124: Thunderous Strike and Wings of Wind and Thunder

West side of Qiyuan Island, abandoned mining area, underground bunker.

For three whole days, everyone in the Green Robe Tower was on high alert. All defensive Formations were operating at full power, and not even a fly could get in.

Ling Yunxiao sat on a stone bench, his palms sweating, occasionally looking up at the thick rock layer above as if he could see the sky outside through the stone.

“Old Man Han, it’s been three days, and there’s no movement outside. Are we being... too sensitive?”

Zhou Wannian sat cross-legged on a massive piece of Purple Copper Essence, using his Divine Sense to nurture the Star Thunder Sword, which was beginning to take shape.

“Before the storm, there is always a deathly silence.”

He didn't even lift his eyelids. “A man like Wu Lie is hot-tempered and eager for quick results. Now that he has the clues, he definitely won't hesitate. Calculating the time, they should have already entered the core area of the Misty Sea by now.”

As soon as he finished speaking.

Buzz—

An indescribable vibration came from deep underground without any warning.

It wasn't an earthquake.

Rather... the air was trembling, and the Spiritual Qi was boiling.

Immediately after.

“Screech—!!!”

A sharp, high-pitched cry that seemed capable of piercing the Soul instantly spread across the entire Qiyuan Island from hundreds of miles away.

The sound was laced with endless anger and terror, as if a sleeping deity had been bitten by an ant.

Rumble!

The originally clear sky instantly changed color.

On the horizon to the west of Qiyuan Island, in the direction of the Misty Sea, a dazzling 'blue sun' suddenly rose.

That was not the sun.

That was a terrifying thunderstorm covering a radius of a hundred miles!

Tens of thousands of thick bolts of lightning were like wildly dancing silver snakes, crazily tearing at the sea surface. Even from so far away, Ling Yunxiao still felt a terrifying static electricity that made his hair stand on end, and the Spiritual Qi in his body even briefly went out of control.

“That... that is...”

Ling Yunxiao’s face turned pale, and he slumped to the ground.

In the face of this world-destroying pressure, he felt as small as a speck of dust.

“Fifth-grade monster might.”

Zhou Wannian snapped his eyes open, a flash of shock and wariness crossing his gaze.

Is this the power of the Soul Transformation Stage level?

Even in its weakened Nirvana state, even if it was just an instinctive outburst after being startled awake, it was enough to change the world.

“It seems Wu Lie and the others... are gone.”

Zhou Wannian stood up and walked to the entrance of the cave, looking through the gap at the sky dyed blue by the lightning.

That thunderstorm lasted for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

During this period, the island-protecting Formation on Qiyuan Island automatically activated, emitting bursts of overwhelmed humming. Countless Cultivators on the island flew into the sky in terror, yet were paralyzed by that pressure, not daring to move.

It wasn't until that mass of lightning gradually receded into the deep sea that peace returned to the world.

Only the residual giant waves on the sea surface still spoke of the terror from moments ago... That night.

Qiyuan Island was in a state of chaos.

The Six-Link Palace compound was brightly lit, with several Golden Core Stage streaks of light flying in and out, the atmosphere so heavy it could almost drip water.

News spread across the island as if it had wings:

Wu Lie, the Law Enforcer of the Six-Link Palace, led three elite squads to hunt down the remnants of the Blood Shark Squad, accidentally entered the depths of the Misty Sea, encountered an unknown terrifying existence, and the entire army was wiped out!

Even their soul lamps had shattered into powder!

Even more terrifying was that the mysterious thunderstorm seemed to have disturbed some ancient existences in the deep sea, causing the Yao Beasts of the Outer Sea to become restless.

Meanwhile, in the secret room of the abandoned mining area.

Zhou Wannian was doing something else.

He took out the Heavenly Secret Dao Disk.

“I seek the heavenly secret.”

“The Thunder Roc was startled and fled far away. Where did the ‘Wind Thunder Plume’ mentioned in the divination fall?”

Buzz—

The dao disk turned.

[Location: Jagged Reef Forest, three hundred miles west of Qiyuan Island.]

[Status: Residual fifth-grade thunder might remains on the plume; no living creatures exist within a ten-mile radius.]

[Fortune: Moderate Luck (Requires thunder-attribute Cultivation Techniques or tools to collect, otherwise one will suffer from lightning backlash).]

“Jagged Reef Forest?”

Zhou Wannian was delighted.

That place was not far from Qiyuan Island. It was a complex area of submerged reefs where few people usually went. Moreover, the Thunder Roc had just fled westward, so this feather must have been shaken off when it unleashed its power.

“Three hundred miles... a round trip will take just an hour.”

Zhou Wannian looked at the silent “Iron Pillar” in the corner.

The core power source of this Puppet was a thunder sac, its skeleton was from a Golden Core corpse, and it was naturally thunder-attributed.

It was practically tailor-made for collecting this feather.

“Fei Yu, guard the home well.”

“Ling Yunxiao, activate all Labyrinthine Formations.”

“I need to go out for a trip.”

...The night was dark and the wind was high.

Zhou Wannian slapped three “Spirit Concealment Talismans” on himself and, bringing along the shrunken Iron Pillar, quietly slipped into the ocean.

With the help of the water repelling token, he moved as if on level ground underwater, his speed extremely fast.

Half an hour later.

Jagged Reef Forest.

Before even getting close, Zhou Wannian felt the temperature in the seawater rising, and a numbing sensation of electric current was conducted through the water.

“Such strong residual thunder might.”

Zhou Wannian was secretly alarmed. Just a single feather falling could actually turn this sea area into a pool of lightning?

He cautiously surfaced.

He saw a cyan-gold feather, a full three feet long, stuck in the center of the reef cluster ahead.

Around the feather, fine electric arcs jumped like spider webs. Any sea fish that tried to approach would be instantly electrocuted into charcoal.

“That’s it.”

Zhou Wannian did not approach recklessly.

The plume of a fifth-grade Yao Beast contained a trace of the Law of Wind and Thunder. If he tried to grab it with his hands, even as a Foundation Establishment mid stage Cultivator, his Meridians would be instantly shattered by that Law power.

“Iron Pillar, go.”

Zhou Wannian tapped his spirit beast pouch.

Iron Pillar crashed into the water. Its body, forged from Purple Copper Essence, seemed like a fish in water within the lightning-charged sea. The thunder sac in its chest began to vibrate, creating a suction force that actually began to greedily devour the free charges in the surrounding seawater.

“Roar...”

Iron Pillar seemed to sense the fatal attraction that the feather held for it.

It walked toward the reef step by step.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

The closer it got, the denser the electric arcs became. The Purple Copper Armor on Iron Pillar was heated red by the electricity and even began to melt.

But it didn't stop.

Finally, it reached the feather and reached out with its claw inlaid with star gold.

Snap.

The claw gripped the base of the feather.

Boom!

A dazzling cyan-gold thunder light instantly covered Iron Pillar's entire body through its arm.

“Not good! It's going to explode!”

Zhou Wannian’s face changed, and he was about to forcibly cut the connection.

But in the next moment, a shocking scene occurred.

Iron Pillar did not explode.

On the contrary, the thunder sac in its chest seemed to turn into a bottomless pit, crazily devouring the thunder power on the feather. And that plume, under the washing of the thunder light, actually softened bit by bit, and finally... merged into Iron Pillar's back!

Crack, crack.

A tooth-aching sound of metal deforming rang out.

Two large humps rose on Iron Pillar's back, and then, a pair of 'light wings' woven from thunder light and metal suddenly snapped open!

Whoosh—

A wild wind rose, and thunder light flickered.

In this instant, Iron Pillar's aura directly broke through that critical point.

From the peak of the Foundation Establishment mid stage, it was forcibly raised to... the False Core Realm!

“This...”

Zhou Wannian stared dumbfounded at the Puppet before him, suspended over the sea with wings on its back, looking like a thunder god descended to earth.

“Self-evolution?”

“The foundation of this Ancient War Puppet, plus the plume of a fifth-grade Thunder Roc...”

“I’ve found a treasure.”

“I’ve truly found a treasure!”

Zhou Wannian was so excited his hands were shaking.

With these “Wings of Wind and Thunder,” Iron Pillar not only gained aerial combat capabilities, but its speed would be as fast as lightning.

How was this still just a meat shield?

This was clearly an all-weather, high-mobility, high-burst 'humanoid bomber'!

“Withdraw!”

Zhou Wannian suppressed the wild joy in his heart and struck out a hand seal.

The light wings on Iron Pillar's back instantly retracted, and it returned to its dull-looking appearance, obediently flying back into the spirit beast pouch.

“This place isn't safe to stay for long.”

The commotion just now was not small and would surely attract other Cultivators.

Without another word, Zhou Wannian dove into the water and swam toward Qiyuan Island.

Less than half a quarter-hour after he left.

Several streaks of light whistled through the air and stopped above the Jagged Reef Forest.

“The thunder might has dissipated?”

“We’re a step too late! Someone has beaten us to it!”

“Investigate! We must find out who took the Thunder Roc's treasure!”

...Back at the abandoned mining area.

Zhou Wannian was in no hurry to study the upgraded Iron Pillar.

Because as soon as he entered the door, Ling Yunxiao handed him a gold-embossed invitation.

“Old Man Han, not long after you left, someone from the Six-Link Palace delivered this.”

Ling Yunxiao had a strange expression. “They didn't come to arrest anyone; they came to... invite someone.”

Zhou Wannian took the invitation.

It read:

[We sincerely invite the Master of the Green Robe Tower to attend the ‘Demon Slaying Convention’ to be held tomorrow at the ‘Wave Listening Pavilion.’ We shall discuss the great plan to crusade against the Yao Beasts and reorganize the order of the Outer Sea. — Six-Link Palace, Council of Elders.]

“Demon Slaying Convention?”

Zhou Wannian looked at those words, a cold smile curling on his lips.

Wu Lie is dead, and the elites are wiped out.

The Six-Link Palace is getting desperate.

On one hand, they want to regain face, and on the other, they want to suppress other restless forces to prevent Qiyuan Island from spiraling out of control.

Therefore, they need to recruit a group of cannon fodder, or... find a few scapegoats.

“Old Man Han, should we go? This is clearly a trap,” Li Feiyu said worriedly.

“Go, why wouldn't we go?”

Zhou Wannian casually tossed the invitation onto the table.

“The current Green Robe Tower is no longer that small workshop that picks up trash.”

“We have the sea charts, we have Iron Pillar, and...”

He touched the Star Thunder Sword in his sleeve, which was already thirsting for action.

“It’s time to take a seat at that big table.”

“Tell the Six-Link Palace that the Master of the Green Robe Tower... will be there on time.”