15: Thunderstruck Law Enforcement Hall

Boom—!!!

The rampant thunder, like the wrathful divine punishment whip of the Nine Heavens, fiercely lashed upon the towering eaves of the Seven Mysteries Sect's Law Enforcement Hall!

The dazzling purple-white light instantly tore through the gloomy and heavy rain curtain, illuminating the entire chaotic courtyard in a stark white!

The deafening roar followed, like billions of giant drums beating wildly beside one's ears, shaking the very earth violently!

The main hall of the Law Enforcement Hall, a symbol of authority and punishment, was as fragile as a paper toy before this majestic heavenly might!

Thick pillars instantly carbonized and exploded in the furious lightning!

The glazed tile roof was ripped open as if by an invisible giant hand, and shattered tiles scattered like a rainstorm!

The blue brick walls groaned under the immense pressure, spiderweb-like cracks instantly covered the walls, and then, under the impact of the shockwave, more than half of them collapsed with a crash!

Smoke and dust mixed with rain and mud shot skyward, only to be fiercely beaten down by the subsequent rain!

Fire! Dazzling fire suddenly erupted among the broken walls and ruins!

Igniting the shattered wood and hanging drapes!

Thick smoke billowed, mixed with the smell of char, blood, and the reek of steaming rain, instantly filling the entire space!

"Heaven's punishment! It's Heaven's punishment!"

"Help! Run! The hall is collapsing!"

"My leg! My leg is trapped! Help me!"

Piercing screams, desperate wails, and frantic calls for help erupted in the aftershocks of the thunder!

The Disciples of Seven Kill Hall, who were fortunate enough not to be directly hit by the lightning pillar, scattered like a disturbed hornet's nest, crying for their parents, and fleeing in panic amidst the collapsing ruins, raging fires, and torrential downpour!

Dismembered limbs and charred corpses were everywhere in the mud, like a living hell!

Chaos! Utter chaos!

The Law Enforcement Hall, a symbol of order for the Seven Mysteries Sect, had now, under the heavenly thunder summoned by Mo Juren, transformed into a vortex of death and despair!

Time rewound to a moment before.

Inside the Stone Crevice, Mo Juren leaned against the icy cold rock wall, each breath accompanied by tearing pain and a heavy smell of blood.

His body was pushed to its limit; the purple Thunder Spiritual Power core deep within his Dantian was like a candle in the wind, each pulsation pulling at the excruciating pain of his Meridians about to burst.

However, even more intense than the physical pain was the icy gaze transmitted through the Soul link, coming from the depths of the shadow of the giant ancient tree's canopy!

Han Li was still there! Like the most patient viper, he was coiled in a deadly position!

The chaos created by the Illusion Lizard had not completely fooled him!

He had seen through the flaws in the disguise!

His gaze, piercing through the rain curtain, was like a cold probe, still firmly locked onto the Stone Crevice!

A greater crisis, like an icy tide, instantly engulfed Mo Juren!

Once the Law Enforcement Hall discovered that "Han Li" was a fake, or if Han Li couldn't hold back and personally investigated… the secrets of the magic bottle and the sequence would be completely exposed!

He would die without a burial place!

"Swarm!" Mo Juren's icy voice, as if from the Nine Nether, carried a desperate madness, piercing fiercely into the Bee King's chaotic, bloodthirsty consciousness core through the Soul link, "Target… the tree he's hiding in! Attack! Harass! At all costs… force him to show himself! Force him to move!"

He wanted to use the suicidal attack of the venomous bees to buy that fleeting opportunity for his final move!

"Buzz—!!!" A sharp, ear-piercing buzz erupted from the Bee King's chaotic, bloodthirsty consciousness!

Six dark green venomous bees, already lurking in the nearby rain curtain and exuding a highly toxic and ferocious aura, instantly transformed into six deadly phantoms tearing through the rain, as if receiving a death summons. From different tricky angles, they bravely launched a desperate dive towards the dense canopy shadow of the giant ancient tree!

The dark blue stingers, poisoned at the tail, gleamed with a chilling light in the dimness, sending shivers down one's spine!

Deep within the canopy's shadow, Han Li's figure was as steady as a rock.

Icy raindrops trickled down the scattered hair on his forehead, his ordinary face devoid of any expression, only a pair of eyes as calm as a deep pool, which now suddenly constricted!

Six dark green afterimages! Extremely fast! Tricky angles! Carrying intense venom and chaotic killing intent! They lunged directly at his vital points!

Even more terrifyingly, these venomous bees' compound eyes were locked onto him, as if they could penetrate the disguise of the shadows!

"Hmph!" An extremely faint cold snort, yet filled with icy anger, escaped Han Li's nostrils.

He clearly hadn't expected Mo Juren to be able to command such bizarre and ferocious venomous insects!

Even less did he expect the other party to directly attack him with such suicidal methods!

Faced with this sudden, desperate assault, Han Li could no longer maintain perfect concealment!

His body, like a taut bowstring, suddenly released, and his grey-robed figure twisted extremely strangely among the dense branches and leaves!

Like flowing water merging into shadows, he instantly left his original position!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Several dark blue venomous needles grazed the branches where he had been hiding, deeply embedding themselves into the tough tree trunk, emitting a "sizzling" corrosive sound!

However, the swarm's attack was like a maggot in the bone!

After missing, the six venomous bees drew strange arcs in the air, their tail stingers raised again, and the chaotic red light in their compound eyes locked onto Han Li's moving figure, pouncing again like a persistent parasite!

They were fearless of death, only to fulfill their master's command—harass! Force!

Han Li's eyes were icy, his figure moving like a phantom in the narrow canopy space, each movement narrowly avoiding the deadly stingers.

His right hand quietly retracted into his sleeve, apparently clutching something to deal with the situation.

But the venomous bees' frantic attack was like a storm, dense and deadly, actually preventing him from effectively counterattacking or completely shaking them off for a moment!

He was entangled!

Although only for a brief moment, this was exactly what Mo Juren needed!

Now!

At the entrance of the Stone Crevice, Mo Juren's figure, like a ghost merging into the night, silently appeared in the desolate rain curtain!

He was already thoroughly soaked by the icy rain, his thin grey robe clinging to his body, outlining a gaunt and disheveled silhouette.

But his eyes, under the washing of the rain, burst forth with an unprecedented, mad brilliance, like burning thunder!

He stared intently at the distant rain curtain, at the main hall of the Law Enforcement Hall, which symbolized the core of Seven Mysteries Sect's power, still brightly lit and heavily guarded!

The towering eaves of the roof were like sharp swords pointing to the sky in the rainy night!

Target! That's it!

Mo Juren suddenly raised his left hand, which was entwined with silver-grey electric arcs and inscribed with purple thunder patterns—the Thunder Corpse Claw!

This time, he held nothing back! He suppressed nothing!

The purple light core deep within his Dantian, on the verge of extinguishing, was frantically activated by him with a near-self-destructive will!

Squeezing out the last bit of potential from this broken body!

All the pain, all the despair, all the anger, erupted in his chest like a volcano!

"Ugh ah ah ah—!!!"

A roar filled with endless pain, unwillingness, and destructive will, like the swan song of a wounded lone wolf, tore through the dead silence of the rainy night and shot straight into the clouds!

Even more frantic than when he had previously summoned thunder! Even more desperate!

The Thunder Corpse Claw was raised high, five fingers spread, as if to tear apart the oppressive sky!

The silver-white electric arcs entwined around it instantly became incredibly violent, wildly leaping and hissing!

Strands of grey-black Corpse Death Qi, forcibly purified by the thunder, rolled and roared in the electric arcs like thoroughly enraged evil Dragons!

A terrifying aura, a mixture of ultimate destruction and icy death, suddenly erupted with Mo Juren at its center!

Buzz—!

Heaven and earth seemed to sense this extreme madness and the activation of destructive will!

Deep within the leaden, oppressive dark clouds overhead, like a sleeping Thunder God completely enraged!

Countless tiny silver snakes frantically darted and converged deep within the clouds!

An indescribable, Soul-shaking destructive pressure, like a tangible entity, enveloped the entire Seven Mysteries Sect!

Rumble—!!!!

An unprecedented, enormous purple-white lightning bolt, like the collapse of a heavenly pillar, resembling a spear of judgment cast down by an enraged deity from the Nine Heavens, fiercely tore through the gloomy sky!

Majestic heavenly might! Irresistible!

The target of this lightning was no longer Mo Juren himself!

Instead, it was firmly guided by his raised Thunder Corpse Claw, like a dark lighthouse, precisely directed, fiercely striking towards the brightly lit main hall of the Law Enforcement Hall, a symbol of the Seven Mysteries Sect's order, amidst the rain curtain!!!

Thus, there was the world-shattering scene at the beginning!

The Law Enforcement Hall wailed, collapsed, and burned under the thunder!

Order was completely gone, leaving only a vortex of death and chaos!

In the shadow of the giant ancient tree's canopy.

Han Li had just narrowly avoided the desperate pincer attack of two venomous bees, and a flying needle tipped with anesthetic instantly shot out from his hand, precisely pinning the third venomous bee to the tree trunk!

However, just as he was about to completely deal with these annoying venomous insects—

That terrifying purple-white lightning, which tore through heaven and earth, like the most dazzling searchlight, instantly illuminated the entire rainy night in a stark white!

Immediately following was the terrifying, ear-shattering roar, and the violent tremor from the ground beneath his feet!

Han Li's movements suddenly froze!

He abruptly turned his head, and in his eyes, as calm as a deep pool, for the first time, an undisguised horror was clearly reflected!

The dazzling lightning illuminated the side of his face in a deathly pale!

He clearly saw that terrifying lightning, like a divine punishment, being drawn by an invisible force, striking with unparalleled precision upon the main hall of the Law Enforcement Hall!

He saw that building, symbolizing the Seven Mysteries Sect's authority, collapse and burn like a sandcastle!

And the source of that terrifying aura, which had summoned the lightning and was filled with destruction and deathly stillness… was precisely the direction of the Stone Crevice, which he had been firmly locked onto!

"Mo… Ju… Ren…" Han Li uttered an extremely low, almost imperceptible syllable from his throat.

On that ordinary face, for the first time, all calmness and dullness were lost, his brows furrowed into deep lines, and turbulent waves surged in the depths of his eyes!

Astonishment, disbelief, an icy scrutiny, and a trace of… unprecedented solemnity!

He had completely not expected Mo Juren to be able to summon such terrifying heavenly might!

This was definitely not the power a Body Refining realm practitioner should possess! It even… exceeded his understanding of evil cultivation methods!

Just as Han Li's mind was shaken by this earth-shattering lightning strike—

Puff! Puff!

Two extremely faint thuds, like sharp objects piercing leather!

Han Li felt a sharp stinging pain and a strong sense of numbness simultaneously on his right shoulder and the outer side of his left arm!

Those two venomous bees, fearless of death and temporarily ignored by him, seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

The dark blue stingers, poisoned at the tail, like the kiss of Death, fiercely pierced through the defense of his grey Disciple robe, deeply embedding themselves into his flesh!

The potent venom instantly invaded!

"Ugh!" Han Li grunted, his body swaying violently!

An icy, intensely numbing and corrosive venom, like a maggot in the bone, rapidly spread along the wounds!

His right shoulder and left arm instantly became stiff and numb!

A cold light burst forth in his eyes, his left hand swiftly brushed over the wounds like lightning, and several silver needles clamped between his fingertips instantly pierced into the surrounding acupoints, forcibly blocking the spread of the venom!

At the same time, a faint emerald green light flashed briefly from his right sleeve!

The two venomous bees, having delivered their fatal blow, were also instantly shattered by Han Li's counterattacking palm wind, turning into two clumps of dark green bloody fragments, mixed with the splashing rain.

However, the poison had entered his body!

For the first time, a trace of paleness appeared on Han Li's calm face, and fine cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

He took a deep look at the Law Enforcement Hall, which had turned into a sea of fire and a hellish inferno in the distance, then swept an extremely sharp glance towards the direction of the Stone Crevice, his eyes as cold as ten thousand years of ice, filled with the anger of being stung by venomous insects and a deeper sense of inquiry.

He no longer lingered, his figure, like a ghost merging into the rain, disappeared into the depths of the dense forest in the direction of Shen Shou Valley after a few flashes, clearly eager to deal with the potent venom that had entered his body.

Beneath the canopy, a few venomous bees (including the Bee King) that had miraculously survived hovered in the rain, their carapaces stained with the foul blood of their companions and rainwater.

The chaotic red light in their compound eyes flickered, but they did not pursue.

On the Bee King's carapace, those few clusters of eerie blood-red sprouts, upon contact with the splattered, trace amount of Han Li's blood, subtly wriggled as if thirsty roots had found sweet rain. Their color became even more vibrant and alluring, emitting a satisfied, bloodthirsty fluctuation…

At the entrance of the Stone Crevice.

Mo Juren knelt on one knee in the icy mud, his body trembling violently as if all his bones had been completely emptied.

The Thunder Corpse Claw hung limply by his side, the rampant electric arcs entwined around it long since dissipated, leaving only deep silver-grey metal and dull purple thunder patterns.

His palm was charred black, his flesh peeled back, and wisps of green smoke, mixed with the smell of burnt flesh, curled upwards.

Deep within his Dantian, the purple light core, far from extinguishing, instead, after enduring this extreme, frantic squeezing, burst forth with an unprecedented, stable, and restrained purple radiance, like a Phoenix reborn from fire!

Although the volume of the light core had not significantly increased, its light was purer, and each pulsation carried a sense of rhythm, like the movement of stars!

A faint purple Thunder Spiritual Power, purer and more condensed than before, flowed gently like a newborn stream along his Meridians, which had been forcibly widened and tempered to be even tougher by the thunder, nourishing his riddled body and bringing a strange sense of power that came from breaking and then rebuilding!

Qi Refining Second Layer! In the desperate situation of summoning heavenly thunder to strike the Law Enforcement Hall, his mutated Thunder Spiritual Root completed its first crucial Breakthrough!

The cost was immense.

His body was like broken porcelain barely glued back together, with tearing pain everywhere.

His left arm's Thunder Corpse Claw also sent waves of searing, agonizing pain and numbness.

But an unprecedented sense of power, accompanied by the newborn Thunder Spiritual Power, filled his limbs and bones!

He struggled to raise his head, the icy rain washing over his mud-stained cheeks.

His gaze pierced through the rain curtain, looking towards the distant ruins of the Law Enforcement Hall, which was collapsing, burning, and plunged into utter chaos amidst the thunder and fire.

He succeeded! Heavenly thunder struck! Chaos had erupted! Han Li was forced to retreat!

A cold and weary arc slowly formed on Mo Juren's lips.

However, just at this moment of slight calm—

Buzz!

Through the Soul link, the Bee King's chaotic, bloodthirsty consciousness suddenly transmitted an extremely clear "image"!

The image came from deep within the burning and collapsing ruins of the main hall of the Law Enforcement Hall!

In a corner of a side hall, torn by thunder and fire, not yet completely collapsed!

Beneath scattered rubble and burning timbers, a half-rolled ancient scroll, soaked in dust and sewage, with charred edges, lay quietly in the mud!

A corner of the scroll had been singed by flames, charred and curled, but the exposed part clearly bore several extremely profound, ancient, and wild array patterns, as if naturally outlined by thunder—an Incomplete Thunder Array Diagram!

An extremely faint, yet pure and rampant Thunder Dao rhyme, which even made Mo Juren's newly formed Thunder Spiritual Root light core in his Dantian pulsate, was faintly emanating from those incomplete array patterns!

The Incomplete Thunder Array Diagram?!

Mo Juren's heart, as if gripped by an invisible hand, instantly stopped beating!