Chapter 20: The Immortal Staff Duel

The air was stifling and humid in the tropical rainforest. Although Hua Sheng’s Taoist robes had dried several times, they were immediately soaked through by the rain again. Giving up on staying dry, Hua Sheng focused his attention on tracking Leizhenzi in the sky.

Mie Ying’s fifth sister was currently little more than a novice in the mystic arts. He did not know the reason for this, but the situation was dire. If he were to drag her around with him, it would be impossible to escape Leizhenzi’s pursuit.

Regarding Leizhenzi, Hua Sheng’s knowledge was limited to hazy fragments of legends from the Investiture of the Gods. He only knew that after Jiang Ziya completed the investiture, Leizhenzi had ascended to sainthood in the flesh. More than two millennia had passed; in theory, Leizhenzi’s rank and cultivation could have changed countless times. Hua Sheng had no idea how powerful his Taoist arts were now.

Yet, based on those old legends, Jiang Ziya had once sealed Xin Huan—who wielded a pair of thunder hammers—as one of the twenty-four orthodox gods of the Thunder Department, known as the "God of Thunder." And this very God of Thunder had been killed with a single blow from Leizhenzi’s staff during their past confrontations. If even a God of Thunder could be dispatched with a single strike, then if Leizhenzi were playing for real, his cultivation was likely at least at the Lingxiao level. Hua Sheng feared he was in grave danger.

What troubled Hua Sheng even more was that their initial encounter with Leizhenzi had been a mere "routine" inquiry. Now that the second sister of the Mie Ying faction had caused trouble, fleeing might have been acceptable, but if they resisted openly, would it be considered "obstructing official business"? At worst, it could even be construed as "assaulting an official." Hua Sheng had never understood the bureaucratic hierarchy of Saint Pingning, but he knew that if he offended even one official from the Ministry of War or the Ministry of Justice, a "tiny ant" like him would surely face ruin.

Thinking of this, and knowing he could not leave the fifth sister behind the waterfall for too long, Hua Sheng decided to lure Leizhenzi away from this "danger zone" where she was so easily exposed. Once he shook off Leizhenzi, he would find a way to return and retrieve her.

Fortunately, Leizhenzi’s pair of wind-and-thunder wings were conspicuous against the dark sky, and Hua Sheng quickly spotted him. He formed a seal and cast a fire-burst spell, sending a fireball flying from his palm. With a bang, it exploded into a shower of sparks in the sky.

The disturbance immediately caught Leizhenzi’s attention. As soon as Hua Sheng’s position was revealed, thousands of lightning bolts descended upon him. At that moment, the iron hoop chain around Hua Sheng’s neck began to glow, and flame patterns appeared on his robes. Since the battle at the Qiankun Guard, Hua Sheng had discovered that this artifact of the Great Sage Equaling Heaven was not merely for show. Once he wore it and gripped his golden staff, it granted him a century’s worth of cultivation. He felt incredibly agile, tumbling and dodging through the sky amidst the flashing lightning and thunder.

However, Leizhenzi’s golden wind-and-thunder staff was no ordinary weapon. Each time he swung it, lightning poured down incessantly. The space to maneuver in mid-air was rapidly shrinking. Hua Sheng had intended to lure Leizhenzi away, but by revealing himself, he had fallen into an electric cage.

Leizhenzi seemed confident that Hua Sheng was trapped, calling out from the sky: "A mere mortal, daring to act so brazenly!"

Seeing no way out, Hua Sheng gritted his teeth and used his staff to block the lightning above, attempting to tear an opening in the electric web. As the Ruyi Golden Staff made contact with the current, his hand went numb. It had been manageable a moment ago—had Leizhenzi’s power increased?

Hua Sheng’s entire body was wracked with intense pain, and his vision went black. It lasted only a split second, but when he regained his senses, he realized he had lost his balance and was plummeting. He quickly stabilized himself, realizing he had underestimated the power of the lightning. He broke into a cold sweat. Had he not regained focus in time, he would have been forced to surrender.

The golden staff was made of divine iron from the bottom of the Heavenly River. Even as a magical artifact, it could only weaken the high-voltage current, not fully neutralize it. It would be no surprise if Leizhenzi’s lightning was millions of volts. Had his physical body been struck without the protection of the iron hoop chain and the robes from the Taoist Academy, he would have been reduced to ashes.

Hua Sheng descended low, hiding within the branches of a large tree. However, the current behind him seemed to have eyes of its own; it immediately pursued him and split the tree in two. Seeing his hiding spot destroyed, he flew into another tree, but this time he did not hide among the branches; instead, he used a wall-passing spell to conceal himself within the core of the trunk. With a thunderous boom, the tree was struck, and it erupted into a raging inferno. Hua Sheng, unable to bear the scorching heat inside the trunk, was forced to flee.

From then on, no matter how he dodged through the rainforest, the lightning from the sky followed him, trapping him in a pincer movement that left him exhausted. *I cannot just sit here and die!* Hua Sheng thought anxiously. If he couldn't even shake off Leizhenzi, how could he save the fifth sister?

In his desperation, he looked at the golden staff in his hand and a plan formed. He leaped from the thicket and stabilized himself in mid-air. Gripping the staff with his right hand, he hooked his left hand toward the rainforest below and shouted, "Haste as the law dictates!"

A towering tree was uprooted from the forest floor by Hua Sheng’s command. He cast another spell, stripping the tree of its branches and leaves until only the thickest part of the trunk remained. The trunk hissed as the moisture inside was instantly evaporated by Hua Sheng’s power, leaving it bone-dry. He used the massive trunk as a giant shield, holding it in front of him with his left hand. When the lightning struck the trunk, the current was unable to reach his palm.

Leizhenzi’s power was formidable, and the lightning shaved away a third of the thick trunk, leaving the top charred black. Simultaneously, Hua Sheng hurled the golden staff from his right hand, shouting: "Ruyi Golden Staff! Grow, grow, grow!"

The staff expanded rapidly, reaching the height of a skyscraper before slamming into the riverbed below. As soon as the massive staff landed, thousands of lightning bolts were drawn to it like iron to a magnet.

Hua Sheng laughed aloud: "Behold my sky-piercing lightning rod!"

The impenetrable web of lightning was suddenly funneled and tightly wrapped around the golden staff. Thousands of currents surged into the river, causing a school of numbed fish to float to the surface. With the lightning gone from the sky, Leizhenzi’s defenses were wide open. Hua Sheng seized the fleeting moment, charging forward and slamming the thick log into Leizhenzi with all his might!

Leizhenzi, not expecting this, was forced to swing his golden wind-and-thunder staff to parry. The ordinary log was no match for the divine weapon and immediately cracked open. Just as the log was about to be obliterated, Hua Sheng shouted: "Come! Ruyi Golden Staff! Shrink, shrink, shrink!"

The staff standing in the river shot upward, shrinking instantly as it flew back into Hua Sheng’s hand. Utilizing the momentum, he put all his strength into a swing at Leizhenzi. Leizhenzi, caught off guard, was unable to dodge and had to block with his staff. With a thunderous clash that shook the heavens, Leizhenzi felt his hand go numb and lost his grip. The golden wind-and-thunder staff flew from his hand!

"You brat, you are quite capable!" Leizhenzi, his hand tingling, threw a punch with his other hand. Hua Sheng blocked it with his arm, but the force was like a tidal wave, sending him flying into the cliffside. After a deafening crash, the cliff cracked, and half the hillside slid downward. Hua Sheng stood up in the mud and spun his golden staff. He thought: *Now that Leizhenzi has lost his staff and I have mine, I don't have to fear him. I can at least fight him to a draw.*

He began to chant, "Haste as the law..." but before he could rise into the clouds, he caught a glimpse of a figure out of the corner of his eye. His heart sank—it was the pink-haired fifth sister. She was curled into a ball like a shrimp, her hair disheveled and her bow trembling uncontrollably. She had evidently tumbled onto the cliff during the chaos.

*Of all places to fall!* Hua Sheng thought. *It's over! My hiding spot is completely exposed!*

Leizhenzi’s voice echoed from the sky: "You two little brats! Let's see where you can run!"

As a bolt of lightning descended toward the fifth sister, Hua Sheng lunged to protect her. He hugged her tightly as the entire mountain was split in two by a massive explosion. Amidst the mud and debris, they were thrown back by the shockwave. Hua Sheng held her firmly, terrified that she, who knew no magic, would be lost.

Under his protection, they tumbled onto the ground. Once they stopped, Hua Sheng propped himself up and scanned the sky for Leizhenzi. He realized his golden staff was nowhere to be found, and if more lightning came, he would have to flee with the fifth sister. As he searched, a voice came from beneath him:

"Can you... get off your teacher?"

Hua Sheng turned back in a panic and realized the person beneath him was none other than Master Qingmiao, dressed in dark blue robes. He felt a mix of shame, embarrassment, and relief so intense he almost burst into tears.

"Master Qingmiao! I’ve been waiting for you!"

Without a word, Master Qingmiao shoved Hua Sheng aside. He then realized a bolt of lightning was striking toward them. Instead of dodging, Master Qingmiao raised her palm, meeting the current head-on and catching it with her bare hand. In an instant, the Qiankun Ring on her wrist erupted with golden light, and she reflected the lightning back at its source!