I Pick up a Lost Godhood-Chapter 84 - 82: Thunderlight’s Grand Martial Practice
Real. Realer than a goddamn Top-Grade Spirit Stone!
A Fourth Grade Pill Flame... Damn it all, how long has it been? Has it even been two months???
The kid’s Elemental Power obviously hadn’t even reached the Fifteenth Layer, yet he managed to cultivate a Fourth Grade Pill Flame. In the Holy Hall’s hundreds of years of history, no one like him has ever appeared!
’Genius? Pfft! How could such a common word possibly describe him?’
Wang Meng looked at Zhou Feng and quickly hid the wine flask in his robes. "I’ve already drunk some, so it’s useless to snatch it back. As for my skill level, this is it. You’ll just have to make do. Besides, we’re men. We can’t stoop to arguing with a woman, can we?"
Zhou Feng rubbed his face, trying to relax his stiff expression. "You go ahead and eat. I need to use the restroom."
Elder Zhou shut the door, walked behind a nearby latrine, and pumped his fists fiercely. "YES, YES, YES, YES, YES!"
In a silent scream of triumph, Zhou Feng’s face flushed red. The Elder felt a bit of youthful wildness bubble up despite his age. ’That broad Luu Yun thinks she’s found a treasure, but compared to my boy, hers is just cheap street-stall junk!’
Zhou Feng knew the kid was tricky to handle. He absolutely couldn’t let him grow complacent. It seemed the more you put him down, the harder he worked. He savored the wonderful feeling for a good while before finally calming himself down.
When he returned, Wang Meng’s first words were, "Old Zhou, are you constipated? As a Pill Cultivator, you should be able to take care of that yourself."
Zhou Feng nearly choked. ’This ungrateful little brat! Eating my food, drinking my wine, and serving up sarcasm on the side!’
"Ahem. So, what Pills have you refined? Where are they?"
"I sent them to the Thunderlight Pavilion for the Hundred Treasures Hall Meeting. Everyone in Thunderlight Hall is participating these days. Don’t worry, even if people see them, they won’t embarrass you."
"Oh? And you’re sure all those Pills were successfully refined?"
"More or less. I followed the instructions on your bamboo slips, so they all meet the standard. Some are Holy Hall recipes, and others are ones some senior forced me to memorize a long time ago. Anyway, I just threw them together casually. I’m not a Pill Cultivator, you know. It’s the participation that counts."
Wang Meng’s attitude was incredibly "proper."
"Heh heh, very good, very good. Although your casual attitude is a major taboo for a Pill Cultivator, you clearly haven’t been slacking off. This is your reward."
Zhou Feng took a Lamb Fat Bottle overflowing with rich Elemental Power from his Qiankun Bag.
Wang Meng’s eyes immediately lit up. ’With fine wine, you first check the ingredients, then the vintage. Most so-called "fine wines" are just mortal brews, but this bottle is clearly different. It must have been brewed from Spirit Fruits... It’s got to be priceless!’
Moo Shan had shared this same fondness back in the day. However, Wang Meng’s hand grabbed only empty air.
Zhou Feng took a step back. "This wine isn’t a free gift, kid. It’s Jade Dew Wine, a special reserve prepared for our Sword God. I went to a lot of trouble to get my hands on some. At the Hundred Treasures Hall Meeting, that wench Luu Yun is definitely going to pick a fight with me. When it’s your turn to go up, you’d better not chicken out!"
Wang Meng snatched the wine. "Don’t worry. When have I, Wang Meng, ever chickened out? But... I’ll make an appearance, and that’s it. I’m not responsible for anything else."
With that, he took off like a shot. This was the good stuff!
Wine brewed from Spirit Fruits was, in a sense, similar to Spirit Stones, but its significance was completely different. It was priceless, and most importantly, incredibly difficult to obtain.
Zhou Feng hadn’t been exaggerating. The Jade Dew Wine was indeed brewed for the Sword God and a few other Ancestral Masters with a particular fondness for it. It was occasionally awarded to exceptional Elders, but it was extremely hard to come by.
Zhou Feng had truly spared no expense, luring Wang Meng down the path of "depravity" little by little. ’There’s no way some miserable Sword Cultivator could ever compete with this!’ he thought.
In contrast to Zhou Feng’s delight, Thunderbolt was having a rough time. The Demon Heart Sect and Heaven-Dominating Hall seemed to be plotting something recently. He’d caught wind that it was aimed at the younger generation. For that reason, he and his fellow masters had to pay close attention to their disciples at this Hundred Treasures Hall Meeting, if only to show their faces and offer some encouragement.
But... whenever he thought of the disappointing bunch from Thunderlight Hall, or the smug look on that Wu Fatian kid’s face, Thunderbolt’s anger would flare up.
He could only use closed-door cultivation as an excuse to hide, but in his current state of mind, how could he possibly cultivate? That was just asking to suffer a cultivation deviation and fall to the demonic path.
Regardless, he had come from Thunderlight Hall. The ties were still there, even if strained. Besides, the hall’s decline was also related to his own personality; he had never been good at teaching disciples.
So, under the pretext of being in seclusion, Thunderbolt had secretly slipped out.
The state of Thunderlight Hall truly made him, its Ancestral Master, feel ashamed. Sure, the skill level of these kids was atrocious, but every single one of them was working so hard. If only he had put in more effort before, at least the Body Cultivators wouldn’t have ended up in this state.
Thunderbolt felt a surge of emotion. When he first started cultivating, he too had relied on nothing but raw passion, daring to fight and risk it all. If he hadn’t been lucky enough to meet his benefactor back then, his bones would have long since turned to dust, and the Thunderbolt of today would never exist. It was just that after becoming an Ancestral Master, he seemed to have forgotten all about those days.
For Thunderbolt, things like Pills, swords, or bows were not his cup of tea. He only cared about Body Cultivators. His only other interest was forging, though he hadn’t done any himself in many years.
There were limits to forging. For a top-tier Body Cultivator, forging a good weapon was no longer about Elemental Power; the key was one’s personal State.
The higher one’s State, the better the weapon they could forge. Ever since reaching the Minor Perfection stage, Thunderbolt’s own State had stagnated. Because of this, no matter how he tried, his forgings were always at the same level. At best, some attempts were a little better and some a little worse, but for him, it made no real difference.
The normally quiet Weapon Pavilion was now completely overrun by Body Cultivators. They’d heard that an Ancestral Master would be visiting, possibly even Ancestor Master Lei himself. Fired up, everyone got to work. ’What if I have talent and the Ancestral Master happens to discover me? I’d soar to the heavens! After all, Ancestor Master Lei is one of us. He’s not going to favor an outsider, right?’
As a result, Thunderlight Hall’s demand for ore had recently skyrocketed. One might think the disciples of Thunderlight Hall were all poor, but in reality, they were the most frugal. Most had savings, and their tolerance for hardship was far greater than anyone else’s. The Holy Hall owned its own mines, and the disciples of Thunderlight Hall were willing to take on mining tasks—jobs that disciples from other halls would only do as a last resort.
A mission was a mission, especially for Body Cultivators. They could turn in ore for Holy Hall Contribution points or purchase it with an Eight Discount. Why wouldn’t they jump at the chance?
The weapon shop was filled with a flurry of CLANGS and BANGS, bustling with fiery activity, but the longer Thunderbolt watched, the darker his expression grew.
"Are you forging a blade? That thing would be too clumsy to even chop vegetables!" Thunderbolt finally couldn’t bear to watch any longer. ’This isn’t forging, it’s just wasting good metal! I had no idea until I saw it with my own eyes... it’s truly shocking. Thunderlight Hall has fallen into such a pathetic state. What in the world has that little bastard Wang Bodang been doing?’
"What do you know, old-timer? Blades are all about being domineering and impressive!"
"And who told you that?!" Thunderbolt demanded, making a rare attempt to act as a teacher.
"Go on, get out of here. We’re busy!"
Unfortunately, everyone was caught up in their own excitement, and no one paid him any mind.
In the Sub-Halls, the older members were generally those who couldn’t make it on the outside and had returned to the Holy Hall to retire or take on odd jobs. They all tended to be rather casual.
Thunderbolt was taken aback, but then he just sighed. ’Why am I getting so worked up about this?’
After a tour of the place, all he could conclude was that they had passion in spades, but their skill... was utter garbage.
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