68: Chapter 68 School Opening, Conflict

After the three of them said goodbye to Lin Mo, they each returned to their residences.

Just as Zhang Wen pushed open the carved wooden door of his villa, a mechanical sound suddenly exploded in his mind: "Ding—host has been detected completing the Secret Realm exploration; beginning comprehensive evaluation..."

"Evaluation Result: SSS-rank."

"Reward distribution: 5000 points, SSS-rank Spiritual Artifact [Poqiong Thunder Scale Armor]."

Zhang Wen raised an eyebrow, not surprised by the evaluation, but when the words "Poqiong Thunder Scale Armor" entered his ears, he stopped abruptly, his Adam's apple bobbing uncontrollably.

One must know, the divine resonance piercing thunder spear he currently relied on for his fame was only an S-rank Spiritual Artifact, yet it had already made him hard to find an opponent among his peers.

He hurriedly summoned the armor. A mass of purple-gold flowing light rose from his palm and suddenly unfurled in the air—the armor was entirely composed of palm-sized scales, each edge shimmering with a sharp, silvery-white arc of light. The surface was covered with spiderweb-like dark patterns, and upon closer inspection, it looked as if countless tiny thunder arcs were slowly flowing within.

The shoulder armor was shaped like a crashing thunderbolt hitting a mountain, with a three-inch sharp point slanted at the top. A diamond-shaped crystal the size of a pigeon egg was embedded in the chest, with a miniature thundercloud floating inside. Occasionally, tiny sparks of electricity would burst forth and travel along the gaps in the scales, gathering into spiral thunder patterns at the waist, abdomen, and joints.

The most astonishing part was the back armor, which featured a relief of nine ferocious, clawing thunder dragons. Each dragon's eye was embedded with a speck of crimson, as if they could break free from the armor surface and soar into the sky at any moment.

"This... this is simply living Thunder Power!" Zhang Wen reached out to touch it. As soon as his fingertips brushed the scales, he was repelled by a violent current, his palm instantly stinging with numbness and pain.

He dared not delay, immediately sitting cross-legged on the cold jade cushion in the center of the living room. He took a deep breath, drawing upon the natal Thunder Power of the "Nine Heavens Tribulation Thunder" within his Dantian.

This refinement was more dangerous than he had imagined—when the Tribulation Thunder spiritual energy touched the armor, those dormant thunder patterns suddenly erupted. Purple-gold currents surged along the threads of spiritual energy, instantly rushing through his entire body.

Zhang Wen felt as if his whole body had been thrown into a Heavenly Tribulation Thunder pool. It felt as if countless tiny thunderbolts were exploding simultaneously within his Meridians, especially at the Jianjing acupoint corresponding to the shoulder armor, which emitted a tearing, excruciating pain, as if thunder were about to burst out from his bones.

"Focus!" Zhang Wen bit his tongue, using the pain to stay clear-headed. He suppressed the urge to shake off the armor and activated the first volume of the Jingzhe Thunder Scripture Mind-Cultivation Technique, letting the Nine Heavens Tribulation Thunder soak into every inch of his flesh like a gentle rain.

The armor initially emitted a resistant hum, and the thunder dragon reliefs on the scales even manifested ferocious phantoms. As the Tribulation Thunder washed over them time and again, the thunder patterns on the scales gradually became docile, beginning to brighten and dim in rhythm with his heartbeat.

When the last wisp of Tribulation Thunder merged into his heart, Zhang Wen suddenly opened his eyes. The Poqiong Thunder Scale Armor turned into a stream of light and drilled into his Baihui acupoint, perfectly integrating with his bones and Meridians.

At this moment, he looked down and could see the purple-gold luster flowing beneath his skin. When he raised his hand, the thunder silk condensed at his fingertips even carried faint purple marks of the Tribulation Thunder.

"It's time to deal with this." Zhang Wen took the Xuan Shui Crocodile's beast core from his Storage Pouch. The pigeon-egg-sized core glowed with an interweaving luster of deep blue and earthy yellow, and fine tortoise shell patterns could even be seen on its surface—this was the mark of the Xuanwu Bloodline.

He crushed the core membrane, and his natal Tribulation Thunder wrapped around the beast core. The deep blue water light quickly faded, revealing the energy crystal inside, a blend of earthy yellow and milky white.

As the crystal entered his mouth, a gentle yet vast spiritual energy slid into his Dantian, interweaving and circling with the remaining Thunder Power from the armor.

The two forces initially collided with each other, so Zhang Wen activated the second volume of the Jingzhe Thunder Scripture Incomplete Manual, guiding the heavy spiritual energy of the Xuanwu Bloodline and the Nine Heavens Tribulation Thunder to circulate through his Meridians.

With each circulation, the two forces merged a little more, and his aura climbed accordingly—the barrier of the Early Stage of Entering Micro was easily shattered. The spiritual energy churned into a vortex in his Dantian, and when it finally settled, it was firmly at the Middle Stage of Entering Micro.

Zhang Wen stood up to stretch his limbs, his bones emitting crisp popping sounds. As the spiritual energy circulated within his body, the dull, characteristic roar of the Tribulation Thunder could be faintly heard.

He could clearly feel that his control over his power had become several times more refined, and even the trajectory of his fingertips grazing the air could be precise to the millimeter.

In the blink of an eye, a month passed. The cicadas outside the window gradually grew sparse, and the air was dyed with the chill of autumn. Zhang Wen looked at the gold-stamped admission letter on the table, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth—Qinglan University, the day of school opening had arrived.

The entrance to Qinglan University was already bustling with noise and excitement. New Students dragging suitcases lined up in long queues in front of the registration area, while Student Union members wearing red vests shuttled among them, enthusiastically directing traffic.

Zhang Wen leaned against a camphor tree, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing his school ID—he had arrived earlier than the New Students and was already familiar with every path on campus.

Suddenly, a small commotion arose in the crowd, and several gasps of astonishment drifted over with the wind.

Zhang Wen looked up and instantly smiled.

At the end of the crowd, Ding Siyi was wearing a light blue floral dress, her long hair loosely tied into a bun, with a few stray strands hanging by her cheeks.

She was carrying a small canvas suitcase in her hand and was standing in front of the bulletin board, standing on tiptoe to look at the map. The sunlight fell on her straight nose, creating a fine golden edge. Many boys nearby were staring wide-eyed, and even passing teachers couldn't help but glance twice.

"This classmate, are you lost?" A boy wearing a red vest walked over quickly. He had a "Student Union Vice President" badge pinned to his chest, and his smile was deliberately gentle.

"I am the sophomore Student Union Vice President Wang Hao, responsible for welcoming New Students. Which department do you want to go to? I'll take you there and, by the way, tell you about the school's precautions."

Ding Siyi turned her head and politely curved her eyes: "Thank you, senior, but no need. My boyfriend is waiting for me."

"Boyfriend?" The smile on Student Union Vice President Wang Hao's face stiffened for half a second, then reappeared, his tone carrying a hint of frivolity.

"I know most of the boys here at Azure Mist, and I haven't seen anyone worthy of you yet. Is he from another school? How about..."

"I'm here."

A cold voice rang out from behind. Student Union Vice President Wang Hao turned his head abruptly to see that Zhang Wen had walked over at some point. He naturally took the suitcase from Ding Siyi's hand and even smoothed out the stray hair that had been ruffled by the wind for her.

"You?" Student Union Vice President Wang Hao looked Zhang Wen up and down, seeing him wearing a plain white T-shirt with no fluctuations of spiritual power (in reality, it was suppressed to death by the aura of the Poqiong Thunder Scale Armor), and his eyes immediately became contemptuous. "You are her boyfriend? Which department? How come I've never seen you?"

"A New Student who came early, Zhang Wen." Zhang Wen said calmly, "Does it have anything to do with Senior Wang?"

"New Student?" Student Union Vice President Wang Hao sneered, stepping forward half a step and deliberately releasing the spiritual pressure of the Middle Stage of Entering Micro. "Kid, I advise you to figure out the situation. A girl like Ding Siyi is not someone you can reach. Leave now while you're still smart, and I'll pretend I didn't see anything. Otherwise..."

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly felt an invisible pressure bearing down on him, as if he had been stung by a thunderbolt, and his spiritual energy instantly stagnated for a beat.

Student Union Vice President Wang Hao looked up abruptly, meeting Zhang Wen's seemingly calm eyes, which seemed to hide tiny flashes of thunder, making his heart jump.

"Otherwise what?" Zhang Wen's fingertips condensed a barely perceptible thread of thunder, his tone devoid of fluctuation.

Ding Siyi pulled Zhang Wen's arm and whispered: "Don't make trouble, let's go register first."

Student Union Vice President Wang Hao finally came to his senses, shocked and angry, but dared not move any closer. He stared fixedly at Zhang Wen and dropped a harsh threat: "Fine, you have guts! Just you wait!" After saying this, he turned and left, his back looking a bit disheveled.

The onlookers who were watching the excitement saw that there was no good show left, so they gradually dispersed. Ding Siyi gave Zhang Wen a reproachful look: "Causing trouble as soon as we meet."

"He was the one who started it." Zhang Wen picked up the suitcase and pointed to the registration area not far away, "Let's go, I'll take you there, I'm familiar with the process."

The sunlight passed through the camphor leaves, casting swaying spots of light at their feet.

Zhang Wen lowered his head and talked to Ding Siyi about the interesting things that happened when he came to school, not taking the little episode just now to heart at all.