Chapter 124: Thunder Pierces Heaven and Earth! Heavenly Thunder Obliterates!

Too bad, I can't join you for the rest of the journey.

Otherwise, I could've seen Jingming in his full glory...

Song Qiuyun silently sighed in her heart.

Before entering Devil University, she never imagined she'd one day be left so far behind by someone her own age.

But once we return to school, I can ask Sister Jiang Chu Xuan about the situation.

After making her decision, overwhelmed by exhaustion, Song Qiuyun yawned:

"Jingming, I'm going to sleep now."

Saying this, she gently lay down on the blanket spread on the ground and fell into deep sleep.

Meanwhile, after training for over two hours with the top-tier psychic cultivation method, Xu Jingming closed his eyes slightly and entered a light sleep state.

Early the next morning, Xu Jingming and Song Qiuyun resumed their journey.

They moved quickly; by seven in the evening, they were only three hours away from the Devil Cavern's center.

"Night is falling. Let's find a place to rest and continue tomorrow."

Xu Jingming said, glancing at the sky.

The pitch-black night is when ferocious beasts are most active.

Some high-tier ferocious beasts choose this time to emerge from the depths of the Devil Cavern and begin hunting.

Thus, the danger level in the Devil Cavern at night is far higher than during the day, unsuitable for continued travel.

On the other hand, he had been sprinting all day and continuously slaying ferocious beasts—he needed rest.

"Alright." Song Qiuyun nodded obediently.

Hum—

Xu Jingming lightly tapped his smart bracelet, and a map projected into the air.

Since the outer regions of the Devil Cavern have been explored by the most psychics, every terrain feature and ferocious beast distribution in the outer map is marked.

If they wanted to rest, the safest option would be a cave.

"Hmm, there's a pond nearby!"

Xu Jingming suddenly brightened.

Water sources in the wilderness are where ferocious beasts gather most densely.

When he was in the Yangcheng Wilderness, he loved to lie in wait beside water sources.

That way, ferocious beasts would keep coming to him to be killed.

"This place isn't far. Before dark, we can still hunt another wave of ferocious beasts."

"Qiuyun, let's go."

Xu Jingming hurriedly led Song Qiuyun toward the pond.

But when they arrived near the pond, they were greatly disappointed.

There was indeed a clear pool of water, but not a single ferocious beast was drinking nearby!

"What's going on? There can't be no ferocious beasts at a water source."

Xu Jingming, hidden behind towering trees, frowned slightly.

Roar—

At that moment, a massive second-tier Arm-Knife Tiger emerged from the opposite forest.

Its eyes scanned the surroundings, stepping cautiously toward the pond.

As it reached the pond's edge and lowered its head to drink—

Zip! Zip! Zip!...

Dozens of water arrows shot from within the pond!

The second-tier Arm-Knife Tiger had no time to react; in an instant, its body was pierced through by water arrows, leaving dozens of bloody holes.

It barely managed a mournful roar before collapsing on the spot, life extinguished.

Splash—

The clear pond churned violently as a massive crocodile, the size of a small car, swam out of the water!

It reached the pond's edge, opened its bloodied maw, and began feasting on the slain Arm-Knife Tiger.

No wonder so few ferocious beasts dare come here to drink.

It turns out a terrifying creature—the Source Water Giant Crocodile—lives here...

Xu Jingming suddenly understood.

The Source Water Giant Crocodile is an amphibious ferocious beast, but spends most of its time active underwater.

Its rank is usually around second or third tier.

But this Source Water Giant Crocodile was different—it had reached fourth tier lower rank!

It even possessed a talent skill similar to a barrage of water arrows.

"It's a fourth-tier ferocious beast!"

Song Qiuyun also sensed the beast's tier, her expression changing slightly:

"Fourth-tier ferocious beasts can appear even in the outer Devil Cavern! Jingming, let's go quickly!"

Fourth-tier ferocious beasts have powerful perception—they might have already detected us!

Song Qiuyun immediately grabbed Xu Jingming's arm to pull him away, but found he remained firmly standing in place.

"No need to rush. Fourth-tier ferocious beasts are strong, but not unbeatable."

Xu Jingming's expression was relaxed.

During his time in the Yangcheng Wilderness, he had slain more than one fourth-tier ferocious beast.

"Hm?"

Song Qiuyun blinked in slight surprise.

If it had been another Rank-Two Upper-tier Ability User, she would have assumed they were boasting.

But she knew that, given Xu Jingming's character, he was unlikely to lie.

"Is it the unique combat technique Master Yang taught you?"

Song Qiuyun's beautiful eyes shimmered slightly.

Ever since learning the source of the ferocious beast aura on Xu Jingming, she had specifically researched this combat technique of the Weapons Academy's dean.

She knew it was a body-strengthening technique.

But that meant Xu Jingming had to engage this fourth-rank ferocious beast in direct combat.

Direct combat...

Song Qiuyun glanced at the massive crocodile far away—its mouth bristling with sharp teeth, its entire body covered in scales, its enormous form radiating an overwhelming bloodthirsty aura.

Then she looked at Xu Jingming, who wore only his combat suit, and couldn't help feeling a flicker of concern.

Just as she was considering whether to lend him her protective talisman,

Xu Jingming shook his head and smiled:

"The body-strengthening technique Master Yang taught me is excellent, but still insufficient against a fourth-rank ferocious beast."

He spoke the truth.

Currently, the most efficient combat technique he had for killing fourth-rank ferocious beasts was only one: the S-rank 'Heavenly Thunder Art'!

"Not that body-strengthening technique?"

Song Qiuyun blinked her clear, large eyes, somewhat confused.

But Xu Jingming closed his eyes slightly, concentrating all his mental energy, activating his Purple Thunder Divine Lightning!

Crackling—

Lightning flickered erratically across Xu Jingming's body.

At the same time, a low rumbling thunder echoed from the sky!

The crocodile by the pond seemed to sense something, stopped eating, and looked up in alarm.

"Is it going to rain?"

Song Qiuyun hadn't noticed anything unusual yet and instinctively looked up.

But she saw the sky beneath the sunset—slightly orange-red, yet not a single cloud in sight.

Just as she was puzzled, Xu Jingming's low voice suddenly sounded beside her ear:

"Heavenly Thunder Art!"

At that very moment, the orange-red sky suddenly became brilliantly bright!

The next instant,

in Song Qiuyun's stunned gaze,

a blue-purple thunderbolt, as thick as a water barrel, descended with a world-ending pressure, splitting heaven and earth!

Sizzzz—!

The deafening thunder roared as the lightning struck the crocodile directly!

The fourth-rank Source-Water Giant Crocodile was covered in dense, overlapping scales.

These scales, when combined, formed armor with defensive strength comparable to C-rank alloy!

And it was non-conductive! Non-thermal!

Merely piercing this scale armor had left countless elemental Ability Users scratching their heads.

Yet under this lightning strike,

the thick armor shattered like paper, instantly burned black!

Then, its massive body was swallowed by a storm of lightning, and moments later, it crashed to the ground!

Even until its final moment, it never even detected where its enemy was—completely extinguished...

'Ding~~, defeated one fourth-rank Lower-tier Source-Water Giant Crocodile, Ability Points +213.'

Hearing the system prompt in his mind, Xu Jingming, the instigator, slightly lifted the corner of his mouth.

213 Ability Points—this Source-Water Giant Crocodile was among the higher-paying fourth-rank Lower-tier ferocious beasts.