Naked Sword Art-Chapter 391: Conquering Lightning

That night, the moon hung high over the Chaos Sect, a pale silver eye watching silently from the heavens. Its light spilled over the jagged peaks, casting long, jagged shadows across the mountaintops like claw marks in the dark.

Inside Xiao Fang's room, the world was chaos.

He sat in the lotus position, body hunched but unyielding, as volatile lightning surged through him like a storm barely contained in flesh. Arcs of blue and violet writhed across his skin—living serpents of destruction—crackling as they burrowed into his veins, lashing at his soul with merciless fury.

The torment wasn't just physical.

It was internal.

Every bolt pierced deeper than nerves or muscle—gnawing at his fractured soul, ripping open old wounds that had never truly healed. Each strike felt like a blade carved from divine wrath, and each moment dragged him closer to the brink of madness.

No sane cultivator would subject themselves to this.

But Xiao Fang wasn't sane.

And he wasn't ordinary.

His breathing came in slow, sharp bursts. His face was contorted in pain, yet his posture remained firm. Controlled. Grounded. His eyes were clenched shut—but behind them, his focus blazed like a second sun.

Now…

He grunted as another surge of lightning howled through him, his body convulsing.

Inside his dantian, his soul flickered violently—barely holding together, like a candle caught in a hurricane. It pulsed, cracked and splintered… but it did not break.

[ Soul Heal ]

[ Soul Suppression ]

Golden filaments of soul Qi unraveled from his core—thin, fragile strands that shimmered like stardust in the dark. They moved slowly, trembling under the pressure of his suffering, yet unwavering in purpose. With excruciating care, they began to knit across the broken pieces of his spirit, mending what the lightning had just torn apart.

The technique wasn't meant for this. The [ Soul Heal ] technique was a gentle art, used to recover after trauma—not endure it.

But Xiao Fang wasn't using it to rest.

He was weaponizing it.

He wasn't just healing. He was evolving.

Every bolt of pain was a lesson.

Every fracture was a blueprint.

Every breath he took rebuilt him harder—sharper—stronger than before.

His body trembled violently, his skin blistered and bleeding, sweat pooling beneath him like a silent offering. Still, he didn't waver.

Within the storm, there was no doubt.

No fear.

Only will.

"More…" he growled, blood leaking from his mouth. His fists clenched, veins lit with crackling lightning Qi. "I can take more!"

As if answering his defiance, the heavens responded.

Thunder cracked like divine judgment—splitting the sky—and bolts of lightning descended in furious waves. They hammered him without mercy. The chamber walls trembled. The floor fractured beneath him.

And still, he endured.

Still, he smiled.

He wasn't just cultivating lightning.

He was conquering it.

His soul, once flickering and unstable, began to radiate with terrifying intensity. Each bolt hurt less—not because they were weaker—but because he had become stronger. He was the storm now.

Time lost meaning. He didn't know how long he had been sitting beneath its wrath.

But something shifted.

He felt it.

A tide rising from deep within—a pressure building inside his core, swelling against the limits of his cultivation.

A breakthrough.

Come, Xiao Fang called to it, eyes still shut, challenging the very heavens.

The sea of lightning raged in response. His soul cracked again—deeper this time—jagged, splintered tears that sent agony through every fiber of his being. The golden threads of [ Soul Heal ] struggled to keep up.

But he refused to stop.

He gritted his teeth, blood now dripping steadily from the corner of his mouth. His entire body trembled on the edge of collapse. And still—he pushed forward.

CRACK—!

A ripple of power burst from his core, spreading through the room like a shockwave.

[ 4th Stage of the Profound Spirit Realm ]

A new layer of spiritual aura surged from his body, swirling violently before settling like a new skin.

He had done it.

At last, Xiao Fang opened his eyes.

They glowed violet, faintly with crackling lightning, sharp and deadly.

His breaths were heavy, ragged—like a man dragged back from the edge of death. But he was alive. Transformed. Refined.

Fourth stage…' he thought, steadying his breath.

His rate of cultivation wasn't just abnormal—it was terrifying.

And though the road had nearly killed him, he knew one thing for certain:

Without [ Soul Heal ] and [ Soul Suppression ], this breakthrough would've been impossible to make this quickly.

But with them, he was becoming something far greater than anyone could've expected.

"Fang…" Xiao Hei said as she stared at him with a complicated look on her face.

She could feel the breakthrough he just made, but not even she could believe it.

Xiao Fang typically didn't need to sleep too much, but after everything he put himself through, he couldn't help but climb into bed to rest. Xiao Hei was happy to see him get in bed with her, so she got comfortable with his body as he went to sleep.

.

.

.

The next morning, right around the same time as the day before, a knock echoed softly at the door.

Xiao Fang stirred, groggy but alert, and shuffled over to answer it. Despite a full night's rest, the strain from last night's cultivation still clung to his body like iron chains. His limbs were heavy, his muscles sore.

Opening the door, he found Luo Yue standing there.

She tilted her head slightly, puzzled by his half-lidded eyes and sleep-mussed hair. Her confusion deepened as her eyes drifted lower—catching a glimpse of his bare chest through the loosely tied robes. A faint blush crept onto her cheeks before she quickly looked away.

Xiao Fang let out a wide yawn, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Is it time already?" he asked, voice still rough from sleep.

"Huh? Ah—yeah," Luo Yue said, straightening her posture. "My grandmother is waiting for us in the courtyard."

Xiao Fang nodded and stretched, his joints popping with soft cracks.

"Alright. I'll get dressed and meet you there."

"Sure," Luo Yue replied, trying—and failing—not to glance back at him as she turned to leave.

'A Dual Cultivator, huh…' Luo Yue thought to herself as she walked toward the courtyard. 'So that means he really does… that… with women. He did it with Elder Luo Cai the other night.'

Just thinking about it made her heart beat faster. Her mind wandered where it shouldn't—imagining what exactly had happened between them, what it would feel like, what kind of things he could make a woman as cold and revered as Luo Cai surrender to. And then, recalling the sight of Xiao Fang just moments ago—his robe hanging loose, skin glistening faintly in the morning light—her face turned a shade redder.

She quickly shook her head, scolding herself inwardly.

'What am I even thinking?'

Not wanting her grandmother to catch her looking flustered, she deliberately chose the longer path to the courtyard, hoping the extra time would help her cool down.

But as she stepped into the courtyard, her pace slowed—then stopped altogether.

There, beneath the soft shade of the courtyard's flowering tree, Xiao Fang was resting his head in her grandmother's lap. One of her hands gently massaged his temples, the other holding an open book as she sipped her tea in complete ease. The atmosphere was serene—almost intimate.

Luo Yue blinked.

'He's already this close with her…?'

Her gaze drifted back to Xiao Fang's face as he lay peacefully with his head in her grandmother's lap. The image triggered those same inappropriate thoughts again—ones she had tried to suppress. She quickly looked away, masking the blush on her face.

"Yue'r, you're finally here," Luo Biya said warmly, glancing up from her book.

"Is he asleep?" Luo Yue asked, nodding toward Xiao Fang.

"Yes," her grandmother replied. "I noticed how exhausted he was when he arrived, so I decided to take the opportunity to test a technique I've been working on."

"What kind of technique?" Luo Yue asked, intrigued despite herself.

"I haven't given it a name yet, but it will be quite useful once perfected," Luo Biya said, setting her book aside. Seeing her granddaughter's interest, she continued her explanation.

"[Soul Heal], as you know, heals the body by nurturing the soul. That suggests the state of the soul can influence the state of the body. But what if the reverse is also true? What if physical conditions—like fatigue, alertness, euphoria… or even arousal—can be induced through the soul?"

Luo Biya paused meaningfully on the last word, her eyes lingering on her granddaughter as if she had seen something stir within Luo Yue's soul.

Luo Yue tensed but kept her expression neutral. "So… what does your technique actually do?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

"My technique manipulates a person's Soul Strings," Luo Biya replied calmly, sipping her tea. "With precision, I can alter how they feel—emotionally, physically, even mentally. It's a very delicate form of soul influence. Extremely difficult… but effective."

"And he's just letting you toy with his soul like that?" Luo Yue asked, half in disbelief.

Luo Biya chuckled softly. "He's surprisingly easy-going. Besides, the technique is harmless."

"Soul Resonance would be a good name for it," Xiao Fang murmured, eyes still closed as he rested.

Luo Biya smiled, pleasantly surprised. "Soul Resonance… I like it. Has a nice ring to it."

Luo Biya gently brushed Xiao Fang's hair out of his face before lightly patting his shoulder.

"That's enough rest. It's time to begin."