I proved immortality with thunder magic.

Chapter 102 Secret Techniques: Li Hongzhi's Gift

Sanxing Mountain.

After receiving the Foundation Establishment congratulatory gift from the Wang family, Zhou Tai made some adjustments to his cultivation plan, devoting a lot of energy to cultivating the newly acquired secret technique.

This secret technique called "Thunder Locking Technique" is quite interesting; it is a secret technique specifically designed to seal the power of lightning.

Once mastered, this technique allows one to seal explosive lightning power within objects created using their own secret methods, such as pearls or swords.

Although this seal is not permanent, it can usually last for a year and a half, or even longer.

The key point is that this seal can be applied not only to the lightning power that one controls, but also to unclaimed lightning power, and even to lightning power controlled by others.

Zhou Tai was originally worried that he had not been able to cultivate his "Crimson Sky Divine Thunder" and "Innate Thunder Qi" for a long time, and that he had too few means to fight enemies.

The appearance of this "Thunder Locking Technique" is truly a timely boon.

According to his own idea and the records in the secret method, the sealed lightning power could be used as a disposable weapon, or even as a battery.

Once Zhou Tai learns this secret technique, he can extract the lightning power from the Swift Thunder Arrow and seal it into lightning beads using the secret method, which he can carry with him at all times.

When facing an enemy, he can unseal these thunder orbs at any time and use the power of lightning within them to attack the enemy.

In this way, the shortcoming of insufficient lightning power within the Thunder Arrow is perfectly resolved.

It was precisely because he saw such wonderful uses that he decisively devoted more of his cultivation time to this secret technique.

As a secret technique, the difficulty of learning the "Thunder Locking Technique" is far less than that of supernatural powers.

What's even more remarkable is that the most difficult part of this secret technique was originally how to control and stabilize the violent and unruly power of lightning.

However, because Zhou Tai has cultivated the "Divine Firmament Thunder Control Technique", he is now quite proficient in the art of controlling thunder, which will greatly help him learn the "Thunder Locking Technique".

Therefore, after he began to learn this secret technique, his progress was rapid.

This kind of effort yields positive feedback, which is exactly what Zhou Tai needs right now, and it makes him even more addicted to it.

Time flies, and two months have passed in the blink of an eye.

After hatching, the frog eggs in the pond turn into black tadpoles the size of peanuts, which swim around in the shallow water and among the grass every day.

The demonic insects that Zhou Tai ordered from the Spirit Beast Hall had already been delivered. He, along with Sun Yuzhu and Tao Zhenzhen, worked together to crush the demonic insects into a paste, then added spirit rice powder and water to make rice balls.

Each time you feed them, simply have the four female frogs lead the tadpoles to the feeding spot, drop in a few rice balls, and let them soak and spread out naturally. That's enough for the tadpoles to have a good meal.

After demonstrating the process to the two girls, he instructed them, "Feed them like this from now on, four times a day, once every hour and a half. When most of the tadpoles have grown to the size of two fingers, inform me to change the feed."

After entrusting the task of feeding the frogs to the two women, Zhou Tai continued to focus on cultivating his secret techniques and supernatural powers.

Time flies, and soon Zhou Tai celebrated his sixty-sixth birthday in his new cave dwelling.

For a Foundation Establishment cultivator, sixty-six years old is the age when they are full of vigor and ready to make their mark.

Zhou Tai was the same.

After two years of dedicated cultivation, his internal magical power had increased by about 10% compared to when he first established his foundation, and he had also made progress in the cultivation of some secret techniques and supernatural abilities.

The secret technique that led to the greatest progress was naturally the "Thunder Locking Technique," on which he devoted the most effort.

He has reached a crucial point in his cultivation of this method. If everything goes smoothly, he may be able to fully master it in less than a year.

Moreover, in order to complement his cultivation of this method, he also made considerable progress in his cultivation of the "Divine Firmament Thunder Control Technique".

As for the other supernatural powers and secret techniques, we can only put them aside for now; we have to take things one step at a time!

On this day, Zhou Tai went to the Spirit Beast Manor as usual to trade magic talismans with Li Hongzhi.

After the transaction was completed, Li Hongzhi suddenly took out a long, narrow wooden box and handed it to him.

"What does Fellow Daoist Li mean by this?"

Zhou Tai looked at the old man in front of him with surprise, somewhat not understanding his meaning.

But Li Hongzhi looked at him with a serious expression and said, "That Blood Spirit Bamboo Shoot almost cost Fellow Daoist Zhou his life and his cultivation. Although Fellow Daoist Zhou did not pursue the matter, I have always felt guilty and uneasy, and have always wanted to do something to make amends for my mistake!"

"Fortunately, things turned out as I wished. A few days ago, I learned from a fellow Daoist that someone was willing to donate a piece of second-tier lightning-struck spirit wood, so I specially replaced this item and gave it to Fellow Daoist Zhou as compensation!"

When Zhou Tai heard the words "lightning-struck spirit wood," his eyes immediately lit up, revealing a look of surprise and delight.

Materials for lightning-attribute magical artifacts are quite rare in the cultivation world. They are mostly materials from lightning-attribute demonic beasts, followed by lightning-struck spirit wood formed under various circumstances, while spirit gold ore containing the power of lightning is the most difficult to find.

Zhou Tai has earned a lot of spirit stones in the past two years. He also asked his master Song Yanting and his fourth senior brother Li Yunlei about magic artifacts, but their answers were not optimistic.

Take his fourth senior brother, Li Yunlei, as an example. He has been a Foundation Establishment cultivator for over forty years and has been in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage for over ten years. However, apart from a second-tier lightning-attribute magic weapon bestowed upon him by his master, Song Yanting, he has only one other second-tier lightning-attribute magic weapon obtained through various channels.

Song Yanting also said that the higher the grade of the lightning attribute magic weapon, the more difficult it is to buy. In most cases, one can only find the materials and find someone to refine it.

However, the success rate of forging lightning-attribute magical artifacts is lower than that of other attributes because most artifact refiners do not have lightning spiritual roots and cannot handle the lightning power contained in the materials.

As a cultivator in the Purple Mansion stage, Song Yanting had also tried to learn the art of weapon crafting. Unfortunately, according to him, after wasting a lot of materials, he still found it difficult to craft a second-tier lightning attribute magic weapon.

Li Yunlei also once gathered the materials and sought someone to forge the weapon, but he was also unsuccessful in doing so.

However, Zhou Tai was never one to fear difficulties. In his view, if he failed to forge a weapon once, he would try again, and if he failed twice, he would try three times.

In any case, anything that can be done with money is not difficult in his eyes.

His biggest fear is that, like when he was trying to establish his foundation, he would be too old to exchange for foundation-building spiritual items, and his success rate in establishing his foundation would be greatly reduced.

Before he could even begin to gather materials, Li Hongzhi had already sent him a piece of excellent material, which naturally delighted him.

Overjoyed, he immediately reached out and took the wooden box, nodding with undisguised delight, saying, "I appreciate Fellow Daoist Li's kindness. However, I will reimburse you for the original amount of spirit stones you spent on this item; otherwise, you'll be disowning me as a friend!"

Li Hongzhi originally didn't want the money at all, but Zhou Tai's next words sealed his fate.

After hesitating for a moment, he nodded and said, "Then Fellow Daoist Zhou, please give me a thousand low-grade spirit stones!"

This price is definitely not the real price; it's probably less than half of the actual price.

But Zhou Tai didn't pursue the matter any further. Instead, he smiled and said, "Then I, Zhou, will shamelessly accept this generous gift."

After saying that, he took out ten mid-grade spirit stones and handed them to the other party.

After returning to his cave, Zhou Tai took out the wooden box and began to examine the lightning-struck spirit wood inside.

The wooden box contained a piece of wood about four feet five inches long, which looked like it had been burned, with a charred surface and a yellowish interior.

According to Li Hongzhi, this spirit wood was originally a first-grade high-quality spirit pear tree, but it was destroyed by lightning. Only the hardest part of the wood remained, and it absorbed the power of the lightning to become the lightning-struck spirit wood.

Zhou Tai reached out and gently stroked the spirit wood, and he could easily feel the restrained lightning power within it.

After the power of lightning and the spirit wood coexisted, this lightning-struck spirit wood acquired the attribute of lightning.

However, compared to the lightning-attribute spirit wood that is truly born with the power of lightning, the lightning-struck spirit wood is actually a step inferior.

However, high-grade thunder bamboo is extremely rare, and its properties differ from other spiritual woods, making it unsuitable for some magical artifacts.

Used as material.

Take, for example, the piece of lightning-struck spirit wood in Zhou Tai's hand. Because it is the hard heartwood of a spirit pear tree, its hardness has increased even further after being tempered by heavenly lightning. If it is used to refine a magic weapon, even a second-tier flying sword can withstand it.

"I know nothing about weapon crafting. Perhaps I can ask my master and senior brothers for advice."

Thinking of this, Zhou Tai quickly sent a message to his master Song Yanting and his fourth senior brother Li Yunlei to ask for their advice.

Li Yunlei's reply arrived shortly afterward, suggesting either a Leimu sword or a Leimu plaque, nothing particularly unusual, which Zhou Tai was not very satisfied with.

Song Yanting's reply arrived the next day. His suggestion to Zhou Tai was to use it as a flagpole, and then find a kind of lightning-attribute silk or hemp thread and animal hair to weave into a banner, and ask someone to refine a lightning banner.

Moreover, Song Yanting not only gave advice on crafting magical artifacts, but also recommended channels for Zhou Tai to obtain lightning-attribute silk and hemp thread.

The former is located within the Spirit Beast Mountain. An elder in the sect has tamed a second-tier demonic beast, the Thunder Spear Spider. The spider silk spun by this spider is the most suitable material for making banners.

However, there is only one Thunderspear Spider, and the production of its silk is limited. If Zhou Tai wants to exchange for it, he will have to ask the elder about his conditions.

Some can be found in the Beast Hair Spirit Beast Mountain, but few match the second-tier Lightning Strike Spirit Wood. Song Yanting recommends trying your luck at the Spirit Void Sect.

The Lingxu Sect tames a type of lightning-attribute fox called the Silver Thunder Fox, with a population of about twenty, including several second-tier lightning foxes.

If enough fox fur could be obtained, and a skilled weaver were to weave it into a banner, it would certainly be more useful than the silk of the thunderspear spider.

Zhou Tai had previously heard his second senior brother Liu Zhenshan mention in a casual conversation that their master, Song Yanting, possessed a powerful third-tier magic weapon called the Thunder Light Purgatory Banner. It was said that once it was unleashed, lightning would gather like a tidal wave, turning an area of ​​several miles into a thunderous purgatory!

He was captivated by the story and longed to possess such a powerful magical artifact.

After reading the advice given by his master Song Yanting, he decided to obey his master's orders without much thought.

After all, Song Yanting had explained the source of the flag materials to him, so how could he let down his master's painstaking efforts?