After Lu Jin left, Lu Ming also walked out of the Thunderfire Hall and headed straight for the Ward Office.
Upon entering the familiar inner courtyard, Lu Ming was surprised to see Zhou Fuling's graceful figure standing suspended in midair. Her eyes were slightly closed, seemingly in the midst of cultivation, as a jade-like luster flowed across her fair skin.
What amazed Lu Ming the most was that behind Zhou Fuling was a pair of jade-green primordial energy wings. The wings flapped slowly, drawing in the primordial energy of heaven and earth to stabilize her body in midair, much like the feather robe of a Divine Ability Master.
“Is this... a flight divine ability?!”
An irrepressible look of envy surfaced in Lu Ming's eyes. Although one could form a Divine Ability Feather Robe to fly and soar through the sky with great convenience upon stepping into the Divine Ability Master realm, Zhou Fuling was already able to achieve this while still a Grand Divine Ability Practitioner.
This was the benefit of a flight divine ability. More importantly, such a divine ability could be stacked with a Divine Ability Feather Robe, greatly increasing one's flight speed. With an ability like this, one's survival capabilities would skyrocket.
But flight divine abilities were at least of the Upper Divine Ability rank and were extremely rare. In terms of value, they far surpassed ordinary Upper Divine Abilities.
The value of all the divine abilities in the Thunderfire Hall combined probably could not buy a single flight divine ability like this.
The fact that Zhou Fuling possessed such a flight divine ability as a Grand Divine Ability Practitioner was also enough to show that her background was truly extraordinary.
While Lu Ming was marveling at Zhou Fuling's flight divine ability, she also noticed his presence. Her tightly closed beautiful eyes suddenly snapped open, casting a sharp gaze toward him. Only when she saw it was Lu Ming did her gaze gradually soften.
“Brat, how dare you spy on my divine ability technique? I can't let you live!” But immediately after, a playful smile appeared on Zhou Fuling's fair face. With a light shout, the jade-green primordial energy wings on her back flapped vigorously, shooting out over a dozen jade-green light beams that rained down toward Lu Ming like arrows.
Sensing no killing intent within those jade-green beams of light, Lu Ming smiled. A dark-gold Flame Blade extended from his palm. Having advanced to a Grand Divine Ability Practitioner, he no longer needed to borrow the Fire Lotus primordial energy to execute the Flame Blade at the great perfection stage.
The Flame Blade slashed down, clanging repeatedly as it shattered all the jade-green light beams.
“Huh?”
Zhou Fuling gasped in surprise. Only then did she notice that the primordial energy fluctuations radiating from Lu Ming were several times stronger than before.
“You've become a Grand Divine Ability Practitioner?!”
A strange light flickered in Zhou Fuling's bright eyes, quickly followed by an eager, competitive look. She formed a hand seal with one hand, and a green glow flowed over her snow-white skin. From afar, she seemed to have transformed into a body of green jade, adding to her ethereal beauty.
At the same time, the primordial energy fluctuations radiating from her body surged violently.
“Let me play with you!”
Zhou Fuling chuckled. The primordial energy wings on her back flapped, and her figure transformed into a streak of green light that shot downward. At the same time, her slender, jade-green palm struck directly toward Lu Ming.
Boom!
Her seemingly slender and delicate hand directly exploded the air, producing a piercing boom.
A casual strike from her was even more shocking than Wang Chen's full-strength attack at the Hall Meet.
Lu Ming did not dare to be careless. The Divine Ability Dharma Inscriptions on his Divine Ability Bone lit up, drawing in the primordial energy of heaven and earth. The dark-gold Flame Blade in his hand grew increasingly dazzling and sharp as he slashed directly toward the incoming jade-green palm.
Clang!
The two collided head-on. Unexpectedly, when the palm and the blade clashed, it was Lu Ming's seemingly fierce and violent dark-gold fire blade that shattered.
Her delicate, jade-green hand seemed to be the hardest object in the world, directly crushing Lu Ming's Flame Blade, which was at the great perfection stage.
“An Upper Divine Ability physical divine ability?!”
Lu Ming was surprised once again. Zhou Fuling usually looked like a slender and delicate girl, yet he had not expected her to have cultivated an Upper Divine Ability-level physical divine ability. Moreover, from this initial exchange, Lu Ming sensed that her primordial energy strength was much greater than his.
Clearly, the Divine Ability Dharma Inscriptions Zhou Fuling had condensed were far superior to his.
Is this the genius of a great faction? Her foundation is simply too immense.
Lu Ming could not help but sigh. Physical divine abilities were also rare, especially those of the Upper Divine Ability rank. Yet now, both a physical divine ability and a flight divine ability had appeared on Zhou Fuling. Such a setup was indeed incomparable to disciples of Grade 3 Divine Ability Halls like them.
It seemed he had to quickly master the Thunderfire Whip. The setup of divine ability techniques he had once been proud of was starting to fall behind now that he had become a Grand Divine Ability Practitioner.
After crushing the Flame Blade, Zhou Fuling came to an abrupt halt just as she closed in on Lu Ming. The primordial energy wings on her back dissolved into green light, and the jade-like luster flowing over her delicate body faded away.
She returned to her normal state, smiled, and raised her snowy-white chin at Lu Ming. “How was that?”
“You're amazing, Senior Sister. I'm no match for you,” Lu Ming said, giving her a thumbs-up.
After spending a month together, his relationship with Zhou Fuling had grown much closer. Moreover, she had been the one teaching him alchemy knowledge. Because she found him calling her “Miss Zhou” too formal and tedious, she eventually forced him to call her “Senior Sister.”
Lu Ming did not mind, so he changed his form of address, which made her very happy.
“Senior Sister, were those a flight divine ability and a physical divine ability just now?” Lu Ming asked curiously.
Zhou Fuling nodded slightly. “The flight divine ability is called 'Green Jade Wings,' and the physical divine ability is called 'Mystic Jade Body.' Both are high-grade divine ability techniques passed down through my family.”
Lu Ming was deeply envious and wanted to learn them, but asking would be too offensive. Why would she teach him her family's heritage when they had no deep relations?
“Have you really stepped into the Grand Divine Ability Practitioner realm?” Zhou Fuling asked, looking at Lu Ming curiously to confirm once more.
Lu Ming nodded.
“Upon first entering the Grand Divine Ability Practitioner realm, how many Divine Ability Dharma Inscriptions did you condense?”
“Two,” Lu Ming lied without batting an eye.
Zhou Fuling did not doubt him at all. She smiled and said, “I condensed two back then as well. That's standard for a High-grade Divine Ability Bone.”
“I'll go tell Fourth Uncle. He has been waiting for this day for a long time.”
Leaving behind those words, she turned to find Zhou Xuan, leaving Lu Ming to wait.
Soon, Zhou Xuan arrived. Sensing the primordial energy fluctuations radiating from Lu Ming, he nodded in satisfaction. “Not bad. To break through the Divine Ability Barrier and enter the Grand Divine Ability Practitioner realm in just one month.”
“In that case, you can also begin cultivating the Golden Sun Flame Banner.”
Lu Ming nodded. He had acquired quite a bit of alchemy knowledge over the past month, mastering the basics of medicinal herbs and pharmacology. Since he had accepted the benefits, it was indeed time to start completing his task.
“I've already explained the key cultivation points of the Golden Sun Flame Banner to you over the past few days. The sun is currently high in the sky, which is the most suitable time to cultivate this divine ability.”
“Sit here and take off your upper garment.” Zhou Xuan pointed to a nearby stone table.
Without a word, Lu Ming sat cross-legged on the stone table and removed his shirt, revealing a tall, lean, and toned physique. Seeing this, Zhou Fuling's face flushed slightly as she spat in mock disgust.
Zhou Xuan fetched a jar filled with a golden liquid that faintly radiated a peculiar primordial energy fluctuation.
“This is made by grinding Heavenly Radiance Stone and gold crystals. It is the basic divine ability secret material for cultivating the Golden Sun Flame Banner,” he explained casually.
Lu Ming was somewhat amazed upon hearing this. The secret materials required for an Upper Divine Ability were indeed far more complex than those for Lower and Mid Divine Abilities.
Dipping his fingers into the golden liquid, Zhou Xuan drew a series of golden runes across Lu Ming's bare upper body.
Sizzle!
The golden liquid was scorching and sharp. As it dragged across his skin, it brought a cutting pain like a knife, but Lu Ming's expression remained unchanged, letting Zhou Xuan proceed.
Once the golden runes were fully formed, Lu Ming instantly sensed the sunlight casting down from the blazing sun in the sky suddenly turn scorching hot. As the sunlight passed through the golden runes on his body, it transformed into strands of golden light that flowed into his body along with the primordial energy of heaven and earth.
The moment the golden light entered his body, it brought a violent, burning pain.
“This is the first hurdle in cultivating the Golden Sun Flame Banner. Once the solar fire energy enters your body, it will burn your insides. You must quickly guide the solar fire energy, circulate it according to the divine ability's pathway, and finally project it onto your Divine Ability Bone. Once a divine ability imprint is formed, you will have successfully grasped the basics,” Zhou Xuan's warning voice sounded.
Lu Ming did as instructed, guiding the strands of golden fire energy to circulate continuously through his body. However, as time passed, his flesh and blood clearly began to burn, causing a look of pain to appear on his face. The cultivation of an Upper Divine Ability was indeed far more difficult than a Mid Divine Ability.
However, just as Lu Ming felt like he could no longer hold on, the Fire Lotus imprint on his Divine Ability Bone suddenly burst with light. Under the green glow radiating from Life's Flame, the burns caused by the golden fire energy began to heal at an astonishing speed.
In just a brief breath, the burns were completely healed.
Feeling the burning pain vanish from his body, Lu Ming breathed a sigh of relief. Life's Flame was simply too useful.
“Huh?”
However, just as Lu Ming relaxed, he suddenly keenly noticed that the areas previously burned by the golden fire energy and subsequently healed by Life's Flame were now faintly shimmering with a dim golden light.
Lu Ming sensed it for a moment, and astonishment welled up in his heart.
He discovered that the flesh, blood, and bones shimmering with golden light seemed to have undergone tempering, becoming noticeably stronger.
Does the golden fire energy of the Golden Sun Flame Banner actually have a body-tempering effect? Doesn't that make it similar to a physical divine ability?!
Rate on N.U.
