Why do I have so many masters?

The final bolt of lightning struck the ground.

Plasma splashed and surged in a hundred-zhang radius. In Wang Anfeng's eyes, the man standing upright in the lightning's glare resembled a god or demon, his presence overwhelming. Then the lightning dispersed, and that figure coughed up a breath of scorched air, crashing to the ground with alarming speed, motionless.

Under the faint moonlight, Xu Sixing was already blackened, like a piece of charcoal.

The ground around was ravaged.

Wang Anfeng exhaled deeply, slowly lowering his clenched right hand.

The immense Qi mechanism from the Divine Weapon completely dissipated, bringing a sense of sensory weakness and the exhaustion of forcibly controlling elemental changes.

A typical Middle Third Rank Martial Artist can trigger anomalies, yet these anomalies are unconscious or passively induced, greatly enhancing the power of each move while also incurring significant consumption.

But those of the Upper Third Rank Grandmaster level have achieved a higher state, able to actively influence the changes of heaven and earth. The Confucian Sect speaks of aligning one's heart with heaven's heart, the Taoist Sect with unity with heaven and earth.

Confucian Grandmasters' words become law; the Sword Dao's foremost turns heaven and earth into a sword.

A true Lei Dao Grandmaster, after summoning thunder, can wield it as a weapon, deploying techniques, but the consumption remains enormous, unsuitable for regular combat means.

Wang Anfeng was far from this realm, instead forcefully ascending through Qi mechanism. Now, he only felt a sharp pain on his forehead, as if countless tiny bolts of lightning were roaming through his brain, yet instantly he reined in his body through years of arduous cultivation.

Lifting his hand to pull out the wooden sword embedded in the ground, he wrapped it slowly with blue cloth, neither rushed nor slow.

The talismans that once flowed with radiance on both sides of the wooden sword's blade were now dim, as if mere ordinary decorations, revealing none of their former mystique. It had lost the Qi mechanism belonging to the Divine Weapon, its spiritual activity reduced to an imperceptible level.

Unless an expert in Divine Weapon crafting like a Great Craftsmaster of the Mo Family were present, no one would see that this seemingly ordinary wooden sword was a fully awakened Divine Weapon, likely dismissing it as a peachwood sword used by the Taoist Sect for rites.

This was solely because its Qi mechanism had temporarily been lent to Wang Anfeng; if the sword had not awakened due to him, recognizing him as its master, to borrow the Divine Weapon's Qi mechanism, Wang Anfeng's cultivation would need to be at least above Fourth Rank, nearing the Heavenly Sect realm.

The Great Qin governs seventy-two counties, each with a Pillar of the State to suppress it, most relying on Divine Weapon artifacts, absorbing Qi mechanism, forcefully ascending as Fourth Rank Martial Artists. Truly relying on one's own martial arts realm, no more than ten have ascended to Grandmaster status.

If not for the Great Qin's conquest of the Six Kingdoms, seizing the secret treasures and Divine Weapons held by their royal families, such massive undertaking would have been impossible, suppressing this vast territory with seventy-two Grandmaster-level martial artists at once.

Wang Anfeng reattached the wooden sword to his back, then took the initiative to walk towards Xu Sixing, followed by Gong Yu, accompanied by the still-shaken Dongfang Ximing.

Dongfang Ximing still felt some trepidation in his heart, hiding behind Gong Yu, cautiously observing the surrounding changes.

The further they walked, the more the changes on the ground became alarming, entirely blackened with many cracks. When the lightning struck just now, it's unclear what else it hit, exploding with enormous bursts of incandescent white light, affecting an area over ten zhang wide.

The inner and outer water canals of Liangzhou City were channeled from a great river flowing through Xianping County, stretching for several dozen li and taking months to excavate. Just when the thunder struck, a channel forcefully opened by Xu Sixing fell into the water canal, about five meters wide.

As they walked past, Dongfang Ximing saw the entire river surface boiling incessantly, bubbles rising and bursting on the surface, steaming hot, with white mist rising, obscuring the view.

Dongfang Ximing couldn't help but recall his grandfather's descriptions of martial artists—those who truly tread the peak are not much different from natural calamities like flooding or earthquakes.

Xu Sixing was still some distance ahead. At the last moment, this fierce martial artist had unleashed a remarkably exquisite movement technique.

If Wang Anfeng had not marked him with the Gang Thunder Force previously entered via Prajna Palm, there was a real chance he might have escaped. Even so, he managed to resist for a while, sprinting several li before being struck down.

Now he lay not far ahead.

As they approached, Dongfang Ximing wrinkled his small nose, catching a whiff of charcoal mixed with a hint of roast meat, first dazed, then realizing what it was, his face turned pale, uncontrollably rising a feeling of nausea and revulsion.

Without any visible action, a white sword light appeared beside Gong Yu, gliding like a fish around the two of them, dispelling all odors with a cold air incongruous with the autumn night, keeping it from coming within five steps.

Wang Anfeng's expression remained unchanged, walking slowly forward.

With the Divine Thieves Sect cultivation technique activating, a natural breeze swept through, also enveloping Gong Yu and Dongfang Ximing, scattering the unpleasant odor.

The lightning was conducted into the ground, thus not causing particularly massive destruction, yet the nearly charred Xu Sixing bore testimony to the power of the heavenly lightning to those who saw him.