Rebirth of the Thunder God

The reason Namgung Hui realized there was an intruder in the Thunder Sect was because of the liquor bottles scattered messily all over the place.

The Thunder Sect wasn't a brewery, but it was a place where the liquor made with Thunder Ki was a specialty.

It was called Thunder River Liquor. It was a liquor where the Thunder Ki flowed down the esophagus like a river.

Namgung Hui didn't enjoy drinking that much, but the Thunder River Liquor was so delicious that he would sip it.

In the first place, the Thunder River Liquor contained the energy of lightning, so just drinking it accumulated Thunder Ki.

Of course, this Thunder River Liquor was diluted so that ordinary people could drink it.

That's why this intruder could drink it without any problems.

However, there was something more important…….

‘Please……! Let the Thunder Core be safe!’

The sixty-year-old Thunder River Liquor was a bit of a waste, but it wasn't as valuable as the Thunder Core.

The Thunder Core was nothing less than the treasure of the Thunder Sect.

In terms of value alone, it was a spiritual pill comparable to the Great Return Pill of Shaolin.

Of course, its internal energy enhancement effect was less than that of the Great Return Pill, but just containing the energy of Thunder Ki had considerable value.

Namgung Hui ran like a thunderbolt.

A small shrine behind the main building where the Thunder Core was kept.

It was a place that enshrined the Azure Dragon, who was said to be the first Sect Master.

He didn't know if that was true or not, but what was important to Namgung Hui was the fact that the Thunder Core was sleeping here.

Namgung Hui let out a sigh of relief inwardly at the sight of the shrine, which had not changed even after sixty years.

‘Phew…… Of course. The box where the Thunder Core is kept has raging Thunder Ki, so no matter how great the intruder is, they wouldn't be able to open it carelessly.’

Namgung Hui decided to catch the intruder first before taking out the Thunder Core.

He closed his eyes and pushed his five senses to the limit with the Pure Thunder Essence.

He tracked the intruder's traces in every nook and cranny of the Thunder Sect, down to every speck of dust.

‘Hmm……. The rooms are all empty. I don't see any human footprints either. Could it be a master of lightness skill? It would be possible for someone like the Shadowless Divine Thief. Then it would be more troublesome.’

In the Thunder God's time, the number one thief in the Central Plains was the Shadowless Divine Thief.

He was a master of thievery so great that he had even robbed the imperial treasury.

If such a Shadowless Divine Thief had decided to enter the Thunder Sect, it wouldn't be strange for there to be no footprints like this.

However, even such a Shadowless Divine Thief had to drink water and sleep.

Or at the very least, he would have to breathe.

But he couldn't feel a single breath.

Perhaps he had left the place to get a meal.

‘If I meet a master of the Shadowless Divine Thief's level now, can I subdue him? It would probably be difficult. In that case……!’

Namgung Hui thought that this was rather an opportunity.

When the intruder was away.

A golden opportunity to consume the Thunder Core.

Namgung Hui, as if he didn't want to waste even a moment, used his movement technique and jumped into the shrine.

The inside of the shrine was small.

Just enough for a person to bow once.

It was a place for ancestral rites in the first place, so it was bound to be small.

Namgung Hui carefully opened the small box inside the shrine.

-Zzzzt! Zzzzt!

Blue Thunder Ki flickered and mercilessly struck the back of Namgung Hui's hand.

However, Namgung Hui was the former Sect Master of the Thunder Sect and the only person who could handle Thunder Ki as the current Sect Master.

He accepted the Thunder Ki into his body and gently picked up the Thunder Core.

‘Sixty years……! One cycle of sixty. It has ripened perfectly!’

Some might say that a top-grade spiritual pill only increases it by one cycle of sixty, but Thunder Ki is an energy with a much higher density than other internal energies.

Even with the same one cycle of sixty, the power was different.

Namgung Hui, after confirming once again that the intruder had not yet come, sat in a cross-legged position and immediately swallowed the Thunder Core.

-Gulp. Tingle……!

A tingling bead passed down his throat. As soon as the Thunder Core reached his stomach, it melted away and lost its shape.

As soon as the Thunder Core disappeared, a huge energy began to rage in his stomach.

-Tingle! Tingle! Zzzzt!

A blue energy undulated around Namgung Hui.

It was quite different from when he had drawn up the Pure Thunder Essence before.

What should I say? It felt like a spiritual energy.

The blue energy soared as if to truly evoke an Azure Dragon.

Namgung Hui drew that unprecedented great power in one breath with the Divine Thunder Art.

In an instant, the undulating blue energy was sucked into his nostrils.

-Rumble!

A clear and pure energy churned through Namgung Hui's blood vessels.

Since his body was not yet fully healed, a tingling pain arose, but he trembled all over from the pleasure that spread throughout his body afterward.

After going through the small heavenly cycle once, twice, three times, Namgung Hui's body slowly began to float from the floor.

The strange phenomenon did not stop there, and Namgung Hui's body spread out in a large '大' shape and began to make strange noises.

-Crack. Crack.

It wasn't a complete bone and body transformation, but it was the process of being transformed into a physique suitable for martial arts.

In the first place, since the impurities in his body had all been burned away after being struck by lightning, a complete body transformation was not necessary.

Namgung Hui's skin was as fine as white jade to begin with.

So much so that it was reminiscent of a pale-faced scholar.

If so, since he had only gone through the bone transformation and had withdrawn from the skin shedding, it could be called a bone transformation withdrawal.

-Flash!

When Namgung Hui opened his eyes, a glint shot out, and his body slowly sank.

It seemed that he had grown an inch taller, perhaps because he had finished the bone transformation.

It wasn't a delusion, as his head was slightly touching the ceiling of the already cramped shrine.

Namgung Hui, without even a moment to feel such discomfort, was engulfed in ecstasy, savoring the Thunder Ki that filled his entire body.

‘Hahaha! I've broken through the 6th star of the Divine Thunder Art in one go! In my past life, it was only possible after I passed thirty to achieve this.’

There were several reasons why Namgung Hui was so happy about reaching the 6th star of the Divine Thunder Art.

First and foremost, it was because he could properly perform the palm and finger techniques among the martial arts of the Thunder Sect.

The 6th star of the Divine Thunder Art was the realm where one could emit Thunder Ki outside the body.

It meant that he didn't have to overexert his body like when he was dealing with the old master of the Heretic Alliance.

‘The Flash Thunder Finger pierced the foreheads of many demon heads. The Explosive Thunder Palm wasn't used much because it also caused damage to allies, but its power was certain.’

Namgung Hui wanted to run outside right away and perform his martial arts.

His whole body was itching to properly perform the martial arts of the Thunder Sect after so long.

The Thunder Cloud Step was not an offensive means, so there was a clear limit to scratching his itch.

It was when Namgung Hui was grinning.

-Rustle. Rustle.

The sound of someone stepping on leaves was heard.

Namgung Hui instantly wiped the smile from his face and rushed outside.

Without forgetting to emit a faint killing intent.

‘Where are you, intruder? Don't even think about getting out of here alive today.’

Even though the Thunder Core was safe, invading someone else's sect was a serious crime.

And the Thunder Sect, a single-transmission sect, did not let intruders go.

Besides, he had emptied so much of the Thunder River Liquor, so if he let him go, his master might wail in the afterlife.

And so, Namgung Hui arrived at the source of the noise, but there was no one who looked like an intruder.

Namgung Hui tilted his head at the strange situation and continued to search his surroundings.

‘The presence has disappeared? No. This is……! It's not a person.’

"Squeak!"

The identity of the intruder was none other than a squirrel.

The tiny beast was even hiccupping, drunk on liquor.

‘That tiny thing drank that much Thunder River Liquor? No. How is it alive?’

No matter how diluted the Thunder River Liquor was, it was still a liquor that contained Thunder Ki.

It was virtually impossible for such a small animal to handle it.

But the squirrel in front of him had done it, so he couldn't not believe it.

Namgung Hui recalled one possibility at the sight of such a squirrel.

‘It might be possible if it's a spiritual beast. The first Sect Master, the Azure Dragon, was also a spiritual beast if you think about it.’

Of course, comparing a dragon and a rat might be like comparing the sun and a firefly, but since the squirrel in front of him was alive, he had no choice but to just let it go.

Well, whether the squirrel was a spiritual beast or not was not very important to Namgung Hui.

It was just a resentful being that had emptied the Thunder River Liquor.

"You thief. You seem to be having a good time. I won't take your life, but I'll have to make an example of you."

The drunk squirrel was startled by Namgung Hui's presence and raised its fur.

Namgung Hui gathered Thunder Ki in his feet, thinking of chasing the squirrel, but the squirrel's reaction was the complete opposite.

"Squeak!"

Instead of running away, it threw itself towards Namgung Hui.

It was a fierce charge, as if Namgung Hui was its mate.

-Lick, lick.

Suddenly, the squirrel licked Namgung Hui's foot without mercy.

Namgung Hui couldn't bring himself to push away the tiny squirrel, so he just watched what it was doing.

As Namgung Hui gathered the Thunder Ki he had drawn up, the squirrel stopped licking his foot and jumped onto his shoulder.

"Squeak. Squeak!"

Namgung Hui heard the squirrel's words as if it were saying, 'Try drawing up your energy again.'

He didn't know what kind of trick it was, but as the squirrel said, he tried drawing up the Thunder Ki to his fingertips once more.

A blue flash erupted from his fingertips.

-Zzzzt. Zzzzt.

It was a feat that was only possible now that he had just reached the 6th star of the Divine Thunder Art, but to think that the first one to see it was this tiny squirrel.

It was a truly ridiculous situation.

The squirrel, as if Namgung Hui had understood correctly, was continuously licking the area where the Thunder Ki was raging.

Namgung Hui nodded his head slightly as he watched the squirrel.

‘A spiritual beast that covets Thunder Ki. Well, there are some spiritual beasts that covet specific energies, but a squirrel is a first for me.’

The Ten Thousand Year Fire Fox that covets fire ki.

The Poison Horned Twin-Headed Snake that covets poison ki.

The Snow Mountain Roc that covets cold ki.

Besides those, there were plenty of spiritual beasts that coveted various energies.

However, a squirrel spiritual beast was not only unfamiliar, but a case of one coveting Thunder Ki was not recorded even in ancient books.

If there was one, it would be the Azure Dragon, one of the Four Guardian Gods.

‘Well, that doesn't mean this guy can't be the first spiritual beast. The first Sect Master, the Azure Dragon, might be deeply moved if he saw it.’

But he couldn't just let this resentful squirrel be.

Hadn't it lifted and then not put down Namgung Hui's heart once?

Namgung Hui, who thought he had lost ten years of his life because of that, collected the Thunder Ki and said to the squirrel.

"Just as I understood your cry, I believe you will understand my words. The matter of you secretly stealing and drinking the Thunder River Liquor here. You will pay the price dearly……."

Just as Namgung Hui was about to continue, the squirrel climbed onto Namgung Hui's shoulder again and licked his face.

Then it tilted its head as if to say, 'What are you talking about?' and let out a cry.

"Kkyu? (What are you talking about?)"

Namgung Hui was truly at a loss for words, as the spiritual beast acted more shamelessly than any human he had ever seen.

It seemed it was not a divine spiritual beast, but a cunning spiritual beast.

Namgung Hui was not swayed by the cuteness of such a spiritual beast.

He began to count the empty liquor bottles of Thunder River Liquor that the squirrel had emptied and calculate their value.

‘One, two, three…… ten. Each bottle is worth at least 50 silver taels, so that's a whopping 500 silver taels.’

It was an enormous amount. It was an amount that he might or might not get even if he sold this spiritual beast.

Namgung Hui was conflicted for a moment.

Should he really catch this spiritual beast and sell it?

But if he did that, the Azure Dragon, the founder of the Thunder Sect and one of the Four Guardian Gods, would not stand still.

Still, there were still a whopping 20 bottles of Thunder River Liquor left.

If he took this and sold it, he would have quite a bit of money in his hands.

"You should consider yourself lucky."

"Squeak. Squeak. (Alright.)"

"By the way, how did you get in here? There should be a formation set up."

In the first place, there was a formation set up to prevent intruders like this from entering.

He didn't know the exact name, but it was a formation with a spiritual energy.

He thought it was probably the work of the first Sect Master, the Azure Dragon.

‘It's a formation that I would only be able to break through after regaining my martial power from my past life, but this guy broke through it and came in? That doesn't make sense.’

To resolve Namgung Hui's question, the squirrel pointed to the back of the shrine and cried.

"Squeak. Squeak. (Over there.)"

Namgung Hui focused his vision in the direction the squirrel was pointing and looked.

There, the axis of the formation was cracked, and a small gap had formed, as if an earthquake had occurred.

‘Well, it hasn't been maintained once in sixty years, so it's probably natural. Rather, it's amazing that it only allowed one squirrel in all this time.’

Then he had to repair the formation, but Namgung Hui didn't know the formation itself.

The formation installed in the Thunder Sect was something that had been passed down from the first Sect Master.

His master didn't know the formation either, so he hadn't taught him, so Namgung Hui had no particular solution.

Then, a thought flashed through his mind, and Namgung Hui nodded his head.

‘The Hao Faction leader was a master of formations. He probably survived the Heretic Alliance thanks to his formations. It would be fine to ask him for guidance.’

It wasn't a bad idea. He wasn't learning the Hao Faction leader's ultimate technique, so he could certainly receive guidance on something like repair work.

The information about the leader of the Heretic Alliance would be more than enough to pay for it.

Having organized his thoughts, Namgung Hui said to the squirrel.

"This is my territory, so don't come here again. If you come again, I really won't let you go."

"Kkyu? (Really?)"

"It's no use acting so cute. What's not allowed is not allowed."

"Squeak. Squeak. Squeak? (Then what about traveling with you?)"

"What? You want to accompany me? Hmm……."

Namgung Hui was about to refuse, but he thought it wouldn't be bad to have a traveling companion.

Since it was a small spiritual beast, it would be easy to hide, and since it was a clever one, it would probably be able to get itself out of trouble if necessary.

On top of that, since it also had a connection with the same Thunder Ki, it didn't feel bad.

On the contrary, a sense of familiarity emanated from it.

‘Above all, I have to make this guy pay dearly for stealing and drinking the Thunder River Liquor all this time. Hahaha!’

A smile naturally appeared on Namgung Hui's face at the thought of making the squirrel work.

"Then I'll have to give you a name. I can't just call you squirrel all the time. Let's see. What would be good."

‘Since you're a shameless and impudent fellow, let's call you Chichi.’

"From now on, I'll call you Chichi. Is that okay?"

"Squeak? Squeak! (Chichi? I like it!)"

The moment he gave his new companion a name.

-Thud, thud, thud!

Suddenly, someone ran in through the main Sect.

This time, it wasn't a spiritual beast or an animal, but a real person.

(End of Chapter)