19: Chapter 19 Fierce Battle

Snowflakes swirled and landed on Chen Nianchu's clothes. As she raised her hand to brush the snow from her shoulders, a low roar like rolling thunder suddenly rumbled past her ears—it wasn't the manic roar of an ordinary beast, but rather sounded like ice cracking while carrying the weight of ten thousand tons of thunder, shaking the accumulated snow on the branches until it fell in rustling drifts.

"Watch out." Zhang Wen pulled her behind him, and the two spun around to hide behind a giant rock covered in ice prisms.

Looking through a crack in the ice, they saw the Frost Roaring Lion walking across the crushed snow. Pale blue lightning condensed on its snow-white mane, and every step caused spiderweb-like ice crystals to bloom across the ground. Strangely, when its amber eyes swept over, they bore a resemblance to the Lightning Radiance dancing in Zhang Wen's eyes.

"It's an adult Frost Roaring Lion." Chen Nianchu tapped her sword hilt with her fingertips, her voice as clear and resonant as an ice spring. "Looking at the frost on its mane, the 'Frost Blade Ice Heart' Sword Intent might be able to restrain it somewhat."

She turned her wrist slightly, and her soft sword quietly unsheathed, its blade shimmering with the luster of cold jade under the snow light. "However, its cultivation should be at the Initial Blooming Realm. Although your Tribulation Thunder is strong, don't..."

Before she could finish, Zhang Wen pulled open his collar, revealing the lightning patterns coiled around his collarbone. "Don't worry, with my Indestructible Thunder Body, its bit of cold air can't freeze me."

He patted the leather pouch at his waist, from which came the crackling sound of electricity. "Besides, I still have this treasure." Inside the pouch, a thunder bath towel could be vaguely seen.

Before he finished speaking, he had already rushed out like a bolt of purple lightning. The Nine Heavens Tribulation Thunder exploded around him, instantly leaving a trail of charred footprints on the snow. He suddenly unleashed the first form of the Rushing Thunder Delusion Breaking Fist, "Startling Thunder Arises." The force of his punch, carrying a thunderstorm, shattered the oncoming frost mist.

The Frost Roaring Lion was clearly annoyed by this provocation. It threw its head back and roared, the sound waves carrying ice prisms shooting out like a rain of arrows. Chen Nianchu tapped her toes on the ground, and her soft sword traced an arc in front of her. The 'Frost Blade Ice Heart' Sword Intent erupted instantly—the sky full of ice arrows collided with the sword arc and all turned into fine ice crystals, like a shower of brilliant snow.

"Zhang Wen, don't slap it in the face with the thunder bath towel!" She chased after it with her sword, her sword momentum suddenly turning urgent. The tip of her sword pointed out three ice blossoms. "Take this, 'Jade Shatter'!" The ice blossoms exploded on the Frost Roaring Lion's front paws, and the cold air instantly froze its movements.

Zhang Wen took the opportunity to get close. He unleashed thunder with his left fist, and his right hand actually pulled out a thunder bath towel flashing with electric light. "Watch me scrub your back!" The thunder bath towel whipped across the lion's back, and the exploding Lightning Radiance collided with the frost on its mane, sending sparks flying everywhere. It actually startled the Frost Roaring Lion into staggering back two steps—perhaps it was the first time it had seen a madman using lightning as a thunder bath towel.

Chen Nianchu shook her head helplessly, but her sword momentum became increasingly fierce. "'Ice Heart'!" The soft sword suddenly transformed into several icy shadows, wrapping around the Frost Roaring Lion's limbs like moonlight. "Hurry up and use the Tribulation Thunder! Stop playing with your damn thunder bath towel!"

Zhang Wen laughed and deep purple Tribulation Thunder suddenly rose around him. "It's coming! Let me show you what real 'rolling heavenly thunder' is!"

"Rumble—!" Purple thunder, like a wild Dragon breaking through the clouds, suddenly tore through the lead-gray sky. It was not the fleeting flash of ordinary lightning, but hundreds upon hundreds of lightning pillars linked end to end, weaving into a lightning net that blotted out the sky. Even the midday sun was pressed down, leaving only a dim yellow halo. The ice crystals in the snow were illuminated by the Lightning Radiance, refracting a grimness reminiscent of a hellish sea of fire. Between heaven and earth, only the roaring of thunder remained, and even the wind was shaken into silence.

Chen Nianchu's hand gripping the sword tightened slightly, and a hint of a metallic taste surged in her throat—not from injury, but from her blood and Qi surging due to the overwhelming power of the thunder. She looked at Zhang Wen's back and saw that the Tribulation Thunder around him had condensed into substance, as if he were wearing a purple armor with lightning patterns. Every breath he took caused the lightning net to tremble, and even the frozen soil beneath his feet emitted white smoke under the burning of the Tribulation Thunder.

"This..." The ice flower at her fingertips quietly shattered, and a trace of astonishment flashed in her eyes. Just a moment ago, she thought Zhang Wen's Tribulation Thunder was only an S-Rank Talent, but seeing it with her own eyes now, the aura of destruction flowing within the lightning net was actually three parts more domineering than the SSS-Rank Talent recorded in ancient books. Especially the pressure emitted when the lightning pillars struck, it had clearly reached the Forming Realm.

The Frost Roaring Lion trembled under the lightning net, its snow-white mane standing on end from the electricity, with not a shred of its former majesty left. Chen Nianchu suddenly remembered the "thunder bath towel" that Zhang Wen always talked about, and only now did she feel a belated shock—this kid's talent was likely far more terrifying than anyone had imagined.

"This Lightning Tribulation Rank..." She looked at the increasingly incandescent figure in the center of the lightning net and muttered softly, "Could it be, SSS-Rank?" Before she could finish speaking, another lightning pillar as thick as a water bucket smashed down with a roar, shaking the ice layer beneath her feet until it cracked with fine lines.

The sky full of lightning mist was finally swept away by the cold wind, revealing a devastated snowy ground. The originally flat snowfield had been blasted into a charred, deep pit a zhang wide. The Frost Roaring Lion, which had been majestic just moments ago, lay splayed out in the pit. Its snow-white mane was scorched and curled by the Thunder Fire, its body covered in spiderweb-like bloodstains. Even its most proud amber eyes were half-closed, and every breath came with a wheezing whimper; it was clearly at the end of its rope.

Zhang Wen was stepping on its neck with one foot, looking down as he brushed the lightning dregs from his hands. His skin, tempered by the Indestructible Thunder Body, radiated a pale purple glow, and even his hair was still entwined with fine electric light, looking just like he had rolled around in a thunder pool. He glanced down at the whimpering lion beneath his feet and ground his toe against it: "Still feeling arrogant? Weren't you able to roar quite a bit just now?"

Chen Nianchu walked over with her sword, and when she saw the miserable state at the bottom of the pit, she couldn't help but twitch her mouth. She clearly remembered reminding him just now that this lion had Initial Blooming Realm cultivation, so how was it beaten into something like a dehydrated fish in the blink of an eye? It wasn't until she caught sight of the lightning patterns on the soles of Zhang Wen's shoes that she suddenly remembered the world-destroying lightning net from just before—that was not the kind of movement an S-Rank Tribulation Thunder should have.

"Your Tribulation Thunder..." She crouched down and used her scabbard to poke at the unburnt ice shards on the lion's mane, her tone filled with undisguised surprise. "I've seen records in the Scripture Pavilion saying that S-Rank Tribulation Thunder can at most split rocks, but yours..." She looked up at the treetops scorched black by the Thunder Fire. "It's likely disrupted the Spiritual Qi of half the forest."

Zhang Wen scratched his head and kicked the lion under his feet nonchalantly; the latter was so scared it retracted its claws. "Hey, what's there to hide?" He stretched, and the Lightning Radiance around his body crackled for a while. "I awakened the SSS-Rank Nine Heavens Tribulation Thunder. Last time I used it to fish, I directly boiled the mountain stream." He suddenly remembered something and fished out a charred object from his bosom. "Right, I accidentally struck the dried meat it had hidden in a tree hole earlier. Do you want to try some?"

Chen Nianchu looked at the lump of "dried meat" in his hand that was unrecognizable, and then looked at the dying Frost Roaring Lion in the pit. She suddenly felt that this SSS-Rank Nine Heavens Tribulation Thunder falling into Zhang Wen's hands seemed more headache-inducing than falling on a Vicious Beast. She helplessly sheathed her sword. "Next time before using such great power, can you give a warning? The ice pendant on my sword tassel was shattered."

Zhang Wen chuckled and lifted his foot to release the Frost Roaring Lion. "Got it, got it. Next time before striking, I'll shout 'Ready—'" Before he could finish, he was hit in the face by a snowball thrown by Chen Nianchu.