Ye Bufan entered a state of cultivation and took out the Heart of the Banyan Tree from his spatial jade pendant for refining.
Over the course of one night, Ye Bufan refined the Heart of the Banyan Tree, bringing his body to a near-saturated state. He then took out a scroll and began to study the close-combat spells he had chosen.
The spell was named the Chongxu Thunder Art, and it was a remnant scroll. As for its rank, even this incomplete part belonged to the Heaven rank.
The Chongxu Thunder Art was mainly related to lightning. The text in the scroll was simple and clear, but it involved drawing heavenly lightning to temper the body. The scroll's text was also very straightforward: it was about using lightning power to make one's body incredibly strong. Upon reaching great accomplishment, one would not fear heavenly lightning and could even control its power.
Once the body cultivation reached the introductory stage, one could store heavenly lightning power and combine it with true qi. In close-combat, whether punching or palm striking, it would carry the power of thunder, doubling the effect.
The first problem Ye Bufan encountered was heavenly lightning. The weather in Jinhe had been clear skies for days, with no sign of thunderstorms.
Where there's a will, there's a way. Ye Bufan set up a lightning-attracting formation in the woods by the man-made lake.
Ye Bufan hid in the small grove, took a deep breath, activated the lightning-attracting formation, and simultaneously circulated his true qi within his body according to the cultivation principles of the Chongxu Thunder Art.
"Rumble—"
In the sky, a bolt of heavenly lightning struck down, hitting Ye Bufan directly.
Ye Bufan instantly fainted and only managed to get back up from the ground an hour later, still feeling the lingering fear of the heavenly lightning.
"Damn it! Fortunately, I've already reached Foundation Establishment. If I were still in Qi Refining, I absolutely wouldn't have been able to withstand this heavenly lightning."
While grumbling, he rubbed his head. Ye Bufan took a deep breath, sat up from the ground again, and reactivated the lightning-attracting formation. However, this time, before he was even ready, heavenly lightning struck directly down.
Ye Bufan fainted again.
Half an hour later, Ye Bufan woke up. Unwilling to accept defeat, he activated the heavenly lightning formation once more. Without exception, he was knocked unconscious again.
But Ye Bufan quickly discovered that the time it took him to wake up was getting shorter each time, and his tolerance was increasing.
As more than a dozen bolts of heavenly lightning struck down sequentially, Ye Bufan began his cultivation of the Chongxu Thunder Art. Simultaneously,
Jinhe City Television broadcast an urgent report: Today, the weather in Jinhe has suddenly become abnormal. We urge all citizens to stay at home to avoid being struck by lightning.
As a result, for the next two days, the weather forecast reported clear skies every day. However, the weather in Xiangshan was intermittently overcast, with lightning strikes concentrated around Xiangshan Villa.
Finally, Jinhe City dispatched an expert team to conduct an investigation in Xiangshan Villa. As they approached the woods, a bolt of heavenly lightning struck down, and the dispatched team immediately fled, disappearing without a trace.
On the evening of the second day, the experts released their findings on television, suggesting that a geological anomaly in Xiangshan Villa had caused a magnetic field that easily attracted heavenly lightning. Therefore, the experts recommended relocating Xiangshan Villa.
After a night passed, Ye Bufan, who was in the midst of his cultivation, received a call from Ji Feiyang, which pulled him out of his practice.
"Brother Ji, what's wrong?" Ye Bufan asked on the phone.
"Brother, there's a rather tricky situation here, and I might need your help." Ji Feiyang said.
As Ye Bufan listened to Ji Feiyang's explanation over the phone, his brows furrowed tighter and tighter. Finally, he said, "These Yingguo people, it seems their talk of sparring was just a pretense; their true intention was to find Yin-Yang Masters."
Ji Feiyang told Ye Bufan that the phone call he received the day before yesterday was a notification that some Yingguo people had come to Jinhe City for an inspection. The martial artists accompanying them heard that the Martial Arts Tournament was being held in Jinhe and wanted to visit.
After the champion of the Martial Arts Tournament appeared, the Yingguo people, under the guise of sparring, wanted to engage in friendly matches with the younger generation of our Martial Arts Tournament.
Ji Feiyang's headache was that the other party had specifically mentioned the age group of eighteen to thirty-five, targeting the younger generation. Ji Feiyang immediately sensed a conspiracy and thought of Ye Bufan, who had just turned eighteen. With Ye Bufan's strength, even if the Yingguo people had ulterior motives or other plans, they could be nipped in the bud on the competition grounds.
Ye Bufan hung up the phone and returned to the villa to pack a few things. One of the reasons he agreed to this dual commitment was that he had made significant progress in the Chongxu Thunder Art and needed someone to test it out. This was a free punching bag, so how could he refuse?
Furthermore, Ye Bufan had a vague feeling that the timing of the Yingguo people's arrival was too coincidental.
Ji Weizhi's spirit-devouring poison had just been resolved, followed by the Yin-Yang Master he had just dealt with. Additionally, the auction for the Marrow Cleansing Pills he refined was about to begin, and the Martial Arts Tournament was drawing to a close. All these events were too coincidental.
Half an hour later, the car sent by Ji Feiyang stopped at the villa entrance.
After Ye Bufan left, the heavenly lightning also stopped. The company behind Xiangshan Villa, which was discussing relocation overnight, was bewildered. Didn't they say it was a geological anomaly? Didn't they mention a magnetic field? Now the lightning was gone? The experts who had released their conclusions on lightning research were speechless upon hearing the news from Xiangshan.
Fifty minutes later.
Ye Bufan, in the car arranged by Ji Feiyang, stopped at the entrance of the Tianxing Martial Arts Hall training ground.
Ji Feiyang had been waiting at the entrance for a long time. Seeing Ye Bufan arrive, he smiled and stepped forward.
"I'll take you to meet the other Martial Lords who will be participating in this competition," Ji Feiyang said.
Ye Bufan nodded, and the two entered a conference room in the Tianxing Martial Arts Hall training ground. Most of the people inside were Martial Lords in their early thirties. Upon seeing Ye Bufan enter, they merely cast a cold glance.
"General Ji, don't we have enough people here? Besides, this kid who hasn't even grown all his hair out and didn't participate in the Martial Arts Tournament, who knows his strength?" At this moment, a man sitting at the front spoke.
Ji Feiyang briefly introduced Ye Bufan to the man. This man was the champion of this Martial Arts Tournament—Cheng Xueyi.
"Old Cheng, since I've called him, I naturally have my arrangements," Ji Feiyang said sternly. "As for his strength, I know it well enough. What's most important now is not internal suspicion. This has escalated to the level of Great Xia and Yingguo. We should stand united against external threats."
Cheng Xueyi heard Ji Feiyang's words and said no more, merely nodding. He then made a gesture for someone to clear a space for Ji Feiyang and Ye Bufan.