Chapter 55: Summoning Lightning and Freezing Rain

“Old Chen must have done it on purpose!”

“How could a military agricultural officer like him lose control over his spells?” Zhao Xing rubbed his aching shoulder, where a patch of frost was melting into dampness.

“It must be that my magic influenced him, causing a nightmare he refuses to admit. Or maybe he actually heard me calling him Old Chen?”

Just now, Zhao Xing had seen Chen Shijie with a grim, agonized expression. Not knowing what had happened, he had instinctively called out to him as Old Chen.

Dreams in this world were no ordinary matter; Zhao Xing was genuinely worried about Chen Shijie’s safety.

“Sooner or later, I’ll surpass Old Chen. When that day comes, little Chen…” Zhao Xing smiled faintly, patted his shoulder, and walked away leisurely.

...

Daytime was unsuitable for practicing the Shadow Wind spell, so Zhao Xing shifted it to nighttime.

Grasping the earth’s energy fluctuations and capturing the subterranean shadow winds was incredibly difficult.

Yet, even before reaching the first level, the spell’s power was impressive.

This spell was a required course for Zhao Xing, and he needed to master it well.

“Shadow Wind isn’t just for harming others; it’s essential for cultivating certain rare treasures.”

“For example, the Rebirth Herb struggles to grow without Shadow Wind, but with it, maturation accelerates.”

In the morning, he tended to the young Heavenly Pear saplings, nurturing their vigorous growth.

After leaving home, Zhao Xing headed to the Agricultural Supervision Bureau and practiced thunder summoning in Xue Wenzhong’s backyard.

Old Agricultural Officer Xue was formidable in thunder magic; his control was so exquisite that Chen Shijie might not surpass him.

“Summoning thunder and generating thunder are just one step apart—that is, controlling the direction in which the thunder’s power dissipates,” Xue Wenzhong patiently explained.

“In fact, the thunder spell already produces considerable thunder power but remains bound to the moving clouds. Even if it breaks free, it won’t move according to the caster’s will.”

“To summon thunder, you must strengthen your control over the clouds, guiding the thunder’s power to pour out at a fixed angle,” he said.

“So the key to summoning thunder isn’t the thunder itself but the clouds?” Zhao Xing nodded, watching the cloud layer in Xue’s palm.

The old officer’s teaching was unique. After decades of practice, he had developed his own understanding of the magic.

Three feet of sky thunder, clouds in the palm—this alone could keep one studying for a lifetime.

To shrink the clouds to such a scale while enhancing the thunder’s power resembled the “Palm Thunder” technique Zhao Xing had seen in the Revival version!

This was the result of delving into a spell and continuously pushing its limits.

How many turns was the old agricultural officer’s cloud control and thunder summoning? Perhaps even he couldn’t say.

...

The divine-speed straw figures were swift and agile.

Made from primal rice, they darted throughout the courtyard, as if evading something.

The cloud layer overhead covered the entire backyard, occasionally releasing bolts of lightning.

“Boom!”

Lightning struck a straw figure; in an instant of brilliance, the figure burst into flames and collapsed.

More than one burned on the ground, but many others still leapt and dodged about.

These straw figures weren’t Zhao Xing’s creations but Xue Wenzhong’s.

Hitting them was far more challenging.

Their speed was too great; by the time Zhao Xing aimed, the figures had already moved elsewhere.

“Unless I wildly bombard the area to increase coverage, my hit rate is too low—only about thirty percent,” Zhao Xing thought.

But Xue forbade such reckless attacks since the straw figures were confined within the thunderclouds to train Zhao Xing’s precision.

Anyone could blindly bombard; where would the training be?

“If you can destroy seventy percent of the straw figures before noon, your thunder summoning skill will have leveled up,” Xue said.

He had a rough grasp of Zhao Xing’s aptitude and therefore released fast, nimble straw figures.

Zhao Xing didn’t lose heart and gradually found his rhythm. Though controlling spells differed greatly from playing games in his past life, his former experience helped him regain some feel.

[You cast Thunder Summoning; spell proficiency +20.]

[You cast Thunder Summoning; spell proficiency +30.]

[You cast Thunder Summoning; spell proficiency +45.]

...

“Boom!” “Boom!”

Fully focused, Zhao Xing’s hit rate steadily improved.

By noon, the straw figures in the backyard had all turned to ash.

“Phew~”

Zhao Xing glanced at his panel.

[Thunder Summoning: Beginner Spell]

[Proficiency: 1025/9999]

[Effect: Summon thunder into the ground to strike enemies]

“I’m at seventh turn with Thunder Strike and ninth turn with Cloud Control. The prerequisite spells are already so refined, yet I only progressed one turn this morning. Although the proficiency cap hasn’t changed, the difficulty of further improvement is vastly different from the beginner stage,” Zhao Xing mused.

He felt the progress was slow, but Xue Wenzhong was quite satisfied and gave him the afternoon off to arrange as he wished.

...

In the afternoon, Zhao Xing visited the Chen residence.

At a quarter past noon, Shen Zhui was punctual, waiting at the training ground.

“Brother Zhao, please.”

“Brother Shen, likewise.”

They stood twenty meters apart and resumed their chase-and-escape game.

This was their third bout.

The opening was no different from before.

Zhao Xing again cast clouds, thunder, rain, and wind simultaneously.

Shen Zhui, familiar with his tactics, launched his pursuit after ten breaths.

But after the rain began, Shen Zhui sensed something unusual.

“This rain... why is it so cold?”

After just a few steps in the rain, he felt something was wrong.

He looked up; droplets ran down his woven hat to his brow.

“Hiss~”

Shen Zhui shivered involuntarily.

Cold—too cold.

It felt less like summer rain and more like winter’s chill.

He even felt like putting on another layer of clothing.

“What kind of rain is this? It’s completely different from before.”

“I must use my vital energy to resist the cold’s erosion; otherwise, my mobility will be severely affected.” Though each raindrop’s effect was slight, it accumulated steadily.

Shen Zhui knew he had to act quickly.

...

Meanwhile, Zhao Xing, hidden away, was fixing the straw figures and calculating.

“I can’t use Shadow Wind against Shen Zhui easily; after all, he’s not Chen Shijie. If he resists it easily, only Ice Rain and Thunder Summoning remain.”

“First, reduce his mobility, then strike him with thunder.”

Shadow Wind harms the soul; Ice Rain harms the body.

“Ice Rain also harnesses yin energy, but it’s much easier than Shadow Wind. Since water belongs to yin, just guiding it with vital energy and removing the yang energy from the clouds creates Ice Rain.”

Old Agricultural Officer Xue taught that the key to mastering Thunder Summoning was control over the clouds. Zhao Xing applied the same approach to Ice Rain and found it surprisingly easy to master the basics.

“Plop~” raindrops fell on his hand, and Zhao Xing felt the chill.

Though just a beginner, far from the first turn proficiency, dragging out the fight would greatly drain Shen Zhui’s vital energy and reduce his mobility.

Chase-and-escape game? Zhao Xing wasn’t just running away here!

Before, he had few offensive spells; now he had them, so he certainly wouldn’t wait to be caught!