Volume One, Chapter 116: A Friendly Match or a Deadly Duel?

Chapter 116: Sparring or a Death Match?

Old Zhu felt utterly disgusted the moment he heard it.

“I just heard you let out a loud fart. What the hell does that mean? If you’ve got the guts, have that Stone fellow come at me—I’d be surprised if I didn’t kill him.”

Muttering to himself, Old Zhu stomped away, his bulky frame trembling with each step.

And so, before the inspection even began, the two sides had already started their sparring.

General Shi Lei was no pushover. He was one of the two chief attendants of Thunder Sovereign Puhua, a towering figure in the northern heavens.

Back then, Thunder Sovereign Puhua, the Jade Pure True King, had transcended the realm of Heavenly Sovereign, ranking among the top five mighty beings in the Arctic heavens. (As previously mentioned: Jade Pure True King was the ninth son of the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign Fuli, with the Primordial Sovereign also known as the Original True King—namely the great deity Pangu.) For some unknown reason, he had ceded his position to the Thunder Ancestor and vanished without a trace. Consequently, the most formidable subordinates—the Demon-Dispelling True Lord, General Qing Lei, and General Shi Lei—aligned themselves with the Thunder Ancestor.

In truth, none of these three were inferior to the Thunder Ancestor in cultivation level. Strangely enough, they appeared quite loyal to him, a testament to the Thunder Ancestor’s cunning and strategic prowess.

General Shi Lei had ascended to the peak of the Great Emperor’s high realm. By rights, Old Zhu, who was only mid-level Great Emperor, should have been no match—likely to lose rather than win.

But as the saying goes, you can’t judge someone by how muddy their legs are coming out of the water, right? There have been countless instances of the elderly capsizing in ditches, and of untrained punches defeating seasoned masters.

If a lowly outlaw dared challenge the Celestial Empire, would it really be so hard for Old Zhu to defeat little Shi?

Whether under the True Martial Great Emperor or the Thunder Ancestor, everyone knew well that the Thunder Ancestor was a smiling tiger—pleasant to your face, but stabbing you in the back.

He talked about stopping short of lethal combat, but there was also a saying: harsh words have no good tone, and no one fights with restraint. When fists start flying, who can hold back perfectly? If one loses control and causes injury or death, how can they avoid being charged with intentional homicide or grievous assault?

So everyone understood the Thunder Ancestor’s real intention.

The principle was to stop short—but what if... well, there’s always a “what if.” Everyone knew the Thunder Ancestor wanted to assert his dominance and get back at Little Zhu.

Shi Su and the True Martial Emperor’s faction were worried.

Little Zhu’s cultivation was average among the Northern Seven Mansions. Facing General Shi Lei was truly a stretch. Among the Northern Seven Mansions, only the First Mansion—the Fighting Wood Xie—could possibly hold his own, or at least not lose.

But wasn’t Brother Dou absent?

Bi Shui Yu felt uneasy. Although she was annoyed by Little Zhu’s pestering, his sincerity was obvious. When a girl is bothered, she wants to call the guy a beast; when she isn’t, she still wants to call him a beast. It had nothing to do with love.

So Shi Su and the girl stepped forward, whispering with concern, “Little Zhu, are you sure you can handle this?”

Little Zhu nearly burst into tears.

“Finally, someone cares about me! There’s still a place for me in your hearts.”

But how could they ask a man if he could handle it? That was an insult! “Can I handle it? You want me to show you?”

Thinking this, Little Zhu gave himself a sharp slap.

“That’s my goddess! How can I be so shameless?”

The concern from Shi Su and the girl only bolstered Little Zhu’s resolve—or rather, his confidence in pursuing, or rather troubling, her. Of course, a good girl fears persistent suitors, but there would be a day for Little Zhu to boast.

Unable to resist their care, Little Zhu immediately shouted, “Girl, what did you say? Believe me, I’ll finish him in three moves!”

The crowd was speechless as they all made their way to the large square outside the hotel.

The two warriors glared at each other, one trying to read a telltale sign on the other’s face, the other stretching limbs to display his muscles.

One might call it pointless, but this was a battle of presence. The weaker one’s aura was, the more restrained their combat would be—losing was inevitable.

After a long stare-down, neither made a move. So they had no choice but to start fighting.

Shi Lei was a master of thunder techniques, summoning lightning at will. With a wave of his hand, clouds gathered; another, thunder roared; a third, countless divine bolts wrapped in lightning struck at Little Zhu.

The thunder rattled like a furious hammer pounding celestial drums, the lightning tore through the nine abysses with reckless arrogance. Within a thousand-mile radius, all living things were scorched; beasts wailed in despair. Fortunately, the square was vast beyond earthly imagination, spanning thousands of miles—ample space for their battle.

General Shi Lei’s Five Thunders Heavenly Gang technique was formidable; even those at his level dared not block it directly, let alone Little Zhu, who was weaker.

But Little Zhu had his trump card.

Among the Five Elements, the most destructive were metal techniques, while fire techniques held the greatest power.

Thunder techniques were derived from wood element arts and were somewhat inferior to the elemental true arts.

Little Zhu specialized in the most potent fire techniques. Seeing the thunder and lightning hurtling toward him, he sneered, drew an imaginary line in front of him with his finger. As the thunder fire neared, that line instantly ignited into a fiery abyss. Flames blazed fiercely, forming a wall of fire that flickered and vanished. The fiery abyss immediately transformed into a pitch-black spatial rift.

Little Zhu had burned a hole through the void. The thunder fire was sucked into this rift, disappearing without trace.

First move: a tie.

Shi Lei hadn’t expected Little Zhu to break his Fire Thunder technique within the Five Thunders Heavenly Gang. But this was just a warm-up; he had far mightier thunder arts yet unknown.

Burning the void? Absorbing thunder fire? Not bad—but only so-so.

Though Little Zhu had countered Shi Lei’s fire thunder, it wasn’t without difficulty. He knew his own limits. If Shi Lei unleashed true fire, Little Zhu would not withstand it. But, did Old Lu give him the chance to do so?

Old Lu’s realm might be lower, but he had hidden tricks. Would he wait for the third move? No—he was going to use this move now, to make Shi Lei regret it greatly...

Little Zhu had his stratagem, and Shi Lei had his secret passage.

Both were eager for a quick victory; Little Zhu feared losing focus and dying, while Shi Lei couldn’t afford to lose face. How many rounds did it take to defeat a dumb pig of lower realm?

Thus, the second move was far more perilous.

General Shi Lei sneered coldly, suddenly forming hand seals. A grand spell surged like a tide, five thunders roaring.

Behold:

Heavenly thunder rolled, blotting out the sun, restricting fate, severing demons, dispelling plague, capturing celestial fiends;

Earth thunder flashed, its light like a sea, slashing mountain spirits, slaughtering stone monsters, crossing death souls, confining earth deities;

Water thunder surged, emerald waves crashing, severing flood dragons, eradicating evil mirages, destroying water beasts, stirring wind and cloud;

Divine thunder roared, its voice shadowy and elusive, seizing mountain chiefs, binding five spirits, sacrificing deities, slaying divine consciousness;

Social thunder was silent, hidden and still, dispelling evil miasma, binding spirit artifacts, subduing ancient energies, killing demonic gods.

This thunder technique terrified everyone, causing them to flee in panic—well, some let out farts, but no one lost control of their bladder; after all, they were celestial beings.

Meanwhile, Little Zhu’s face was expressionless, his spirit trembling in fear, seemingly without a counter.

Was Little Zhu about to... fall?