Thunder Residence
Lin Ming was naturally unaware of the reactions from outsiders to his taking over several of the Nine Residences from the Ancient Heavenly Palace.
They had already arrived at the Thunder Residence.
Lin Ming and his companions looked at the Stone Island, which was completely different from the Dragon Mansion and the Lin Residence.
The Stone Island was a deep, dark purple, as if it had been struck by countless bolts of lightning. The surface of the rocks was covered with dense, charred lines, and faint purple-white electric light seemed to flow slowly within those lines.
An extremely strong aura of thunder permeated the air around the Stone Island. The aura was violent and turbulent, like a group of caged beasts roaring in low voices.
Several huge cracks ran along the edge of the Stone Island, from which purple-white lightning surged, slightly distorting the surrounding void.
Lin Ming stood before the Stone Island of Thunder Residence, Black Flame surging in his palm, and Black Hole appeared.
That familiar suction force swept towards the Stone Island. Under the suction, the Stone Island of Thunder Residence trembled violently, and purple and white lightning crackled wildly across the entire island, like an enraged thunder dragon making its final struggle.
However, before Lin Ming's Chaotic Lightning, the entire Stone Island was powerless to resist and was sucked into the Black Hole, turning into a stream of light that entered his palm.
He withdrew his hand, and with a flicker of his body, he led Zi Yan and the other two into his Inner World.
The Stone Island of Thunder Residence unfolded in mid-air within the Inner World, revealing its true form.
The entire Stone Island was even larger than the Dragon Mansion, with a circumference of nearly 100,000 zhang, like a small continent torn from the earth and suspended in mid-air.
The island's terrain is extremely rugged, with charred rocks and cracked ground everywhere. The rock surfaces are covered with dense cracks, and faint purple-white lightning flashes slowly flow through the cracks, like a sleeping Thunder Beast breathing between the rocks.
The entire Stone Island was permeated with an extremely strong aura of thunder, a violent and turbulent aura, completely different from the gentle Wood Element aura of the Lin Residence and the domineering Dragon Might of the Dragon Mansion.
Fine arcs of electricity crackled intermittently in the air, like countless tiny thunder insects roaming in the void. Occasionally, a few arcs would collide, exploding into a fist-sized ball of purplish-white sparks that sent surrounding Shi Zhen down.
The terrain of Stone Island is much steeper than that of the previous two prefectures. The charred rocks are piled up to form sharp peaks and deep canyons. Some peaks are like broken swords piercing the sky, and some canyons are like a chasm cleaved by a giant axe, bottomless.
Thick, purplish-white lightning mist surged at the bottom of the canyon. The mist was so dense that it was almost solidified, and it moved slowly through the canyon like a pot of boiling Thunder Plasma.
Occasionally, a wisp of lightning would spill out of the canyon, striking the rocks above and exploding into a fine burst of electric light, scorching the rock surface with another layer of char.
The entire Stone Island resembled an ancient behemoth slumbering in a sea of thunder. Although it had been dead for ten thousand years, its massive shell still retained a terrifying residual power of thunder that would chill any intruder.
Lin Ming led the three of them deep into the Stone Island.
Most of the formations in Thunder Residence are related to the power of thunder. The structure of those formations is more violent and direct than those in Lin Residence and Dragon Mansion. There are not many winding mazes and illusions. There is only pure destruction and blasting.
At the core of each formation lies a ball of lightning compressed to its limit, like a lightning orb poised to strike. Any intruder who touches it will be met with an overwhelming barrage of lightning.
The lightning Law contained within those lightning orbs were extremely pure, so pure as to be almost tyrannical, like sharp blades without sheaths, which could easily cut you if you were not careful.
But at this moment, these formations were like tigers with their teeth pulled out in Lin Ming's world. Although the lightning orbs still emitted violent fluctuations, they could not even be activated in the face of his will.
After all, he possessed the power of the Chaos Thunder and had inherited the legacy of the Master of the Star Residence. He was intimately familiar with all the formations within the Ancient Heavenly Palace, so even if he wasn't in this Inner World, he could easily break through these formations.
So he simply raised his hand slightly, and a beam of spiritual light shot out from his fingertips, precisely embedding itself into the core nodes of those formations, instantly breaking through these obstructing formations.
Lin Ming led the three men to search the several side halls on the outskirts of Thunder Residence.
The side halls were even larger than the Dragon Mansion. The walls of the halls were made of a kind of dark purple Thunder Pattern Rock, which naturally absorbed the power of lightning and was covered with electric marks that spread like tree roots.
Over the millennia, those electric marks have become extremely dim, yet occasionally a few thin, hair-like streaks of purple-white light still flash by between the cracks in the rocks, like the last pulses of a dying person.
Most of the artifacts in the side hall have turned to dust over the millennia, but occasionally a few sealed and protected Jade Bottle and Jade Slip can be found in the corners.
Most of the seals were broken, but the things sealed inside were preserved because of the seals.
Xia Jia found a well-preserved elixir in a hidden compartment of a side hall.
The hidden compartment was concealed within the base of the palace pillars. When the stone cover of the compartment was pushed open, a rich Medicinal Fragrance wafted out, carrying with it an extremely strong aura of thunder, like a bolt of lightning compressed into a line exploding at the tip of the nose.
The pill was purplish-white in color, about the size of a longan, with fine electric patterns slowly flowing on its surface. These electric patterns moved across the surface of the pill like living things, and each movement caused the pill to emit a slight hum.
Lin Ming immediately recognized it as a "Lei Yuan Barrier-Breaking Pill," made primarily from the Heart of the Tree of a ten-thousand-year-old Lightning-Struck Wood. It is an extremely precious auxiliary pill for cultivators practicing thunder-attribute Cultivation Method, and taking it when breaking through a bottleneck can greatly increase the success rate of the breakthrough.
Lin Ming then said, "This pill might be of some use to you. The lightning power within should help you break through your bottleneck."
"Thank you, sir." Upon hearing this, Xia Jia expressed her gratitude and carefully put the pill into her storage space.
Subsequently, the North King found a batch of spiritual materials sealed in a Lightning Pattern Jade Casket in a storeroom of a side hall.
The Jade Casket boxes were neatly stacked on the stone shelves in the storeroom. Each Jade Casket was about a foot square, and its surface was engraved with sealing Spiritual Runes, which firmly sealed the aura of the contents inside.
He opened the Jade Casket, which contained mostly Thunder Attribute ores and spirit wood. Although the grade was not extremely high, the quantity was considerable.
Several fist-sized "Violet Lightning Crystal" are core materials for refining Thunder Attribute spiritual weapons. The lightning crystals are translucent purple-white, with fine electric patterns slowly flowing inside, as if a miniature Lei Yun is sealed in the crystal. They are enough to fetch a high price in the outside world.
Lin Ming simply told the two of them to take these.
Over these few mansions, he and Zi Yan had acquired far more valuable possessions than these. Moreover, the two of them had been his own people when facing the Xia Emperor. Therefore, even if he ate the meat, he would still leave the soup for them.
After searching the side halls ahead, the group arrived at the main hall of the Thunder Residence mansion Thunder Palace.
The group stood before the Thunder Palace, watching the Thunder Palace flashing above it. Then, with a wave of Lin Ming's hand, the gates of the Thunder Palace slowly opened.
The moment the door was opened, an extremely dense Spiritual Energy rushed out, mixed with a faint aura of thunder. It was like a spiritual sea that had been compressed for thousands of years was suddenly released, causing the robes of the group to flutter backward.
At this moment, the group looked closely and saw a pool several meters in diameter in the very center of the main hall. The pool was filled with a purplish-red liquid, which was viscous and lustrous, like a pool of melted purple crystal.
The surface of the pool is almost flush with the edge, with only a narrow gap around the edge.
The Supreme Spirit Liquid in that pool was more concentrated and purer than the one he had seen in the Lin Residence before. Faint electric patterns could be seen slowly moving within the emerald-purple Spirit Liquid, which was the Thunder Attribute Spiritual Energy that naturally blended into the Spirit Liquid after it had been immersed in the thunderous environment of the Thunder Residence for thousands of years.
A rough estimate puts it at a scale of seventy to eighty million drops, like a treasure trove sealed for millennia being opened at that moment, the emerald light bathing the entire basement in a warm, verdant hue.
The North King's eyes widened slightly, and his Adam's apple bobbed.
He had traveled the martial world for hundreds of years and had seen many Spirit Liquid, but he had never seen one on such a scale.
The group then stepped into the main hall, which was constructed from a single piece of Thunder Pattern Rock, with the walls engraved with sealing Spiritual Runes.
In an instant, they Bai Wei the pool of Supreme Spirit Liquid in Thunder Residence was almost full. It was because the layout of the main hall had firmly sealed the pool of Spirit Liquid inside, so that the Spirit Liquid had hardly been lost over the millennia.
Entering the main hall and arriving at the pool, Zi Yan couldn't help but click her tongue at the sight of the emerald-purple Spirit Liquid, saying, "The Lord of Thunder Residence is quite generous; this pool of Spirit Liquid is almost half as much again as the one in Lin Residence."
Xia Jia nodded repeatedly, her bright eyes filled with amazement, muttering to herself, "How many Jade Bottle could this hold?"
Lin Ming squatted down and dipped his hand into the pool. The Spirit Liquid felt warm and viscous to the touch, and the Spiritual Energy it contained was extremely pure, with almost no impurities. The addition of a trace of Thunder Attribute actually gave the Spirit Liquid a kind of activity, like injecting an undercurrent into stagnant water.
In response, Lin Ming stood up.
Now that he knew the exact quality of the Supreme Spirit Liquid, he no longer paid it any attention.
After all, the pool of Supreme Spirit Liquid had already entered his Inner World, so there was no way it could escape.
He can withdraw it whenever he needs it.
So at this moment, his gaze was turned to the back.
On the pillars and walls further back in the hall, the Lightning Pattern were denser and more complex than those in the front hall.
The power contained within those patterns exuded a chilling sense of oppression, which was very familiar to Lin Ming, who had already refined Sacred Artifact.
That was the energy emanating from the Sacred Artifact.