A rumbling sound exploded in the sky, and in an instant, dark clouds shrouded the heavens. A bolt of thunder streaked across the sky and struck the earth, followed by a drizzle that soon turned into a downpour. Pedestrians around hastened their steps, cursing the capricious weather.Beneath a desolate green hill on the outskirts of Tianhai City, a young man was lying and sitting.
The young man was in his twenties. His clothes were tattered, with several charred holes, and wisps of smoke were rising from his body.
His eyes were calm, but a bitter smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. Feeling the condition inside his body, he was relieved that his meridians were not completely damaged. He had only slipped from the Golden Core stage to the early Qi Refining stage.
This thunder tribulation was truly as terrifying as his master had said. Merely the first level of it had been too much for his physical body to bear. His meridians were almost destroyed, and ten years of cultivation vanished into thin air.
Thinking of his master, Lu Yang's expression darkened. The old man who had adopted him since childhood had passed away yesterday, leaving him, this inept disciple, alone in the world.
What he hadn't expected even more was that before his master's passing, he had even arranged his "lifelong event" for him...
The gloomy sky cleared up in an instant, making the pedestrians in the city secretly curse.
Lu Yang was just about to stand up when he suddenly paused and spat out a mouthful of blood. His face instantly turned as pale as golden paper.
Bearing the searing and stabbing pain that felt like a tempest inside his body, he shakily stood up and looked up at the sky with indifference.
A cool sensation spread across his chest as a stream of refreshing energy rushed into his body. Wherever it passed, the thunder flames that had been burning his meridians were soothed.
Lu Yang let out a comfortable groan. A faint cracking sound was heard, and he frowned slightly. He quickly took out a piece of jade from his chest. At that moment, the smooth and translucent jade was clearly broken into two halves.
"The 'Turtle Spirit Jade' was destroyed after withstanding three levels of the thunder tribulation just now."
This "Turtle Spirit Jade" was an heirloom of his sect and also his token of love.
Thinking this way, Lu Yang still carefully put away the broken jade and then started to think about his way forward.
The realms of cultivating immortals were divided into Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, and Golden Core. The spiritual energy on Earth was scarce, and there were only a few cultivators left. These people could never cross the threshold of the Golden Core stage in their lifetime on Earth.
Before his master's passing, he had handed this sect heirloom, the "Turtle Spirit Jade", to Lu Yang, saying that there was a great opportunity within it.
But now that the spiritual jade was broken, he hadn't found the slightest clue.
For ten years, he had followed his master to cultivate, living a life of an ascetic. Now it was time for him to enter the mortal world and descend the mountain. It seemed that going to Tianhai City was inevitable. His "blind date" was still waiting for him there.
Actually, he himself had no such intention. His master was also very open-minded. He only said that he owed a favor in his early years and had to arrange this marriage. He just asked Lu Yang to go and meet the person once. As for whether they would be together or not, it was up to Lu Yang himself.
Going to Tianhai City this time could be regarded as fulfilling his master's last wish.
Thinking of this, Lu Yang's face twisted with bitterness. At the moment, his meridians were almost destroyed. Although his cultivation foundation hadn't been damaged, he couldn't use the "Fire Refining Art" for half a month.
This place was nearly ten thousand miles away from Tianhai City. How long would it take him to walk there?
Lu Yang frowned and thought hard. Suddenly, his ears twitched. He took out a new set of clothes from a cloth bag beside him, then pinched a spell with his fingers and cast the "Dust Removal Art" on himself. Immediately, the previous charred stains disappeared, and he felt extremely refreshed.
Using a trace of spiritual energy made his face look abnormally flushed. He slung his backpack over his shoulder and slowly walked to a suspension bridge at the foot of the hill. On the other end, a red bus was parked by the side, and around a dozen men and women who looked like tourists were chattering about something.
Not far from the green hill was the famous Liao River, an ancient river that had existed since ancient times. In recent years, it had been developed into a tourist attraction and was booming with business.
Lu Yang quietly blended into the crowd, found a place to sit, and listened closely for a while. Finally, he understood what had happened. Speaking of which, this incident was related to him.
When he was undergoing the tribulation just now, the heavenly thunder had been attracted to this area. This bus was a tourist bus returning from the Liao River to Tianhai City. This green hill was a necessary stop on the way to Tianhai. Unexpectedly, just as the bus drove here, a bolt of lightning struck the grass beside it. Although it didn't directly hit the bus, the affected bus broke down directly.
These tourists had all gotten off the bus. At this time, the tour guide said that he had already called for rescue, and then everyone gradually calmed down.
As the afternoon passed and it was getting dark, several tourists couldn't help shouting again. The tour guide also frowned and made a phone call. After saying a few words, he hung up with a gloomy face. "The mountain road collapsed in Tianhai City due to the weather. The rescue team is stuck there. They won't be able to arrive until at least tomorrow morning."
"What? Are we going to spend the night here?" A tourist complained.
"We paid for this tour. With such an accident, your travel company should take full responsibility!"
The tour guide quickly appeased them. "Everyone, don't worry. Our company will compensate for all losses. But this is also a natural disaster. We didn't want this to happen either..."
After the tour guide comforted them, he managed to calm everyone down again. By now, it was already dark, and many people's stomachs were growling.
Everyone found some snacks they had brought along and ate a few bites to stave off hunger, but they still couldn't endure the hunger.
Lu Yang took out two roast chickens from his cloth bag, found some firewood, and with a surge of spiritual energy inside his body, he lit the firewood. Then he found two sticks and propped up the chickens.
His actions attracted the attention of those around him, but no one said anything.
Soon, the smell of roasted meat wafted over, and many people were swallowing hard, glancing at Lu Yang from time to time.
A middle-aged burly man hesitated for a moment, sized up Lu Yang's appearance, and walked up to him. "Brother, how much is a roast chicken? I'll buy it."
Lu Yang looked up at him. "Sorry, not for sale." Ordinarily, it wouldn't matter if he gave a roast chicken to someone else. But this roast chicken was roasted with spiritual fire and had the effect of restoring injuries. How could he sell it?
The burly man's face turned a bit ugly after being refused, but he still said, "How about this? One thousand yuan. Will you sell it?"
"Not for sale."
Some people around noticed this and were speechless when they heard Lu Yang's refusal. Was this guy stupid? One thousand yuan for a roast chicken? Even if everyone was hungry now, they would sell it directly. With one thousand yuan, you could buy many chickens outside.
The burly man was dissatisfied. "Want to raise the price? Looking at your appearance, you don't seem like a rich person. Well, I'm the chairman of Tianhai Qingshi Group. Five thousand yuan. Sell me the roast chicken, and when you get to Tianhai City, you can come to Qingshi Group to find me. I can help you arrange a job."
Everyone around was stunned. Qingshi Group? That was a famous antique giant in Tianhai City, a large group with assets of nearly ten billion yuan. Just by selling a roast chicken, you could join this group that many top university graduates couldn't even get into. This young man was really lucky.
Everyone looked at Lu Yang with envy.
Lu Yang's expression was strange. Qingshi Group? This was too coincidental.
However, this roast chicken was useful to him, so he still said, "Not for sale."
Everyone was extremely astonished when they heard this. They looked at Lu Yang as if he were a fool.
The burly man was also taken aback. After realizing what had happened, his face turned livid. When had he ever been refused like this? "I must have this roast chicken today. You have to give it to me, whether you want to or not."
Su Xin, who had been watching from a distance, saw this and realized something was wrong. She frowned slightly and hissed, "Come back. Don't lay hands on an ordinary person..."
But it was already too late. The burly man had already swung his palm, bringing a gust of wind with it, and struck at Lu Yang!
Lu Yang frowned. He was surprised at the burly man's hot temper. For a roast chicken, the other party actually resorted to violence. Either his head was not right or this roast chicken was extremely important to him?
Thinking this way, his palm moved as fast as lightning. He casually grabbed the other's palm that was attacking fiercely and then gently let go. The burly man staggered back. "If you bother me again, it won't be this easy."
The burly man didn't notice the latter part of the sentence. At the moment, his eyes were filled with shock. He couldn't believe that he had been easily repelled like this.
Su Xin also looked surprised. The others around only thought it was an ordinary conflict. At most, they thought the young man in front of them was quite capable of fighting. But she knew the strength of the burly man. He was a genuine martial arts expert. Although he wasn't a full-fledged martial artist, more than a dozen ordinary people couldn't do anything to him. Otherwise, he wouldn't have come with them this time.
Su Xin frowned, her eyes fixed on Lu Yang, and a strange look flashed in her beautiful eyes.