Chapter 598: Lei Fire Combat Technique! Enhance!

The wilderness area of Dayangzhou spans over seven hundred square kilometers.

Most of it consists of the ruins of cities from the former Dayangzhou nation, 'Aoguo'.

Beyond that, only the most primitive mountain ranges and forests remain.

Outside the supercity 'Mocheng', there are five major beast aggregation points.

All of them lie within the former boundaries of 'Aoguo' cities.

Disguised, Xu Jingming's target this time is the Bangor City Ruins, one of the five beast aggregation points.

According to the data he gathered, the strongest beast occupying the Bangor City Ruins is merely a Rank 8 Lower-tier Lord-level beast.

There is a qualitative difference between Rank 7 and Rank 8, with a vast gap in strength.

With all his techniques deployed, Xu Jingming can kill a Rank 7 Peak Lord-level beast.

But against a Rank 8 beast, he has no means at all—and might even be killed in return.

Though he cannot kill it, he can at least avoid it; that Rank 8 Lower-tier beast likely cannot touch him either.

The other four beast aggregation points are occupied by Rank 8 Mid-tier or even Rank 8 Upper-tier beasts, making them far more dangerous.

That's why he chose the Bangor City Ruins.

Flying directly from Mocheng to Bangor takes only a few hours.

Running there on foot, however, could take an unknown length of time.

In the beast paradise known as the Dayangzhou wilderness, a human flying through the air is no different from seeking death.

So Xu Jingming could only run all the way, killing beasts he encountered along the route.

Fortunately, his running speed was not slow; by nine p. m., he had covered one-third of the distance.

"Crack—"

"Crack—"

In a cave within the Dayangzhou wilderness.

A pile of firewood crackled, radiating heat and light freely in all directions.

Yet its light paled beside the brilliance of a fist-sized liquid golden lightning orb hanging above the cave.

Under this radiance, the entire cave glowed as bright as daylight.

Beneath the dazzling orb, Xu Jingming sat cross-legged on the ground, a newly opened manual for the Lei Fire combat technique before him.

"Controlling fire elements is the exclusive privilege of elemental fire-affinity cultivators.

But we lightning-affinity cultivators, when striking enemies with lightning, also generate extreme heat capable of igniting them.

We cannot directly control fire—but is there an indirect way?

For this, I spent decades researching.

Finally, I created the 'Lei Fire' combat technique.

The emergence of 'Lei Fire' will surely open a completely new path for lightning-affinity cultivators!

My name, Lei Fire Sage, will be recorded in history!"

"Below, I will detail the cultivation method of this technique..."

The manual was written entirely in ancient script Xu Jingming could not read.

Yet this did not hinder comprehension, for the spiritual energy within the manual allowed him to perceive the creator's cultivation insights.

As if the creator himself whispered in his ear, every line brimmed with confidence and dominance.

Coupled with Xu Jingming's own intense interest in the 'Lei Fire' technique, he soon became fully immersed.

Over three hours passed; as Xu Jingming carefully studied the technique, the content abruptly ended!

The remaining ten percent of the manual was missing, unreadable.

"Tsk. Just as it was getting interesting."

Though disappointed, Xu Jingming could only close the manual.

"This Lei Fire Sage truly was a genius—he actually conceived such a method..."

According to the manual's logic, lightning generates heat, thus indirectly controlling fire.

Moreover, lightning emits brilliant light—could it also indirectly control light?

Unfortunately, Lei Fire Sage only developed the 'Lei Fire' technique, never the 'Lei Guang' technique.

Even more regretfully, the 'Lei Fire' technique was incomplete when it reached him.

"I entered the Dayangzhou wilderness at 11 a. m., ran nonstop until nine p. m. before resting.

Though I didn't deliberately hunt beasts, I still gained over ten thousand affinity points.

Once I reach the Bangor City Ruins, the rate of affinity point gain will accelerate further.

Once I accumulate more affinity points, I should be able to enhance the 'Lei Fire' technique."

"But just like when I upgraded my S-rank Body Strengthening Art to SS-rank, I must first fully master the 'Lei Fire' technique before enhancing it."

Xu Jingming slowly closed his eyes; the content of the 'Lei Fire' technique replayed repeatedly in his mind for deeper understanding.

Once he grasped it sufficiently, he reopened the 'Lei Fire' manual to review again.

Thus, by six a. m. the next day, as dawn broke, Xu Jingming resumed his journey toward the Bangor City Ruins.

Finally, on December 3rd, before nightfall, he entered the Bangor City Ruins.

Inside the ruins, Xu Jingming hunted beasts by day and studied the 'Lei Fire' technique by night.

Six full days passed, until 10 p. m. on December 9th.

His system panel had accumulated 93,000 affinity points.

Only then did he feel ready to enhance the 'Lei Fire' technique.

"Finally! Deep Blue! Enhance it!"

In a cave, Xu Jingming suppressed his excitement and immediately enhanced the technique.

Affinity points -20,000!

Lei Fire → Lei Fire (Beginner)!

Instantly, the missing portion of the S+ technique 'Lei Fire' was fully restored.

Simultaneously, as if he had practiced the technique thousands of times, he mastered it completely.

"So this is the Lei Fire technique!"

Xu Jingming's eyes shone brighter than ever; he extended his right hand and focused his will.

Crackling—

A brilliant, dazzling golden Heavenly Thunder gathered five to six centimeters above his palm.

But unlike before, golden flames of extreme heat now mingled within the lightning.

The flames reached at least three thousand degrees.

Xu Jingming casually tossed the lightning-fire ball against the cave wall.

It blasted a large hole, melting sand and soil into glass.

Yet Xu Jingming frowned.

The power of the Lei Fire orb seemed lower than that of a pure lightning orb.

"Eva, analyze this— which attack is stronger?"

Xu Jingming summoned Eva, forming a lightning orb and a Lei Fire orb in each hand, then threw them at the wall.

"You've repaired the 'Lei Fire' technique and learned it already?"

Eva emerged from the smart bracelet, her voice filled with surprise; after scanning, she immediately replied:

"The lightning orb's power is approximately one-fifth higher than the Lei Fire orb's."

"I allocated identical affinity points to both elemental orbs.

Meaning, using the Lei Fire technique didn't increase power—it decreased it!"

Xu Jingming stared, speechless.

Of course—converting lightning into fire inherently causes energy loss; reduced power was expected.

But if I can achieve the same attack strength with lightning alone, why convert it into a weaker fire-based attack?

"This 'Lei Fire' technique is practically useless..." Xu Jingming muttered.

Still, it wasn't entirely without value.

At least now he could use the 'Lei Fire' technique to disguise himself as an elemental fire-affinity cultivator.

"Lei Fire technique restored. Today is December 9th; returning to Mocheng from Bangor will take two days.

The Qingfeng Secret Realm's opening notification arrives on the 11th night—time to head back."

Xu Jingming exhaled slowly, a faint smile touching his lips.

Wang Chun would never guess.

That he had repaired this extremely difficult 'Lei Fire' technique in just a few days.

PS: Three chapters uploaded at once~~