450: Chapter 447 Resurrect!

Ye Ouyang retracted his claws and watched Lu Jianchuan stand up again.

"Senior, how do you feel now? Are you alright?"

Lu Jianchuan rolled his shoulders; his silver-white armor shimmered slightly under the moonlight.

"No problem. Let's go right in." He paused. "With such a loud noise, it's unlikely the enemy hasn't noticed us."

He turned his head to look around, suddenly remembering something.

"The motorcycle! Did you find it?"

The surroundings were silent for two seconds.

In a snowdrift not far away, the silver, black, and red motorcycle vibrated slightly and let out a low hum—the sound seemed a bit... dissatisfied?

Lu Jianchuan's lips twitched.

"...Alright, alright." He sighed. "I get it. I'll call you by your real name."

He took a deep breath, as if making a difficult decision.

"Wind of the End, Star-Remnant Annihilation Iron Rider."

The motorcycle hummed again, clearly much more pleased this time. It slid out of the snowdrift, its headlights flashing twice, before pointing its front in a certain direction.

"Good, you found it. Let's go, lead the way."

Ye Ouyang watched from the side, completely dazed.

"What... what's going on?" He pointed at the motorcycle. "Senior, why is your motorcycle's name so..."

Lu Jianchuan raised a hand to rub his temples.

"Sigh, don't mention it." His tone carried a hint of helplessness. "Shen Mingyuan came up with it. After he named it, the motorcycle seemed to fixate on it; it ignores me no matter what else I call it. When necessary, I have to use the full name."

Ye Ouyang opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing.

With its headlights on, the motorcycle led the way. The two followed it through the abandoned village, bypassing several collapsed wooden huts, finally stopping before a hidden cliff face.

There was a cave entrance there. It wasn't large, just enough for one person to enter, and it was pitch black with no end in sight.

Lu Jianchuan stood before the entrance and took a look.

"Another cave," he said, his tone devoid of emotion. "Let's go. Get inside."

The motorcycle hummed, its headlights shining brighter as it took the lead into the cave. Lu Jianchuan and Ye Ouyang followed, vanishing into the darkness one after the other.

The further they went into the cave, the brighter it became.

The light came from crystals embedded in the rock walls; their type was unknown, but they emitted a faint, cold glow. The temperature continued to drop, and their breath condensed into white mist, but it was nothing to the two inside their armor.

The rocks beneath their feet were gradually covered in ice, becoming increasingly slippery. The motorcycle still moved steadily ahead, its headlights illuminating the path.

Further in, the view suddenly opened up.

A monkey wearing a thick lab coat stood there, wrapped tightly with only its furry face exposed. It froze for a moment upon seeing people enter.

Lu Jianchuan stopped and looked at the monkey.

"I've seen your kind before," he said. "Unfortunately, it was being gnawed on by zombies at the time."

The monkey's expression stiffened for a second before quickly recovering.

"That has nothing to do with me." It waved a hand. "We don't know each other. You just saw a colleague of mine; what does his death have to do with me?"

It paused and added another sentence.

"And please don't have stereotypes, okay? We monkeys don't all look the same."

Lu Jianchuan said nothing.

Behind the monkey stood another person.

A Taoist priest.

He wore a bright yellow Taoist robe, his hair and beard fluttering, indeed possessing an air of transcendent grace. He stood there with his hands tucked in his sleeves, his gaze falling on Lu Jianchuan as if looking at something interesting.

Lu Jianchuan looked at him. He looked at Lu Jianchuan.

Ye Ouyang stood by for a while before finally being unable to resist speaking.

"What on earth are you two looking at?"

The Taoist priest chuckled softly.

"I am looking at this one—Lu Jianchuan," he said, his voice not loud but echoing in the hollow ice cave. "You should have joined us."

Lu Jianchuan raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"We have investigated your background." The Taoist took a step forward, his wide sleeves swaying gently. "Lu Jianchuan, a true God of Thunder appeared in your ancestry. This is why you possess the power of lightning."

Lu Jianchuan was stunned for a moment.

God of Thunder? Ancestry?

He instinctively looked at his hands. Wasn't this ability given by the Shaper? Was it bestowed by the armor... or was the armor influenced by him?

Forget it, he'd ask later.

"Fine, fine, fine." He waved his hand. "Don't say any more. The so-called God of Thunder is supposed to walk the path of justice. Everything you're doing now doesn't seem very 'just' like in the legends."

The Taoist priest shook his head.

"That is because the world has forgotten us," he said with a hint of compassion in his tone. "When the time comes, I'll let my descendants be 'just.' For now, we simply need to create some incidents—to make the world remember us. Therefore, you should join us."

He glanced at Ye Ouyang beside him, then at the motorcycle.

"The kid next to you could also be granted godhood. As the saying goes, 'When one person attains the Dao, even their pets ascend to heaven.' And this motorcycle could also serve as your—"

"Enough talk!"

Lu Jianchuan didn't wait for him to finish before throwing a punch.

Dazzling electrical currents condensed on his fist as it shot toward the Taoist's face. The Taoist reacted extremely quickly; with a wave of his hand, a wooden sword grew out of thin air from his palm, held horizontally in front of him to block.

Bang—!

Fist and sword collided, exploding in a shockwave. The wooden sword looked like ordinary wood, but when struck by the punch, it actually produced a metallic clang and didn't budge an inch.

Seeing things go south, the monkey turned to run.

Ye Ouyang lunged with a claw—but before he could reach the monkey, a giant stinger stabbed in from the side, blocking his attack. Ye Ouyang dodged to the side and looked closely.

A giant scorpion crawled out from the shadows.

Its size was staggering, its pitch-black carapace shimmering with a dark luster under the cold light, its stinger raised high and aimed right at Ye Ouyang.

On the other side, Lu Jianchuan's fist pressed against the wooden sword, his strength completely overwhelming. The Taoist was forced back step by step, the wooden sword almost pressed against his own neck. Gritting his teeth to hold on, a look of horror finally appeared on his face.

Lu Jianchuan stared at him, electricity still dancing on his silver-white armor.

Lu Jianchuan's fist pressed against the wooden sword, electricity jumping across the blade with a harsh crackling sound. The Taoist was pinned against the ice wall, his robes in disarray, yet he was still laughing.

"You say my ancestor was the God of Thunder?" Lu Jianchuan stared at him, his voice low but every word clear. "I remember in the legends, the Righteous Gods of the Thunder Department wield the lightning of heaven and earth, specializing in exorcising demons, upholding the Dao, and protecting all living beings. Not hiding in the gutters playing god, let alone forming cliques for some 'revival' project."

He exerted force with his wrist, pressing down another inch.

"Since that's the case, today I shall follow my ancestor's will—exorcise the demon, uphold the Dao, and take you down, you wicked priest."

The Taoist's smile stiffened for a moment before turning into a sneer.

"What do you know?"

He suddenly exerted force, and a massive power surged from the wooden sword, actually bouncing Lu Jianchuan's fist back slightly. He took the opportunity to escape, floating back several meters before landing on the ground.

"You might not want wealth and glory," he straightened his robe, his tone carrying a sense of misplaced compassion, "but with prestige, you can protect everyone more easily. Don't you understand this logic?"

Lu Jianchuan withdrew his fist and looked at him.

"I don't need it," he said. "Countless people in history forgot who they were once they gained prestige. I don't want that kind of thing. Don't assume everyone is like you."

He took a step forward.

"What exactly are you trying to do? Or rather, what exactly are you doing in this cave?"

The Taoist was stunned for a moment, then laughed. The smile grew wider and wider, eventually turning into a wild, arrogant laugh.

"What are we doing?" He spread his arms wide. "Restoring the past, of course—letting ancient creatures return to this world!"

Before he finished speaking, his body began to change.

Thick tree branches grew frantically out of his body, tearing his robe and piercing his skin, stabbing into the ice beneath his feet one by one. More branches wrapped around his body, layer upon layer, quickly forming a set of armor made of living wood on him.

He was lifted by the branches, slowly rising and suspending in the middle of the ice cave.

The eyes looking down through the gaps in the branches were no longer human.

"Let me show you," his voice echoed from within the wooden armor, "this is true power!"

He dove toward Lu Jianchuan and threw a punch.

Lu Jianchuan didn't dodge. He met the attack, his silver-white fist colliding with the branch-wrapped fist.

Boom—!

The entire ice cave shook, and icicles overhead fell in cascades. The two fought hand-to-hand, each collision exploding in a shockwave. Branches shattered and regrew; electricity scorched the wood, emitting a burnt smell.

Lu Jianchuan landed a punch on his chest, blowing a large hole in the wooden armor. The Taoist countered with a palm strike to his shoulder, knocking him back two steps. Neither would yield, fighting fiercely within the ice cave.