44: Chapter 44: Ten Thousand Thunderbolts Return to Ruins, Success!

Seeing the caller ID, Zhang Wen's fingertips paused for half a second on the screen, a smile already blooming at the corners of his mouth as he gently swiped to answer.

"How is it, did you miss me? ( ๑ ¯ ◡ ¯ ๑ )" Siyi's voice, like a honey-soaked silver bell, rolled out from the receiver, carrying irrepressible excitement.

"Missed you, missed you, missed you; I've been thinking about you between every meal." Zhang Wen leaned against a rock, his voice wrapped in a smile.

"You're sensible enough." Siyi chuckled, her tone suddenly turning mysterious. "I have some good news, I guarantee you'll be interested. Want to hear it?"

"Let me guess," Zhang Wen intentionally drew out his tone, "You wouldn't have been admitted to Qinglan University early, would you?"

"Boring! You guessed it right away!" Siyi feigned annoyance, but her tone immediately shifted, carrying a hint of probing and certainty. "By the way, the admissions office just told me I'm third in the province. Your score is so much higher than mine—you must be the provincial top scholar, right?"

"Hehe, needless to say." Zhang Wen replied with a bit of smugness, then his tone softened, revealing a hint of apology. "Actually, they came to find me yesterday, but I was too busy, and I forgot to tell you the moment I turned around. It was my negligence."

"Oh, Zhang Wen!" Siyi's voice rose sharply, carrying feigned anger, though the tail end of her voice drifted off as if deflated. "I rushed to share the good news with you the moment I got my results, and look at you—how could you forget such a big thing?"

"I was wrong, I was wrong. I'll treat you to a meal tomorrow to apologize." Zhang Wen quickly begged for mercy.

"Sigh, forget it," Siyi's voice was tinged with disappointment. "My Family has already scheduled my Cultivate plan; I'm afraid I won't have time until school is about to start."

Listening to this, Zhang Wen felt a sense of helplessness. He understood that in such a Family, the Legacy was always the top priority, and it was ultimately not his place to interfere. He comforted her with a few gentle words, and the two agreed that once they reached Qinglan University, they would make up for all the time they had missed together.

After hanging up the phone, the mountain breeze brushed against his cheeks. Zhang Wen looked at the overlapping mountain shadows in the distance and felt his drive to Cultivate surge once again—all to protect the person he wanted to protect.

Zhang Wen steadied himself, gathered his focus, and opened the Secret Manual recording the Rushing Thunder Delusion Breaking Fist, his gaze landing on the third form—Ten Thousand Thunders Return to the Void.

Previously, due to insufficient cultivation and Physical Body strength, this form had always been stuck at a Bottleneck. But today is different from the past; his cultivation has reached the Forming Realm Peak, and his Physical Body strength is not inferior to Vicious Beasts of the same rank. All of this, naturally, is thanks to the omnipotent System.

The Secret Manual clearly recorded the essentials of Ten Thousand Thunders Return to the Void:

Qi Gathering: Feet shoulder-width apart, sink shoulders and drop elbows, eyes slightly closed, concentrate to sense the thunder Origin Qi between heaven and earth, guiding it to the fists. When the palms start to feel numb and itchy, the Qi Gathering is complete.

Startling Thunder Breaking Obstacles: Use the left fist as a feint to lure the enemy, then strike straight out with the right fist along the shoulder. As the fist is thrown, make a low shout in the throat, suddenly bursting forth the Thunder Power gathered at the fist peak, like a clap of thunder, breaking through the obstacles in front.

Thunder Flow Around Body: Alternate the fists in arcs, with footwork moving flexibly with the fist stance. The Thunder Power flows ceaselessly along the arms, like electric current wrapping around the body, which can both deflect incoming force and secretly accumulate momentum, combining offense and defense.

Ten Thousand Thunders Return to the Void: Retract the fists to the waist, sink Qi to the Dantian, and withdraw all dispersed Thunder Power back into the body's Qi Sea. Although the fist stance stops, the Thunder Power of the next strike is already hidden within.

Zhang Wen took a deep breath and, following the diagrams in the classic, began to practice, imitating the moves one by one.

"Boom!" A loud explosion rang out. The ground in front of Zhang Wen's right fist was instantly torn into a mess of charred black, with gravel mixed with pale purple electric snakes flying everywhere. The air was filled with the fishy, sweet scent of lightning burning, demonstrating the terrifying power of this strike.

"Hoo... finally succeeded." He let out a long breath. The numbness still lingering on his fist had not yet faded. Looking at the scene before him, excitement flashed in his eyes. "This Cultivation Technique is truly strong."

He pondered to himself that, theoretically, as long as his Physical Body could withstand the increasingly violent Thunder Power and continuously break through its limits, the power of this Rushing Thunder Delusion Breaking Fist could rise infinitely.

"No wonder it's classified as S-rank." Zhang Wen rubbed his chin, pondering, with fine electric light still lingering on his fingertips. "Most likely it's because the Physical Body can't withstand this lightning tempering. After all, most people in this world trust their own talent more; there are really too few people willing to train their Physical Body."

"Hehe, the real main event is coming up next." A mischievous smile hung on Zhang Wen's face, but his eyes hid irrepressible anticipation.

He scratched his head, remembering the last time he used his ultimate, which led to Spirit Power exhaustion and passing out. He couldn't help but restrain his impulsiveness. "This time I must be fully prepared; I can't fall into the same trap of Spirit Power exhaustion like last time."

As he spoke, he dumped a dozen bottles of recovery potions out of his Storage Pouch all at once. The colorful bottles dazzled in the sunlight, lined up neatly at his feet, looking like a small defensive line of potions.

"Let's first test how much of a storm this 'Myriad Thunders Heavenly Prison Lure' can stir up." He clenched his fist, and deep purple electric light was already faintly crackling between his fingers—that was the Nine Heavens Tribulation Thunder, currently stirring restlessly with his intent.

Before the words had even faded, Zhang Wen suddenly lowered his waist into a horse stance, his hands forming complex seals in front of his chest. The Spirit Power within his body surged like a floodgate opening, instantly responding to the Nine Heavens Tribulation Thunder inside him, and a familiar tingling tremor immediately spread through his Meridians.

He looked up at the sky. The originally clear clouds were churning and darkening at a speed visible to the naked eye, and thick, deep purple thunder dragons were weaving and roaring among the clouds.

These Tribulation Thunder seemed like spiritual objects that recognized their master, continuously condensing in the direction guided by his seals, weaving into a thunderstorm carrying the aura of destruction in front of him. The air was filled with a strong smell of ozone, and even the surrounding light was distorted and swaying slightly by this violent thunder energy.

"Go!" Zhang Wen roared from his throat and pushed his right arm forward violently; the deep purple electric light at his fingertips suddenly surged.

In an instant, the thunderstorm condensed in front of him transformed into a massive, deep purple lightning net that blotted out the sky, like a giant beast breaking free from its restraints. Countless thick lightning snakes wove and moved through the net, emitting a teeth-achingly sharp "hissing" sound. The meshes of the net flashed with a destructive, dark purple halo, covering the entire area ahead as it descended.

It was like a moving thunder prison. The moment the deep purple lightning net landed, the ground within tens of zhang collapsed violently. The soil and rocks charred and cracked under the burning of the lightning, and countless branched lightning arcs shot out from the main net, weaving and crisscrossing like prison bars, completely sealing off the entire area.

The vegetation and rocks within the range were all crushed by the violent Thunder Power. The air was filled with a thick, burnt smell, and even space itself seemed to be vibrating slightly from this area-of-effect Thunder Power.

Zhang Wen looked at the area completely swallowed by the deep purple lightning, feeling the destructive energy continuing to churn within the lightning net. The smile at the corners of his mouth deepened—this "Myriad Thunders Heavenly Prison Lure" did not disappoint, but its consumption of Spirit Power also did not disappoint.

Zhang Wen, disregarding his image, hurriedly grabbed the recovery potions and chugged them down one after another.