When Shi Jian Grasped the Principle of the Microwave Oven!

Meanwhile, in the Demon Realm, beside the unnamed mountain. A forest that should have been shaded from the sky and dense with demonic boughs was now completely stripped of its former appearance, devastated as far as the eye could see. Innumerable straight chasms stretched across thousands of li, crisscrossing through the entire woodland like the ruins of a naturally formed chessboard. Amidst this battered expanse, the towering trees—so immense that tens of people linking arms could barely encircle their trunks—which had managed to remain standing were pocked with smooth circular cavities several meters in diameter. The cavities were bottomless to the eye, their edges burnt and polished flat—traces left behind by the great divine ability of primordial magnetism. "What an opening!" A humanoid man covered in black scales—or rather, a fallen demonic cultivator playing dead on the ground—watched Shi Jian, who stood more than ten meters away, suddenly become distracted. Thinking to himself that his moment to achieve fame and glory had arrived, he sprang up abruptly. With a fierce, ruthless expression, he shot forward in an arrow-like dash, turning into a streak of demonic qi. *Whoosh—* A black afterimage tore through the trees. Just as the demonic cultivator was about to strike the motionless Shi Jian, he saw Shi Jian glance back at him slightly. The very next instant, twenty-four iron beads emerged at once. Red and blue light trails blazed into view in a flash. *Boom! Boom! Boom...* Densely clustered, terrifying pillars of blazing white thunderbolts struck the demonic cultivator one after another. Only when the bombardment ceased did Shi Jian frown and withdraw the technique of replacing Heaven's mind with his own, wondering in confusion who that demonic cultivator had even been. "Oh, just a minion..." Had he known, he wouldn't have blasted him with so many strikes! Shi Jian recalled that this cultivator was merely one of the many subordinates of the demon lord he had slain. Frowning slightly, he looked into the distance. An instant later, activating his formless gathering-and-dispersing divine ability, he transformed into thunderous light and vanished. When he reappeared, he was already standing a hundred li away, next to a few strands of hair scattered on the ground. Shi Jian was not surprised that no corpse had been left behind—he had grown accustomed to it. Frowning, thunderous light flashing briefly in his eyes, he looked down at the hair on the ground. "The Jade Pivot Thunder Life-Exchanging Tribulation-Bearing Method..." "Indeed. That is precisely my God Xiao Sect's unique life-substituting technique. However, I can guarantee that whoever secretly aided that female demon is definitely not from our God Xiao Sect!" a voice rang out. Shi Jian said nothing. He naturally knew that the one secretly aiding the female demon was not from the God Xiao Sect, as the perpetrator had successively employed life-substituting methods from the Maoshan Sect, Longhu Mountain, and Gezao Mountain. As he pondered, a streak of azure lightning descended from the sky, transforming into a middle-aged man in Daoist robes, who bowed with hands clasped. "I am Daoist Chengyi of the God Xiao Sect..." "Do you cultivate evil methods?" Shi Jian's stern, unsmiling face twisted into a frown as he interrupted what Chengyi was about to say. "Fellow Daoist Shi, could you have mistaken something? How could I possibly cultivate evil methods? Your Martial Uncle Tianming and I are cross-generation friends, close for many years. If I were practicing evil arts, Martial Uncle Tianming would have executed me on the spot long ago!" Daoist Chengyi maintained his smile as he spoke. "Indeed. Fellow Daoist Shi must be mistaken. Or could it be that Fellow Daoist Shi wishes to use this pretext to cause trouble for our God Xiao Sect?" Another voice chimed in. A flash of lightning landed, revealing a middle-aged female Daoist dressed in the same sect robes as Chengyi. After she touched down, yet another voice said, "Fellow Daoist Shi is not one to make groundless claims. If he says so, it means he has discerned something." With those words, a Daoist arrived flying on a sword, bowing cold and direct toward Shi Jian. "Lü Xiao of the Danding Sect!" "Well said, well said. Amitabha, this humble monk feels Daoist Brother Zhang's words are most reasonable!" The final Buddhist chant caused Shi Jian, Daoist Chengyi, and the female Daoist to frown. "...I am here to subdue demons!" A monk sporting a shaved head so bright it glistened even beneath the forest canopy emerged from among the trees, draped in a kasaya and beaming kindly. Immediately after, another Daoist appeared, his expression just as cold as Lü Xiao's. He merely stated, "Wang Sheng of the Quanzhen Sect," before falling silent. "Fellow Daoist Shi has yet to answer my question!" the God Xiao female Daoist snapped, displeased, having completely forgotten that they had come here to clear up a misunderstanding. "I also cultivate the Five Thunders Orthodox Method," Shi Jian said faintly to Daoist Chengyi a few meters away, without sparing the female Daoist a single glance. Lü Xiao and the others saw nothing amiss in Shi Jian cultivating the Five Thunders Orthodox Method, and neither did the monk. The Five Thunders Orthodox Method was not exclusive to the God Xiao Sect; all the major Daoist sects possessed their own versions, differing only in approach. In other words, their inheritances differed! "Could it be Fellow Daoist Shi wishes to debate the Dao with me?" Daoist Chengyi asked with a smile, yet Lü Xiao and the others caught the fleeting trace of panic in his eyes. Just as they prepared to see what Shi Jian would do next, Daoist Chengyi wheeled around and bolted. "???" *Wait, why are you running?* *Weren't you about to debate the Dao?* The scene was so absurd that Lü Xiao and the others widened their eyes in disbelief. The female Daoist who had spoken earlier turned pale, her voice turning cold. "Senior Brother, do you truly cultivate evil arts?" "No, I simply remembered an urgent matter!" Possessed by some strange impulse, Daoist Chengyi did not even cast an escape art, fleeing without looking back. Terror screamed through his mind; it was sheer bloody madness that Shi Jian had seen through his secret at a single glance. Just as the thought crossed his mind, he heard Shi Jian speak in a flat voice: "My disciple once told me that within an adult human body, there are roughly two jin and six liang of five-metal impurities..." Words fell; body froze! Daoist Chengyi's running legs locked in place. Wide-eyed with horror, he stared down at his uncontrollable limbs. *Bang! Bang—* Amid Chengyi's agonized screams, two bursts of bloody mist exploded from his kneecaps. Minute metallic particles condensed in an instant into twenty-four metallic spheres that whistled through the air, circling into orbit around Shi Jian. This sight made the pupils of Lü Xiao and the others contract violently, for they hadn't even perceived how Shi Jian had struck. Next, they watched as Daoist Chengyi crashed to his knees, his head twisting toward Shi Jian in terror against his will. "Your Five Thunders Orthodox Method tells me it is having a miserable time," Shi Jian said calmly, blue lightning surfacing in his eyes. As the lightning manifested, Shi Jian neither formed hand seals nor chanted incantations. He merely looked at Daoist Chengyi with furrowed brows and utter contempt, uttering a single word: "Shatter!" The instant the word left his mouth, identical lightning flared in Daoist Chengyi's terrified eyes, followed by a bloodcurdling scream. "Ah—!" *Crackle, crackle!* Lightning flashed ceaselessly around Daoist Chengyi. In the span of a single snap of the fingers, the Five Thunders Orthodox Method he had painstakingly cultivated for a lifetime was instantly dismantled. With his Five Thunders Orthodox Method broken, visible blood qi and twisted, weeping wraiths seeped out of his skin. "A heterodox blood art?" "He really was practicing evil methods!" Lü Xiao and the others frowned at Daoist Chengyi's miserable state, while the monk chimed in with praise: "How magnificent! The orthodox Five Thunders opens the Dharma Eye, leaving blood foulness and evil miasma nowhere to hide. A single word shatters the roots of wicked ways; where the thunderous light descends, blood and bone freeze! Fellow Daoist Shi's thunder arts are truly profound!" "..." *What an eloquent bald ass!* The crowd fell silent. Disregarding the monk's blatant flattery, they were quietly astonished by his discernment. The monk was entirely correct: Shi Jian had relied solely on his own cultivation in the Five Thunders Orthodox Method to shatter Daoist Chengyi's thunder art and evil methods alike! The principle was simple: purely by virtue of his attained realm in thunder arts, Shi Jian had achieved the state of sensing matter with the mind and dominating evil with rectitude, shattering the foundation of his opponent's evil techniques with a single word. The process involved the mutual restraint of shared origins, the conquest of evil through righteousness, and the profound thunder art realm where all evil retreats before a righteous mind. Of course, while the principle was simple, not a single person present could accomplish it—not even the God Xiao female Daoist could imagine pulling it off. "Senior Brother, you..." Even as she was awestruck by the depth of Shi Jian's thunder art cultivation, the God Xiao female Daoist bit her lip, her expression unsightly as she looked at her Senior Brother Chengyi. With ninety percent of his cultivation ruined, further cultivation was out of the question; he would likely suffer the five exhaustions for the rest of his days. Yet she was not angry with Shi Jian. Looking at her senior brother with deep resentment for his failure, she took a deep breath, cupped her hands toward Shi Jian with mixed feelings, and said, "Many thanks to Fellow Daoist for cleaning house on our God Xiao Sect's behalf..." She paused, then bowed once more. "Furthermore, the two of us... that is, I came here to explain the matter of Martial Uncle Zhiheng calling down thunder. Martial Uncle Zhiheng's thunderbolt interrupting Senior Brother Four-Eyed's spirit possession was entirely accidental, a blameless mistake. Our God Xiao Sect has no intention of targeting the Maoshan Sect!" With that, seeing Shi Jian remain silent, she felt too ashamed to say more. Lowering her head, she simply muttered, "Farewell, Fellow Daoist," before turning into a wisp of lightning and departing with Daoist Chengyi. Shi Jian did not stop them, knowing that Daoist Chengyi's fate back at the God Xiao Sect would only be worse. Sure enough, Chengyi's pleading voice drifted back: "Junior Sister, kill me, don't take me back..." Unfortunately, the female Daoist said nothing, merely sealing her senior brother's mouth with two fingers. Just as she moved to accelerate— *Boom—* A sky filled with demonic qi—oppressive, black demonic qi—swept in from every direction as ranks of demon soldiers closed in from both the heavens and the earth. Seeing the dense swarms of demon soldiers, the female Daoist turned grim and swiftly brought Daoist Chengyi back to Shi Jian and the others. "Not good! We are surrounded by demon soldiers!" "..." × 3 *We aren't blind!* Lü Xiao and the others grumbled inwardly, though their expressions grew grave at the dark sea of demon soldiers encircling them. "Trying to leave? It won't be that easy! The Demon Lord bestowed these thirty thousand demon soldiers upon me precisely to keep you all here!" A voice that sounded sickeningly familiar to Shi Jian made him scowl. He raised his head slightly and looked at the female demon appearing in the sky—the very female demon who had stolen the primordial yang of his useless, rebellious son. "Let us join forces and fight our way out!" said Lü Xiao, his hand already reaching for the dharma sword on his back. Wang Sheng and the monk nodded solemnly, gazing at the thirty thousand fierce demon soldiers pressing in from all sides. The God Xiao female Daoist nodded, subconsciously glancing at Shi Jian, who was frowning faintly. Just as she thought that even Shi Jian was troubled, she heard him speak in a calm tone. "Protect yourselves." Words fell; light flashed. Shi Jian's figure vanished in an instant. Just as the female demon in the sky began laughing wildly, assuming he had fled, Shi Jian's voice rang out from high above. "Primordial Magnetism: Yin Fire Burning Heaven—activate!" The moment his voice fell, no terrifying lightning surged, nor did any iron beads appear. There were only strange waves of ripples that baffled both the female demon and the thirty thousand demon troops! Bizarre ripples enveloped all thirty thousand demon soldiers! "This..." Lü Xiao, who had cultivated primordial magnetism sympathetic methods himself, sensed the violent upheaval of primordial magnetism power between heaven and earth. His eyes went wide as he stared in horror nearby, where a rat had inexplicably cooked through in an instant. Terrified, he frantically formed hand seals and chanted an incantation: "Golden cauldron primordial magnetism, protect my dharma body..." Lü Xiao's sudden terror and protective spellcasting caused the female Daoist and the others to blanch. Guided by the mental premonitions unique to cultivators, they all rapidly formed hand seals and chanted, activating spells to shield themselves! Merged with heaven and earth, Shi Jian frowned slightly, feeling that his fellow Daoists were overestimating themselves. He meant no offense—it was simply that his attack was not something they could possibly block! Just as Lü Xiao and the others cast their defensive spells, the expressions of the thirty thousand grotesque demon soldiers shifted simultaneously. They suddenly felt an inexplicable, sweltering heat spreading throughout their bodies. Next, it felt as though an iron rod was violently churning through their internal organs. They opened their mouths to scream, but what came out was a breath of white vapor—scalding white steam, like that rising from a bamboo food steamer. "How... am I... cooked...?" *I'm not in a steamer!* A demon soldier with the head of an ox and sharp blades on his elbows sniffed in bewilderment at his steaming hoof before collapsing with a thud. In a single instant, the thirty thousand demon soldiers brought by the female demon—whether in the sky or on the ground—fell in unison like reaped wheat, carbonizing and bursting into flames at a rate visible to the naked eye. *Mm... didn't quite control the power...* Shi Jian, merged into the world via his formless gathering-and-dispersing divine ability, thought quietly to himself. He didn't feel that slaughtering thirty thousand demon soldiers in one breath was cruel in the least. After all, demons were demons; their continued existence posed only danger and harm to the mortal realm. As for the divine ability he had used to slay them—this was a new art he had developed by combining Liu Xiu's remark about how electromagnetic force could heat objects. The principle behind this new divine ability was simple: rather than channeling the iron beads into lightning cannons, the primordial magnetism charm was radiated outward in all directions. As for the specific mechanics, the primordial magnetism charm passed clean through objects without harming their exterior, interacting exclusively with the water spiritual qi inside them. Driven by the primordial magnetism fluctuations, the water spiritual qi within their bodies vibrated at high frequencies and rubbed together, generating internal heat from within. Starting from the internal organs, the heat gradually spread to the blood vessels, bones, sinews, and flesh, leaving the exterior looking normal while the inside was already charred, progressing until the target was reduced to charcoal. This was the principle behind his incineration of the thirty thousand demon soldiers! Shi Jian had specifically named this technique the great divine ability of primordial magnetism yin fire, which was why he had called out "Yin Fire Burning Heaven" earlier. Naturally, though he called it fire, it was not fire magic; it was a combat method utilizing primordial magnetism charms derived from his great divine ability of primordial magnetism. At its core, it remained an application of thunder arts. Shi Jian paid no heed to the female demon, who had turned and was fleeing in terror. Withdrawing his formless gathering-and-dispersing divine ability, he flashed before Lü Xiao and the others. "Are you all unharmed?" "N-No... nothing's wrong... This poor monk—no, this humble monk just remembered an urgent matter back at the monastery, so I will not disturb Senior Shi any longer!" Swallowing hard, the monk looked at the thirty thousand demon soldiers around them, now reduced to glowing red charcoal. His legs trembling, he turned and fled the moment he finished speaking. As for subduing demons and the new thunder arts—no, he had completely abandoned those notions. He just wanted to run back and enter closed-door seclusion! If the abbot reprimanded him, so be it. The abbot was a monk too; he wouldn't kill him, and he certainly wouldn't turn him into charcoal. The remaining four, including the half-dead Daoist Chengyi who looked several decades older, stared at Shi Jian with eyes full of terror, shaking their heads frantically in unison. "We are fine!" "Yes, yes, quite fine!" "Many thanks to Fellow Dao... Senior for intervening!" "Indeed, indeed, thank you for saving us, Senior!" Aside from Daoist Chengyi, who was unable to speak, Lü Xiao and the other two spoke in rapid succession, completely abandoning their previous notion of addressing him as a peer. Shi Jian nodded slightly, not caring about the change in honorifics, his senses remaining locked onto the fleeing female demon in the distance. "May I ask... is this the new thunder art?" Looking at the thirty thousand lumps of glowing red charcoal around them, the God Xiao female Daoist spoke in a timid voice, completely stripped of her earlier arrogance. "Yes," Shi Jian nodded slightly without hiding it. Lü Xiao seized the opportunity to ask out of curiosity, "May I ask whether one truly needs to understand English to learn the new thunder arts?" At these words, Wang Sheng also looked at Shi Jian with curiosity. Not surprised that they knew about this, Shi Jian simply nodded once more and gave another "Yes." "..." × 3 *Honestly, you're pulling our leg, aren't you?* That was the first thought that crossed the minds of Lü Xiao and the others. Yet upon second thought, they felt Shi Jian would hardly bother lying to them. Just as they were about to speak again, they saw Shi Jian snort coldly. "Finally found where your true body is hiding..." *Boom! Boom! Boom—* Blinding white light illuminated the sky of the Demon Realm. Shi Jian transformed directly into searing white thunder, vanishing into the far horizon alongside twenty-four radiant white pillars of lightning. Only a calm sentence drifted back: "Fellow Daoists, you had best return. The Demon Realm is dangerous; staying here will put you in harm's way!" "Mm-hmm!" × 3 *We can tell it's dangerous!* *And we think YOU are the dangerous one!* Lü Xiao and the other two rubbed their eyes, which were tearing up from the piercing white light, exchanged glances, and promptly beat a hasty retreat from the Demon Realm. Leaving was imperative; they feared that if they stayed any longer, they would be obliterated by the shockwaves of Shi Jian's attacks. Furthermore, a lingering doubt gnawed at them: was Shi Jian truly of the same generation as them? Their ages were clearly not that far apart. How could Shi Jian be so terrifyingly strong?! With exceedingly complicated feelings, Lü Xiao and the others returned to the mortal realm, passing word back to their sects that the new thunder arts truly did require an understanding of English. In addition, they delivered another report: Shi Jian was suspected to be Heavenly Bright True Person in disguise, or if not Heavenly Bright True Person, then another martial uncle-level elder. They meant nothing by it—they simply refused to believe that Shi Jian was actually just Shi Jian! *** Maoshan Sect, Main Hall. "Well now, so it turns out I am Shi Jian..." Upon receiving the latest intelligence, Heavenly Bright True Person let out a dry exclamation and curled his lip, turning to look at Heavenly Sun True Person, who had suddenly appeared. "Junior Brother, be the judge here. Do I look like the sort of senior brother who would disguise himself as his own martial nephew and sneak around bullying the younger generation?" "Aren't you? Fifteen years ago, didn't you disguise yourself as One-Eyebrow to administer punishments in the Hall of Discipline? You made One-Eyebrow thoroughly despised by men and ghosts alike; not a single disciple in the sect didn't fear him!" "I didn't! That wasn't me! Don't talk nonsense!" "Heh, if you hadn't secretly compensated One-Eyebrow later, I would have thought you were trying to ruin him..." Heavenly Sun True Person said with a look of utter disdain. As if completely oblivious, Heavenly Bright True Person remarked with great emotion, "Still, Little Stone really brought honor to our Maoshan Sect this time! Incinerating thirty thousand demon soldiers in a single breath—only slightly behind what I could do back in my day!" "..." *Did you even know thunder arts when you were eighteen?* Heavenly Sun True Person's lips twitched as he recalled Heavenly Bright True Person at age eighteen, spitting on the ground in undisguised contempt. Turning a blind eye once more, Heavenly Bright True Person chuckled and continued, "Oh, right, I recall last month was Tiny Stone's eighteenth birthday. Did you deliver the gift I asked you to give him?" "???" "Oh, you forgot? Forget it, forget it, I'll deliver it to him personally later. Honestly, how could you forget something so important? How am I supposed to face my precious Tiny Stone now?!" Heavenly Bright True Person said with an air of helpless exasperation. "..." *Didn't you just say not long ago that Tiny Stone thoroughly disgraced Little Stone and yourself?* Suppressing his anger, the well-practiced scapegoat Heavenly Sun True Person expressionlessly pulled out a slip of paper and handed it over to Heavenly Bright True Person. "These are the interrogation results sent by the Patriarch!" "Hmm? Oh? What a coincidence. Who would have thought that this True Person Zhiheng happened to pass by Shao Village nineteen years ago..."