Chapter 552 - A Coincidence

The Heavenly Thunder Sect was an ancient sect.

The sect was good at teaching lightning-related skills and methods, and it was divided into inner sect and outer sect. The outer sect was again divided into 18 branch sects, and their disciples were not acknowledged by the inner sect of Heavenly Thunder Sect. The chiefs and elders from the 18 branch sects were in charge of teaching their disciples, and the talented disciples would be recommended to the inner sect.

The disciples learned many kinds of skills, including alchemy, weapons refining, animal training, etc. But their forte was the skill to control lightning.

When the outer sect disciples reached the Innateness stage, they would get a chance to enter the inner sect.

It was a competition of 18 branch sects held every five years. All the Innateness stage members of the outer sect would fight for the one thousand opportunities to become inner sect disciples.

The inner sect disciples were at least at the Innateness stage, and they weren’t allowed to leave the mountain before they reached the Elixir stage. Yuan Ying masters were mainstays of the sect, and most of the elders were at the God Transformation stage. As for Lei Yi, the chief of the Heavenly Thunder Sect, he was at the Integration stage.

It could be called a large sect even in the Cultivation World.

The information was obtained by Zhang Han from the mural on the wall, which recorded all kinds of deeds of the Heavenly Thunder Sect, from its establishment to its development.

At the beginning, Lei Yi established the Heavenly Thunder Sect with three disciples and their followers. After more than ten years of development, the sect had taken shape. After 60 year of development, the Heavenly Thunder Sect became an influential force. After 70 years, there were more than ten thousand disciples and more than one hundred elders at the God Transformation stage in the sect. There were thousands of elders in the period of deification. That honor was recorded on the wall as “spreading for hundreds of years.”

However, such a powerful sect gradually declined with the passage of time.

The Heavenly Thunder Sect no longer existed, only leaving that ancient relic for them to explore.

Since there were so many treasures in the outer sect, Zhang Han wondered what he would find at the inner sect.

However, opportunities were often accompanied by crises. In this ancestral sect site, even Zhang Han began to be cautious.

“Wait, have you heard something?”

Lei Tiannan suddenly stopped and said in confusion, “I heard thunder.”

“Yes, the thunder came from that direction.” Wang Zhanpeng pointed to the right, and his face was pale.

They turned around and saw another lightning following the first one.

“Who is he? How can he challenge the lightning? Shall we go to have a look?” Lei Tiannan said, feeling frightened.

Zhang Han nodded and took the lead to approach that man.

It was a long distance, but Zhang Han’s speed was very fast. About ten minutes later, they reached their destination.

A man in green was holding a palm-sized big ball.

There was a flash of lightning in the sphere, and he was obviously absorbing the thunder to improve his treasure.

However…

“What a pity. It would have become a divine-level treasure.”

Zhang Han shook his head and stopped with Wang Zhanpeng and Lei Tiannan.

Although the ball in the man’s hand was a third-stage spirit treasure, it was much closer to the fourth stage in terms of quality.

He could have waited for some refining materials to upgrade the treasure, but when he saw the thunder in the area, he wanted to take the opportunity to absorb some of them.

It was a good idea, but the reality was cruel.

At the moment he couldn’t stop even if he wanted to.

When Lei Tiannan was about to ask him…

A blast came from all directions, and they saw a one thousand ft long Taiyi Wood Thunder falling towards that man.

“No!” The man in green wanted to withdraw his treasure, but he failed to store it in his Space Ring.

At that critical moment, he saw that the Taiyi Wood Thunder was about to fall, and quickly threw his treasure forward to block it.

However…

“Crack!”

There was a crack in the ball made by the Taiyi Wood Thunder.

It was like a butterfly effect.

“Crack!”

The second crack appeared.

Then, the third, the fourth, soon after the fifth crack.

“Bang!”

A blast came out, and dozens of lightnings stored in the ball began attacking the man in blue from all directions.

He was stunned with a pale face.

The lightning soon fell down.

“Hiss!”

“The thunder is so terrible! Fortunately, we found these clothes in time, or the consequences would have been unimaginable!” Lai Tiannan gasped in fear.

That man in green was soon killed by the lightning.

“Let’s go.” Zhang Han looked at that direction calmly and took the lead to leave.

When he entered the relic, he was in the deep forest, under the rolling black clouds, unable to find the direction.

Since he had found the position of the Heavenly Thunder Sect’s Main Sect, he could just go there.

They kept walking forward.

They didn’t see any creatures along the way.

That beautiful place was a world without people, birds and animals.

In the last relic, there were creatures like the Fire Soul.

There were no living things in that relic.

Zhang Han planned to reach the Heavenly Thunder Sect’s Main Sect within three hours.

But it took them five hours to get there.

“Damn it.”

The three of them were at the top of a mountain, looking at the Main Sect from afar.

Seeing the picture in front of him, Lei Tiannan gradually widened his eyes, “This area is like a large city! It’s bigger than the south island of Hong Kong. It’s amazing!”

“Yes, its larger, and we only have 13 hours.” Wang Zhanpeng looked at the hourglass and shook his head. “We can only explore a small part of this area in the 13 hours available.”

“Let’s go there first.” Zhang Han sighed.

Zhang Han still couldn’t smell the treasure’s fragrance with his Treasure-sniffing nose.

But when he arrived near the city, he found that the whole city was filled with the fragrance of treasures.

Just like the Shadow Bamboo Peak, the whole sect was a treasure that couldn’t be taken away by Zhang Han.

After such a long time, only treasures could record the grand occasion of that sect.

When Zhang Han approached the Main Sect…

He saw a wall as high as one hundred ft. The gate was open, but on both sides of the gate, there were two humanoid statues with animal heads with two horns.

They held two huge forks respectively and seemed to be staring at Zhang Han fiercely.

“Are they alive and dead? Why do I see the right one’s eyes blinking?” Lei Tiannan suddenly asked.

He was frightened.

It was so scary.

“I also saw its eyes blink. Han, what’s the reason?” Wang Zhanpeng stood still and he felt cold.

“They are just two statues of monsters, as long as you stop looking into their eyes.”

Zhang Han took a glance at the statues and took the lead to enter the city.

“Whoo…”

Wang Zhanpeng and Lei Tiannan looked at each other and sighed with relief.

Then they hurried to catch up with Zhang Han.

Outside the gate, they saw that the city was empty and there was a sense of stillness.

But when they stepped into it…

“Clatter!”

They heard all kinds of noise.

In the front of the buildings on both sides of the street, there were many people coming and going, as well as stalls, and all kinds of snacks, weapons shops, teahouses, restaurants, and even… Brothels.

That was like an ancient picture.

“Attention!” Zhang Han warned Lei Tiannan and Wang Zhanpeng.

Both of his friends were attracted by the scene again and even wanted to have a drink in one of the restaurants.

Zhang Han’s words were like cold water that awakened them.

They were shocked and suddenly realized what had happened.

It was just like a real city.

“Zhang Han, shall we go to the houses on both sides?” Lei Tiannan looked at both sides of the road and reminded Zhang Han.

“Let’s go inside first.” Zhang Han replied, and the red light in his eyes gradually faded.

He had just opened his ghost eyes and found that it was a desolate place without human beings.

Those were just the outskirts of the city and the chance of finding spirit treasures was not great. Besides, Zhang Han always felt that someone was looking at him from the empty houses on both sides of the street.

He knew that if he entered the house, he would be attacked.

He decided to go to the Main Sect of the Heavenly Thunder Sect directly.

Their time was limited after all.

They walked on for about an hour.

Suddenly, Zhang Han stopped and looked at the street on the right, where a man in black was lying.

Judging from his clothes, it was a man who was exploring the relic. Zhang Han recognized that he was a disciple from another sect who followed Gai Xingkong.

“Why was he killed here?” Lei Tiannan frowned.

That man was lying in the middle of the road, but the people who lived in the memory of history didn’t seem to see him.

Only Zhang Han, Lei Tiannan and Wang Zhanpeng saw his body.

Next to his body was a big wooden card with a line of words written on it:

“If you see this wooden card, from here on, don’t explore the houses on both sides. Go inside to find the Main Sect.”

That was a warning.

This proved that Zhang Han’s premonition was right. There was danger in the houses on both sides of the street.

Zhang Han thought about it and then nodded. “Let’s go forward.”

“Okay.” Wang Zhanpeng and Lei Tiannan nodded.

They would follow Zhang Han wherever he went.

If they hadn’t met Zhang Han, who was knowledgeable, they would have been killed in that city or even in the Shadow Bamboo Peak just then.

As experienced martial artists, they didn’t want to risk their lives. That was why Wang Zhanpeng just checked several houses at the foot of Shadow Bamboo Peak and soon left the place.

If they were in the jungle, they wouldn’t be in any danger. But in that city, they weren’t so confident.

There was still a black cloud in the sky, but it could be seen faintly that the black cloud in the far front side was constantly surging, and even a few light green thunders were falling. Obviously, it was the center of the city, the location of the Main Sect!

They walked forward.

The houses on both sides of the road were getting more and more high-end, and even some small palaces could be seen occasionally.

Finally, the three arrived at a different place.

The buildings at the front suddenly disappeared, but what came into view was a massive lake.

The water in the lake was constantly turning, and there was a big island in the middle of the lake.

There were many buildings on the island, and they saw an enormous palace in the innermost side. The three words above the palace gate could be seen clearly.

Heavenly Thunder Sect!

Looking at both sides, they couldn’t see the end of the lake at all, because there was a light mist on the lake in the distance.

In other words, there was a light fog all over the lake. When they looked at the distance, the fog overlapped and they couldn’t see clearly.

Hundreds of meters to the left, a small group of people stood on the bank, which seemed to be facing the main gate of the Heavenly Thunder Sect. Zhang Han saw six bridges made of long chains, on which there were stone slabs, with a distance of nearly ten meters between every two stone slabs.

Such a distance would be covered by a martial artist’s step.

Zhang Han and his friends walked towards that group of people.

That group of 11 men was led by Gai Xingkong, and Zhang Han even saw Director Bi among them.

They seemed to be talking about something. There were two people standing by the bridge, looking serious, as if crossing the bridge required great courage.

Before they could take any actions, Gai Xingkong turned around and shouted, “Han!”

He burst out laughing.

“You are finally here. I thought you were three images like them.”

“We came from Shadow Bamboo Peak.” Zhang Han nodded and replied.

According to the warning sign, he realized that Gai Xingkong or another person should have the map of the area.

Just as Zhang Han expected…

Gai Xingkong was confused but soon replied, “Shadow Bamboo Peak is far from here, as the most remote one among the 18 outer sects; that should be located at the edge of this relic. I’m lucky and was sent to Qilong Peak directly, near the Main Sect.”

“Swish!”

Zhang Han’s lips twitched.

“What’s the situation? Every time I explore the ruins, how can I always be in the edge area? Is it really just a coincidence?”

“I only found some Heaven-grade treasures in Qilong Peak. Quite a lot, but of no use to me. So I came to the main city early. There was light green thunder in the houses on both sides of the street, and the degree of the attack seemed to have something to do with the level of the house, but there was no treasure in it. When I came here to go to the Main Sect of the Heavenly Thunder Sect, I found these long bridges. There are more than 1000 flagstones on the bridge. Every time you step on a piece of stone, you will be attacked by a light green thunder, which can’t be resisted or destroyed. Otherwise, the suction of the slate will gradually strengthen, so that you can no longer move forward.”

Gai Xingkong told Zhang Han his experience.

“Only by fighting the thunder with our flesh can we go further. The power of the lightning here is not so terrible, and I can take a rest on the slate for two minutes after each attack. I tried three times, and covered 500 slates, 570 slates, and 660 slates respectively. If I try again several times, I can get into it. Unfortunately, there isn’t much time.”

Gai Xingkong forced a smile.

What a pity that he could only look at the Main Sect.

“Yes! Grand Master Gai is also accomplished in the physical aspect, unlike me,” Director Bi shook his head helplessly, and said, “I could only reach the 310th flagstones with all my strength.”

“Not bad. I just reached the 160th stone.”

“I covered more than 400 stones but I can’t enter the Main Sect before the relic is closed.”

“Only Grand Master Gai is able to enter it.”

“Yes, Grand Master Gai, would you like to try again? We all believe in you.” The two men standing in front of the chain bridge asked.

One of them was at the Grand Master Middle-stage, and the other was at the Last-Stage. They were about to have a try.

Gai Xingkong shook his hand and said, “Try it as you like. There are six bridges and we can choose the others.”

“Okay.” They replied and then jumped onto the first stone.

It seemed that they were going to have a competition.

“Crack!”

At the moment when they stepped on the stone slab, a 100ft long Taiyi Wood Thunder hit them directly.

“Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle.”

The two men shivered on the slate, which lasted for two seconds.

Then they stepped onto the second stone slab to meet the new lightning.

“Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle.”

In that way, they moved forward trembling.

Gai Xingkong shook his head and commented, “The size of the lightning changes according to our strength. While my lightning is 300 ft in length, their lightning is just 100ft or 200ft in length. In the beginning, the attack power of lightning wasn’t strong, but it would gradually improve until it is hard for us to bear.”

“I see.” Zhang Han nodded while looking at the two men carefully.

They reached the 170th and 205th stone respectively, and then retreated in a hurry. Sitting at the edge of the bank, they complained, “We were numbed by the lightning.”

“Han, shall we go together?” Gai Xingkong was excited.

He wanted to compete with Zhang Han in that aspect.

“Okay.” Zhang Han nodded calmly.

Gai Xingkong’s followers began cheering for him.

They admired Zhang Han, but they didn’t believe that Zhang Han could defeat Gai Xingkong.

“Grand Master Zhang, although you are powerful, you may not win against Grand Master Gai on the lightning bridge.”

“Yes. Gai Xingkong reached the 700th stone with his secret methods.”

“It’s Grand Master Gai’s fourth try, and I’m sure he will break the former record. Grand Master Zhang, you can be to have surpassed Grand Master Gai if you reach the 500th stone. But it will be too difficult for you.”

“…”

Everyone was discussing, all of them were in favor of Gai Xingkong.

Zhang Han was not angry because he didn’t know the competition results, either. But he was sure that he could reach the 500th stone.

“Let me have a try.” Lei Tiannan said excitedly, regarding the exploration as a game.

“I’ll go with you,” Wang Zhanpeng said.

They soon occupied four of the six bridges.

The others thought about it and gave up. They would be embarrassed if they just covered a few stones in front of the two Grand Masters.

“Let’s go!” Gai Xingkong laughed and took the lead to step onto the stone.

Zhang Han and the other two followed him closely, stepping into the stone slab of their own bridge.

“Crack!”

A 300ft long lightning appeared above Gai Xingkong.

“Crack!”

A 200ft long lightning appeared above Lei Tiannan.

“Crack!”

Above Wang Zhanpeng there was another 200ft long lightning.

“Kaboom!”

On the right side…

The clear thunder turned into a dull and deafening sound.

It seemed to be blowing in the ear, which made people dizzy in an instant.

Then, a burning light lit up the whole city.

In the next second…

The other martial artists were stunned when they were able to see the scene closely.

“Damn it! What’s this?”

They saw a ten thousand ft long lightning forming above Zhang Han.

Looking at such a giant Taiyi Wood Thunder…

Zhang Han’s eyes and mouth were twitching.