"No fighting here, but once we enter, things will be different. Be careful."
Li Yuan said indifferently, then turned and, sword in hand, flew into the thunder pond, heading straight for the震雷区 (Zhèn léi qū - Tremor Thunder Zone).
Ning Yuanchen hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and, stepping on the air, followed closely behind Li Yuan, leaving the spot.
"Shall we go too?"
Zhe Hao exchanged a look with Mu Yunshu, then they also stepped into the thunder pond. In an instant, only Xu Mu was left on the scene.
He didn't know where to go.
"Too many eyes and ears, it's risky to go directly to Zuo Mingqiu and risk exposure."
After a moment of hesitation, Xu Mu suddenly had an idea and leaped directly into the thunder pond.
Then, he took off his shirt.
Thunderbolts as thick as a thumb continuously struck Xu Mu's body, giving off a cool sensation, as if he were caught in the rain without clothes.
This lightning posed no threat to him; it couldn't temper his physique.
Xu Mu did this because he knew that many people were surely watching him from the shadows. He was on Li Yuan's team and had clashed with people from Sacred Sun Peak.
They must all be curious about the strength of this newcomer from Immortal Roaming Peak.
Thus, Xu Mu began to temper his body with the lightning tribulation.
The heavenly lightning was weak, but his expression was ferocious, his body trembling as if he would faint in the next two seconds.
"So weak."
In the Cloud Thunder Zone, the hidden geniuses and powerhouses from various peaks generally turned away in disappointment. While Xu Mu's talent might be strong, his current strength was too weak to pose a threat to them.
Only one person remained hidden in the shadows, watching.
...
Half an hour later.
Xu Mu put on his shirt, collected thunder ores as he went, and approached the direction of the 震雷区 (Zhèn léi qū). He dodged all the lightning along the way and soon entered the middle section of the Cloud Thunder Zone.
Ahead of him appeared a vast expanse of dark clouds, within which thunder rumbled, and lightning bolts as thick as bowls continuously descended.
The thunder ores formed by this lightning tribulation were not the ordinary white-patterned thunder ores, nor the second-grade black-patterned thunder ore. Instead, they were the relatively rare blue-patterned ores found even in the Tremor Thunder Zone, which could add twenty points.
"Good luck, to actually encounter this here."
Xu Mu smiled slightly, then looked around, ensuring no one was paying attention. In the intervals between the descending lightning, he dashed in and collected the blue-patterned thunder ore.
The ore, the size of a winter melon, had shattered blue patterns on its surface, like celadon porcelain, concealing the purest thunder energy.
Xu Mu's eyes narrowed. He didn't immediately put it into his spatial ring but tried to absorb it.
As a result, he found that many thunder-attribute elements had appeared in his meridians, leaping and flowing into his dantian under the guidance of his Dao origin.
"This works too?"
Xu Mu looked at the blue-patterned thunder ore before him, somewhat stunned.
He hadn't expected the elemental energy contained within this item to be so pure. After absorbing it, his body showed no rejection; instead, he felt a sense of comfort.
Xu Mu was unaware that this was due to his exceptionally resilient physique. Both his outer skin and internal organ cells had reached a state of toughness, completely unafraid of lightning of this magnitude.
Other ability users would endure immense pain, or even be annihilated, if they rashly absorbed the elemental energy from thunder ores.
"Unexpected bonus."
Xu Mu's face showed a smile, and he continued forward. Along the way, all the thunder ores he encountered were absorbed, and the thunder-attribute elements within his body grew rapidly.
At this pace, he believed that before finding Zuo Mingqiu, his thunder magic and Dao techniques would improve significantly.
At that time, he was confident that with his Five Thunders True Method alone, he would be able to kill ordinary third-stage ability users, his strength growing rapidly!
...
Xu Mu collected ores as he walked and had reached the end of the Cloud Thunder Zone. The thunderclouds ahead became increasingly perilous, but in Xu Mu's eyes, they were merely larger raindrops.
"Another blue-patterned thunder ore."
A dark cloud drifted by, and a high-quality blue-patterned thunder ore appeared before Xu Mu.
This was the second blue-patterned thunder ore he had encountered in the Cloud Thunder Zone.
Xu Mu took a step forward, ignoring the nearly-obtained gray-black ink-patterned thunder ore, and directly gripped the tip of the blue-patterned thunder ore with his left hand.
Just as Xu Mu was using his hunting knife to cut this ore from the rock on the ground and was about to absorb it, a figure shimmering with golden light suddenly appeared before him, exuding a powerful aura, and fiercely shouted:
"Return my thunder ore!"
As the youth spoke, with a "boom," he extended his hand, intending to snatch Xu Mu's blue-patterned thunder ore.
"This is mine, not yours."
Xu Mu took half a step back and said calmly.
Seeing his hand grasp empty air, a hint of mockery appeared on the youth's face. He spoke to Xu Mu, saying:
"Kid, I saw it first, so it's naturally mine."
"You've taken my property now. I'll give you three counts to return it, and hand over two more blue-patterned thunder ores. Then, this matter will be settled."
Xu Mu frowned slightly upon hearing this.
He looked at the youth before him, who exuded a powerful, oppressive aura, and quickly recognized him. This was one of the people who had teamed up with Lan Yu from Sacred Sun Peak when he was at the entrance of the thunder pond.
Cao Guang, from Azure Cloud Peak.
"It's you." Xu Mu looked at Cao Guang and said calmly, "Are you here to cause trouble for me on the orders of Daoist Liu Ru?"
Cao Guang was clearly taken aback by this. Then, he chuckled sinisterly twice and said:
"I don't understand what you're talking about."
"Kid, are you going to return the thunder ore or not? Theft has consequences."
Xu Mu remained silent, looking at Cao Guang calmly.
The smile on Cao Guang's face grew more ferocious. The more Xu Mu remained silent, the happier he became, as it gave him a legitimate reason to attack Xu Mu.
Cao Guang raised a hand, condensing his ability.
But before he could make a move, Xu Mu acted.
On the tip of his left index finger, a drop of dark golden Dao origin appeared, then slowly floated into the sky, absorbed by the pitch-black thundercloud.
Cao Guang was stunned by this and laughed, saying, "I didn't expect your talent to be so strong, to condense Dao origin on your first day at Heavenly Master Mountain."
"But it's a pity that even if you've condensed Dao origin, you can't possibly defeat me."
"Surrender obediently!"
Cao Guang roared sternly and struck down with his palm.
Although he said he wanted Xu Mu to surrender, he held no restraint, appearing as if he intended to kill Xu Mu.
Xu Mu's expression remained calm.
In mid-air, the drop of pure Dao origin spread wildly within the tribulation clouds, instantly stirring up all the thunder elements.
"CRACKLE!"
Just as Cao Guang attacked, a bolt of violent heavenly lightning, which shouldn't have appeared in this Cloud Thunder Zone, roared down.
...