Chapter 138: 133 Why Do Thunder and Lightning Resound?

133 Why Do Thunder and Lightning Resound?

Jiang Shenyi told Tang Zhao to catch the object flying toward him, and only then did Tang Zhao reach out to catch it.

It is the instinct of a Sword Master not to catch things of unknown origin. There are too many tricks that can be played with Art Tools; who knows if what one is grabbing is poison or lightning?

What he caught in his hand this time was a palm-sized board; without needing to look closely, Tang Zhao recognized it as an Origin Stone Talisman Page.

Origin Stone is simply strange stone filled with "One Yuan Power."

Strange stone is the material most commonly used by Sword Masters. Because it is the most compatible material in the world, it can accommodate all rune formulas and materials from void to earth, and can also accommodate all energies from force to Sword Essence, but it is also the most dull material; no matter how many rune formulas it bears, its own properties will never change, so it absolutely cannot be used to make Art Tools. Furthermore, its yield is not small; although it is not common among the mundane, in the world of Sword Masters, it is even abundant enough to be used and circulated in daily life. The Talisman Pages that Sword Masters usually use to record rune formulas are made of strange stone.

When special rune formulas are written on strange stone and it is left outside for a period of time to absorb the natural Qi of the outside world, it becomes an Origin Stone. One Origin Stone is the size of a palm and can hold exactly one unit of One Yuan Power; it is a general equivalent used by Sword Masters for transactions, with a price roughly one to one hundred against gold, and later it also circulated among Sword Guests.

Origin Stones after being charged can also be used to make Talisman Pages, but unlike Talisman Pages made of strange stone which are useless, the rune formulas on Origin Talisman Pages can be activated at any time. However, Origin Stone Talisman Pages are different from the talismans in stories; the restrictions on activating them are extreme, they are uncontrollable, and they are very dangerous, so they basically cannot be used for combat. Except for a few special types of Origin Stone Talisman Pages, general Sword Masters will not write rune formulas on fully charged Origin Stones.

At this moment, the Origin Stone Talisman Page in Tang Zhao's hand already had several rows of rune formulas written on it; it seemed to have already circulated through the hands of the three people present, and each person had written different rune formulas on it.

Was it really a competition to see who could write more rune formulas?

Is it my turn?

Upon looking closely, Tang Zhao almost threw the Origin Stone away.

Those rows of rune formulas were each a different Thunder Symbol!

Thunder Symbols are the most unstable of all rune formulas; when making Art Tools, even a slight mismatch with the materials makes them prone to exploding, let alone on an Origin Stone Talisman Page? A fully charged Origin Stone Talisman Page could be used directly as a Palm Thunder. Moreover, different Thunder Symbols clash and repel each other violently; they need to be precisely harmonized using rune formula groups. How could anyone stack several rows of Thunder Symbols so closely together?

Is this an Origin Talisman Page or a bomb?!

Tang Zhao gritted his teeth and said, "You... are playing 'passing the thunder'?"

Jiang Shenyi stood several yards away, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with him facing the two men and women opposite, and said, "This is a game of their Liangzhou Sword Masters, and it is also the test they have set for us. Each of us writes one Thunder Symbol, which cannot be the same as the previous Thunder Symbols, and must coexist with the various previous rune formulas without triggering a thunder explosion. We see who runs out of ideas first, and we see in whose hands it explodes."

Tang Zhao was furious and said, "Are you sick? Why play such a cursed game? If this thing explodes, who can escape unscathed?"

Calling it 'passing the thunder' is an understatement; this is the Russian... whatever roulette that Chen Zong mentioned. And it's that every time a blank is fired, ammunition is added to it, increasing the power more and more; now it has been added into a cluster bomb, and sooner or later it will be added into a Tsar Bomba.

He really wanted to scold Jiang Shenyi for having water in his brain for daring to accept this thing, but since there were outsiders present, it was inconvenient to speak too harshly.

Tang Zhao did not want to play this bullshit game and was about to confiscate it when he felt the Origin Stone in his hand getting hot. The woman opposite said, "Hurry up and write; if a new rune formula is not written within twenty breaths, this Origin Stone will explode."

Tang Zhao felt the Origin Stone in his hand getting hotter and hotter, knowing that what she said was not false, and said, "What kind of thing is this?" He took out a talisman needle, hurriedly wrote a rune formula, hooked a few strokes on the rune formulas above, and threw it to the woman opposite.

The woman caught it and said, "This is an Origin Stone specifically for the passing-talisman game; it is a daily pastime for us Liangzhou Sword Masters. Where we come from, ten-year-old children dare to play it. What, are the people of Yunzhou afraid?" She lowered her head to look at the rune formula, let out an "Eh," and said, "What is this rune formula? I don't recognize it." She buried her head to write.

Jiang Shenyi sneered, "There are still many things you don't recognize."

Tang Zhao said angrily, "What do you mean by 'afraid'? What do children know about life and death? To live is to be ignorant, and to die is to be fearless. Ignorant and reckless, treating life lightly—do you think this is courage?"

The woman was focused on writing the rune, and her companion, a tall young man, said in a deep voice, "In the land of Liangzhou, three-year-old children know life and death!"

The four people argued endlessly, their hands never stopping with the rune formulas, and this cruel game was actually played round after round.

After passing it a few more times, more and more rune formulas were written, and there was almost no room left to write on the palm-sized Origin Stone.

The woman opposite got the Origin Stone again and wondered, "Eh, I didn't realize so many rounds had passed. I performed very well today; I have never written so many rounds before. People of Yunzhou, you also have some skills."

Jiang Shenyi had a strange expression and said, "Have you ever thought that it wasn't because you performed well—"

Before he finished speaking, he saw the Origin Talisman in her hand radiating thunder light, and countless electric currents dancing and sizzling wildly.

It's going to explode!

Tang Zhao and Jiang Shenyi moved at the same time, not retreating but advancing, rushing toward the woman.

The woman shouted, "Don't panic, we have a way—"

At this moment, the young man accompanying her took out a jar of water and splashed it over.

Tang Zhao and Jiang Shenyi both widened their eyes, both thinking: Splashing water on lightning? What were they thinking?

Splash—the water flowed onto the thunder light; the thunder light dimmed for a moment, seemingly about to extinguish, but then it surged ten times over, the blue light shining as brightly as a small sun, illuminating the faces of the two men in a pale blue—

It was still going to explode!

This time it was the turn of the man and woman opposite to be stunned; the two clearly had not expected such a crisis at all. The woman desperately tried to throw the thunder light away, but it was too late, and the blue-purple electric currents had almost wrapped around her skin—

At the same time, Tang Zhao and the others had already rushed to the front. Jiang Shenyi's wings spread behind him, the snow-white wind wings like feather blades, cutting between the woman and the thunder light, protecting her. And Tang Zhao reached out and grabbed the thunder light!

Not to mention the woman who was dumbfounded, the young man next to her saw Tang Zhao grabbing the lightning with his hand and couldn't help but open his mouth, wanting to shout, but no sound came out.

Sss—

There was no extra sound, no extra movement. Tang Zhao threw the thunder light into the jar he was holding in his other hand. The movement was as easy as going to the vegetable market in the morning and picking chives into a vegetable basket.

Silently and soundlessly, the thunder light extinguished.

Only a jar remained.

Seeing him extinguish the thunder light, Jiang Shenyi was not surprised at all; he withdrew his wings and left with Tang Zhao, leaving only the two Liangzhou Sword Masters stunned.

Only then did Tang Zhao have the leisure to size up the two fellow travelers he had met on the road. This man and woman both looked to be in their twenties; the man had a short, stubbly beard and looked a bit older. Both were wearing earthy-yellow, narrow-sleeved robes with lapels, long leather boots on their feet, and leather belts like horse whips around their waists, quite full of foreign style.

The two were dazed for a moment, then suddenly looked up at the same time and said, "You won!"

Jiang Shenyi looked proud and said, "That goes without saying. Are the people of Yunzhou more powerful, or are the people of Liangzhou more powerful?"

The young man lowered his head and said, "We have very powerful people in Liangzhou. But we are not as good as you. Thank you for saving our junior sister." Compared to the woman's pure accent, his accent was very heavy; one could tell at once that he was not from the Central Plains.

Seeing that the two of them were straightforward, Tang Zhao's mood calmed down slightly, and he said, "No need to thank me. Matters of life and death are not child's play; how can one just stand by and watch? But I still don't understand, how did you two end up fighting?"

Jiang Shenyi said, "I don't know either. I was walking on the road perfectly fine when these two stopped me, first asking if I was a Sword Master, and then wanting to compete with me. I didn't agree at first, but they kept going on about some Liangzhou challenge, saying that a Yunzhou Sword Master had to accept the move, and I couldn't lose face for Yunzhou, so I accepted the challenge."

Perhaps because the game was over, Jiang Shenyi also cooled down, feeling that the game just now was indeed dangerous and that he had acted quite rashly. Although he refused to admit his mistake, he still couldn't help but explain a few more words to his junior brother.

Tang Zhao looked at the two people opposite and said sternly, "You two colleagues from Liangzhou, why did you block the road and provoke us?"

The two looked at each other, and the woman said, "We had no malice. Wusun Tong and Che Sha of the One Hundred and Eight Springs of Liangzhou have met the two senior brothers. You are also going to the Jianzhou Sword Assembly, right? We want to form an alliance with you."

Tang Zhao actually had a guess, but still felt it was strange, and said, "If you want to form an alliance, why provoke us?"

The woman, Che Sha, said, "We wanted to understand your strength. It is the custom of Liangzhou that lions make friends with lions. Once you become friends, there is no way to fight with full strength. So we had no choice but to start a fight first; everyone gets to know each other through fighting."

Jiang Shenyi said, "Don't keep going on about Liangzhou this and Liangzhou that. Use your Liangzhou rules in Liangzhou; this is Yunzhou! We will not make friends with people who treat their lives as a game."

Wusun Tong wanted to say something but stopped, and Che Sha lowered her head, then smiled again, "This game looks dangerous, but it is actually not dangerous. No matter where it explodes in the end, we can stop it."

Wusun Tong stepped forward, placed the water jar on the ground, and said, "This is a specialty of our One Hundred and Eight Springs—the Termination Spring. Once poured on, all rune formulas will terminate. If poured on before the thunder light explodes, all Thunder Symbols will stop, and there will be no danger."

Tang Zhao and Jiang Shenyi looked at each other, both very puzzled, having never heard of such a miraculous material.

Jiang Shenyi sneered, "So miraculous? Then why was it completely useless just now? Instead, it added fuel to the fire, making it explode even more."

Both Wusun Tong and his companion looked puzzled; Che Sha said, "We don't know. It shouldn't have been like this. Back in Liangzhou, it worked every single time."

Jiang Shenyi laughed, "Oh, so this spring water follows the same rules as you—it stops working once it leaves Liangzhou."

Both of them flushed red, and Tang Zhao said softly, "Senior Brother."

Jiang Shenyi shook his head and said, "Fine, no more jokes. My junior brother here is thin-skinned and embarrassed to boast about himself. I'll boast for him. The spring water you poured was useless, most likely because the amount wasn't enough."

The two people opposite shook their heads in unison and said, "No, we calculated it all."

Jiang Shenyi tilted his head and said, "Could it be that you don't know how to count, or—wait, you really didn't notice that every time my junior brother carves a Rune Formula, he adds a Stop Symbol right after your Talisman?"