Chapter 37: Foundation Establishment Stage Thunder Beast

At the moment she slashed down the Stone Lotus, Consort Lian felt as if something had been awakened.

The Lightning Avoidance Talisman had already shattered, and Qin Wu was once again electrocuted into a charred corpse. Consort Lian hurriedly wrapped her hair around his body and used all her spiritual power to flee outward.

In the air, Sun Qiankun and Fang Ruoyan were stunned in place when they saw the Stone Lotus suddenly disappear.

“Could it be that Qin Wu really isn’t dead?” Sun Qiankun immediately snapped out of it and asked in confusion, “What is he doing taking that thing?”

Although the thunder spirit liquid floated on the Stone Lotus, its formation actually had nothing to do with the Stone Lotus; it was simply positioned right above the lotus heart.

Why would he take a useless object?

“Roar—”

Before he could figure it out, a deafening roar exploded from the depths of the spring, shaking the rocks at the bottom of the valley until they came tumbling down.

The lightning here had been quite calm, but now it rioted amidst the roaring. Thick pillars of lightning struck down continuously from the sky, carving countless charred gullies into the mountain walls as rubble and electric sparks fell together.

In just a brief moment, a lightning domain was formed.

Those Qi Refining Stage thunder beasts turned back into lightning and plunged into the thunderstorm in mid-air.

The scope of the thunderstorm grew larger and larger. A massive thunder paw stepped down from the sky, covered in blood-colored lightning scales. With its appearance, the lightning in the Thunder Fissure Secluded Valley was also dyed blood-red.

“A Foundation Establishment Stage thunder beast!”

Sun Qiankun was terrified: “How can there be a Foundation Establishment Stage thunder beast here?!”

Since the Thunder Fissure Secluded Valley was open as a mission site for Qi Refining Stage Disciples, it was naturally because the danger was not high; even the lightning domain in the heart of the valley had a path to survival.

But encountering a Foundation Establishment Stage beast was a complete dead end!

Seeing this, Sun Qiankun’s Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering; he no longer cared about Fang Ruoyan and immediately charged toward the exit of the valley.

The thunder spirit flower was a companion item of the thunder beast. It had been nurturing it with thunder spirit liquid, and it would be fully mature in another two years.

As long as it swallowed the thunder spirit flower, it could directly enter the Golden Core stage.

Out of fear of the Taixu Holy Land, it could tolerate humans collecting thunder spirit liquid every so often, but how dared they take away its thunder spirit flower!

This was the grudge of obstructing one’s Dao! The grudge of obstructing one’s Dao!

Damn them! They all deserve to die!

A paw the size of a cattail leaf fan, wrapped in world-destroying lightning energy, struck Sun Qiankun’s back from a distance.

With a “crack,” the sound of bones shattering was clearly audible. He was sent flying like a ragdoll, slamming into the mountain wall before falling heavily, blood spraying wildly from his mouth.

Thanks to his defensive Magical Artifact, he didn’t die from the single strike, but before he could crawl up, the thunder beast spat out a bolt of blood lightning.

The blood lightning transformed into a flood dragon and instantly enveloped Sun Qiankun. The sizzling sound of electric roasting mixed with his screams erupted, and within a few breaths, he was turned into a pile of charcoal, with not even his bones remaining.

Although Qin Wu was currently a corpse, he could sense everything around him. After seeing Sun Qiankun’s miserable state, he couldn’t help but curse in his heart.

The panel only cares about issuing rewards, but doesn’t it care about his life or death?

Fang Ruoyan was not yet dead. Seeing Sun Qiankun turned to charcoal, her heart was filled with terror.

Seeing the thunder beast’s gaze fall upon her, under the terrifying pressure, she suppressed her fear and took out the Sword Talisman she had brought from the Seventh Outpost.

Fang Ruoyan’s entire body trembled as her fair fingers tightly gripped that black iron sword talisman. The spiritual power throughout her body was like a surging river, all of it channeled into the talisman’s runes.

The Sword Talisman hummed and vibrated as a blinding golden light burst forth. A terrifying Sword Intent, condensed to the extreme, suddenly struck down from the sky, aiming straight for the thunder beast’s crown.

Blood lightning danced wildly around the thunder beast. Seeing the Sword Intent approaching, it let out a deafening roar, but it was unavoidable and was struck directly. After a thunderous boom, dust rose everywhere, and the thunder beast exploded into a sky full of blood-colored lightning.

Seeing this, Fang Ruoyan took out a flying Magic Treasure and fled in a panic.

But within a few breaths, the scattered lightning actually swirled and circled in mid-air, as if constantly pulling each other together.

The lightning that had exploded gathered once more, and in the blink of an eye, it reformed into the thunder beast’s original appearance. Moreover, the electric glow around its body was even stronger than before, and the fierce light in its beastly eyes was even more intense.

Fang Ruoyan hadn’t escaped very far yet. She wanted to activate the Sword Talisman again, but the reason she could strike with the Sword Intent earlier was that the thunder beast was unprepared. Now that it knew her trump card, how could it give her another chance to activate the Sword Talisman?

Countless bolts of lightning submerged Fang Ruoyan like mad dragons. After they dissipated, only a bit of charred ash and the Sword Talisman remained, falling into the lightning pool.

The Sword Talisman fell straight to the bottom of the pool. A strand of hair quietly came over and wrapped around it, quickly dragging it away, but it was still discovered by the thunder beast.

“Roar—”

With a violent roar, as the thunder beast’s massive mouth opened and closed, blood lightning tore through the air and struck directly at Consort Lian’s head. Crackling lightning entwined her hair at the temples, but not only was she unharmed, she even used the immense force of the lightning strike to dash backward rapidly.

However, Qin Wu’s corpse was grazed slightly and became completely charred, with only his upper body remaining as she fled with him.

Seeing this, Consort Lian said anxiously, “Can you still be resurrected like this?”

Seeing that its strike had instead helped the opponent escape, the thunder beast flew into a frenzy. Its thick, long tail lashed out at the surrounding cliff walls, causing earth and rocks to fly and several huge cracks to open.

Its massive mouth opened wide again, and blood lightning from all over gathered into a ball. As the lightning arcs danced wildly, they actually scorched the surrounding air until it distorted. Qin Wu watched in terror.

He was already considering whether or not to throw the thunder spirit flower out.

After all, the panel mission was already completed, so it didn’t matter whether he kept the thunder spirit flower or not.

【HP -10】

【Current HP: 40】

Instantly, the charcoal on the corpse faded away, and the missing torso grew back. Qin Wu put on some clothes, took the Stone Lotus out of his storage ring, and used his spiritual power to hurl it toward the thunder beast.

Seeing the thunder spirit flower it had been longing for, the thunder beast feared the lightning would damage it. However, the lightning ball at its mouth was already poised to fire, so it immediately lowered its head and spat it into the lightning pool below.

A hum suddenly arose, and the world abruptly went silent, as if all surrounding sounds had been completely swallowed up.

After a moment, a violent tremor surged up from underground. Amidst the earth-shaking movements, rocks from the cliff walls on both sides continuously collapsed, and rubble rained down.

The ground beneath the lightning pool exploded with a bang, and a massive airwave swirled with stones, shooting out wildly in all directions.

The lightning in the sky also fell into a riot. Qin Wu dared not move a muscle, fearing he would be electrocuted into charcoal again.

Just as he was thinking about how to escape, he saw something wrapped in the airwave smash into his arms. He instinctively looked down, and a plain-looking stone bowl was lying in his lap.

The panel popped up just at that moment.

【Reward has been issued】

“…”

Qin Wu’s expression twisted for a moment as he cursed all sorts of profanities in his heart.

Then, with a sour face, he put the stone bowl into his storage ring.

The thunder beast’s tail had already wrapped around the Stone Lotus. At this time, the Stone Lotus had shed its outer stone shell; its petals were as lustrous as glazed glass, and nine purple-gold thunder runes were condensed upon them, except for one petal which had only eight.

Clearly, it was just a bit away from being fully mature.

Having hidden the thunder spirit flower away again, the thunder beast’s tyrannical gaze turned toward Qin Wu.

Qin Wu: “…”

The panel is out to get me!

Consort Lian’s hair carefully wrapped around his waist, and she sent a voice transmission: “Can you still die? Or should I take your corpse and escape?”

Just as Qin Wu made up his mind to kill himself to appease the thunder beast’s wrath and allow Consort Lian to escape, a furious shout came from beyond the sky: “Vile beast, how dare you harm a Disciple of my Holy Land!”

A pressure terrifying to the extreme crashed down from above the sky. The thunder beast, which had been in a frenzy just now, instantly withdrew the lightning that was bursting around its body.

But in its beastly eyes looking up at the high sky, there was still an irrepressible surge of violence and wariness.

Qin Wu was nearly scared to death; he almost couldn’t stop his hand from swinging the sword to kill himself.

In the next moment, he focused his gaze on the newcomer.