127: Chapter 127 is the closed loop.

Dead silence returned to the stone platform; three withered corpses slumped crookedly amidst the pile of rubble, their hollow eye sockets facing the sky.

There was a deathly silence on the Yan Family flying boat.

Yan Chaoyang's complexion was as pale as could be, his lips trembling as he wanted to say something, yet not a single word could come out.

The Yan Family Disciples behind him looked even more ashen; some had the Magical Artifact in their hands clatter onto the deck, while others had weak legs and collapsed straight to the ground.

They had been deceived—it was fake from beginning to end.

Holding forged evidence, they had lodged a complaint before the Spirit Sword Sect, and right in front of the upper Sect's envoy, they had played out a fine drama of complete loyalty and righteousness.

"Envoy of the upper Sect! The Yan Family has been wronged! These Loose Cultivators intentionally framed us! We are also victims! I beg the envoy to see the truth clearly—"

Yan Chaoyang knelt heavily on the ground with a thump, his forehead slamming against the ship's railing with loud thuds, sending blood splashing everywhere, his voice filled with panic and despair.

Yang Zhenghua did not even spare him a glance.

He turned around, walked up to Wang Chongyang, and with a casual slap, shattered the trembling cyan phantom still held within that emaciated palm.

Head of the Yan Family Yan Bosong's Divine Soul let out a very brief and sharp scream before turning into a wisp of cyan smoke that dissipated in the morning light.

He then drew the long sword at his waist, and with a backhanded slash, a sword light like a ribbon swept across the flying boat's railing. Yan Chaoyang's kowtowing motion suddenly froze, a line of blood spreading from the center of his brows down to his jaw, and his body silently split into two halves, collapsing onto the deck as fresh blood soaked the flying boat's deck.

Having finished all this, Yang Zhenghua sheathed his long sword and walked at a leisurely pace to Wang Shouren.

He lowered his head to look at this youth in white who was several years younger than him, his gaze pausing for a moment on the crimson-gold lightning light that had not yet completely dissipated in Wang Shouren's palm, a flash of extremely complicated emotions crossing his eyes.

When he spoke, his voice was suppressed extremely low, so low that only the two of them could hear.

"How do you Revered Master the fierce thunder? Fellow Disciples who Cultivate in the Spirit Sword Sect for decades have only mastered some orthodox thunder methods."

"As a Disciple of a remote, minor clan, how on earth do you have the top-tier Cultivation Technique for fierce thunder?"

At that instant, Wang Shouren's thoughts raced rapidly. Combining the images from the projection and Yang Zhenghua's reaction, he quickly understood the crux of the matter.

"Fierce thunder, Ten Directions Fierce Thunder Transformation! The people of the Spirit Sword Sect know their goods far better than the Cultivators of the Three Counties; we are in trouble."

The Spirit Sword Sect was already famous for its Sword Cultivator, and possessed a Legacy such as the Five Thunders Sword Canon, while the Legacy iron scraps left behind by the Thunder Emperor were regarded by the Spirit Sword Sect as their foundation treasure.

It was only logical for him to be recognized by Inner Sect Disciple Yang Zhenghua, but he could absolutely not just confess and endure it like this.

In order to obtain the Cultivation Technique or even to verify its authenticity, the Spirit Sword Sect would certainly not care about the life or death of a Cultivator who had mastered the fierce thunder Cultivation Technique; he would definitely have his soul extracted and his soul refined!

He had to find a suitable reason, a reason that would not arouse the other party's suspicion.

All of this thinking was completed in the flash of a spark.

Wang Shouren's expression was blank as he naturally shook his head, the confusion on his face not seeming fake.

"Fierce thunder? This Junior does not know what fierce thunder is; the Cultivation Technique this Junior Cultivates is merely something obtained by chance, and the Senior who passed down the technique never mentioned what kind of fierce thunder this was."

"How could you not know?"

Yang Zhenghua's brows furrowed even tighter, a hint of urgency and impatience added to his tone, "Circulate your Cultivation Technique once and let me see."

Wang Shouren complied and circulated his Cultivation Technique, the lightning light around his body lighting up once more.

Only this time, he quietly replaced the circulation route of the Ten Directions Fierce Thunder Transformation, switching instead to circulate the Thunder Emperors Fragmented Manual.

That Cultivation Technique of the Spirit Sword Sect, which was synchronized from Tian Zhen's memory and recorded upon meteoric iron.

Although he had only acquired the content of the foundational chapter, it was more than enough to deal with Yang Zhenghua.

The Thunder Emperors Fragmented Manual was originally a Cultivation Technique derived from the Thunder Emperor's Legacy. Sharing the same root and origin as the Ten Directions Fierce Thunder Transformation yet seeming similar yet different, circulating it would cause extremely subtle pain reactions in the body—which was caused by the incompleteness of the Cultivation Technique itself—back then, Tian Zhen had given up Cultivating precisely because he could not endure this pain.

The anticipation and greed that had originally lingered on Yang Zhenghua's face, upon feeling this familiar aura, rapidly cooled as if drenched by a basin of cold water.

He stared fixedly at the lightning light flowing around Wang Shouren's body, sensing it repeatedly several times. The fervent eagerness in his eyes was gradually replaced by disappointment, which then shifted from disappointment to bewilderment.

"The Thunder Emperors Fragmented Manual? Why are you Cultivating the Spirit Sword Sect's Thunder Emperors Fragmented Manual? This Cultivation Technique is never imparted to outsiders; where did you obtain it?"

"This Junior also does not know that this Cultivation Technique is called the Thunder Emperors Fragmented Manual."

Wang Shouren withdrew his technique and stood upright, his expression calm, his tone unhurried.

"About three years ago, this Junior happened to encounter an expert by chance. That Senior said this Cultivation Technique was obtained by him unintentionally. Although it only had the Qi Refining Stage portion, as long as one Cultivated it to the Qi Refining Perfection, one could induce heavenly thunder for Body Tempering, becoming invincible among peers of the same realm."

Yang Zhenghua had Wang Shouren repeatedly circulate the Cultivation Technique several times, carefully sensing the flow of spiritual power and muscle reactions within Wang Shouren's body after each circulation.

Wang Shouren circulated it extremely proficiently; the path of the spiritual power within his body completely matched the Meridians route of the Thunder Emperors Fragmented Manual, and moreover, after every circulation, his body would exhibit extremely subtle pain reactions.

That was a typical symptom caused by the incompleteness of the Thunder Emperors Fragmented Manual. The Cultivator's Meridians would endure extra load, and over time, imperceptible traces of spasms would be left within the muscles.

Everyone had the exact same reaction; this kind of detail could not be faked.

His brows finally slowly smoothed out, replaced by a trace of extremely faint disappointment.

He had thought it was the descendant of the fierce thunder, and bringing them back to the Sect would be an immense merit, but it turned out to be nothing more than an experimental subject who Cultivated an incomplete Cultivation Technique.

Those old fellows in the Sect who had an obsession with the Thunder Emperors Fragmented Manual would occasionally descend the mountain to find Loose Cultivators with a Lightning Spiritual Root and impart the foundational Cultivation Technique to them, observing these people's Cultivation reactions to make up for the flaws of the Thunder Emperors Fragmented Manual. Although such occurrences were rare within the Sect, they were not entirely unheard of.

This kind of imparting of techniques counted at most as an outer Sect registered name, not even qualifying as a formal Disciple.

He waved his hand in disappointment, his tone returning to that condescending arrogance.

"Alright, alright, this seat knows, this matter ends here. However, although the Wang Family is innocent, you have offended this seat; this debt still needs to be settled."

He raised his hand, pointing at Wang Chongyang, his tone casual as if he were speaking of a most ordinary transaction.

"Let's use the life of this Senior of yours as compensation."

His palm flipped, and a dark-gold jade talisman appeared out of thin air between his fingers.

That jade talisman was only about half the size of a palm, its surface densely carved with array patterns, every single array pattern circulating a golden light that made one's heart palpitate.

An aura of the Golden Core Stage faintly emanated from the jade talisman, pressing all the rubble on the stone platform in front of the mountain gate tightly against the ground, and causing the breathing of all the Qi Refining Cultivators present to stagnate for a moment.

"This is a talisman treasure personally refined by my Revered Master, containing fifty percent of the power of his Elder's Peak strike."

Yang Zhenghua gently twirled the jade talisman between his fingertips, his gaze passing over Wang Shouren and landing on Wang Chongyang's face, which was as pale as gold paper. A cruel smile surfaced at the corner of his mouth, and his tone sounded like he was giving a dying person the last bit of decency.

"Wang Chongyang, will you end your own life, or shall this seat do it? However, if this seat does it, your Wang Family will have to compensate one or two for the consumption of this talisman treasure."