Wielding the Thunders Across Two Worlds

Across the ocean, a similar discussion was underway in a conference room.

"This aggressive course of action, this public display, is completely inconsistent with Celestial Xia’s usual style."

The old man at the head of the table knocked on it and stated his conclusion. "From the Berkeley incident until now, these Extraordinary Beings have helped Celestial Xia bring rain during a drought, rescued people from an airliner, and even saved citizens abroad. Despite all that, they clearly don’t have a superior-subordinate relationship with their government."

"This Kabia incident was entirely the fault of an idiot who thought he could force Celestial Xia’s hand by holding their workers hostage. Instead, he provoked a terrifying Extraordinary Being."

The moderator chimed in, "Judging from the drought relief, the Mongolian Mine Disaster, the airliner malfunction, and the West Mountain incident a few days ago, they generally only act to save lives."

"So, you’re saying if that idiot Konate had been just a little bit smarter, Celestial Xia might have had to just swallow the loss?" Lawrence said with a laugh.

"Most likely. At the very least, Gaul would have certainly gained some advantage." The old man at the head of the table nodded and shook his head with a wry smile.

Frank snorted. "The Gauls are incompetent, and the proxy they chose is just as useless. Couldn’t even handle such a simple matter in his own territory."

Lawrence shot Frank a sideways glance and scoffed but said nothing.

"What’s that supposed to mean?" Frank demanded angrily.

"I don’t mean anything by it." Lawrence waved his hand dismissively.

But everyone present knew what Lawrence meant. After all, the proxies Huaqi Country had chosen in recent decades hadn’t been much better.

"Lawrence, you are a Huaqi person now," the old man at the head of the table said gravely.

"I know, Mr. Rockefeller." Lawrence gave a slight bow.

The old man, Dylan Rockefeller, the Steward of Huaqi Country’s secret organization for Extraordinary Beings, saw Lawrence back down. Only then did he say lightly, "Has there been any progress with your cousin?"

Lawrence lowered his head. "My cousin’s cover is blown. She has barely discussed anything about the Extraordinary with Xiao Ya, nor has she found any connection between Xiao Ya and Taoist Yi Hong. Or rather, Taoist Yi Hong has never even appeared."

Frank sneered, "So what exactly is your cousin doing over there?"

Lawrence shrugged. "Befriending Xiao Ya. She even met Xiao Ya’s boyfriend. Sooner or later, there’ll be a breakthrough."

Frank raised an eyebrow and asked, "Xiao Ya has a boyfriend?"

"What, you’re thinking of targeting Xiao Ya’s boyfriend?" Lawrence chuckled. "Isn’t that a bit of a roundabout approach?"

Frank just grunted and said no more.

"Forget it. The other side has already revealed a great deal. Whether we make progress on the Xiao Ya front isn’t that important anymore." Dylan shook his head. "At least we now know those Daoists don’t completely obey the system. They only appear when Celestial Xia citizens are in mortal danger. For now, there are no signs of them getting involved in international disputes. That’s good news for us."

Lawrence smiled as well. "That’s because we have no intention of harming their civilians."

Someone else spoke up. "Soldiers don’t count as civilians, do they? What if a limited hot war breaks out? Will they intervene?"

Everyone in the conference room turned to look at him. Even Frank’s gaze was tinged with contempt.

...

「Meanwhile」

Taoist Yan Song had already returned to Yangcheng after taking care of Konate. While the various nations were holding meetings to discuss the aftermath, Taoist Ming Yu had already swapped places with him, sending him back to the Otherworld to cultivate.

"Senior Brother Yan Song is still too soft-hearted." Taoist Ming Yu chuckled teasingly when he heard about the matter. "If it were me, anyone who dared to shoot at me or take part in besieging the factory would have been dragged into a Dream Illusion Realm to suffer for a good long while."

"That way, even if someone else goes crazy in the future, their subordinates wouldn’t dare to follow orders," Taoist Ming Yu said with a smile.

Gu Zhao, scrolling through videos re-uploaded from foreign websites, laughed as well. "That wouldn’t be very effective either. People who haven’t experienced it won’t be scared. If you really want to intimidate them, you’d have to manifest a Celestial Warrior, ride the Five-Colored Thunderclouds on a patrol over there, and occasionally drop a Thunderbolt to show your might."

Taoist Ming Yu clicked his tongue. "Forget it, then. I have no interest in playing the part of a charlatan god over there."

To be honest, all the old Daoists felt a greater kinship with the common people of the Otherworld—who spoke Mandarin and were indistinguishable from Celestial Xia People—than they did with the black and white races of Blue Star.

"How have Martial Uncle Zhi Qing and Martial Uncle Zhixiu been lately?" Gu Zhao asked.

Taoist Ming Yu couldn’t help but sigh and shake his head. "Zhi Qing and Zhixiu call me Martial Uncle, and you also call me Martial Uncle. But you call *them* Martial Uncle, too. The seniority is a bit of a mess!"

Gu Zhao spread his hands. "Back in the beginning, there wasn’t a generation in between us. It just became a habit, didn’t it?"

Taoist Ming Yu was just teasing and didn’t really mind. After all, every mountain and lineage in the Taoist Sect had its own way of determining seniority. If they strictly followed the generational names, Taoist Yan Song would be seven generations senior to Taoist Yi Hong, and Taoist Jing Hong would be six generations senior to Taoist Yan Song.

"They’re doing great. They travel together. Zhi Qing cultivates the *Celestial Book Thunder Talisman* to destroy physical forms, while Zhixiu cultivates the *Five Sounds Truth-Breaking Secret Talisman* to execute spirits. The two of them work quite well together."

Taoist Ming Yu smiled. "They found it inefficient around Changping Prefecture, so they went over to Yongzhou. They’re operating in Shide Prefecture and He Yan Mansion. The Demons and Ghosts are more numerous over there and haven’t been cleared out yet."

Daluo Palace headquarters is located in Changping Prefecture. Later, they conquered Bai Shi Prefecture and Qianshan Prefecture in succession. Within these three prefectures, the more powerful Demons and Ghosts had long since been eliminated. It wasn’t that there were none left, but they were certainly harder to find.

So after getting their bearings locally when they first descended the mountain, they all ventured out of their comfort zones once they were familiar with things.

The remaining prefectures in Jiangzhou—Lianshan Prefecture and Pingjiang Prefecture—as well as Yongzhou Shide Prefecture, He Yan Mansion, and Yunqi Prefecture, and Yazhou Celestial Spring Prefecture and Qinglan Prefecture were all their targets.

"That’s good," Gu Zhao nodded.

Daluo Palace was growing larger and larger. Everyone knew he was busy and didn’t bother him unless it was important, so he wasn’t clear on the real-time progress of the old Daoists who had joined later.

"They may be good, but I’m not." Taoist Ming Yu picked up the purple clay teapot, its water already boiled, and poured a cup of tea for himself and Gu Zhao. "I was off by two days and missed the trip to Africa."

"You were the one who made the first move in Huaqi. What do you have to regret?" Gu Zhao was speechless.

Downing the hot tea in his cup in one gulp, Gu Zhao said goodbye to Taoist Ming Yu, then drove to the traditional music orchestra to pick up Xiao Ya and Jiang Shishi after work, ready to continue their time alone together.

But their time alone didn’t last long before he had to return to the Otherworld.

This was because Jing Chun Taoist and Taoist Yan Qi had both broken through to five hundred years of Dao Practice. One had manifested the Threefold Taoist Divine Prison, while the other had mastered the Five Elements Great Evasion Dharma Gate.

At the same time, a strange phenomenon occurred at Mo Lake in Pingjiang Prefecture. Ripples periodically spread across the lake’s surface, a sight similar to the previous times the Ink Flood Dragon had emerged from its seclusion.

In other words, after only a year, the Ink Flood Dragon was about to awaken!