Skyfire Avenue

Chapter 606: Go Cultivate!

"Eh…" Lan Jue felt something s.h.i.+ft in the environment. He hurriedly spoke up. "Of course not, you just tend to leave an impression. Anyway, we"re about the same age."

Her face grew gloomy. "I"m going to go cultivate."

"Alright." Lan Jue didn"t give her any excuse to stay.

He watched her go. Secretly - and silently - he admired her. She wasn"t the most beautiful woman he"d ever met, but her figure absolutely drew the eye. He loved to watch her go! She glided down the street, every movement vibrant and full of natural allure.

"You"re too blunt, Professor." Tang Mi"s voice interrupted his thoughts. She"s snuck up at some point when he hadn"t been paying attention. She grinned at him coquettishly.

"How do you mean?" He asked.

She grinned back at him. "Can"t you see Professor Tan likes you? I don"t believe it, you"re playing dumb aren"t you?"

Her commander maintained a straight face. "You"re so young, what do you know about affection? Go cultivate! Your brother is in the midst of an epiphany, what about you?"

"Don"t you rely on seniority," Tang Mi countered. "If I"m so young what about Qianlin, huh?"

"That -" There wasn"t anything he could say. Where all young women so cunning these days?

Tang Mi crept closer and took his arm, while simultaneously extending one of the long legs she was famous for. "What do you think, Professor?"

He looked at her fatly. "Go cultivate!"

She sniffed. "Ugh, you"re so boring. Fine, I know you belong to Qianlin. But you know Jin Tao"s been chasing me. What do you think I should do?"

"Ah?" Lan Jue blinked at her helplessly. "Deal with your own emotional issues. I can"t teach you this."

Tang Mi retorted. "That"s no good, you"re his teacher. You know him better than most, I"m sure. Tell me, do you think he"ll make a good boyfriend?" She looked genuinely lost.

She never gave the old Jin Tao more than a pa.s.sing glance. However, she"d watched his spectacular transformation over the last year. Besides her brother, Jin Tao was the strongest one in the A.R.C. cla.s.s. His persistence and dedication bordered on obsessive. It shocked her too see how much he"d changed from the dumb-mutt she used to know.

When she first met him, she thought Jin Tao was a waste of s.p.a.ce with no talent or skill. How things change in just a year. Now he was stronger than she was. She didn"t know how to react to that.

Lan Jue shook his head. "I don"t know what Jin Tao was like before, but men change when they stop being boys. Take your time and think on it. If you"re sure he wants to be your boyfriend, maybe test it a little. Give him a target and see if he reaches it."

Tang Mi"s eyes lit up. "I like that idea. I know, I"ll tell him that if he becomes a Paragon, then he can call himself my boyfriend. What do you think?"

Lan Jue feebly looked her way. "You"re a Paragon, then? That"s not so easy! Decades, maybe. Are you willing to wait that long?"

She stuck her tongue out at him. "What, then?"

"Ninth level is good enough," Lan Jue said. "It"s not too far off, and it"ll serve your purpose. If you make it too hard he"ll just think you"re refusing him."

She bat her lashes at him. "Professor, will you accept me as your disciple? Look at what"s happened to Jin Tao and my brother, I"m falling further and further behind. What do you think?" She playfully tugged at his arm.

"Absolutely not," he answered. "You and Qianlin are the best of friends. If I accept you as a disciple how will manage that? Anyway, at your level a teacher isn"t what you need. What you need is more personal insight. You and your brother have similar Disciplines, you should talk to him. I"m sure he can teach you a lot."

It took some persuading, but eventually Tang Mi went her own way. Lan Jue decided it was time to make a move as quickly as he could. If he stuck around any longer he didn"t know what other trouble would come his way.

The orders were given; those soldiers who were awake were to gather tomorrow morning for another excursion. He"d considered leaving immediately, but figured the students would need time to process what they experienced. A few hours likely wouldn"t make a difference, so he delayed their departure.

Lan Jue continued to train combining Disciplines with the Driver. It wasn"t cultivating exactly, more like an evolution.

The Driver"s gains were more profound than Lan Jue"s. As they continued to meld and absorb these energies, he could feel changes in the state of his Discipline. Lan Jue benefited as well, but he was better helped by continuing to absorb the thunder essence.

The thunder essence reacted to the yin-yang thunderbolt powers. It somehow catalyzed it and helped him to absorb the essence faster. Its righteous aura and immortal qi continued to join with his own energies. It was causing some changes in his own Discipline.

The river also benefited indirectly from the thunder essence. Since they were exchanging the flow of Discipline between them, some of that immortal qi was transferred. Even in miniscule amounts it was very helpful for the Driver.

Changing one"s own segregated energies into a combination of yin and yang was not quick. It would take quite a lot of cultivation to achieve. Part of the reason was its inherent danger. They could only combine a little bit of their Disciplines at a time, because if they lost control for even a moment it would be ruinous even with the help of Taiji.

The energies were the same when the two adepts joined them, but changed when they were absorbed. At the moment of creation, the yin-yang lightning was a crystalline blue. It looks like countless gemstones flowing into and around one another, perfectly calm.

However, this state was quickly modified as it was a.s.similated. For the Driver, he was surprised to discover traces of purple in the crystalline blue light as it flowed into him. Yet to Lan Jue it was different. A pale gold infiltrated his energy, turning it brighter. There were flecks of light within like twinkling stars. That was undoubtedly from the thunder essence.

The more of the thunder essence he a.s.similated, the deeper he felt it. It was something he recognized, that he"d sensed at some point before. It was a boundless void, and yet was the root of everything. That was the only way he could describe it.

Jun Yongye had explained it to him that this was part of the tribulation lightning visited upon immortals. It was the germ of life and death - from which everything sprang, and to where it would all return. In this way, nothingness was just as much a part of being. This fundamental power was dangerous no doubt. However if you survived, if you held onto your core, you would be reborn. The realm of the immortals would be at your fingertips.

Chapter 607: Extermination Lightning

This lightning, laden with the substance of life and death, was terrifying. It was strong enough to destroy the great beasts of the ancient days. This tribulation lightning bore great opportunity, but it also wrought destruction. Whether man or monster, everyone shuddered at the flash of tribulation lightning.

As a lightning-based Adept himself, the chance to use this extermination lightning was wonderful. Jun Yongye"s aim was to have him absorb the life-extinguis.h.i.+ng lightning into his own thunderbolt Discipline. If he succeeded, than every attack from him would be like a blast of tribulation lightning.

Lan Jue"s cultivation continued to improve by leaps and bounds. Through the process of manipulating the yin-yang lightning he could sense the rise and purification of his own energy.

But there was a roadblock. Namely, his state of mind.

Over the last year he had been blessed with one great insight after another. From the Banis.h.i.+ng blade and being forced to recultivate, to yin-yang lightning, lightning essence, Taiji and now extermination lightning. All of them had been an important step along his path, giving him hints at the nature of his protogenia.

It was undoubtedly a great thing if an Adept came to recognize protogenia, but Lan Jue had experienced so much in so short a period. Initially he thought he knew the righteous course his thunderbolt Discipline demanded. However, righteous came in many forms. He"d experienced a plethora of different kinds of protogenia, and although it has empowered him it was difficult to keep stable when so much was in flux. The things he"d undergone changed him, not just his Discipline.

His cultivation had also become a search for a suitable path. Once an Adept broke through to Paragon there was no going back. He had one chance to get it right.

ζ

The next morning Majesty and Zeus-1 left Skyfire, under the guise of military secrecy.

They"d only gotten back and they were off again. It was exhausting by any standard. Only, this time they weren"t leaving to fight, and they had been motivated by the arrival of a new Paragon. Even now, all seven hundred Star Division soldiers were in their bunks cultivating. They were all looking for that elusive opportunity.

Over a hundred Division soldiers were left back on Skyfire, those that were still working to understand the insights granted by the Pauper. Even small insights needed time to sink into the mind. 1

They were fewer in numbers for this excursion, but they were ludicrously protected. The Gourmet stayed behind, but he was replaced by the Wine Master, Clockmaker, Photographer and the Pauper. Four in exchange for one, totaling more than half of Skyfire Avenue"s strongest fighters.

The Pharmacist didn"t join them this time. She"s been separated from her daughter and wished to remain near her. Jun"er was still cloistered away to cultivate. She was young, but had tremendous focus. No one knew where she and the Clairvoyant were in the process of transference.

"Should we take a break during the flight?" Lan Jue asked the Driver, who seemed excited.

But the excitement changed to stern reprobation. "Of course not! A boxer never sits on his hands, and a singer"s notes don"t stay in their mouths. We have to strike while the iron"s hot! Don"t you want to evolve your Discipline as soon as possible? Look, when the transition is complete I"ll stop bothering you. Alright?"

"There are hundreds of souls on this s.h.i.+p," Lan Jue pointed out. "One mistake and this s.h.i.+p explodes. That"s hundreds of corpses."

The Driver was beginning to lose patience. "We"ve been at this for so long already, you"re just making excuses. We"re wasting time - three months at the most and the transition will be complete."

The Driver had the same misgivings, but to him this opportunity was too good to pa.s.s up. He hadn"t had the wealth of good fortune Lan Jue had enjoyed, especially in the sense of improving his Discipline. He"d only just begun to comprehend the flows of protogenia. Through the yin-yang lightning, he"d begun to establish his own thunderbolt protogenia. His Discipline and his heart were both racing for the same goal.

At first the Driver was never sure he had what it took to become a Paragon. However, now he was convinced that if he could absorb the yin-yang lightning then would join their ill.u.s.trious number in the not too distant future. It was too enticing for him not to doggedly pursue.

Lan Jue went on. "I"ve been thinking about the changes we"ve noticed. Our combined Disciplines are different, of course, but they"re different because of what leads them. For me, yang is the predominant force. For you, it"s yin. I think this accounts for the change in color."

The Driver nodded. "I had the same thought. It"s not important, though. What"s important is that we complete the transition as quickly as possible. Once we thorough grasp the nature of this lightning, it"ll be lightning equivalent to what a Paragon commands."

Earlier in the morning after their cultivation and before boarding the s.h.i.+ps, Lan Jue and the Driver attempted to use the yin-yang lightning. The Driver in particular was surprised at what they found. The result wasn"t flashy, but everything the lightning touched was obliterated. It was at least three times stronger than what they"d experienced the first time. It reminded him of the blast created in his fight as Skyshade during the miracle G.o.d-battles.

Instantly he understood why Lan Jue"s Taiji borrowed force was so overwhelming, to the point where the Clairvoyant hadn"t been able to ward it off. The union of taiyin and taiyang lightning transcended the Adepts that used them. It became protogenia.

Lan Jue entreated caution. "You shouldn"t be so hasty. I asked father and he said you could only really master yin-yang lightning after you"ve achieved Paragon. Until then there was no way to really comprehend its nature.

The Driver nodded. "Fine, but the first step is transforming our Disciplines. When we eventually become Paragons, understanding it will be a cinch. Our Disciplines will be ready when the time comes, and they"ll get even stronger"

A grin split the Jewelry Master"s face. "The Driver I knew was never this diligent."

He chuckled in response. "Guess you missed the change. Besides I didn"t have the same goal I do now. Only an idiot would give up this chance. Honestly, thank you."

Lan Jue chortled at his friend. "Come on, I can"t stand your thanks. It feels weird."

Majesty and Zeus-1 left Skyfire"s...o...b..t and tore through s.p.a.ce, with no concern for fuel economy. They had to get to An Lun as quickly as they could.