Book 02 Chapter 020: Electrical Discharge from the Tip
After leaving the beast arena, Gu Hai rushed to the guest region.
At this moment, the family region was in chaos. However, the tumult had not significantly impacted the guest region. After all, it was relatively far away. Nevertheless, there were thick smoke, flashing lightning, and rolling thunder at the moment. Hence, many of the guests who came to gamble remained in their residences.
Gu Hai entered a smithy.
“How goes the forging?” Gu Hai asked.
“Ah? Sir, you are back so quickly? Didn’t you say one day? I have completed most of it. However, there’s still a portion that I have not completed yet!” that blacksmith said worriedly.
“Did you follow the order I gave you?” Gu Hai asked.
“Of course!” the blacksmith immediately answered.
“That’s enough. Pass them all to me!” Gu Hai said seriously.
“Yes!”
Gu Hai waved and swept all the brass pipes into his compressed space. Then, he turned around and left this smithy, heading to the next smithy.
“Milord!” Shangguan Hen greeted respectfully at the entrance.
Gu Hai’s expression changed. He stared at Shangguan Hen for a while, thinking, Shangguan Hen did not leave? That’s good.
“How goes the forging? Did you follow the order I prescribed?” Gu Hai asked.
“Yes, Milord. They finished forging most of it. There is still a portion incomplete. Milord, did everything go well?” Shangguan Hen asked.
“That’s enough. These are the brass pipes?” Gu Hai asked.
After retrieving the brass pipes, Gu Hai quickly left with Shangguan Hen.
Due to the rainy weather, Shangguan Hen had not seen many Great Feng Mafia Family disciples on the way here. There were even fewer to be seen on the way back.
Shangguan Hen suppressed his curiosity as he quickly returned to Evil Men Valley with Gu Hai. However, Gu Hai did not enter Evil Men Valley. Instead, Gu Hai climbed one of the mountains beside Evil Men Valley.
Evil Men Valley had fog from a ritual array covering it. Now, thick smoke spread out, making the place hazier.
The two climbed the mountain. Then, Gu Hai waved.
Clatter! Clatter!
Gu Hai took out a large number of brass pipes.
Shangguan Hen’s pupils constricted as he looked at the brass pipes, as Gu Hai had taken out more than what he supervised. That meant that aside from getting him to supervise one smithy, Gu Hai had gone to another smithy? Milord did not place all his eggs in one basket?
“Help me assemble them!” Gu Hai said.
“Yes!” Shangguan Hen said after taking a deep breath.
Gu Hai first took out a ceramic flower vase. Then, he stuck the thickest brass pipe in it.
“Milord, what can this flower vase do?” Shangguan Hen asked, feeling confused.
“The flower vast is made of ceramic, an insulator. It can insulate electricity!” Gu Hai explained.
Gu Hai took out more flower vases and fixed them on the mountain. Then, he stuck in more brass pipes and connected them, building them taller.
Gu Hai pointed one of the scaffolding brass pipes at the bottom at the valley. Then, he tied a chain to it and tossed the chain into the valley.
“Milord, are you directing the heavenly lightning into the valley to help us undo the seal?” Shangguan Hen exclaimed with wide eyes.
The ceramics were insulators, insulating the lightning. Then, if the electricity entered the brass pipes, it could only flow into the chain entering Evil Men Valley?
“Let’s go. Back to the valley!” Gu Hai nodded.
“However…however…can this attract the lightning?” Shangguan Hen appeared skeptical. Will it really be lightning? He must be joking, right?
“This is called a lightning rod. There is lightning right now, so it might strike at any moment. Furthermore, I placed the lightning rod at the highest point of the mountain, also the highest point of the surroundings. As long as I connect it to the ground, it will gather a lot of electrons and discharge electricity from the tip, resulting in a release of a large number of negative ions towards the sky and forming an electrical field. A sufficiently strong electrical field will instantly attract the lightning in the sky as long as it forms in the clouds,” Gu Hai explained.
Shangguan Hen: “…!”
Clearly, Shangguan Hen did not understand. However, it sounded incredible.
Electrons? Negative ions? Discharge electricity from the tip? Forming an electrical field? Lightning rod?
“Milord, this subordinate does not understand.” Shangguan Hen admitted to the truth.
“There’s no need to understand it for now. Let’s enter Evil Men Valley first,” Gu Hai said.
“Alright!” Shangguan Hen nodded.
Upon arriving at the valley entrance, Gu Hai removed his black robes and let Shangguan Hen shackle him again.
“Open up!” Shangguan Hen shouted.
“Why are you back so quickly?” The guard appeared upset, like he had just awoken from a dream.
“Don’s orders. Why so much complaining? I’ll bring him in. I need to conduct some interrogation in the valley, which will take some time. I will come out alone later, so you don’t have to open it up then!” Shangguan Hen said seriously.
“Alright. Going in and out so many times while it’s raining is really troublesome.” A guard went to operate the switch and turned off the blue light barrier.
That guard promptly turned the blue light barrier back on after Gu Hai and Shangguan Hen entered the valley. Then, he returned to the shelter while complaining.
When Gu Hai and Shangguan Hen entered the valley, many evil men were already waiting for them.
Gao Xianzhi charged over. “Milord, were you the one who tossed down the chain from above?”
“That’s right. Gather everyone and immediately do as I say. Tie these chains around yourselves and prepare to undo the seal!” Gu Hai ordered seriously as he took out more chains.
“Yes!” Gao Xianzhi answered.
Gu Hai taught everyone how to tie the chains around themselves and connect them to other chains.
The four legates looked at the diagrams that Gu Hai handed out and gaped.
“Lightning? Are you joking? Milord, even the sect master, no, even a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator does not dare to take on the heavenly lightning. We…we are just like ordinary people now, without cultivation. Isn’t this seeking death?” Chen Tianshan exclaimed in fear.
“Indeed. Milord, the current of lightning is too berserk. We cannot endure it!” Scar likewise exclaimed.
Gao Xianzhi and Shangguan Hen did not say anything, waiting quietly for Gu Hai to explain. Clearly, the two felt worried. Lightning? What a joke, that was just seeking death.
Gu Hai raised his head and looked at the sky before saying, “There’s no need to worry. Lightning is about one million volts. There are three thousand six hundred-odd of us. The way I bound us with the chains makes use of a combination of parallel and serial connections—serial connections to split the voltage and parallel connections to create bypasses. When the one million volts strike us, the voltage will be very small. The current will also be greatly reduced.”
Gao Xianzhi: “…!”
Chen Tianshan: “…!”
Scar: “…!”
Shangguan Hen: “…!”
One million volts? Serial connections to split the voltage and parallel connections to create bypasses? What did all that mean?
“You don’t have to worry so much. You probably do not understand what I said. You just need to know one thing: I have personally experienced drawing lightning into my body. I did it many times when I was cultivating as an Acquired Realm cultivator,” Gu Hai said seriously.
“Yes!” everyone answered.
With Gu Hai’s words, everything was fine. The others did not understand the rest. They only needed to know that their boss had experienced it many times and was fine. That was enough.
“When the time comes, I will be the first. There’s no need for you to worry. Right now, just follow my orders and bind yourselves with the chains. Remember, don’t make a mistake. You can die from that,” Gu Hai said.
“Yes!” the four legates answered.
The four legates immediately directed the centurions, and the centurions directed the decani, getting everyone to bind themselves quickly.
Finally, Gu Hai connected one end of the chains to the chain dangling from above and the other end to the ground.
The three thousand-odd evil men broke out in a cold sweat.
“He can draw over the heavenly lightning?”
“We won’t die, right?”
“Are we just seeking our deaths?”
The group of evil men showed unsightly faces as they all looked at Gu Hai standing at the very front. The first to be struck would be him.
With Gu Hai taking the lead and setting an example, the evil men naturally no longer felt fearful.
“Damn it! This great me has not been struck by lightning before. I still don’t know what it feels like!”
“I have been in the Thousand Islands Sea for so many years, but I have never heard of anyone controlling the heavenly lightning to strike themselves. Is the heavenly lightning that easy to control?”
“Strike me, then! This great me is just here waiting for death anyway. If Milord can bring me out, I will follow Milord for sure!”
The group of evil men continuously encouraged themselves, driving away the fear in their hearts.
The evil men had been through so many battles to the death and survived, all so they could continue living. However, this was simply looking for trouble. The heavenly lightning was everyone’s greatest fear. Who would seek to get struck by it? If not for Gu Hai taking the lead, who would seek trouble like this?
Whoosh!
Roiling clouds shifted in the sky.
“It’s coming. It’s almost here. Everyone, get ready!” Gu Hai said.
The valley immediately fell silent.
——
Outside the valley, the earlier guard walked over for some reason.
“It is really weird. That senior brother brought away that evil man, then returned. What is he trying to do? That never happened before.” That guard frowned as he pondered this.
That guard slowly made his way to the valley entrance and looked in through the blue light barrier.
After that look, that guard goggled. The three thousand six hundred-odd evil men were gathered together with chains around them as they looked up at the sky. What are they doing?
“Why is there a pillar on top of the mountain?” the guard exclaimed.
Crash! A bolt of lightning immediately flashed in the sky.
That lightning bolt was so bright that it seemed to light up the entire world in an instant.
Of course, the lightning and thunder were not much, given the thunderstorm.
However, that was not how it appeared to this guard. He saw a super-colossal lightning bolt, looking like a berserk electric dragon, suddenly charge into Evil Men Valley.
That electric dragon streaked to the top of the pillar on the mountaintop.
Whoosh!
In a split second, the electric dragon followed the chain into Evil Men Valley.
Buzz!
Inside the valley, the three thousand six hundred-odd evil men lit up brightly like lightbulbs, instantly turning the valley bright.
“What?!” That guard’s expression changed.
Rumble…!
The thunder only rolled at this moment.
“Ah!”
“Ah!”
“Ah!”
“Ah!”
Suddenly, pained yells came from Evil Men Valley.
“What’s going on? What’s going on? Are they rebelling?” A group of guards came rushing out of the shelter.
“Junior Brother, what’s going on? Why was there shouting coming from Evil Men Valley?” The guards that rushed over frowned.
However, the guard that witnessed what happened just pointed at the valley with fluster on his face. He gaped for a long time, speechless, and his lips trembled.
All the guards looked into the valley.
They saw all the evil men on the ground, charred and giving off smoke.
“Lightning struck them?”
“Did they all die?”
“Come, let’s go in and check,” a guard cried out.
Crackle! Crackle! Crackle! Crackle!
Just at this moment, the frontmost evil man trembled and slowly struggled to rise. It was Gu Hai who stood up arduously.
Boom!
Gu Hai released a shock wave into the surroundings.
Crackle! Crackle! Electricity seemed to flash on his body.
“To think I made another breakthrough? The Innate Realm’s Sixth Layer? How dangerous. This lightning bolt was even more berserk than the ones before,” Gu Hai muttered as he crawled to his feet.
Crackle! Crackle! Crackle! Crackle!
After Gu Hai, Chen Tianshan, Scar, and Shangguan Hen—the Golden Core Realm cultivators—were the first to recover their senses after being struck numb by the lightning.
“Ha!”
“Hahaha!”
“Hahahaha!”
“Kekekekeke!”
“Wahahaha!”
Sinister laughter came from Evil Men Valley, sounding as terrifying as a ghostly city of hell.
When the guards who were about to enter heard that laughter, they got goosebumps. They froze on the spot just as they were about to cross the barrier.