After Li Yan began swallowing pills to recover, the four of them once again seemed to be separated by the ends of the earth. Time continued to pass, yet no one spoke again.
Outside, wind and rain raged wildly through the darkness, as if they would never cease. The downpour remained ferocious, and there was no telling when it might finally stop.
Moreover, ever since Li Yan entered the tower, no other cultivators had arrived. It was not until nearly two hours had passed that the unceasing sounds of wind and rain outside finally began to show signs of weakening.
Just as the four inside the tower had all fallen into an unusual silence and continued resting on their own, a rolling peal of muffled thunder suddenly came from the sky outside.
The thunder came from directly above them. Li Yan had been recovering his strength all along, while remaining constantly wary of the other three.
So long as any of the three made the slightest move, he would react at once. Especially if someone tried to approach soundlessly, Li Yan would attack without hesitation. He would not bother asking them for their reasons.
The sudden thunder outside was not unusual in itself. The heavy rain had never stopped, and thunder had boomed earlier as well, with lightning even striking nearby.
But that had only happened occasionally. As the rain later weakened somewhat, lightning and thunder had ceased appearing here.
Thus, the sudden thunder gave the three a jolt, and what followed was even more beyond their expectations.
Unlike before, when a peal of thunder would be followed by a single bolt of lightning before everything returned to normal, the muffled thunder suddenly grew deafening, its rumbling instantly joining into one continuous roar.
Then came repeated explosive crashes of "Crack-crack-crack...