Chapter 204: Lure Them All! Then Strike Them Down! A Bounty of Ability Points!

Use the SS-grade ability Doushen Shenlei to lure fierce beasts, then take them all out in one go!

Once this idea took root in Xu Jingming's mind, it could no longer be stopped.

"Still, it's not ideal to test it in the core zone. I'll wait until I'm back in the middle zone before trying."

The core zone has Tier-5 fierce beasts. If this line of thinking is right, having Doushen Shenlei draw over such terrifying existences would be trouble.

So Xu Jingming suppressed his excitement, swept his gaze over his surroundings, and prepared to first find a spot with an open view to observe the natural lightning.

Observing natural lightning is one method for raising manipulation proficiency of lightning-type abilities.

The core zone is crisscrossed by thunder and lightning — a perfect venue for it.

Very soon,

Xu Jingming found a tree over twenty meters tall and hopped upward along its branches.

In the end, he stopped near the crown at the top of the tree.

He sat on a thick branch, his figure hidden among the dense leaves.

Yet a pair of clear eyes could peer through the gaps between the leaves and see the lightning striking down outside without pause.

"Begin the observation."

Xu Jingming gathered his focus, his gaze fixed intently on the lightning in the sky.

His formidable spiritual power spread outward, carefully sensing the aura of lightning permeating the air.

At the same time, the resplendent golden lightning swirling around his body also flickered faintly on and off.

Back at Demon University, Xu Jingming had also tried observing during thunderstorms.

But a single thunderstorm would only unleash a dozen or so bolts at most — there was simply no way to glean anything meaningful.

Yet in this lightning-storm zone it was entirely different: thunder and lightning came in endless waves, each bolt taking a different form.

Cloud-to-cloud lightning, ball lightning, tree lightning, needle lightning...

The lightning of different forms left Xu Jingming in awe, and at the same time he noticed many details he had never paid attention to before.

Like that, he quickly entered the zone and immersed himself in it.

"Fierce, wanton, sharp...

So lightning actually has this many details I never noticed before.

As expected, observing natural lightning can raise one's own manipulation proficiency over lightning."

More than four hours later,

Xu Jingming, who had reaped a rich harvest, let out a long breath, slowly drew back his gaze, and began manipulating his own Doushen Shenlei.

Crackle-pop~~~

Under his control, the energy-form Doushen Shenlei was noticeably more agile than before.

One moment it assembled into patterns, the next it formed complex three-dimensional shapes.

"At this level of manipulation proficiency, it's about on par with the S-grade Zixiao Shenlei from before." Xu Jingming gave a slight nod.

The SS-grade Doushen Shenlei — that untamable wild horse — had finally been brought partly to heel.

"Still, if I want to take it a step further and liquefy the lightning, I'll probably need to spend more time on it."

Lightning abilities come in three forms; the first is the most ordinary — the energy form.

The second is the liquefied form, and the last is the solidified form.

Energy, liquefied, solidified.

These three, from front to back, each more condensed than the last, and each more devastating in power.

Of course, combat techniques can also achieve changes in the form of lightning.

For example, Lei Mao, which liquefies lightning, or Lei Shen Zhi, which compresses and solidifies lightning before detonating it.

But all of these require spiritual power and ability to work in concert to be unleashed.

Proficiency, however, is different. Once Xu Jingming can bring his control over Doushen Shenlei to the liquefied state,

he will be able to freely condense all manner of highly compressed liquefied lightning!

By then, even without combat techniques, he could erupt with even more fearsome combat power!

"That's it for today. I'll head back to the middle zone first and try out the idea I just had."

Xu Jingming manipulated Doushen Shenlei to form a defensive net around himself once more, then leapt down from the tree.

He immediately set off running toward the middle zone.

Xu Jingming had entered the lightning-storm zone at 8 a. m.; after all this,

by the time he made it back to the middle zone, it was already 11:30 p. m.

Although it was nearly the small hours, the lightning-storm zone was shrouded in thunder and lightning all day long, so even now it was still as bright as broad daylight.

Back in the middle zone, Xu Jingming first rested for over two hours.

He ate a few energy bars, and only after his stamina and ability had both recovered to peak condition did he begin his experiment.

"Whether I can harvest more ability points depends on this!"

Xu Jingming drew in a deep breath, and then his ability erupted in full!

Boom-boom-boom!!

Accompanied by muffled thunder, resplendent and regal golden lightning swarmed densely around Xu Jingming.

Forming a fearsome and dense miniature lightning-storm zone!

As an SS-grade ability, the ferocity and the sacred, vast righteousness of Doushen Shenlei received its fullest expression at this moment!

"Roar—"

"Awoo—"

As if sensing the presence of this special lightning, the roars of thunder beasts rose from the distance, one after another.

"It really works!"

Xu Jingming's face lit up with joy, and he didn't just stand there foolishly—he started running!

His current level was third-tier mid-rank, and the radiation range of Doushen Shenlei wasn't all that large.

Standing in place would only attract a portion of the nearby thunder beasts.

But once he started running, expanding the radiation range of his ability, he could attract as many fierce beasts as possible!

"Roar—"

"Moo—"

Two hours later, Xu Jingming, his entire body wreathed in Lei Ting, was charging through the thunderstorm zone.

And behind him followed a pack of fierce beasts of varying tiers and species!

Densely packed, numbering at least over a hundred!

At this moment, these fierce beasts were like sharks that had smelled blood, their eyes crimson red.

And Xu Jingming was the delicacy oozing fresh blood, constantly drawing them in!

Seen from afar, this seemed to be an utterly hopeless scene.

Over a hundred fierce beasts chasing a single human—that human would surely die without a doubt!

Yet only Xu Jingming knew that he was the hunter, and these fierce beasts were the prey!

"About time... I can start the harvest."

After over two hours of running and continuously releasing his ability for an extended period, Xu Jingming's ability was nearly depleted.

So he decisively stopped his steps, turned around, and faced this group of fierce beasts with formidable auras!

"Roar—"

Seeing this, the fierce beasts didn't care about anything else, letting out excited roars and quickening their charge!

Rumble rumble rumble~~~

Among this group of fierce beasts, the smaller ones were the size of a sedan, and the larger ones were about the size of a tank!

Moving their four limbs in unison, they were like a terrifying steel torrent, making the ground tremble.

The trees and rocks along the way, under the fierce beasts' collisions, almost all shattered on contact!

Even more terrifying was that Lei Guang flickered on every single one of these fierce beasts!

This was an absolutely formidable group of fierce beasts—even a fourth-tier ability user wouldn't dare test their edge.

Yet Xu Jingming merely slightly raised his right hand, his expression still calm and steady:

"Since you're all so eager to bathe in my Lei Ting, I'll grant your wish! Lei Prison!"

Crackle crackle pop pop—

The control-type A-rank combat skill 'Lei Prison' was, at this moment, used by Xu Jingming as an offensive technique!

Wild Lei Ting spread out, instantly killing five or six fierce beasts!

However, it wasn't over yet!

Boom!

Accompanied by the ear-piercing sound of breaking the sound barrier, a Lei Mao was hurled by Xu Jingming!

Like a cruise missile, it struck dead center of this group of fierce beasts!

Rumble rumble rumble!!

The Lei Mao exploded, violent and resplendent golden Lei Ting erupting, sending a mushroom cloud rising on the spot.

The dozen or so fierce beasts in the very center were directly obliterated into ash, and the ring of fierce beasts on the outer edge were instantly grievously wounded!

At the same time, pleasant system notification sounds kept ringing in Xu Jingming's mind:

'Ding~, killed one third-tier mid-rank Black Armor Thunder Ox, ability points +37.'

'Ding~, killed one first-tier upper-rank Long-Tailed Thunder Cat, ability points +11.'

'Ding~, killed one second-tier lower-rank Sword Thunder Tiger, ability points +23.'

"......"

The ability points on Xu Jingming's system panel immediately began to rapidly increase!