88: Chapter 88 Thunder Crystal Symbiosis

The stone walls deep within the thunder pattern crystal ore vein shimmered with a bluish-purple light under the torchlight.

Lin Yan stood at the fork of the mine shaft, gripping the star-embracing sword; he could clearly hear the resonance between the Star Beads at his fingertips and the depths of the Mineral Vein—

It was a unique hum produced when thunder Spiritual Qi met the Power of the Stars, sounding like countless tiny thunder beads rolling through the rock layers.

"The Clan Chief said the spiritual rhythm of this Mineral Vein is a perfect match for the star-embracing sword, and he was right."

Lin Shi walked ahead, holding a torch; as his boots crushed star iron fragments, they kicked up tiny sparks of electricity.

"Listen to that sound; it's much more lively than the last time we were here."

Lin Yan hummed in agreement, his attention entirely focused on the Star Beads on the sword's hilt.

The three Star Beads were now glowing white-hot, with the one embedded with the Seventh Star Sand of the Big Dipper being particularly dazzling.

Guided by his spiritual power, it was tracing thunder patterns on the sword's blade that mirrored the veins in the mine.

This was a method he had newly realized yesterday:

Using the Power of the Stars as the bone and thunder Spiritual Qi as the blood, he allowed two completely different spiritual rhythms to blend within the sword.

In the open area at the end of the mine shaft, the Thunder Spirit was curled up on a ten-foot-tall Black Iron Stone, napping.

Tiny thunder beads condensed on its bluish-purple feathers, and with every breath, the surrounding air shimmered with a faint ionized violet.

The thunder pattern crystal ores embedded in the stone walls actually flickered in rhythm with its breathing, as if they had been granted life.

"Lord Thunder Spirit."

Lin Yan called out softly, afraid of disturbing this special "guardian of the Mineral Vein."

The Thunder Spirit snapped its eyes open, its golden pupils sweeping over the star-embracing sword in Lin Yan's hand, and it suddenly let out a clear, sharp cry.

As it spread its wings, the resulting airflow swirled with lightning, condensing into a bluish-purple arc in mid-air that happened to intertwine with the star path of the star-embracing sword.

"Is it... trying to help you?"

Lin Shi watched in amazement.

Since its contract, the Thunder Spirit had rarely shown closeness to anyone other than Lin Yue, let alone proactively channeling spiritual power to protect someone.

Lin Yan suddenly had a flash of inspiration; he held the star-embracing sword horizontally before him and used his soft power to activate the Star Beads.

In an instant, the star patterns on the sword and the Thunder Spirit's lightning surged simultaneously, weaving a web of gold and purple above the Black Iron Stone.

The thunder pattern crystal ores embedded in the stone walls were like awakened fish, climbing upward along the lines of the web.

Finally, they condensed into a pigeon-egg-sized thunder crystal at the tip of the sword, with flecks of starlight wrapped within the crackling electrical discharge.

"Is this... a symbiosis of the thunder crystal and star sand?"

Lin Shi leaned in for a closer look and saw the star sand inside the thunder crystal rotating along with the electricity.

"Ancient texts say this is a sign of the 'Union of Spiritual Objects,' a rare occurrence seen only once in a century!"

Lin Yan tried to guide this symbiotic thunder crystal into the groove on the sword's hilt.

The moment the thunder crystal touched the Star Beads, it turned into a streak of light and seeped into them, causing the star-embracing sword to emit a deafening ring.

The star patterns and thunder patterns on the sword's spine seemed to come alive, intertwining until they finally condensed into a half-gold, half-purple spiral pattern—

It was the mark of the true fusion of the stars and thunder.

The Thunder Spirit tilted its head and gently rubbed its beak against the sword's blade, as if inspecting its own "masterpiece."

Lin Yan could feel a wave of joyful fluctuations from its spiritual sense.

It was mixed with memories of thunderstorms from Meteorite Valley and a sense of intimacy toward the Spiritual Vein of Luoxia City.

"Thank you, Lord Thunder Spirit."

Lin Yan gently stroked its neck feathers; when the thunder patterns on his fingertips touched the electricity of the plumes, a soft light illuminated the mine shaft.

On the way back, the glow of the star-embracing sword was several times brighter than when they had arrived.

The thunder pattern crystal ores on both sides of the shaft lit up one after another as if guiding their way, and the star iron fragments swept up by the sword's wind wove a shimmering trail of light behind them.

Lin Shi looked back at the trail of light and suddenly laughed.

"If this sword were shown now, I'm afraid even the Elders of the Qinglan Sect would be green with envy."

Lin Yan looked down at the spiral pattern on the sword, recalling Lin Yue's words: "A sword is a person's shadow."

When his father used to forge iron, he always said, "The iron blank must understand the nature of the fire, and the person must understand the temperament of the iron."

Thinking about it now, the relationship between people and swords, or spiritual objects, was likely based on the same principle—

If you respect it a little, it will protect you a lot; only by exchanging heart for heart can there be symbiosis.

By the time they returned to Luoxia City, twilight had already washed over the city walls.

Just as Lin Yan reached the entrance of the City Lord's Mansion, he saw Lin Yue standing on the stone steps, holding a communication talisman with a slight frown on his face.

"Clan Chief?" He stopped in his tracks, and the star-embracing sword suddenly trembled slightly as if sensing something.

"Mo Yao from the Qinglan Sect is here,"

Lin Yue said.

"She says their 'Cloud Pattern Ore Vein' has had turbulent Spiritual Qi recently and wants to invite you to take a look."

Lin Yan was stunned.

"Me?" Although he could channel the spiritual rhythm of a Mineral Vein, he had never dealt with turbulent Spiritual Qi, especially in a restricted area of the Qinglan Sect.

"After the Thunder Spirit's aura fused with the star-embracing sword, your perception of Spiritual Veins is no longer what it used to be."

Lin Yue tapped the hilt of his sword with his fingertip.

"It's good to go and see. The wood-attribute spiritual rhythm of the Cloud Pattern Ore Vein is just what you need to complement the masculine nature of your thunder and stars."

The next morning, the Qinglan Sect's flying boat once again hovered over Luoxia City.

When Mo Yao saw Lin Yan approaching with the star-embracing sword on his back, her eyes lit up.

"This sword... it actually developed a spiral pattern?"

She leaned in for a closer look, but as soon as her fingertip touched the spine of the blade, she was pushed back by a gentle force—

That was the sword's spiritual sense protecting its master on its own.

"Lord Thunder Spirit helped channel the spiritual rhythm of the Mineral Vein."

Lin Yan explained. As the flying boat took off, he intentionally pointed the star-embracing sword toward the Cloud Pattern Ore Vein, and the Star Beads indeed emitted a faint light of resonance.

The Cloud Pattern Ore Vein was hidden within the mists of the Qinglan Sect's back mountain. The stone walls on both sides of the mine shaft were covered in natural cloud patterns, and the Spiritual Qi flowed as softly as water, yet it carried a sense of stagnant heaviness.

Mo Chen was already waiting at the entrance of the Mineral Vein. Seeing Lin Yan draw the star-embracing sword, he sighed.

"Three days ago, the Mineral Vein suddenly became restless. Black Qi began to seep from the cloud patterns, and even the purest cloud crystals started to turn gray."

Lin Yan walked into the mine shaft holding the sword. The spiral pattern on the star-embracing sword suddenly spun rapidly, and the light from the Star Beads flickered.

He followed his intuition to the depths of the Mineral Vein and saw a massive Cloud Pattern Mother Stone indeed entwined with wisps of black Qi.

The cloud patterns that were supposed to be flowing were stagnated by the black Qi, like a frozen river.

"This is... 'Stagnant Malice' caused by the reversal of Spiritual Qi."

Lin Yan recalled a record from the "Stardust Tempering Method": "When the spiritual rhythm of a Mineral Vein conflicts with the rhythm of heaven and earth, it will accumulate and form malice."

Mo Chen's expression changed slightly. "Is there a solution?"

Lin Yan raised the star-embracing sword and aimed the spiral pattern at the mother stone.

"I'll try to draw it out with the Power of the Stars and then disperse it with the power of thunder."

He channeled his soft power, and the Star Beads shot out a golden beam. When it landed on the mother stone, the black Qi actually retreated a few inches like a receding tide.

Immediately after, he activated the thunder patterns in the sword. A bluish-purple bolt of lightning struck down, and the black Qi let out a piercing shriek before dissipating into blue smoke.

Even more miraculously, as the black Qi vanished, specks of golden light began to seep from the mother stone's cloud patterns.

When they touched the spiral pattern of the star-embracing sword, countless tiny spiritual threads emerged, intertwining the two types of spiritual rhythms.

Mo Yao watched in wonder.

"The wood Spiritual Qi of the Cloud Pattern Ore Vein can actually fuse with the stars and thunder!"

Three days later, the Spiritual Qi of the Cloud Pattern Ore Vein had completely resumed its flow.

As Lin Yan was leaving, Mo Chen handed him a Cloud Pattern Jade Pendant.

"This is made from newly condensed cloud crystals; it can help you harmonize the fierce Qi within your sword."

As the flying boat passed through the sea of clouds, Lin Yan stroked the jade pendant and suddenly noticed a faint cloud pattern had been added to the spiral pattern of the star-embracing sword.

He tried pressing the jade pendant against the hilt, and the cloud pattern fit perfectly with the spiral pattern. The sword instantly glowed with a three-colored halo of gold, purple, and green, as if gathering all the spiritual rhythms of heaven and earth into one place.

When the lights of Luoxia City lit up below, Lin Yan looked at the intersecting bands of light outside the window and suddenly understood Lin Yue's intention in sending him out—

True strength is never about staying in one place, but being like this star-embracing sword.

Incorporating the violence of thunder, the loftiness of the stars, and the softness of the clouds, it develops its own resilience through countless fusions.

The lights in the City Lord's Mansion were still on, and Lin Yue was lost in thought before a Spiritual Vein Map.

Seeing Lin Yan return, he pointed to a red dot on the map.

"The spiritual rhythms of the thunder pattern crystal ore vein and the Cloud Pattern Ore Vein have actually converged in Luoxia City through the star-embracing sword."

Lin Yan took a closer look and saw the spiritual lines representing the two Mineral Veins on the map.

Sure enough, they condensed into a golden node in the center of Luoxia City. Around the node, countless tiny spiritual threads were spreading outward, like weaving a great web that covered both territories.

"This is..."

"Spiritual Vein Resonance."

A smile flashed in Lin Yue's eyes.

"Your sword has actually become the key connecting the two territories."

Outside the window, the cry of the Thunder Spirit harmonized with the soft ring of the star-embracing sword. From the depths of the Mineral Vein came the hum of flowing spiritual rhythm, and even the breath of the city's people in their dreams carried a sense of longevity nourished by Spiritual Qi.