Techniques and Dao

Chapter 118 Thunder Star
The sky was overcast. Darkness reigned.

Although the downpour had subsided slightly, Hanamori felt that it was only the prelude to an even bigger storm to come.

Lei Zhenzi's face was a dark blue-black, even more so than the sky.

Hua Sheng could only force a smile through his stiff expression and said apologetically to Lei Zhenzi, "Great Sage, please don't take it to heart by arguing with our child. Teenagers often speak without thinking. Let's leave quickly..."

"Don't go!" Lei Zhenzi's words, accompanied by a thunderous roar, made Hua Sheng's heart tighten.

"No..." Hua Sheng pulled Mie Ying away while turning his head with a grin, saying, "Great Sage must have important business to attend to! We'll disappear right away. Great Sage, you go ahead with your business..."

Lei Zhenzi shouted, "It seems the boy is lacking in discipline. Today I must arrest you both and have the Academy of Arts and Sciences come to redeem him!"

Hearing Lei Zhenzi's words, Hua Sheng sighed inwardly. Since leaving Daqian Temple this morning, troubles had been nonstop, and a few hours had felt longer than a month in the past.

If Lei Zhenzi were to invite him to "visit" somewhere at this time, not only would he be standing up Taishang Xiaojun and not be able to see Daoling Xingjun, but he would also likely add fuel to the fire for the troubles of the Shudao Academy.

This trouble is like a domino effect, collapsing one after another like a long dragon. If it's not stopped in time, everything will likely spiral out of control, and all plans will be in vain.

Therefore, right now, it's absolutely crucial that he and Mieying don't get captured by Lei Zhenzi. If they escape now, they can easily make excuses if Lei Zhenzi comes looking for them later. This rainforest isn't some forbidden area; at worst, they can be considered mischievous kids sneaking out to fish.

As long as it doesn't delay the meeting with the Spirit Star Lord, that's fine.

Thinking of this, Hua Sheng secretly made up his mind, reached out and grabbed Mie Ying, shouting, "Run! Hurry, hurry, as the law commands!"

Mieying was dragged by Huasheng and flew downwards, with a strong wind rushing past her ears.

Why are we running?

"These immortals are incredibly powerful and we can't afford to offend them. Besides, we have important matters to attend to and can't afford to delay even for a moment," Hua Sheng shouted.

Before Mieying could answer, a barrage of lightning erupted behind them, dense bolts piercing the dark clouds like sharp arrows, heading straight for the two.

Hua Sheng's hair stood on end at the sight. He pulled Mie Ying back and forth in the lightning, shouting as he flew, "This is the first time in my life I've seen lightning and I'm already getting trypophobia from it! Be careful not to get struck by lightning."

Unexpectedly, the second sister of the Shadow Extinction tried desperately to shake off Hua Sheng's hand.

"Let go of me! Let me go and deal with that old man!"

Hua Sheng dared not let Mie Ying risk her life, so she gripped his hand even tighter and shouted, "It's not worth it! It's not worth it! Second Sister, don't be reckless at a time like this. The bigger picture is more important!"

Seeing that Hua Sheng refused to let go, the Second Sister of Extinction snorted and remained silent.

In the blink of an eye, the two landed back in the jungle. As soon as they landed, tens of thousands of lightning bolts rained down like arrows all around the jungle.

Explosions erupted one after another, and several towering trees, each large enough for thirty or forty people to encircle, were cleaved in two by lightning. This demonstrates the extremely high voltage and immense power of the lightning.

Hua Sheng originally wanted to run and dodge, but the lightning bolts were too densely packed, and he couldn't dodge them in time with just his two legs. He could only chant the levitation technique again, sticking close to the ground and pulling Mie Ying along to dodge back and forth.

However, the forest was dense with trees, making it difficult for the two to fly while holding on, and they were likely to crash head-on into large trees. So Hua Sheng decided to let go and let his second sister, Mie Ying, stay with him so they wouldn't get separated.

"It's really inconvenient to hold you in this woods. If I let go, you'll have to be careful following me..."

He turned around, intending to remind Mie Ying, but before he could finish his sentence, he saw that the green-haired Mie Ying was no longer behind him!

The only person he was holding hands with was a girl with long pink hair, tied with a small red bow. The girl looked at him innocently.

What was even more unbelievable to Hanamori was that while the girl's left hand was being held by Hanamori, her other hand was holding a very large teddy bear.

Hanamori was almost dumbfounded and immediately asked, "Who are you?"

The girl immediately put on an innocent expression.

"me……"

"Wait, I've never seen you before, but you're the sister of the Shadowbreakers. Which one are you?"

"I...I am Xiao Wu."

"Fifth Sister?"

“Yes…this is…” The girl seemed confused, not knowing what was going on.

With a loud crash, a large tree fell down beside the two of them, nearly crushing Xiao Wu.

"Ah!" Xiao Wu of Mieying closed his eyes and hugged the teddy bear to his chest.

Hua Sheng was worried about being caught up by Lei Zhenzi, so he didn't dare to be careless and quickly turned around and grabbed Mie Ying Xiao Wu to fly forward.

But he could clearly feel that Shadowbreaker's speed was getting slower and slower, as if he were dragging a bundle. He couldn't help but shout anxiously, "Fifth Sister, you have to fly faster! It'll be dangerous if you're too slow!"

But to Hua Sheng's surprise, Mie Ying cried out in a tearful voice, "I'm already the fastest! The fastest!"

"Huh? What are you doing!"

Hua Sheng found this incredibly unbelievable for the first time and quickly asked, "Aren't you a member of the Spirit Clan? How can you fly so slowly!"

The pink-haired Mie Ying cried, "I don't know much about magic! Xiao Wu doesn't know much about magic!"

The thunderous sound in the jungle suddenly seemed to explode in Hua Sheng's mind.

He felt as if he had been struck by lightning, and quickly asked again to confirm, "Little Wu, what did you say! What do you mean by not being good at immortal arts?"

"I'm not very good at it, what should I do!"

The tears streaming down Mieying's face didn't seem like an act. Besides, at this hour, there was absolutely no need for Mieying to pretend he didn't know any immortal techniques.

"Where's your second sister? It was just her a moment ago!"

"I don't know! My second sister got angry and left, I'm innocent too!" Mieying cried and shouted, "What do you want me to do!"

"Wow, your second sister is really quick to shift the blame!"

Hua Sheng could only squat down and shout, "Jump up, I'll carry you!"

The pink-haired Shadowless was stunned for a moment.

Hua Sheng urged impatiently, "Hurry up! If we're too late, we'll both be struck by lightning!" "Oh..." Mie Ying Xiao Wu jumped onto Hua Sheng's back, but because she wrapped her arms around Hua Sheng's neck, the giant teddy bear landed on Hua Sheng's face.

"You're such a big bear pressing against my face, I can't see anything!!"

"Then... what should we do with Xiao Wu!" Mieying said, her voice trembling with worry.

"What kind of magical artifact are you carrying, that big one?"

"It's a teddy bear!"

Hanamori's hair practically stood on end as she yelled, "You were running away with your teddy bear?! Throw it away right now!"

"I won't throw her away..." Mieying Xiaowu continued to cry, "I won't throw her away! She's my best friend."

Seeing that he couldn't persuade her otherwise, Hua Sheng had no choice but to shout, "Then lower this bear a bit. I need to watch where I'm going!"

Mieying adjusted his position, pressing the bear down a bit, so that Huasheng could at least show his two eyes.

He shouted, "Hurry, hurry, as the law commands!"

It then accelerated and flew low through the woods.

But with a teddy bear in front and Mieying on its back, Huasheng was sandwiched in the middle like a meat sandwich, flying through the clouds. Not only was its figure very bulky, but it was also very easy for it to crash into the trees that were everywhere.

As Hua Sheng fled, she looked up at the top of the jungle. Through the dense leaves, she could vaguely see Lei Zhenzi's wind and thunder wings that were flashing with electricity. At that moment, Lei Zhenzi was wielding his golden wind and thunder staff.

The myriad bolts of lightning were falling from the golden staff into the jungle below.

Because Hua Sheng's speed was much slower than before, the distance between Lei Zhenzi and them was decreasing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

It's over, it's over, it's over!

Hua Sheng secretly groaned. She had encountered a troublesome Lei Zhenzi, and the Mie Ying sisters had even managed to transform into a "burden" who couldn't use magic.

Of all her sisters, a little sister who she had never heard of and who didn't know anything about magic suddenly appeared at this crucial moment.

Not only does he not know any magic, but he's also carrying around a useless teddy bear.

This time, I've unexpectedly become the one dragging two people along, and the odds are against me.

Just as he was feeling utterly hopeless, Hua Sheng suddenly saw that the jungle ahead abruptly ended, revealing a cliff. The wide river beside him transformed into a cascading waterfall at the cliff's edge.

"I've got it! There's always a way out!"

Hua Sheng had a sudden inspiration, flew to the waterfall, carried Mie Ying on his back, and jumped down.

Immediately, a desperate scream came from beside him: "Wah! Wah! Wah! I'm afraid of heights! I'm afraid of heights!"

The scream nearly deafened Hua Sheng. He turned around and said, "Xiao Wu, are you a spirit? Being afraid of heights is so embarrassing! What's going on?!"

Mieying didn't answer the question; she just burst into tears.

Hua Sheng reluctantly slowed his descent, flying close to the interior of the waterfall. Halfway up the mountain, he discovered a naturally formed depression in the waterfall and immediately hid inside this small cave.

He put Mieying Xiaowu down; Mieying's long pink hair and bow were completely soaked. The teddy bear was also much heavier because it was wet.

While crying, Mieying hugged the teddy bear tightly. Because of the excessive force, the water squeezed out of the bear's body formed a small puddle on the ground.

Seeing Xiao Wu in such a sorry state, Hua Sheng felt pity for him and decided not to blame him for not knowing how to use magic.

He recited an incantation and gently patted Mieying's back, instantly drying Xiao Wu's clothes.

But Mieying kept crying, clutching the teddy bear tightly. The teddy bear was squeezed hard, and the water inside its belly spilled out again, soaking half of Mieying's martial arts uniform.

Hua Sheng listened carefully to the sounds outside the waterfall and found nothing unusual. It seemed that Lei Zhenzi wouldn't be able to find the small cave behind the waterfall for the time being.

He was slightly relieved, then turned to Mieying and said, "Come on! Give me the teddy bear. You'll catch a cold if you get soaked like this."

"No!"

Instead, Mieying gripped the teddy bear even tighter, burying her head deep inside it.

Hanamori crouched down, patted the teddy bear's arm, and said in as gentle a tone as possible, "It's okay. Let me dry it. I'll return it to you in a little while."

Mieying then raised her red, tear-filled eyes and looked at Huasheng with brimming eyes.

"It's a promise. Don't lie to me..."

Hua Sheng sighed and said, "I won't lie to you."

Mieying then slowly let go. Hua Sheng lifted the teddy bear and realized that it was indeed completely soaked and weighed several dozen kilograms.

He carried the teddy bear to the edge of the cave and squeezed it hard, causing water to gush out. After lightening its weight slightly, Hua Sheng put it on the ground, patted the teddy bear's head, and chanted a hand seal, "Hurry, hurry, as the law commands!"

A burst of hot steam rose up, and the teddy bear became completely dry.

Hua Sheng took it back to Mie Ying and helped her dry her Taoist robes again. Mie Ying then gradually stopped crying.

Then, Hua Sheng bent down and patiently said, "Xiao Wu, we can't hide here for long. Lei Zhenzi will find us sooner or later. So I have to go out and lure him away. You stay here and don't move."

Tears welled up in Mieying's eyes again as she said, "No... don't go, don't leave me here alone, Xiao Wu is scared..."

"It's alright. I'll lure Lei Zhenzi away and then find a way back. Besides, you have your sisters with you. If you're really scared, just hide in the back and let the other sisters show themselves."

Mieying nodded without saying anything, and hugged the teddy bear even tighter.

Seeing that she was alright, Hua Sheng walked to the edge of the cave, grasped the iron golden cudgel chain on his chest, and a golden light flashed. The Ruyi Jingu Bang (Golden Cudgel) returned to his hand. He looked down at the golden cudgel in his hand.

"What a magnificent Dinghai Divine Iron! Today, let's go and test our skills against Lei Zhenzi's Wind and Thunder Golden Cudgel!"

After saying that, Hua Sheng stepped onto a cloud and shot out from the water curtain cave formed by the waterfall, heading straight towards the sky where Lei Zhenzi was!

(End of this chapter)