Nine Heavenly Thunder Manual Chapter 5 – Where the sky meets the earth

Ch 5 – Where the sky meets the earth

“The test is divided into two parts, written and martial arts. Entering Dragon Group is extremely strict, if one does not have higher abilities than an ordinary person, I advise you to leave as soon as possible, no need to waste everyone’s time here.” Fan Hong Chang did not care about the relations.h.i.+p between Nuo Hu and Lei Yu so he did not have a fawning smile. He had the face of an impartial judge.

“Can I start?” Lei Yu asked with indifference. Raising his head exposing his face with arrogance, this was Lei Yu’s biggest change. Being constantly humiliated at a young age, this has made Lei Yu’s personality different from an ordinary person.

This simple reaction from Lei Yu made the so called “iron mask” judge’s face light up a bit. If one did not have some air of arrogance, they were considered spineless (feeble). Even possessing a good innate talent, if one did not have a mindset and personality to back it up, they were equal to useless trash.

Outside the walls of the testing area, soldiers crowded around to watch. They wanted to see what ability this arrogant guy had, daring to stand there waiting to be tested by himself.

Lei Yu’s performance made Fan Hong Chang and all the surrounding soldiers dumbfounded. A normal person could carry the weight of 200 jin as their maximum limit, Lei Yu was carrying on his shoulders barbells weighing 270 jin while steadily jogging around. This made all the nearby newbie recruits jaws drop in surprise.

Originally, the strength test and stamina test were separate, but Lei Yu carrying the barbells went for a run. A lap around the testing area was about 200 meters, Lei Yu ran 30 laps which was equivalent to 6 kilometers (3.7 miles). Running with weights on him was a simple task, this past year, Lei Yu went through a myriad of physical training while in the [Body Refining] stage.

“He pa.s.ses! He pa.s.ses! Strength and endurance far exceeds an ordinary person!” Fan Hong Chang excitedly ran towards Lei Yu. Grasping the barbell on Lei Yu’s shoulder with one hand, he then casually throws it aside. This soldier was definitely material that would enter the Dragon Team in the future. Anyone of the “3 mountains” would be extremely happy at this point.

Standing outside the testing ground, all the newbie recruits were shocked. The original eyes of disdain had disappeared without a trace replaced with surprise and admiration. Was this something humans were capable of?

Rules were rules, Lei Yu had to partic.i.p.ate in the other test as well, but for someone that grew up reading many books, the next test was actually by far the easiest task for him out of everything. Lei Yu’s performance on the second test garnered cheers and applause. After testing, the next day will be conducting team a.s.signment.

Typically, soldiers were required to live in the military barracks. Lei Yu got got rid of the stigma of entering Dragon Group through the back door with Nuo Hu’s connection. He was now able to continue living in the solitary apartments, allowing him to cultivate without being disturbed.

Nuo Hu and Lei Yu both ate a simple lunch, then went to a nearby supermarket to buy daily necessities for Lei Yu.

Lei Yu was very grateful towards Nuo Hu. When he was back in the Lei family household, he and Nuo Hu were relatively good friends. Now expelled from the family and penniless, this friend of his was still treating him very well. Compared to his heartless cold blooded family, this difference was too great.

Walking towards the supermarket, Lei Yu turned around and said: “Thank you Nuo Hu.”

“Thanking me for what? For helping you?” Nuo Hu smiled and said: “We two grew up as close as brothers, why are you saying those words to me? You don’t have a home, but you have me as a good friend, a good brother, doesn’t that make up for it?

Lei Yu’s eyes became moist. Lei Yu did not cry when he left the Lei family. Alone in an unknown place for over a year, he struggled and survived it. But facing Nuo Hu’s statement, Lei Yu could not restrain his tears.

“Thanks, thank you!” Lei Yu said emotionally.

“Come on, don’t be like this.” Nuo Hu patted Lei Yu’s shoulders, “I’m older than you by two months, how about we two become sworn brothers?”

Lei Yu immediately nodded. Regarding relations.h.i.+ps, Lei Yu was extremely eager for them. Whether it was familial relations.h.i.+ps or friends.h.i.+p, Lei Yu would treasure them. Since he had lost his family and his home, now someone was willing to become his sworn brother, to Lei Yu, this was undoubtedly a colossal gift.

Not needing to hold any formal ceremony, and only needing the words between the two to form a brotherhood, this was considered a real relations.h.i.+p.

Since they were now brothers, Lei Yu did not withhold any secrets and told Nuo Hu about the brand on his arm and all the details of the martial cultivation methods imprinted into his mind. Nuo Hu was naturally very happy for Lei Yu.

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Never stopping his cultivation, the surging internal strength inside his body cannot be compared to the weak body from a year ago. Invigorating internal energy was now circulating around his body and meridians. And Lei Yu was able to manipulate his internal energy with relative ease. Each time he pushes and circulates his internal energy, he will gain some benefits from the workout.

Night time – as the cool wind blows, one can see outside the window that the leaves on the trees were continuously swaying due to the wind. Lei Yu was sitting on the floor with his eyes closed cultivating.

Peering inside his body, the energy of the yellow bead from before was originally quiet, but now it suddenly started surging again. Like the current of the red sea, a flood of yellow energy was endlessly surging in the Sea of Energy point. Lei Yu panicked, using his own internal energy to wrap up and consume the yellow bead’s energy trying to make it his own. But no matter how hard he tried to consume it, the energy would find a gap to escape, he was unable to control it.

The yellow energy had the power to go from the meridians to the heart vessels’ pulse points. The vigorous energy scoured through Lei Yu’s internal impurities while also expanding his meridians. Lei Yu did not feel any discomfort, so he temporarily controlled his own energy to stay in the Sea of Energy point. He wanted to see what exactly the force of energy was up to.

The energy continued from the heart vessels going upwards, dividing and moving through different channels. Lei Yu panicked again, if it was only a single stream of energy, with some planning he could eventually fuse it together with his. At this rate, there were simply too many channels for him to stop. It was too late to fix anything now. Lei Yu’s forehead was covered with sweat, carefully monitoring the powerful energy, wanting to figure out just exactly what this energy was up to.

The energy continued without the slightest pause, continued flowing upwards through multiple channels. Its task was the same before, scouring and removing all the internal impurities, pus.h.i.+ng them outside of his body while travelling to its next destination.

Finally inside Lei Yu’s mind, the energy travelling in different channels converged together. In-between the eyebrows lie an important meridian point. If by chance an energy invades that area, it will be difficult to expel it. And trying to control the energy that has already invaded the meridian point will be a difficult task. Lei Yu regretted somewhat for not making a decision early on, then again, there weren’t any strange occurrences where the yellow energy pa.s.sed through, except for the expelling of impurities which is considered a positive thing.

Suddenly Lei Yu felt his mind become hazy. A yellow light was constantly swirling around, making Lei Yu feel a bit dizzy. Trying his utmost to control his brain… when he finally recovered, Lei Yu was surprised to find everything around him had changed. There’s nothing around him and looking at a distance, one could see where the sky meets the earth. (T/L: where the sky meets the ground forming a line)

Obstructing that line, Lei Yu saw two wild beasts fighting against each other savagely. Carefully observing, Lei Yu was surprised to find one of the wild beasts was exactly the one he had killed in the forest earlier on. Why did this wild beast suddenly appear in his mind?

And the appearance of the other wild beast, Lei Yu’s first instinct was a good omen, because the other beast was a Qilin. (T/L: aka Kirin, dragon head with a horse/deer/ox body).

The two wild beasts wrestled and tangled together, causing non-stop tremors at the line. A roar resonated through the sky and a powerful explosive force was felt inside Lei Yu’s mind.

Gradually, the battle between the two wild beasts slowed down. It appears the Qilin did not have enough stamina for the prolonged fight, and was eventually torn to pieces by the black wild beast. A yellow bead came out of the Qilin, continuously s.h.i.+mmering with light. The yellow bead was gulped down by the black wild beast, turning into a yellow gas and entering its body.

Lei Yu was surprised to find out the origin of the yellow bead came from the body of a Qilin. But why did he find it inside the head of the black wild beast? Gradually, Lei Yu completely comprehended the situation.

After witnessing this ground shaking battle amongst the backdrop where the sky met the earth, Lei Yu resumed control of his brain. The yellow energy in his head began to condense, increasing in speed, and eventually forming the yellow bead.

Lei Yu opened his eyes “wait a minute…” Lei Yu could not understand one point. The Qilin and the black beast would be comparable in power, why would the Qilin let itself be devoured? It’s even possible the Qilin was more powerful… what’s going on?

This whole matter made Lei Yu feel like his brain was going to short-circuit. No matter how much he thought about it, he could not come to a conclusion. As to what the main purpose of the yellow bead’s function was, Lei Yu did not know. He only knew it cleared a lot of impurities inside his body’s meridians.

Exhaling a breath, Lei Yu felt his whole body was sticky. Looking down at himself, his white t-s.h.i.+rt was covered in a black disgusting ooze that would make a person want to throw up. He immediately took off his clothes and went straight to the bathroom.