Chapter 207

As Xu Jingming once again advanced toward the core zone, at the entrance to the Thunderstorm Zone.

"Good day, Director Jiang."

"Director Jiang."

"Good morning, Director Jiang."

"......"

Senior brother Jiang Luo had already been waiting there.

Many energy users entering and exiting the Thunderstorm Zone, fully armed, recognized this newly appointed director of Thunder Martial Arts Gym and greeted him with smiles.

Jiang Luo nodded slightly in return, yet his brows were tightly furrowed.

As of now, Xu Jingming had been inside for a full five days and five nights without returning.

Keep in mind that

Even he himself could only stay inside continuously for eight days at most, after which he needed to return and rest.

If not for hearing from his junior Liu Ming that Xu Jingming's combat power was formidable, he would have already rushed into the Thunderstorm Zone to search yesterday.

"Director Jiang, why are you back here again?"

At this moment,

With a hearty laugh, Wu Chuang, instructor of Thunder Martial Arts Gym, arrived by car, stepped out, and greeted with a smile.

"Instructor Wu."

Jiang Luo replied, then added: "I'm waiting here for my junior brother to return."

"Huh? Your junior brother hasn't come back since his last entry?" Wu Chuang was surprised.

"Yes,"

Jiang Luo nodded with a bitter smile, fully aware of the gravity of the situation:

"Today is already the sixth day; logically, he should have returned long ago."

Wu Chuang's brows also furrowed slightly at this.

Although he had set a six-day assessment period for Lei Yaoyang's team.

But they were an entire squad, able to rest by rotating guard duty.

Yet Xu Jingming was alone!

If it were the ordinary wilderness zone, it might be fine—but the Thunderstorm Zone's environment is brutal; without someone to guard, there's no way to rest!

That means Xu Jingming may have gone without sleep for five straight days—his spirit must be utterly exhausted!

Worst case, he may already have perished within the Thunderstorm Zone.

"Don't worry—I'm heading into the Thunderstorm Zone to hunt a beast; I can search for him along the way." Wu Chuang mused.

"Then I'm in your debt, Instructor Wu." Jiang Luo's expression brightened.

A sixth-rank energy user's search would be far faster than his own fourth-rank mid-level abilities.

"No problem—we all work together at Thunder Martial Arts Gym; helping each other is natural." Wu Chuang smiled.

Jiang Luo had only been appointed less than a month, yet he graduated from a top-tier university and, at age twenty-four, was already a fourth-rank mid-level energy user.

Anyone with eyes could see Jiang Luo's future was brilliant; Wu Chuang naturally wanted such a person to owe him a favor...

On the other side, after sprinting for over three hours, Xu Jingming finally arrived again at the core zone.

As before, he found a tree over twenty meters tall, leapt to its summit, and began observing natural lightning.

While observing, he continuously simulated and manipulated the Doushen Thunder.

This time, he spent over six hours on this.

Under his control, the lightning grew increasingly agile, as if alive.

When he finished observing, it was already noon, twelve o'clock.

"Time to head back."

Xu Jingming withdrew his gaze; his determined eyes flickered with lightning.

He leapt down from the twenty-meter tree; his weight of over 120 kilograms slammed into the ground under gravity's acceleration.

The muddy earth cracked into a deep pit, yet Xu Jingming himself suffered no harm.

"This is the formidable physique of an energy user—in my past life, leaping from twenty meters would have been unthinkable."

Xu Jingming smiled faintly; though only half a year had passed,

He found himself growing ever more accustomed to this world.

"But I'm still only third-rank upper-tier—far from the peak. The path of energy users remains long and arduous."

Xu Jingming shook his head, glanced at the map on his smart band, and strode confidently toward the return path.

Because beasts in the Thunderstorm Zone are drawn to lightning, their movement patterns are not fixed.

The smart band's map, besides dividing zones, did not mark the locations of powerful beasts.

The route Xu Jingming took when entering the core zone had encountered no beasts.

But on his return, he encountered one.

BOOM!

In a clearing within the forest, a giant bear was basking in lightning.

The bear stood six meters tall and three meters wide, upright like a human.

Its eyes were pale blue; its fur was grayish-blue, streaked with faint crimson bloodstains!

Beneath its thick fur, the contours of powerful muscles were barely visible!

At this moment, lightning continuously crashed from the sky!

Yet when it struck the bear, it caused no damage—instead, it elicited a joyful roar!

Countless blue lightning bolts seemed under the bear's command, swirling endlessly around its body!

"It's a Storm Thunder Bear! Likely fourth-rank upper-tier."

Xu Jingming hid behind a large tree, observing closely.

Beasts were numerous, with vast power gaps between species.

Just as energy users had different ranks of abilities, some species were naturally formidable, others inherently weak.

If dragon-class beasts were like S-rank energy abilities, then bear-class beasts were at least A-rank!

And the Storm Thunder Bear, which controlled lightning and had thick hide and tough flesh, was among the top-tier of bear-class beasts!

Far stronger than the Bloodthirsty Rampage Bear from the Wu Ke exam.

Under the same rank, most energy users would avoid it entirely.

Of course, Xu Jingming was an exception.

His SS-rank Doushen Thunder, combined with the S-rank combat technique "Heavenly Thunder Art," was enough to severely wound or even instantly kill it.

"But without Heavenly Thunder Art, could I defeat it?" Xu Jingming felt eager to test himself.

Before his breakthrough, he would never dare confront such a monster head-on—only strike from afar with Heavenly Thunder Art or Thunder God Finger.

But now that his rank had broken through and his blood qi surpassed three thousand, under Thunder Extreme State, he might just be able to clash with it.

"Let's try. If I lose, I can still escape with Thunder Flash—worst case, flee far away and then obliterate it with Heavenly Thunder Art."

Without hesitation, Xu Jingming entered Thunder Extreme State!

His body rapidly swelled to two meters and twenty centimeters tall; his cold eyes transformed into molten-gold dragon pupils!

Violent golden Doushen Thunder erupted outward from him!

CRACKLE—

Lightning swept across, igniting every tree and bush it touched.

In normal form, his Doushen Thunder extended no more than forty meters—but in Thunder Extreme State, the range surged to sixty meters!

From above, one could see:

Centered on Xu Jingming, a sixty-meter radius had become an ocean of golden lightning and flame!

At this moment, a dark figure sped swiftly through the forest near the clearing.

It was Wu Chuang, instructor of Thunder Martial Arts Gym, who had entered the core zone.

The terrifying sixty-meter lightning radius naturally caught his attention—but he had no interest in meddling.

He merely glanced toward it instinctively, then froze slightly:

"That's... u Jingming?"