Now that the Treasure Descend Firm had fallen into the Du Clan’s hands, the rest of the families’ eyes were red with envy; they have no chance of grabbing a share of the benefits.
Not too long after matters had wrapped up in the Treasure Descend Firm, outside of the Du Clan’s main entrance, a large group of Du Clan experts gathered with a mission in the Wild Beasts Mountains range, the team was personally led by Du Zhixiong, and their objective was to annihilate the Spirit Hunting Group.
When this news was spread throughout Stone City, the residents could only silently pray for the Spirit Hunting Group inside their hearts.
Although the Spirit Hunting Group was very strong, and could be considered as one of the top beast hunting group in the outer edge of the Wild Beast Mountains, still, they were so much worse compared to the Du Clan; with the Du Clan’s Second Master leading the team, the result was clear. This proved that the Du Clan was truly angered this time around.
…
Afternoon, of the same day, Du Clan compound.
Inside Du Zhenwu’s study, Du Zhenwu pa.s.sed a xuanbi card to Du Shaofu saying, “A total of six hundred thousand xuanbi; we took over the Treasure Descend Firm, and from their treasury, we found two hundred thousand xuanbi from the compet.i.tion bets placement, the goods and things inside amounted to another two hundred thousand xuanbi, adding the Treasure Descend Firm’s name was worth enough to pay for your winnings.”
Du Shaofu was stunned at first, and then he chuckled evilly, “Eldest Uncle, isn’t it a little too much if you give me six hundred thousand xuanbi?”
In turn, Du Zhenwu laughed just as evilly, “Five hundred twenty thousand was your winnings; the remaining eighty thousand xuanbi came from the Clan as a reward because you provided a justified reason for us to make a move on the Spirit Hunting Group. Once your Second Uncle is done handling them, I estimate that there would be a harvest of three hundred thousand xuanbi or more from their treasury, in fact, the Clan had gotten a lot of benefits from this.”
“Then I won’t be polite.”
Hearing this, Du Shaofu no longer refused, especially when he is in a financial pinch. As the grade of ingredients he needed for his cultivation becomes higher, and more expensive, it was definitely not enough to last Zhen Qingchun for a long time, however, this six hundred thousand xuanbi was a sum some people would never come across in their lifetime.
“This time you’ve done things beautifully but just a little too dangerous. Don’t be so careless the next time.”
The truth was, Du Zhenwu still felt a lingering fear, if it weren’t for that Demonic Scale Tiger’s appearance, Du Shaofu would have met with an unfavorable ending against that Spirit Hunting Group’s Third Steward, a mid-Pulse Connecting realm.
“En,” Du Shaofu could only nod his head to indicate that he was listening, embarra.s.sed to say that the Demonic Scale Tiger was brought by him.
Du Zhenwu was satisfied seeing his nephew’s response, and continued to say “Yesterday you won the compet.i.tion, so rest well today, since tomorrow you are going into the Ye Family’s Lightning Pool, at that time it would entirely depend on yourself on how many benefits you could get."
“I will strive for the best.”
Du Shaofu had been looking forward to this for quite some time; he had heard that the Lightning Pool could strengthen his physique. It would definitely be beneficial to his practice in the Golden-winged Garuda’s Physique Refining Law. Perhaps, it would be an opportunity to enhance his physique to another level.
He had always placed an importance to the aspect of strengthening his body’s defense, if it weren’t for the Physique Refining Law, the result of yesterday’s compet.i.tion against Cao Qitai was hard to predict.
After he hesitated for a moment, Du Zhenwu said, “The Lightning Pool was related to the demonic lion; if you can, try to find out the condition of the demonic lion while you are in the Lightning Pool, but the most important of all is your safety.”
Du Shaofu understood his Eldest Uncle’s meaning, and lightly nodded.
The Ye Family was without a doubt the strongest force in Stone City, holding the Mayor’s position for generations, and the most crucial factor of all, they were respected and loved by the residents of Stone City.
Daybreak the next day Du Shaofu freshened up, and headed to the Ye Family’s compound on a Blood-sweat Dragon Horse. He was politely led into the compound by two Ye Family’s member from the main entrance.
The buildings in the Ye’s compound were built in a grandeur manner, with a maze of balconies, pavilions, and false mountains garden decorations, giving the impression of tranquility and elegance.
Following the two guides, Du Shaofu walked through several long corridors and came to a grand pavilion. Until here, the two guides excused themselves and left him there.
“You are really early.”
A slender figure came towards the pavilion, and this person was Ye Family’s Young Miss Ye Zhijin. Today, she was wearing pants that made her legs looked longer and slimmer, paired with a short top which only served to enhance her slender waist and generous bosom.
The way Ye Zhijin dressed today added a different kind of charm despite the simplicity of her garments, it was so that Du Shaofu took an extra glance at her; he smiled and said, “Cultivating in the Lightning Pool, of course it is better to come earlier.”
Ye Zhijin looked at Du Shaofu, asking “I will be the one guiding you to the Lightning Pool. I believe you already know the origin and usage of the Lightning Pool?”
Du Shaofu nodded. His Eldest Uncle already explained these to him; the Lightning Pool was considered as belonging to the Ye Family, and it was rumored that it could be used once every few years. The pool was said to contain a minimal amount of the demonic lion’s blood essence, and cultivating in the Lightning Pool allowed the demonic lion’s lightning power to temper the physical body which was greatly beneficial to future cultivation path.
“This is my family’s specially refined dan to impede lightning, eat it before you enter the pool. Otherwise, the lightning would be way too powerful for your current strength. At that time, perhaps you might have been blasted into pieces of meat even before the physical benefits could play a role.”
As she said that, a smooth, s.h.i.+ny round ball appeared on Ye Zhijin’s palm, and she held the dan in front of Du Shaofu. A light herbal fragrance came from the dan, making people feel comfortable just by inhaling it. Ye Zhijin continued, “The Impedance Lightning Dan can help you resist some of the lightning energy, however, once the effect had worn off, and you were unable to withstand the lightning on your own, you absolutely must not stay inside the pool any longer. If something went wrong, our Ye Family will not be held responsible for it.”
Du Shaofu nodded, showing that he had understood Ye Zhijin’s words, and took the dan from Ye Zhijin’s palm without being overly polite.
“Follow me then; how much you can get from the Lightning Pool depends on your capability.”
Ye Zhijin smiled lightly; she turned around and s.h.i.+fted a little to the side in front of Du Shaofu, her footsteps light, implying Du Shaofu to walk beside her.
“I heard you made the headlines again yesterday?” Half way, Ye Zhijin probed lightly.
“Honest people are easily bullied ah,” Du Shaofu replied with no burden.
Ye Zhijin’s steps paused as her eyes fell on Du Shaofu; she truly could not tell which part of him was honest, and when was he ever bullied? She heard, in the end, that the Treasure Descend Firm was in a mess because of him.
“Ai…..” Ye Zhijin looked at Du Shaofu. In the end, Ye Zhijin was speechless, managing to let out a low sigh and continued ahead.
Walking pa.s.s several narrow corridors, Du Shaofu and Ye Zhijin came to a quiet place.
An ancient looking building appeared before Du Shaofu’s eyes, in the middle of a medium size square that looked like a paG.o.da, or a temple but was neither. A vicissitude atmosphere shrouded the building, it gave the feeling that it had existed for a very long time.
“What a strong atmosphere.”
Surveying the building from some distance away, Du Shaofu could immediately sense a horrible and violent atmosphere coming from the inside of the building, causing hearts and souls to shudder, no different from the aura that came from a powerful beast.
Ye Zhijin informed him: “The Lightning Pool is inside. The pool will start by itself once you enter the pool. Remember my words, if you cannot resist it any longer, don’t force yourself.”
“En,”
Du Shaofu nodded his head, taking a deep breath he walked resolutely into the ancient building.
As he got nearer to the building, the strong fluctuations were even clearer to Du Shaofu. A ray of sunlight pierced through the door into the hazy and dim hall inside the building.
However, the hazy darkness within did not hinder Du Shaofu from seeing a stone arch.
Other than that, there was no second path inside, thus Du Shaofu stride through the stone arch.
“Chi~la~la!”
The moment Du Shafu stepped through the stone arch, a terrifying, and glaring lighting making ‘zi zi’ sounds as it filled the stone arch like a spider web.
“Hong!”
At this point, the entire building seemed to shake, and from the outside it looked like the lightning has invaded the s.p.a.ce.
Even outside of the ancient building there were runaway lightning snaking around from time to time.
“Don’t know how long he can stand, and how much benefits he could obtain. His physique was already strong to begin with, and after being conditioned by the Lightning Pool he could only be more horrifying. What an oddity.”
Ye Zhijin mumbled to herself standing outside on the square till she saw the lightning flas.h.i.+ng inside the building, and then she turned away and left.
“Roar!”
A thunderous roar resounded inside of Stone City, the sound rippling to the sky, vanis.h.i.+ng in the horizon.
At the sound of the deafening roar, many different gazes were directed towards the Ye Family’s compound, each with their own thoughts.
“Power of Lightning.”
Du Shaofu turned back to look at the stone arch behind him, he had just stepped through the stone arch and yet the coercion coming from below already made his heart palpitate.
Near the stone arch, there was a flight of stone staircase that goes round and round, not upward but down into the ground.
The fact was, Du Shaofu was not perturbed; his feet stepped down onto the first step, going down; at the same time feeling the violent atmosphere growing more violent as he got closer.
As Du Shaofu traveled down, he could see flashes of lightning dancing on the walls, and lit up the dim s.p.a.ce.
The air seemed tense and stagnant at the lower levels, causing Du Shaofu to feel nervous for no reason.
When he reached the last step, a strong glaring light shone brightly, forcing him to close his eyes.
Sometime later, his eyes got used to the glare, Du Shaofu squinted his eyes, taking a quick look around. What he saw stunned and shocked him.
“So, this is the Lightning Pool?”
Before Du Shaofu was a huge underground cave with all sizes and colors of stalact.i.te hanging down from above.
“Chi~la la!”
Lightning flashed across these stalact.i.tes, prisms of colors reflected in the lightning flash, creating a mesmerizing scene.