Chapter 92: Chapter 88 Thunderbolt
“Extrapolation.”
Chen Mu settled his mind, cleared away distracting thoughts, and then hesitated no further.
In recent days, he had tried to comprehend the Thunderclap Artistic Conception with his own intuition, but it was ultimately like looking at flowers through the fog, not truly discernible. Now, he wanted to carefully feel the difference between the Thunderclap and Xun Wind Artistic Conceptions.
Hum!
With the start of the system extrapolation, it was as if a spring thunder exploded outside the window, buzzing in one’s ears, and as if the first thunder that opened the heavens and earth burst in his consciousness, immediately shattering Chen Mu’s concentrated thoughts into disarray.
Thoughts scattered into countless fragments, drifting in every direction, beyond description. It felt as if his thoughts were suddenly in utter chaos, with myriad circuits, unable to discern where he was.
Boom!
Another rumble of thunder sounded, further scattering the already jumbled multitude of thoughts into dust. Originally, his mood seemed like a whirlwind of dust; now it became quieter, with only a few pieces of dry soil still churning until all turned into a dead silence.
It was unclear how long had passed when suddenly another crack of thunder fiercely struck the pile of ‘dust’ that was all that remained of his thoughts, instantly rejuvenating everything, rising anew from the silence with a trace of vitality, and rapidly churning until all the chaotic thought-dust reconvened into a complete consciousness.
At this moment,
All distractions were gone, leaving only an emotionless, serene consciousness.
Chen Mu’s sensation was extraordinarily peculiar at this time. He felt as if he had separated from all emotions, observing everything from an impassive, almost heavenly perspective.
In his vision, he saw an endlessly murky darkness, but within that darkness, bolts of lightning would flash by occasionally, creating ripples in the pitch-black chaos.
“Thunderclap Artistic Conception…”
Chen Mu murmured softly in his heart.
Seeing those bolts of lightning blossoming in chaos, lighting up the world, meant that he had grasped the Thunderclap Artistic Conception and had attained a profound understanding of it.
Lost in this mysterious sensation of peering into the secrets of the universe for who knows how long, the various emotions that had been outside of his consciousness finally began to attach themselves, gradually restoring Chen Mu’s spirit to normality. The scene before him, of a dark world amidst the simultaneous peals of thousands of thunders, also slowly faded, and when he opened his eyes again, his consciousness had returned to his bedroom.
Chen Mu composed himself, stood up, and walked out to the courtyard.
He looked at the training stake placed in one corner of the yard and walked towards it, standing brief before it. Then he lifted his right hand, his index and middle fingers coming together to form a sword finger gesture, and made a sweeping motion across the stake.
Thump!
A dull sound.
His fingers did not come into contact with the stake; they merely grazed the edge, yet they left behind a sharp mark, as if it had been sliced by a knife.
This was the might of the Xun Wind Artistic Conception.
Right after this,
Chen Mu’s eyes twinkled with light as if a streak of lightning burst in the depths of his pupils. It was the same sword finger motion sweeping across the stake.
Crack!
But this time, the mark left behind was not a sharp cut; instead, there was a suddenly charred imprint.
“Hmm…”
Chen Mu looked at his two fingers, showing a contemplative expression.
This was the essence of the Thunderclap Artistic Conception. Once one could ‘see’ the artistic conception of thunderclap in the universe, a mere gesture could slightly induce a trace of the power of thunder.
However, the lightning induced between his fingers was very faint. After all, it was a forced act, more akin to static electricity. Using it to harm someone would be difficult, though it might serve to amuse a girl.
Pfft!
Chen Mu suddenly lifted his hand again, brought his fingers together to stab towards the stake. The hard stake was penetrated as easily as tofu, leaving a charred smell behind.
After withdrawing his fingers, the punctured hole showed a layer of pitch-black charring.
The lightning emerging from the fingertips was not very powerful, but once coupled with a substantial medium, like swinging a blade, that induced power was entirely different, surpassing any technique or momentum of the Blade Technique from the Thunderclap Sect.
After all, artistic conception is the true essence of power, while momentum is merely a faint imitation of that essence.
“If I could cultivate the artistic conception to the third step, reaching the so-called Heart Unity Realm with the universe, would I be able to induce heavenly thunder with a mere gesture? However, in a world where creatures like Flood Dragons exist, and martial arts can subjugate all demons and evil, achieving such heights is not so surprising,” thought Chen Mu reflectively.
In fact, as far as he knew, neither Tendon Changing nor Bone Tempering could truly harness the might of an artistic conception. To step into the higher Five Viscera Realm, to transform the ethereal Qi-Blood into the substantial Inner Breath Yuan Gang, only then could one truly materialize the artistic conception.
And not like now, barely able to conjure a faint Thunder Arc or an invisible Wind Blade.
“However, there doesn’t seem to be much interference between the Xun Wind and Thunderclap Artistic Conceptions,” Chen Mu concluded.
He raised his hand again and slapped towards the wooden stake. This time, his entire hand shattered and exploded the top half of the stake into fragments, with the edges of the broken parts crisp and even as if they had been cleaved by a sharp blade, while the neat edges also showed blackened charring similar to charcoal.
At the same time, mastering both Xun Wind Artistic Conception and Thunderclap Artistic Conception, a strike yielded far greater power than a single conception could afford, and because it encompassed an additional attribute, it was comparatively more difficult to resist.
Witnessing this scene, Chen Mu nodded slightly as well.
His original decision to switch to practicing Thunderclap Artistic Conception was a considered one. Within the realms of artistic conception, Xun Wind and Thunderclap were closely related, and cultivating both was a rather fitting choice. Apart from this combination, there were also Wind-Fire and Thunder-Fire.
Xun Wind, Thunderclap, and Separating Fire, these three veins overall bore a similarity and skewed towards the aspect of ‘Qian Heaven’ in the dualities of heaven and earth.
Gen Mountain, Dui Ze, and Kan Water, these three veins also shared overall similarities and leaned towards the ‘Kun Earth’ aspect within the dualities of heaven and earth.
“It is said that the Xue Family has someone who commands both Gen Mountain and Kan Water conceptions, and the head of the Yu Family seems to possess both ‘Lake and Water’ aspects… Well, at least in terms of artistic conception, I’m now on the same level as them.”
Chen Mu picked up the bits of broken wood from the ground and tossed them into the stove.
In the vast Yu City, those who mastered artistic conceptions were few and had well-known names, especially within the Inner City. Those who commanded two conceptions were even fewer, not exceeding the number you could count on two hands within the entire Inner City.
After grasping the Thunderclap Artistic Conception, just in terms of Martial Arts prowess, Chen Mu had reached the uppermost echelon in Yu City, even though his Body Tempering Method was not yet comparable to those individuals.
The few he knew of had at least achieved Major Achievement in Bone Tempering.
And he was slightly short of Tendon Changing Major Achievement.
Yet, the stronger he became, the more composed Chen Mu felt. With his current mastery of both conceptions and nearing Major Achievement in Tendon Changing, even though his power was not yet considered top-tier in Yu City, he was certainly ranked among the noteworthy. Once his Tendon Changing reached Perfection, there would be very few who could best him. Even those in the Bone Tempering Realm posed no threat to him without their own conceptions.
“Tendon Changing Major Achievement, just a matter of a few days.”
Chen Mu watched as the chunks of wood gradually burned into charcoal in the stove, then stood up and returned to his bedroom. He took out the nearly gray Black Jade Tendon Changing Pill, ready to leverage its last vestiges of medicinal power to its fullest extent.
…
With the arrival of Warm Spring, each day grew warmer than the last.
After a spring rain, the following sunny day shone bright and dazzling. By noon, some of the pedestrians on the streets had shifted to lighter clothes.
The main street of Wutong Grove District was one of the more prosperous streets in South City District, second only to the bustling market in the Central District. With spring’s arrival, the street market gradually grew lively, and by noon, it swelled with people coming and going.
“Xiao Yue, look at this.”
In a corner of the marketplace, a charming girl about sixteen or seventeen years old picked up a light jade-colored hairpin from a vendor’s stall, placed it on her head, and giggled to another girl beside her, “Does it look good?”
“Here, see for yourself.”
Chen Yue handed a bronze mirror to Yu Ru, smiling.
Yu Ru tilted her head, looking left and right, her expression one of satisfaction. She turned to the vendor and asked, “How much for this?”
The vendor sneaked a peek at Chen Yue and Yu Ru, swallowed hard, his eyes rotating surreptitiously before he spoke, “Not expensive, just three taels of Silver.”
“Here.”
Yu Ru carelessly took out a silver bean from her bosom.
The vendor’s eyes nearly bulged out; he hurried to reach for it, but before he could, a fair, delicate hand gently swept in and snatched the silver bean from Yu Ru’s hand.
“Hold on a second.”
Chen Yue, holding Yu Ru’s silver bean, rolled her eyes at the vendor and said, “Three taels of Silver, who are you trying to fool? How much is it really worth?”
The vendor forced a smile and said, “Ladies, truth be told, it’s three taels… Just before, someone wanted to buy it for two taels, but I didn’t sell. Though, seeing how well this young lady suits the hairpin, alright then, two taels and it’s yours. It’s a loss for me, but I don’t mind.”
“Oh, but that wouldn’t feel right.”
Yu Ru, somewhat dazed, spoke apologetically.
The corners of Chen Yue’s mouth twitched involuntarily; she sighed quietly, then suddenly raised her voice, “Hey, a hairpin for just two taels of Silver, is it really that cheap?!”
Her crisp, melodious voice rippled through the crowd, immediately drawing the attention of many passersby, including the neighboring stallholders.
When the crowd saw the two young girls in light-colored dresses, both fair and lovely, many eyes brightened instantly.
After a brief silence.
Laughter emerged from the crowd, “Don’t get fooled, the items on Liu Si’s stall aren’t even worth two taels of Silver when combined.”
“Liu Si, you’re really dishonest, even trying to cheat young girls.”
Laughs spread among the onlookers.
Vendor Liu Si’s face alternated between shades of green and red as he shouted back at the crowd, “What are you meddling for, it doesn’t concern you, busybodies… Hey, ladies, don’t go. One tael is fine, no, twenty coins, I’ll sell it for twenty coins!”
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