Chapter 258 – Strike of Thunder … … … “Lin Ming can actually control the power of thunder!” “He is a thunder-attribute martial artist, this is his hidden card!” “Look how thick those electric snakes are; that’s probably a fifth, or even sixth-grade fusion.” The audience discussed amongst themselves. To the disciples of the Seven Profound Valleys, a thunder-attribute martial artist wasn’t too rare. What was rare was a sixth-grade fusion thunder-attribute martial artist. In the Grand Hall of the Seven Profound Valleys, Mu Qinghong smiled as she looked at the electric snakes that coiled round Lin Ming, “This little kid actually waited until the finals to use the power of thunder.” At this point, she was completely positive of Lin Ming’s identity. According to the description from Mu Qianyu, Lin Ming’s symbol was his power of thunder. Mu Qianyu speculated that Lin Ming’s thunder origin energy fusion compatibility was no less amazing than hers – it was seventh-grade or above! This was simply a monstrous talent! Regardless of whether it was Lin Ming’s martial intent or his combat ability that allowed him to jump realms when fighting, just his talent in thunder-attribute origin energy was enough for a large sect to raise him with massive amounts of resources. Mu Qinghong shot a glance at Shi Zongtian sitting by her side. He didn’t seem to have any special reaction. Mu Qinghong’s mouth curved in a smile. If Shi Zongtian knew that Lin Ming controlled a Purple Flood Dragon Divine Thunder level Thunder Soul, then he probably would be shocked out of his seat. In the center of the martial stage, Lin Ming’s entire body was wrapped in electric snakes. His hair wantonly danced in the wind; he looked just like a demonic war god that crashed down from the heavens in a hail of thunderous fury. “The power of thunder is the absolute counter to ghosts and Yin energy. Every time you use your Acacia Faction’s cultivation methods, the crying ghosts you produce will be restrained by my power. I’d like to see just how you’ll stop this!” Lin Ming’s eyes flashed with a cold light, and the lightning twined endlessly around his body in a dazzling purple visual display, he was just like a purple sun! Golden Roc Shattering the Void! Lin Ming instantly reached the limit of his speed! On the martial stage, Lin Ming soared around, a series of shadows following in his wake. In every shadow, there were purple arcs of thunder that sparkled within! Zi zi zi! The savage power of thunder was like a vorpal sword as it stabbed towards Ouyang Zifeng. Zheng! Ouyang Zifeng pulled out his treasure sword from the snake skin scabbard. This treasure sword was four feet long and completely blood red. Ouyang Zifeng had drawn his sword! Ouyang Zifeng believed in his own ability. There was only one person who had managed to force him to draw his sword, and that was at the finale of the battle. But now, Lin Ming had managed to do so in just one move, and Ouyang Zifeng was unable to shoulder the result. Not to mention not drawing his sword, even if he did, he might not be able to block this strike. Ouyang Zifeng also rushed forwards at the limit of his speed. The sharp sword and power of thunder collided again and again in fiercely brutal strikes! Peng peng peng! The audience could only see the blurred shadows of two people, and the flashing of purple lightning on the stage! “What’s happening onstage? Who’s winning?” “I don’t know. Since Lin Ming can force Ouyang Zifeng to draw his sword, then he has some ability. Lin Ming shouldn’t be much inferior to Ouyang Zifeng. He might be able to persist for some time.” “Inferior? Persist for some time? You think that our 36 countries’ Lin Ming is inferior? You idiot, just wait and see, Ouyang Zifeng is nothing but a side dish!” The one who refuted was a martial artist from the 36 countries. These past days, the martial artists of the 36 countries had been bullied by the Seven Profound Valleys. Now that they had an opportunity to be proud and gloat, they naturally would not miss it. “Humph. It’s too early for you to be happy. Even if Ouyang Zifeng cannot defeat Lin Ming, they won’t differ by much. Wait for our direct disciples to go onstage and then you will know what it means to despair!” Hearing the title of the seven direct disciples, the martial artist from the 36 countries couldn’t say anything. The seven direct disciples were simply too formidable. Even though he had full confidence in Lin Ming, he didn’t believe Lin Ming could defeat them. The martial artist mumbled some more trash talk and then no longer spoke. On the martial stage, Ouyang Zifeng was only defending, not attacking at all. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to go on the offensive, it was that he couldn’t. Any Yin Qi that he gathered around him was instantly dispelled by the lightning shocks. In this fierce battle, his true essence reserves were quickly depleting. “This fellow is releasing so much power of thunder, his energy consumption rate has to be higher than mine. As long as I can last a bit longer, the one who loses won’t be me!” Ouyang Zifeng had just thought of this idea when Lin Ming suddenly sarcastically said, “You can only hide? I’m waiting for your so-called ‘hidden card’. If you don’t use it now, you might not have the opportunity to use it later.” Lin Ming’s right hand suddenly formed into a fist. Thick purple electric snakes completely gathered on his fast, forming a blinding purple light. 5000 vibrating true essence filaments violently surged outwards, interweaving with the power of thunder and transforming into a deep purple. This was the union of Body Tearing Bone Shattering Fist and the power of thunder! “Insolence!” Ouyang stimulated his true essence, and a purple flame shot up his longsword. The wails of ghosts emitted from the sword blade. “Nether Strike!” Ouyang Zifeng suppressed the numb feeling that the power of lightning was causing and stabbed out with his sword. A horrible-looking ghost face appeared on the purple flaming blade piercing towards Lin Ming. Lin Ming didn’t even glance at it, he only punched out. Bang! 5000 pure purple vibrating true essence filaments rushed forwards like vicious Purple Flood Dragons. They crashed into the ghostly face, directly shredding it to bits! Right after, the purple thunder-imbued true essence broke open Ouyang Zifeng’s protective Yin Qi, and then sunk into his body, overwhelming him. Ouyang Zifeng’s body shook, and he vomited a mouthful of blood. He was sent soaring back dozens of feet into the air, tumbling back even after he landed. He was finally able to barely stop himself as he knelt down on his knees, propping himself up with his sword and wiping the blood from his mouth. In that moment, Ouyang Zifeng felt as if his entire body was being torn apart; he almost thought he would die. Lin Ming stretched out his hand, and purple true essence ran out from Ouyang Zifeng’s body, returning to his hand. After he had absorbed the Purple Blood Dragon Divine Thunder, he had gained the ability to consciously imbue his true essence with the power of thunder. Of course, he could also contain the power of thunder within his Body Tearing Bone Shattering Fist. “Lin Ming, victory!” The referee Elder looked deeply at Lin Ming as he announce the result. If Lin Ming could defeat Ouyang Zifeng, that proved he had an enormous chance to reach the top 10! For a 16 year old boy from the 36 countries, this was a result that both shocked and terrified everyone. Lin Ming turned around to leave the martial stage. Lin Ming fought Ouyang Zifeng for a short period of time, but ultimately Lin Ming won by overwhelming superior power. “Ouyang Zifeng was also defeated! Will a country bumpkin martial artist from the 36 countries really reach the top ten rankings!?” “This fellow already injured Ouyang Zifeng’s little brother Ouyang Ziyun at Desert Flower Hall, to the point where he couldn’t participate in the competition. Now he has defeated Ouyang Zifeng. He is really bullying them to the extreme, his bullying has even reached their front door!” Seeing the chances of Lin Ming reaching the top 10 increase, many disciples of the Seven Profound Valleys were either unwilling or unconvinced of seeing this happen. Most of them had been born in the Seven Profound Valleys; they had an innate sense of superiority and looked down on martial artists from the 36 countries and 16 martial families. But now, they had been eliminated and yet there was some damn boy from the 36 countries that actually wanted to compete for the top 10. This was just like a Crown Prince who was suddenly slapped by an upstart brat that came from a village. It had to be known that being in the top 10 of the Total Faction Martial Meeting meant great honor and enormous rewards. This also meant that later they would obtain the valuable resources and vigorous support of the sect. This was a situation that many disciples longed for in their dreams. If they could become a core disciple, not only would their cultivation grow by leaps and bounds, but they would be able to freely choose from the beautiful female disciples of the Seven Profound Valleys. Perhaps because of true essence tempering their bodies, a female martial artist with martial talent would have an exquisite beauty. Especially the disciples of the Seven Profound Valleys’ Mirage Faction and Zither Faction; their beauty was simply startling and much more charming and alluring than those rouge covered women of the common land. They wouldn’t mind or say anything if one of the seven direct disciples or a core disciple was in the top 10, but now a country bumpkin martial artist from the 36 countries also wanted to reach the top 10. The top 10 ranking disciples were destined to enter the Total Faction and qualify as core disciples. These disciples of the Seven Profound Valleys could only think that in the future, Lin Ming would divide their resources and enjoy their women, how could they swallow this feeling? This was called envy, jealousy, hatred, and was the best way to portray the current feelings running through their hearts. “Just wait. His climb up won’t last much longer. The Acacia Faction’s direct disciple Ouyang Ming is good friends with Ouyang Zifeng. He will definitely help Ouyang Zifeng return this favor. If Lin Ming is seriously injured, I want to see just how he will struggle for the top 10.” Those that were eliminated by a direct disciple could only curse in their hearts and accept their fate. The Seven Profound Valleys’ disciples hoped that Lin Ming would be so injured that he couldn’t fight again. After Lin Ming left, the referee announced the next match – Jiang Lanjian against Sun Lin. With this, the entire audience began to seethe with excitement. This was in stark contrast to the tepid reaction that Lin Ming had received a moment ago. In the Seven Profound Valleys, Jiang Lanjian’s reputation was no less than those of the seven direct disciples. There were also many people that thought he was superior to some of the weaker direct disciples. For instance, they believed he was stronger than the Refiner Faction’s Han Yanluo, or the Array Faction’s Fang Qi. After all, the Refiner Faction and Array Faction had to spend a massive amount of time and effort on their auxiliary skills. Their cultivation methods weren’t as powerful in terms of combat; they were best applied towards refining and array formations. Because of this, they could not compare to Jiang Lanjian who walked the path of swordsmanship and pursued the strongest offensive power. Jiang Lanjian walked onstage. He wore the black clothes he constantly wore, and he carried a three foot six inch treasure sword. As he stood at the center of the martial stage, it was as if he were a bright sword, gleaming cold and emitting a threatening combative air! Jiang Lanjian’s opponent Sun Lin was from the Refiner Faction. He was the second ranked disciple of the Refiner Faction’s younger generation, only inferior to the direct disciple, Han Yanluo. Sun Lin had participated in the last Total Faction Martial Meeting and had reached rank 22. Now, his cultivation had increased and he entered the finals undefeated. During this Martial Meeting he would undoubtedly reach the top 20. He even had some hopes of reaching the top 10. “Sword Faction disciple Jiang Lanjian, please advise.” Regardless of who he faced, Jiang Lanjian would always perform a polite sword ceremony before a match. “Senior-apprentice Brother Jiang, please advise. I’ve made enormous progress these last three years, I won’t be so easy to deal with.” Sun Lin smiled as he said this. To maintain a smile in front of Jiang Lanjian was also a form of great self-confidence. As Sun Lin spoke, he extracted a claymore from his spatial ring. This claymore was colored like burning flames, and was four feet long. As the sword was pulled out from its scabbard, a shimmering flame ignited on the blade, a torrid heat wave rolling outwards. Some of those that were close in the audience couldn’t help but step back. “Just the heat wave itself has so much power. This Sun Lin is also not ordinary, he might not even be any worse than that Lin Ming from a moment ago.” “This year’s Total Faction Martial Meeting is truly bursting with talent. Not only are their two talents from the 36 countries and 16 martial families, but even our Seven Profound Valleys’ talents have surpassed the past.”