Lake Island, Beiluo.
On the second floor of White Jade City Pavilion.
Lu Fan was sitting in the Thousand Blades Chair. A breeze started, stirring both his white robe and hair.
The whole of Beiluo City seemed to be shrouded in thick dark clouds.
All inhabitants of the city felt depressed. Many of them even hid in their houses because of fear.
Some kids looked out at the sky from their windows. They saw flashes of lightning throbbing in the sky and heard countless thunders roaring.
When the first thunder had struck and the first bolt of lightning flashed…
The dark sky covered with thick clouds seemed to be illuminated in an instant.
It was brilliant, eye-catching, and dazzling!
West Mountain.
Before the white jade pagoda.
Kong Nanfei was gulping down wine. His throat was moving…
As if he wanted to get Dutch courage to counterattack the Thunder Calamity!
Facing the bolts of lightning that flashed down hard…
Kong Nanfei burst out laughing and yelled. He suddenly threw the wine jar out.
However…
A flash of lightning came, and the jar exploded. The wine was all vaporized. Only its aroma lingered in the air.
There was no wind, but Kong Nanfei’s Confucian robe was blowing.
He opened his mouth. A mysterious sound burst forth, as if bells and drums sounded simultaneously.
He spit out a white small sword made of Righteousness Qi. The sword flew toward the bolt of lightning flashing down in the sky.
Kong Nanfei had not been very strong before he came to Beiluo City. He had been even a little bit weak.
He had been much weaker than the Overlord and Nie Changqing.
After all, he broke through the Internal Organs Realm only not long ago. And it was even after the great change of the world.
However, when he came to Beiluo and entered the Trial Pagoda, he gained more insights from the Song of Righteousness Qi written by Lu Fan.
He achieved a series of breakthroughs, and his five organs were all refined in a very short time. Besides, with the aid of the Song of Righteousness Qi, it was extremely clear what his element was. It was the element of Righteousness Qi. Therefore, he saved time to develop elements. While pondering on the Origin, that is, the Natural Law, which was the prize of the fifth floor, he made significant progress. At this moment, he was attempting a breakthrough to the Heavenly Lock Realm.
He finally caught up.
Kong Nanfei was fearless in the face of the Thunder Calamity.
Except for Lu Ping’an, he was the first man to go through a calamity in this world. Despite this, he was still fearless.
He was a Confucian student. He was a scholar. He was a little wild.
Standing in the distance, Lv Dongxuan and Gongshu Yu looked at Kong Nanfei, who was fighting the Thunder Calamity, with a smile. They seemed to be in a daze.
They vaguely had the feeling that the man before them was Kong Xiu when he was young.
Kong Nanfei and the young Kong Xiu shared the same recklessness, the same wildness, and the same free spirit to laugh at people.
The white Sword of Righteousness collided with the flash of lightning.
A blare came.
On the ground, a crater seemed to have been formed, splattering snow all over.
Kong Nanfei groaned in a muffled voice. He was sent flying and landing into the crater by the explosion.
Blood splashed.
The white Sword of Righteousness vanished.
Those who were present there all sucked the air through gritted teeth.
Nie Changqing grasped the handle of his knife involuntarily with a somber look.
The Overlord and others were also attentively observing.
In the crater…
Kong Nanfei stumbled to his feet. Blood flowed down from his mouth and nostrils, thus staining his Confucian robe.
One Thunder Calamity…
And Kong Nanfei was almost defeated.
On the second floor of White Jade City Pavilion…
Lu Fan put his hands on the armrest of the Thousand Blades Chair. The result of the first round of collision was as he expected.
He did not show any surprise on his face.
He even looked a little cold.
“Heavenly Lock, instead of Golden Elixir, is the realm that I specially added. Those who dare take the way of Heavenly Lock naturally will bear a more powerful calamity and go through more pain.”
“Now that you decided to take on the challenge of Heavenly Lock, you should be ready to pay the price for the possible failure,” Lu Fan said slowly.
He sounded like he was speaking to himself.
Lu Fan did not expect Kong Nanfei to decide to break through to the Heavenly Lock Realm this early.
Was that a brash decision?
Did he underestimate the difficulty of cultivation?
Leaning on the back of the Thousand Blades Chair, Lu Fan watched the events calmly. He was even a little indifferent.
Even if Kong Nanfei were struck to death by the Thunder Calamity, he would not lend Kong Nanfei a hand.
After all, he asked for this himself.
Paying the price for breaking the rules was inevitable.
Double Thunder Calamity was an abridged version of Triple Thunder Calamity. Containing three thunderbolts and lightning in all, it was much less powerful.
In the crater on West Mountain…
Kong Nanfei stood there, bleeding.
He resisted it!
He did not die!
The onlookers all felt relieved.
Several cultivators cheered in a low voice.
In the face of the Thunder Calamity, Kong Nanfei was fearless. He even burst out laughing, as if he was fighting against destiny. They really felt him in this.
“Did he go through the calamity successfully?”
“As Master’s grandson, he isn’t afraid to be the first!”
“Is the first cultivator in Heavenly Lock about to be born?”
The cultivators around all said in a low voice, in pleasant surprise.
However, although average cultivators were pleasantly surprised, Nie Changqing, Ning Zhao, and the other cultivators in Internal Organs Realm did not feel relieved at all.
Their Soul Strength was much stronger than that of average cultivators, and this meant they could perceive the thunder pool brewing over the nine heavens. The thunders did not dissipate. Instead, they were even more powerful!
This Thunder Calamity had more than one thunderbolt!
Ning Zhao blinked. Wasn’t there only one thunderbolt when Young Master went through Thunder Calamity?
Why did Kong Nanfei’s Thunder Calamity have more than one?
Was it because Kong Nanfei was stronger than Young Master?
Unlikely. Young Master was much stronger than Kong Nanfei.
Ning Zhao was puzzled.
Then something suddenly occurred to her, and she was relieved a lot.
Looking at the clouds and the thunder pool, she realized something.
Young Master seemed to have broken the thunder clouds while going through his calamity.
Since thunder clouds were gone, where would more thunderbolts come from?
Kong Nanfei wiped the blood from his mouth. He looked extremely serious.
Thunder Calamity… This was Thunder Calamity.
It was powerful!
Kong Nanfei breathed out. He swept up his Confucian robe all of a sudden. Lifting his head, he stared at the clouds without fear.
“Bring it on!” Kong Nanfei growled.
Another Thunder Calamity that had been brewing in the thunder pool fell.
A bolt of straight lightning flashed fast.
The air smelled as if something had been burned. When Kong Nanfei opened his mouth, the Righteousness Qi gathered around him. Pointing at the sky, he started to recite poems and essays.
The Righteousness Qi accumulated before him like a shield.
However…
The thunderbolt struck, and the bolt of lightning flashed. The Righteousness Qi seemed to explode.
Kong Nanfei trembled.
Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!
An electric current flowed through his body, through his five organs.
If he had not refined his five organs, the bolt of lightning would probably have shattered his heart and killed him.
The cheering crowd was dumbstricken.
Looking at Kong Nanfei, who had been struck by thunder once again, they seemed to see his flesh and bones exposed after the bolt of lightning had burned his skin.
The thunderbolt and lightning ended.
The snow on the ground was burned black and had melted.
Smoke rose from Kong Nanfei’s hair. He went weak at the knees and knelt on one knee.
The Spirit Qi in his Qi Core was surging, and the wisps of Qi over his head have gathered as well. He was going to recover as fast as he could.
He managed to resist the second Thunder Calamity, but he was not feeling glad at all.
In fact, he started to panic.
The thunder clouds in the sky had not vanished yet.
The third Thunder Calamity was brewing!
What the heck… Why was there the third one?!
Kong Nanfei swallowed his saliva. His skin was burned black, while his face was pale.
He was too careless…
He had thought there was only one thunderbolt, but he was wrong.
Lu Fan once said the Heavenly Lock Realm was more powerful than the Golden Elixir Realm, but it was beyond anticipation that the hardships would start from Thunder Calamity.
Lv Dongxuan touched the gold beaded necklace around his neck. Next to him, Gongshu Yu, a short man, stood with his hands behind his back.
They saw Kong Nanfei’s condition at that moment. Shaking their heads emotionally, they seemed to feel pity for him.
“Kong Nanfei… This kid has put too much pressure on himself.”
“He has been bearing the responsibility of reviving Confucianism since Old Kong’s death. Consequently, he is a little eager and impatient…”
“But you just have to take your time in terms of cultivation.”
Lv Dongxuan sighed.
As the philosophers of the Hundred Schools of the last generation, they saw Kong Xiu in Kong Nanfei.
They saw Kong Nanfei’s stubbornness.
Lv Dongxuan and Gongshu Yu exchanged a look. The two old men turned their heads to look at Beiluo Lake immediately.
“Young Master should have found that out too…”
“Young Master isn’t going to help?” Gongshu Yu asked.
Grasping his gold necklace, Lv Dongxuan smiled. His wrinkles became deeper.
“Help?”
“I have a feeling that Young Master absolutely won’t help,” Lv Dongxuan answered.
Gongshu Yu was surprised. Looking at Lv Dongxuan, who was grasping the gold necklace, he asked confusedly, “Why?”
“Young Master is bad-tempered, but he is actually a warm-hearted person. Besides, I suppose Young Master won’t let a top-class cultivator in the Internal Organs Realm struck to death by a Thunder Calamity in front of the Trial Pagoda. If that really happens, how will the world see White Jade City?”
Lv Dongxuan laughed.
He looked at Kong Nanfei, who had lost hope in life because of the Thunder Calamity in the distance. Shaking his head, he said, “He asked for all this.”
“Besides, Gongshu, do you think Young Master will care what others think about him?”
“Young Master is a big-hearted man. His focus is the world. But he won’t be affected by others’ opinions. This kind of people is the real capable one,” Lv Dongxuan said.
Gongshu Yu glimpsed at Lv Dongxuan. The corners of his lips twitched.
“Old Lv, you’re exaggerating.”
Lv Dongxuan smiled coldly, but he glimpsed at Gongshu Yu too.
Young Master’s Spiritual Sense was everywhere. He could sense everything that happened in Beiluo City.
If he cursed, Young Master would absolutely know.
Did he dare curse?
Did he dare?!
Gongshu Yu’s face became stiff as if he had guessed what Lv Dongxuan was thinking.
He smiled.
“Are you looking down on Young Master by saying his focus is the world?”
“Young Master is such a broad-minded man. How can an old man like you see through him?” Gongshu Yu asked.
Then the two stopped talking in a tacit agreement. They both looked at the center of the calamity.
Kong Nanfei coughed up blood. His Confucian robe was tinted red. Gazing at the sky, he did not even take half a step back.
In the distance.
Meng Haoran was stunned.
He found this Thunder Calamity seemed to be unbearable for his master.
And it just did not stop coming. No one knew how many more there were. He was afraid his master would be struck to death by the Thunder Calamity.
What should he do?
Meng Haoran was at a loss.
Standing there, the Overlord was breathing heavily. But his eyes were shining!
“This Thunder Calamity is powerful!”
“But… If I were him, I would be able to deal with it!”
The Overlord closed his fists tightly. The blood vessels on his arms stood out.
He was very confident in his own defense.
The beatings he had been through were even more than the rice Kong Nanfei had eaten!
He had a lot of experience in this regard!
Tantai Xuan was startled. This was heaven’s power. Did strong cultivators have to conquer heaven’s power to realize a breakthrough?
While everyone was lost in their own thoughts…
The third Thunder Calamity came.
It started with a loud thunderbolt. The magnificent city walls almost collapsed at that moment!
A bolt of straight lightning flashed down from the sky at high speed. Shapeless waves of Qi seemed to be spreading.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Waves of Qi kept coming.
Kong Nanfei’s hair was standing on its end. He felt he was seized with a cold feeling.
He smelled death in this Thunder Calamity!
“No!” Meng Haoran screamed in the distance, his pupils shrinking.
The three baby chickens drew back into Bai Qingniao’s collar. That was terrifying.
Holding her black pot, Ni Yu was a little scared too.
It was super quiet.
It was only possible to hear people panting.
In the crater.
Kong Nanfei lifted his head. He suddenly broke into a smile.
His smile seemed to be bitter.
He overestimated himself, and he was too impatient. He was excessively eager to break through to the Heavenly Lock Realm and become the first cultivator in the Heavenly Lock Realm, except for the Young Master Lu, in this world.
He was excessively eager to make Haoran Sect a cultivator force as powerful as White Jade City.
He was excessively eager to restore the Confucianism’s glory when the Master had been alive.
Kong Nanfei’s eyesight had become blurred.
He recalled something…
As if he had been back to the Book Pavilion.
He was still very small then. The night was deep, with the moon hanging in the sky. Despite that, he still lit candles. In the candlelight, his head was nodding and rolling while he was reciting something stubbornly.
The Master returned, and the little Kong Nanfei, lifting his young face, expected the Master to praise him. However, the Master did not.
He only touched Kong Nanfei’s head and told the latter one thing, “Eat in small bites. Read only one book at a time. Don’t rush.”
Don’t rush.
Kong Nanfei could see clearly again.
He shocked his head self-mockingly.
He flopped onto the ground. Raising his head, he started to recite. He was reciting very slowly to pronounce every word clearly, to ensure articulation.
“Pervading Heaven and Earth is a righteous spirit…”
As he recited…
Over his head, the Righteousness Qi was shining brilliantly. It kept accumulating until the shapeless Righteousness Qi had formed a shape.
As Kong Nanfei recited, it turned into a trickle of water, running like a small river.
The long river of Righteousness Qi!
This was the approach he invented after he had evolved his element.
To turn a torrent of words into a long river of Righteousness Qi!
As Kong Nanfei recited, the crowd seemed to feel a magnificent righteous power spreading around.
The flash of lightning hit the long river of Righteousness Qi.
Kong Nanfei trembled violently.
The ground under him sank. The snow was melted into water.
However, he still kept his head up stubbornly, reciting unhurriedly.
As he recited, he seemed to see a face looking at him with a smile in the long river of Righteousness Qi.
Kong Nanfei was gazing at that face with a blank look.
When the endless brightness had started to dim down…
The crowd finally got used to the bright day again.
The thunder clouds in the sky were already gone.
Only Kong Nanfei was sitting on the ground with his head down.
He was burned black and steaming.
With his energy being extremely weak, his life hung by a thread, as if he would fall apart as soon as a wind brushed by.
Everyone was shocked. Several people were at a loss. Those thunder clouds had finally disappeared.
Did Kong Nanfei go through the Thunder Calamity successfully?
Did he break through to the Heavenly Lock Realm?
Everyone was wondering, feeling extremely nervous.
…
