120: Chapter 120 Revisited

A month had passed since the first reconnaissance of Thunderfall Ravine.

During this month, Lin Xuan's life was very regular—making Talismans, Cultivating, and studying Jade Slips.

His routine was fixed, like clockwork.

Every night when he returned to his small courtyard, he would study that Jade Slip recording the observation data of Thunderfall Ravine.

He read it over and over again.

The timing, intensity, intervals, and range of the thunderstorms... he knew every piece of data by heart, yet he still pondered it repeatedly, trying to find deeper patterns within.

As it turned out, he really did find something.

Although the intervals of the thunderstorms in Thunderfall Ravine fluctuated greatly, there was one stable pattern—around noon every day, there would be a relatively long period of calm.

About half an hour.

It was at least fifteen minutes longer than other periods.

This discovery gave Lin Xuan confidence.

On this morning, one month later, he woke up before dawn.

Outside the window, it was still pitch black. The chirping of insects in the distance was intermittent, and the chill of late autumn seeped in through the door cracks, carrying the fresh scent of bamboo leaves.

Lin Xuan lay on the bed, running through today's plan in his mind once more.

Cross the dried-up creek valley.

Enter the area within the dashed line.

See what exactly is going on over there.

He sat up and stretched his limbs. The purple thunder seed in his Dantian was steady, and his Spiritual Power was abundant.

After a month, his cultivation at the Late Stage of Qi Refining Level 6 had completely stabilized, and there was even a faint trend of moving towards the Peak.

"It's about time," he muttered to himself.

He got up to wash, took a Bigu Medicinal Pill, and checked the items in his Storage Pouch—Talismans, Medicinal Pills, and Magical Artifacts, not a single one missing.

Then, he pushed open the door.

A sliver of white appeared on the horizon, and the eastern sky was tinged with a faint cyan.

The morning breeze was cold, causing the bamboo leaves in the courtyard to rustle.

Lin Xuan summoned his cloud-piercing shuttle, which transformed into a flying boat about a zhang in length. With its concealment formation fully activated, he flew at a low altitude, hugging the mountain ridge, and headed towards Thunderfall Ravine.

This time, he flew even lower than before.

He was almost flying against the treetops.

The concealment effect of the cloud-piercing shuttle was excellent. The Gale formation suppressed the sound of the flying boat cutting through the air to the minimum; from below, it looked just like a fallen leaf blown by the wind.

In less than half an hour, he had flown out of the jurisdiction of Emerald Bamboo Peak.

The terrain ahead was still unfamiliar, with steep mountains and sparse vegetation.

The smell of burning in the air was stronger than when he came last time—probably because of the dry weather.

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

Noon.

He silently counted the time in his heart.

According to the records on the Jade Slip, this period should be when the thunderstorms were relatively calm.

Sure enough, although the dark clouds still hung low in the sky, the lightning snakes within the clouds were significantly sparser, and the thunder was nowhere near as dense as before.

Lin Xuan did not rush to cross the creek valley.

He found a hidden rock crevice on this side of the creek valley to hide, then released the Herb-Seeking Mouse and the Pangolin.

The two little guys had been cooped up in the space for a long time and started frolicking as soon as they came out.

The Herb-Seeking Mouse darted onto his shoulder, squeaking and rubbing against his face.

The Pangolin was even more exaggerated; it rolled on the ground, then dove headfirst into the soil, leaving only its tail dangling outside.

"Alright, alright," Lin Xuan pulled the Pangolin out of the soil. "Time to work."

He squatted down and pointed towards the direction across the creek valley.

"Cross that creek valley and go in. You two work together; Herb-Seeking Mouse leads the way, Pangolin follows. If you notice anything wrong, retreat immediately."

The Herb-Seeking Mouse squeaked, jumped off his shoulder, and scurried towards the creek valley with its four little legs moving quickly.

The Pangolin followed closely behind, its speed not slow either.

Lin Xuan did not rush along with them.

He stayed in the rock crevice, closed his eyes, and focused, sensing the location and state of the two little guys through their contract.

The range of the Herb-Seeking Mouse's [Spirit Energy Tracking] had expanded to sixty zhang, and its precision had also improved significantly.

It sniffed and explored all the way, specifically choosing to walk in places without Spiritual Qi fluctuations, avoiding several areas where Yao Beasts might be active.

The Pangolin followed behind, with [Earth Perception] fully activated, monitoring the movements underground at all times.

The mouse and the Pangolin worked in perfect harmony, crossing the dried-up creek valley in less than half a cup of tea's time.

Lin Xuan sensed that they had entered the area within the dashed line.

Just then, the Herb-Seeking Mouse suddenly stopped.

Lin Xuan's heart tightened.

He sensed through the contract that the Herb-Seeking Mouse had not encountered danger, but rather—had discovered something.

Spiritual Qi fluctuations.

Very faint, but very pure.

Not the Spiritual Qi with Impurities like that of Yao Beasts, but the pure Spiritual Qi unique to Spiritual Materials.

Lin Xuan opened his eyes and stood up.

There was still about half an hour left in the thunderstorm interval; there was enough time.

He cast the [Breath Concealment Technique], suppressed his aura to the lowest level, then quickly crossed the creek valley and crept towards the two little guys.

The moment he crossed the creek valley, he felt a distinct difference.

The concentration of thunder Spiritual Qi in the air was at least fifty percent higher than in the outer area!

He took a deep breath; his nasal cavity was filled with the burnt smell of ozone and an indescribable "dryness"—it was like standing under a high-voltage power line in midsummer, where even the hairs on his head wanted to stand up.

The traces of lightning strikes on the ground were also much denser.

Everywhere were scorched black cracks, some as thick as an arm, winding and extending into the distance.

In some of the cracks, electric light faintly flashed, emitting a subtle "crackle" sound.

Lin Xuan carefully walked along the safe route marked by the Herb-Seeking Mouse, stepping firmly with each step, fearing that he might miss his footing and fall into some pit blasted out by lightning.

After walking for about half a cup of tea's time, he saw the Herb-Seeking Mouse.

The little guy was squatting at the entrance of a shady mountain col, not going inside.

Seeing him arrive, the Herb-Seeking Mouse squeaked and ran over, its little paws clawing at his pant leg, then it turned and pointed into the mountain col.

Lin Xuan squatted down and looked in the direction it pointed.

The mountain col was not large, with steep rock walls on three sides, and only a narrow entrance from the direction he was standing.

The rock walls were covered with dark green moss, and on the leaves of the moss, there were faint thunder patterns.

thunder sound moss!

Lin Xuan's eyes lit up.

He had seen this stuff in Deacon Wu's notes—thunder sound moss, a Grade 1 High Grade Spiritual Material, which only grows in places where thunder Spiritual Qi is rich and stable.

It was a whole tier higher than Electric Light Grass; whether used for medicine or making Talismans, its value was several times higher.

The notes said that the leaves of the thunder sound moss would emit a sound like a bell ringing when the wind blew, hence the name.

Moreover, this sound had the effect of calming the mind for thunder-attribute Cultivators, and long-term exposure could improve affinity with thunder Spiritual Qi.

Lin Xuan carefully walked into the mountain col.

The thunder sound moss on the rock walls grew very densely, in clumps, with thunder patterns densely covering the dark green leaves, and faint electric light flowing through them.

The mountain col was very quiet, with no wind, so he couldn't hear the legendary "bell ringing sound," but that rich thunder Spiritual Qi rushed towards his face, causing the [Purple Heaven Divine Thunder Art] within Lin Xuan's body to automatically run a bit faster.

He did not rush to start, but first carefully observed the surroundings.

Confirming there were no traces of Yao Beast activity, confirming there were no traps, and confirming the thunder sound moss was in good condition—only then did he take out a jade shovel from his Storage Pouch and carefully harvested three clumps.

For each clump, he only harvested the mature leaves, leaving the roots and tender buds so they could continue to grow.

He packed the three clumps of thunder sound moss into a jade box and put them into his Storage Pouch.