Before they knew it, the murals on both walls had reached the end of the story. In an ordinary novel, the protagonist would probably comprehend the Great Dao and ascend. Instead, the final painting showed the cultivator removing the lightning bolt from his body and hiding it in a box.
Xu Ziyan was astonished by the ending. The cultivator had died in seated meditation rather than attaining immortality.
“What a strange story,” Xu Zirong said. He had followed his brother along the murals because Xu Ziyan was so interested in them.
Like Xu Ziyan, Xu Zirong had noticed that the cultivator strengthened the lightning in his dantian by absorbing other lightning powers. He immediately searched his memories for secret realms where divine lightning treasures might exist.
The ending surprised him as well. Who would have expected the cultivator to remove his own divine lightning and hide it in a box?
“Big Brother… do you think that box might be somewhere inside this inheritance site?”
“Possibly…” Xu Ziyan reached out to touch the box in the mural and suddenly felt a slight bump beneath his fingertip.
“What’s wrong?” Xu Zirong asked, noticing his expression change.
“Nothing. It’s just… this seems…” Xu Ziyan pressed the raised spot, but nothing happened.
Disappointed, he laughed at himself. A predecessor’s divine lightning had to be extraordinarily valuable. Surely a box holding it would not be so easy to find.
He glanced at the mural again as he turned away, and every hair on his body seemed to stand on end.
The box… was gone!
He whipped back around and stared. It was true: the box the painted cultivator had been about to hide had disappeared. The man’s hands were empty.
“How is that possible?!” Xu Ziyan exclaimed. He touched the painting where the box had been; the surface was completely smooth.
“Impossible!” He searched the entire painting, but the raised spot was nowhere to be found.
He was sure he had not imagined the black box in the cultivator’s hands. Yet now the mural appeared flawless, as though the box had never existed.
And something else about the image seemed wrong, though he could not identify it.
“Big Brother…” Xu Zirong tugged at his sleeve.
“What is it?” Xu Ziyan asked.
Xu Zirong pointed at the mural, his face suddenly pale.
“What’s wrong?” Xu Ziyan followed the gesture toward the painted cultivator.
“His… eyes…” Xu Zirong said strangely.
Xu Ziyan looked closely and froze. Originally, the cultivator had been gazing at the box he meant to hide. Now his empty hands rested before him, and his face had turned sideways. His black eyes stared directly at the brothers, as though watching them from inside the painting.
Xu Ziyan shivered. Then, to his horror, a peculiar smile slowly appeared on the painted man’s face.
Holy hell! Was this a ghost movie?
Xu Ziyan felt his hair stand on end. He did not believe in ghosts, but in this dim passage, a mural that changed like that was terrifying.
He swallowed hard and watched the painted smile grow wider until the man’s expression became a full-throated laugh.
“Hahahaha…” A peal of laughter suddenly echoed through the dark corridor.
“What the hell is that?!” Xu Ziyan jumped in fright and released Lightning Serpent Burst without hesitation.
This burst was even stronger than the one used against the rock bats. Ten purple lightning bolts as thick as forearms exploded outward with deafening force.
“Hahaha! Someone finally found my treasure!” The mysterious voice stopped laughing and began to speak. “Well, I suppose I’ve been dead a long time by the time you hear this, but don’t worry about it. Everyone dies. I never wanted to become an immortal, and nearly ten thousand years of life was more than enough for me.”
The voice was deep and hearty, with an easygoing tone. “You watched the murals so carefully that I suspect you have a lightning spiritual root. Since you found the hidden clue, you must be interested in the box. Heh, I knew the one to receive my inheritance would be a clever youngster. Since fate brought us together, I can’t send you away empty-handed, can I?”
“But there’s something you should know. In this world, you never gain without giving something up. I can offer you the box, but are you sure you want it? If so, press the box in the second-to-last mural. If not, you may refuse. My gift is unusual, and not everyone can bear it. Take your time… though if you don’t decide within thirty breaths, I’ll assume you refuse. Everything will return to normal, and this mural can never open again.”
“Oh, and as for gaining and losing: you gain my box, of course. As for the loss, I’ll keep that a surprise. You’ll find out after you take it. One more thing. Did that moving mural scare you? Hahaha! I spent ages coming up with that prank and even had my senior brother help arrange it. Since I’m giving you the box, you won’t curse me for it, will you? Well, it doesn’t matter. I can’t hear you anyway! Hahaha!”
Both brothers wore expressions of utter exasperation. This predecessor enjoyed teasing people far too much. Xu Ziyan worried that the box might contain another unpleasant surprise.
“Big Brother, will you take the box?”
“Yes.” Xu Ziyan nodded. The predecessor was right that not everyone could accept such a gift, but he happened to have suitable conditions. If he left without the box, he might regret it forever.
As for gaining and losing, he was philosophical. Opportunities depended on strange twists of fate. Better one bird in the hand than two in the bush; he would take what he could gain and deal with the loss afterward.
He reached out and pressed the box in the next-to-last mural.
The cultivator in the final painting slowly raised a hand and gave a thumbs-up, then pointed downward. Xu Ziyan followed the direction. With a click, a blue-gray brick sprang out of the wall near the floor.
He crouched and removed the brick, revealing a dark hollow. Reaching inside, he felt a box about the size of his palm.
Looking at the little black wooden box, Xu Ziyan smiled. The original Xu Ziyan had never experienced such a thing. Even if he refused to follow the novel’s established course, perhaps his luck was still good.
“Congratulations on receiving an inheritance, Big Brother,” Xu Zirong said happily.
“Haha! Congratulations to us both!” Xu Ziyan laughed as he held up the box. Who would have expected that casually examining murals would yield an inheritance, and one particularly suited to him?
“Aren’t you going to open it?”
“Of course! Why not? There isn’t anyone else around.” He lifted the wooden lid.
At once, something dark shot from the box. Xu Ziyan’s eyes narrowed, and he flicked a thin thread of lightning at it.
Hiss!
The dark object fell to the floor.
The brothers looked down in speechless disbelief. The object was an exquisitely carved wooden mouse. The predecessor had fitted the top compartment with a second lid and a spring mechanism so the mouse would leap out when the box opened.
Xu Ziyan’s lightning had scorched the wooden mouse black, reducing it to rubbish.
“Hahaha! Wasn’t that a surprise? Don’t worry, this really is the last one!” The same man’s voice sounded from the box.
Xu Ziyan had nothing left to say about the prank-loving predecessor.
Forget it. He had received the man’s inheritance; there was no point quarreling with a recording.
After consoling himself, he opened the box’s second lid.
The sight inside made his heart race. He had guessed correctly: it contained a bolt of Purple Firmament Divine Lightning. Red thread bound the violet lightning securely to the bottom of the box. He could not imagine what extraordinary material could restrain divine lightning.
After inspecting the treasure for a long time, Xu Ziyan carefully placed the box inside Mr. Square.
The value of a complete bolt of Purple Firmament Divine Lightning could not be measured in spirit stones. Even an enormous sect like Flowing Light Sect possessed only one bolt of Azure Firmament Divine Lightning.