First-Year Internship—And You Went to Site 749 to Contain Monsters?!

Then he added, ”Go. Find Lu Ding and talk with him. Now Listening Rain Pavilion is already being roasted over the fire. We want a win-win. We are not refusing to fight, we just don’t want bloodshed.”

Listening Rain Pavilion, a major force within the Clear Bright Lake’s ’Gathering of the Talented from All Directions’, holds a position in the ’Block Lu’s Southward Journey’ plan similar to that of Shuntian Manor’s Dragon Tiger Gate. However, compared to Dragon Tiger Gate, Listening Rain Pavilion appears more ’virtuous and prestigious’.

He stood up and looked into the distance. ”I heard the Great Han has implemented something called nine-year compulsory education. This is truly fortunate for scholars. This is acting in accordance with Heaven’s will. How could Listening Rain Pavilion then disappoint the hearts of scholars across the land?”

”After all, this world is not the domain of just the Great Jing dynasty alone.”

”I understand. I’ll go handle it immediately.”

The other figure playing chess transformed into ink smoke on the spot and dissipated.

.....

And at this moment.

Lu Ding was on his way south towards Clear Bright Lake, studying the new skill dropped by Old Ghost Lei.[Contained Monster: Thunder Ghost]

[Containment Reward: Three Thousand Thunder Movements]

[Three Thousand Thunder Movements: One movement, one action, arriving with the thunderstorm; the myriad thunderbolts are all wrath.]

Lu Ding frowned. ”Is this right...?”

He was speechless.

Although he had used this ’Three Thousand Thunder Movements’ during the battle at Shuntian Manor, seeing this name now still felt a bit odd to him.

For some reason, an image kept popping into his mind: a figure vomiting blood while being struck by lightning, shouting ’Three Thousand Thunder Movements! Three Thousand Thunder Movements!’ over and over.

Back to reality.

The ’Three Thousand Thunder Movements’ Lu Ding obtained was not that move of getting struck by lightning, but a genuine movement technique, and one brimming with oppressive presence!

In a way, it filled the gap in Lu Ding’s lack of a dedicated movement technique.

He had always relied on his physical strength, supplemented by the explosive power of [Moon Arc Kick], for combat.

While that worked quite well, it wasn’t flashy enough.

Later, after obtaining the [Rivers and Mountains, Society and Millet Painting], Lu Ding gained the ability to shift positions. While the style points were there, the oppressive feeling was insufficient.

Now.

The emergence of [Three Thousand Thunder Movements] completely filled the need for a fusion of style and oppressive presence.

Simply put, in the state Lu Ding had previously displayed, his figure would become elusive amidst the churning sea of thunder, amidst the flashes of lightning and peals of thunder. Every alternation between light and dark represented a new opportunity for him to shift position.

And the size of the thunder sea determined the upper limit. As long as the thundercloud explosion was large enough and contained enough lightning within, Lu Ding could dodge however he pleased beneath the thunder sea.

Imagine this: amidst the darkened sky and flashing lightning, a figure wreathed in black electric arcs and flying with dark petals draws closer with every shift between light and shadow. That kind of oppressive feeling is maxed out!

Of course, this function is just the foundation. The advanced application lies in how the spell is used by the person, not in fixed descriptions.

With this skill.

Lu Ding felt he could truly say: ”I am clad in thunder; with myriad scars, what’s one more?”

Of course, the premise was that the enemy could actually injure him.

And if he also activated [Dharma Form], enlarging his size, then...

Lu Ding: ”I..... AM THE STORM!!!”

Oppressive presence, flashiness, visual aesthetics, elegance—all elements present, simply perfect!

”I hope the upcoming Clear Bright Lake and Four Dukes Mountain have enemies worthy of me appearing in such a form.”

Thinking this, Lu Ding’s gaze fell on the words ’Thunder Ghost’. ”No wonder it looked familiar. I thought you might be related to Lei Zhenzi.”

Ancient texts like [In Search of the Supernatural] and [Records of the Strange] all contain records about Thunder Ghosts.

Choosing the one from [In Search of the Supernatural] that left the deepest impression on Lu Ding:

[During the Jin dynasty, in Fufeng, a man named Yang Daohe was farming in the fields in summer when a thunderstorm occurred....... A thunderbolt struck down at him. Daohe used his hoe to block it, breaking the bolt’s arm......... It then fell to the ground, unable to leave. Its lips were like cinnabar, its eyes like mirrors, its hairy horns over three chi long. Its shape resembled the six domestic animals, its head like a macaque’s.......]

The general meaning is that during the Jin dynasty, in a place called Fufeng, there was a fierce farmer named Yang Daohe. Regardless of wind or rain, he just hoed and planted!!

Don’t ask if it’ll grow, don’t ask about the land’s condition, just plant!!

One day during a thunderstorm, with lightning flashing and thunder roaring, everyone else went home, but he was still there hoeing. His neighbors called for him to return, but he wouldn’t; he wanted to plant!

Later, when the rain got too heavy, he still didn’t go home. Instead, he ran to take shelter under a large mulberry tree, planning to continue farming later. The man was stubborn, quite the character.

Coincidentally, there was a creature inside the large mulberry tree, hiding from misfortune. Yang Daohe running over served to take the hit for it.

The thunder being in the sky saw this and thought, ”Trying to play the hero saving the beauty, huh? You lowly farmer, I’ll strike you first.”

*Crash!* A bolt of lightning came down.

Yang Daohe raised his hoe: ”I block!”

And with that one move, the farming skills honed from tilling the earth managed to ’hoe off’ the thunder being’s arm.

The thunder being was shocked.

”Is this farmer so badass?”

”He doesn’t seem like a farmer.”

The injured Thunder Ghost, having fallen to the ground, asked unwillingly, ”Just what do you do?!”

Yang Daohe replied, ”I’m a farmer.”

That’s the story of the Thunder Ghost. When Lu Ding read it back then, he just found it too absurd. How could a farmer hoe down a monster?

His muttering was heard by the library’s Crooked-Mouth Old Man.

The old man first told him to keep his voice down, then added one point: ”The Hongnong Yang clan successfully transformed during the Wei-Jin period, with the ’Three Yangs’ wielding overwhelming power.”

Lu Ding: ?????

”So the ’farming’ refers to this ’nong’ (agriculture) in ’Hongnong’?”

Crooked-Mouth Old Man: ”What did you think?”

Lu Ding: ”That can’t be right?”

Crooked-Mouth Old Man: ”How is it not right? It is right. Wasn’t the Grand Canal also dug out?”

Lu Ding was dumbfounded.

”So this is connected too?”

Crooked-Mouth Old Man put down his broom: ”Come here, come here. Let me find you a book. I can’t guarantee its authenticity, but you can read it for fun.”

Because of this incident, Lu Ding remembered this absurd story.

Later, Lu Ding also remembered asking at the time: ”Then what was inside the big mulberry tree?”

The old man said: ”A monster, of course. The debt of saving a life is hard to repay, so she offered herself in marriage. Now connect that with what I just told you.”

Lu Ding could only say, impressive. This unofficial history was too wild, daring to write about anything.

”Brother Lu.”

Fu Xinghe’s call brought him back.

Lu Ding returned to the present. ”What is it?”

”Someone is blocking the way ahead.”

Hearing this, Lu Ding instantly perked up. Wasn’t the whole point of his ostentatious display and lowering the flight altitude of the [Six-Dragon Incense Palanquin] precisely to engage in entrapment, to lure out those tired of living?

And here they are!

They’ve come!

Lu Ding pulled the reins to stop the palanquin. His gaze fell upon a man in white robes, with ink-wash landscape paintings staining his clothes. How pretentious!!

The man clasped his hands in greeting. ”Clear Bright Lake, Listening Rain Pavilion, Yu Zhen, pays his respects to Grand Duke Lu.”

Fu Xinghe added in a low voice, ”God Ascension Fourth Layer, half a Confucian Cultivator, has skin but no backbone. One of the higher-ups of Listening Rain Pavilion.”

Listening to this, Lu Ding’s eyes swept over Yu Zhen. Seeing that he had come alone and carried no fighting intent, even if this ’skin-but-no-bone’ Confucian Cultivator put on a polite face first, Lu Ding still had a few words for him.

With a casual step, he walked out of the palanquin chamber. The golden dragons pulling the palanquin presented a coiled-tail chair with their tails. Lu Ding took the opportunity to sit down, leaned back, crossed his legs, rested his hand on the chair, revealing the red soles of his leather shoes stamped with a golden seal depicting a Sin Dragon. He slightly lifted his chin:

”Speak. Are you here to beg for mercy or to discuss peace?”

This question humiliated Yu Zhen.

Yet it was a fact he was unwilling to admit. Facing anyone else, he would certainly display the backbone of a scholar. Unfortunately, he was facing Lu Ding. This was also one reason why Fu Xinghe said he had skin but no bone.

Yu Zhen maintained his composure and responded with clasped hands, ”I come this time seeking a win-win outcome.”

Lu Ding didn’t speak, just looked at him, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. He didn’t like smirking.

Resting his elbow on the chair, his jade-like, bamboo-joint fingers extended, curled, and pointed downward as he spoke: ”Posture.”

The oppressive feeling was maxed out. Yu Zhen instantly broke into a cold sweat. Subconsciously, with his God Ascension Fourth Layer cultivation, he bent and lowered himself before a Fifth Restriction Late Stage cultivator, his spine going soft. Yet he still felt the humiliation, wanting both reputation and safety. It wasn’t the Fifth Restriction he feared; it was the Corpse-Shattering Taishui before him.

Lu Ding asked, ”Still want that win-win?”