200: Chapter 200 Nine Heavens Thunder Bird! Big Brother, I've got it!

"Who is Sasuke?"

Ye Xiao lay on the ground, his eyes glazed over. The three thunder blasts just now had drained him almost completely. The main thing was that Su Ming's tone had been too natural, as if he were talking about some old Senior with Thunder Affinity.

Su Ming looked at the scattered electric arcs at his fingertips and suddenly got interested. He curled the corner of his mouth.

Oh no, oh no... I've got the itch to tease an idiot again.

"Have you ever heard of... Thunder Release?"

Ye Xiao was stunned.

"Thunder Shield?"

"Isn't Thunder Affinity an attack type? Can it be used as a defensive shield?"

"...Not the shield for defense, but the 'release' for jutsu! Like this..."

Su Ming raised his hand. Recalling the scene from his past life where a white-haired teacher taught that rebellious blockhead, he started making random gestures.

"First like this... then like this... then like this... and finally like this..."

He twisted his fingers around. After gesturing for a while, even he felt awkward. His hand was about to cramp.

Finally, he randomly threw together a weird-looking hand seal and muttered seriously, "Raiton—Chidori!"

"What's a 'La-yi-dou'?"

"...It's an incantation! Thunder Release—Chidori! Do you understand?!"

"Oh... I don't understand."

Ye Xiao's head was spinning.

"It's about grabbing all the thunder in your hand, compressing it, condensing it into the shape of a bird, and vibrating it at a high frequency!"

"Then you go 'zap' and stab it out! It hurts like hell when it hits someone!"

As he spoke, Su Ming shook his hand, though there wasn't even a spark of light at his fingertips. He looked just like a delusional teenager suffering from 'chuunibyou' after pulling an all-nighter at an internet cafe.

He had intended to have some fun with this silly kid, but the guy wasn't playing along at all! You're an SS-rank Genius, surely you can tell this is a joke? Is the concept of humor too Advanced for you?

But at that moment, Ye Xiao suddenly froze. He stood rooted to the spot, his pupils reflecting Su Ming's random hand gestures. Condense into a bird shape? High-frequency vibration? Stab it out?

Ever since he Awakening the [Nine Heavens Thunder Body], he had always followed the orthodox path of Thunder Affinity. Explosions, impact, coverage! The larger the range, the better. The thicker the thunder pillar, the stronger it was. Take the shoddy version of [Nine Heavens · Thunder Pillar] from earlier, for example; it pursued destructive power to the extreme. It could strike the opponent so hard they wouldn't even recognize their own mother. That was the aesthetic of an Awakened with Thunder Affinity.

But Su Ming's words just now had bypassed all conventional thinking. He didn't pursue thickness. He didn't pursue size. Instead, he compressed it into the palm. Using high-frequency vibration to break through defenses.

Thunder Affinity Source Energy is naturally violent and swift; trying to condense it into a fixed shape is as difficult as catching light with your bare hands. But... what if it were actually possible?

Ye Xiao's breath hitched. If he could compress all the energy from that thunder pillar into that single point in his palm, and then impart a high-frequency vibration to it... the piercing power... what a terrifying level that would reach?! A brand-new idea exploded in his mind!

Su Ming had been waiting for him to retort, but he found that Ye Xiao had stopped moving.

"Hey?"

"Don't actually believe it, I was just making it up."

Ye Xiao didn't reply. He slowly raised his right hand, palm facing up. Tier 4 Thunder Affinity Source Energy began to gather. This time, he forcibly held all the electric arcs in his palm. Unsurprisingly, the thunder light exploded violently.

"Hiss!"

Ye Xiao gritted his teeth and began his second attempt.

The thunder light expanded once more, as if trying to rush out of his palm. Ye Xiao forcibly pulled it back, repeatedly compressing and pounding it!

"Zzz-zzz—" The harsh, piercing sound was incessant.

The smile on Su Ming's face slowly stiffened. No way, buddy? You're doing this for real?

Ye Xiao's eyes were red, staring intently at his palm.

"Brother Ming, I think... I've found the door."

"You've found a hammer's door."

Su Ming didn't spare him with his words, but his body honestly leaned forward by half a step.

The next moment, the azure thunder light suddenly contracted. A ball of electric light the size of an adult's fist took shape in Ye Xiao's palm. The tip protruded forward, and the tail pulled out a few fine thunder feathers. The shape wasn't very clear, but it had actually been pulled into the outline of a bird!

Even more absurdly, that ball of thunder light let out a sharp cry.

"Chirp!!"

The sound was no longer the rumble of thunder, but the shrill, miserable screech of a thousand birds having their necks squeezed simultaneously, piercing enough to cause agonizing pain to the eardrums! The air inside the training ground was distorted by this high-frequency vibrating energy, creating visible ripples.

That wasn't all! This nascent, incredibly domineering prototype of a Thunder Affinity skill instantly activated the Peak Tier 6 Thunder Horn Rhino core within his body! The previously dormant core suddenly burst forth with brilliant light, and a surge of Thunder Affinity Origin power, far purer and more violent than his own Source Energy, flooded into his limbs and bones!

Ye Xiao's whole body shuddered, and a crisp "crack" sound came from within his body. The Bottleneck of Early Stage Tier 4 Gold that he had been stuck at for half a month... was broken! Middle Stage Tier 4 Gold! His aura surged violently!

Ye Xiao's entire right arm was shaking. The light in his eyes was like thunder flashes.

"I did it... Brother Ming, I did it!"

"Holy crap!"

Su Ming was so shocked his jaw almost hit the floor, his eyes wide as saucers.

"You... you actually did it?!"

He looked at that ball of thunder bird, feeling a bit numb. Wasn't this supposed to be a joke? He had just been spouting nonsense based on memories from his past life. No Secret Manual. No technique. Even the hand seals were made up on the spot. Yet after listening, Ye Xiao actually realized a skill from Thunder Affinity theory? This Comprehension Ability was just too absurd!

"Did you use a cheat code too, kid?"

Su Ming circled him.

"Confess, do you have some old master behind you too?"

Ye Xiao didn't hear a word. His mind was now filled with thunder. The thunder bird in his palm vibrated more and more steadily, beginning to look vivid and lifelike. With high-frequency electric arcs compressed into a single point, the piercing power was more than a notch stronger than the thunder pillar from before. More importantly—the Bottleneck he had been stuck at for a full half-month had actually been broken through by Brother Ming's casual, inexplicable remark of "condense it into a bird shape"? And he had also gained a killer move with power far beyond imagination?

He suddenly looked up at Su Ming.

"Brother Ming! You understand Thunder Affinity too?"

Su Ming's mouth twitched. How was he supposed to explain this? Say he watched anime in his past life?

Su Ming gave a light cough, put his hands behind his back, and began to put on airs.

"I know a little... just a tiny bit."

Ye Xiao understood instantly. An expert. True powerhouses never show off. They only drop a sentence when you reach a dead end. If you can't realize it, it means you're incompetent. If you do, it's called destiny.

Ye Xiao felt a warmth in his heart. This kind of Thunder Affinity approach could be considered a core secret transmission in any academy. Yet Brother Ming had casually taught it to him in the training ground, even pretending it was a joke because he was afraid he would be under too much pressure. He now had only one thought! Let his Big Brother test the results!

Without a moment's hesitation, he stomped his foot! His entire person transformed into a streak of purple lightning, and the thunder bird in his palm, accompanied by a piercing screech that seemed to tear everything apart, thrust straight toward Su Ming's chest!

"Brother Ming!"

"Take this move!"

"Nine Heavens—Chidori!"