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Li Mu watched as Zhou Wen vanished. He did nothing to stop the older man from leaving. As much as he would have enjoyed snuffing the life out of each and every single one of the Sons of Lightning with his own bare hands, Li Mu did not have the full confidence to beat him in a duel. The use of his Heaven and Earth Rings would greatly deplete his power and if he were to fail—which he most certainly would—he would only be embarrassing himself. Perishing any spiteful thoughts, he decided to just convey his thanks to Green Ox instead.

“Stand not on ceremony,” said Green Ox, “You’d still be able to defeat that old scoundrel in my absence, just not easily. But you’ve come a long way… Look at you… You could even give Zhou Wen a run for his money already…”

As humble and meek as a little lamb, Li Mu bowed with a smile, “It’s all thanks to those who came before me. They had left so much good behind that a fledgling like me has been able to derive benefit from their legacies.”

“What would you have done if I did not come?” Green Ox landed on the ground, pacing towards the hot spring.

“Stay here until winter passes, I guess,” answered Li Mu. “I could use the time to train. Come spring, maybe when I’m able to deal with the Sons of Lightning, I come back to reclaim my honor.”

Green Ox chuckled. “Honor, eh? And I thought you never cared about what people think about you. First, you killed Lei Cang, then Ming Yu, followed by those Drakonids at Oststern. Carry on like this and they’ll start calling you the Butcher,” he went on with wry sarcasm.

Li Mu scratched the back of his head, “Well, I was frustrated, see? Those that I killed? They had it coming.”

Green Ox shook his head, smiling weakly. “At any rate, it seems that we’re fated to know each other. You might possess skills and power of other provenance, but you could still be a member of the Sanctuary of the Way. The only caveat is, you seem to not embody the essence of the ‘Do nothing, Achieve everything’ maxim we believe in. You’re still the same hard-headed and brash idiot I knew… To be honest, I’m still caught between the crossroads on whether it’s right to bring you to meet our Grand Master or not…”

“The Sanctuary of the Way?”

Li Mu had never heard of the place before.

“It’s another order that wields just as much prestige and influence as the Sons of Lightning. They are a very old and illustrious order whose members believe in the Way,” quipped Xiao Jianfei who has been beside them all along.

Li Mu finally began to have an inkling of what is going on.

Unlike the Sons of Lightning, who were all somehow related to the element of lightning, the Sanctuary of the Way emphasized the ultimate pursuit of unraveling the unconditional and unknowable source and guiding principle of all reality. That itself gave a sense of divinity and mysticism to the Sanctuary of the Way and would therefore make most people believe that they were one cut above the Sons of Lightning.

“Is that why you’re here, Senior Green Ox, to take me to the Sanctuary of the Way?” asked Li Mu.

“It’s said that the Sons of Lightning are bent on burying the wielder of Godbreaker,” said Green Ox. “At your present strength, you might be able to ward off Zhou Wen, but you’ll never stand a chance against any one of the Nine Sons of Lightning. Come with me to the Sanctuary of the Way, or at least get out of the Legion Kommodore commandery; either one of those would be your best bet for survival.”

“Yeah, well, come to think of it, I don’t understand all this. I have no beef against these Sons of Lightning, but why have they been trying to kill me since the very beginning? Is this really because of Godbreaker or just plainly because of my feud with Lei Cang?”

“There was this prophecy that has been mentioned since a long, long time ago. It’s so old that no one could possibly testify to its origins anymore, but what matters was the message that said that the wielder of Godbreaker would appear one day and he will come raining lightning bolts on the land, bringing both chaos and unrest. Since ‘chaos’ and ‘lightning’ were specifically mentioned, the Sons of Lightning have always been extraordinarily cautious about anything that could be related to this prophecy.”

“All this for a prophecy that for all we know could have been pulled by some old crone out of her own arse?!” Li Mu yelped, flabbergasted.

“There could be other reasons, but only the Sons of Lightning know best. Suffice it to say, that you’re now the prime target of the Sons. This is best illustrated by the fact that Zhou Wen, one of the Sons’ finest, has been sent to deal with you personally. I daresay the next time you encounter anyone, it would be one of the Nine Sons themselves. Small wonder at that, since someone had been masking your destiny through some arcane means, or your enemies would have long discovered your whereabouts already.”

That was enough to make Li Mu’s back drenched with cold sweat.

“Things are never going to be easy and serene as they ought to be, innit?” he thought wryly.

But he was reminded about something else too. “So, these Sons of Lightning; have they always been so unscrupulous and ruthless? To achieve their purpose, they would do anything at all. It seems to me like they’re not beneath killing innocent people and plotting.”

Green Ox looked like he was struggling to answer the question. That took him more than a couple of seconds before he finally answered, “It’s not as simple as that. Every lineage has its bad apples—a splinter whose ways and methods are more extreme and more drastic than others.”

“Doesn’t sound like a splinter to me with these Sons of Lightning.”

Li Mu wasn’t sure that he agreed with Green Ox on this matter.

“If these people are drastic and extreme, then where are the ones who are moderate?

“If the Sons of Lightning have people who are moderate, then where are they, and why did they not intervene and allow these people to kill and lie with impunity? Is this the justice and fairness that the Sons of Lightning, a faction that demands respect and prestige, espouse? Are they really the champions of Mankind in this world?”

“Come with me, Li Mu. You can stay with us in the Legion Serenity commandery, then you can take part in the Sacred Deathmatch that would be held a year from now. The Deathmatch is a tournament between the best of this world; a contest between the champions of all races. That’s where you can display your gifts, strengths, and potential to the world. As for the false accusations that you now bear, leave it to the Sanctuary of the Way,” persuaded Green Ox.

Li Mu thought about it. He was about to speak.

When he sensed something. They sensed something.

A gigantic hand made of thousands of red crimson lightning bolts blasted down from the skies, the hand of a god reaching down from the empyrean to pass down judgment on mortals. Screaming down as it descended rapidly, the gigantic hand smashed straight at where Lu Ye and everyone else were at.

Green Ox’s face contorted with astonishment before it twisted again, this time with rage. “One of the Nine!? Is that you, Thunder Sage of the Nine Heavens?! Do you have no honor at all?!”

He let loose a sonorous mooing snort, driving his fist forward and delivering a punch into the air.

The emerald blast he fired from his fist took on the form of an even bigger fist that barreled up into the skies, roaring for thousands of meters and slamming into the monstrous hand of lightning in the sky.

A terrible eruption of force spread in wave after wave of glowing rings that propagated caustic destruction to anything within range of the blast, an uncanny resemblance to the mushrooming explosion of a nuclear meltdown.

Then they saw it. The silhouette of a red giant more than thousands of meters tall overlooking them high up from the skies. The colossus of lightning resembled a Taoist priest who has his eyes closed, sitting in mid-air like an ancient god in the midst of meditation; a figure of indomitable presence that absolutely no one and nothing would dare intrude upon.

Schwarzdrachen whinnied feebly, its weak neighs echoed off the jagged rock faces of the cliffs surrounding them. Daunted, the Beast King could barely stand.

Xiao Jianfei’s complexion was a bright flush of red. But that did not prevent the soldier from throwing himself to the front of the little Feng Xingyan instinctively to shield her from any possible danger, even though he knew he would not survive even one blow from the giant—any stronger and the mere aura the lightning giant emanated would have vaporized him already.

A shroud of sparkling gold appeared out of nowhere, hovering over them both.

It was Li Mu. He had cast an enchantment over them to shield them from the terrible influence of that gargantuan lightning colossus.

Yet he himself was struggling—the weight of more than a thousand mountains was crushing down on him, threatening to break his spine.

If Zhou Wen from just now was the most powerful figure Li Mu had encountered since his arrival here, then this god-like figure whom Green Ox had addressed as the Thunder Sage of the Nine Heavens—now in the appearance of a humongous titan of lightning—would be the closest thing to what Lazulum was on Earth.

“Is this the incredible might of one of the Nine?

“From what everyone has been saying, the Thunder Sage is ranked the last of the Nine. That would only mean that the rest of the Nine are more powerful and more dangerous than he is! What of the Master of Lightning? What is he? An Immortal Lord? Or something more terrible?”

Li Mu was beginning to build his perception, understanding, and awareness of the various powers that govern the domains of Men in this world.

“This is the Legion Kommodore commandery, Green Ox, not the backyard of the Sanctuary of the Way. How dare you cause such a ruckus here?” the gigantic colossus boomed with a thunderous voice. “Li Mu’s name is on the List of the Condemned. On What authority do you think you can rely on to take him?”

“If his name is on the List of the Condemned and it can come off as easily as how it got on in the first place. You and I both know that the so-called omens are nothing but horseshit. The Grand Master wishes to see Li Mu and I’m here to see his will done. Stay out of this of you know what’s good for you, Thunder Sage.”

Green Ox released a formidable burst of aura as if to intimidate his foe and the imposing image of a mammoth ox that loomed over the mountains around them; its presence easily drowned out the malignant aura projected by the lightning colossus of the Thunder Sage.

“The Grand Master of the Sanctuary of the Way, you say?” the giant Taoist priest boomed, “Redoubtable as he may be, he does not command us. The Master of Lightning wishes to meet Li Mu too. Duty calls, Green Ox, and we as the Master’s students do not refuse his bidding.”

Green Ox sneered, “You’ve become quite the talker, haven’t you, Thunder Sage? Do you think I’ve not been seeing the things you did? Lost and misguided, I say. Repent, that’s my advice for you. No matter what, Li Mu’s coming with me. Or do you think the might of you alone is enough to stop me?”

“Really? What if it’s two?”

Another voice came sweeping through the ridge.

A huge divine-looking bird with a coat of many-hued feathers came into view, its length and girth easily swallowing up a huge portion of everyone’s view. Endless streamers of colorful sparkles danced around it, its size and presence easily dwarfed the giant colossus of lightning beside it.

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“Do you think that a mere beast of burden like you could stop the Sons of Lightning?” the bird peered down at them with unfriendly eyes, its comb shaking with its movement.

“Even the Thunderbird is here too, eh?”

Green Ox remarked grimly.

“It’s been so long, Green Ox. I still remember that punch you gave me…” a third voice rumbled across the skyline.

A one-eyed Taoist priest materialized between the lightning colossus of the Thunder Sage and the Thunderbird. Clad in robes of rich purple, the priest exuded a staggering aura that belied his modest stature. With a radiantly shimmering presence that dwarfed even those of the Thunder Sage and the Thunderbird, he stood there, hovering in mid-air with distorting anomalies swirling around him—his mere presence was warping ever the Time-Space fabric, another sign of how dangerous he really was.

“Is that another one of the Nine?!”

Li Mu’s heart skipped a beat.

“Is that you, One-eyed?” Green Ox uttered, his voice fraught with apprehension.

Each and every one of the Nine—the nine Sons of Lightning and direct students of the Master of Lightning himself—were usually elusive recluses who rarely appear in public. Yet here, three of the Nine—namely the seventh, the eighth, and the last of the Nine—have come. What were the odds that the rest could be lurking nearby as well?

“I’d value my own life first if I were you, Green Ox. The situation is hardly in your favor. Leave Li Mu to us. He’s a scourge to the race of Man and the prophesied Bane of Lightning. He cannot be allowed to live,” said the one-eyed Taoist firmly, leaving no room for negotiation.

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