Thunder Foundation Establishment

Inside the cave, the lightning gradually subsided, leaving only the dripping sound of Thunder Spiritual Liquid falling into the pool and the heavy, threatening breaths of the last guarding Thunder Lizard.

This Thunder Lizard was clearly the leader of the nest. It was larger, with a faint golden lightning pattern on its forehead, and its vertical pupils held not only fury but also a hint of cunning. It guarded the Thunder Fluorite Grass fiercely, its thick tail impatiently slapping the ground, splashing tiny arcs of electricity.

Lin Feng approached step by step, each movement seeming to land on the Thunder Lizard's heartbeat. Having slain two of the same rank and utilizing the environmental lightning, his momentum had reached its peak. The newly formed true qi within him and his Blood Essence roared under the guidance of the Nine Heavens Thunder Blade cultivation technique, resonating strongly with the dense Thunder Spiritual Energy around them.

"Roar!" The Thunder Lizard Leader couldn't hold back and attacked first! It didn't pounce directly but opened its mouth wide, unleashing a condensed, deep purple beam of lightning, as thick as an arm, shooting towards Lin Feng like a laser! Its speed far surpassed the previous light orbs!

Lin Feng's pupils contracted. He unleashed the "Lightning Flash" movement technique to its limit, his figure leaving a trail of afterimages as he narrowly dodged! The lightning beam struck the stone wall behind him, silently melting a bottomless hole, with magma-like substance still flowing around the edges!

What terrifying penetration power!

Missing its target, the Thunder Lizard Leader dug its four claws into the ground. Its massive body displayed agility unbefitting its size, lunging like a purple lightning bolt. Its claws slashed out, tearing through the air with a piercing shriek, blocking all of Lin Feng's escape routes!

Lin Feng's eyes sharpened. Instead of retreating, he advanced! "Galloping Thunder Steps" erupted in a straight line. At the last possible moment, he cut through the gap between the claws, his right fist like a cannonball, lightning condensed to its extreme, powerfully smashing towards the Thunder Lizard's relatively soft lower jaw!

"Thunderclap Break!"

"Bang!"

Fist and claw collided again, erupting in a dull roar! This time, Lin Feng's body trembled violently. He felt a tremendous force mixed with savage lightning energy surge up his arm. His feet staggered back seven or eight steps, and his throat felt sweet. He forcefully swallowed the blood that surged up.

The Thunder Lizard Leader merely shook its head. A few scales on its jaw shattered, oozing purple blood, but its ferocity was completely ignited!

"Roar!!" It went completely mad, no longer holding back. Its scales stood on end, and dazzling lightning shot out from the gaps between them, illuminating the entire cave as if it were daylight! It intended to crush this damnable human with its strongest power!

Now!

A cold glint flashed in Lin Feng's eyes. He had been waiting for the moment the opponent unleashed its full power, leaving its defenses relatively loose!

He abruptly crushed the Life-Preserving Jade Talisman he held in his embrace!

"Buzz!"

A solid, pale golden lightning barrier, flowing with profound runes, instantly appeared, enveloping him!

At the same moment, the Thunder Lizard Leader's full-power attack, a terrifying lightning breath capable of vaporizing steel, descended with a roar, striking the pale golden lightning barrier fiercely!

"Rumble--!"

An unprecedented explosion occurred! The entire cave shook violently, and the crystal clusters on the ceiling fell like raindrops! The rampaging energy shockwave almost tore everything within the cave to shreds!

The pale golden lightning barrier fluctuated violently, letting out groans of unbearable strain. But it was, after all, a life-saving item bestowed by Lei Lie, a peak Martial Master, and it stubbornly withstood this fatal blow!

And just as the lightning barrier and the breath were locked in a stalemate, when the energy was most chaotic, and the Thunder Lizard Leader's old strength was gone and new strength not yet born--

Lin Feng moved!

He combined "Lightning Flash" and "Galloping Thunder Steps" to their extreme, penetrating the energy turbulence like teleportation, appearing before the Thunder Lizard Leader's gaping maw, which it couldn't close due to its full-power breath!

In his eyes, it was as if a world of lightning was being born and dying! His right arm bulged with veins, all his Blood Essence, true qi, Spiritual Power, and even that trace of resonance with the heavens' lightning he had just comprehended, were poured into this punch!

The tip of his fist was no longer a dazzling lightning, but had transformed into a deep, restrained dark purple, as if he held a destructive lightning compressed to its extreme!

"Nine Heavens... Thunder Blade! Open for me!"

This punch was silent, yet faster than thought! It seemed to traverse space, directly blasting into the Thunder Lizard Leader's unguarded mouth, into its relatively fragile internal organs!

The dark purple fist energy erupted within the Thunder Lizard's body!

"Pfft--!"

There was no earth-shattering roar, only a dull sound like torn leather. The Thunder Lizard Leader's massive body stiffened abruptly. Its cold vertical pupils instantly lost all vitality, filled with extreme pain and disbelief.

The lightning around its body receded like a tide, its hard scales losing their luster. A crack began from its mouth and quickly spread throughout its body.

"Crash."

Its massive body fell to the ground like a toppled golden mountain, kicking up a cloud of dust, lifeless.

[Killed Tier 1 Peak Yao Beast 'Thunder Lizard Leader', obtained a large amount of Blood Essence energy.]

[Nine Heavens Thunder Blade (Initial Chapter) Mastery increased to 45%.]

Lin Feng landed on the ground, kneeling on one knee, gasping for breath, his face as pale as paper. Crushing the jade talisman and unleashing a punch beyond his limits had almost drained all his strength. But his eyes were filled with excitement and exhilaration!

He won! In a desperate situation, relying on his wit, trump cards, and an explosive burst beyond his limits, he had won!

He quickly took out his last Intermediate Gene Repair Fluid, drank it, and sat cross-legged to recuperate. Half an hour later, his condition had recovered by more than half, and he immediately walked towards the Thunder Fluorite Grass he had dreamed of.

At the tip of the grass leaf, the drop of "Source Thunder Dew" had completely solidified, like a perfect purple diamond. Within it, liquid lightning seemed to flow slowly, emitting an extremely pure and heart-stopping energy fluctuation.

Lin Feng carefully harvested the entire stalk of Thunder Fluorite Grass, along with the drop of Source Thunder Dew, and placed it in a specially made jade box, sealing it.

He didn't leave immediately. Instead, he sat cross-legged in the core of this cave, which had just experienced a great battle and was now the most concentrated in Thunder Spiritual Energy. This place, having just undergone an energy baptism, was temporarily safer than other areas.

He first took out all the Thunder Lizard crystal cores he had obtained earlier and held them in his hands.

"System, absorb energy, deduce and optimize Basic Body Tempering Technique · Body Quenching Chapter!"

[Command received. Absorbing energy... Deducing and optimizing...]

The several crystal cores in his hands turned gray at a visible rate. The pure thunder-attribute energy within was extracted by the System and channeled into Lin Feng's body. In his mind, the rune structure representing the Basic Body Tempering Technique · Body Quenching Chapter was adjusted and optimized again, becoming more complex and efficient, especially focusing on condensing true qi and affinity with the thunder attribute.

[Deduction complete! Basic Body Tempering Technique · Body Quenching Chapter has been optimized to Thunder Foundation Establishment Chapter!]

[Effects: Spiritual Energy (Thunder attribute best) absorption efficiency increased by 50%, physical body strength increased by 25%, Thunder true qi condensation speed increased by 40%, resistance to thunder attribute damage slightly increased.]

[Evaluation: Foundation reshaped, initially possessing the semblance of a Thunder Dao Foundation!]

A stronger suction force emerged from Lin Feng's body, madly devouring the dense Thunder Spiritual Energy within the cave, converting it into pure Thunder True Qi with far greater efficiency than before!

He didn't pause, his gaze burning as he looked at the jade box containing the Source Thunder Dew.

Taking a deep breath, he opened the jade box and, without hesitation, drew the dewdrop, which contained a vast amount of pure Source Thunder, into his mouth!

"BOOM!!!"

It was as if a thunder bomb had detonated inside him! Ten times more potent and pure than the Thunder Wolf Fruit, the energy exploded instantly, madly scouring his limbs, bones, meridians, and acupoints!

Agony! A tearing, ripping pain swept through his entire body! But his eyes were incredibly resolute. He fully activated the newly optimized Thunder Foundation Establishment Chapter, guiding this immense energy to break through the barriers of the Martial Artist Realm, tempering the newly formed Thunder True Qi, and nourishing that faint wisp of True Meaning of Thunder!

Black impurities with a foul odor seeped from his skin's surface; this was a deeper level of marrow cleansing and tendon transformation! His bones emitted crackling thunderous sounds, becoming even tougher! His meridians were forcibly widened by the impact of the violent energy, becoming much more unobstructed!

[Realm Advancement: Martial Artist (Mid-stage)!]
[Strength: 888kg!]
[Agility: 45m/s!]
[Constitution: Excellent (Meridians Unblocked 55%)]
[Spiritual Power: 38]
[Nine Heavens Thunder Blade (Initial Chapter) Mastery: 50%! Detected loosening of cultivation technique bottleneck, subsequent deduction success rate increased to 30%.]

A powerful sense of strength filled his entire body! Lin Feng couldn't help but let out a long roar towards the sky, his voice carrying the might of thunder, shaking the entire cave until it rustled!

Martial Artist mid-stage! Strength approaching nine hundred kilograms! Nine Heavens Thunder Blade mastery reached halfway, bottleneck loosened!

This trip to the Secret Realm had yielded far more than expected!

He stood up, feeling the Thunder True Qi surging like a great river within him, carrying faint arcs of electricity. He felt more powerful than ever before. His gaze swept across the messy cave and then towards the deeper parts of the Secret Realm.

This was merely the outer perimeter of the Secret Realm. Deeper within, there were bound to be greater opportunities, and also greater dangers.

But he was fearless.

Just as he was preparing to explore further, his communicator in his embrace suddenly vibrated urgently—this was a special communicator Lei Lie had given him, which would only contact him proactively in emergencies or when the Secret Realm was about to close.

He tapped it open and saw only a short message:

"Secret Realm unstable, energy tide approaching, return quickly! -- Master"

Lin Feng's eyes narrowed. Without hesitation, he turned and headed back the way he came, pushing his speed to the absolute limit as he flew away.

Not long after he left, a figure quietly appeared at the entrance of the cave.

It was the sinister middle-aged man who had vied with Lin Feng for the entrance earlier! He looked somewhat disheveled and bore injuries, clearly having gone through battles in the Secret Realm as well. He greedily looked at the corpse of the Thunder Lizard Leader and the residual Thunder Spiritual Energy in the cave, then glanced in the direction Lin Feng had left, a fierce killing intent and jealousy flashing in his eyes.

"Kid, you've gained quite a bit... Hmph, once you're out of the Secret Realm, let's see where you can run!"

His figure flickered, and he also began to stealthily move towards the Secret Realm's exit.

Lin Feng was unaware he had been targeted. He moved at full speed and quickly found the Secret Realm entrance, which was still stable but its light had begun to flicker slightly.

Without any hesitation, he stepped through.

Light and shadow flowed, space shifted.

When his feet touched solid ground again, he was already outside the canyon of the West Mountain Branch.

At this time, the sky was nearing dawn, with the east showing the pale white of the sky before sunrise.

He looked back and saw the Secret Realm's light gate flicker violently a few times before finally disappearing into the air like a bubble, as if it had never existed.

A perilous but highly rewarding journey into the Secret Realm thus concluded.

Lin Feng clenched his fist, feeling the surging power within him. He looked towards the direction of Jiangnan City, his eyes sharp as knives.

Martial Arts Examination finals, here I come!