Chapter 435: Chapter 410: Initiating an Attack _1
Facing the unknown object that was the Thunder Knife Fragment, Lu Yan dared not act rashly. Manipulating the Thunder Bell, he edged closer, testing every step.
*Buzz*
Just as Lu Yan came within a certain distance, the Thunder Knife Fragment suddenly trembled. A violent golden thunder wave erupted like a tidal wave, crashing down on the Thunder Bell.
The Thunder Bell shuddered violently and jerked backward. Powerful golden lightning seeped through the Bell, striking Lu Yan’s body.
Lu Yan’s body writhed in pain, as if his flesh was being slowly melted and peeled layer by layer. Even with his primordial spirit at the fifth-turn level, he couldn’t resist.
Fortunately, the Big Tree within his primordial spirit flooded out pure energy in time, mending Lu Yan’s primordial spirit, and allowing it to barely hold on.
The Thunder Bell stopped when it retreated to a certain distance.
"What a terrible attack. It reacts aggressively as I approach. Could this fragment be sentient?"
Lu Yan speculated.
It is said that Artifact Spirits can be found inside Immortal Treasures.
But could a mere fragment also possess a spirit?
Lu Yan waited for a while, allowing his primordial spirit to recover. Then, he once again manipulated the Thunder Bell to approach the Thunder Knife Fragment slowly.
Just like before, as soon as the Thunder Bell drew near, the Thunder Knife Fragment shook again, and the violent golden thunder erupted.
This time Lu Yan was prepared. He retreated in time, minimizing the impact. He recovered after a short while.
"Then I will subdue you by force."
Lu Yan approached again.
When the Thunder Knife Fragment released a violent thunder wave again, Lu Yan shoved his palms forward. A phantom image of a large tree emerged and descended towards the Thunder Knife Fragment.
The phantom image of the Big Tree directly charged into the Thunder Knife Fragment.
Inside the Thunder Knife Fragment, there was a ball of light. The phantom image of the Big Tree smashed straight into it.
With a loud *BOOM*, the light shivered violently. Lu Yan could even hear the light emit a shrill screech. The golden thunder flashes emitted by the Thunder Knife Fragment then suddenly weakened significantly.
But after the phantom image of the Big Tree dissipated, the Thunder Knife Fragment once again radiated brightly, releasing ample golden thunder waves striking the Thunder Bell.
Lu Yan manipulated the Thunder Bell to retreat, out of the way of the fierce edge, then drew closer again, followed by another phantom image of the Big Tree.
That strike earlier clearly had an effect on the spirit of the Thunder Knife Fragment.
If once is not enough, then twice; if twice is not enough, then thrice... If thrice is not enough, then ten times, a hundred times...
Until it is subdued.
Moreover, while resisting the golden thunder wave exploding from the Thunder Knife Fragment, his primordial spirit was also tempered, thereby quickly enhancing his soul power.
He could practice cultivation and possibly subdue the Thunder Knife Fragment; Lu Yan relished the task.
The standoff between them lasted for three months.
In the span of three months, Lu Yan continuously confronted the Thunder Knife Fragment. His soul power steadily increased, making considerable progress.
After enduring Lu Yan’s relentless siege for three months, the ball of light inside the Thunder Knife Fragment grew dim, its aura waned.
"If you surrender, I can spare you. I will incorporate you into my spiritual treasure, allowing you to become its Artifact Spirit. We can grow together, enabling you to achieve immortality, or even a higher realm, ruling the world..."
Lu Yan transmitted a soul fluctuation, painting an attractive picture, even smoother than the promises made by the bosses of corporations in his previous life.
He believed the other party would understand.
Soul fluctuation is not a language, but a means of conveying fundamental information.
The Thunder Knife Fragment throbbed a few times, emitting a wave of consciousness.
A pleased expression appeared on Lu Yan’s face.
The other party conveyed a willingness to submit to Lu Yan.
Lu Yan controlled the Thunder Bell to move closer, continuing to send out soul fluctuation: "You should enter my Thunder Bell first."
Lu Yan naturally did not trust the other party completely. What if it pretended to surrender and caught him off guard with a fierce attack? All his plans would go down the drain.
Would Lu Yan commit such a basic error?
Once the consciousness entered the Thunder Bell, he could manipulate it as he wished.
The Artifact Spirit of the Thunder Knife Fragment flew out of it and entered the Thunder Bell.
Upon entering the Thunder Bell, Lu Yan could clearly sense that the consciousness was very weak, as if it had just awakened, with low intelligence, akin to an infant.
Upon entering the Thunder Bell, it curled up into a fetal position in silence, recuperating.
Lu Yan felt a pang of guilt.
He then flew towards the Thunder Knife Fragment.
Without the protection of the Artifact Spirit, the golden thunder waves emanated from the Thunder Knife Fragment was not intense—it even lost its aggression. However, Lu Yan still didn’t dare to touch it directly with his hands. He attracted it with the Thunder Bell instead, and then quickly retreated.
Only after exiting the Ocean of Thunder did Lu Yan probe the Thunder Knife Fragment with his spiritual sense, starting the refining process.
Without the resistance of the Artifact Spirit, the refining process wasn’t too difficult. It was successfully completed after half a day.
*Whoosh whoosh whoosh...*
With a simple thought from Lu Yan, the Thunder Knife Fragment flew around in the air like a flying dagger, exhibiting extraordinary flexibility.
Moreover, he could clearly sense that the Thunder Knife Fragment was filled with countless tiny patterns.
These patterns were similar to the Wish Pattern or the Will Power Pattern, but they seem more advanced, densely packed and intertwined.
Every pattern contained a formidable energy.
If these patterns were activated simultaneously, they could unleash a horrifying power.
Lu Yan sent his spiritual sense inside and attempted to stimulate these patterns.
*Rumble rumble rumble...*
Immediately, numerous gigantic golden thunder waves roared out from the Thunder Knife Fragment.
*Swoosh!*
In the end, with the golden thunder waves wrapped around it, the Thunder Knife Fragment shot out, carving a terrifying knife mark in the void.
Lu Yan turned pale, feeling that his soul power had weakened significantly.
However, he was not surprised. Instead, he was pleased.
Although it was extremely draining on the Soul Power to activate the Thunder Knife Fragment, the power it unleashed was extremely astonishing, far beyond his full strength attack.
"Its overconsumption of Soul Strength means it should not be used lightly under non-critical conditions, but it can serve as my trump card."
Lu Yan thought to himself.
He reached out and grabbed the Thunder Knife Fragment in his hand.
"Let’s see if there are any other treasures in the Ocean of Thunder, or maybe something like Thunder Snakes."
Lu Yan took one step and rushed into the Ocean of Thunder.
Thunder Knife Fragment was pervaded by the Rule of Thunder, covering Lu Yan’s entire body, making him feel at home in the Ocean of Thunder. The surrounding thunder could no longer hurt him, which was even more beneficial than the Thunder Bell.
Soon, Lu Yan arrived at the Golden Thunder area again.
Lu Yan began to feel pressure only when he arrived at the Golden Thunder area.
Lu Yan continued onward, wanting to see if he could approach that half Thunder Sword. But when he got close to the sword, its terrifying thunder could still penetrate the defense of the Thunder Fragment and wound him.
Lu Yan had no choice but to give up.
Around the Thunder Sword, he was refining his Primordial Spirit with the Thunder while exploring for treasures.
After a month, Lu Yan searched everywhere except for the area centered around the Thunder Sword as he couldn’t approach it.
It wasn’t an entirely fruitless venture either.
He obtained two more pieces of ordinary Gold of Rule of Thunder.
He also caught nine of those miniature Thunder Snakes.
After refining them all, Lu Yan’s cultivation level had significantly increased.
Apart from this, there were no other treasures.
"Someone is looking for me..."
Lu Yan made a move in his heart, his Primordial Spirit plummeted, and he returned to his body.
He walked out of the Practice Room and saw Li Quan waiting outside.
"Alliance Hierarch, Senior Lin Yan wants to see you."
Li Quan said.
"Senior Lin Yan... "
Lu Yan’s heart trembled, and he had a bad feeling.
Calculating time, it will be more than a month before the year is complete.
Lu Yan flew up and arrived at the top of Wu Mountain.
Compared to more than ten months ago, Lin Yan’s condition was much worse. His life aura was feeble and he seemed ten years older.
Lin Yan examined Lu Yan from top to bottom. His eyes lit up and he said, "Lu Yan, have you already mastered the Rule Power?"
Lu Yan nodded and said, "Yes, I had a bit of luck in the Nine Layer Heaven, mastered the Rule of Thunder early, and have cultivated it to the Third Void."
"You’ve reached the Third Void so quickly?"
Lin Yan seemed incredulous, then his smile broadened: "Good, very good. With your cultivation level breakthrough and early mastery of the Rule of Thunder, your combat power must have surged. The ordinary He Dao is not your opponent anymore. Now, you can hold your own territory, and I can finally rest easy."
"Senior, you... "
Lu Yan tried to speak but hesitated.
Lin Yan slightly shook his head and said, "I overestimated myself. I thought I could last a year. Now, I’m reaching my limit. Lu Yan, I leave the rest to you."
As he finished, a gust of wind came. Lin Yan’s body desolated and turned into dust that dispersed in the wind.
A small flame fluttered in the air, emitting a glimmer.
Lu Yan quickly wrapped the flame with his Soul Power and then took out a piece of Gold of Fire Law.
As soon as the flame touched the Gold of Fire law, it settled inside it.
"Rest assured, senior. As long as I am alive, I will find a way to save you."
Lu Yan carefully stored this piece of Gold of Fire Law.
"What have the Fairy Ruins and Spirit Sect been doing for the past few months?"
Standing atop Wu Mountain, Lu Yan gazed into the distance.
Even though he was intently cultivating during this time, he didn’t completely ignore everything else. He returned every now and then to understand the present situation.
Since the last time the Da Zhou Dynasty suffered a major loss, they had never invaded again.
During this period, the entire world has been quiescent, almost serenely so.
"According to this, there should be a lot more Immortal Lords who have broken free over such a long period of time, or even all of them could have broken free. But why haven’t they attaked?"
Lu Yan pondered, full of doubt.
"My strength has now reached a pinnacle, and it will be hard to make any breakthrough in a short time. Instead of waiting for them to come to me, I should take initiative and break them one by one."
Lu Yan clenched his fists, his eyes burned with intense fighting intent.
He planned to wander between the different Fairy Ruins.
If there were any Immortal Lords who hadn’t broken free yet, he could take this opportunity to eliminate them.
Having made his decision, Lu Yan didn’t linger. He didn’t meet with Shen Yinuo or Zhao Sirong to spare them the worry.
He turned into a beam of light, rushing out of Wu Mountain, disappearing into the sky.
The first stop was a Fairy Ruin in the north, the Liu Yun Fairy Ruin.
But when Lu Yan arrived at the Liu Yun Fairy Ruin, he found it completely empty. He didn’t see a single fairy.
Moreover, the power of the rule that was supposed to envelop the edge of the Fairy Ruin had also vanished.
The Fairy Ruin was no longer a ruin, completely interconnected with the outside world, turning into an ordinary area.
"It seems that all the Immortals from the Liu Yun Fairy Ruin have broken free and left this place. According to the drawing order of the nine Fairy Ruins, the Purple Wing Immortal Ruins ranked later. Let’s first go to the Purple Wing Immortal Ruin."
Lu Yan muttered, flickered his body, and then headed towards the Purple Wing Immortal Ruin.
But when Lu Yan arrived at the Purple Wing Immortal Ruin, he found it also completely empty. He didn’t see a single immortal.
