Gao Yu

The "Black Rain Zone" was already terrifying enough, let alone its depths. Even a Divine Ability Master might not return from there in one piece.

Thus, the moment those words were spoken, both Lu Qingyan and Lu Jinglei paled slightly. Lu Ming was also quick to open his mouth to dissuade him. After all, Lu Jin was the pillar of the Thunderfire Hall. If anything happened to him, the entire Thunderfire Hall would collapse in an instant.

“Don't worry, I know my limits,” Lu Jin said.

“This is only a last resort... The new Ward Master of Qingyuan Ward will arrive to take office in three days. All the Divine Ability Halls in Qingyuan Ward will go to offer their congratulations. You all should come with me to get acquainted and make an impression before the Ward Master.”

“Furthermore, according to past convention, when a new Ward Master takes office, they will comb through the ward's ‘primordial energy earth veins,’ wiping away the imprint left by the previous Assembly Chief to gain complete control over them.”

“This process will cause fluctuations in the primordial energy of heaven and earth. For Divine Ability practitioners like you, Little Ming, it can be considered a significant benefit. If you can seize the opportunity, the effects might even be slightly better than those of a Bone Refining Pill.”

Lu Ming was slightly dazed. He did not quite understand what Lu Jin meant by "primordial energy earth veins," but that did not stop him from taking an interest.

Now, he needed to seize every opportunity and squeeze out every single cultivation resource that could improve his strength.

After the incident where Jiang Ling of the Great Golden Crow Hall had come to threaten them, Lu Ming understood that without sufficient strength, their tiny Thunderfire Hall might not be able to maintain a stable foothold in Qingyuan Ward.

No one knew if the people of the Great Golden Crow Hall would suddenly remember the Thunderfire Hall in the future and decide to pull up the weeds by their roots to completely settle this karma.

These unresolved, looming disasters were what truly kept one up at night.

Moreover... there was still the Spirit-Sealing Curse that plagued everyone in the Lu family.

To change all of this, he needed sufficient strength.

Lu Ming had consumed the very last bit of foundation accumulated by many of the Lu family's ancestors with their blood and bones. Naturally, he had to shoulder the responsibility of protecting the Lu family's bloodline.

...

For the next three days, Lu Ming threw himself entirely into his cultivation.

He practiced the Flame Blade diligently every day. Leveraging the advantage of his Sub-Heaven-grade Divine Ability Bone, in just three days, the blade's fiery glow had reached nearly two feet, its fiery edge becoming increasingly sharp and scorching.

However, after reaching two feet, the fiery glow stopped growing. According to Lu Qingyan, a two-foot fiery edge was already the peak of Initial Success. To take another step forward and reach Great Success, he would need to restrain the fire energy of the Flame Blade. Only when the crimson blade light transformed into a blue blade light would he be considered to have reached Great Success.

This step required hard work and day-and-night tempering. Even though Lu Ming possessed a Sub-Heaven-grade Divine Ability Bone, it was not something that could be achieved overnight.

Thus, Lu Ming took the opportunity to turn his attention to the Thunderfire Hall's other Lower Divine Ability, "Lesser Lightning Flash."

This was a speed-type divine ability, a life-saving method, and a mandatory course.

To cultivate the Lower Divine Ability "Lesser Lightning Flash," one required a special material called Silver Lightning Stone. During cultivation, it was placed against the sole of the foot and activated with primordial energy, releasing a faint trace of lightning power to stimulate the acupoints. This would open up the pathway for the divine ability within the body, eventually engraving the divine ability imprint onto the Divine Ability Bone.

With Lu Ming's natural talent, initiating a Lower Divine Ability held almost no difficulty for him. Thus, over the course of two days, this Lower Divine Ability called "Lesser Lightning Flash" had also stepped into Initial Success.

With two Lower Divine Abilities under his belt, Lu Ming's efficiency in tempering his Divine Ability Bone also increased accordingly.

Of course, even with two Lower Divine Abilities at Initial Success, their tempering effect on the Divine Ability Bone was still far less obvious than "popping pills."

During these three days, Lu Ming took advantage of the fire lotus imprint's miraculous effect of purging pill impurities, swallowing and refining one high-grade Bone Refining Pill every day.

With this two-pronged approach, in just three short days, Lu Ming's second bone refinement progress had already neared the halfway mark.

It was worth noting that even Zhang Yue had taken a full two months to complete his second bone refinement.

However, it was only natural when he thought about it. It took Zhang Yue three whole days just to absorb a high-grade Bone Refining Pill, and he had to spend additional time purging the pill impurities afterward. Meanwhile, Lu Ming had directly shortened these processes to a single day.

With this kind of efficiency, Lu Ming felt that he was probably not lagging behind even those with genuine Heaven-grade Divine Ability Bones.

But this rapid progress did not continue indefinitely, as Lu Ming melancholy discovered that the three high-grade Bone Refining Pills in his hand had been completely consumed.

"Forget it. We are heading to the Ward Office today anyway. I wonder how effective the 'primordial energy earth veins' Grandfather mentioned will be? Regardless, any little bit helps."

Lu Ming concluded his cultivation and went to the outer hall of the Thunderfire Hall. There, he met Lu Jin, Lu Qingyan, and Lu Jinglei. Aside from these three pillars of the Thunderfire Hall, there were two other familiar figures.

One was Yuan Da. As a veteran disciple of the Thunderfire Hall, he had already completed three bone refinements and was only a step away from forging Divine Ability Dharma Inscriptions. At the same time, his Flame Blade and Lesser Lightning Flash had both been cultivated to Great Success, and he had even preliminarily mastered the hall's Mid Divine Ability, "Golden Liquid Fire." Although he had not yet reached Initial Success with it, he was still considered one of the most capable fighters among the Divine Ability practitioners in the Thunderfire Hall below the Dharma Inscription Realm.

The other was a tall girl with ear-length short hair. She wore the crimson, tight-fitting uniform of the Thunderfire Hall, and the well-fitted trousers made her legs look exceptionally straight and long, exuding a heroic and spirited aura.

“Sister Yu?”

Lu Ming greeted the tall, short-haired girl with some surprise.

The girl was named Gao Yu, and she was quite a celebrity in their Thunderfire Hall. After all, she was beautiful and had a great figure. In a Divine Ability Hall like the Thunderfire Hall where nearly ninety percent of the disciples were male, her popularity was beyond doubt.

Even setting aside her appearance, Gao Yu was still one of the few disciples in the hall who possessed a Mid-grade Divine Ability Bone. Having cultivated in the Thunderfire Hall for only a little over a year, she was already no weaker than a veteran disciple like Yuan Da, who had cultivated for three years.

However, Lu Ming had rarely seen her in the Thunderfire Hall over the past few days...

Looking at the girl's dim expression, which was vastly different from her usual cheerful self, something crossed Lu Ming's mind. This was probably because of Zhang Yue.

When Zhang Yue was still in the Thunderfire Hall, he would also guide the disciples in their cultivation. However, he did not have much patience and had no desire to waste his time on disciples with Low-grade Divine Ability Bones. To fulfill his duties in the hall, he had chosen Gao Yu, who had a Mid-grade Divine Ability Bone, and would occasionally offer some guidance on her cultivation.

But such actions naturally invited some gossip. While Zhang Yue was still around, no one dared to say anything. However, with Zhang Yue leaving the Thunderfire Hall in the past few days, those past rumors had erupted.

Some who had previously tried to win Gao Yu's favor only to be coldly rejected now harbored spiteful intentions. They mocked her, saying that since she was so highly regarded by Zhang Yue, why hadn't he taken her along when he left the Thunderfire Hall for the Great Golden Crow Hall?

Such ridicule had naturally infuriated Gao Yu, causing her to hide at home in low spirits for the past few days.

“Lu Ming,”

Gao Yu forced a smile at Lu Ming and said, “I heard you awakened a High-grade Divine Ability Bone. I haven't congratulated you yet.”

Gao Yu looked at the tall and straight youth before her. Even though she was in a terrible mood, astonishment still flickered in her eyes. After all, she had not expected that on the very day Zhang Yue left, another High-grade Divine Ability Bone would emerge in their Thunderfire Hall.

In the past, the person Gao Yu had been closest to in the Thunderfire Hall was probably Lu Mengmeng. The little glutton always liked to follow behind her, and Gao Yu would often take her out shopping and buy her favorite pastries.

At this moment, Lu Qingyan weighed his words beside them and said gently, “Gao Yu, you haven't come to cultivate in the hall these past few days. If you've lost interest in the Thunderfire Hall, just let us know. We won't stand in your way.”

Gao Yu had been visibly depressed in the Thunderfire Hall lately. Lu Qingyan felt that if things continued this way, she might not stay in the hall for long. Thus, to avoid holding her back, he chose to speak plainly.

After all, he did not know if Gao Yu was truly close to Zhang Yue. In the past few days, several disciples who had originally joined the Thunderfire Hall solely for Zhang Yue had already chosen to leave.

Although Lu Qingyan was somewhat reluctant to let Gao Yu go—she was indeed a promising seed, and the potential of a Mid-grade Divine Ability Bone was much greater than Yuan Da's—if they truly could not keep her, there was no need to force it.

Hearing this, Gao Yu shook her head and bit her lip. “Second Hall Master, I won't leave the Thunderfire Hall! Zhang Yue... although he used to guide me, I didn't come to cultivate in the Thunderfire Hall because of him. The other Hall Masters have also guided me.”

“They all say I will leave too, but I refuse to go!”

It was evident that after calming down at home for a few days, Gao Yu had also come to a clear understanding. No matter what intentions Zhang Yue had when guiding her, she had ultimately benefited from it. Since she had received those benefits, she had to bear the backlash herself.

“Good. Since you are willing to stay in the Thunderfire Hall, we naturally welcome you with open arms,” Lu Qingyan said, delighted to see Gao Yu's stance.

Next month was the Divine Ability Hall Meet of Qingyuan Ward. If Gao Yu stayed, it would naturally be great news for the Thunderfire Hall.

“A bit of gossip comes and goes quickly. There is no need to take it to heart,” Lu Jin also tapped his pipe, comforting Gao Yu.

“Let's go. Since you're here, come with us to the Ward Office.”