Arrival at the Thunder Pool

Fire Mulberry Country was merely a small nation in the Eastern Sea.

It spanned three thousand li and had a population of eight million.

The White Jade Boat sped across the water toward Fire Mulberry Country. The flying boat encountered considerable resistance on the water, allowing it to cover only seven or eight hundred li a day.

Four days later, they were still three or four hundred li from Fire Mulberry Country, but the hazy outlines of some of its mountains were already visible.

"Senior Sister Ye, let's head south!"

Xu Changshou pointed in a direction as he spoke.

Ye Shanhua nodded and steered the White Jade Boat slightly off its current course.

Thunder Marsh was a small township in southern Fire Mulberry Country, known as Thunder Marsh Township.

Thunder Marsh Township owed its name to a place there that was wreathed in lightning all year round. Any mortal who entered would die on the spot.

"Junior Brother Ye, are you going straight to Thunder Marsh?"

"Yes."

"Shouldn't we visit the Fire Mulberry royal family first?"

"We'll go to Thunder Marsh first, then visit the Fire Mulberry royal family."

The royal capital of the Fire Mulberry Dynasty lay slightly south of the country's center, while Thunder Marsh was in its southern half.

Naturally, Xu Changshou had told Ye Shanhua to head south because he intended to visit Thunder Marsh first.

His reason for doing so was simple.

Ye Shanhua had once said that Uncle-Master Li would certainly send someone to secretly protect the person with the variant spiritual root. If Xu Changshou made contact with that person too early, attending to his own affairs would become inconvenient.

Xu Changshou's plan was to capture the Black Antelope Thunder Ox at Thunder Marsh first, then visit the Fire Mulberry royal family to find the person with the variant spiritual root.

In any case, Li Dao Path had not specified when he had to arrive at the Fire Mulberry royal court. A day earlier or later made no difference.

At noon, Xu Changshou and Ye Shanhua set foot on Fire Mulberry Country's soil.

By the time they reached Thunder Marsh Township, it was already dusk the following day.

Night was about to fall, so capturing the Black Antelope Thunder Ox now was unrealistic. Xu Changshou and Ye Shanhua decided to rest for the night and found an inn less than ten li from Thunder Marsh.

It was merely an ordinary inn for mortals.

After checking in, the two freshened up briefly, then went to the dining hall to eat.

Weary from their journey, Xu Changshou had not enjoyed a tasty meal in quite some time. The aroma of the inn's cooking stirred the greedy worms in his belly.

Fire Mulberry Country was an island nation whose food consisted mainly of seafood. Though it was only mortal cuisine, the feast of tender, succulent seafood left Xu Changshou exclaiming in delight.

Ye Shanhua did not seem particularly fond of seafood and ate only a little vegetable food.

Mortal cuisine was crude, after all, unfit for an elegant table and beneath the palate of an Immortal Second-Generation like Ye Shanhua.

"Everyone, the innkeeper says you must not go out tonight. The weather is bad, and he's afraid the Thunder Beast might come out and hurt people."

"Damn this rainy weather, and damn that Thunder Beast."

"Stop complaining. Just stay indoors."

"Curse it! As long as the Thunder Beast lives, none of us can rest easy."

"Exactly. Our Thunder Marsh Township has suffered under that Thunder Beast for far too long!"

"There's no need to fear the Thunder Beast. I heard plenty of immortals have come to our Thunder Marsh Township these past few days to help us get rid of it."

"Yes, everything will be fine now that the immortals are here. We're saved! The Thunder Beast is certain to die."

As they ate, the diners in the inn were all discussing the Thunder Beast.

Xu Changshou drew the innkeeper aside to ask about it, only then learning that the Thunder Beast everyone spoke of was the Black Antelope Thunder Ox.

As it turned out, an uninvited guest had suddenly arrived at the Thunder Pool ten years ago: the Black Antelope Thunder Ox.

Since then, the Black Antelope Thunder Ox had occupied the Thunder Pool, often coming out to wreak havoc whenever the weather turned rainy.

The Thunder Beast was covered in lightning. Ordinary people died upon touching him, and when threatened, he could unleash vast swathes of lightning to injure others.

Over those ten years, the Thunder Beast had harmed countless people.

In Thunder Marsh Township, the Thunder Beast had become synonymous with terror, enough to silence a child's cries at night.

Later, a Daoist came to Thunder Marsh Township, claiming to know immortals. He asked the townsfolk to pool money for his travel expenses so he could go to the Western Continent and seek them out.

That Daoist was a rogue cultivator from a small lineage. After returning home, he spread word of the Black Antelope Thunder Ox.

The news Ye Shanhua had received had also originated from that Daoist.

Glancing at Ye Shanhua, Xu Changshou could not help frowning. "Senior Sister Ye, this isn't good. Other people have come to Thunder Marsh too."

Ye Shanhua gave a wry smile. "There's nothing we can do about that. The Black Antelope Thunder Ox's horns are excellent materials for refining pseudo magic artifacts with a lightning attribute. They're worth a fortune, so naturally people are tempted."

"That might not necessarily be a bad thing."

As though something had occurred to him, Xu Changshou suddenly smiled again.

The others had a different reason for capturing the Black Antelope Thunder Ox. They wanted the horns, while he wanted the hide.

Even if someone else beat him to the prize, he could still buy the hide.

"With so many people coveting the Black Antelope Thunder Ox, how could this possibly be a good thing?" Ye Shanhua was speechless.

Xu Changshou smiled. "Don't worry, Senior Sister Ye. The Thunder Pool isn't so easy to enter. I have a secret treasure that gives me the confidence to go inside."

Ye Shanhua nodded. "As long as you're confident. I certainly don't have what it takes to enter the Thunder Pool."

That night.

Back in his room, Xu Changshou took out a formation plate and set it up.

It was a soundproofing formation plate he had picked up at the market. When traveling, it allowed him to cultivate even in noisy surroundings.

Xu Changshou took out the Savage Bull King's hide and used the Five-Cloud Sword to cut it into pieces the size of talisman paper.

He cut up the hide from the head as well, producing a total of a hundred and twenty pieces.

Then Xu Changshou used the Fireball Spell to dry all the pieces of hide before taking out ten of them and beginning to draw talismans.

All ten were Sharp Gold Talismans.

Sharp Gold Talismans drawn on the Savage Bull King's hide had at least twice the attack power of ordinary Sharp Gold Talismans.

These ten Sharp Gold Talismans gave him another powerful trump card.

Early the next morning.

As soon as the east turned the pale white of a fish's belly, Xu Changshou rose.

After having breakfast with Ye Shanhua, the two headed straight for Thunder Marsh.

Thunder Marsh was not large, spanning only a little over ten li.

Mountains surrounded it on three sides, with dense forest on the fourth.

Anyone entering Thunder Marsh on foot had to pass through the forest.

When Xu Changshou and Ye Shanhua reached the dense forest, dozens of cultivators had already gathered there. Their cultivation ranged from the tenth level of qi refining to the qi refining twelfth layer, and most were fairly old.

Xu Changshou glanced into Thunder Marsh. Deep within it lay a purple ocean.

A species of purple bamboo called thunderleaf bamboo grew there. It did not fear lightning; the more concentrated the lightning, the more luxuriantly it grew.

Seen from afar, the purple bamboo swayed in the wind. As its leaves brushed against one another, their friction produced wisps of lightning that made one's scalp prickle.

Lightning was the most violent attribute in the world. Even a single wisp was enough to take an ordinary person's life.

Even cultivators struggled to withstand dense lightning, though those with a lightning attribute had some resistance.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Deep within the Thunder Pool, muffled thunder rumbled, leaving the cultivators outside trembling with fear.

Ye Shanhua's expression darkened. "Junior Brother Xu, this Thunder Pool is far too dangerous. You'd better not go."

"It's fine!"

Xu Changshou shook his head and smiled. "There's no need to worry, Senior Sister Ye. I'm confident I can handle it."