Chapter 150: Cultivation at Thunder Mountain

Chu Han opened his eyes and shifted his body slightly to the right, narrowly dodging the lightning strike. Immediately afterward, three more bolts of terrifying thunder descended from the sky from three different directions, completely sealing off all of Chu Han's escape routes.

Then, Chu Han stood up, looked at the three bolts of thunder, and smiled faintly. "Thunder-Slaying Palm, shatter for me."

As his words fell, he extended his right hand. Instantly, the power of lightning gathered in his palm, blocking the assault of the descending thunderbolts. The three bolts of thunder were instantly reduced to fragments, and pure lightning energy poured into his body.

Thunderbolts continued to strike down from the sky one after another, and Chu Han received every single one of them. Countless streams of pure lightning energy surged into his body, making his dantian increasingly brimming with power.

Finally, after he shattered the last few thunderbolts, no more lightning fell from the sky. Just as he let out a slight sigh of relief, a roar echoed from not far away. A giant wolf formed entirely of condensed lightning appeared before him, letting out a deafening howl.

"Oh? A thunder beast? As expected, this Thunder Mountain is far from simple."

Chu Han smiled faintly. This creature was known as a thunder beast, entirely forged from lightning energy. The greater the lightning energy, the stronger its power. The world was full of wonders; in his past life, he had encountered a thunder beast far more powerful than the one before him, and it had cost him his life to defeat it.

The thunder beast lunged directly at him. Chu Han raised his right hand. "Giant python."

As his words fell, the power of lightning condensed in the air into the shape of a massive python, charging straight toward the thunder wolf. Although its size was not quite as massive as the thunder wolf's, it was remarkably agile.

Chu Han controlled the giant python as it engaged the thunder wolf in battle. However, since the thunder wolf was forged from the raw lightning energy of heaven and earth, its combat prowess was formidable. Within mere minutes, the thunder wolf slammed the giant python to the ground with a single sweep of its paw, opened its blood-red maw, and bit viciously into the python's neck. With a miserable shriek, the giant python dissolved back into bolts of lightning and vanished into thin air.

Chu Han paused slightly; this thunder wolf was much harder to deal with than he had anticipated. He took a brief step back, but by then the thunder wolf had already charged forward with terrifying speed, closing the distance to him in the blink of an eye.

"Seal of Thunder."

Chu Han let out a deep shout, his hands moving rapidly through a sequence of hand seals. As he formed the seals, he dodged the thunder wolf's relentless attacks, but the beast's speed was no slower than his own, and it quickly caught up to him. At that moment, the Seal of Thunder was finally completed. He slowly thrust his palm forward, and a massive palm print formed of lightning materialized in the air, slamming fiercely into the thunder wolf's body.

The thunder wolf let out a miserable yelp and tumbled to the ground. Although struck, it suffered no critical injury; shaking its head, it scrambled back to its feet and glared viciously at Chu Han.

The thunder wolf possessed the lightning attribute, meaning its entire body was made of lightning. Since Chu Han's attacks were also lightning-based, their destructive power against the creature was somewhat dampened. Thus, although injured, the thunder wolf's wounds were not fatal.

Chu Han realized this almost immediately, but he did not panic. While lightning attacks were weakened against a thunder beast, that was only because his own offensive power was not yet strong enough. Once his attacks reached a level where even the thunder beast could no longer defend against them, the dampening effect would vanish, replaced by absolute suppression.

Just as the thought crossed his mind, the thunder wolf lunged forward once more, slashing its claws across Chu Han's body. Failing to react in time, he took the full force of the blow, leaving three bloody claw marks across his chest. The scorching lightning energy threatened to burn his flesh, and a pungent scent of charred skin filled the air.

Feeling the burning pain in his chest only reinforced Chu Han's resolve. He hastily raised his right hand. "True Qilin."

Having just absorbed a massive amount of tribulation lightning, his Qilin had undergone a transformation, enabling him to unleash the signature ultimate technique of the Five Thunders Venerable from back in the day—the True Qilin. Of course, he was nowhere near as powerful as the Five Thunders Venerable at present, but it was more than enough to deal with the thunder beast before him.

A lightning Qilin condensed in mid-air, its eyes glowing blood-red, and its size was more than double that of the thunder wolf. It let out a deafening roar directly at the thunder wolf.

Devoid of higher intelligence and driven solely by the instinct to fight, the thunder wolf charged straight at the Qilin. However, the Qilin merely raised one of its front legs and pinned the thunder wolf firmly to the ground, rendering it completely immobile.

The True Qilin was larger in size and possessed far greater strength than an ordinary Qilin. Chu Han could clearly feel the earth-shattering power radiating from it, and a faint smile appeared on his lips. It seemed he had acquired yet another powerful trump card.

Moments later, the Qilin transformed into a bolt of lightning that completely enveloped the thunder wolf. With a whimper, the thunder wolf collapsed to the ground, its body dissolving into a stream of pure lightning energy that poured directly into Chu Han's body.

Fueled by this surge of lightning energy, he finally mastered the Netherworld Divine Thunder Art. The final pathways of his meridians were now fully saturated with lightning power. Although he could not yet unleash the full might of the Netherworld Divine Thunder Art, its true terror would manifest as his cultivation continued to grow.

He then sat cross-legged on the ground and entered a state of deep meditation to consolidate his mastery of the Netherworld Divine Thunder Art. Time slipped away gradually, and unaware of how much time had passed, he finally opened his eyes. He had completely mastered the technique.

With everything concluded, he stepped through the formation and left Thunder Mountain.

Upon exiting, he saw that Meng Xing'er was still keeping watch outside the entrance of the formation, waiting for him. Seeing Chu Han suddenly appear, she jumped in surprise. "Congratulations, sir, on your successful cultivation. To master the Netherworld Divine Thunder Art in just a single day—you truly are blessed with extraordinary talent."

Chu Han merely smiled, leaving her remark unanswered. "How is the Patriarch?"

"Thank you, sir. The Patriarch has already regained consciousness, and the poison is indeed being purged from his body. Many thanks, sir. The Patriarch wishes to see you; please follow me, sir."

Mentioning this filled Meng Xing'er with immense excitement. The Meng family Patriarch's body was recovering at a speed visible to the naked eye, and since Chu Han had already explained his assessment to him beforehand, the Patriarch knew well what to expect.

"Right, what about the recommendation to the Grandmaster Alchemist Tournament that Meng Kang promised me? How is that going?"

Instead of accepting the invitation to see the Patriarch, Chu Han countered with a question.

"My uncle has already handed it over to me, and now I am giving it to you. This is the invitation letter for the competition. It has the time and location, so you can just head straight there."

Daring not to delay, Meng Xing'er quickly produced the invitation letter and handed it to Chu Han. Only then did he nod with satisfaction. Checking the date, he saw that it took place before the Grand Vastness event, which meant it would not conflict with his schedule.

He genuinely wanted to witness the Grandmaster Alchemist Tournament. With numerous elite alchemists gathering in one place, it would greatly benefit his own alchemy skills, for learning knew no bounds.

"Many thanks. As for seeing the Patriarch, there is no need. We merely took what we needed from each other, and there is likely no reason for us to meet again in the future. Farewell."

With a soft utterance, Chu Han vanished on the spot. His speed had always been formidable, and having now mastered the Netherworld Divine Thunder Art, his velocity had reached an even higher realm—one that Meng Xing'er was utterly incapable of tracking.

Seeing him disappear, Meng Xing'er felt a brief pang of loss before turning back to return to the Meng family Patriarch's chambers to report the truth.

"A figure of such formidable caliber naturally possesses his own temperament. That is of no consequence. However, even if we cannot recruit him into the Meng family, we must forge a good alliance with him. Here is what we will do, Xing'er: you will also attend the Grandmaster Alchemist Tournament and make sure to befriend this man. Otherwise, should he join our enemies' faction, it will be the most devastating blow to our family."

The Meng family Patriarch sighed, speaking in a slightly weakened voice.

Hearing the Patriarch's words, Meng Xing'er nodded. Staring in the direction where Chu Han had departed, she fell deep into thought with a faint blush on her cheeks, her inner thoughts an absolute mystery to anyone else.