Chapter 279: Thunder Roar Valley

Thundercloud Canyon!

Merely standing at the edge and gazing, the might of heaven and earth already made one's heart tremble, as if the endless thunderstorm would at any moment devour and tear them apart.

Wang Ping's eyes burned with a fervent light. This is the place!

Only in such a thunderous environment can one truly grasp the violent essence of thunder, possibly find vitality amidst destruction, and comprehend the true meaning within the fury!

He did not rush into the canyon at once. Instead, after finding a relatively leeward, open-view boulder on the ridge, he sat cross-legged.

He first needed to adapt to this extreme environment, adjust his condition, and preliminarily probe the canyon's edge with his spiritual sense.

As spiritual power circulated, five-colored light faintly appeared on his body surface, especially the green wood-colored light and the white metal-colored light flowing and accelerating.

Wood embodies life, metal governs slaughter and transformation; their fierce interaction is precisely the principle of thunder's genesis. The five elements circulate, striving to balance and channel the frenzied influx of external thunderous spiritual energy.

Within the dantian's qi sea, the deep azure seed of the Yin Wood Divine Thunder Origin, obtained from the Five Elements Heaven Scripture, now trembled slightly, emitting a hum intertwined with longing and awe, as if it felt an instinctive attraction and wariness toward the external power of the same origin but wilder and more primal.

After adjusting his condition for about two hours, he barely adapted to the scalp-numbing thunderous might and spiritual pressure from the periphery; Wang Ping then rose, his gaze sharp as he looked down into the canyon.

The canyon was not a straight drop; on the cliff face near the top, several hundred zhang high, years of thunder strikes and erosion had formed many natural platforms, sunken caverns, and jutting masses of scorched black rock.

These places could perhaps serve as temporary footholds for venturing deeper into the canyon and approaching the thunder's core.

Deeper still, everything was completely obscured by roiling black thunderclouds and dense, piercing lightning, impenetrable to spiritual sense and invisible to the naked eye.

"We must not rush ahead; we need to advance step by step."

Wang Ping drew a deep breath; the air, reeking of ozone and destruction, invigorated his spirit.

He selected a platform about a hundred zhang from the ridge, relatively broad with a slight outward bulge in the upper rock wall that could somewhat block direct lightning strikes, as his first target.

His silhouette turned into a pale cyan stream of light as Wang Ping cautiously slid down the steep cliff face.

He dared not fly too fast nor stray far from the rock wall, constantly vigilant of the irregular lightning striking from the sky.

"Crack!" A bright purple lightning bolt shot out from the side clouds without warning, heading straight for him! Its speed far exceeded imagination.

Wang Ping's pupils contracted sharply; five-colored spiritual light burst around him, and in a hair's breadth he jerked his body toward the rock wall while extending his right hand's fingers, releasing a condensed sword qi.

"Sizzle!" The sword qi grazed the lightning bolt's edge, instantly vaporizing it, yet the bolt's trajectory was slightly deflected, grazing Wang Ping's back before slamming into the rock wall, blasting a large area of scorched black fragments, plasma spraying everywhere, bringing a strong numbing sensation.

"Phew!" Wang Ping's heart jumped; even a mere stray bolt, not particularly strong, possessed such force and speed.

He grew more cautious, pushing his spiritual sense to the limit to catch every abnormal fluctuation of thunderous spiritual energy in the air, predicting possible strike points.

After expending the time of an incense stick, he finally landed safely on the chosen platform.

The platform was roughly three zhang square, its surface uneven and pitted, covered with a layer of repeatedly baked crystalline substance that emitted a light "crack" when stepped on.

The thunderous power permeating the air grew denser, almost becoming substantive pressure, causing his five-colored shield to flicker unpredictably.

Wang Ping did not immediately proceed further; instead, he sat cross-legged at the platform's center and closed his eyes to regulate his breath again.

He needed his body and spiritual power to fully adapt to this level of thunderous environment.

This time, he deliberately lowered part of his defenses, attempting to guide the stray, relatively mild thunderous spiritual energy drifting in the air into his body. Once these energies entered his meridians, they brought intense prickling and numbness, like countless tiny needles piercing, as if a weak current coursed through his flesh, bones, and marrow.

The process was slow and painful, yet with each strand refined he could feel the Yin Wood Divine Thunder Origin seed in his dantian becoming slightly more solid and active, his affinity and control over thunder faintly increasing.

He trained on this platform for three days.

Over these three days, he not only had to fend off the scattered lightning that occasionally swept past from above, but also contend with the gusts of wind that occasionally blew through the canyon, mixed with fine electric sparks.

On two occasions, a somewhat larger cluster of thunder swept past near the platform, forcing him to fully unleash his five-colored divine light defense, leaving his qi and blood churning. Correspondingly, his perception and adaptability to thunder increased rapidly.

On the evening of the third day, when another scattered pale-white lightning bolt was deflected by Wang Ping with growing skill and struck the rock wall beside him, he opened his eyes; a tiny cyan electric spark seemed to flash in his pupils.

"Almost there; we can try venturing deeper to touch purer thunder."

Wang Ping rose, gazing toward the deeper, more lightning-dense region below. There, the hue of the lightning began to shift: besides pale white and bright purple, strands of faint gold appeared, indicating obviously greater power.

He selected a spot about two hundred zhang lower, a recessed cave beneath a massive sloping cliff. The cave's mouth was narrow, its interior seemingly spacious enough, while the overhead rock wall resembled a natural eave, perhaps able to block most vertical lightning, making it a relatively ideal forward base.

This descent was even more arduous.

The deeper he went, the denser and wilder the thunder became, with free charges in the air almost forming a visible network of minute electric arcs.

Wang Ping had to push his five-colored divine light to the extreme, his form dancing on a knife's edge as he struggled to thread through the gaps in the heavenly thunderlight.

On several occasions, he nearly fell into a deadly trap from simultaneous bolts, escaping only by relying on his prediction of lightning trajectories and the flexibility of the Five Elements Escape Technique.

When he finally scrambled into the narrow cave entrance, his green robe had been scorched through by a glancing bolt, and his skin felt a burning sting.

The cave was not large, about five to six zhang deep, at most two zhang wide, and less than one zhang high, feeling somewhat oppressive.

The cave walls were likewise scorched-black crystalline, but relatively dry; the concentration of thunderous power in the air reached an astonishing degree, almost liquefying, each breath bringing a strong numbing sensation.

Most remarkably, scattered across the deep cave floor were a few fingernail-sized crystals, dark purple in hue, their surfaces bearing natural lightning patterns.

"Thunder crystal?" Wang Ping's eyes lit up. This is a crystallized form of high-quality thunderous power accumulated and precipitated over time, a supreme material for cultivating thunder techniques and refining thunder-attributed magical treasures, rare in the outside world.

He carefully gathered these few thunder crystals; though few, they were an unexpected gain.

The environment here barely met the minimum requirement for his active "lightning-attracting" body tempering. He needed, under relatively controllable conditions, to draw down a genuine, potent heavenly thunderbolt into his body to undergo the most dangerous tempering.

Wang Ping sat cross-legged at the cave's center, regulating his breath for a full half-day to bring his condition to peak.

Then he drew a deep breath, his hands forming intricate, profound seals. The internal secret method of drawing lightning with spiritual power—to attract heavenly thunder onto himself, a perilous gate—began to operate rapidly.

Boom—!

Outside the cave, an expanse of rolling thunderclouds seemed to be stirred by an invisible hand.

A bolt as thick as a water bucket, bright purple with edges of faint gold, containing terrifying destructive force, like an enraged thunder dragon, fiercely broke free from the cloud bonds and surged toward the cave entrance—

To be precise, it was headed toward the source inside the cave emitting a 'provocation' vibration——the violent thunderbolt striking down!

The might of heaven and earth descended in splendor! Its speed far surpassed all previous scattered lightning!

Wang Ping's pupils reflected the blinding purple-gold light that filled his vision at that instant, his ears filled only with the roar of destructive thunder!

He could not dodge, nor could he! Once the lightning-attracting method is activated, under the pull of the qi mechanism, this thunderbolt has locked onto him!

"Come!"

Wang Ping let out a low roar; the five-colored divine light around him suddenly contracted inward, not as defense but as all power drawing inward to protect his heart vessels, dantian, spiritual sea, and other vital points.

At the same time, he completely lowered his bodily defenses and, via the secret method, raised his Yin Wood Divine Thunder Origin aura to the utmost, like a beacon in the night, actively "welcoming" that destructive thunderbolt!

Boom——!!!

A deafening roar burst forth in the narrow cavern! The entire cavern shuddered violently, and debris pattered down!

That violet-gold lightning bolt struck squarely on Wang Ping's fully exposed chest!

"Ugh——!!!"

Indescribable agony instantly swept through every inch of Wang Ping's nerves! It felt as if tens of thousands of red-hot blades were stabbing his body all at once, and as if countless frenzied thunder beasts were rampaging inside him! His skin instantly charred, blackened, cracked, and the blood was evaporated by the heat before it could even flow out!

Muscle fibers spasmed and tore under the high-voltage current! Bones groaned under the unbearable strain! Meridians were like glass tubes thrown into a furnace, inch by inch on the verge of bursting!

Even more terrifying was that will of utter destruction, which, carried by the thunderous power, brutally surged into his limbs and bones, seeking to utterly crush and purge his flesh and soul!

Wang Ping's vision went black, and he almost instantly lost consciousness. Only by relying on an unbreakable willpower and the pre-arranged Five Elements Guarding Spiritual Power placed at vital points did he barely cling to a thread of clarity.

"Refine! Transform!"

He roared madly in his heart, nearly grinding his teeth to pieces! Stimulated by the influx of destructive thunder power from outside, the seed of the Yin-Wood Divine Thunder Origin burst forth with a fierce will to survive and devour, like a microscopic black hole, desperately sucking in and transforming the violent, foreign thunder energy invading his body!

Wood produces fire, fire produces earth, earth produces metal, metal produces water, water produces wood! At this moment, the Five Elements' cyclical transformation was driven by him to the extreme, using his own Yin-Wood Divine Thunder Origin as the starting point and core, forming a frenziedly operating refining furnace!

He forcibly decomposed, separated, and transformed those destructive violet-gold thunder forces into relatively mild, pure thunder spirits that could be absorbed and assimilated by the Yin-Wood Origin!

This is an extremely dangerous and painful process. His body is both battlefield and furnace. External thunder power constantly destroys, while his own spiritual power desperately repairs and transforms. Every breath feels like teetering on the edge of life and death.

Time seemed to become extraordinarily long.

Wang Ping's entire body was covered in charred black and blood scabs, like a shattered humanoid charcoal barely patched together; only the faint yet tenaciously gleaming five-colored spiritual light within him and the increasingly bright azure thunder light at his dantian proved he was still resisting, still refining.

No one knew how long had passed—perhaps an instant, perhaps a day.

That invading violet-gold thunder was finally exhausted completely, and the last trace of its violent will was worn away by the Five Elements' cyclical motion.

"Huff… huff…"

Wang Ping panted violently like a broken bellows, each breath tinged with blood froth and the smell of scorched flesh.

He slowly opened his eyes; his gaze was dim, filled with utter exhaustion, yet deep within lay a glint of unprecedented sharpness.

He was still alive.

Although his whole body was in agony, his meridians were severely damaged, and his exterior a gruesome sight, his vital meridians, dantian, and sea of consciousness were preserved.

Moreover, he could clearly feel that the Yin-Wood Divine Thunder Origin seed in his dantian had grown by a full circle compared to before, its color shifting from deep green to a mysterious green with an inner violet-gold luster; the thunder aura it emitted became more condensed and overbearing, faintly carrying the destructive resonance of that violet-gold heavenly thunder just now.

Furthermore, having undergone this near-self-destructive thunder-induction body tempering, he gained a deeper understanding of the nature of thunder power.

It was not merely violent energy; it also embodied the heavenly law's will of 'destroying the old to usher in the new.' His meridians, flesh, and bones, through destruction and rebirth, also underwent a harsh baptism, greatly enhancing his tolerance for thunder.

"Worth it…" Wang Ping's voice was hoarse and dry, yet the corner of his mouth twitched into a grimace. He tremblingly took out a wound-healing pill, swallowed it, and began the arduous process of self-repair.

This injury far surpassed the heavy blow he took head-on from Cangxuan's finger at the Shattered Star Lake shore; it was a genuine near-death wound. He secluded himself in the cavern for seven full days, consuming over half of his wound-healing pills before barely regaining mobility—the charred dead skin peeled away from his body, revealing newly grown skin beneath with a faint luster. His internal injuries remained severe, but his life was no longer in danger.

On the eighth day, Wang Ping again stood at the cavern's mouth. He gazed toward the deeper part of the canyon, where lightning was even more brilliant and terrifying—there, even a waterfall formed entirely of golden thunder flowed.

But he knew that, given his current state and understanding of thunder, that place was still beyond his reach. One thunder-induction tempering was already his limit; forcing himself deeper would mean certain death.

However, the main purpose of this trip had already been achieved.

The Yin-Wood Divine Thunder Origin underwent a qualitative leap, initially touching the 'intent' of higher-level thunder; his flesh and soul's resistance to thunder greatly increased. More importantly, he found the direction for the next step of his thunder path—.

No longer mere imitation and control, he now sought to imbue it with a unique 'will,' perhaps callable as the 'Five Elements Life-Death Thunder Intent'? Based on the Five Elements' cyclical motion, evolving thunder's life and death, it holds both the decisiveness to annihilate all things and the possibility to spark new life……

Just as his thoughts raced, preparing to leave the cavern, return to the surface, and then seek the Myriad Laws Pond——.

"Boom!!!"

Deep in the canyon, the area of the golden thunder waterfall suddenly emitted a roar far deeper and more majestic than ordinary thunder! It was as if some colossal beast was turning in the depths of the thunderclouds, or as if an ancient seal had been torn open by the violent thunder.

Immediately following, an indescribably ancient, desolate, terrifying aura—seeming to hail from the primordial era when the world first opened—mingled with the vast golden thunder light and shot up into the heavens!

Even at such a tremendous distance, Wang Ping still felt a pang of palpitation; the Yin-Wood Divine Thunder Origin that had just stabilized within him involuntarily shuddered violently, conveying a mixture of fear, awe, and… an irrepressible yearning.

That aura flashed and vanished in an instant, soon drowned out by the endless roar of the thunderstorm.

Yet the violent thunder in the canyon seemed to become somewhat more active and ferocious because of it.

"That…" Wang Ping's pupils contracted as he fixed his gaze on the direction of the golden thunder waterfall. That fleeting aura just now was certainly no trivial matter!

It could be some ancient treasure or inheritance buried deep in the Thunder Valley, now manifest; or perhaps the awakening of a thunder spirit sealed for countless ages; or maybe the emergence of a rare heaven‑earth marvel containing innate thunder origin!

Whatever it may be, it signifies a tremendous opportunity—and also a deadly peril!