The morning sun barely peeked over the peaks as Li Ming entered the training field, Lei Shan trotting beside him like a miniature storm cloud.

"Alright, little Thunderbub," Li Ming said, stretching. "Today we focus. Lightning control drills. No… unexpected energy bursts."

Lei Shan blinked, yawned, and immediately sent a tiny spark ricocheting off a rock.

Li Ming groaned. "I said no unexpected energy bursts!"

Bai Guo hovered nearby, wings twitching. "Descendant, I feel like he's deliberately trying to make you explode before breakfast."

"Not helping."

---

Li Ming drew a circle in the dirt, summoning a controlled flow of lightning Qi. "Step one: channel the Qi along this path — smooth, consistent, no sparking."

Lei Shan padded forward, tail swishing. Without warning, he traced his tiny paw over the circle, leaving a glowing trail that merged unpredictably with Li Ming's Qi.

"No!" Li Ming yelped, trying to redirect the current. Sparks leapt from the circle, forming miniature lightning arcs that danced along the field.

Bai Guo winced. "I take it back. Breakfast explosions sound preferable to this."

Lei Shan, completely pleased with himself, sneezed, sending another mini-bolt spiraling into the air, which accidentally charged a nearby training dummy. The dummy convulsed as lightning coursed through it.

Li Ming blinked. "…He's training too, isn't he?"

---

Next, Li Ming attempted a controlled strike. He focused, letting Qi surge along his arm, ready to strike the dummy with precision.

Lei Shan leapt onto his shoulder, paws sparking. The bolt shot off in a completely different direction, hitting a stack of hay bales… which promptly caught fire.

Li Ming grabbed Lei Shan mid-leap. "Little Thunderbub! I said controlled!"

Bai Guo flapped above them, feathers ruffling. "Controlled chaos, descendant. That's the new technique. I'm calling it."

Lei Shan purred innocently, leaning into Li Ming's neck. A small bolt zapped harmlessly into the ground, leaving a tiny scorch mark.

Li Ming exhaled slowly. "Fine… we improvise."

---

By midday, the training field looked more like a storm battlefield than a practice area. Lightning arcs crisscrossed the sky, while Lei Shan ran circles, creating his own unpredictable currents. Li Ming tried to harness his Qi along with the cub's energy.

Bai Guo tilted his head. "Somehow, descendant, you're supposed to be controlling him… but he's controlling you instead."

Li Ming gritted his teeth, sweat dripping. "He's too small! And too… affectionate!"

Lei Shan yawned and nudged him, sending another jolt of energy that made Li Ming's hair stand on end. Somehow, it felt… invigorating.

"…Maybe this is a good thing," Li Ming muttered, trying not to think about the scorched rocks around him.

Bai Guo squawked. "If by good you mean absolute destruction, then yes. It's spectacularly good."

---

As the sun began to set, Li Ming and Lei Shan collapsed onto the training mats. The cub curled up on his chest, eyes half-closed, a tiny bolt sparking lazily from a horn.

Li Ming laughed, exhausted. "You're impossible."

Lei Shan purred in reply, sending a harmless ripple of energy that made Bai Guo spin in the air.

Bai Guo shook his feathers. "Descendant… do you always adopt creatures that make you question gravity and sanity simultaneously?"

Li Ming looked down at his tiny storm cub. "…Every single time."

Somewhere in the distance, the mountains echoed faint thunder — a subtle reminder that with Lei Shan around, every day would be both training and a sitcom.

----

The evening air was thick with residual Qi, sparking faintly with every movement. Li Ming sat cross-legged, Lei Shan perched on his knee, eyes bright and alert.

"Alright, little Thunderbub," Li Ming said, tracing a simple pattern in the dirt. "This is the Lightning Thread Technique. Focus your Qi along a single path. Precision over power."

Lei Shan tilted his head, ears twitching. Li Ming exhaled slowly, gathering his Qi. "Watch closely… and imitate."

He raised a hand, and a narrow streak of lightning arced from his palm along the path in the dirt. The bolt hissed and crackled, illuminating their faces.

"Now… you try," Li Ming instructed.

Lei Shan crouched, tail flicking. A tiny spark jumped from his horn, tracing the same line—but suddenly, the bolt split into three, then five, before swirling into a miniature storm above his head.

Li Ming's eyes went wide. "…That's… not how it's supposed to work."

Bai Guo hovered, wings flaring. "Correction: that's amazing. Your apprentice just invented fireworks."

The cub yawned lazily, sending the miniature lightning spiraling into perfect, symmetrical arcs around them. The patterns glowed faintly in the twilight.

Li Ming blinked. "…He's improving it."

"Yes," Bai Guo confirmed, feathers ruffling with excitement. "And somehow making you look like a slow learner in the process."

---

Li Ming stood, focusing his Qi again. "Fine… let's do it together. I'll lead, you follow."

He drew a complex pattern on the ground, Qi crackling along the lines. Lei Shan crouched beside him. As Li Ming channeled the technique, the cub mirrored it—but rather than copying, the little beast amplified the current, creating arcs that danced and intertwined far beyond Li Ming's original design.

"That's… insane!" Li Ming shouted, trying to keep up. Each spark now held a rhythm, forming a web of lightning in the clearing. The ground hummed with raw energy.

Lei Shan chirped proudly, then sent a final burst into the center, forming a glowing orb of condensed Qi. It hovered for a moment, humming with power, before dissipating into harmless sparks.

Li Ming staggered back, laughing in disbelief. "He… he just advanced the technique!"

Bai Guo flapped around the orb. "And here I thought I was the comedic relief. Nope. It's officially Little Thunderbub's show now."

---

Li Ming crouched beside the cub, inspecting his paw marks in the dirt where the technique had expanded. "…I don't even know if this is supposed to be possible at his level."

Bai Guo squinted. "Doesn't matter. The universe clearly thinks he's a prodigy."

Lei Shan nuzzled Li Ming's hand, sparks tickling his skin. Somehow, despite the chaos, Li Ming felt proud. The cub wasn't just adorable — he was transforming Li Ming's techniques into something better.

Li Ming shook his head, smiling. "Alright… we'll call this the Thunderbub Upgrade. But don't let it get to your head, little one. You still obey me."

Lei Shan yawned, curling into a ball on Li Ming's lap, a faint golden spark pulsing along his horn.

Bai Guo sighed. "Descendant… raising a spirit beast is going to be more complicated than any cultivation challenge you've faced. But at least it's entertaining."

Li Ming rubbed the back of his neck, watching the cub's glowing patterns fade into the evening sky. "…Entertaining is one word for it."

And somewhere deep in the clearing, the faint hum of residual lightning reminded him — this was only the beginning. With Lei Shan at his side, every training session would be a storm.

To be continued...

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