Don't mess with that necromancer; his summoned creatures level up on their own!

Shen Jing stood there with the empty bowl in her hand, watching her son's figure disappear around the corner of the stairs. Her smile grew even brighter, tinged with a touch of emotion.

This child is clearly working very hard, but he insists on hiding it.

What? Is working hard something to be ashamed of?

She suddenly realized something; she must be afraid that everyone had too high expectations of her and that the pressure was too great, so she deliberately acted cynical.

In reality, he's more cunning than anyone else.

They say they're going to lie down, but their actions speak louder than anyone else's.

"Level 20... Lightning skills..."

Shen Jing became increasingly restless as she thought about it.

"No, I have to tell Lao Lu."

The atmosphere in the study on the second floor was somber.

Lu Zaoxie sat behind his desk with a solemn expression, his hands folded on the table.

Opposite them, Ye Qinglan and Ah Hu stood straight, their expressions equally serious.

"You should all keep in mind what I just said."

"The world is in turmoil lately. According to intelligence from the front lines, monsters in various wilderness areas have been rioting to varying degrees."

Small-scale animal tides, which usually occur only once a month, have already happened three times this month, with each one larger than the last, doubling in frequency compared to last year.

He stood up, walked to the window, and reached out to pull open a gap in the curtains.

"Boom!"

A blinding flash of lightning ripped through the sky, briefly illuminating the entire courtyard.

In the direction the lightning struck, a massive black shadow could be vaguely seen rolling through the clouds on the distant horizon.

Lu Zaoxie looked in that direction, his voice tinged with a hint of emotion: "Thundercloud Beast... It's been several years since it last appeared."

Ye Qinglan stepped forward: "Commander, should we go and provide support? Yunhai City isn't far from us. If needed, I can lead a team."

Lu Zaoxie shook his head: "No need. It's just a world boss. This little thundercloud beast can't cause any trouble."

He lowered the curtains, turned around, and walked back to his desk.

"However, such unusual movements by high-level monsters often trigger chain reactions. In the coming period, the deployment and patrols in Dachang City will need to be increased. You can arrange these."

Ye Qinglan and Ah Hu responded in unison, "Yes, Commander!"

"Knock knock knock—"

The door was pushed open after only two knocks.

In the entire Lu family, only Shen Jing dared to barge into the commander's study without prior notice.

The solemnity on Lu Zaoxie's face vanished the moment he saw who it was, replaced by a doting smile.

"Wife? What brings you here?"

Shen Jing was taken aback when she saw Ye Qinglan and Ah Hu were both there.

"Did I interrupt your serious discussion? Perhaps I can come back later?"

Lu Zaoxie waved his hand repeatedly and walked out from behind the desk.

"No, no, no! What important matter could be more important than my wife's affairs? Besides, the meeting is already over, and we're just about to send them home to rest. What are your orders, my wife?"

Ye Qinglan and Ah Hu exchanged a glance, both seeing helplessness in each other's eyes.

The city defense commander, who was decisive and ruthless in the field, had absolutely no temper in front of his wife.

It seems the rumors about Commander Lu being afraid of his wife are true; perhaps this is what they call a henpecked husband.

Shen Jing smiled and said, "Zhi Xing is already level 20 and just learned Ghost Summoning. He said he wants to try out the skill at the wooden stake in the backyard. I was thinking, do you want to go and take a look?"

Lu Zaoxie waved his hand, almost blurting out, "Isn't it just a ghost summoning?"

He stopped abruptly before he could finish speaking.

That is the call of knowledge and action!

The wind and blood elements caused such a big stir before, and now the lightning element... is known as the strongest single-target burst!

Who knows what surprises await us?

Lu Zaoxie grabbed Shen Jing's hand and walked towards the door.

"Let's go! Let's go take a look!"

Ye Qinglan and Ah Hu exchanged a glance and followed.

---

"Hey! Did you hear? Young Master went to the training ground in the backyard!"

A maid jogged across the corridor and whispered to her colleague who was wiping a vase.

The rag in his companion's hand stopped in mid-air, and he turned his head in surprise.

"Huh? Young Master went to the training ground? I've worked for the Lu family for three years, and I've never seen him go there before... Doesn't he always prefer to lie in his room?"

"So, how about we go join the fun?" The maid rubbed her hands together, her eyes sparkling.

His companion hesitated.

"But I haven't finished my work yet..."

"Oh dear! There's always time to do chores! Young Master rarely goes to the backyard, there's bound to be a good show to watch! I heard he's learned a new lightning-based skill!"

"That's true! Let's go! Let's call the others!"

For a time, similar conversations were taking place in every corner of the villa.

Within minutes, the servants, who were originally performing their duties, found excuses to put down their work and flocked to the backyard in groups of three or five.

Some people pretended to collect the laundry that was drying, while others used the excuse of trimming the weeds along the edge of the lawn.

Someone was walking a dog, saying they wanted to take it for a walk, while another person was carrying a plate of fruit, claiming they were worried the young master might get hungry while practicing his martial arts.

Fortunately, Lu Zao and Xie were kind people who never put on airs with their servants and would never be harsh on them for such trivial matters.

The servants all knew that Commander Lu and his wife doted on their young master to the core, and anything concerning the young master was of paramount importance.

If they go to watch the young master train, Commander Lu might even be pleased, thinking that everyone cares about the young master's growth.

The Lu family's backyard.

In the very center of the lawn stood a huge black wooden stake, next to which was a semi-transparent display screen.

These test stakes, made of special spiritual wood, are incredibly hard and possess a strong self-healing ability.

The cost of just one wooden stake is as high as tens of millions of Chinese Yuan.

Looking across the entire Dachang City, there are only two or three households that can install these test stakes in their own backyards.

The Lu family is one of them.

Lu Zhixing was standing about twenty meters in front of the wooden stake, flexing his wrists, preparing for Xiao You to make her move.

He sensed something was wrong; it felt like countless eyes were staring at the back of his head.

He turned around and looked: "..."

At the entrance to the backyard, a large crowd had gathered.

It was a huge crowd, like half the people from the villa had come.

At the very front, his father, Lu Zaoxie, and mother, Shen Jing, stood side by side, both looking at him expectantly.

Lu Zaoxie even put his hands behind his back, striking a pose as if he were a "commander inspecting new recruits' training."

Beside them, Ye Qinglan and Ah Hu also had happy faces.

Behind them, the chef, dressed in a white chef's uniform, was holding a spatula.

An elderly gardener with large shears stood in the corner, while a security guard led a German Shepherd.

Several maids huddled together, still holding clothes they hadn't had time to put down.

Looking at this scene, Lu Zhixing's mind was buzzing.

No... what are you doing?

I was just trying out a skill in my own backyard, and it turned into something like a public square performance?

Lightning tore through the thick clouds, illuminating the entire backyard in a stark white light.

Lu Zaoxie stood at the front of the crowd with his hands on his hips, his loud voice drowning out the thunder.

"Son! Keep it up! Show your dad your new skill!"

Lu Zhixing's lips twitched, and he felt the muscles in his face twitching uncontrollably.

"Dad... I'm just trying out a basic skill, is it really necessary to make such a big fuss...?"

He took a deep breath, turned around, and his gaze returned to the dark test stake.

Lu Zhixing flexed his wrists.

"Alright, since neither of you will back down, let's settle this with a fight. Little Zombie, Little You, are you ready? Who wants to go first?"

The little zombie squatted on the lawn, propping its cheek up and tilting its head to look at the little ghost.

[Hey, newbie, don't accuse me of bullying you. I'll ask you one more time, do you need me to let you have a few moves?]

The little ghost stood on the lawn, looked up, and spoke in a soft voice.

"No, no need... Big brother... Xiaoyou will try her best..."

Lu Zhixing silently gave her a thumbs up in his heart for her courage.

"Alright, Little Zombie, you go first."

The little zombie stood up from the lawn.

It turned to the test stake, squatted down, and placed its palms on the ground.

"Buzz—"

A blinding red light flashed instantly on the ground beneath the wooden stake, followed by a second and a third.

One red halo after another lit up around the wooden stake.

The first pillar of wind shot into the sky.

Then came the second and third rounds.

More than twenty columns of wind all overlapped and erupted wildly at the same location.

"BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM—!!!"

The continuous explosions made everyone's eardrums ache, and the lawn in the backyard was flattened by the blast wave.

Even the servants dozens of meters away felt a gust of hot air rushing towards them.

The wooden stake trembled violently under the impact of the wind column, and the runes flashed wildly.

In less than ten seconds, the wind column dissipated, and the test wooden stake was charred black and billowing thick smoke.

The damage display screen had reached its maximum: [Total Damage: 138321!]

The crowd was silent for a moment, then erupted in chaos.

The young cook dropped the spatula from his hand. Although he was just a cook, he had seen pigs run even if he had never eaten pork.

A normal level 20 professional can deal 10,000 damage with a single skill, which is already quite impressive.

Even an S-level genius's burst damage is at most 30,000 to 40,000.

130,000?

Is this the kind of data a level 20 player can produce?

Is the screen broken? Or is the wooden stake old and in disrepair?

The maids didn't care about these statistics.

They looked at Lu Zhixing with starry eyes, their eyes practically sparkling with hearts.

"My God... Young Master is so fierce, so wild, so manly... I love him so much..."

"Young master, that move you just made was so cool!"

"Don't you dare try to take it, the young master is mine!"

Shen Jing sighed and rubbed her forehead, then frowned and looked at Lu Zaoxie.

"Old Lu, didn't Zhixing say he was going to try out the new lightning-type skill? Why is his starting move a Polar Cyclone?"

Lu Zaoxie looked thoughtful, crossed his arms, and stared at the still-smoking wooden stake.

"I reckon... this kid wants to make a comparison, let the wind element as a foundation first, see how much damage it can do, and then connect it with lightning."

However, to be fair, the damage caused by Zhixing's polar cyclone was truly outrageous.

Shen Jing's doubts deepened: "But Lao Lu, Polar Cyclone is a mid-level skill. Even if lightning is powerful, a low-level lightning skill can't compare to a mid-level wind skill, right?"

He's comparing the damage of a beginner-level skill to that of an intermediate-level skill—is that even comparable?

Lu Zaoxie laughed heartily.

"Who cares, wife? We'll just keep an eye on things. Zhixing must have his reasons."

The little zombie stood up straight on the lawn and turned to look at the little ghost with a smug expression.

The little zombie, smug and smug, asked: "How about it?"

It took small steps to walk up to the little ghost and looked up.

Although it was a whole head shorter than the little ghost, its imposing presence made the height difference seem like it was looking down on the other.

The little zombie looked at the little ghost with disdain: From now on, follow me, and you'll get to eat meat. I'll handle the fighting, and you just need to shout "666!"

Xiao You lowered her head and didn't speak, only giving a very soft "hmm".

Lu Zhixing couldn't help but speak, his voice tinged with helplessness.

"Xiao You, you've only just arrived. It's really unfair to compare your damage with Xiao Jiang's intermediate-level skill."

Moreover, while Little Zombie's move looks like it deals high damage, in actual combat it's difficult to hit the same target with all the wind circles. It was really lucky today.

How about this: if you can deal even one-tenth of its damage, you win, okay?

He held up his index finger, making a "one" shape.

"Fourteen thousand will do."

The little zombie waved generously.

[No problem! I'm not an unreasonable corpse either; one-tenth, fair and impartial.]

Faced with Lu Zhixing's suggestion and the little zombie's magnanimity, the little ghost remained silent.

She stood on the lawn, looking up at the sky.

Dark clouds churned in the night sky, and thunder rumbled.

Lu Zhixing was taken aback for a moment, then looked up in the direction of her gaze.

The night sky was dark and covered with thick clouds.

The thunder came from deep within the clouds, deep and long.

Shen Jing looked at her son, who had suddenly looked up at the sky, and asked in confusion.

"What is Zhixing doing? Wasn't he supposed to be driving in wooden stakes? Why is he looking at the sky? Is it raining?"

Lu Zaoxie did not answer.

His eyes were fixed on a point in the sky, then he quickly looked at Lu Zhixing.

His pupils contracted slightly.

As a top-ranking lightning-type war god in the entire Dragon Kingdom, Lu Zaoxie possesses an extremely terrifying perception of the lightning element.

In his eyes, the world at that moment was not just filled with dark clouds and raging winds.

Countless volatile lightning elements are surging wildly within the clouds.

Each one is flowing, colliding, and merging in a disorderly manner.

And what did he see amidst this chaos?

Thin, invisible blue threads, as fine as spider silk, hung down from the sky.

Yet it contains the power to split mountains.

Lu Zaoxie's breath caught in his throat for a moment.

Lightning conductor!

Lightning mages have a mid-level skill that summons lightning to deal massive single-target damage.

However, this move is extremely difficult to master, requiring an almost abnormally keen perception of lightning elements in order to see and control these lightning-attracting lines.

Even he only managed to master the lightning rod after reaching level 40 and experiencing countless life-or-death trials during thunderstorms.

His gaze was fixed on Lu Zhixing, who was not far away. The boy was looking up.

"The lightning rod... Zhixing... he saw it?"

Lu Zhixing tilted his head back, his neck a little sore.

Wait... Xiao You, what are you looking at? There's nothing in the sky!

"Little You... could you possibly summon heavenly lightning down?"

As soon as he finished speaking, messages started popping up on the panel like crazy.

The little ghost sensed threads descending from the sky, each thread containing world-destroying power.

The little ghost seems to sense something; perhaps it can draw upon this power.

The little ghost attempted to take control, and raging lightning surged into her along the threads. Lightning element flowed into her body like an electric current. She didn't flinch; instead, she gripped the threads even tighter.

[Congratulations! Your summoned creature "Little Ghost" has sensed the power of heaven and earth, and has successfully deduced and mastered the intermediate-level lightning skill—"Thunder God's Heavenly Flash" (Lv.1)!]