Chapter 615: Venturing into the Thunder Tree Cluster: Monster Grinding and Leveling Begin

All the way, he ran into several groups of Dragon Race.

They followed the scent, and upon seeing Jiang Chen, they were all filled with terror.

Jiang Chen gave them no chance to flee; they all became the dead souls beneath the headless Knight's blade.

A thought sprouted in Jiang Chen's mind: perhaps he could sweep the Wind‑Thunder Continent, slaughter the Dragon Race and Abyss Demons there, and drive them out.

But that thought was snuffed out as soon as it arose.

Although this would greatly improve the Human Race's safety in the Lower Space.

But for the Human Race, it is not a good thing.

Nature selects the fittest; the strong survive.

The Human Race needs to grow stronger through battle, otherwise they will lose their fighting spirit.

The thunder grew louder, and the sky was filled with flashing lightning and booming thunder, a clear‑sky thunderclap.

Lightning serpents roamed the sky, striking down from time to time.

Lightning struck the thunder trees and was absorbed by them.

Thunder trees grow stronger by absorbing lightning.

Jiang Chen had arrived at the area where thunder trees grow; as far as the eye could see stretched an endless thunder‑tree mountain range.

The Lightning‑Thunder Mountain Range has the most thunder trees on the Wind‑Thunder Continent and is the largest mountain range.

Millions of thunder trees live here.

How many BOSSes are inside, and how strong they are, no one knows.

Moreover, within the thunder‑tree clusters, there are many other monsters.

They coexist with the thunder trees, without interfering with each other.

This place is rarely visited; no one is willing to come.

Thunder trees indeed do not attack proactively, but these monsters do.

If a monster entangles you, it will be troublesome.

If you accidentally use an area attack and provoke the thunder trees, that would be deadly.

The thunder trees rise up to attack, and few cultivators can withstand it.

However, compared to Fenghua it is still safe; as long as luck is on your side and you don't go too deep, you can escape and ascend.

If you have already gone deep into the Lightning‑Thunder Mountain Range, you can only pray for your own luck.

Jiang Chen flew about a hundred li into the Lightning‑Thunder Mountain Range and then stopped, hovering high in the air, his gaze fixed on the thunder‑tree clusters below.

Thunder trees vary in height; the shorter ones have thinner trunks, while the taller ones have thicker trunks.

The differences in thickness and height also indicate differing levels among the thunder trees.

Generally, the taller and thicker a tree, the higher its level.

This is recorded in the data and is information known to everyone.

Jiang Chen observed carefully and discovered some unusual things.

"Thunder trees are grouped by ten thousand; every ten thousand thunder trees form a small region. The boundaries of this region are not obvious, but if you look closely you can still see them."

Jiang Chen muttered to himself, noting that the thunder‑tree clusters are also divided into separate zones, each separated by several dozen meters.

And within these gaps, some monsters can be seen living.

If the entire Lightning‑Thunder Mountain Range is regarded as a nation, then these zones are the cities within that nation.

Each city is clearly distinct.

In each zone there happen to be ten thousand thunder trees, and among those ten thousand there is one that grows extremely large, serving as the leader and also a World‑Class BOSS.

From its emanating aura, Jiang Chen roughly judged it to be around Level 80.

His gaze continued toward the depths, and Jiang Chen flew further into the heart of the Lightning‑Thunder Mountain Range.

This place is completely devoid of human habitation, becoming a world of lightning and thunder trees.

Even Fenghua cannot survive here.

Jiang Chen kept observing and saw many more pieces of unusual information.

Thunder trees group by ten thousand and live together.

After exceeding one hundred thousand, another even larger thunder tree appears, becoming the leader of those hundred thousand trees.

The region formed by those hundred thousand thunder trees is like a province within the nation.

"If we look at it, there should be a true ruler among the thunder trees, commanding all of them."

"And this ruler should be at the center of the Lightning‑Thunder Mountain Range."

Jiang Chen's gaze turned to the center of the Lightning‑Thunder Mountain Range, and his soul power spread outward.

Coincidentally, a flash of thunder lit up the distant sky.

The entire Lightning‑Thunder Mountain Range lit up, and Jiang Chen saw countless lightning serpents spreading from afar like a spider web.

Space warped, as if about to be torn.

Jiang Chen thought, "What an astonishing lightning flash, already very close to Divine Level."

The lightning flash spread across hundreds of li in the sky, then a bolt of Lightning connected heaven and earth and crashed down with a boom.

Within the Lightning, Jiang Chen saw an incomparably huge thunder tree.

The thunder tree stood at the mountain's summit, linking heaven and earth, enduring the Lightning's assault unshaken.

"This is the king of the thunder trees!"

Jiang Chen instantly confirmed its existence; although he lacked the Detection Technique, he roughly guessed its level.

At least Level 88, possibly Level 89, but not Divine Level.

It does not exude a Divine Level aura.

Moreover, the closer one gets to this Thunder Tree King, the stronger the Thunder Trees become.

By the thunder light, Jiang Chen also saw a batch of BOSS‑level Thunder Trees.

Not just a few, but a whole batch.

These Thunder Tree BOSSes act like guards, protecting the Thunder Tree King.

Thunder light continuously fell on them, then spread down into the ground.

Jiang Chen narrowed his eyes slightly; after the thunder light entered the ground, its destination was unknown.

"Could there be something strange underground?"

Jiang Chen felt something was off, but couldn't pinpoint what.

Since seeing the structure of the Thunder Tree cluster, Jiang Chen had an inexplicable feeling that the Thunder Trees were less like plants and more like animals.

Ordinary plants wouldn't form such a pattern; it was far too orderly.

From the information gathered so far, the Thunder Trees possess a certain instinct of intelligence and some simple governing rules.

Dividing regions by nation, province, and city is not something plants could do.

Just then, a sharp Scream rang in his ears.

A Thunder Eagle, sparks and Lightning flashing, shot out from the Thunder Tree cluster, diving straight at him.

A flash of fire lit Jiang Chen's hand.

Skill: Soul Burn.

The Thunder Eagle fell from the sky with a wail.

This Thunder Eagle was not high level, only around Level 75, and not a BOSS; it was nearly killed outright by Soul Burn.

It crashed to the ground, and the Scream kept echoing, filling the air.

The Thunder Tree cluster erupted like a riot, countless Thunder Eagles soaring up to attack Jiang Chen.

One strike truly provoked a swarm.

Jiang Chen had come to the Thunder and Lightning Mountain Range to fight Thunder Trees, so he naturally engaged the monsters in the range as well.

The Undead Legion appeared in the sky; before the Headless Knight could trigger its charge skill, the Skeleton Great Mage and Skeleton Divine Archer had already acted.

Elemental Explosion, Soul Attack.

Elemental Attack and Soul Attack activated simultaneously.

The soaring Thunder Eagles instantly fell like raindrops.

They crashed into the Thunder Tree cluster, still bearing the aura of Elemental Riot, and the flames from the explosion had not fully gone out.

Those flames also spread into the Thunder Tree cluster.

Thunder Tree branches and leaves quivered, emitting thunder light.

Crack!

Thunder light exploded in the air, producing a huge roar.

It was like a signal; the Thunder Tree cluster moved as one, and the entire Thunder and Lightning Mountain Range suddenly came alive.

Jiang Chen, perched high above, witnessed an astonishing scene.

He finally understood why the range was called the Thunder and Lightning Mountain Range.

Extending over a thousand kilometers deep and several hundred kilometers wide, the range instantly turned into a Thunder and Lightning Sea.

All the Thunder Trees moved in unison, shooting thunder light across the sky.

Jiang Chen and the Undead Legion were instantly engulfed by thunder light.

The Electric Element's immunity let Jiang Chen ignore the thunder attacks.

But the Undead Legion could not; they kept taking damage from the thunder light.

The Undead Legion benefited from Jiang Chen's passive skill "Elemental Resistance", reducing all elemental damage they took by eightfold.

Even though each bolt of thunder light dealt little damage, the sheer number was overwhelming, the same principle that many ants can kill an elephant applies here.

In the Thunder and Lightning Mountain Range, there are over a million Thunder Trees; now at least a third of them are launching attacks at him.

The density of thunder light is astonishingly extreme, having turned into a Thunder Sea.

All Jiang Chen could see was thunder light; nothing else was visible.

After the Wind Flower, Jiang Chen again relished the thrill of being overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

The Undead Legion surged through the Thunder Sea, charging downward.

The Skeleton King's throne appeared.

This time Jiang Chen changed tactics, grouping thirty thousand skeletons per unit, and summoned three Skeleton Kings.

Skeleton King skills have cooldowns; summoning three allows three consecutive skill cycles, widening the attack area.

Against ordinary Thunder Trees, a Skeleton King formed from thirty thousand skeletons is already sufficient.

The three Skeleton Kings spread out, traversing the Thunder Sea, and their strong attributes let them endure in the thunder for a while.

The Slash God and Elemental Riot techniques both allow area attacks.

They lock onto the maximum range; each Skeleton King's skill can cover a radius of three thousand meters.

Skill activated, indiscriminately attacking all enemies within a three‑thousand‑meter radius!

The White Bone Sword slashed, cutting the thunder light.

Lines of Sword Qi pierced the earth, sweeping across the Thunder Tree cluster.

Countless Thunder Trees within the strike zone were cleaved cleanly in half.

Plant‑type monsters have strong vitality; even this was not enough to kill them.

Elemental Riot followed immediately; amid a booming roar, many Thunder Trees were blown away from root to tip.

White Light suddenly rose around Jiang Chen.

With a single strike, he gained Sea‑massive experience, directly reaching level 73.