Chapter 200: Thunder Beasts! Thunder Cores!

"How about it? Impressive, right?"

The driver, Jiang Luo, asked with a cheerful smile.

As an electric affinity adept, he had come to the Thundering Abyss once during his third year of university.

The scene before him had delivered a tremendous shock.

"It's truly impressive, and not at all what I imagined."

"I thought the Thundering Abyss would be more primitive, but I never expected it to have developed into a city."

Xu Jingming exclaimed.

In his mind, the Thundering Abyss should have been much like the Source Water Wasteland Zone, just with more lightning.

"But how did you manage to completely conceal such a massive phenomenon behind a single wall?"

Xu Jingming couldn't quite figure it out.

The Tianming Church's Jinning Branch used the latest stealth technology to blend into its surroundings.

But the Thundering Abyss is so vast, involving even the high-altitude clouds—technology alone could hardly achieve such concealment.

"Decades ago, after the Thundering Martial Arts Hall took over this area,

they hired a high-rank spatial affinity adept to carve this place into an independent space.

The wall we just passed through is essentially a spatial gate.

Ordinary citizens only know this as a special military zone, but inside the wall lies an entirely different world."

Jiang Luo drove the off-road vehicle along the road, smiling as he explained, "Actually, that distant storm zone is the true Thundering Abyss.

This city area is merely for adepts to rest and live in.

Moreover, that area has been specially treated to contain the thunder within the storm zone, preventing it from leaking out.

Otherwise, the deafening thunderclaps would make it impossible for anyone here to rest."

"I see," Xu Jingming realized.

He had assumed the lack of thunder was due to distance, not realizing it had been artificially suppressed.

"Come on, let's eat first, then I'll take you to your lodging."

The off-road vehicle stopped in front of a restaurant named "Qu Xiang Restaurant."

"Welcome to Qu Xiang Restaurant. How many guests, sir?"

Seeing the lightning emblem on the vehicle, the receptionist immediately bowed respectfully.

"Two. Find us a quiet private room," Jiang Luo said firmly.

"Of course, follow me."

One attendant took the keys to park the vehicle, while another led the two inside.

"Here, order whatever you like."

Inside the private room, Jiang Luo handed over the menu, smiling:

"This restaurant specializes in dishes made from Thunder Beasts of the Thundering Abyss—every dish has its own unique flavor."

"Thunder Beasts? Brother Luo, you've got to give me a proper tour of the Thundering Abyss—I'm still completely in the dark."

Xu Jingming chuckled, glancing at the menu in his hand.

No wonder these were specialty dishes—each dish cost at least five thousand.

Xu Jingming had a large appetite, but he'd already eaten at his aunt's house a few hours ago, so he didn't order much.

"Of course."

Jiang Luo added a few more dishes, then dismissed the server.

Then, with a faint flicker from his space ring, a blue-white core appeared in his hand:

"First, let me introduce you to the Thunder Core.

The Thunder Core is a specialty of the Thundering Abyss, obtainable from the bodies of Thunder Beasts.

First-rank Thunder Beasts definitely don't have them.

Second- and third-rank Thunder Beasts—depends on luck; you might get one if you're lucky, or nothing if you're not.

From fourth-rank and above, every Thunder Beast carries a Thunder Core."

The Thunder Core was about the size of an egg, oval-shaped, with faint but potent lightning flickering within.

"By the way, you know all the creatures inside the Thundering Abyss are lightning-affinity beasts, right?"

Jiang Luo added.

Ordinary lightning-controlling beasts don't possess something like a Thunder Core—it's unique to the Thunder Beasts of this place.

"I know."

Xu Jingming nodded, curious:

"But what's the difference between these mutated Thunder Beasts and ordinary lightning-affinity beasts?"

"The difference isn't huge, but since they've lived for so long in the storm zone, their lightning is far more powerful and harder to deal with.

Of course, the same applies to us electric affinity adepts—our energy and technique consumption decreases accordingly."

Jiang Luo handed the Thunder Core over:

"This is a top-grade fourth-rank Thunder Core, obtained after slaying a peak fourth-rank Thunder Beast. Consider it my welcome gift."

"Thank you, Brother Luo."

Xu Jingming smiled his thanks and took the core.

The core wasn't cold as he'd imagined—it felt slightly warm, like a hand warmer.

"Thunder Cores have many uses. The simplest is to strengthen your body."

Jiang Luo pulled out another core with much weaker energy fluctuations and crushed it in his hand!

Boom—

Instantly,

a powerful blue-white lightning burst erupted, engulfing Jiang Luo entirely!

Yet the lightning didn't even penetrate his exposed skin, leaving no redness or mark.

"The lightning within the Thunder Core resembles natural lightning and can be used alongside our own electric affinity to train the Thunder Indestructible Body.

But this is a second-rank core—its power is weak, so it offers little training effect."

Jiang Luo unleashed his own white-gold electric affinity, giving a slight shake that scattered the lightning.

"The Thunder Core contains natural lightning? Then why not just go into the storm zone and bathe in the lightning directly for training?"

Xu Jingming asked.

"The lightning in the storm zone is too violent and unpredictable—one strike might be weak, the next could be deadly.

But the lightning in a Thunder Core is stable and consistent, making it far safer to use."

Jiang Luo explained, then emphasized:

"Also, remember—the closer you get to the center of the storm zone, the higher the rank of the Thunder Beasts and the stronger the lightning.

Don't rush forward on your first entry into the storm zone."

"Understood," Xu Jingming nodded slightly.

"I heard from Liu Ming that your Thunder Indestructible Body has already reached the fourth level?"

"Yes, I broke through a month or two ago."

"Impressive! My Thunder Indestructible Body is only at the fourth level too."

Jiang Luo gave a thumbs-up: "At the fourth level of the Thunder Indestructible Body, you can safely use fourth-rank low- to mid-grade Thunder Cores.

Don't rush to use this top-grade fourth-rank core—I'm afraid you can't handle it yet.

Wait until you've entered the storm zone and experienced your maximum tolerable lightning intensity before using it.

Also, if you want to improve your control over your own affinity, you can..."

Although Brother Jiang Luo had only arrived here less than twenty days ago,

his explanations on every aspect of the Thundering Abyss were incredibly detailed, greatly benefiting Xu Jingming.

This made him once again marvel: truly, having connections in the capital makes everything easier.

After dinner, Xu Jingming followed Jiang Luo to his lodging.

The lodging was a two-story villa; though its interior wasn't as refined as the dormitory villas at Magic Grand,

for someone traveling outside, such accommodation was already very good.