Journey to the West: Starting with becoming an apprentice of the Nine Heavens Demon-Subduing Patriar

Lu Shanjun saw all of this, and although he didn't show anything on his face, he couldn't help but sigh softly in his heart.

On this journey to the West, the most dangerous things are never those few battles.

What's truly deadly is background, powerful connections, and the intangible complexities of human relationships.

The same seed, if it falls into the hands of a rogue cultivator with no connections, is a path to death. But if it falls into the hands of someone with a "regular" title, even the soldiers of the Thunder Department would have to think twice.

He touched the book "Miscellaneous Records of Demon Subduing" in his arms, and then thought of the Yang God in his sea of ​​consciousness with a bit of North Star light between his eyebrows. The sense of security he felt from having a "backer" grew even stronger.

Therefore, back then, he gritted his teeth and gave up his centuries of cultivation to switch to cultivating the "Little True Martial Qi-Inducing Technique".

This is the right path.

……

Having acquired the superior-grade lightning seed, Lu Shanjun originally intended to find a secluded spot and, before the innate lightning energy in the valley dissipated, properly nurture and plant the divine lightning seed on the spot.

Taking this thing out of the valley would be a huge problem.

Firstly, it was originally a seed that the Thunder Department of the Heavenly Court should collect. Although he obtained it, there was still some inexplicable cause and effect involved in its acquisition.

His mother had just washed away the threads from Lingshan, and he really didn't want to cause any more trouble.

Secondly, this divine thunder seed is too spiritual and has too strong an aura. Carrying it along the way is like carrying a torch in the dark, which will attract countless eyes.

Ironically, this Thunder Pool is also the best place in the world to plant seeds.

The pond is full of innate vitality, which perfectly matches the saying "Nurtured by water and soil, it takes root in a hundred days".

Planting them here is like seeds falling into fertile soil, yielding twice the results with half the effort.

Having made up his mind, he found the most secluded corner of Thunder Pool, where the fog was thickest and almost no demons or immortals came. A half-person-high blue stone lay diagonally, perfectly sheltered from the wind.

Lu Shanjun walked over and sat down cross-legged.

But just as he was about to close his eyes...

The stone sword wrapped in coarse cloth on his back trembled with a "hum"!

This tremor was completely different from the joyful cry when he intercepted the fish with his sword.

"Duke Mengzhang?"

Lu Shanjun's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly took off the stone sword and held it in his palm.

Beneath the rough cloth, the sword's blue light flickered, and the sword spirit, unable to contain itself, overflowed from the spine of the sword, transforming into a blurry human figure in mid-air.

The phantom of an old man, draped in an old robe and with a hunched back, was exactly what Meng Zhang looked like in his lifetime.

The phantom didn't speak, but simply raised a semi-transparent hand and pointed to a spot in the thick fog.

Lu Shanjun's expression turned solemn.

Meng Zhang was an old python from Wushao Ridge who lived for over two hundred years and rarely showed such a loss of composure.

Since it has this feeling, there must be something fishy behind the fog.

He dared not delay, and following the direction of the illusory figure, he parted the thick fog and, step by step, explored the corner of the Thunder Pool.

The fog grew thicker and thicker, and the innate thunder energy here had become so concentrated that it almost solidified. When you stepped on it, the cloud energy under your feet felt sticky.

We walked about ten steps.

"Thump."

Suddenly, my toe kicked something hard.

Lu Shanjun lowered his head.

Beneath the fog, half-buried in the condensed thunderous aura, lies a stone quietly.

The stone was pitch black, a uniform, deathly black color, with a pitted and uneven surface, resembling a fossil that had been pressed down by time for thousands of years.

Placed among the pool full of shimmering, colorful thunder seeds, it was inconspicuous, as dull as a stubborn rock.

All those demons and immortals who passed by just now didn't even glance at it.

Lu Shanjun bent down and picked it up.

The moment he made contact, his wrist suddenly felt heavy.

So heavy!

The stone core was only the size of a fist, but it weighed over a thousand pounds. It was so heavy that even his tiger body, which had cultivated to the point of refining the spirit and returning to emptiness, and whose yang spirit was just beginning to form, had to concentrate before he could support it.

What shocked him most was when he came into contact with the black stone core.

Deep within his sea of ​​consciousness, the "Mysterious Heaven Water Thunder Technique," which had just acquired the Divine Thunder Seed and was slowly circulating, suddenly stirred.

That kind of excitement is different from the joy of obtaining the Thunder Seed.

Like something that had been asleep for ten thousand years, it quietly opened a slit through this layer of stone shell, and remotely... responded to the little bit of thunderous intent in his dantian.

Lu Shanjun held the black stone core, frozen in place, even his breathing became soft.

The mist swirled at his feet.

On the stone sword in his hand, Meng Zhang's illusory figure stared intently at the black stone core, his hunched figure trembling slightly.

"What...is this?"

After a long silence, Lu Shanjun finally uttered a sentence.

The proficiency panel is displayed.

[External Object: Primordial Thunder Shedding]

[Annotation: In the primordial era, before the separation of primordial energy, heaven and earth were a chaotic void, like a chicken egg. The first bolt of lightning struck, splitting the clear from the turbid, and all things began to be born. This stone core is the old shell shed by that first primordial lightning bolt.]

[It can refine weapons. Ordinary iron, upon obtaining it, is transformed. Spiritual weapons, upon obtaining it, undergo a new "growth" process.]

Lu Shanjun stared at the word "growth" and swallowed hard.

He lived as an ordinary person for thirty years, and the books and miscellaneous writings he had read could fill several cabinets.

What kind of treasure haven't you heard of?

But the word "growth" still made the hair on the back of his neck stand up straight.

The spiritual treasures of this world are dead.

Once forged in one furnace, it is subject to several restrictions.

Being of low character means being low character your whole life.

Even if the one refining the treasure is an all-powerful being, the day the treasure is completed is the day they reach their peak.

Weapons that can "grow"...

It was alive.

It followed its master everywhere; as the master's wisdom and experience increased, so did its own. Now...

The sun is an inconspicuous stone sword, but in the future...

Lu Shanjun dared not think any further.

Just as he was in shock, the stone sword wrapped in coarse cloth on his back suddenly hummed loudly.

In mid-air, the hunched old man's phantom slowly took shape.

It was exactly how Meng Zhang looked when he was alive.

The phantom's eyes were fixed on the black stone core in Lu Shanjun's palm. Its hand trembled as it reached out, its fingertips three inches away from the stone core, but it dared not get any closer, hovering in mid-air, shaking violently.

Lu Shanjun's heart suddenly softened.

He got it.

Meng Zhang is an old python from Wushao Ridge, who has cultivated for over two hundred years. The most difficult hurdle for pythons to overcome in their cultivation is "transforming into a dragon".

If a python wants to become a dragon, it must shed its filthy snake skin and have its bones tempered by a bolt of heavenly lightning.

Many old pythons, after enduring until their strength is exhausted and their oil is depleted, still cannot wait for their own thunderbolt.

Meng Zhang couldn't survive this ordeal back then at Wushaoling.

Unable to endure it any longer, he conceived the evil idea of ​​devouring souls and forcibly breaking through the barriers by borrowing evil energy, thus incurring a blood debt.

In the end, all his debts and his yearning for the Dao were sealed into this stone sword.

What it has been unable to let go of for the past two hundred years has never been killing, but this word "transformation".

Now, that first innate lightning molt is right before my eyes.

"Duke Mengzhang"

Lu Shanjun's throat tightened slightly, and he sighed softly, "You... have been waiting for this lightning bolt for two hundred years, haven't you?"

The phantom did not speak, but simply bowed to him.

The same bow he received from that faint, fading green shadow in the dilapidated temple years ago was exactly the same.

Lu Shanjun felt a lump in his throat and, without further hesitation, drew the stone sword from his back with a thought.

After the coarse cloth fell, it emitted a bluish light.

The stone sword was rough all over, with a blunt and ineffective blade. It was originally an inanimate object in the temple that had received incense offerings, but now it kept chirping, as if it wanted to rush out of his palm.

Lu Shanjun gently placed the Primordial Thunder Shell in his palm onto the reclining bluestone.

Then he picked up the sword and pointed the tip at the black shell in the middle of the stone.

"break."

As soon as he spoke, the stone sword rang out and shot forward three inches on its own.

The sword's edge touched the stone shell.

With a "crack," the dark stone skin split open like an eggshell, revealing a thin crack.

The next instant, a burst of blue light erupted from the crevice!

The fist-sized stone core melted away with a "whoosh" right before Lu Shanjun's eyes. It transformed into a pool of emerald-green water, floating in mid-air, neither falling nor dispersing.

As soon as the water appeared, the innate thunder energy of the entire valley surged toward it with a "boom," and countless blue and green sparks rushed toward the pool of water.

Suddenly, lightning flashed in the water.

There is fire in the water, and water in the fire.

Water and fire clashed, forming a bluish-white vortex that engulfed Lu Shanjun, sword and all.