Chapter 53: Summoning Lightning, Chilling Winds, and Freezing Rain

After waiting for a short while, Zhao Xing entered the Hall of All Saints to seek spell teachings. There were no divine statues here, only spirit tablets, which held a slightly lower status compared to independently worshipped underworld deities.

However, since he was only seeking middle and low-tier spells, it did not matter.

Finding a remote corner, Zhao Xing sat cross-legged on a straw mat.

"This disciple has no particular preferences. Any school of spells will do. Whichever True Monarch is willing to impart their teachings, this disciple will learn," Zhao Xing prayed silently.

His thoughts conveyed only one meaning: he wasn't picky!

As if hearing Zhao Xing's prayer, a gentle breeze soon blew over, encircling his body.

Zhao Xing involuntarily closed his eyes—this was the sign that the imparting of spells was about to begin.

At the same time, among the dense rows of spirit tablets in the Hall of All Saints, one tablet bearing the name "True Monarch Zheng Lun" began to glow faintly.

"Charge!"

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

"Neigh~"

"Enemy attack!"

Dark clouds gathered, and the canyon looked gloomy and eerie.

Gleaming spears and armored horses filled the scene, with battle cries shaking the heavens.

Zhao Xing found himself on a narrow path in a single-line-sky canyon, pushing a grain cart. From the cliffs on both sides, rolling stones, spiked logs, and a rain of arrows were raining down.

Instinct made Zhao Xing instantly want to cast a spell, but he realized that he seemed illusory in this space.

Arrows passed right through his body, leaving him completely unharmed.

"So this is a scene for receiving teachings and comprehending the Dao. It seems the transmitting True Monarch was a military agriculture official during his lifetime."

Encountering a battlefield scene during Dao comprehension usually meant the person had been a military agriculture official in life, or rather, that their primary achievements were earned on the battlefield, which was why they attained this posthumous title.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~"

Arrows fell like rain.

Yet, this grain transport unit was not entirely without the means to fight back.

The grain-transporting soldiers exerted a bit of strength, and the grain carts in front of them were flipped over. They then quickly scrambled beneath the carts, beginning to move along with the vehicles, person and cart as one.

"Is this a Returning-Spirit Shield Cart?" Zhao Xing recognized it at a glance.

"Returning-Spirit Shield Cars, quickly form a defense formation! Commander Congyun, immediately block the enemy's line of sight!"

A shout spread with the wind. Hearing this command, the ambushed grain transport unit began to adopt a defensive posture.

Zhao Xing looked toward the source of the voice and saw a middle-aged man wearing a golden coir raincoat and a hundred-flower bamboo hat, issuing orders.

Wind swirled around him, and arrows automatically deflected three feet away from his body.

Beside him, several agriculture officials dressed identically—their faces obscured—began casting spells.

"Commander of Loyal Manifestation, Grain Transport Officer Zheng Lun."

Zhao Xing's mind naturally conjured up this person's name, official rank, and bestowed title of nobility.

"It seems this True Monarch is the one imparting spells to me."

Gathering his focus, he began to observe Zheng Lun's spellcasting closely.

Clouds and mist obscured the vision of the ambushers on both cliffs, and the volume of the arrow rain instantly dwindled.

Ten breaths later, the arrows, rolling stones, and spiked logs stopped completely.

Thunder had begun to rumble within the clouds; if the enemies didn't flee or take cover immediately, they would all be blasted to death by Zheng Lun's thunderbolts.

Even so, fleeing now was far too late.

"Boom-crack!"

Thunder descended like threads of silk, striking down the enemies on the mountaintop with pinpoint precision.

Even if they hid behind boulders, the lightning could bend around obstacles to strike them.

"Charge!"

The pressure from the attacks above lessened slightly, but from the front and rear of the canyon, two more squads of frontline soldiers rushed out.

"Halberd Warriors?!"

Zhao Xing recognized them. This was an ancient type of elite troop; the charging soldiers each wielded three-meter-long heavy halberds.

The soldiers were fully armored, even wearing faceplates that exposed only their eyes, and atop their helmets were a pair of menacing ram horns. As they ran, fist-sized stones were crushed beneath their feet, causing the earth to tremble.

The Halberd Warriors possessed formidable vital energy. A battle banner fluttered brightly among the troops, and countless strands of vital energy from the soldiers converged onto the banner, sending a rainbow beam surging into the sky.

"Hum~"

A gap was blasted open in the cloud cover above the canyon.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~"

The grain-transporting soldiers inside the Returning-Spirit Shield Carts began shooting arrows in counterattack, but their arrows were completely incapable of piercing the enemy armor.

Seeing the Halberd Warriors closing in, Zheng Lun made his move once more.

"Wind, arise!"

A fierce gale swept across the flat ground within the canyon. As the wind brushed past Zhao Xing, he couldn't help but shiver.

He looked at Zheng Lun and saw black storms raging deep within the man's eyes.

Simultaneously, this anomalous vision was mirrored in the eyes of the charging Halberd Warriors.

"Thud!"

The front row of Halberd Warriors collapsed without warning.

As if made of paper, they were effortlessly knocked down by this strange wind.

Row after row, like grass beaten flat by a great gale, nearly five hundred Halberd Warriors were completely wiped out in the blink of an eye.

The remaining Halberd Warriors, witnessing such a bizarre spectacle, began to panic and retreated along the path they had come.

"Hmph!" Zheng Lun turned and pointed a finger, and the driving clouds swiftly followed.

"Swish, swish, swish, swish~"

A torrential downpour poured down, instantly slowing the speed of the Halberd Warriors as if they were sinking into mud.

"All troops, pursue! Kill the incoming enemies!"

At Zheng Lun's command, all the soldiers emerged from the Returning-Spirit Shield Carts and turned to chase down the remnants.

The grain transport unit numbered merely five hundred men, yet the combined ambushers from the front, back, and cliffs exceeded fifteen hundred. Not only had they failed to secure a victory, but they were instead routed and driven into a chaotic retreat.

"So strong." Seeing this, Zhao Xing couldn't help praising aloud.

In the heavy rain, enemy soldiers fell one after another until, in the end, their entire bodies grew rigid and their faces turned pale.

Zhao Xing felt a sudden wave of enlightenment.

He understood what spells this military agriculture official was teaching him.

It was at this very moment that everything suddenly froze.

The cold and stern Zheng Lun turned his head and looked at Zhao Xing, the "outsider," as if offering encouragement.

"Thank you, True Monarch."

Zhao Xing cupped his fists in a bow, and the scene completely shattered.

.........

[You received teachings in the Hall of All Saints and comprehended the middle-tier spell "Lightning Summoning."]

[Lightning Summoning: Middle-tier Spell]

[Effect: Summons lightning to strike down and bombard enemies.]

[Proficiency: 0/9999]

.........

[You received teachings in the Hall of All Saints and comprehended the middle-tier spell "Nether Wind."]

[Nether Wind: Middle-tier Spell]

[Effect: A nether wind blows, scattering souls and destroying spirits.]

[Proficiency: 0/9999]

...........

[You received teachings in the Hall of All Saints and comprehended the middle-tier spell "Glacial Rain."]

[Glacial Rain: Middle-tier Spell]

[Effect: Raindrops turn to ice, freezing vital energy into frost.]

..........

Zhao Xing opened his eyes, looked toward a specific row of worshipped spirit tablets, bowed respectfully once more according to protocol, and then walked out of the grand hall.

He hadn't expected that coming to the Hall of All Saints to seek teachings would yield such an unexpected harvest—he had learned three middle-tier spells all at once.

And all of them were offensive-type spells.

Under normal circumstances, Lightning Summoning was relatively easy to learn, but both Nether Wind and Glacial Rain were exclusive to military agriculture officials; the probability of learning them before officially receiving an official post was extremely low.

"Lightning Summoning, Nether Wind, Glacial Rain—these three are all upgraded versions of the Four Seasonal Weather Spells. It seems I am adept at combat, which is why this military agriculture official took notice of me and imparted these offensive spells."

This perfectly made up for Zhao Xing's shortcoming of insufficient attack power. He was no longer an agriculture official who could only rely on straw men to hide and flee; he was now an agriculture official with formidable destructive power!

Returning to the Directorate of Agriculture, Zhao Xing spoke to Xue Wenzhong about his experience receiving the teachings. The old agriculture official was momentarily stunned: "I could still teach you Lightning Summoning, but as for Nether Wind and Glacial Rain, even I don't know them. You'll have to go find Chen Shijie."