Chapter 64

Boom—!!!

Lightning tore through the thick dark clouds.

"Kid! Show them what thunderous might really means!"

Lin Tianhao stood at the front of the crowd, hands on his hips.

His booming voice even drowned out the thunder above.

Lin Mo, standing before the wooden post, couldn't help but twitch his lips twice.

"Dad… I'm just testing a basic skill—do we really need all this spectacle…?"

Lin Mo sighed, feeling immense pressure.

He turned back, his gaze settling on the test post.

"Alright, since neither of you will yield, let skill decide it."

"Xiao Huo, Xiao Lei—are you ready? Who goes first?"

【'Earth Shield Art' timidly peered out: Um… we're all family, harmony is precious, let's not harm our rapport—how about we make peace?】

【'Earth Shield Art' tried to mediate: Big brother, step aside; little brother, show respect to big brother—can't we all protect our master together?】

【'Fireball Art' exploded: Shut up! This isn't your place to speak!】

After scolding his younger sibling, 'Fireball Art' turned to the newcomer, 'Lightning Strike Art'.

【'Fireball Art': Hey, newbie, don't say I'm bullying you—I'll ask again: do you want me to let you have a few moves?】

【'Lightning Strike Art' replied coldly: Annoying.】

【'Fireball Art' erupted: Oh come on! You're cocky, huh? Fine—I'll show you what truly devastating damage looks like, what an insurmountable mountain you'll never cross in your lifetime!】

"Enough blabbing—Xiao Huo, you go first."

Lin Mo, too, didn't bother with any more words and directly gave the order.

'Fireball Art' didn't waste another word, instantly entering battle stance.

Hum—!

In that instant, the ground beneath the post blazed with a blinding red glow.

The next second.

Boom!

A thick pillar of fire shot skyward.

Immediately followed by a second, a third…

More than twenty pillars of fire erupted furiously on the exact same spot!

Boom boom boom boom boom—!!!

The continuous explosions made everyone's eardrums ache.

On the damage display beside them, red numbers flashed wildly.

Every damage spike caused the post to shake violently.

…

In less than ten seconds, the fire pillars vanished.

The test post was now completely charred, billowing thick smoke.

【Total Damage: 138521!】

"Whoa…"

A young cook sucked in a sharp breath.

He was just a cook, but even if he hadn't eaten pork, he'd seen pigs run.

A normal Level 20 cultivator landing one skill for ten thousand damage was already impressive.

Even an S-rank genius's full burst rarely topped thirty or forty thousand.

But now…

One hundred thirty-eight thousand?!

Is this really what a Level 20 can output?!

Meanwhile, the young maids around him gazed with stars in their eyes.

"Oh my… Master is so fierce, so wild, so manly… I love it…"

"Yeah, being with Master feels so safe… I want to marry Master so badly…"

"Hmm, looks like I'll need to refine my cooking skills even more tonight."

Hearing the chorus of coos, Su Wan sighed and rubbed her forehead.

Then she frowned, looking at Lin Tianhao with confusion:

"Lao Lin, didn't Mo say he was testing his new Lightning skill? Why's he starting with a fire pillar?"

Lin Tianhao pondered, then analyzed:

"I reckon… this kid's trying to make a comparison."

"But I'll say this—Mo's fire pillar damage is truly insane."

Su Wan's confusion deepened:

"But Lao Lin, Fire Pillar is an intermediate skill, while Lightning Strike is just a basic Lightning skill—no matter how strong Lightning is, it can't compete with an intermediate Fire skill, right?"

Lin Tianhao thought hard but couldn't figure it out:

"Who cares, wife? Let's just watch—Mo's got his reasons."

…

【'Fireball Art' gloated, nostrils flaring: Well? Scared yet? What can you possibly match me with?】

【"Fireball Spell" looked down its nose at Lightning Strike: "I advise you to address me as Big Brother, and follow me from now on—you'll get meat to eat."】

Yet, Lightning Strike gave no response.

【"Lightning Strike" was studying the wooden post, lost in thought.】

Seeing this, Lin Mo couldn't help but say:

"Little Lei, you've just arrived—you only know basic skills. Comparing your damage to Xiao Huo's intermediate skill is truly unfair."

"Besides, although Xiao Huo's technique looks powerful, it's hard to hit all the fire rings on the same target in actual combat."

"How about this: if you can deal just one-tenth of Xiao Huo's damage, you win. What do you say?"

Upon hearing this, "Fireball Spell" also agreed.

【"Fireball Spell" waved its hand generously: "No problem! I'm not an unreasonable fire."】

Faced with Lin Mo's proposal and Fireball Spell's generosity, Lightning Strike seemed too lazy to respond.

【"Lightning Strike" gazed up at the starry sky...】

"Huh?"

Lin Mo froze for a moment.

Then he, too, raised his head.

The pitch-black night sky was thick with dark clouds, thunder rolling endlessly.

"What is Mo'er doing?"

Su Wan, watching her son suddenly look up at the sky, was puzzled. "Aren't you supposed to strike the post? Why stare at the sky? Is it going to rain?"

Yet,

Lin Tianhao, standing beside her, suddenly stiffened.

His eyes locked onto a single point in the sky, then quickly turned to Lin Mo.

As a Thunder God ranked among the top in all of Longguo, Lin Tianhao's perception of thunder elements was terrifyingly acute.

In his eyes, the heavens and earth were not merely clouds and gales.

Countless turbulent thunder elements surged wildly within the clouds.

And amidst this chaotic frenzy, invisible blue threads descended from the heavens.

These were known as "Thunder Guiding Lines."

Lin Tianhao had a deep understanding of all thunder techniques.

One intermediate thunder technique involved summoning heavenly lightning to inflict massive single-target damage.

But mastering it was extremely difficult.

One needed near-obsessive sensitivity to thunder elements to see and control these Thunder Guiding Lines.

Even he, in his youth, had only barely mastered them after age 40, through countless life-or-death trials during thunderstorms.

And now...

Lin Tianhao stared at Lin Mo not far away.

No mistake.

The Thunder Guiding Lines—Mo'er had seen them!

"What are you looking at?"

Lin Mo tilted his head up, his neck aching.

"Little Lei, you're not actually going to summon down the heavenly lightning, are you?"

The moment he spoke—

A series of messages appeared on the panel.

【"Lightning Strike" sensed countless threads descending from the heavens, each containing annihilating power.】

【"Lightning Strike" seemed to sense something—perhaps it could harness this power."】

【"Lightning Strike" attempted to control it; violent thunder surged along the threads, yet "Lightning Strike" did not retreat—instead, it gripped tighter!"】

【"Lightning Strike" saw the ancient legendary Thunder Sovereign—the divine beast clad in violet lightning, stepping upon auspicious clouds..."】

【Congratulations! Your skill "Lightning Strike" has sensed the power of heaven and earth, spontaneously evolved, and successfully unlocked the intermediate thunder skill: Thunder Qilin Descends (Lv. 1)!】

【Thunder Qilin Descends: Summon divine thunder to manifest a Thunder Qilin, dealing massive thunder damage to a single target, guaranteeing paralysis, and inflicting splash damage to surrounding enemies. Cooldown: 1 minute.】

"???"

Lin Mo was utterly stunned.

What the hell?

I just said it offhand—you're serious?

You're fucking brilliant!