"What is it?" Camille asked.
"Claire isn't inside her room. She's outside the city." Leng Lingyun frowned, his expression dark because although Claire's body seemed fine, in reality, it still hadn't fully healed yet. There had been too much blood loss at the time.
"What? That brat left at such a late time? Where did she go?" Li Yuewen cursed out angrily. "That brat, does she understand the state of her body?"
"I'll go find her." Leng Lingyun left, flying out the window.
Li Yuewen and Li Mingyun froze. It was the first time they had seen Leng Lingyun fly. Was it the Wind element? No, Leng Lingyun only used Light magic. How was he able to fly?
"It's an ancient technique. You Li siblings also hold an ancient name. You should have your own techniques too," Walter said quietly, seeing Leng Lingyun's open window. He had also appeared, unbeknownst to anyone. Leng Lingyun's figure disappeared into the distance. Li Yuewen and Li Mingyu suddenly understood with Walter's explanation.
(TL: arcanum -> technique)
"We should give chase and go see too." Naturally, Li Yuewen was very worried for Claire. She immediately dashed into Leng Lingyun's room and nimbly descended down out the window, landing on roofs as lithely as a swan as she followed Leng Lingyun in pursuit, her gaze following into the far distance.
Li Mingyu also lept out the window without another word, following in pursuit. Camille stroked his bangs. With a helpless sigh, he also lept out the window. That brat kept on making trouble for others.
Walter was rooted in place. He grumbled as he watched the few people disappear, a bit angry. They were rather quick to directly chase without another care. What about him? He could only follow with his two thin, weak legs. That evil little devil, not even letting them have a good night's rest! But just when Walter was about to angrily go downstairs to follow, he suddenly remembered there were a few other people in the inn, so he knocked on Summer's door. After a brief explanation, they dashed downstairs.
During this time, Claire was sitting in lotus position on the precipice, her body glowing a faint golden hue. Currently, Golden Lotus was slowly taking shape, gradually wrapping around Claire. Claire's beautiful face was also covered by a faint layer of golden light, looking incomparably holy.
The giant golden lotus petals gradually enclosed Claire tightly. Claire closed her eyes, entering an indescribably empty state of existence. A warm feeling flowed through her body, spreading through every limb and bone. It was incomparably comfortable.
Meanwhile, dense, dark clouds hung overhead, thunder rumbling threateningly. Jean gripped the sword at his waist, watching the precipice tensely. His heart was already very tight. Although he had already known that this would happen, facing this situation would still make one's heart tremble. He was even more worried for Claire who would be facing the lightning.
"Rumble!"
"Rumble!"
"Rumble!"
Three incomparably large lightning bolts struck down in succession, no pauses in between. The pure white lightning lit up the surroundings, ripping apart the dusky night, looking like a malevolent face.
As Jean watched the three berserk lightning bolts strike in a daze, his heart almost stopped. The lightning had struck Claire's golden lotus so furiously. Would Claire be okay? Would Claire be alright? Jean's fist was already clenched tightly. He stared fixedly at the dazzling bright golden lotus, resisting his urge to charge over.
But just when Jean almost couldn't handle it any more, the golden lotus opened gradually. Claire's calm face appeared from within. She slowly opened her eyes, her gaze crystal clear.
"Cla-…" Jean called out softly.
Claire slowly turned to Jean and nodded, indicating for him not to worry. Only after seeing this did Jean calm down.
Claire frowned slightly. The painful burning on her back told her another petal was unfurling!
"Old Ma, quick, quick, continue. This amount of lightning isn't even enough to chew," Golden Lotus urged Claire.
Claire suddenly frowned once more, feeling something had changed. With a slight wave of her finger, a small mass of flames appeared at her fingertip. It was actually white! Claire was shocked. White flame, different the golden flame from before. What kind of flame was this? With another flick of the finger, a mass of golden flame appeared. Claire stared at the two different colored flames, a bit at a loss for words.
"Old Ma, stop playing, first finish up with your breakthroughs, test out changes after breaking through. It's even more interesting later on," Golden Lotus urged impatiently.
Claire extinguished the flame. She took out the Treasured Lotus Style book and infused Lotus power while reading speedily.
"How is it, Old Ma. It goes so smoothly, huh? Haha. Magic and Dou Qi can help you reach the seventh level of the Treasured Lotus Style. The farther you go, the more you'll realize that the Treasured Lotus Style is the most important. Magic and Dou Qi is useless," Golden Lotus bragged arrogantly.
Claire put away the book, concentrating as she closed her eyes and started to use Lotus power once more.
"Old Ma, hurry up, haha, quickly. Get to the seventh level in one go," Golden Lotus cried out excitedly.
Claire still had her eyes closed, concentrating as she infused the Lotus power throughout her entire body, applying as it had been recorded in the book. Just as Golden Lotus said, there were no obstructions. She finished exceptionally smoothly.
While Jean watched in shock, Claire's entire body started glowing a golden hue once more and the giant golden lotus slowly encircled Claire within. The thunderclouds that had just started to disperse gathered quickly once more but there were still more clouds from even farther away flying over. The thunder was even more clear. Every time lightning flashed, the surroundings would instantly turn pure white, making one extremely uncomfortable.
The loud thunder sounded again. The crazy lightning bolted towards Claire inside the golden lotus as if mad. This time, there was one more lightning bolt. Exactly four giant lightning bolt brimming with berserk energy struck, each strike more frantic than the last, each strike sooner than the last. But once they struck the golden lotus, they would silently disperse without any resistance. But Jean frowned and stared steadfastly at the giant golden lotus, extremely worried. Was this going to continue? How many more lightning bolts? Would the golden lotus still be able to support it?
Suddenly, there was a quiet sound from behind in the far distance. Jean gripped his sword and turned around abruptly, but then he saw it was Leng Lingyun dashing forward. Leng Lingyun stopped beside Jean and quietly looked towards Claire, whose entire body was faintly glowing golden. He knew that the strange situation before him was caused by Claire. Soon, Li Yuewen, who had been close behind, rushed to the scene look extremely worried. Not far behind was Li Mingyu and Camille.
"Jean, what's going on? What did that brat do?" Li Yuewen asked worriedly, about to run to Claire's side.
Clang!
It was the clear sound of sword clashing. A sword blocking Li Yuewen's path.
"Jean? What are you doing?" Li Yuewen turned and was faced with Jean's handsome yet icy cold face.
"Until Miss has finished, nobody can come close, including you." Jean's voice was ice cold, lacking any warmth of feeling. He blocked Li Yuewen's way without any intention of moving aside.
"Humph! You think you can block me?" Li Yuewen's expression had also hardened, about to attack. Before Leng Lingyun even opened his mouth to speak, another voice stopped Li Yuewen.
"Yuewen! Stop!" At this moment, Li Mingyu, who had been chasing from behind, immediately called out to stop Li Yuewen.
"Elder brother, this guy actually dares to block me!" Li Yuewen said furiously.
"If you go now, not only will you be in danger, perhaps Claire will be in danger as well." Li Mingyu said in a low voice, his expression serious as he watched the golden lotus slowly open to reveal Claire.
Li Yuewen froze for a moment, then frowned as she looked towards Claire with her shocked and worried gaze.
What was that giant golden lotus? And what was the golden hue around Claire all about? Also, how could the lightning and thunderclouds be explained?
In spite of the burning sensation on her back, Claire quickly infused Lotus power into the Treasured Lotus Style book and speed through the pages. After she broke through the fifth level, Claire could clearly feel another different sensation in her body, but it wasn't the right time to deal with it. She had to ascend to the seventh level before people gathered!
"Old Ma, haha, I feel so good, it tastes so good, continue, continue," Golden Lotus called out gleefully. "Quick, let me eat enough. I'll cultivate afterwards."
"Will Claire be alright?" Li Yuewen looked up with worry at the strange scene in the sky, her heart already tight.
Li Mingyu frowned as he watched the giant golden lotus wrap around Claire. "This is an ancient technique," he said in a low voice. That was all he could surmise with his current knowledge. After all, it wasn't magic or Dou Qi, so it could only be explained with an ancient technique.
"How would Claire have an ancient technique?" Li Yuewen was even more confused.
Li Mingyu turned to look at Camille. Camille shrugged. "Don't ask me, I don't know."
At this time, the sky was becoming more and more dark. A few people looked up towards the sky and were frozen with fear at the shocking, abnormal scene in the sky. The thunder rumbled incessantly, like a marching drum. The thunder and lightning rolled within the clouds. The scene of pure bright white on one side and dark nothingness on the other was a bizarre side to behold.
Li Yuewen watched the giant golden lotus anxiously, resisting the impulse to dash over. And there was no way anyone else was not worried.
With Golden Lotus's urging, Claire broke through with all her might. Fourth layer, fifth layer, sixth layer, all the way to the seventh layer. Meanwhile, the lightning bolts that had started with three strikes became six strikes in the end! And the lightning bolts had become more powerful with each strike. Jean and company's hearts had tightened and tightened.
But once the last six lightning bolts struck, the dark clouds dispersed immediately, not gathering as they had before, disappearing out of sight. They understood that it was finally over.