The Thunderbolt

“What did you say?” Chen Jin stared at Luo Qing, his gaze terrifying. “Say that again.”

Luo Qing knew Chen Jin well enough to guess what he was feeling right now. She spoke solemnly: “I said… Senior Apprentice-Sister Nine Lotos has already chosen her Dao-companion. She chose someone else, not you.”

Chen Jin’s face turned pale. His entire body swayed.

“So pitiful…” Luo Qing muttered to herself. She had known him for years, and she couldn’t bear to let him remain ignorant forever, but she also understood what a devastating blow this was. “He chased after Nine Lotos for so many years without success, and yet Junior Apprentice-Brother Ji Ning didn’t even try, and he still managed to catch her attention.”

Chen Jin shook his head. “Impossible. Nine Lotos is the future leader of the Dongyan clan. Her standards are impossibly high. Even with all the geniuses in the Black-White College, none have ever caught her eye. How could she suddenly choose a Dao-companion without any warning?”

“His name is Ji Ning,” Luo Qing said directly. “He’s our junior apprentice-brother, with the Daoist title ‘Darknorth.’”

“Junior Apprentice-Brother Darknorth?” Chen Jin froze.

Darknorth the Realperson, Ji Ning, had a great reputation within the Black-White College. Back during the Dao Debate Palace battle at his entry, it had taken the reincarnated Immortal ‘Fire Rainbow Immortal’ Yu Wei herself to suppress this crazy junior apprentice-brother. But at that time, Chen Jin had been out on a Yinglong Guard mission and wasn’t in the college. He had never met Ji Ning.

Still, he knew…

A newcomer who could be that powerful, and who had been taken as the personal disciple of the Diancai Immortal—this Ji Ning was undoubtedly one of the most talented among the Black-White College disciples.

“Him?” Chen Jin couldn’t help asking. “How is that possible? How long have they even known each other? Nine Lotos, as the future leader of the Dongyan clan, is extremely cautious by nature. She considers everything thoroughly. Even when choosing a Dao-companion, she would be extremely careful. It is precisely because of this personality that the Immortals of the Dongyan clan approved of her as the successor. Otherwise, even with her astonishing background, she wouldn’t have been directly appointed as the next leader. With a personality like hers… she wouldn’t choose a Dao-companion this quickly!”

Luo Qing nodded. “You know Nine Lotos very well. Choosing a Dao-companion is a life-changing decision, and she truly wouldn’t make such a final determination so quickly. But let me tell you… Nine Lotos has already spent an entire year at Ji Ning’s secluded home—Winged Serpent Lake in the Yan Mountains.”

“Spent a year at Ji Ning’s secluded home?” Chen Jin’s expression changed.

No man could tolerate the woman he loved living in another man’s dwelling for an entire year.

Even Immortal cultivators were no exception.

In fact, cultivators had pure Dao-hearts, and when they became fixated, they were even more terrifying than mortals.

“So what if she spent a year there?” Chen Jin forced down his fury, still managing to speak.

“I went there with Senior Apprentice-Sister Nine Lotos initially. After three months or so, I left,” Luo Qing said. “I’m a woman too. I could sense how Nine Lotos felt. After just three months… Nine Lotos even showed a shy, embarrassed expression in front of me. Now a whole year has passed. I can’t even guess what the situation is between Nine Lotos and Ji Ning right now.”

Chen Jin’s face turned the color of iron.

He was stunned.

Wave after wave of dizziness crashed through him, his mind a complete blank.

Shy and embarrassed? Three months?

Now a year had passed?

What had happened? What exactly had happened? Could it be that the two of them had already…

“Impossible!” Chen Jin let out a low roar, then transformed into a streak of light and flew off into the distance.

Watching Chen Jin tear through the air, Luo Qing couldn’t help shaking her head. “He lost his composure completely. The blow really was that heavy. I really didn’t want to tell you, but if I tell you now, at least you can still go fight for her… If I waited a few more years, you probably wouldn’t have any chance at all.”

In terms of friendship, she, Nine Lotos, and ‘Senior Apprentice-Brother Flowing Cloud’ Chen Jin had come to Anchan City together. Their bond was deep.

Between Ji Ning and Chen Jin…

She leaned more toward Chen Jin.

Chen Jin flew blindly through the air, his mind in utter chaos. “No, no, I can’t go on like this… I have to go to Ji Ning’s secluded home immediately. That place called Yan Mountain Winged Serpent Lake. Right now! Immediately! Go now!”

Anxiety, worry, and unease filled his chest.

“Flowing Cloud, come in.” A voice suddenly sounded, carrying a Zen-like quality that instantly suppressed Chen Jin’s frantic emotions.

“Uncle Fire?” Chen Jin froze, looking at the peak ahead. Atop that mountain stood a mansion glowing faintly red—the residence of ‘Senior Apprentice-Brother Firemoon,’ the leader of the Black-White College’s third-generation disciples.

“My heart was in turmoil, and I unconsciously ended up here. It seems that deep down in this entire Black-White College, this is still the place I find most peaceful?” Chen Jin immediately flew over and entered the mansion.

Inside one of the mansion’s halls.

A handsome, bald young man in a fiery red robe sat cross-legged. He was barefoot, and his entire body gave the impression of being a piece of glazed glass—immaculately clean. He was like living flame, making the temperature around him rise.

“Uncle Fire,” Chen Jin said as he walked in.

Although Senior Apprentice-Brother Firemoon was also a third-generation disciple, in terms of age, he was more than a hundred years older than Chen Jin. When Chen Jin was still a child… Firemoon had already been the outstanding figure among the third-generation disciples of the Black-White College. Because Firemoon had a close relationship with Chen Jin’s tribe, the Chen clan, Chen Jin had called him ‘Uncle Fire’ since childhood.

Even after he himself entered the Black-White College, he still called Senior Apprentice-Brother Firemoon ‘Uncle Fire.’

“I saw that your aura was unstable, and your gaze was chaotic and frantic. If this continues, your Dao-heart will be damaged,” Firemoon said, shaking his head. “What exactly happened?”

“Uncle Fire, I… I…” Chen Jin found it hard to speak.

Firemoon smiled calmly.

In terms of Dao-heart and Dao comprehension, many Primal Daoists couldn’t match him. In terms of pure combat strength, some Primal Daoists would even lose to him. And Firemoon was preparing… to break through to the Primal Daoist stage in the next few years. Among all the third-generation disciples of the Black-White College, only the Slovenly Realperson truly surpassed him. It wasn’t that Firemoon was weak—it was that the Slovenly Realperson was monstrous enough.

Even the reincarnated Immortals at the Wanxiang Realperson stage were utterly convinced when facing the Slovenly Realperson.

He was the undisputed number one among the third-generation disciples.

But a monster like the Slovenly Realperson appeared only once in countless millennia, and he had the hope of becoming a Celestial Immortal. Someone like Senior Apprentice-Brother Firemoon, who could defeat Primal Daoists while still at the Wanxiang Realperson stage, would have been considered the top third-generation disciple of the Black-White College in any other era.

“Speak,” Firemoon said. His voice carried a power that calmed the heart.

Chen Jin nodded. “It’s about Nine Lotos, Uncle Fire. You know that Nine Lotos and I grew up together. My father and her parents were old friends.” With his heart calmed, Chen Jin explained everything. But when he got to the later part, he couldn’t help growing anxious again. “But she’s already been at Yan Mountain Winged Serpent Lake for a year! That’s Ji Ning’s place. I, I…”

“Calm down,” Firemoon said indifferently. “Panicking will do you no good. So why panic? Your Dao-heart still needs more tempering. Matters of the heart are just one of the emotional tribulations. If you sink too deep, when you face the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations in the future, you’re likely to suffer a great fall.”

Chen Jin was jolted awake.

“I know you can’t wait. I’ll go with you,” Firemoon said with a smile. “Let’s take a good look. What methods does this Junior Apprentice-Brother Ji Ning have to actually attract that little girl Nine Lotos?”

“Uncle Fire is going with me?” Chen Jin revealed a look of surprise.

Chen Jin had long since entered the Yinglong Guard. He was also extremely powerful among the Black-White College’s third-generation disciples, only a notch below the most monstrous ones. The reincarnated Immortal Yu Wei was slightly stronger than him, but he could barely rank in the top ten.

Here, we were talking about true combat strength.

So Chen Jin’s talent was very high—one of the things he had always been most confident about.

“Let’s go.”

Soon, two figures stood atop a cloud of fire—Senior Apprentice-Brother Firemoon and Chen Jin—tearing through the sky and departing rapidly.

Winged Serpent Lake.

Now spring had arrived, and the flowers were in bloom. A small wooden boat drifted across the lake. Ji Ning lay inside the boat, sleeping soundly. There was another person in the boat… Nine Lotos, sitting nearby.

Nine Lotos sat there, quietly watching the sleeping Ji Ning.

A year…

The two of them had become incredibly familiar with each other. Both could vaguely sense a certain joy in each other’s hearts. But when it came to formalizing their Dao-companion relationship… both Nine Lotos and Ji Ning still harbored hesitation. Matters of a Dao-companion were of great importance. Nine Lotos was the next leader of the Dongyan clan, while Ji Ning had inherited the aquatic palace. His vision had already extended far beyond this major world. His goal was to one day roam the Three Realms and become a great power of the cosmos.

Both were extremely ambitious. Both had extremely firm Dao-hearts.

Thus, neither would easily choose a Dao-companion.

But… letting Nine Lotos also be on the boat while drifting on the lake—this itself showed some of Ji Ning’s inner thoughts.

“Is this really what it feels like to sleep in your parents’ embrace?” Nine Lotos wondered to herself.

Because Ji Ning liked lying in a small boat and drifting on Winged Serpent Lake, Nine Lotos had once asked Qiuye: “Why does your young master often lie in a small boat and drift on this lake, sometimes for an entire day?”

“The ashes of the young master’s parents were scattered in Winged Serpent Lake. Winged Serpent Lake is like the young master’s parents,” Qiuye had said.

For some reason…

Just thinking about it made Nine Lotos’s heart ache.

“If I had no parents?” Nine Lotos thought of her own parents. Both of her parents were still alive, and her elders possessed immense power.

“Ji Ning…” Nine Lotos couldn’t help stretching out her hand, gently touching Ji Ning’s face.

Ji Ning remained asleep.

Nine Lotos gently smoothed his hair, watching silently by his side. She felt an extraordinary calm in her heart.

In the sky.

A fiery cloud was speeding toward them. Two figures stood on the cloud, both looking down. They immediately saw the small boat floating on the vast Winged Serpent Lake below. In the boat, Ji Ning lay resting, his head leaning against Nine Lotos. Nine Lotos sat beside him, smoothing his hair.

“Nine Lotos!” Chen Jin, standing on the fiery cloud, instantly turned red-eyed.