Chapter 137: Returning Home
Chapter 137: Returning Home (Please Subscribe, Collect, and Recommend)
As the four of them arrived in the front courtyard, they saw an elderly Daoist with a sage-like demeanor and white hair and beard standing there. Behind him stood an Immortal Crane. Uncle Kiu hurriedly approached and bowed: "Greetings, Supreme Elder. Weren't you in deep seclusion? Why are you here now?"
"This is all thanks to your new disciple", Supreme Elder said, waving his fly whisk. "We all entered deep seclusion back then because of the great changes in the world. Once our cultivation reached a certain level, if we didn't want to suffer from Spiritual Derangement, we had to reduce our need for Spiritual Qi by entering seclusion. Your disciple's Sunlight Crystals have solved this problem, giving all cultivators hope for further advancement. That's why I came out of seclusion and happened to meet the elders who had already decided to reward your disciple. So, I came to see for myself."
"Then—Liam, come out and thank the elder", Uncle Kiu said to Liam. Liam quickly walked up to Supreme Elder and bowed: "This is Disciple Liam, greetings, Supreme Elder."
"Good, very good. Your cultivation is pure, and your Merit shines bright. The future of Maoshan is in good hands", Supreme Elder said with a strong voice, then handed Liam a palm-sized jade tablet.
"What is this?" Liam asked, respectfully taking the jade tablet with both hands.
"This is a legacy jade tablet, which can directly impart cultivation techniques. Unfortunately, they are quite rare these days. Your master told us that you often encounter danger while studying among the barbarians, so we decided to give this to you for protection. After the great changes in the world, many small sects have perished. This is the last legacy of a small sect: the Heavenly Thunder Technique."
"Could this be the secret technique of the Heavenly Thunder Sect, the greatest sect a thousand years ago?" Uncle Kiu asked in surprise.
"Yes, but that was a long time ago. After the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty, they gradually declined. Until a few decades ago, their last successor, gravely injured, came to Maoshan. After we defeated the evil ghost he described, he passed away with a smile, having heard the news. Before his passing, he entrusted us with his legacy, asking us to find a successor.
To be honest, in terms of pure combat, their Heavenly Thunder Technique even surpasses ours at Maoshan. However, cultivating this technique requires a high level of Spiritual Qi and Merit. We searched for a long time to find a successor, and it wasn't until you introduced your disciple that we found one. I am very pleased to see a once-great sect continue its legacy in my lifetime."
Supreme Elder then looked at Liam and said, "I hope you can carry on and develop this technique, and not tarnish the reputation of the Zhongtu Daoist sect."
"I will not let you down", Liam bowed again to Supreme Elder.
"Alright, everything is settled. I must return to the mountain now." Supreme Elder declined Uncle Kiu's invitation to stay and rode the Immortal Crane away.
In the following days, Liam began to practice the Heavenly Thunder Technique under Uncle Kiu's guidance. Finally, near the end of the week, he successfully released a Palm Thunder. The Palm Thunder hit the ground, setting the wild grass on fire.
Uncle Kiu stepped forward and extinguished the flames with a palm strike. Then he turned to Liam and said, "Liam, it seems your problems are almost resolved. Are you about to leave?"
"Um... I'm sorry, Master", Liam said, looking embarrassed.
"Don't apologize to me. I can tell from your Merit that you have important matters to attend to outside. Although you are the youngest among my disciples and we have spent the least time together, I know you will go the farthest among your three senior brothers. So, I won't hold you back."
The next morning, Liam said his goodbyes to Uncle Kiu and left the Mortuary with his pack on his back. Once he turned the corner and the Mortuary was out of sight, Liam returned to the Multiverse General Store.
The store looked exactly as it did when he left, the only difference being that the bottle on the counter, which previously contained Little Qing and Sunlight Crystals, was now empty. Little Qing had devoured all the Sunlight Crystals.
Seeing Liam enter the shop, Little Qing used her tail to unscrew the bottle cap and leaped out. She then wrapped herself around Liam's arm, swimming back and forth restlessly, and showered him with affection through their soul link.
"Even if you keep whining, there won't be any more Sunlight Crystals. The Sunlight energy in your body is already saturated. Continuing to absorb it would be harmful. If you want more, you need to exercise and burn off some of that energy first."
Seeing Little Qing look a bit dejected after hearing this, Liam continued, "It's not like I'll never give you any again. You're still too weak to handle a lot at once. Once you grow stronger, you'll be able to eat as much as you want."
Hearing Liam's reassurance, Little Qing perked up immediately and happily circled around his arm again.
At this moment, Liam sensed a new message from the emporium. Focusing his attention, he discovered that the message informed him that due to his frequent use of the Multiverse General Store and the high reputation he had gained in multiple worlds, the store had unlocked a new feature: Emergency Escape.
This feature would allow Liam to use the store's time and space traversal capabilities to teleport himself and any willing beings or items that were in contact with him and did not exceed twice his own volume during combat.
Since this was an emergency function, it would cost 10 Deviation Points per use. The destination would be randomly selected by the Multiverse General Store, which could be in the same world or another world, but it would always be a place suitable for human survival.
"What a great feature", Liam exclaimed. Finally, the emporium had provided a way to escape in dire situations. If he had had this during his battle with the Basilisk, he wouldn't have been so nervous. However, it wasn't too late to have this now, especially since the Harry Potter world was far from peaceful. He might need this in the future.
After taking stock of his gains once again, Liam chose to return to his world, which he had left over five weeks ago. Stepping through the portal, he found himself back in the small grove of the park where he had started. The sun in the sky had only shifted slightly since he left.
Liam shook his head and walked over to a park bench to sit down. He needed a moment to adjust to the time difference. After long traversals, he always felt a bit out of sync with his surroundings.
After about half an hour, he finally adjusted to the time difference. He stood up and walked home along the sidewalk. When he arrived, he found that his mother, Sally, had left for an emergency at the Hospital Wing, leaving only his father, Mr. Lambert, at home, working on a manuscript.
Mr. Lambert looked at Liam in surprise when he opened the door. "Why do I feel like you've been to a war or something?"
"In a way, I have. I not only participated in a battle but also became a general and brought lasting peace to a region", Liam said, half-joking and half-serious.
Mr. Lambert laughed heartily. "No wonder you're my son. When I was your age, I used to dream of being a general commanding thousands of troops."
In the midst of their cheerful conversation, Liam finally returned to the home he had been away from for over a month.
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(End of Chapter)
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