hilltop. They were pointing excitedly at two eleven- or twelve-year-old boys in the center, chattering animatedly.
The ground inside the circle bore several scorched, blackened craters. The edges of these pits had been melted smooth by extreme heat, and thin wisps of greenish smoke still rose from them. A passing breeze carried the acrid smell of charred earth in every direction.
Han Li stepped closer and studied the two boys carefully. Both were clean-featured, fair-skinned, and strikingly similar in appearance—clearly siblings. Their eyes, however, flashed with a lively, almost mischievous light that spoke of quick wits.
Flushed with excitement from the crowd's attention and praise, the brothers exchanged a glance, then simultaneously formed hand seals and channeled their spells. Bolts of lightning crackled between their palms, and two slender streaks of lightning lanced toward the ground nearby. Two deafening booms rang out along with a blinding flash of white light, and two fresh craters appeared in the earth.
"So this is the palm lightning of the lightning attribute? In terms of both power and spectacle, it far surpasses other spells of the same tier like the Fireball Technique or Ice Spike Technique. Truly worthy of being called the most destructive elemental art." Han Li marveled inwardly, a surge of envy rising in him for the brothers' spiritual root affinity.
He was clearly not the only one harboring such feelings. Most of the watching disciples gazed at the brothers with visibly sour expressions, lamenting that heaven had not blessed them with such envy-inducing spiritual roots.
After drawing several more rounds of thunderous applause from the onlookers, the brothers executed a few more lightning strikes before beginning to falter—their young bodies had simply exhausted their reserves.
"Is that all? The power of lightning-attribute roots is nothing special. I'd say my wind root is better," a male voice declared from the crowd across from Han Li, spoiling the mood for everyone nearby.
All eyes turned toward the speaker. Standing there was a young man and woman side by side—the man handsome and tall, the woman strikingly beautiful, clearly a couple in the flush of romance. The young man wore an expression of lofty disdain, as though the Murong brothers' palm lightning were beneath his notice. The woman, finding herself the center of so many gazes at once, flushed slightly and pressed closer to her companion.
"Who is that man? How arrogant!"
"A wind spiritual root? Isn't that also a type of unusual spiritual root? Does this man possess an unusual root as well?"
"I know him—that's Senior Brother Lu. He really does have an unusual spiritual root. His wind-attribute techniques are incredibly powerful!"
"But even if he has an unusual root too, why make such a comment?"
"Jealousy, probably. Before this, he was the only one among the low-grade disciples with an unusual spiritual root. Now two brothers with even better aptitude suddenly appear—it's only natural he'd feel threatened."
"What? That petty?"
"Shh! Keep your voice down—if he overhears you, you're in trouble. He holds grudges, that one."
...
The appearance of this young man set the nearby disciples whispering among themselves. His reputation, it seemed, was not a favorable one.
"Hmph! You two little brats—allow me to show you what a truly unusual spiritual root looks like!" The young man's face darkened at the murmurs around him. He strode into the center of the circle and declared with an imperious air:
"Use your lightning-techniques on me. If I dodge a single step, I'll kneel before you two runts and beg your pardon!"
The Murong brothers, incensed by Senior Brother Lu's high-handed manner and his unprovoked contempt, flushed pale with anger.
"You won't dodge?"
"Of course not."
"And you won't use artifacts?"
"Fine."
The brothers proved themselves true twins of one mind. In just two exchanges, they had locked in terms favorable to their side—and the young man, brimming with arrogance and utterly dismissive of the pair, raised no objection.
"Very well, then we brothers will test ourselves against Senior Brother!" the boys declared in unison, their voices tight with indignation.
"Senior Brother Lu, is this really wise?" the young woman beside him asked with concern.
"Heh heh. What is there to worry about when dealing with two children? Rest easy, Junior Sister Chen." The young man waved dismissively, then planted himself grandly before the Murong brothers.
The two boys exchanged a glance, then suddenly leaned toward each other, clasping one hand together while raising their other hand toward the sky. Simultaneously, they began chanting identical incantations.
The young man scoffed and casually cast a defensive spell upon himself. A barrier of green light immediately materialized around him, encasing him completely.
"Heavenly Thunder Chain Strike!"
The twins finished their chant. Their joined fingers pointed toward the young man's head, and a dark cloud the size of a small room materialized above him. A flash of white light burst from within, and a bolt of lightning as thick as a finger descended, striking the green barrier. The barrier shuddered violently, and the young man's expression shifted—clearly, the power of the lightning exceeded his expectations.
But that bolt was only the beginning. From the dark cloud hovering overhead, lightning bolts descended one after another in rapid succession, each striking the barrier and causing it to flicker and dim, as though it might shatter at any moment.
The young man's face grew grim. His hands blurred through a dazzling sequence of seals, and with a low growl, he pressed both palms firmly against the barrier's inner surface. The barrier blazed with renewed green light, restoring itself to its original state—and appearing even more solid than before.
The Murong brothers had no intention of relinquishing their advantage. They launched a variety of hand seals skyward, causing the dark cloud to expand until it spanned several zhang in diameter. The bolts that descended from it grew thicker and more frequent.
Facing the brothers' relentless assault, Senior Brother Lu found himself caught between alarm and fury. He had never anticipated that such young boys could master a mid-tier low-level chain lightning technique. For a time, he was pinned down completely, unable to free himself to mount a counterattack. Before so many witnesses, he had been forced to suffer a humiliating disadvantage.
And so the battle wore on. On one side, the brothers struggled to sustain the dark cloud's continuous bombardment. On the other, the young man labored to reinforce his barrier with every ounce of his concentration. What should have been a simple contest of attack versus defense had devolved into an unexpected stalemate.
Under normal circumstances, the attacker held a significant advantage, expending far less energy than the defender. But the Murong brothers, despite their offensive position, had already depleted much of their spiritual power during their earlier demonstration. Moreover, Senior Brother Lu, being significantly older, possessed spiritual power far purer and more abundant than what two newly admitted boys could match. In a war of attrition, the advantage still tilted firmly in his favor.
And so, before the eyes of the assembled crowd, the dark cloud released its final few bolts before dissipating into nothingness. The brothers, their spiritual power spent, were the first to be forced to halt their lightning assault.