Chapter Five: Summoning Thunder

  Changming looked up and was shocked again, the thing hovering in the air was none other than the Pure Harmony Sword that should be in its scabbard. "This... this is the legendary Imperial Swordsmanship?" Changming could hardly believe it.

  Most people who travel the world have heard Mr. Shu mention various legends about the flying sword of Mount Emei. There are also rumors of encountering immortals or ghosts in the mountains, but most listeners only treat them as after-dinner conversation topics. Who would have thought that today they would see with their own eyes that these legends were actually true? "So, just how high is this old Taoist's cultivation?" Changming silently asked himself this question again.

  Qing Xuan's sword rose and fell in unison, the tip of his finger pointing to where the next moment's Pure Yang Sword would hover. The old Daoist's fingers moved like the wind, the Pure Yang Sword dancing up and down, like a golden dragon coiling around his body, its light occasionally piercing through, cold and sacred. At this time, Chang Ming's eyes were dull and confused, as if he had been stunned, only staring blankly at Qing Xuan.

  Qing Xuan let out a cold hum, suddenly pointing to the sky with one finger. The pure and even sword seemed to be whipped like a wild horse, bursting forth with force, shooting straight up into the air. In an instant, it vanished from sight, disappearing into the clouds. Qing Xuan didn't even lift his head, releasing the sword's tip from his right hand, raising his left arm, drawing a circle in front of his chest. His palm moved like ripples on water, and the circular shape presented a chaotic color, following Qing Xuan's palm as it split into two halves, just like the primordial chaos evolving into taiji. This taiji diagram slowly rotated in front of Qing Xuan's chest.

  Qing Xuan gazed calmly, pinching the lotus flower with his hand, and silently reciting the mantra in his mouth. As Qing Xuan's mantra was recited, the Taiji on his chest slowly rotated, gradually transforming into the Eight Trigrams. Heaven, Earth, Mountain, Marsh, Water, Fire, Wind, and Thunder were divided into eight directions.

  After Taiji evolved into Bagua, Qingxuan suddenly raised his left palm and slapped it on the Bagua diagram in front of his chest. "Wind comes!" Qingxuan shouted in a low voice, and the courtyard that was originally calm and waveless suddenly felt a hint of wind. At first, it was just a slight breeze, then the sound of leaves sweeping the ground, and finally a strong gust of wind blew, blowing Changming's long gown tightly against his body.

  Changming narrowed his eyes, gazing at Qingxuan with an otherworldly intensity. Qingxuan was oblivious to the external environment, his eyes almost closed. The only sound in the air was the soft rustling of Qingxuan's Daoist robe as it fluttered in the wind, while his right hand grasped a Lan flower seal on his chest. His ears perked up, listening to the flow of air currents, as if he had a grasp on all the changes in the celestial phenomena around him. Suddenly, Changming felt that something was amiss with the environment and looked up at the sky, only to find that the originally clear blue sky without a cloud in sight was now shrouded by thick, dark clouds.

  The dark cloud was originally just a small cluster, but then the surrounding clouds seemed to be attracted to this side of the sky. Upon closer inspection, it became apparent that the dark clouds at the horizon were not only gathering, but also slowly rotating around a central point. Looking again, Chang Ming's heart skipped another beat as he realized that the center of the swirling clouds was precisely above the governor's mansion.

  "Is this perhaps the magical art of summoning wind and rain?"

  Qing Xuan's hands formed a seal, his spirit concentrated, and he didn't say a word. The drastic changes in the world seemed to not affect him at all. Suddenly, Qing Xuan let out a low shout: "Decree!"

  As soon as the edict was issued, the heaven and earth changed color in an instant. A loud, muffled sound came from above, like a muffled thunderclap. When Changming looked up again, the scene in the sky had completely changed. In the center of the originally dark ink-colored clouds, a strange bright golden color appeared, extremely small, very dazzling.

  "What's that?" Chang Ming seemed to have guessed something, but he was still very puzzled and didn't dare to believe it.

  Qing Xuan's right hand, which had been clenched around the orchid, slowly relaxed, and with it, the world around him gradually calmed down. The wind stopped, and the oppressive feeling in the air also dissipated. However, the dark clouds still lingered above, and the sky was not yet clear. All around, it was still gloomy, and rather than saying that the atmosphere had dispersed, Chang Ming felt more like a storm was brewing.

  For some reason, Changming's heart became increasingly tense. The wind was not light, the clouds were not thin, and everything seemed to have not started yet. Under this overcast weather, the hall inside seemed even more gloomy, as if ancient evil was lurking in the unknown darkness.

  It seemed as if there were a pair of hidden eyes staring at him, Chang Ming shivered several times in succession, his scalp numb and tingling, and he involuntarily retreated several steps back.

  The old man put down his right hand and also opened his half-closed eyes, gazing at everything in front of him. His eyes were full of depth, as if they could contain all the turmoil in the world.

  Just like that, the earth-shattering momentum from before had also dissipated like the wind. But in Changming's view, although he didn't understand Lao Dao Shi's magic, he knew that what happened earlier was just the beginning, and now it seemed calm on the surface but was actually accumulating energy, and what would happen next would be even more unbelievable.

  The Taoist robe blown by the wind fell down, but Qingxuan's face became even more solemn. His right hand in front of his chest kept changing, pinching one seal after another. "Nine Heavenly Thunder, with my command as one. Heavenly power shines brightly, exterminate evil and destroy demons! Urgent, like the supreme old lord's decree." Qingxuan muttered to himself. The voice was not loud, but when it reached Changming's ears, it was like a giant hammer striking. It wasn't entirely due to reverence, but also had some tension, as the legendary thunder magic that controlled lightning actually existed and was being performed right before his eyes. For someone like Changming, an ordinary martial artist, it was simply unimaginable.

  "Whoosh——" A sound like the tearing of fabric came from above, Changming was stunned, and looked up in confusion. In the center of the dense black clouds, a golden light shone through, accompanied by an unmatched aura that broke through the air. The "whooshing" sound was the friction of the air. The golden light descended, winding its way down, looking like a giant golden dragon breaking through the gates of heaven and descending into the mortal world from afar.

  The giant dragon's body curved and twisted in the air, forming a magnificent scene of a divine dragon swinging its tail. Changming was stunned, unable to utter a word, and even forgot to retreat several steps, his legs buckling under the overwhelming pressure, half-kneeling on the ground. Although he knew he looked disheveled at this moment, Changming struggled to lift his head, not wanting to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

  "Bang!" A loud crash, the golden light had pierced through the roof of the Zongfu Hall, accurately hitting the coffin in the center. The golden light that was flashing by just a moment ago suddenly came to a stop, and this huge contrast between before and after made people extremely uncomfortable. After the deafening crash dissipated, there was a faint sound of sword humming.

  Following the sound, a half of the hilt had already entered the coffin. An ancient, dark brown long sword was trembling non-stop. The golden light just now wasn't anything else, it was actually the Pure Jun Sword that Qingxuan sent flying into the sky earlier.

  However, Qingxuan didn't even glance at it, as if everything was under his control. With his right hand, he extended his sword finger and drew a circle in front of him, forming a Taiji diagram. Then, he withdrew his sword finger and drew a mysterious talisman on the palm of his left hand. He raised his head to observe the sky, where dark clouds were rolling in, growing denser and more ominous.

  "Summon the lightning!" Qing Xuan shouted again, his left palm's crimson mark growing brighter and brighter as the dark clouds in the sky grew thicker. Qing Xuan's originally calm and peaceful eyes also began to shine with a fierce light.

  "Boom!" A deafening roar that pierced the sky and earth, like a thunderclap next to one's ear, the powerful sound wave could evoke the most primitive fear in people's hearts. Chang Ming covered his ears, which made him feel slightly better. But after his ears were fine again, he felt his eyes being stimulated by the intense light, and this entire sky was filled with silver-white radiance. A silver-white streak descended from the sky without any deviation, landing precisely on the Chun Jun sword.

  "It turned out that the old Daoist's sword was ascending to heaven in order to attract lightning with metal." Changming vaguely guessed the old Daoist's idea, and everyone knew that heavenly thunder was a supreme yang and strong thing that had the ability to destroy all evil spirits in the world. However, in theory, this method of attracting lightning and controlling the sword still left Changming stunned.

  Ordinary lightning is just a fleeting moment, but this time it was completely different. The entire silver chain of electricity connected the sky and earth, twisting restlessly like a white snake in water. The explosive sound by my ear gradually dissipated, leaving only the "sizzling" sound of electric current piercing through the air.

  Chang Ming narrowed his eyes, fearing that the family heirloom would be destroyed by the heavenly thunder. However, the divine sword was indeed a divine sword, and being directly struck by the extremely hot lightning did not seem to have any effect on it. On the contrary, the sword body kept trembling, emitting a faint hum of the sword. Moreover, a golden aura emanated from around the sword body, which was somewhat difficult to discern under the strong light of the electric current.

  "Shou" Qing Xuan said in a low voice, his voice was not loud but it sounded exceptionally clear. A sudden flash of lightning illuminated the sky, and Chang Ming couldn't help but close his eyes. When he opened them again, everything had returned to normal. The dark clouds that had been covering the sky dispersed, and the entire sky regained its sunny radiance, as if everything that had just happened was just an illusion, and nothing had occurred at all.

  Lian Changming had some doubts about whether all this had happened, but when he saw the broken roof of the mansion, he finally confirmed that he hadn't misremembered. The old Taoist in front of him really did summon the wind and rain, and wielded his sword to control the thunder.

  But he was startled when he saw the hall, and the Qingjun sword was originally inserted into the coffin of Su Tian. However, at this time, the hall was filled with an inexplicable darkness, and nothing could be seen. "What, what's going on?" Changming looked at Qingxuan in confusion.

  Qing Xuan stroked his beard, his face pale and expressionless, his eyes calm and unruffled, revealing nothing.

  "I didn't expect that evil creature to still exist under the powerful Yang energy of the Nine Heavenly Thunder. Now it's about to break through the formation, and the entire house is filled with its illusions. Don't worry, let me go in and take a look."

  "Hmm..." Changming hesitated for a moment, "Daozhang, can I also follow you in? I want to take a look at the old master's remains."

  "Who are you?" Qing Xuan was taken aback, staring at Chang Ming from head to toe again, with a thoughtful expression in his eyes, but unable to discern what he had planned. "Alright, follow me later and remember not to make any rash moves."

  "However, I'm afraid you won't be able to see his remains. They were probably taken away by that scoundrel long ago."

  "What's 'duó shè'? What does it mean?" Chang Ming wasn't in on this, so he didn't know what it signified.

  "It's just that the evil creature has occupied the nest of the magpie. Your brother is also a congenital master, and his body already has the innate aura, although it's not much, but compared to the heavily injured evil creature, it's a great supplement. Alright, this isn't the time for talking, follow me closely, and remember to hold your breath and concentrate later." Qing Xuan still had a thin tone of voice, but his speech was three times faster than usual, apparently the situation was indeed urgent.

  Qing Xuan turned his head, glanced at Chang Ming, and walked into the hall without saying a word. Chang Ming caught Qing Xuan's gaze and didn't dare to be slow, hastily following closely behind.

  The threshold in front of the hall seemed to be a barrier separating two worlds. As soon as Changming took half a step forward, he felt that his eyes were filled with fluttering shadows, including women with their dresses half undone and ghosts with tongues three inches long and disheveled hair, while his ears were filled with wave after wave of eerie laughter, making his scalp feel like it was about to explode. Changming almost collapsed to the ground, unable to take another step forward.

  "Long live the infinite heavenly lord!" Suddenly a loud shout rang out beside his ear, and when he opened his eyes again, those ghostly shadows with their alluring smiles had vanished into thin air. Only then did Changming bring his other foot inside the door.

  As soon as he looked up, he met Qingxuan's calm and composed gaze. The fear and panic that had filled Changming's heart dissipated like the dark clouds in the sky, leaving only a cool and gentle warmth. Qingxuan saw that he had returned to normal and shifted his gaze away. Changming knew that he had lost focus and fallen prey to the zombie's evil spell, so he remembered Qingxuan's warning and quickly calmed his mind, focusing his energy on his dantian.