This Name Is Too Ugly

In the Qianwu Secret Realm, in a courtyard at the foot of Wind Thunder Mountain. Lei Ming's eyes were tightly shut, his brows locked in a knot, his expression utterly grave. Before him, two Purple Jade Mystic Thunder Crystals shimmered with light. In the month or so since registration for the Peak Genius Battle had closed, he had spent day and night without rest trying to comprehend the shallow traces of the Lightning Origin Law on those two Purple Jade Mystic Thunder Crystals. The treasure had been bestowed by their teacher; originally, he and Paris were to have one each. But after they returned from the teacher's villa, Paris had taken the initiative to propose that the two crystals be kept together and given to one person to study first... The secret patterns of the Lightning Origin Law on the two crystals were not the same, so studying them together was far more efficient. It was even better than the exchange arrangement Lu Qingshan had suggested. Paris was confident about the preliminaries, so he yielded the first chance at comprehension to Lei Ming. That was also why, even after the preliminaries had begun, Lei Ming was still holed up in a tree hollow, cultivating. Every minute and every second mattered to him now. If he failed to grasp the Lightning Origin Law, the best he could manage in the Qianwu Universe Kingdom was a single round before being knocked out, and he could certainly forget about the peak finals... But if he gained a foothold in the Lightning Origin Law, everything would be different. Except... how long had it even been, and already he had been marked by a master who had entered an origin law! "What rotten luck!!" World District 88. Lei Ming dodged while recalling the secret patterns on the Purple Jade Mystic Thunder Crystal. The great trees behind him fell one after another. Lei Ming pushed Thunderlight Flash to its limit, going from three Illusion Bodies to four, yet even so... he was still under tremendous pressure, and a single slip would cost him his life. "Four Illusion Bodies?" High in the sky, Payne's face showed surprise, then twisted with fury. "You bastard—you still dared hold back your strength while I was hunting you! I will never let you off!" He let out a roar. The Cloud-Piercing Shuttle slowly expanded, transforming into a giant golden sword. "Cut!!!" This was the strongest move he possessed. He hadn't used it before simply because he'd looked down on this opponent and had wanted to save it for a rival of his own level. But now, after chasing him so long without success, he had finally run out of patience. The strike was astonishingly fast, and it seemed to have a locking effect—Lei Ming found he couldn't evade it. He slipped behind a giant boulder. With a boom, the boulder, faced with the golden sword, was like tofu, pierced through effortlessly. The giant sword didn't slow in the slightest as it cleaved straight toward Lei Ming. "Thunderlight Flash!!" Four Illusion Bodies appeared again, fleeing in all directions. As long as one of them escaped, Lei Ming could merge his true body into it and slip free once more... Yet beneath that peerless golden sword shadow, all four of Lei Ming's Illusion Bodies perished... "Is it over?" Yang, watching the match, was briefly stunned. Lei Ming had held on so stubbornly just now, keeping a trick in reserve even after being hunted for so long, which made this sudden ending feel far too abrupt. But in the end, it still... "No!" Had this been reality, Yang would never have misjudged it, but this was the Virtual Universe—he could only watch with his eyes. Sharp as his eyes were, capable of catching any tiny movement, there was always something that got overlooked. Just as Holy Sword Payne was preparing to descend and check his results. Suddenly. Beneath that very boulder, fallen leaves whirled into the air, and a figure flew out from among the withered leaves. "Thunderclap Nine Blades!! Shadowless!" A purple figure shot up from the ground like lightning. One blade stroke, and Payne stood frozen where he was. "How is this possible? When did this guy enter the Lightning Origin Law?" Yang turned to look at Lu Qingshan and found him smiling. As though he had expected this outcome all along. Yang drew a deep breath. Suddenly, this junior brother of his struck him as unfathomably profound. Lei Ming descended slowly, watching Payne's figure slowly dissipate, a faint smile at the corner of his mouth. This fellow was still too green. Didn't he know that killing someone triggers a notification? "Lei Ming! Lei Ming!!!" In the Virtual Universe, countless people went wild. In this kind of competition, geniuses who had entered an origin law were extremely rare, and every one of them drew the attention of countless people. They had been watching Holy Sword Payne, and Lei Ming, the one being hunted, had naturally gathered plenty of eyes as well. But now. Lei Ming's desperate reversal set the blood of countless viewers boiling. "I know Lei Ming—he's an expert from our Qianwu Dojo, in the Qianwu Secret Realm right now! He's a genius." Among a group of people, Hailei laughed heartily. "So he's a genius from the Qianwu Secret Realm. No wonder he picked Qianwu Continent as his registration address." "What a shame. I was thinking of sending him an invitation, but a genius from the Qianwu Secret Realm would never look twice at my little company." "Thunder God! Invincible!" "Thunder God!!" ... Even Lei Ming had no idea that the video of him killing Payne had gathered a great many followers in the Virtual Universe's Genius Battle section, or that people had given him a nickname: "Thunder God." The Giant Dragon Empire, the imperial capital. The banquet hall, bustling with life just moments ago, was now dead silent. You could hear a needle drop to the floor. "Holy Sword Payne? How stupid! To get killed by the one he was hunting." "He should have cut his way into the Qianwu Universe Kingdom's list of one thousand, and yet he got eliminated in the preliminaries." "He had crossed the threshold of an origin law, and he couldn't even clear the preliminaries—utterly humiliating!!" "He never should have held back. If he'd used his finishing move from the start, how could he have been killed in a reversal by someone who had just grasped the Lightning Origin Law?" "Humiliating, absolutely humiliating!" The lively banquet could not go on. Payne's elimination was like a slap, landing hard across the faces of these empire elites. Even Kuntu's eyes went wide; he could hardly accept this result. ... [Your disciple Lei Ming has comprehended the Lightning Origin Law. Hundredfold return granted; your Lightning Origin Law has improved substantially.] Another substantial improvement. Lu Qingshan couldn't help but pick up a cup of fine wine from the table and drain it in one go, thoroughly delighted. It had been worth saving the previous year's Return opportunity until the very last moment before bestowing it. Over the past month, it had once again broken the record for a new year's Return. Lu Qingshan felt the understanding and insight into the Lightning Origin Law that had appeared out of nowhere in his memory. Slowly digesting the gains... [Lightning Origin Law: 26% → 36%] Lu Qingshan narrowed his eyes, seemingly savoring the wine he had just drunk, when in fact he was digesting the law comprehension that had come with the Return. This feeling was simply wonderful. Law comprehension earned through hard effort came far too slowly. The Return was astonishing by comparison. Lu Qingshan still preferred getting something for nothing. If only Paris would set one off for him as well. Lu Qingshan knew such chances were precious. It was like the first time Lei Ming had grasped the Lightning Domain—the boost to Lu Qingshan himself had been enormous... In the future, even if Lei Ming's law improved again, even with the same hundredfold return, he would never gain so much comprehension in a single stroke. A hundredfold of one hundred is a hundredfold, and a hundredfold of nine hundred ninety-nine is a hundredfold too! "Brother Qingshan, you knew all along, didn't you?" Yang asked curiously. Lu Qingshan slowly opened his eyes and said with a smile, "Didn't I tell you? This disciple of mine is prone to creating miracles..." In truth, the moment Lei Ming's fifth Illusion Body appeared, Lu Qingshan had known he must have entered the Lightning Origin Law. Five Illusion Bodies were the threshold of the Lightning Law. Below that, the technique could be used without comprehending any law, but above it, apart from someone with Paris's extraordinary combat talent, who could barely manage it, a genius like Lei Ming had to have comprehended the origin law. From that moment, the outcome of the battle had already been settled. "Haha, true enough. He's really popular online now—plenty of people have given him a nickname, 'Thunder God'!" Yang was well informed and fond of gossip. In just this short while, he had browsed through everything circulating online. "Thunder God?" Lu Qingshan shook his head. "That name is too ugly. Lei Ming absolutely has to change it—there's no way I'm letting him use that one!" "Heh heh, I think it's fine. It's a pretty domineering name!" Yang was somewhat puzzled. "I'm his teacher. If I don't like it, then it's out." Lu Qingshan answered quite imperiously.