"Be careful, we can't fight here, but once we get inside, it'll be different."
Li Yuan said indifferently, then turned and sword in hand, flew into the thunder pool, heading straight for the震雷区 (Zhenlei Zone).
Ning Yuanchen hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth, stepped on the air, and followed Li Yuan closely, leaving his original spot.
"Shall we go too?"
Zhe Hao and Mu Yunshu exchanged a glance, then stepped into the thunder pool. In an instant, only Xu Mu remained on the scene.
He didn't know where to go.
"Too many eyes around, it's risky to directly find Zuo Mingqiu and might expose myself."
Xu Mu hesitated for a moment, then a flash of inspiration struck him. He leaped into the thunder pool.
Then, he took off his shirt.
Thunderbolts as thick as thumbs struck Xu Mu's body, giving him a slight chill, like being rained on without clothes.
This lightning posed no threat to him and couldn't temper his body.
Xu Mu did this because he knew that many people were watching him from the shadows. He was in the same team as Li Yuan and had clashed with people from Sheng Yang Peak.
They must all be curious about the strength of this newcomer from Xianyou Peak.
Thus, Xu Mu began to temper his body with the tribulation lightning.
The heavenly thunder was weak, but his expression was ferocious, his body trembling as if he would pass out in another two seconds.
"So weak."
In the Yunlei Zone, the hidden geniuses and powerhouses from various peaks generally moved their gaze away with disappointment. Perhaps Xu Mu's talent was strong, but his current strength was too low to pose a threat to them.
Only one person watched from the shadows.
...
Half an hour later.
Xu Mu put on his shirt, collecting thunder ore as he moved towards the Zhenlei Zone. He dodged all the lightning along the way, and soon he entered the middle section of the Yunlei Zone.
Ahead of him, a vast expanse of dark clouds appeared, within which thunder rolled, and thunder tribulations as thick as bowls continuously descended.
The thunder ores chipped by this tribulation were neither ordinary white-patterned thunder ore nor the second-grade dark-black patterned thunder ore, but the relatively rare blue-green patterned ore found even in the Zhenlei Zone, which could add twenty points.
"Good luck, to actually encounter this thing here."
Xu Mu smiled slightly, scanned his surroundings to ensure no one was watching him, and then, in the brief interval between lightning strikes, he rushed in and collected the blue-green patterned thunder ore.
The ore, the size of a winter melon, had fragmented blue patterns on its surface, like blue and white porcelain, hiding the purest thunder-elemental energy within.
Xu Mu narrowed his eyes. Instead of immediately putting it into his spatial ring, he tried to absorb it.
As a result, he found that many thunder-elemental energies had appeared out of nowhere in his meridians. They rejoiced and flowed into his dantian under the guidance of his Dao Source.
"This works too?"
Xu Mu looked at the blue-green patterned thunder ore before him, somewhat stunned.
He hadn't expected the elemental energy contained within this thing to be so pure. After absorbing it, his body showed no rejection but instead felt comfortable.
Xu Mu didn't know that this was due to his monstrous physique. His skin and even his internal organ cells had become so tough that they were completely unafraid of lightning of this magnitude.
If other ability users rashly absorbed the elemental energy from thunder ore, they would suffer immense pain and might even be destroyed.
"Unexpected bonus."
Xu Mu's face showed a smile. He continued forward, absorbing all the thunder ore he encountered along the way. The thunder-elemental energy in his body was also rapidly increasing.
At this pace, he believed that before he found Zuo Mingqiu, his thunder magic arts would grow significantly.
By then, he was confident that with his Five Thunder Orthodox Method alone, he would be able to kill ordinary third-stage ability users. His strength was increasing rapidly!
...
Xu Mu walked and collected, reaching the end of the Yunlei Zone. The lightning clouds ahead were becoming more perilous, but in Xu Mu's eyes, they were merely larger raindrops.
"Another blue-green patterned thunder ore."
As a black cloud drifted by, a high-quality blue-green patterned thunder ore appeared before Xu Mu.
This was the second blue-green patterned thunder ore he had encountered in the Yunlei Zone.
Xu Mu took a step forward, ignoring the approaching gray-black ink-patterned thunder ore, and directly gripped the tip of the blue-green patterned thunder ore with his left hand.
Just as Xu Mu used his hunting knife to cut the ore from the rock on the ground and was about to absorb it, a golden figure suddenly appeared before him, exuding a formidable aura and shouting menacingly:
"Give me back my thunder ore!"
As the youth spoke, with a roar, he extended his palm, intending to snatch Xu Mu's blue-green patterned thunder ore.
"This is mine, not yours."
Xu Mu took half a step back and said calmly.
Seeing his hand miss, a hint of mockery appeared on the youth's face. He spoke to Xu Mu:
"Kid, I saw this first, so it's mine."
"You've stolen my property. I'll give you three counts to return it, and hand over two more blue-green patterned thunder ores. Then, we'll call it even."
Xu Mu's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this.
He looked at the youth before him, who exuded a powerful, oppressive aura, and quickly recognized him as one of the people who had teamed up with Lan Yu from Sheng Yang Peak at the entrance to the thunder pool.
Cao Guang from Biyun Peak.
"It's you." Xu Mu said calmly to Cao Guang, "Are you here to trouble me on the orders of Daoist Master Liuru?"
Cao Guang was visibly taken aback. He then chuckled darkly and said:
"What are you talking about, I don't understand."
"Kid, are you going to return the thunder ore or not? Stealing things has a price to pay."
Xu Mu remained silent, looking at Cao Guang calmly.
The smile on Cao Guang's face became increasingly sinister. The more Xu Mu was silent, the happier he became, as it gave him a legitimate excuse to attack Xu Mu.
Cao Guang raised a hand, concentrating his ability.
But before he could make a move, Xu Mu did.
A drop of dark golden Dao Source appeared on his left fingertip and slowly floated towards the sky, absorbed by the dark thunder cloud.
Cao Guang was stunned by this and laughed, "I didn't expect your talent to be so strong, to condense Dao Source on your first day at Tianshi Mountain."
"But it's a shame, even if you've condensed Dao Source, you won't be able to defeat me."
"Surrender obediently!"
Cao Guang roared and struck with his palm.
Although he told Xu Mu to surrender, he held nothing back, appearing ready to kill Xu Mu.
Xu Mu's expression remained calm.
In mid-air, that drop of pure Dao Source dispersed within the tribulation clouds, instantly agitating all the thunder elements.
"Boom!"
At the same moment Cao Guang attacked, a bolt of violent heavenly thunder, which should not have appeared in this Yunlei Zone, struck down with a roar.