Chapter 1472: Taming the Thunder

He had thought that by executing his sword technique, he would easily slay the opponent, but he never expected that the opponent would use his own strength against him, redirecting his attack into the thunder.

The tribulation lightning could not be replaced, nor could it be attacked; otherwise, it would only grow stronger and deliver a devastating blow to the attacker.

That was precisely why, despite the tribulation lightning being so powerful, he had refrained from intervening. Unexpectedly, when he attacked the opponent, his strike was diverted into the thunder.

Knowing that if he did not resist, he might be struck dead directly, the Great Elder, no longer caring about pursuing Zhang Xuan's spirit, met the thunder with a palm strike.

Crack!

The thunder and palm force collided, sending ripples in all directions, and countless buildings collapsed once again.

His strength was formidable, already surpassing the Ninth Layer of the Saint Domain, and though the thunder's power was immense, it could not harm him in the slightest.

Whoosh!

As he blocked the thunder, Zhang Xuan's spirit seized the opportunity to dive into the sea of lightning and vanish.

"A spirit entering the thunder... Is that suicide?"

The Great Elder was stunned, hardly believing his eyes.

Earlier, he had thought the opponent's rush toward the sky was a feint to confuse him, but it turned out to be real.

A spirit is yin in nature and fears the supremely strong and fierce power of thunder the most. Diving straight into the sea of lightning—what else could it be but seeking death?

"Whether it's suicide or not, since he's a spirit shaman, killing him won't bring trouble from the Master Teacher Pavilion!"

With a cold snort, he looked up at the physical body still suspended in the air before him, murderous intent boiling in the Great Elder's eyes.

As a master teacher, encountering a spirit shaman, it was his duty to slay him!

Earlier, he had all sorts of scruples, but now, even if he struck directly, surely no one could say anything.

Sword qi surged from his fingertips once more. Just as he was about to chop the opponent's physical body into mincemeat, leaving his spirit with nowhere to return, a tremor stirred in his heart, and he saw another massive bolt of lightning hurtling toward him.

"You..."

His scalp tingling, the Great Elder hastily raised his sword qi to meet it.

Boom!

The two forces collided, and the lightning vanished, but the sea of lightning seemed to have taken a liking to him, relentlessly striking down, bolt after bolt, leaving him momentarily flustered.

"It worked..."

Zhang Xuan's spirit, amid the thunder, saw this scene and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

If the Great Elder truly attacked him, with his current strength and all his tricks, he would still be no match. With no other choice, he had deliberately revealed traces of his spirit to provoke an attack and draw the tribulation lightning.

Once entangled by the thunder, even if the opponent was one of the strongest in the world, escaping would not be easy.

"There's only one way to make the thunder disperse..."

Knowing that the Great Elder would not have time to trouble his physical body for a while, Zhang Xuan stopped paying attention, looked at the sea of lightning before him, and narrowed his eyes.

To make the thunder fear, there was only one path: to keep absorbing it until it became afraid.

Now, his internal energy was full, and he had no breakthrough technique to advance, so he had had to give up earlier. But now, if he didn't absorb it, the Great Elder would eventually kill him, so he had to stake everything on one throw.

"Absorb!"

With a low shout, his spirit began to devour the surrounding thunder like a whale swallowing water.

Creak! Creak!

Absorbing without restraint, his spirit body instantly swelled. Previously, without control, it had already reached about ten meters, and now it grew rapidly.

A spirit body, unbound by the physical form, could absorb spiritual energy and grow continuously. Earlier, because it was too large to merge with the body, he had dared not absorb excessively. Now, unable to control the sea of lightning, he had to use this tactic to intimidate it. As for whether he could later re-enter the body or whether there would be side effects, he could no longer care.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

Power converged faster and faster. The once vast sea of lightning seemed to form a vortex, pouring into him at its center.

Eleven meters!

Twelve meters!

Thirteen meters!

...

In less than a minute, the spirit had grown to twenty meters, standing in the sea of lightning like a giant.

"I can keep absorbing until you're completely destroyed!"

Feeling his spirit body growing larger, Zhang Xuan snorted coldly.

The thunder, which had been arrogant and bent on killing him, now seemed to feel fear. The entire dark cloud trembled incessantly, its former might gone.

It had thought that summoning all its relatives would strike the fellow dead, but it turned out his greatest trump card was his spirit, which could absorb spiritual energy freely. If allowed to continue, the thunder clan might be wiped out.

Whoosh!

Without hesitating long, the thunder flickered and attempted to flee again.

"Don't run... If you don't want to be absorbed clean, listen to my orders. I have something for you to do!"

Anticipating this, Zhang Xuan transmitted his intent.

He didn't know if the thunder had its own consciousness, but he knew it could definitely understand him; otherwise, it wouldn't have fled in fear every time.

...

"Finally stopped..."

Beneath the thunder, the Great Elder exhaled.

The lightning had been striking relentlessly, one after another. Though he was powerful, it had made his scalp tingle, and he had nearly failed to hold on.

Now that it had stopped, it probably wouldn't attack again. He shifted his gaze to Zhang Xuan's physical body not far away, murderous intent boiling.

"A spirit shaman deserves death at the hands of all!"

With a flick of his wrist, he struck through the air.

Having been chased by thunder after using sword qi earlier, he had learned his lesson this time.

Crack!

But still, before the palm force reached Zhang Xuan, another massive bolt of lightning crashed down.

This bolt was several times stronger than the previous ones, hurtling through the air as if to ignite the atmosphere, carrying an aura and power that was hard to resist.

"This..."

His scalp tingling, the Great Elder was driven to madness.

He had attacked the lightning earlier, but it wasn't intentional... After striking for so long, couldn't it let go and stop trying to kill him?

The key point was... even if it struck him, the one actually undergoing the tribulation was nearby, as calm as if nothing had happened, eyes closed as if asleep... Why not strike him?

But though frustrated, he knew that if he didn't resist, even with his current strength, he would be severely injured. Helpless, he met it with a punch.

Rip!

Space cracked, and the shockwaves from the force caused countless buildings to collapse again and the formations to be destroyed.

"Cough, cough, cough, cough!"

Though he blocked the thunder, he suffered some damage. He coughed a few times, and his body was scorched.

"I must kill this fellow to make the thunder disperse..."

Knowing that two more bolts like that would be too much to handle, he gritted his teeth, raised his fist, and struck at Zhang Xuan again.

But before the force reached him, the thunder, as if targeting him and protecting Zhang Xuan, struck down once more.

Crack! Crack!

Smoke rose from his head, and the Great Elder's body trembled uncontrollably, as if having a seizure. He looked at Zhang Xuan again and saw that the fellow had somehow opened his eyes, his body swaying in the air, as if about to fall at any moment.

"Hold them off for a while; I'll rest a bit..."

With that, he used a bolt of lightning to break the sealed space around him and wobbled downward, flying away.