Thunder Yuan Saber

Nanyuan Academy. Afternoon. The large office. At that moment, the room was crowded; Su Yu and Liu Wenyan were far from the only ones present. Every student in the academy who harbored any hope of testing into a civilization academy had arrived, making a total of twelve including Su Yu. When Bai Feng had offered guidance previously, Liu Wenyan had only squeezed two students in. After all, Bai Feng was an outsider, not Liu Wenyan himself, and he had not known whether Bai Feng would actually teach them any divine characters. Today, however, Liu Wenyan was transcribing a willpower text in person. Partial as he was to Su Yu, opportunities like this were exceedingly rare, so he had summoned the others as well. Liu Wenyan stood alongside the Old Principal before a massive desk. There was no paper; instead, a vast animal hide lay spread across the surface. It was enormous! A basin of bright red liquid also rested on the desk, serving as ink. At that moment, Liu Wenyan was grinding it down. A look of heartache flickered in the Old Principal's eyes. Every bit of this cost merit points. Over a hundred of them! For the sake of this single willpower text, the academy was bleeding serious wealth. "Watch closely in a moment, all of you!" "Opportunities like this don't come often. If you can't bear the strain, close your eyes and rest immediately. Don't force yourselves to endure it!" The Old Principal gave his warning. In truth, the others were not suited to watch this at all. Divine character cultivation was something even a civilization academy would not teach before a student reached twenty percent willpower saturation. Naturally, students would not try to learn it beforehand either; it would be a total waste. Observing a willpower text—especially one being transcribed live—was far from free. In a civilization academy, a single session in such a class cost at least five merit points, and that was for a large lecture hall with crowds of spectators, subsidized as a benefit for students. If an outsider wished to view one, it was not merely a matter of merit points; it depended on whether the Civilization Master would even agree. Transcribing such a work took a massive toll on one's willpower. "Today, Instructor Liu will transcribe the *Thunder Yuan Saber*, a low-tier Profound-rank martial technique. Absorb as much as you can." The Old Principal cautioned them once more. Because Liu Wenyan's willpower had broken through into the Tengkong Realm, the people of Nanyuan now possessed some understanding of Civilization Masters. It was not like before, when Nanyuan had lacked a single Civilization Master for decades, leaving Su Yu and his peers completely in the dark. When something had not been seen for decades, no one talked much about it. Now, times were different, and the other students were beside themselves with excitement. A willpower text! A Tengkong Realm powerhouse was transcribing it before their eyes, opening the path of divine characters for them. Beside Su Yu, Liu Yue's eyes shone brightly. She could not help glancing at him, well aware that Instructor Liu was likely transcribing this willpower text because of Su Yu. Aside from Su Yu, the rest of them—herself included—would not gain much from watching. Writing it now was actually somewhat wasteful. Having viewed a willpower text before, she understood just how costly it was. If one were to commission a Civilization Master to write one, setting aside the materials and considering only the fee to hire the master, no one would likely agree for less than a hundred merit points. Slaying a Tengkong Realm foe yielded roughly the same reward. *His willpower fullness was only at ten percent last time...* A trace of jealousy stirred in Liu Yue's heart. She could not comprehend why Liu Wenyan favored Su Yu so heavily. When Bai Feng had visited, her willpower saturation had already reached fifteen percent, and after all this time, she had even begun attempting to observe original fragments of all-races manuals. That meant she was either nearing or had already reached twenty percent. Yet throughout this past month, Liu Wenyan had brought Su Yu everywhere while never once considering taking her along. Liu Yue felt envious and a bit resentful, though the feeling soon dissolved into a soft sigh. Perhaps Instructor Liu simply felt she did not belong to his class. In reality, Liu Wenyan had never thought that way. He simply knew that the things he taught Su Yu were things no one else could learn. A Kaiyuan ambushing a Qianjun? Spending a whole week in a storehouse packed with corpses? Teaching even more languages of the myriad races? The others had yet to master the ones they already had. Whenever something truly suited everyone, such as today, he did not teach Su Yu alone. Even if the others would not gain much, willpower texts were not something just anyone had the privilege to study. Had this been a civilization academy, charging five merit points per person would have been the bare minimum. No, five points would not even begin to cover it, as five points was the baseline for elementary texts. Today, he was transcribing a Profound-rank technique like the *Thunder Yuan Saber*. If he charged ten or even twenty merit points, students in a civilization academy would still flock to it in droves. Liu Wenyan remained silent, gathering his focus. Having only recently achieved will manifestation, transcribing a Profound-rank martial technique was slightly beyond his current capabilities. Only when Su Yu and the others reached a civilization academy would they understand what a steep price was required to transcribe a Profound-rank art. At a civilization academy, that was something reserved for full researchers. "Quiet!" Liu Wenyan gave a low bark, instantly silencing the whispering students. His expression turned grave. Strands of his graying hair drifted upward, and a faint golden light radiated from his body. "I am about to begin transcribing. Watch, but do not make a sound. If you feel you can no longer bear it, close your eyes immediately!" The students nodded hastily. Su Yu waited in eager anticipation. A martial technique, and a Profound-rank one at that—he could hardly contain his excitement. A willpower text was equivalent to an expert with an extraordinarily deep mastery of the *Thunder Yuan Saber* laying bare their entire cultivation process and its results for you, completely unobstructed! Crushing it into pieces, pulling it apart, and teaching it to you step by step—it was a hundred times more effective than conventional instruction! That was precisely why advanced willpower texts were priceless and impossible to obtain through wealth alone. *Whoosh!* A wind rose. Origin qi converged, making the desks and chairs throughout the office rattle and tremble, yet the massive desk before Liu Wenyan remained utterly still. Liu Wenyan used no brush. With blood essence serving as ink, ordinary brushes could not withstand the energy. Civilization Masters in civilization academies possessed specialized brushes of their own, but he had none. Using his finger in place of a brush, Liu Wenyan dipped it in the blood, his finger like a sword, and began writing upon the hide. "Thunder Yuan Saber..." *Boom!* As if thunder had descended upon the world, the moment Liu Wenyan inscribed those three characters, lightning seemed to erupt on all sides! "Ah!" A female student gasped in fright, a look of terror in her eyes. Just a moment ago, she had felt as though a bolt of lightning had struck straight toward her. Beside them, the Old Principal frowned slightly. Not out of displeasure at her outcry, but because... it meant her willpower was far too frail to withstand the strain. This was merely the beginning. *A pity! Truly a pity!* The Old Principal sighed inwardly. He wondered whether she would regret missing such an opportunity in the future. Unable to endure even the opening meant she would gain almost nothing from this session. "Close your eyes!" the Old Principal barked softly as he saw the girl turning pale. Terrified, she squeezed her eyes shut. Her face remained white, and she did not dare look again. Among the remaining eleven students, Su Yu and Liu Yue looked entirely unfazed. Of the other nine, some had turned pale, while others still appeared relatively composed. Su Yu had no attention to spare for anyone else. His eyes were glued to Liu Wenyan's transcription. Upon the beast hide, a second Liu Wenyan seemed to emerge. He was cultivating the Thunder Yuan Saber! Lightning flared in all directions as the "Liu Wenyan" stood with saber in hand, letting thunder crash around him while delivering slash after slash. The strikes were agonizingly slow—so slow that Su Yu could hardly wait for the next. "The Thunder Yuan Saber mobilizes forty acupoints, though that refers to the final strike." "It consists of nine strikes in total, each stronger than the last and each mobilizing more acupoints. As you are now, even if you understand and master it, you may not be able to execute it." "At the Kaiyuan Realm, one can barely unleash the first strike, and that applies only to those at the eighth stage and above!" "Eight acupoints—preferably nine aligned as one. Once the slash is loosed, your origin qi will be thoroughly depleted, for this is no martial technique meant for the Kaiyuan Realm." "Those at the eighth stage had best not use it. To execute the first strike safely, reach the ninth stage, align nine acupoints as one, and absorb ambient origin qi before slashing. Otherwise, using it at the eighth stage will injure your body." These words came not from Liu Wenyan, who was wholly absorbed in his work and drenched in sweat, but from the Old Principal, who was warning the students—especially Su Yu. Liu Wenyan transcribing the *Thunder Yuan Saber* for him was technically beyond Su Yu's current level. However, this carried an advantage: even after reaching the Qianjun or Wanshi Realm, Su Yu could continue practicing it without having to discard it at higher stages. *Rumble!* Su Yu was paying no attention to the explanation. His vision was filled with roaring thunder and Liu Wenyan practicing the saber. Liu Wenyan had already inscribed dozens of characters. Several figures of "Liu Wenyan" now appeared across the desk, repeatedly executing slashes. The exact same slash! This was the first strike of the Thunder Yuan Saber. "Hiss..." Beside him, someone drew a sharp breath of pain and clamped their eyes shut. During the first strike alone, six of the remaining eleven students could watch no longer and shut their eyes one after another. Of the five who remained, aside from Su Yu and Liu Yue, the other three turned deathly pale. Liu Wenyan kept writing. Moments later, those three could hold on no longer and closed their eyes as well. By this point, even Liu Yue was feeling a throbbing headache. Her willpower had improved recently, but with Liu Wenyan jumping straight into a Profound-rank martial technique, the strain was pushing her to her limits. The demonstration of the first strike soon concluded. First strike—Thunder Strike! Second strike—Thunder Motion! This time, heavenly thunder truly seemed to shudder through the air in a continuous roar. The figure of Liu Wenyan upon the beast hide slashed even faster, acupoints blazing with light. *Boom!* The blade swept forward like a stampede of ten thousand beasts. "The second strike mobilizes twelve acupoints, cultivable at the Qianjun Realm!" The Old Principal continued his commentary. In truth, he was speaking almost exclusively to Su Yu now; beads of sweat covered Liu Yue's forehead, and she was already struggling to endure the second strike. Su Yu, though slightly pale, had eyes that burned with brilliant intensity. Completely absorbed in the display, he looked capable of holding on much longer. *No wonder Old Liu values him so much...* The Old Principal mused to himself. He had initially favored Liu Yue, since her willpower was stronger than Su Yu's. Granted, the gap between them was not massive now, but compared to Su Yu, the difference had laid itself bare. Observing a willpower text demanded more than sheer willpower; it required tenacity. When you were deeply immersed, the figure in the text felt as though he were slashing straight at you. The thunder felt as though it were crashing directly against your body. If you grew fearful, shrank back, or succumbed to the pain, you would be unable to bear it. Raw willpower merely granted you the chance to observe more; it did not guarantee that you could. *Liu Yue is just a young girl after all, someone who hasn't faced true life-and-death trials. But this kid, Su Yu... he's actually killed people!* The Old Principal sighed with emotion. Su Yu had genuinely taken lives. Not during his hunt for the All-Races Sect cultists with Liu Wenyan, but back when Chen Hao had reported that merit at the academy. The Old Principal was certain now that the kill had not belonged to Chen Hao, but to Su Yu. A fourth-stage Kaiyuan student daring to ambush and slay a seventh-stage Qianjun powerhouse! That took immense guts! That took sheer bloody grit! And, of course... a touch of reckless audacity! *I hope Old Liu hasn't misjudged him.* Though the Old Principal was not remarkably powerful, his forty years of friendship with Liu Wenyan meant he understood far more than most. That Liu Wenyan had been able to dwell peacefully in the academy for so many years was largely due to him. Forty years ago, the Old Principal had retired from the front lines after sustaining severe injuries and assumed the post of principal at Nanyuan Secondary Academy. At the time, he was merely at the ninth stage of the Qianjun Realm—weak, and ignorant of many higher matters. He knew only one principle: those under his charge were comrades in life and death! Whatever had happened in the past, once someone came to Nanyuan Academy, they fell under his wing. Thus, he and Liu Wenyan had gradually forged a bond of unshakeable friendship. The memory flickered and vanished. In the next instant, the Old Principal moved, seizing Liu Yue and pulling her aside as he barked in a low voice, "Do not force yourself!" "Principal..." Liu Yue looked devastated. Glancing toward Su Yu, who remained engrossed in the text, she nearly broke down. "I... I couldn't even finish watching the second strike... Principal... I..." She had always believed herself to be stronger than Su Yu! When Bai Feng had inscribed the *Kaiyuan Art*, she had fallen short of him, but at least she had watched that text to completion. This time, the gap was glaring. She had failed to finish even the second strike! Yet Su Yu, despite his paleness, kept his eyes wide and piercing, continuing to absorb every stroke as Liu Wenyan proceeded to the third strike. By now, Liu Wenyan was also turning pale, large beads of sweat rolling down his brow. *Thunder!* At that moment, Su Yu stopped observing the third strike. He found it difficult to grasp, and Liu Wenyan's blade was moving too fast for his eyes to follow. Just then, he suddenly noticed a character that seemed to have come alive. *Thunder!* The "Thunder" of the Thunder Yuan Saber! Throughout the entire manual, the character that appeared most frequently was "Thunder," even more so than "Saber." This was a saber technique created by an expert who had contemplated lightning. Thunder and lightning carried immense power, blistering speed, and terrifying destructive force. That expert had once watched lightning annihilate a mountain peak, reducing its summit to scorched earth, and from that sight had forged the Thunder Yuan Saber. Now, Su Yu saw that very lightning. Only thunder remained before his eyes, its electricity destroying all in its path, blasting peaks and rending the cosmos. *Thunder... what terrifying power...* Su Yu mused, feeling no fear whatsoever. The lightning carried an aura meant to inspire dread, as if trying to force onlookers to cower, but Su Yu was genuinely unafraid. In his memories, he had dreamed since childhood of lightning-wreathed beasts slaughtering him. He had been terrified when he was little—scared out of his wits. By now, however, Su Yu had long ceased to care. Over the years, he had been struck dead by lightning, ripped apart by claws, devoured alive, had his heart hollowed out, and been hacked to pieces inch by inch... One got used to it! Over three thousand dreams; over three thousand ways to die. When you had experienced over three thousand deaths without going mad or breaking down, it meant you were mature. The cost of that maturity had been rather steep. In his youth, he had nearly died of sudden exhaustion from refusing to sleep, but once he grew accustomed to it, things became much easier. Seeing the character for "Thunder" baring its fangs and brandishing its claws, Su Yu found it almost amusing. What if it struck him dead? *It's not like I haven't been electrocuted to death before...* The thought drifted through Su Yu's mind. With his previous experience, he knew this was a sign that he had discovered a divine character suited to him. The divine character "Thunder"! Su Yu set about capturing it. He grabbed hold of the character's... leg? It seemed to be a leg, though he had no idea whether a mere written character could actually have legs. In any case, he caught hold of what felt like a leg and dragged it toward his mind. Liu Wenyan, who was still inscribing the *Thunder Yuan Saber*, shuddered slightly. He glanced sideways, exhausted, yet unable to hold back a smile. This kid... had actually discovered a divine character suited to him once again. Not every character could become a divine character, nor could just any willpower text allow someone to comprehend one. It had to be an exact match. Even a genius like Bai Feng had observed numerous willpower texts before finally outlining the foundation of his first divine character. Some students spent immense fortunes observing dozens of willpower texts or poring over countless original racial manuals before ever securing a chance to outline a divine character. Many did not outline a divine character until reaching the Character Cultivation stage, and failing to outline one even during Character Cultivation was entirely common. All because they had not found a character that suited them. Yet Su Yu, after only two viewings, had found a compatible divine character both times. Even Liu Wenyan felt surprised and delighted. *Good boy...* He praised him inwardly, but that momentary lapse in concentration brought trouble! His willpower was severely depleted; he was struggling to keep writing. Reaching the third strike had pushed him to his limits. Still, if he gritted his teeth, he could barely continue. After a moment's thought, Liu Wenyan clenched his teeth and pushed forward to the fourth strike. That would be enough for the boy to use until the peak of Qianjun or even into the Wanshi Realm. As for the rest... he would just fake it. The characters would be genuine; he simply would not imbue them with willpower. In any case, the boy would have no use for anything beyond the fourth strike before reaching Wanshi. Once he did, Liu Wenyan could always write it for him again if the chance arose. Liu Wenyan continued writing, while Su Yu resumed his previous method, pummeling the little "Thunder" character into submission. This time proved far harder than the last, as the little "Thunder" character kept blasting him with electricity. In the physical room, Su Yu's body twitched and shuddered as though he had touched a live wire, shaking incessantly while his hair began to stand on end. Watching from the side, the Old Principal clicked his tongue in wonder! By then, Liu Wenyan had finished the fourth strike, panting heavily. The Old Principal cast him an inquiring glance, but Liu Wenyan shook his head slightly to signal that he was fine. Then, he began writing the fifth strike. At this point, the Old Principal sensed that something was off. The man was writing far too fast! Earlier, he had etched each character as though hauling a mountain, struggling with every stroke. Now, he was flying across the hide, finishing the fifth strike in the blink of an eye. "Old Liu?" The Old Principal looked puzzled. What was going on? "Hit my stride..." Liu Wenyan panted heavily, his tone flat. He had found his rhythm, so naturally he was faster. It wasn't as if the Old Principal could tell the difference anyway! Not only could the Old Principal not tell, but Su Yu would not be able to spot the fake either until he reached the Character Cultivation stage. *Four strikes are real; the rest are bogus... By the time you realize it, you won't even be in Nanyuan anymore.* Liu Wenyan muttered to himself. When that day came, he would simply claim that the willpower had faded with time. What could Su Yu say to that? It wouldn't be his own incompetence, but the boy's uselessness for taking so long to reach the fifth strike—embarrassing! Making him write such a long willpower text all for nothing!