118: Chapter 118 Initial Exploration of the Outer Edge of Thunderfall Gorge

It was still dark before dawn.

Lin Xuan ended this session of Cultivate.

In the distance, a few intermittent insect chirps could be heard, as if they too had lost their spirit, frozen by the morning chill.

He did not rush to set off, but instead sat cross-legged on the bed, running through the tasks for today in his mind.

Thunderfall Ravine.

This name had been circling in his mind for years, from the initial rumors to Deacon Wu's map, and then to the ripening of the thunder essence fruit and his Breakthrough—after much turning and twisting, it was finally time to go and take a look.

He sat up and stretched his limbs.

It had been three days since his Breakthrough to the Late Stage of Qi Refining Level 6.

During these three days, he did not rush to head out, but instead stayed obediently in the courtyard, properly consolidating his surging cultivation base.

After all, running out without a stable Foundation was just asking for death.

In his Dantian, the purple thunder seed, about the size of an infant's fist, hovered steadily in the center of the Qi vortex, its surface marked with clear thunder patterns, its spiritual light restrained.

His spiritual power flowed smoothly, and with a mere thought, it moved as easily as his own arm.

It was about time.

Lin Xuan stood up, washed briefly, and took out a Bigu Pill from his Storage Pouch to consume. Then, with a thought, he entered the Spirit-Taming Tower Space.

The space remained bright and warm, a stark contrast to the pitch-black exterior.

The thunder essence fruit tree was still wilted, its leaves slightly curled; it seemed it would not recover in the short term.

Lin Xuan walked over, watered it with some spiritual spring water, and checked its root system—fortunately, the roots were deep, and there were no major issues.

The thunder-pattern grass nearby was growing well, with electric light flowing over its purple-green leaves; another half a month and he could harvest a batch.

The thunder spirit flower continued to bloom quietly, the electric sparks on its petals resembling scattered diamonds under the illumination of the space's spiritual light.

The Herb-Seeking Mouse and the Pangolin had already woken up.

The two little fellows squatted by the spiritual field, looking at him with eager eyes.

Lin Xuan fed them two Medicinal Pills.

After swallowing the Medicinal Pill, the Pangolin rubbed against his palm, turned around, and burrowed back into the ground.

The Herb-Seeking Mouse squeaked twice, jumped onto Lin Xuan's shoulder to rub against his face, and then ran off as well.

Lin Xuan smiled and exited the space.

The Quiet Room remained dim.

He took the cloud-piercing shuttle from his Storage Pouch and injected a stream of spiritual power into it.

The palm-sized small boat grew in the wind, turning into a flying boat a zhang long in the blink of an eye, hovering half a foot off the ground.

Lin Xuan checked the concealment array pattern—no problem.

He checked the gale array pattern again—also no problem.

He took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

A line of fish-belly white had just appeared on the horizon, with a faint cyan tint on the eastern horizon.

The morning breeze carried the chill of late autumn, making the bamboo leaves in the courtyard rustle.

Lin Xuan piloted the flying boat, flying low along the mountain ridge, heading in the direction of Thunderfall Ravine.

The cloud-piercing shuttle was extremely fast, with the sound of wind whistling in his ears.

Lin Xuan controlled the flying boat, flying as close to the treetops and mountain ridges as possible, hiding his figure in the shadows where the morning light had not yet reached.

With the concealment array fully activated, suppressing the flying boat's Spiritual Qi fluctuations to the minimum, it looked from the outside like a fallen leaf blown by the wind, completely inconspicuous.

About half an hour later, he flew out of the jurisdiction of Emerald Bamboo Peak.

The terrain ahead began to become unfamiliar.

The mountains were steeper, and the vegetation was much sparser.

It was no longer the vast bamboo forests of Emerald Bamboo Peak, but rather messy shrubs and twisted pine trees with charred bark, as if they had been burned by fire and struck by lightning.

A faint, almost imperceptible burnt smell began to appear in the air.

Lin Xuan slowed down and lowered the flying boat's altitude to less than a zhang from the ground, flying almost against the surface.

At the same time, he fully activated the Breath Concealment Technique, suppressing his own aura to the lowest level.

After flying for another quarter of an hour, a broken mountain range stretching for tens of miles appeared ahead.

Lin Xuan landed the flying boat on a leeward low peak, put away the flying shuttle, crouched down behind a protruding rock, and began to observe carefully.

The terrain on the outskirts of Thunderfall Ravine was more complex than he had imagined.

Gullies crisscrossed everywhere, filled with charred rocks and twisted dead wood.

Some gullies were bottomless; looking down from above, one could only see pitch blackness and the occasional flash of electricity darting through.

Pitted marks were visible everywhere on the ground, some as large as millstones, others the size of washbasins—these were created by lightning strikes.

Dark clouds hung low in the sky, the gray clouds loomed low, as if one could reach out and touch them.

Electric snakes darted through the clouds from time to time, emitting dull thunder that rumbled from one end of the horizon to the other, echoing among the mountains.

The air was filled with the burnt smell of ozone, mixed with faint Spiritual Qi fluctuations.

Lin Xuan took out the animal skin map given by Deacon Wu and carefully identified it against the terrain.

On the edge of the "Safe Zone" marked on the map, there was a dried-up ravine, winding horizontally in front of him.

On the other side of the ravine was a blank area, with only two words written in cinnabar on the edge—"Enter with Caution".

The low peak where he was currently located was just on this side of the ravine, about three or four miles away from that warning line.

Lin Xuan put away the map and did not rush to go down.

He found a rock crevice with a wide view, sat cross-legged, and began to observe.

A day of observation.

This was not just caution; it was necessary.

Did the thunderstorms in Thunderfall Ravine have a pattern? What was the pattern? What was the intensity? How long did they last? How long were the intervals?

Without figuring out these questions, rushing inside blindly would be courting death.

Lin Xuan took out the Jade Slip from his Storage Pouch and began to record.

Beginning of the Chen hour (7:00 AM), the first wave of thunderstorms.

The density was moderate, and the duration was about a quarter of an hour.

At the peak of the thunderstorm, a dozen lightning bolts could be seen striking down simultaneously with the naked eye, the rumbling sound making one's eardrums ache.

The low peak where he was located was still several miles away, yet he could feel the ground beneath his feet trembling slightly.

Third quarter of the Chen hour (9:00 AM), the first wave of thunderstorms ended.

The dark clouds in the sky faded a bit, and electric light could still be seen flashing in the clouds occasionally, but it was noticeably sparser.

The burnt smell in the air also faded slightly.

Lin Xuan recorded the time on the Jade Slip.

Second quarter of the Si hour, the second wave of thunderstorms.

This wave was fiercer than the first. The lightning was thicker, the thunder louder, and the duration was about half a quarter of an hour longer.

At the most intense moment, a purple lightning bolt as thick as a water bucket struck a hilltop less than two miles away from him, causing gravel to explode and fly; Lin Xuan subconsciously shrank his neck.

Beginning of the Wu hour, the second wave ended.

Interval time—half a shichen.

Beginning of the Wei hour, the third wave.

The intensity of this wave was moderate, similar to the first wave. The duration was also about a quarter of an hour.

Third quarter of the Wei hour, the fourth wave.

The intensity was weaker than the first two waves; the lightning was much thinner, and the thunder was much quieter. However, the duration was longer, lasting almost two quarters of an hour.

Just like that, Lin Xuan squatted on the low peak for a whole day.

From dawn to dusk, he carefully recorded the time, intensity, duration, and range of each thunderstorm on the Jade Slip.

At dusk, when the last thunderstorm passed, he rubbed his somewhat sore eyes, looked at the records on the Jade Slip, and fell into deep thought.