Thunder Foundation Establishment

Inside the stone cavern, the lightning gradually faded, leaving only the drip-drip of Thunder Spiritual Liquid falling into the pool, along with the heavy, threatening breaths of the last guardian thunder lizard.

This thunder lizard was clearly the leader of the nest. It was even larger, with a golden lightning pattern flickering faintly on its forehead. Beyond fury, its vertical pupils held a trace of cunning. It guarded the Thunder Fluorite Grass tightly, its thick tail restlessly lashing the ground and scattering tiny arcs of electricity.

Lin Feng advanced step by step, each footfall seeming to land upon the thunder lizard's heartbeat. Having slain two beasts of the same rank in succession and borrowed the momentum of the surrounding lightning, his aura had already climbed to its peak. The newly born true qi and vital blood within him surged and roared under the circulation of the Nine Heavens Thunder Blade, strongly resonating with the dense Thunder Spiritual Energy around him.

"Roar!" Unable to hold back any longer, the Thunder Lizard Leader attacked first! Rather than pouncing directly, it suddenly opened its jaws and fired an incomparably condensed, deep-purple beam of lightning no thicker than an arm at Lin Feng like a laser! It was far faster than the previous lightning spheres!

Lin Feng's pupils contracted. He pushed the Thunder Flash movement technique to its limit, his body trailing a string of afterimages as he narrowly evaded it! The lightning beam struck the stone wall behind him, silently melting a bottomless hole into it, with magma-like matter flowing along its edges!

What terrifying penetrating power!

Having missed, the Thunder Lizard Leader kicked off with all four claws. Its enormous body displayed agility utterly mismatched with its size as it pounced like a streak of purple lightning. Its claws tore through the air with a piercing shriek, sealing off every route of escape for Lin Feng!

Lin Feng's gaze sharpened. Instead of retreating, he advanced! The Galloping Thunder Steps burst forth in a straight line, and in that hair's-breadth instant, he slipped through the gap between its claws. His right fist shot out like a cannonball leaving the barrel, lightning condensed to the utmost as it smashed fiercely toward the relatively soft underside of the thunder lizard's jaw!

"Thunderclap Break!"

"Bang!"

Fist and claw collided once more with a muffled boom! This time, Lin Feng's body shook violently. A huge force mingled with savage lightning power surged through his arm, forcing him back seven or eight staggering steps. Sweetness rose in his throat, but he forcibly swallowed the blood back down.

The Thunder Lizard Leader merely shook its head. Several scales beneath its jaw had shattered, purple blood flowing out, yet its ferocity had been thoroughly provoked!

"ROAR!!" It went completely mad, holding nothing back. Every scale across its body stood upright, blinding lightning bursting from the gaps between them until the entire cavern was lit as bright as day! It intended to crush this damned human with its strongest power!

Now!

A cold glint flashed through Lin Feng's eyes. This was precisely what he had been waiting for—the instant his opponent erupted with all its strength and its defenses relatively slackened!

He suddenly crushed the Life-Preserving Jade Talisman in his arms!

"Buzz!"

A solid layer of pale-golden Thunder Gang, flowing with profound runes, instantly emerged and enveloped his body!

At the same time, the Thunder Lizard Leader's strike gathered from its entire body—the horrifying lightning breath capable of vaporizing steel—came crashing down, slamming viciously into the pale-golden Thunder Gang!

"Rumble—!"

An unprecedented explosion erupted! The entire stone cavern shook violently, crystal clusters raining down from the ceiling! The savage energy shockwave nearly tore everything within the cavern apart!

The pale-golden Thunder Gang fluctuated violently, letting out a groan as though it could no longer bear the strain. Yet it was ultimately a life-saving treasure bestowed by Lei Lie, a Peak Martial Master, and it forcibly withstood that fatal strike!

And just as the Thunder Gang and the lightning breath remained locked in a stalemate, when the energy was at its most chaotic and the Thunder Lizard Leader's old strength had faded while its new strength had yet to arise—

Lin Feng moved!

He fused Thunder Flash and Galloping Thunder Steps to their absolute limits, piercing through the turbulent energy flow as if teleporting and appearing before the Thunder Lizard Leader's enormous mouth, which it could not close after unleashing its full-force blast!

Within his eyes, a world of lightning seemed to be born and perish! Veins bulged across his right arm as all his vital blood, true qi, spiritual power, and even that faint resonance with the lightning of heaven and earth he had just comprehended poured into this fist!

At the edge of his fist was no longer dazzling lightning, but a deep, restrained dark purple, as though he held a bolt of destructive thunder compressed to its utmost limit!

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

This punch was soundless, yet faster than thought! It seemed to cross space itself, blasting directly into the unprotected depths of the Thunder Lizard Leader's mouth and into its relatively fragile internal organs!

The dark-purple fist force erupted violently inside the thunder lizard's body!

"Pff—!"

There was no earth-shaking roar, only a muffled sound like torn leather. The Thunder Lizard Leader's massive body suddenly stiffened. The cold gleam in its vertical pupils vanished in an instant, leaving only extreme agony and disbelief.

The lightning around its body receded like a tide, and its hard scales lost their luster. A crack began at its mouth and rapidly spread throughout its entire body.

"Rumble."

Its enormous body crashed to the ground like a golden mountain collapsing and a jade pillar toppling, kicking up clouds of dust. No life remained within it.

[You killed a peak first-rank demonic beast, 'Thunder Lizard Leader', gaining a large amount of vital blood energy.]

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

Lin Feng landed on the ground and dropped to one knee, gasping heavily, his face pale as paper. Crushing the jade talisman and unleashing a punch beyond his limits had nearly drained all his strength. Yet his eyes brimmed with excitement and exhilaration!

He had won! In a desperate situation, through wisdom, trump cards, and an eruption beyond his limits, he had won!

He swiftly took out his last intermediate Gene Repair Fluid and drank it, then sat cross-legged to regulate his breath. Half an hour later, having recovered more than half his condition, he immediately walked toward the Thunder Fluorite Grass he had long dreamed of.

At the tip of the grass leaves, that drop of Source Thunder Dew had completely condensed. It resembled a flawless purple diamond, with liquid lightning seemingly flowing slowly within it, radiating an incomparably pure energy fluctuation that made one's heart tremble.

Lin Feng carefully harvested the entire Thunder Fluorite Grass along with the drop of Source Thunder Dew, sealing them inside a specially made jade box.

He did not leave at once. Instead, he sat cross-legged in the heart of this stone cavern, where a fierce battle had just taken place and Thunder Spiritual Energy was at its richest. Having just undergone an energy cleansing, this place was actually safer than elsewhere for a short time.

He first took out all the thunder lizard crystal cores he had acquired earlier and held them in his hand.

"System, absorb the energy and deduce, optimize the Basic Body Forging Technique - Quenching Chapter!"

[Command received. Beginning energy absorption... deducing and optimizing...]

Several crystal cores in his hand visibly dimmed, their pure Lightning Attribute energy extracted by the system and poured into Lin Feng's body. Within his mind, the rune structure representing the Basic Body Forging Technique - Quenching Chapter was adjusted and optimized once again, becoming more complex and efficient, especially in its focus on condensing true qi and affinity with the lightning attribute.

[Deduction complete! The Basic Body Forging Technique - Quenching Chapter has been optimized into the Thunder Foundation Establishment Chapter!]

[Effect: Spiritual energy absorption efficiency increased by 50% (Lightning Attribute is optimal), physical strength increased by 25%, Thunder True Qi condensing speed increased by 40%, and resistance to lightning attribute damage slightly increased.]

[Evaluation: Your foundation has been reforged, and you have initially taken on the form of a Thunder Dao Foundation!]

An even stronger suction force emerged from within Lin Feng, madly devouring the dense Thunder Spiritual Energy in the stone cavern and converting it into pure Thunder True Qi with efficiency far beyond before!

Without pausing in the slightest, he turned his burning gaze toward the jade box containing the Source Thunder Dew.

Taking a deep breath, he opened the jade box and, without hesitation, drew that drop of dew containing vast and pure thunder essence into his mouth!

"Boom!!!"

It was as if a thunder bomb had detonated within his body! Energy ten times purer and more violent than the Thunder Wolf Fruit exploded instantly, frantically washing through his limbs, bones, meridians, and acupoints!

Pain! Tearing pain swept through his entire body! Yet his gaze remained incomparably firm as he circulated the newly optimized Thunder Foundation Establishment Chapter with all his strength. He guided this vast energy to strike at the barrier of the Martial Artist Realm, temper his newly born Thunder True Qi, and nourish that faint trace of True Meaning of Thunder!

Black impurities with a foul stench seeped from his skin—an even deeper cleansing of the tendons and marrow! His bones crackled like thunder, becoming even tougher! Under the impact of the violent energy, his meridians were forcibly widened and became smoother!

[Realm advanced: Martial Artist (Mid Stage)!]

[Strength: 888 kg!]

[Agility: 45 m/s!]

[Constitution: Excellent (Meridian Clearance: 55%)]

[Spiritual Power: 38]

[Nine Heavens Thunder Blade (Initial Chapter) proficiency: 50%! A bottleneck in the technique has also been detected loosening. Subsequent deduction success rate increased to 30%.]

A powerful sensation filled his entire body! Lin Feng could not help throwing back his head in a long howl. The sound waves carried the might of thunder, shaking the entire stone cavern until it rustled and trembled!

Mid-stage Martial Artist! Strength approaching nine hundred kilograms! The Nine Heavens Thunder Blade's proficiency had reached halfway, and the bottleneck had loosened!

This journey into the secret realm had yielded far more than expected!

He rose to his feet, feeling the Thunder True Qi within him surge like a great river, threaded with faint arcs of electricity. He had never felt so powerful. His gaze swept across the wrecked cavern before turning toward the deeper reaches of the secret realm.

This was only the outer region of the secret realm. Deeper inside, there would surely be greater opportunities—and greater dangers.

But he feared nothing.

Just as he was preparing to continue deeper, the communicator in his arms suddenly began vibrating urgently—this was the special communicator Lei Lie had given him, one that would only contact him on its own in an emergency or when the secret realm was about to close.

He opened it and saw only one brief message:

"The secret realm is unstable. An energy tide is approaching. Return at once! —Master"

Lin Feng's gaze sharpened. Without the slightest hesitation, he turned and sped toward the direction from which he had come, pushing his speed to its limit as he shot away.

Not long after he left, a figure silently emerged at the entrance of the stone cavern.

It was the sinister middle-aged man who had previously competed with Lin Feng for the entrance! He looked somewhat bedraggled and bore injuries, clearly having fought within the secret realm as well. He greedily looked at the Thunder Lizard Leader's corpse and the lingering Thunder Spiritual Energy in the cavern, then gazed in the direction Lin Feng had departed. A fierce killing intent and envy flashed through his eyes.

"Brat, you made quite a haul... Hmph. Once we're out of the secret realm, let's see where you can run!"

His figure flashed as well, and he stealthily headed toward the secret realm's exit.

Lin Feng did not know that someone had set their sights on him. With his speed fully unleashed, he soon found the secret realm entrance, which remained stable but whose light had begun to flicker faintly.

Without any hesitation, he stepped inside.

Light and shadows flowed as space shifted.

When his feet touched solid ground once more, he had already returned outside that canyon in the West Mountain Branch.

It was nearly dawn now, and the east had begun to pale like the belly of a fish.

He looked back to see the secret realm's gate of light flash violently several times before finally dispersing silently into the air like a bubble, as though it had never existed.

A perilous journey through the secret realm, with immense rewards, had come to an end.

Lin Feng clenched his fist, feeling the surging power within him. He looked toward Jiangnan City, his gaze sharp as a blade.

Martial Exam finals, here I come!