‘It seems that I can plant thunderous sacred trees.’
As this thought popped into Lin Yao’s mind, he read that respondent’s reply again. The only sentence that echoed in his mind was: “Why did they have to disband the research team? If they’d continued to research the thunderous techniques… what if everyone had succeeded tremendously?”
‘Wait a minute. The higher-ups merely said to disband 90% of the team. There’s still 10% left to continue the research. The thunderous techniques have great potential.’
Project Thunder God was a nationwide plan. Even with a 90% reduction, it was still a super-major project. Lin Yao had also made up his mind because of this.
‘The second sacred tree will be related to thunder.’
With this thought in mind, Lin Yao immediately accessed the Internet and searched for various information related to the seeds of thunderous sacred trees.
As he searched for information on sacred trees online, Lin Yao exclaimed, “The greatest invention of modern technology is the Internet! With this thing, a scholar will know about the affairs of the entire world even if they do not leave the house.”
There was endless information on the Internet, but Lin Yao’s face crumbled a little after a round of searching.
‘There are too few thunderous sacred trees.’
Thunderous power was not weak and had even been called heavenly in ancient times. In many places, only god-like figures could master the thunderbolt.
The most famous examples of this were Zeus in Greek mythology and the honorable Thor in Norse mythology. These two were gods with extremely powerful combat powers. Śakro Devānām Indrah, the god of thunder in ancient India, was also a powerhouse.
In ancient times, thunderbolt had been considered punishment from heaven. Anyone who had thunder and lightning powers would also be called god, so none of them was a weakling.
However, regardless of how powerful thunder was, there were not many famous thunderous sacred trees.
“All these famous people are gods. At most, they would have weapons, but these weapons were made of metal and were unrelated to sacred trees. I’m just a tree planter.”
After a few more rounds of searching, Lin Yao was troubled to discover that the most famous thunderous sacred tree that he could find was actually a lightning-struck wood that was 3,000 years old.
“What the hell is this?”
Shaking his head, Lin Yao simply stopped searching the Internet and browsed through the forums of the Abnormal Ability Department instead.
This kind of search was very effective. Lin Yao connected to the network of the Abnormal Ability Department Ability of China, not Ninghai City. He then found something related to the thunderous sacred tree.
These were not any plants in Lin Yao’s region, but branches and leaves from a mystic realm.
[Leaf of Heaven Punishment]
[Introduction: It originates from the ancient, historical remains of a barren, ruined mystic realm. According to the remaining records, a heavenly tribulation occurred in that part of the world. Those who had sinned greatly and infuriated the world were detested by everyone and then were annihilated by the thunderbolt. Following that, heaven and earth shook turbulently and the heavenly authority descended into the mortal world, manifesting into the Tree of Heaven Punishment. This leaf is a remnant of the Tree of Heaven Punishment, and its main function is to distinguish between good and evil. The thunderbolt is the main method used by the world to punish the enemy, so this tree also has the thunderbolt ability.]
[Note: Because this leaf fell off the tree an unknown time ago, most of its spirituality has been lost. Therefore, it can be exchanged if one is eligible to request gold resources.]
“The country has not researched this kind of leaf… Seemingly, many leaves were obtained at the time. There may even be some small saplings. Otherwise, this leaf would not have appeared on the exchange list.”
As he was pondering this, Lin Yao did not react much to the fact that tribulation had descended on the mortal world and manifested into a tree. This was not the only occurrence of heavenly authorities descending on the world and transforming into objects. The famous Monkey King [1. Monkey King is also known as Sun Wukong in Mandarin Chinese and is a legendary mythic figure best known as one of the main characters in the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West.] in China had transformed from a piece of a falling magical stone meant to mend the sky, and the first phoenix that had separated heaven and earth had also been born in the same way. There were also many such myths in western countries. Gaia was the personification of the Earth in Greek mythology, and Surtr was the incarnation of fire in Norse mythology. These were all occurrences of heavenly authorities descending on the mortal world.
A heavenly tribulation transforming into a sacred tree was normal in mythologies everywhere. What made Lin Yao hesitate was that the core function of this sacred tree was to distinguish between good and evil, and the thunderbolt ability was merely its secondary function.
However, in the end, Lin Yao still decided to choose this big tree because the other trees were not that well-known.
At the same time, Lin Yao also thought of something. It was recorded in the bible that two trees stood in the middle of the Garden of Eden.
One of them was the Kabbalah Tree of Life, which Lin Yao had been yearning for, and the other was the tree that could distinguish between good and evil. Also, according to this monotheistic mythology, the reason Adam had been expelled from the Garden of Eden was that he had eaten the fruit of this tree after being tempted by the snake.
‘I have a feeling that the ability to distinguish between good and evil will complement the Kabbalah Tree of Life.’
As he pondered this, Lin Yao didn’t hesitate to click on the icon of the Leaf of Heaven Punishment and confirm his one-time request for gold resources. He then provided his address so that the people from the Abnormal Ability Department could deliver the item to him.
This was an era of convenience, and most items did not require a talented person to collect them in person. So long as the purchase was confirmed, someone would deliver it to him.
‘With the seed of this tree, it won’t be long before I can unlock the gene lock.
‘If I unlock the gene lock, I’ll be able to unleash my physical abilities fully and then replicate all of Di Qiang’s abilities. Then, victory will be in the bag.’
Although he felt more assured now, Lin Yao eventually stayed up late. He was absorbing the knowledge and information on the various skills and treasures he had browsed through on the website of the Abnormal Ability Department.
He searched for some time, but it was already midnight when another unique combat skill caught Lin Yao’s eye.
[Deafening Thunder Roar]
[The booming sound of thunder is akin to the wrath of heaven. Mortals tremble upon hearing it. Deafening Thunder Roar resembles the sound of thunder and is activated with a secret method. Its one roar can shake the sky and earth and make both the human body and soul tremble. People who are timid, distracted, or weak-willed will be immobilized and scared out of their wits by the thunderous sound.]
[Note: If you want to terrify someone, it’s best to let out a roar of thunder suddenly.]
The ability that Lin Yao wanted was identical to the Clear Mirror Sword-Drawing Technique. Both were insidious moves that he was quite good at.
He could imagine suddenly walking up to a distracted person under normal circumstances and yelling at them loudly. As long as the sound was loud enough, it would terrify the other person to death.
The feeling of the soul almost parting with the body was truly chilling.
The sound of thunder had a frightening effect by nature. He could imagine getting an absolute kick out of casting the sound of thunder against an opponent at a close range. That would be seventh heaven. Of course, he also had to be prepared to be beaten up by the other party.
“The roar of thunder is similar to the Buddha’s lion’s roar. Both attack people with sound waves. Even if one is not frightened by it, one will get dizzy from the impact of the waves on the brain. This will create opportunities for me. Most importantly, my Clear Mirror Sword-Drawing Technique can already shut off the opponent’s vision. Coupled with the Deafening Thunder Roar, which can shut off the opponent’s ears, anyone who fights with me in the future will be as good as blind and deaf.”
‘I heard that you’re planning to close your eyes and use your hearing to deal with my Clear Mirror Sword-Drawing Technique. Come, come, do you want to find out more about my Deafening Thunder Roar?’
Lin Yao was advancing further and further down the path of impropriety…
Upon seeing this skill, he did not hesitate to place an order. This was a technique available for purchase nationwide. Fortunately, Lin Yao happened to have one chance to apply for a nationwide golden combat skill.
This time, as soon as Lin Yao placed the order, a customer service officer verified his information and confirmed the details of his purchase. The customer service officer then asked Lin Yao for his location and told him politely that he could proceed to Ninghai City’s Technique Chamber to receive the technique the next day.
“That’s fast. Don’t you need to deliver them to the area? Is it because the Heavenly Mirror not only transmits techniques but also moves between various mirrors?”
When he thought that a strong government would have some means, Lin Yao no longer felt puzzled over this. He would learn the technique tomorrow and become completely “unbecoming”.
After some searching, Lin Yao went to bed. The next day at dawn, before the sun was up, Lin Yao woke up with a frown.
‘The usual training starts at 5 o’clock in the morning and lasts 2.5 hours. When the sun is out, the weather is hot and everyone goes about their daily activities. People go to work and school, but this timing is not suitable for me. I train best under the sun.’