Chapter 214

As Xu Jingming had anticipated, four hours later.

His control over the Heavenly Thunder had improved significantly!

"If I keep staying in this room, I might reach the proficiency needed to condense lightning into liquid within five days!"

Xu Jingming's eyes blazed with sharp light.

This Thunder Tower was undoubtedly a sacred training ground for lightning-affinity adepts!

"Sir, your usage time has expired."

At that moment, a knock came at the door, followed by the attendant's voice.

"How can I extend the usage time of this private chamber?"

Xu Jingming opened the door and asked urgently.

Undeniably, the S-class pass's trial opportunity had successfully piqued his interest.

"The usage time of Thunder Tower chambers can only be extended by exchanging for Thunder Cores; the 100th-floor chamber accepts only fourth-rank Thunder Cores."

"A lower-tier fourth-rank Thunder Core exchanges for three hours of usage; each minor rank increase adds one hour.

A peak fourth-rank Thunder Core can extend usage by up to six hours."

The attendant, as if expecting this, smiled warmly and explained.

"So expensive?" Xu Jingming raised an eyebrow.

The official purchase price of a lower-tier fourth-rank Thunder Core exceeded six million Daya currency.

That meant one hour here cost two million—truly a golden sinkhole!

And they accepted only fourth-rank Thunder Cores; lower-rank ones were outright rejected.

"Chambers from level 70 to 90 accept third-rank Thunder Cores for usage time.

The cultivation speed there is still decent—I can move you there."

Though the attendant was merely a first-rank adept, she had encountered many adepts.

She could vaguely sense Xu Jingming's rank and tailor recommendations accordingly.

"Never mind, I'll stay here."

After a moment's thought, Xu Jingming pulled out the peak fourth-rank Thunder Core given by his senior Jiang Luo, along with the upper-tier fourth-rank Thunder Core obtained from slaying the Storm Lei Bear.

Though Thunder Cores could be used to cultivate the Thunder Imperishable Body, that technique could be enhanced via the Deep Blue System.

But proficiency in controlling one's affinity couldn't be improved by the system—so using Thunder Cores here was far more efficient.

"A peak and an upper-tier fourth-rank Thunder Core?"

The attendant paused slightly, surprised Xu Jingming had produced two such high-rank cores at once.

But she quickly recovered, bowing respectfully:

"Together, these two cores grant eleven hours of usage. I'll extend your time immediately."

"If the 100th floor requires fourth-rank Thunder Cores, what about above it?" Xu Jingming asked curiously.

Higher floors must offer even better cultivation effects.

"Floors 101 to 107 require fifth-rank Thunder Cores; floors 108 to the top 110 require sixth-rank Thunder Cores."

The attendant explained patiently.

"Alright, sorry for the trouble," Xu Jingming murmured in amazement.

It was too expensive—he simply couldn't afford it.

Eleven hours later, Xu Jingming left the Thunder Tower, fully satisfied.

It wasn't that he didn't want to extend his time—it was that Thunder Cores couldn't be bought in the Thunder Secret Realm at all!

If he wished to continue using the 100th-floor chamber, he'd have to enter the Thunder Storm Zone and slay another fourth-rank beast to obtain a Thunder Core.

"But it's about time I re-entered the Thunder Storm Zone."

Xu Jingming checked his phone—the time had advanced from early morning to 7 p. .

"Time really is scarce."

Xu Jingming shook his head and decided not to enter the Thunder Storm Zone yet.

He'd sleep tonight, then enter tomorrow morning, fully refreshed.

Of course,

before that, he needed to offload the mountain of beast materials piled in his space ring.

Near most wilderness zones, supply bases handled beast material purchases.

But in the Thunder Secret Realm, these were replaced by Thunder Martial Arts Academies.

"Young brother, this way."

The Thunder Martial Arts Academy within the Thunder Secret Realm was far larger than its branches elsewhere.

It had four main buildings alone; when Xu Jingming arrived at the central one, Senior Jiang Luo was already waiting.

"Senior Luo." Xu Jingming walked over with a smile.

"You slept a long time."

"Also, I heard from Instructor Wu—you killed a peak fourth-rank Storm Lei Bear in the Thunder Storm Zone?"

Jiang Luo marveled.

As a mid-tier fourth-rank adept, even he'd need considerable effort to slay such a beast.

"And isn't your advancement speed too fast? When I was your age, I'd barely reached second rank."

Jiang Luo knew Xu Jingming advanced quickly, but he hadn't expected him to return from the Thunder Storm Zone already at upper-tier third rank.

"It is a bit fast—maybe I'm just more talented," Xu Jingming admitted openly.

"You're not humble at all. I suspect if we fought now, I might not beat you."

Jiang Luo was a peak fourth-rank combatant, yet even among peak fourth-ranks, differences existed.

He genuinely wasn't confident he could defeat Xu Jingming.

"If you want to test it, we can head to the arena," Xu Jingming smiled.

In truth, he also wanted to gauge his senior's combat strength.

"Ahem, I was just joking," Jiang Luo coughed and waved his hand quickly.

Joking—he'd only been assigned to the Thunder Martial Arts Academy for a month.

If his colleagues saw him losing to a junior four years younger, his face would be ruined.

"By the way, you wanted to sell beast materials, right?

I've already arranged it with our academy's purchasing manager. Let's go inside."

Jiang Luo swiftly changed the subject and led Xu Jingming into the Thunder Martial Arts Academy.

The Thunder Martial Arts Academy had many managers handling beast material purchases.

Perhaps because Senior Jiang Luo accompanied him, Xu Jingming's materials fetched an excellent price.

The Storm Lei Bear's materials sold for 33 million—too bad the Thunder Core was used up, or he could've earned over a thousand million more.

The rest—the lower-tier fourth-rank and numerous third- and second-rank beast materials—sold for a total of 130 million.

The materials from that Storm Thunder Bear beast sold for 33 million, but unfortunately he used up the Thunder Core, or else it could have fetched another 10 million or so.

Xu Jingming had four 1-cubic-meter space rings, which he also sold.

The Thunder Martial Arts Academy's buyback price was slightly higher than Mo Da's 35 million—37 million per ring.

Four rings sold for 148 million total.

Altogether, Xu Jingming earned 311 million.

"Your China Central Bank account ending in 7043 has received 311 million. Current balance: 521. million."

As Xu Jingming stepped out of the Thunder Martial Arts Academy, a text message confirmed the cash deposit.

"Your Zhongxia Bank account ending in 7043 has received 311 million, with a current balance of 521. million."

A number unimaginable in his past life—but now, Xu Jingming felt calm.

For ordinary people, 521. million was enormous. But for him,

it was merely enough to purchase a decent S-class cultivation resource.

Even then, money couldn't guarantee access!

Compared to 500 million in cash, he still preferred Mo Da's 50, 00 credits.

"You seem to have killed a lot of second- and third-rank beasts," Jiang Luo beside him remarked suspiciously.

He himself, when entering the Thunder Storm Zone, rarely killed more than dozens of third-rank beasts.

Yet Xu Jingming had just produced materials from nearly eighty third-rank beasts!

The numbers were absurd—had the Thunder Storm Zone's beast population increased?

"I was going to ask you the same thing—why do the beasts in the Thunder Storm Zone seem far fewer than in ordinary wilderness?"

Xu Jingming asked, puzzled.

"Thunder Cores are hard currency in our Thunder Secret Realm—not just the Thunder Tower needs them.

Most other cultivation sites also settle payments in Thunder Cores.

Thunder Cores can only be obtained by slaying Thunder Beasts; as more adepts flood the Thunder Storm Zone, beast numbers naturally decline."

Jiang Luo shrugged helplessly. "My monthly salary at the Thunder Martial Arts Academy is paid in Thunder Cores and Daya currency.

That's better—otherwise, I'd have to enter the Thunder Storm Zone regularly to hunt beasts."

Jiang Luo shrugged helplessly, "My monthly salary at the Thunder Martial Hall is paid in Thunder Cores and Daya currency."

That's much better, otherwise I'd have to enter the Storm Zones to hunt ferocious beasts from time to time.

Even if the number of ferocious beasts in the Thunderstorm Zone is too low, they will seal off the zone and only reopen it after the beasts have bred for several months.

"So that's how it is," Xu Jingming realized.

It was like the fishing ban period from his past life, except the Thunderstorm Zone was more specialized.

Outside, in the ordinary wilderness zones, there were so many ferocious beasts to kill that no one had this problem.

Come to think of it, isn't what I'm doing disrupting the ecological balance of the ferocious beasts?

Xu Jingming suddenly thought.

But even so, he couldn't care anymore—whether he killed them or not, someone else would.

He might as well just shorten the sealing period of the Thunderstorm Zone a little.

"By the way, isn't Spring Festival coming up soon? What are your plans from now on?"

Senior Brother Jiang Luo, of course, didn't know Xu Jingming's thoughts; he asked with a smile.

"I'm going to the Thunderstorm Zone—I probably won't be back for Spring Festival," Xu Jingming replied.

Today is the 30th; tomorrow is the 31st. If I stay in the Thunderstorm Zone for six days, I'll return on February 6th.

I'll sleep for two days, then spend one day training in the Thunder Tower, and by February 10th I'll re-enter the Thunderstorm Zone.

I'll miss both New Year's Eve on the 11th and Spring Festival on the 12th.

"You're insane!" Jiang Luo gave a thumbs-up.

He'd just realized: his junior brother not only had terrifying talent, but was also ruthless with himself!

It was nonstop—no rest at all.

"It's only once a year—take two days off before heading back into the Thunderstorm Zone. Too much fatigue won't help your future cultivation."

Jiang Luo couldn't help urging, "Also, on Spring Festival, our Thunder Martial Hall will hold an auction."

Rare pills, combat technique manuals, and battle armor will be sold at the auction.

You could go just to see the spectacle—maybe you'll find something worth buying."

"An auction?"

Xu Jingming grew interested. "But won't the auction only accept Thunder Cores for payment?"

He'd been spooked by the Thunder Tower's payment system.

"Don't worry—it's all in Daya currency. If they used Thunder Cores, hardly anyone could afford anything."

Seeing Xu Jingming's interest, Jiang Luo quickly added.

"Alright, then I'll stay in the city area during Spring Festival."

Xu Jingming nodded, finally agreeing.

Even if he didn't enter the Thunderstorm Zone, he could still train in the Thunder Tower.

Of course,

this time entering the Thunderstorm Zone, he'd need to hunt more fourth-rank ferocious beasts to prepare for long-term training in the Thunder Tower.

"Then it's settled—I'll reserve you an entry slot."

Jiang Luo clapped Xu Jingming on the shoulder with a smile, and the two parted ways at the entrance of the Thunder Martial Hall.

Xu Jingming went to the store and bought enough freshwater and energy bars to last half a month, then returned to his villa to rest.

The next morning, fully equipped, he entered the Thunderstorm Zone again.