Ten Thousand Soul Banner: Deceased, do you have any unfulfilled wishes?-Chapter 914 - 910: Thunder Skill

The Forbidden City in March exudes the warmth of spring, with red walls reflecting the newly green branches, and even the wind carries a touch of gentleness.

Grandma stood transfixed by the grandeur of the Taihe Palace for quite a while.

Ruan Hongzhuang was taking photos of Grandma with her phone when Taozi’s laughter suddenly broke the air: "Tang Tang has found treasure again!"

Everyone turned toward the sound and saw Tang Tang crouching by the palace pathway not far away, her small hands digging into the crevices between the green bricks—a little child who had somehow loosened her grip on her little donkey plush, was now busily scooping the dirt from the brick cracks, exclaiming "Oh oh" as if she had discovered something novel.

Mao Sanmei hurried over to pull her up, but just then, Tang Tang suddenly raised her small hand, revealing an ancient coin with verdigris spots in her palm. The inscriptions were blurry, but one could make out "Kangxi Tongbao."

"This child, how does she always find these things?" Huang Huijuan moved closer, staring at the ancient coin in Tang Tang’s palm with amazement.

From Si Ming to Xiajing, Tang Tang had found a golden bracelet, a copper mirror, a brooch, and now even ancient coins from the crevices of the bricks in the Forbidden City, which was really quite magical.

Tang Tang ignored the crowd’s amazement and turned to run under the nearby corridor pillars, standing on her tiptoes to reach the corner of the pillar’s base.

The light was dim there with a thin layer of dust accumulated, yet she reached out her small hand and pulled out a jade ring, its verdant base carrying a few floating patterns, glinting softly in the sunlight.

"My goodness, if this is real, it could be worth quite a bit of money!"

Taozi leaned in for a closer look. She was someone well accustomed to jewelry and could tell at a glance that the jade ring’s quality was extraordinary.

At this point, she was at a loss for words, Tang Tang’s "treasure-hunting" ability was indeed somewhat otherworldly.

Everyone crowded together, curiously examining the findings.

Tang Tang seemed uninterested in all this, instead looking around at everything, filled with curiosity about her surroundings.

After a round of exclamations, the group was a bit vexed about how to handle the jade ring and whether it was something a tourist had lost or a genuine antique.

But pondering the situation, they still found it quite astounding that in places open to tourists, every layer of bricks and tiles should have been renovated, so theoretically, nothing should have been left behind.

Everyone leaned toward believing it was a reproduction, yet it didn’t seem so when they looked at it.

Finally, Ruan Hongzhuang decided to ask Song Meixian about it when they returned.

The group continued their walk, while Tang Tang, like a nimble little squirrel, always managed to find "surprises" in places others overlooked.

She found a red envelope in the corner of a display case in the Treasure Hall, with several hundred dollars inside. No doubt, it was something a tourist had left behind.

She fetched a silver hairpin with small entwined branch patterns from the crevice of a rock in the Imperial Garden.

She even pulled out a "Qianlong Tongbao" coin from the step gap of a corner tower, matching perfectly with the previous ancient coin.

"You’re not here for sightseeing, are you here to hunt for treasure?"

Taozi laughed while dusting off Tang Tang’s tiny hands.

"We might find more treasures when we head to Shenwu Gate later."

Ruan Hongzhuang pondered. She knew that Tang Tang had perceptions beyond ordinary people, allowing her to see things others couldn’t, so she wasn’t surprised.

But if it’s merely coins, jewelry, or even phones, she wouldn’t find it unusual.

Yet intriguingly, most of what Tang Tang found were "antiques." And what are antiques? Antiques are history.

Ruan Hongzhuang thought for a bit, took out her phone, and snapped a picture of the items Tang Tang had picked up, sending it to Shen Siyuan.

Compared to her, a regular person, Shen Siyuan might know more.

But she received no reply from Shen Siyuan, as he was currently in a mountain forest.

His body was surrounded by a faint halo of light, precisely produced by the Five Elements Primordial Magnetic Sword.

He was practicing a divine skill. Since encountering that scholar last night, Shen Siyuan realized that relying solely on the Five Elements Primordial Magnetic Sword and Divine Fire to deal with these polluted spirits was ultimately insufficient.

After pondering repeatedly, he decided to practice a Thunder Skill.

Thunder Skill was extremely yang and rigid, being the nemesis of sinister spirits, complementing his shortcomings precisely.

Moreover, he chose Thunder Skill because the Five Elements Primordial Magnetic Sword he practiced was originally related to "magnetism," and magnetism could generate thunder—the extreme flow of the earth’s magnetic field could induce lightning.

Furthermore, his Divine Fire was inherently yang, and the Sun Observation Method was extremely yang and rigid, laying the foundation for practicing Thunder Skill.

However, in this End of Dharma era, the spiritual energy is depleted, and Shen Siyuan can only convert merit into mana. Fortunately, these days, merit descends from heaven continuously, giving him a bit of confidence.

Within his Sea of Consciousness, the merit golden light, like falling rain, transforms into threads of mana that flow through the meridians to the Dantian, compressing and refining according to the Thunder Skill’s mental method, ultimately giving birth to a weak lightning bolt at his fingertips.

"Still too weak."

Shen Siyuan furrowed his brows, converting more merit. As the mana merged into the meridians, it brought a warm current across the body.

The lightning at his fingertips finally thickened slightly, and the crackling sound was clearer, yet still insufficient to form combat power.

He wasn’t discouraged, for Thunder Skill was notoriously challenging to cultivate, and to refine Thunder Intent in a single day already far surpassed ordinary people.

He adjusted his breathing, once again turning the mental method to merge the power of merit with the internal magnetic energy and Divine Fire.

The Divine Fire as bone, the burning sun as guide, the primordial magnetism as base, intertwining three forces, the lightning at his fingertip flickered with faint orange light, its temperature rising slightly, even showing a hint of the Divine Fire’s heat.

"It’s having an effect."

A flicker of joy appeared in Shen Siyuan’s eyes as he continued to urge the power.

But just as the lightning was about to solidify into a substantial arc, the mana abruptly ran out, causing the lightning at his fingertip to dim, leaving only a weak electric current jumping.

"Looks like more mana is needed," Shen Siyuan calculated.

But to him, mana equates to merit, and such a scenario implies no amount of merit would be enough for his consumption.

In an era devoid of spiritual energy, no matter how vast his mana, he was like rootless floating duckweed.

Yet he could cleverly cultivate the Five Elements Primordial Magnetic Sword; might there be some savvy methods to cultivate Thunder Skill?

The answer was evidently yes, especially in this technological age, the least scarce resource is electricity.

However, releasing electricity doesn’t equate to Thunder Skill; if it were that simple, wouldn’t using a high-powered electric shock rod be much more convenient?

Talking about this brings one to the essence of the Thunder Skill.

The essence of Thunder Skill is indeed electricity, a form of energy, but this energy is extremely yang and rigid, embodying the intention of heaven and earth.

Much like Shen Siyuan’s cultivated Divine Fire, in essence, it’s still fire, but what makes it inextinguishable and capable of incinerating ghost moths is that it’s the embodiment of Shen Siyuan’s will, a manifestation of spirit.

Yet, it still counts as mundane fire, but if this spirit and will originate from heaven and earth?

Then it would be considered true Divine Fire, capable of incinerating all things.

So even though Shen Siyuan could acquire constant electric supply through technological means, he still couldn’t achieve Thunder Skill.

Thinking to this point, Shen Siyuan looked up at the sky.

He suddenly recalled the time Tang Tang was angry, dark clouds gathering, strong winds howling, lightning flashing—an apocalyptic scene.

Meanwhile, in the Forbidden City, Tang Tang was being led out by Grandma.

She was adorned with little accessories around her neck and hands, not the ones she found, but various souvenirs bought in the Forbidden City.