Chapter 78 - Profound Meaning—Heavenly Thunder
Lin Yao was shocked by the policewoman’s words. Since when did he possess profound meaning?
Upon seeing Lin Yao’s surprised face, the policewoman pinched his cheeks.
“Alright, there’s no need to keep it from us. Only rules can beat rules. The profound meaning of each major combat skill contains a trace of rules. The Golden Bell Bulwark will have a trace of eternal charm after one realizes its deepest meaning, but the rules of the freaks here are not that profound. They are terrifying only because of the special environment of the mysterious land. With eternal charm, the person who cultivates and realizes the deepest profound meaning of the Golden Bell Bulwark can “arm-wrestle” with the rules of the freak. As for who is stronger… that will depend on one’s ability.”
While the policewoman was speaking, Li Shan glanced at the long sword at Lin Yao’s waist.
He said, “It seems that you are practicing the Sword-Drawing Technique. The profound meaning of this swordsmanship is Fathom and Slay Steel. The former allows you to decipher the horror and flaws of the freaks, and the latter can cleave anything. If you have comprehended Slay Steel, the earlier threat I encountered should have been slashed by the sword in your heart. It’s no wonder you could cleave the monster’s sledgehammer. In fact, you’re also capable of cleaving the signature shot of the Ghost Bullet.”
Slay Steel could only be achieved if both body and mind united and decided to cleave. Having this profound meaning could indeed cleave anything. Of course, this was also very difficult to master. Moreover, each usage of the Slay Steel profound meaning was very demanding on the body, as it required the unison of body and mind.
This was, after all, a means of fighting against the rules of a freak.
During the conversation, the outcome of the battle ahead was already known. Against the violent beating of the eight burly men, the freak holding the sledgehammer could no longer persevere and was hammered to explosion.
A deafening bang was heard the moment before its death. Its entire body exploded, turning into countless rats that escaped in the surroundings.
When he saw this, a thought flashed across Lin Yao’s mind.
‘I’m certain that this guy is a mutation of a mole in the amusement park.’
The freaks in this place were also part of the scene of the amusement park and were associated with the amusement park in various ways.
This included the clown that had pulled Lin Yao into this place, the merchant who sold candied haws, the bumper car studded with nails, the roller coaster that turned into a centipede, the balloon-shooting vendor, and so on.
Now, the freak holding a sledgehammer would only beat people who were shorter than it was and make a rat sound when it was shot by a firearm. After its death, it dissipated into rats. This made Lin Yao understand its nature: It was the Whac-A-Mole game in the amusement park. Of course, in the external world, the humans were whacking the moles, while the freaks were whacking the humans like moles here.
As he exclaimed in his heart, Lin Yao watched the freak rats scurry and flee. Upon seeing that no one could annihilate the endless rats, Lin Yao acted at an opportune time by opening his mouth and hollering loudly again.
Boom!
The thunder-like roar carried the dazzling dominance of heaven. Such a sound of thunder would only terrify ordinary people but was extremely harmful to freaks.
When many rats gathered, Lin Yao’s roar could also make the freaks stop breathing for a moment. At this time, the lethality of Lin Yao’s deafening roar was higher, as the rats were scattered all over the place.
With a roar, hundreds of rats dissipated into smoke.
After his senses recovered from the shock, Li Shan saw the freaks dissipating amid Lin Yao’s roar. He patted Lin Yao on the shoulder and said enviously, “The profound meaning of the Golden Bell Bulwark can withstand the freak’s attacks, the profound meaning of Slay Steel can cleave everything, and the profound meaning of your thunderous roar is also fairly good. It can terrify evildoers with heaven’s dazzling dominance. Although this ability has very little effect on good people, it is a powerful weapon against evil people.”
“No, I don’t have a profound…”
Lin Yao wanted to speak, but wounded Squad Leader Zhang started talking. “The sonic martial art you’re practicing should be Heavenly Thunder, right? It can suppress and even kill weaker and smaller freaks. This is not something that ordinary sonic combat skills can do. These freaks are immune to many things. You have probably realized the profound meaning of Heavenly Thunder to be able to frighten them.”
“Is Heavenly Thunder a profound meaning?”
Lin Yao, who’d originally wanted to object, was stunned after hearing the words of Squad Leader Zhang.
In response, he nodded.
“Of course, although thunder skills are powerful, only ordinary thunder and lightning are usually awakened. However, the Heavenly Thunder contains heaven’s dominance, which is also known as Saddharma [1. Saddharma refers to true justice according to the teachings of the Buddha.]. Besides doing a great deal of damage to all kinds of evil ghosts and spirits, it can also terrify people with evil thoughts. Naturally, it can be considered a profound meaning and is the most profound one amongst all forms of thunder.”
When he heard Squad Leader Zhang’s compliments, Lin Yao sank into his Sea of Consciousness and glanced at the Tree of Heaven Punishment with the purple lines. He then examined the thunder and lightning he had mastered.
[Heavenly Thunder Manipulation LV1 (20%): Thunderbolt is the Tree of Heaven Punishment’s method of punishing the enemy. Because of human worship, as well as the rules of heaven, the thunderbolt of the Tree of Heaven Punishment belongs to Heavenly Thunder and can cause a great deal of shock and damage to evil people.]
The description of Heavenly Thunder Manipulation was not that over the top. However, at this juncture, after experiencing the earlier situation and hearing what Squad Leader Zhang said, Lin Yao finally realized that he had gotten a huge bargain.
‘Heavenly Thunder, profound meaning… I didn’t expect that my biggest gain… No, the Good and Evil Distinguishment ability of the Tree of Heaven Punishment is also very useful. It was not a loss to spend 3,000 grams of energy to upgrade this tree.’
“Sure enough, these planted huge trees are my foundation!”
While exclaiming, Lin Yao also looked inside himself and glanced at the energy value column.
After he’d identified the spy in the armed team, Lin Yao’s energy value had increased to 1,700 grams. After he helped the armed team personnel subdue the Ghost Bullet and kill the mole-whacking freak, his energy value skyrocketed again and reached 2,400 grams.
‘I’ve gained 1,000 grams of energy within the short time since I entered this mysterious land. In comparison to taking care of the buds of our motherland, punishing the wicked gives me the greatest energy gain.’
This was the fastest way but also the most dangerous job. If he had not been careful, Lin Yao would have died here already.
After roaring until the mole freak died, the group returned to the haunted house safely. They did not encounter anything this time.
It was only when the owner of the haunted house closed the room the freaks had been led to that everyone heaved a sigh of relief.
“Finally, it’s over. We’ve made great contributions by killing the Ghost Bullet. I’m not sure how many merit points we will get.”
“I’ve been eyeing a weapon for a long time and I should be able to get it this time.”
“What I want is a house. My son is not young anymore. He needs…”
Everyone was discussing and casting grateful glances at Lin Yao. Squad Leader Zhang also made a promise to Lin Yao.
“Student Lin Yao, you’ll be greatly rewarded as well. After we report this to the higher-ups, it will be beneficial to your studies and promotion in the future. You can also exchange your merit points for something.”
“Merit points? Can they be exchanged for spirit crystals?”
Although he had found a new source of energy, Lin Yao needed much more energy in order to upgrade the two trees.
The Tree of Light required 30,000 grams of energy, and the Tree of Heaven Punishment required 10,000 grams of energy. These were frightening figures.
30,000 grams of energy could only upgrade the Tree of Light to peak Silver Person. If he wanted to upgrade it again, he would need more energy to achieve a breakthrough.
“Sigh… The seeds I found at the time are… already pretty good.”
Lin Yao had an initial capital of 20,000 to 30,000 yuan, and his parents had already done enough for him. His family was not wealthy after all. Although his parents were trying their best, Lin Yao could only reach the peak silver limit.
Fortunately, the appearance of energy value allowed Lin Yao to make up for his lack of foundation, but this also required a lot of experience value. Therefore, Lin Yao had no choice but to develop new sources of supply and reduce consumption.
Lin Yao already had plans to earn more energy. In the future, in addition to helping the children at the orphanage, he would try his best to come to the mysterious land and assist the fighters in eliminating the freaks. He would contribute to mankind this way and obtain Avedha-vasa energy.
As for cutting back on expenses, he would use energy crystals to charge the trees.
‘I’m having that much difficulty with only two trees. I’ll certainly plant more trees—two, five, or even 10—in the future. There are so many trees waiting to be planted. It is thus necessary to tap on new supply sources and reduce consumption.’