He Yiming turned his head to look. He happened to catch sight of Chu Haozhou’s expression of utter disbelief and asked, “Brother Chu, do you recognize the origin of this object?”
Chu Haozhou gave a wry smile. “Brother, I’ve seen this thing for over a hundred years now; do you think I wouldn’t recognize it?”
He Yiming’s heart stirred, and he suddenly recalled the most vital treasure of the Immortal Spirit Mountain lineage, crying out in astonishment, “Lei Zhenzi?”
Chu Haozhou nodded heavily, sighing, “We searched Hai Tian City with all our might and found absolutely nothing. But I never expected that after arriving here, we would stumble upon it by accident. This is truly a matter of time and fate.”
He Yiming stroked the sphere in his hand, his heart filled with emotion. He glanced at the Treasure Pig, which strutted along with a smug, self-important gait, looking as if it were the sole sovereign under heaven—a sight that was utterly comical.
“Brother, why would your Lei Zhenzi be here?” He Yiming inquired.
Chu Haozhou considered for a long time before finally saying, “I understand now. Lin Yiwu must have placed it here.”
He Yiming was greatly surprised and casually tossed the divine artifact onto the sand. Could that man have gone mad?
Chu Haozhou let out a long sigh. “This divine artifact has a peculiar trait: once it has been used, it must absorb the lightning power between heaven and earth to replenish itself before it can be used again.” He looked around. “Lin Yiwu must have used this artifact at least once within the last two years, which is why he left it here. This location is one of the spots on the island that accumulates the most lightning, making it the fastest place for Lei Zhenzi to restore its power.”
He Yiming finally understood. While this was indeed the largest nexus of lightning on the island, it was also one of the most notorious restricted zones.
Once one reached this place, it was essentially deserted; no other people were ever seen here.
Given Lin Yiwu’s established habit of constructing his treasure vaults inside grand halls, leaving this treasure in such a desolate spot seemed unsurprising.
However, Lin Yiwu certainly hadn't accounted for the existence of the Treasure Pig in this world. No matter how precious an item, the more exquisite the treasure, the harder it was to conceal from the Pig’s spiritual senses—which was precisely why it ultimately fell into his possession.
Quietly sensing the sphere in his hand, He Yiming slowly channeled his True Qi into it.
A moment later, He Yiming’s expression drastically changed. In his perception, the sphere contained an entire world unto itself, a realm permeated by endless, surging lightning. Powerful bolts flickered in every corner, almost every second.
The instant his True Qi made contact, He Yiming immediately withdrew it; under the impact of such overwhelming energy, he dared not maintain contact for long.
He handed the Lei Zhenzi in his hand to Chu Haozhou. “Brother, you try it.”
Chu Haozhou accepted it and likewise channeled a wisp of True Qi into it. After a while, when he looked up, a trace of sheer terror was etched onto his face.
He let out a heavy sigh. “Younger Brother, we are quite fortunate this time. The lightning energy within this Lei Zhenzi is almost fully replenished. Thank goodness Lin Yiwu didn't have it on him then; otherwise, I would never have managed to kill him that day.”
He Yiming nodded slightly. Seeing the look of dread on Chu Haozhou’s face, He Yiming silently added: It’s likely not just that killing him would have been difficult, but even retreating whole would have been a real challenge.
This was the power of a divine artifact. Even if it were only one-twenty-fourth of the whole, perhaps not even one percent of the true artifact’s might, it still commanded such formidable strength.
He Yiming pondered for a while. “Brother Chu, is the power within this object still incomplete?”
Chu Haozhou returned the Lei Zhenzi to He Yiming. “If this object’s energy is depleted, it turns completely black. If the lightning power is fully charged, it will turn a purplish-gold. Since its current color is golden-yellow, it naturally has not stored up its full strength.”
He Yiming’s eyebrows shot up. He placed the Lei Zhenzi before Lightning (Lei Dian). “Lightning, release your power and let’s see if this thing is as miraculous as the legends claim.”
Lightning lowered its head, tilting it to observe the fist-sized implement. It seemed capable of sensing the immense power contained within. After turning its large head a few times, it slowly backed away.
He Yiming and the others exchanged glances and simultaneously retreated backward, putting a distance between themselves and Lightning that was at least double the creature’s own height.
Even Bai Lingba (One-Hundred-and-Eight) was no exception to this caution.
After retreating several zhang, the white horse Lightning let out a soft whinny.
Its four hooves began to lift and set down gently, each movement appearing deliberately solemn. He Yiming sighed inwardly; the name ‘divine artifact’ was indeed well-deserved. A mere single Lei Zhenzi made Lightning so cautious, treating the situation as if facing a great enemy.
Finally, visible purple arcs of electricity began to flicker above the horse’s single horn.
Although these electric arcs did not appear massive, He Yiming and the others could easily feel the immense power they contained.
This was the power of lightning, one of nature’s most formidable forces. Under Lightning’s control, these bolts spread out from the horn, forming a vast net of electricity around its body. After a moment, this circle gradually shrank, slowly condensing back toward the horn.
However, by this point, the scale of the lightning emanating from the horn was several times larger than it had been initially.
Even with Lightning’s strength, it required such a prolonged period to accumulate this charge; this showed that the lightning power gathered on the horn this time was truly extraordinary.
He Yiming and the others held their breath.
Although Chu Haozhou had suggested that Lightning’s electricity should be sufficient to replenish the Lei Zhenzi’s expenditure, this was merely his estimation; no one could be certain. Thus, watching Lightning prepare to strike, their hearts were unavoidably filled with anxiety.
Crackling sound...
A streak of purple light flashed through the air, instantly striking the Lei Zhenzi.
Lightning’s movement was so swift that even He Yiming couldn't fully follow it; they all experienced a momentary blurring of vision as the bolt appeared in the air. Such speed gave one a strange sensation—as if the lightning had been stationary all along, merely shifting slightly because they had blinked.
The Lei Zhenzi, struck by the lightning, began to spin violently. The burst of crackling energy surrounding it did not dissipate but rather contracted rapidly around the sphere.
He Yiming and Chu Haozhou exchanged delighted glances; they were both overjoyed beyond expectation.
Lightning also let out a triumphant neigh, raising its head high, its demeanor radiating pride and invincibility.
Slowly, the purple electric glow encircling the Lei Zhenzi diminished, finally fading to nothing. What brought even greater joy was that the color of the Lei Zhenzi had indeed changed. It was no longer golden-yellow but had become entirely purplish-gold.
He Yiming stepped forward, picked up the Lei Zhenzi, and once again infused a trace of True Qi into it.
Instantly, he felt an overwhelming, sweeping force—a power so vast it seemed intent on tearing him into countless pieces in a single moment.
He Yiming gasped in alarm and swiftly retracted his True Qi, no longer daring to probe further so carelessly.
Taking a deep breath, He Yiming asked gravely, “Brother Chu, how exactly should this Lei Zhenzi be used?”
Chu Haozhou considered briefly. “Though I have never used it myself, the elders spoke that only by using Earth-element True Qi as a conduit can the lightning power within be guided out to subdue an enemy. However, this item can only be used once. Once employed, replenishing the lightning energy becomes extremely difficult. Therefore, one must never deploy it lightly unless in a critical moment.”
He Yiming finally felt relieved. He attempted to adjust his True Qi to the Earth element and slowly fed it into the Lei Zhenzi.
After a while, a faint smile finally appeared on He Yiming’s face.
It was just as Chu Haozhou had said. Using Earth-element True Qi to draw upon the artifact felt significantly easier, and he vaguely sensed that as long as Earth True Qi was used as the conductor, he would definitely be able to release its full power.
Of course, this was merely an intuition; whether it was accurate would require testing in actual combat.
Carefully tucking the Lei Zhenzi into his robes, He Yiming smiled broadly. “Let’s head into the sea now and see what treasures are actually contained in that treasure map.”
In truth, having obtained the Lei Zhenzi, He Yiming was already completely satisfied. Even if they found nothing underwater, he would feel no regret.
However, since they had come this far, they certainly had to take a look.
They subsequently walked down into the ocean one after another.
Chu Haozhou, being most familiar with the underwater terrain, naturally took the lead. He Yiming and Bai Lingba, carrying the Treasure Pig, followed closely. As for the white horse Lightning, it leisurely brought up the rear this time, its large eyes shining brightly, seemingly curious about the entire proceeding.
A strange ripple suddenly propagated through the water, causing He Yiming to look toward the distance in surprise.
Even underwater, he could clearly see many dark shapes swimming rapidly toward them from afar.
These entities were enormous, far larger than ordinary creatures, and they swam with incredible speed in the depths. Once they detected the presence of He Yiming and his companions, they rushed over as fast as they could.
There was no doubt that these things were the undisputed overlords of this stretch of ocean—schools of sharks from various species.
These shark hordes possessed formidable strength; every single shark radiated potent life force.
He Yiming’s brow furrowed slightly. To his knowledge, creatures that lived in groups typically had both old and young, and their life forces should not all be equally powerful and uniform.
A doubt arose in his mind: Did these sharks possess such immense life force from birth until death?
In an instant, the shark schools were close.
Chu Haozhou let out a cold snort, swept his wrist, and the seawater before him instantly solidified, sweeping past like a gigantic longsword that cleaved the first two charging sharks into quarters.
When this old master chose to act, his strike was like thunder and lightning, leaving absolutely no room for retreat.