C645 Obsidian Thunder Sect

Three hundred years ago on the continent of Euwrea, the Thunderzenith Sect and the Obsidian Thunder Sect were renowned for their mastery of thunder magic. These two sects, in reality, originated from the same lineage, established by a pair of sibling disciples.

At that time, both the Thunderzenith Sect and the Obsidian Thunder Sect boasted formidable strength, with Unbound realm cultivators anchoring their positions. They were among the highest-ranked in the lower sects of Euwrea. The Forgeroses Sect was the undisputed leader of these sects, with Thunderzenith and Obsidian Thunder consistently ranking in the top five.

The Ethereal Void Sect, by contrast, held a much lower ranking in those days. Sects like Abyssal Dawn, Winter's Bite, and Cloudwater were considered third-tier and did not qualify as lower sects.

Fast forward three hundred years, and the Thunderzenith Sect has evolved into the present-day Thunder Sect, maintaining its profound heritage and impressive prowess. However, the Obsidian Thunder Sect has fallen from grace, reduced to a third-rate sect.

Xie Bin, formerly a prodigious talent of the Obsidian Thunder Sect, was not only a practitioner of thunder magic but also deeply fascinated by leechcraft. He sought out the Order of Healing to learn from the past life of the God of Medicine. Xie Bin aimed to enhance his thunder magic cultivation with his alchemical skills, seeking a path to ascend to the Unbound realm.

At that time, Yu Yuan had not yet attained the title of God of Medicine and was not the head of the Order of Healing. He found Xie Bin to be a curious and thoughtful individual, so he shared some alchemical techniques and imparted knowledge of medicinal theory to him. Consequently, the brilliant cultivator from the Obsidian Thunder Sect became his nominal disciple.

Publicly, Xie Bin declared himself a nominal disciple, but privately, they referred to each other as friends.

"How can you prove you're his hand-chosen disciple?" Xie Bin demanded.

With a whoosh, Yu Yuan conjured the Serpentflame furnace from his Bracelet of Holding and set it upon the stone ground. "Does this furnace verify my identity?"

"Serpentflame!"

Xie Bin's excitement surged as he stepped forward, gripping Yu Yuan's shoulders. "How did you come by his alchemical legacy? What do you know? Did he leave any other messages?"

At that moment, Xie Bin was perceived by Yu Yuan to be merely at the Lunar Spirit Realm. This did not align with his expectations at all. He had heard that the leader of the Obsidian Thunder Sect was named Xie Bin and wondered if it was a case of two people sharing the same name. He couldn't be sure, so he came to check it out, never expecting it to actually be the same Xie Bin.

"First, answer my question," Yu Yuan said, steadying his emotions and striving for composure. "You shouldn't be in this state."

"What's there to talk about?" Xie Bin gave a wry smile. "A century ago, the Solar Spirit masters of our Obsidian Thunder Sect were ambushed by the Shura on a star in the extraterrestrial realms. That battle marked the end of our sect. Our Sect Master's soul was scattered to the winds, my Solar Spirit was shattered, and two of my Solar Spirit Realm friends perished alongside me."

He recounted these events with a disquieting calmness.

"Battles like these are common in the depths of the Star River in the extraterrestrial realms. Countless sects like the Obsidian Thunder Sect have fallen into obscurity overnight."

"Since that battle, the might of our Obsidian Thunder Sect has plummeted. A hundred years on, we're left with a single Solar Spirit struggling to hold on."

"With my Solar Spirit broken, my true form regressed to the Lunar Spirit Realm. The shattering of the Solar Spirit extinguished my heaven soul, and with one of the three souls gone, my chances of returning to the Solar Spirit Realm were dashed."

"Relying on a bit of insight, I volunteered to come to Afnetalos to recruit young disciples, hoping to possibly find a promising candidate to rejuvenate the Obsidian Thunder Sect."

Xie Bin's voice carried a mournful tone as he laid bare the root cause of the Obsidian Thunder Sect's decline to Yu Yuan.

Yu Yuan listened with a heavy heart.

He understood that Xie Bin was correct; many sects like the Obsidian Thunder Sect might vanish after a devastating battle in the extraterrestrial realms.

That the Obsidian Thunder Sect's teachings had survived at all was a feat in itself.

"Didn't the Thunderzenith Sect offer any support?" Yu Yuan asked, puzzled. "After all, they are still considered a lower sect on Euwrea, and both your sects share the same heritage."

"The Thunder Sect?" Xie Bin scoffed. "They did express a desire to look after us. However, their idea of 'care' was quite different from what we had in mind."

"What's the meaning of this?" Yu Yuan inquired.

"They're demanding that we surrender our sect's most sacred treasure, the Blessed and Heavenly Lands, and become a subsidiary of the Thunderzenith Sect," Xie Bin said, his face etched with indignation. "Our previous sect master spent his entire life vying with the Thunderzenith Sect. His dearest ambition was for our Obsidian Thunder Sect to outrank them in the lower sect standings."

"To abandon the Obsidian Thunder Sect's name and fully merge into the Thunder Sect would be a betrayal of our sect master's last wishes!"

"Therefore, no matter how destitute or diminished the Obsidian Thunder Sect becomes, we will never subordinate ourselves to the Thunder Sect!"

Xie Bin spoke with resounding conviction.

Boom!

A dull thud echoed from the courtyard, followed by a gruff voice calling out, "Xie Bin, come outside!"

Xie Bin's expression soured as he instructed, "Stay inside the room. I'll go see what's happening."

The flags Yu Yuan had set up only concealed the energy and noise from within; the words of those outside could still be heard from within the rune circle.

Upon realizing an intruder had entered, Yu Yuan quickly stowed the furnace and the flags into his Bracelet of Holding.

"Don't come out," Xie Bin cautioned once more before stepping out of the room, his face a mask of fury.

In the courtyard, the lame old man who had received three Soul Crystals from Yu Yuan lay weakly at the threshold, his chest's vitality and little world shimmering with a frosty glow.

A cultivator clad in the garb of the Winter's Bite sect, a late-stage Lunar Spirit Realm practitioner, stood tall and gaunt like a bamboo pole. With a goatee and a haughty demeanor, he loomed over the courtyard with an air of nonchalance.

From the surrounding rooms, a mix of individuals emerged—men and women, young and old. Yet their cultivation levels were modest, merely within the Subtlety and Veil Breaking Realms.

"There she is!"

The man's eyes brightened upon spotting a shy girl in a green dress stepping out from a small room. He reached out and effortlessly lifted her through the air towards him.

"She had previously visited the Winter's Bite, but I wasn't present to recognize her potential," the man said with a smirk, addressing Xie Bin. "Mr. Xie, I've found this young lady. Once I escort her back to Winter's Bite, all will be settled."

After speaking, she disregarded the fury of everyone present from the Obsidian Thunder Sect and turned to leave with the girl in the green dress in tow. She didn't even give a second glance to the old man whose vitality had been sapped by the cold.

Outside, several cultivators tasked with recruiting those with a talent for cultivation observed his arrival and departure.

"Ah, Winter's Bite is still a lower sect, after all."

"Had it been a hundred years ago, before the Obsidian Thunder Sect's calamity, would Zhao Jingzhi dare to act so brazenly?"

"Without that disaster, would our training hall be on the same street as the Obsidian Thunder Sect?"

It was only after Zhao Jingzhi of Winter's Bite had taken the girl in the green dress that the onlookers dared to speak their minds. To the cultivators from third-rate sects, Winter's Bite, one of the seven lower sects, was a level above them, and their status was worlds apart.

The members of the seven lower sects were not to be trifled with, nor could they be spoken of carelessly.

"Mr. Xie?"

Several young cultivators from the Obsidian Thunder Sect looked at Xie Bin with hope in their eyes, yet they were reluctant to speak.

Xie Bin, struggling to contain his rage, took deep breaths to calm himself before saying, "Being chosen by Winter's Bite might just be her lucky break."

He sighed deeply and continued, "The Obsidian Thunder Sect of today would only stifle her potential."

He had carefully assessed the girl and recognized her exceptional talent, suitable for both thunder magic and the frigid techniques of Winter's Bite.

He believed that with proper nurturing from the sect, the girl's potential could reach the heights of a Solar Spirit. Another Solar Spirit could significantly bolster the strength of the Obsidian Thunder Sect.

But now...

"Winter's Bite, Zhao Jingzhi," Yu Yuan murmured to himself, shaking his head inside the room.

Returning to his quarters with a rueful smile, Xie Bin said, "I apologize for the spectacle. I've grown accustomed to such things. Our Obsidian Thunder Sect lacks a cultivator of the Unbound Realm and doesn't rank among the lower sects. My staying here was in the hopes of discovering a rare talent like Chen Qingyan or Liu Ying."

At that point, he chuckled self-deprecatingly. "I'm aware that the chances are incredibly slim, almost nonexistent."

"But who knows? Perhaps a miracle might occur."

...