Song of Adolescence

Chapter 38: The Crane Flying Amongst the Nine Heavens Thunder

Lei Yunhe clamped on down Lei Wujie’s sword with both of his fingers.

“I once broke Mount Cangshan with a single finger! I once severed the heavens and earth with two!”

Arrogant though that might have sounded, it somehow sounded natural when Lei Yunhe said it - because it was true. All those years ago, he stormed Mount Qingcheng alone and, with a single finger, he cleaved open a path through the hundreds of daoists who came to block him. With two fingers, he tore apart the roof of Heaven and Earth Hall till he finally came face to face with Zhao Yuzhen who was still in the midst of his seclusion.

“I have a brother. He once saw your sword and proclaimed that the most beautiful of martial arts had to be the sword. I wish to see it too.” Lei Yunhe then pointed three fingers at the meditating Zhao Yuzhen.

That was the last time anyone heard of his legend within the martial world. How that battle ended, no one knew. All they knew was that after pointing three fingers at Zhao Yuzhen, he descended the mountain alone. Zhao Yuzhen continued with his seclusion, and Lei Yunhe was never heard from again.

Despite that, Lei Wujie couldn’t help but tremble with excitement at facing this legendary figure. That was because he saw it. That’s right, he saw it -the Thundercrack Fingers! Even for those of the Lei Clan, this skill was the stuff of legends. With a single finger, Mt Cangshan was broken. With two, the heavens and earth were severed. Even though the name of Lei Yunhe was now taboo, the legend of this skill was still one of his favourites. Standing right before him this very second was said legend!

He even had the opportunity to challenge this legend!

Lei Wujie bellowed. Though the Murderous Dread Sword was still locked between two fingers, that didn’t affect its power in the slightest as it forced Lei Yunhe back several steps, a deafening explosion resounding throughout the floor with each step!

“Good! I see the likeness of a young Lei Hong within you!” Lei Yunhe laughed uproariously before suddenly opening up both of his fingers.

Sword no longer bound, Lei Wujie sliced his sword across the air with a howl, sending forth a wave of red sword qi right at Lei Yunhe. Yet the man didn’t retreat, a single finger of his shot out and, where that finger was, the sword qi dissipated. Another finger shot up.

Two fingers to sever the heavens and earth!

At that very moment, Lei Wujie could smell the scent of death encroaching on him. Even though he experienced several close brushes with death in Khotan, none of them were like this, none gave off such a strong scent of death. It was said that when death was upon a person, his life would flash before his very eyes. Right now, that was exactly what Lei Wujie was experiencing.

A gray robed man asked him once, “You’re from the Lei Clan, what do you think is the most powerful weapon in this world?”

“Our martial uncles say it is explosives.” A young Lei Wujie answered as he bit down on his fingers.

“Then what is the most beautiful?” The man asked.

“Beautiful? What’s that?” Lei Wujie shook his head in confusion.

“You know the power of explosives, but do you know the sword?” The middle aged, gray robed man continued without answering him.

Lei Wujie shook his head once more.

“Do you wish to see it?”

This time, Lei Wujie nodded.

“Good!”

Suddenly, the forlornness on the man’s face disappeared. The corner of brows curved into a sharp slant, his sleeves snapped a resounding snap then, without any warning whatsoever, a red flash shot out from the man’s sleeves. Lei Wujie’s eyes went wide. In that instant, his eyes were filled with the sight of a fiery red sword soaring into the heavens and dying the clouds crimson.

“So that’s beautiful? So that’s a sword?” Lei Wujie gasped in a daze.

“Do you wish to learn the sword?” As the man said that, the crimson sword descended, stabbing right into the earth before Lei Wujie.

Lei Wujie stepped forward, gripped down on the sword and, in a shaking voice, said, “I do!”

“I won’t die. I still have a lot of places to go with this sword!” Lei Wujie suddenly yelled, the saying of a certain flashy monk drifting into his thoughts at that instant. Immediately, the slideshow-esque stream of recollections disappeared. The two fingers of Lei Yunhe had already barrelled their way to the front of his chest. His first wave of sword qi had been broken, but who was to say that there couldn’t be a second! Lei Wujie waved his sword once more. This time, there was no thunderous boom, just an instant burst of red light!

Lei Yunhe’s eyes went wide, then he sighed. The expression Lei Wujie had on right now just seemed so nostalgic to him, like an old friend paying him a visit. “Just like it was with us all those years ago…” His fingers were pointed outwards as before. Suddenly, he retracted one of them and with the other, forced the sword qi downwards.

Yet despite that, Lei Yunhe unexpectedly retreated. With a single step, he retreated back to the windows and opened it softly. Peering out, he sighed, “It has been a while since I’ve seen such youthfulness. Seems like some things just don’t change in the martial world -I’ve been cooped up in this tower for far too long.”

Lei Wujie was drenched in sweat, his chest heaving from the sheer effort of breathing. Behind him, the image of a Garuda was on the verge of collapse. The red in his eyes was slowly dissipating as well. At the end of the day, his Blazing Arts was defeated by just a single finger.

“In that case, let me recover that youthful energy.” Lei Yunhe closed his eyes, suddenly thrusting his left arm into the sky in the process.

“Let me recover that sense of power!” He muttered to himself.

In an instant, the skies turned dark and cloudy!

“What’s going on?” Exclaimed a surprised Tang Lian below the tower.

The book attendant, Fei Xuan, furiously calculated with his fingers, “Why? Why is this happening? What is causing this phenomenon?”

On the other hand, it was the tea stall’s waiter who wasn’t surprised. He merely grumbled to himself, “That’s the second time the skies have turned cloudy today, are you going to rain or not?”

Sikong Changfeng quietly stood there watching, but the spear behind him was already ringing loudly.

Within Snow Moon City, the various elders had already walked out of their individual halls to peer at the sky, each with a thought of their own.

“What’s so interesting about a bunch of dark clouds, master?” A confused Luo Mingxuan asked of his teacher as he saw her walk out of the hall suddenly.

Still the image of a teenage girl despite being over thirty, the Immortal Maiden Luoxia softly answered, “Not only are the clouds dark, there is thunder as well.”

Having just said that, a crack of thunder reverberated throughout the horizon. Like the sound of tens of thousands of horses galloping, the booming thunder rang deafeningly in the ears of those who heard it. Still standing at the side of the window, Lei Yunhe seemed almost otherworldly as the unannounced rain and wind blew down on him.

“So that’s what an immortal looks like!” Lei Wujie’s jaw was already as low as his muscles would allow it.

“Kid, thanks to you, I’ve entered the Unfettered Heavens Realm.” Lei Yunhe declared all of a sudden.

“Hmm?” Even though Lei Yunhe said that, Lei Wujie wasn’t scared at all. That was because there wasn’t a single shred of killing intent within the man right now. Instead, there was a kind of…that’s right, like what he said, a sense of freedom!

“Rise!” Lei Yunhe howled.

The heavens boomed and the rain poured.

“Descend!” Lei Yunhe raised his left palm and declared.

Nine bolts of lightning descended with a crack of thunder right into Lei Yunhe’s waiting hand!

“With the Nine Heavens Thunder, I will shake the heavens and earth. With a single finger, I will tear asunder ninety thousand miles!” As he spun his palm around slightly, the lightning his palms danced like a toy.

By now, Tang Lian couldn’t tell if it was sweat or rainwater that was staining his clothes. Everyone thought that, after his recent ordeal, his cultivation level was already above that of the Guardian Elder’s. Yet when faced with this scene, he himself wasn’t sure if he could stand up to the man’s Nine Heavens Thunder, not to mention Lei Wujie who was still on the fifteenth floor. He whipped his head around and shouted, “Third Esteemed Teacher!”

“What’s the matter? So you’ve finally decided to call me Third Esteemed Teacher, now that your friend’s in grave danger.” Sikong Changfeng wasn’t all that flustered however. Slowly and leisurely, he yelled in the direction of the tower, “Congratulations to Brother Yunhe for re-entering the Unfettered Realm! But this Tower of Ascension of ours…that costs a mountain of silvers to build, so I humbly ask that you, Brother Yunhe, hold back a little. Should those lightning bolts really strike, I don’t think the tower will survive.”

“Third Esteemed Teacher!” Tang Lian hurriedly called out, “Now is not the time to be worrying about your tower!”

High above in the tower, Lei Yunhe chuckled as he replied, “So what if I wreck this tower?”

Sikong Changfeng thought about it for a good long while, then simply said, “Just take it that I’m begging you…”

“Bah.” It was his only daughter, Sikong Qianluo, that voiced out what everyone was thinking right now.”

“Hahaha.” Lei Yunhe bellowed into the heavens. With a wave of his left hand, he sent the lightning bolts back into the horizon. The clouds immediately parted and the rain ceased -everything was as before, like nothing ever happened. Turning around to Lei Wujie, the man said, “You wish to ascend to the sixteenth floor, then bring that person to see your master?”

Lei Wujie nodded, though it seemed like he wasn’t about to step past this fifteenth floor any time soon.

However, Lei Yunhe, seemingly changed character entirely, said as such, “Very well. At that time, I will pay a visit to Lei Hong. There’s something I wish to ask him.”

“What exactly?”

“Does that b*stard really think that I’m dead or something? Or does that b*astard just not wish to see me?” Just like that, the man’s otherworldliness disappeared like his lightning bolts.

“Huh?”

However, Lei Yunhe no longer paid him any heed, instead yelling out at the sky, “Ah Li!”

Suddenly, a shrill squawk resounded throughout the horizon in a manner most unusual! Everyone raised heads and could only see a gigantic yellow crane blotting out the sky as it rose into the horizon. In an instant, it flew up to the Tower of Ascension. Stepping out of the window, Lei Yunhe landed atop the crane who continued circling around the tower.

“An immortal, an immortal’s up there!” The people below yelled and furiously kowtowed.

Sikong Changfeng turned around to Tang Lian, “All those years ago when I called down the rain with a single spear, was I just as majestic?”

Not at all shy about saying so, Tang Lian coldly snorted before answering, “Not even a single bit.”

“Sigh, I’ve lost. The world calls me a Spear Immortal, but that’s nothing compared to the majesty of calling down a storm and riding around on a crane.”

On the other hand, the scholar, Li Fansong, and his book attendant companion, Fei Xuan, both wore a look of absolute shock. Pointing at the crane, the attendant said to Li Fansong, “Junior martial uncle, isn’t that…”

However, Li Fansong merely raised his hand to interrupt the attendant as he shook his head lightly.

“Ah Li, have you been waiting long for me?” Lei Yunhe gently patted the crane on its head.

The yellow crane let forth a long squawk.

“I once broke Mount Cangshan with a single finger. With two, I severed the Heavens and Earth. But with three, I was unable to defeat the Blue Firmament Sword, and even lost an arm in the process. Now that I’ve returned to the Unfettered Realm, how about we pay that sword another visit?” Lei Yunhe muttered to himself and, without even waiting for the crane to respond, gently patted the crane’s wings. “Let’s go. To Mount Qingcheng.”

The air around them trembled. With a long squawk trailing behind him, Lei Yunhe flew off towards the west riding atop a yellow crane, just like a real immortal would.