Chapter Twelve: Teaching the Wind and Thunder Force

Lastly, there was Sun Hao, the son of King Sun, who had a rather dark complexion. Among those present, he alone had no family backing, yet none dared look down on him, for he was the son of King Sun, Sun Shang!

Why was Sun Shang, whose cultivation was only at the Meridian Unblocking stage, called King Sun?

The reason lay in his unmatched wisdom and resourcefulness; thanks to him, countless battles ended with fewer casualties and overwhelming victories. Over twenty years ago, he was the one who, through cunning strategy, repelled the invasion of the Hulan Kingdom. Yet it was after that very battle that he resigned his post, laid down his arms, and returned to a life of farming!

Although he had driven back the Hulan Kingdom's forces, they had still managed to massacre three cities, slaughtering millions. This weighed heavily on his conscience, and from that day forward, he refused to concern himself with the affairs of court.

Yet no one ever blamed him. After all, at that time he was merely a deputy general, with no say in the decisions of the army of a million. He couldn't even enter the main camp of the supreme commander. It was because the commander's trusted strategist was too arrogant and self-assured, refusing to heed any advice, that three cities fell and the army lost its spirit.

When the fourth city was on the verge of collapse, Sun Shang used a drug to render both the commander and his strategist unconscious. With his blade at the commander's throat, he threatened his way into command and immediately stabilized the situation, halting Hulan's advance. One order after another, one stratagem after the next, caused the Hulan forces to pay a heavy price.

When the commander awoke and learned what had happened, he immediately offered up his own guilt and pleaded for Sun Shang to take command. The strategist, upon waking, was so shamed by his own arrogance that he took his own life in atonement.

In the following half month of battle, the Hulan army was repeatedly driven back, and by the time they retreated in full, their million-strong force had dwindled to less than three hundred thousand.

Afterward, the Emperor personally promoted Sun Shang to the rank of General Who Pacifies the Frontier, leaping four ranks from sixth to second class, a jump of twelve grades.

But Sun Shang refused, laying down his arms and returning to the fields, feeling that his delay in taking command was the cause of the three cities' massacre, leaving him disheartened.

Even so, the Emperor still bestowed upon him the title of King Sun, decreeing that, wherever he was, if Sun Shang wished to take up command, all officers of lower rank in the area must obey him unconditionally!

This may seem a digression, but truly, like father, like son.

From the way Sun Hao had just commanded his companions to attack, Lin Fan could sense hints of coordinated tactics, magnifying the effectiveness of their assault. Were it not for his foundation from a previous life, he might have suffered a loss.

What was more, the others trusted Sun Hao's leadership without reservation, clearly not the first time they had followed his orders, and were thoroughly convinced by him.

Lin Fan thought for a moment, then smiled at the group of youths. "It’s a pleasure to know you all. Since you plan to apply to the Heavenly Tome Academy in three months, though my family may not be as powerful as yours, I do possess a set of combat techniques that might be of use to you. Why don’t I teach them to you?"

"Brother Fan, that’s not a good idea!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Shuihan immediately shook his head. In this world, nothing was more important than cultivation methods and martial techniques, not even resources. Passing one’s own skills to another was tantamount to exposing one’s strengths and weaknesses.

"Indeed, Brother Fan, there’s no need for that. We’re sharing a table because we get along, and besides, we’re confident about the Heavenly Tome Academy exam," Li Ji added.

Lin Fan shook his head with a smile. "Let me demonstrate it once for you first. After that, you can decide if you want to learn it. In any case, you won’t master it just from watching—there are special skills involved."

"That sounds fair—"

Xiao Shuihan and the others exchanged glances, somewhat helpless. First, they felt it was taboo to learn someone else's techniques, especially at a first meeting, no matter how congenial. Second, while Brother Fan was undoubtedly formidable—none of them could stand against him together—their own families were far older and stronger than the Lin clan, which had existed for less than thirty years. Surely their own combat techniques must surpass anything the Lin family could offer.

"Clouds gather, thunder roars!"

Suddenly, Lin Fan’s deep voice rang out. Xiao Shuihan turned to see Lin Fan already moving nimbly around the room, beginning his opening stance.

Even this initial movement caught their eyes, and they stared intently at every variation, their gazes fixed on Lin Fan’s every move.

"He rides the clouds in freedom, thunder rolls for ninety thousand miles!"

No one knew how much time had passed before Lin Fan stopped abruptly, his breath steady and controlled, unaffected by the powerful Thunder-Wind Technique he had just unleashed.

He then slowly returned to his seat, smiling at the stunned youths. "Well? Interested in learning?"

They snapped out of their daze, eyes shining with excitement as they looked at Lin Fan and blurted out, "Learn! Of course we want to learn! How could we not want to learn such a powerful technique?"

Though they didn’t fully grasp the technique’s full potential, they could sense from Lin Fan’s demonstration that it greatly increased one’s strength—though by how much, they could not say.

They only knew that this technique was more formidable than any they had ever seen, truly extraordinary!

"Since you’re interested, let me teach you," Lin Fan said, proceeding to explain the core insights and key points of the Thunder-Wind Technique in detail.

It took a full half hour for them to memorize the entire technique, after which they looked at Lin Fan in astonishment, scarcely able to believe what they had received.

The essence of the Thunder-Wind Technique was in concentrating all one’s power for a single explosive burst, divided into four levels: the first doubled one’s strength, the second tripled it, the third quadrupled it, and the fourth quintupled it.

If one relied on physical strength alone without spiritual energy, one could at most complete the second level; only upon reaching the Qi-Attracting stage could one progress further.

In other words, if they mastered all four levels of the Thunder-Wind Technique, they would be unrivaled among their peers—not merely four times stronger than before, but exponentially so.

For instance, if their current strength was ten thousand pounds, quadrupling it would give them forty thousand pounds of force with every blow.

Could a version of themselves with forty thousand pounds of strength only defeat four of their former selves with ten thousand pounds of strength? Impossible!

With such power, they could dispatch their weaker selves with a single punch—provided their stamina held out, no number would be enough to withstand them.

They had practiced similar techniques before, but their best methods could only temporarily boost their strength by fifty percent, often with severe drawbacks or injuries afterward.

But the Thunder-Wind Technique had no side effects at all; only the method of exertion differed, resulting in such overwhelming power.

The gift Lin Fan had given them was immense—worthy even of being treasured as a family heirloom technique!

"Brother Fan, this is too great a gift!" Xiao Shuihan and the others looked at Lin Fan, at a loss for words. It was only their first meeting, and though they got along well, this gift was too generous to repay.

Lin Fan laughed heartily. "Don’t mention it. This technique was taught to me by an extraordinary master. Since we hit it off, there’s no harm in passing it on. If you truly feel indebted, then perhaps there’s one favor I could ask of you."

Seeing their expressions, he couldn’t help but laugh. To him, the Thunder-Wind Technique was nothing special—his current cultivation was too low, and this was the only technique he could both use and teach to others.

In the future, as his strength grew, he would have far more powerful techniques at his disposal. After all, he had once been a True God, with countless methods at his command.

However, he wouldn’t share those with Xiao Shuihan and the others just yet—they’d only just met, and even passing on the Thunder-Wind Technique was a tremendous gift. It would depend on their character whether he would teach them more in the future.

Moreover, while the Thunder-Wind Technique was precious, to true experts it was of limited value; once one reached the Qi-Meridian stage of this world, it would become obsolete, and he could always attribute it to a mysterious master.

Passing on more advanced techniques would bring trouble, attracting envy and possibly disaster to the Lin family.

"As long as Brother Fan asks, we’d follow you through fire and water!" Hearing that Lin Fan might have a request, Xiao Shuihan and the others' eyes lit up. They had just been wondering how to repay him, and now that he had a request, it was exactly what they’d hoped for.