One person: Starting with the Snow Drinking Blade

Chapter 304 Guiding Zhang Chulan

At the dinner table, Nie Lingfeng briefly recounted his experiences at Longhu Mountain (omitting details of being beaten up and Xiaoyun's various "feats"), emphasizing the guidance from the Old Celestial Master and his own insights. Zhang Chulan listened with shining eyes, especially when he heard Nie Lingfeng mention his experience with power fusion and his understanding of the true meaning of the "Wuqiu Yijue" (a martial arts technique), he was filled with envy.

"It has to be you, Old Nie!" Zhang Chulan took a swig of beer and sighed, "To have the Old Master personally train you for a month and a half—I, as a legitimate grand-disciple, have never enjoyed such treatment! But speaking of which, what level have you reached now? Can you exchange a few blows with the Old Master?"

"A few moves?" Nie Lingfeng gave a wry smile. "If I go all out, I can probably last... a few hundred moves, of course, assuming the Old Master doesn't use any real thunder magic or other techniques (and of course, I won't draw my sword or use Demon Heart Crossing, etc.)."

"Hundreds of moves?!" Zhang Chulan's eyes widened. "Wow! I remember when you first came up the mountain, you probably couldn't even last ten moves against the Old Celestial Master, right?"

"Pretty much," Nie Lingfeng nodded. "The main gain isn't in how many moves you can withstand, but in the control of power and the understanding of martial arts."

"Impressive!" Zhang Chulan gave a thumbs up, then flashed his signature fawning smile. "Well... Brother Nie, you see, I've been practicing diligently lately, but I feel like I've hit a bottleneck. How about... you give me some pointers? Not like the Old Master did for you, just a couple of moves and you can tell me what's wrong!" He rubbed his hands together, looking expectant.

Nie Lingfeng glanced at him, a half-smile on his face: "Alright. I'm free tomorrow anyway, so I'll spar with you before heading to headquarters." He also wanted to see just how much Zhang Chulan, this shameless guy, had grown during this time.

Early the next morning, at the dedicated training ground underground of the North China branch.

This place was reinforced with special materials, enough to withstand most of the normal combat of the superhumans. Nie Lingfeng, Zhang Chulan, Zhang Lingyu, and even Xu San and Xu Si came (Xu Si claimed to be "inspecting employee training," but actually he was just there to watch the show). Chen Duo sat on a bench next to them with Xiao Yun. Xiao Yun was holding a bag of potato chips that Xu Si had somehow gotten his hands on, eating them with a crunching sound, her eyes sparkling as she looked at the center of the field, clearly treating this as a performance.

"Come on, Chu Lan, let me see how much you've improved." Nie Lingfeng stood to the side of the arena, casually flexing his wrists, and said to Zhang Chu Lan. He didn't use any weapons, nor did he intend to activate his Qilin True Form; he simply wanted to see Zhang Chu Lan's abilities.

"Hehe, Brother Nie, then I won't hold back!" Zhang Chulan dropped his usual playful demeanor, his eyes becoming focused. He knew that against a master like Nie Lingfeng, any fancy tricks were useless; he had to show his true skills.

"Thunder VIP!" Zhang Chulan shouted, and a dazzling white electric light erupted from his body! The crackling of electricity echoed across the training ground as his speed suddenly increased, his figure transforming into a streak of lightning as he rushed towards Nie Lingfeng! His speed was vastly different from what Nie Lingfeng remembered!

"Oh? Not bad speed." Nie Lingfeng raised an eyebrow, his feet shifting slightly as he naturally executed the Wind God Leg technique, his figure as elusive as a gentle breeze, easily dodging Zhang Chulan's swift pounce. At the same time, his right hand, fingers forming a sword shape, pointed towards Zhang Chulan's ribs without a trace of hostility. It was the "Cloud Paradise" move from the Cloud Dispelling Palm technique, the finger strike ethereal yet concealing deadly intent.

Zhang Chulan reacted extremely quickly. A flash of electricity crackled around his body as he twisted his body in mid-air, narrowly avoiding the finger strike. At the same time, he threw a backhand punch, his fist crackling with thick white arcs of electricity.

"Yang Five Thunder - Palm Thunder!"

boom!

The white lightning bolt shot out, not in a straight line, but drawing a strange arc in the air, striking Nie Lingfeng from the side! This attack was not only fast and powerful, but also had a tricky angle!

"Interesting!" Nie Lingfeng praised, neither dodging nor avoiding, his right hand instantly covered with a layer of crystal frost, and he struck out with his palm!

"Heavenly Frost Fist - Frost Condenses, Revealing Clumsiness!"

The icy, bone-chilling cold air collided violently with the blazing, violent lightning!

"laugh--**!"

Frost and lightning annihilated each other, producing a piercing sound and bursting out a large amount of white water vapor! Nie Lingfeng swayed slightly, while Zhang Chulan was thrown back several meters by the recoil, but a flash of lightning under his feet immediately steadied him, and his eyes became even sharper!

"Again!" Zhang Chulan roared. This time, he didn't rush to attack. Instead, he quickly formed hand seals in front of his chest. The white lightning on his body suddenly subsided and condensed between his palms, forming a dazzling ball of lightning that kept compressing and jumping! A violent and unstable aura emanated from it!

"Oh? Compressed lightning technique? Your control has improved quite a bit." A hint of surprise flashed in Nie Lingfeng's eyes. He could feel that Zhang Chulan's control over Yang Wu Lei was completely transformed compared to when he was at the Luo Tian Grand Ceremony! Not only was the power greater and the variations more numerous, but the precision of his control over the power had also reached a new level! It seemed that he had indeed not been slacking off during this period, and had grown a lot in actual combat.

"Take this—Super Invincible Palm Lightning Modified - Chain Explosion!" Zhang Chulan shouted (the name was still so casual), and shoved the extremely compressed lightning ball in his hand towards Nie Lingfeng! The lightning ball suddenly split into several smaller lightning balls during its flight, bombarding Nie Lingfeng's vital points from different directions! Moreover, the trajectories of these lightning balls were unpredictable, and faint arcs of electricity connected them, forming a small-scale lightning net!

"Fancy, but effective," Nie Lingfeng commented. He changed his footwork, his figure weaving through the gaps between the lightning balls like a ghost. At the same time, he clapped his hands repeatedly, the force of his Cloud-Dispelling Palm layer upon layer, like clouds and mist, enveloping and dissipating the lightning balls! However, the power of the exploding lightning balls and the accompanying paralyzing effect still caused a slight, almost imperceptible, sluggishness in his movements.

Just then, Zhang Chulan appeared behind Nie Lingfeng as if by teleportation. A point of condensed white lightning flashed on his fingertip, silently pointing towards Nie Lingfeng's back! This attack combined speed, concealment, and power to the extreme. It was an advanced application of the killing move he had comprehended from his "Thunder VIP" state—"Little White Bug"!

"Beautiful!" Xu Si, who was watching from the sidelines, couldn't help but cheer. Even Chen Duo, who had been expressionless the whole time, had a slight twitch in her eyes.

However, facing this cunning and ruthless attack, Nie Lingfeng seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. Without turning his head, he lightly shifted his feet and twisted his body at an incredible angle, narrowly avoiding the lightning bolt that grazed his waist! At the same time, his elbow slammed backward like a heavy hammer!

"Bang!"

Zhang Chulan hastily raised his arm to block, but was so struck by an immense force that his arm went numb, and he staggered backward! A look of horror appeared on his face; he hadn't expected that his carefully designed combo would be neutralized so easily by his opponent!

"Your application of lightning techniques is skillful, your combat awareness is good, and you combine feints and real attacks very well." Nie Lingfeng did not pursue, but stood still and commented, "However, you rely too much on the speed and explosiveness of lightning techniques. Once you encounter an opponent whose speed is no less than yours, or who can predict your movements, the effectiveness of these techniques will be greatly reduced. Moreover, your basic skills—such as close-quarters combat fist and foot techniques—still have a lot of room for improvement."

Zhang Chulan took a breath, shook his numb arm, and said with a wry smile, "Brother Nie, your assessment is similar to what Sister Bao'er said. But I don't have much time, so I can only focus on mastering my trump card, the Thunder Technique."

"You've already done very well," Nie Lingfeng said sincerely. "Compared to the time of the Luo Tian Grand Ceremony, your progress has been phenomenal. Especially your control and variation of lightning magic, which is already on par with many veterans who have been immersed in this art for many years." As he spoke, he glanced intentionally or unintentionally at Zhang Lingyu, who was watching the battle from the side.

Zhang Lingyu's expression was complex. He had watched the entire fight between Zhang Chulan and Nie Lingfeng, and was quite shocked. He remembered that during the Luo Tian Grand Ceremony, although Zhang Chulan had won a few matches with his tricks and shameless fighting style, his true strength, especially his control over Yang Five Thunder, was still very rudimentary in his eyes, completely incomparable to his own refined Yin Five Thunder.

But in that brief exchange, Zhang Chulan's displayed strength had truly impressed him! His lightning-fast movements, his versatile and meticulously controlled lightning techniques, and his cunning and ruthless combat awareness all demonstrated that this once somewhat disdainful junior apprentice had matured into a true master through the trials of real combat! Especially the final move—the splitting and manipulating of the compressed lightning sphere—and that silent, deadly attack from behind, demanded an extremely high level of control over lightning techniques; even he wouldn't dare say he could have done better!

A strange emotion surged within Zhang Lingyu. Was it resentment? Surprise? Or... a sense of crisis, a feeling of being overtaken or even surpassed? He couldn't quite put his finger on it. But he knew that the Qi within his body was becoming restless.

"Zhang... Zhang Chulan, it seems you've indeed made rapid progress recently." Zhang Lingyu suddenly spoke, her voice calm, but her gaze was fixed on Zhang Chulan.

"Hehe, Junior Uncle, you flatter me. To make a living, you have to work hard." Zhang Chulan scratched his head, reverting to his usual playful demeanor, but a hint of seriousness lingered in his eyes. "What, Junior Uncle wants to stretch his muscles too? Let me make it clear, I'm not the same person I was during the Luo Tian Grand Ceremony!"