Chapter 165: The True Form of Blood Thunder

Early in the morning, Ye Liuyun had Qiong Qi and Shi Yuan hide inside the Storage Ring, then headed to the training ground with Lei Ming to assemble.

He also feared unknown dangers inside, that he wouldn't have time to retrieve the Grand Hall. The Grand Hall was also stored in the Storage Ring, leaving Bai Hu alone to break through, and he was still uneasy.

Ye Liuyun arrived at the training ground and found that, besides the 190 participants from yesterday's contest, there were ten more people, and among those ten was Guo Kai.

It seems those ten slots were reserved for the Elder disciples!

But Ye Liuyun didn't pay any heed to Guo Kai. His focus was on the highest-ranked Sea Transformation fifth‑rank disciple, Chang Hao.

Three days ago, when Ye Liuyun was vying for a slot, he felt Chang Hao's face was familiar; he glanced at him but couldn't recall who he was.

After returning these past two days and thinking it over, he remembered that Chang Hao was the one who had earlier caused Hu Dahai to trouble him, so he had been silently watching him.

Yesterday, Chang Hao also witnessed the power of Ye Liuyun's Illusion Pupil, but he thought it still couldn't threaten him. Entering the Secret Realm was a chance to kill Ye Liuyun.

He would soon enter the Main Institute. If he killed Ye Liuyun before that, he could become a disciple under the Xuantian Saint and naturally rise to great heights.

Moreover, having been in the inner gate for a long time and with many friends, he had already greeted several True Essence third‑ and fourth‑rank disciples, asking them to help strike at Ye Liuyun.

Guo Kai at this moment dared not meet Ye Liuyun's gaze, but he felt smug inside. "Hmph, Ye Liuyun, you've finally offended my master. Once you enter the Secret Realm, you'll never come out."

Three days ago, after being injured, Guo Kai returned and embellished a story to the Grand Elder, claiming Ye Liuyun never regarded the Grand Elder, which enraged the Grand Elder, who immediately summoned some Sea Transformation fourth‑rank disciples to kill Ye Liuyun after they entered the Secret Realm.

Moreover, in the past few days Guo Kai has paid large sums to bribe many disciples to act against Ye Liuyun.

At this moment, Ye Liuyun didn't know so many were after him, but he sensed that the moment he entered the training ground, a great amount of murderous intent leaked out.

"Huh? So many people want to kill me?" Ye Liuyun was startled.

"I don't know whether it was Chang Hao or Guo Kai who arranged this. Anyway, that's fine; we can deal with them all at once!"

He quickly realized it was these two's doing. Some disciples, upon seeing Ye Liuyun, were simply curious.

"What's this kid doing with a black blade on his back? Isn't he cultivating Divine Sense? Does he even use a sword?"

Many people didn't know Ye Liuyun's background; they were very curious about this newcomer dark horse.

Soon after, Han Feng and Leng Yue arrived and greeted Ye Liuyun. Once everyone was present, the Steward led them to rush toward Blood Thunder Peak.

Walking, Han Feng said to Ye Liuyun, "Junior brother, be extra careful when you enter the Secret Realm. I heard some people will act against you for the Great Zhou Dynasty's bounty."

Ye Liuyun nodded and smiled, "Senior brother, don't worry; many want to kill me! Once we go in, I won't walk with you two. Take care of yourselves."

"You take extra care yourself!" The two also knew Ye Liuyun had a trump card, so they weren't too worried about him.

The party walked toward Blood Thunder Peak, and as they drew nearer, the booming sound of Blood Thunder gradually caught everyone's attention.

Normally, ordinary thunder and lightning are already hard for Martial Cultivators to resist. This blood‑colored thunder calamity is even worse, which is why some call this blood thunder a Thunder Tribulation.

Blood Thunder represents heavenly might, the will of the Dao, beyond mortal reach.

At this moment, Blood Thunder Peak's Blood Thunder was unusually active. The entire mountain was bathed in red thunder, looking like a blood‑colored hell.

The raging power emitted by Blood Thunder made Ye Liuyun's heart race. He longed for that power.

Lei Ming was the same, his eyes widened, staring at the Blood Thunder without blinking. His little paw clutched Ye Liuyun's shoulder, emitting a soft whine.

The others' gazes were also drawn to the Blood Thunder, their hearts trembling.

Around Blood Thunder Peak, there truly was a saintly aura, and more than one. Ye Liuyun had originally thought that, aside from the Dean, Grand Elder, Mystic Saint, Head of the Lingdan Hall, and Head of the Zongwu Hall, there were no other saints in the branch institute.

Unexpectedly, the area around Blood Thunder Peak had at least three saints.

The Dean, Grand Elder, Mystic Saint, and Head of the Zongwu Hall were all present.

The Dean announced, "Blood Thunder Peak will be open for fifteen days this time. Historically, about a quarter of the disciples who enter never return. If anyone wishes to withdraw, you can still do so now."

The Dean paused, saw no one request to withdraw, and nodded with satisfaction.

He then continued, "The opening time of Blood Thunder Peak is unpredictable; only when thunder is at its most violent can a passage be opened. From outside it looks like a single peak, but inside it is a vast mountain range.

The blood‑colored thunder in the central zone is deadly; stay away or you'll be blasted by Blood Thunder. The outer areas often have powerful exotic beasts guarding them, offering opportunities."

After fifteen days, wait at the entrance‑exit here; then we will reopen the passage. From then on, everything depends on you.

After speaking, he glanced at Ye Liuyun and, together with the other three saints, input True Essence to open a passage.

When the passage opened, an ancient, desolate aura seeped out, like a long‑abandoned wild land gradually awakening. Faint beast roars could be heard from afar.

"Hurry in, the passage won't stay open long," Yue Steward urged from the side.

Immediately, everyone stopped hesitating and streamed in like fish.

After a bout of dizziness, they saw the scene before them: a modest plain, yet the desolate aura felt even heavier.

The entire sky here was blood‑colored, shrouded by Blood Thunder, with occasional bolts striking from the heavens, heightening the oppression.

"I have no idea how long this place has existed, yet it gives me a sense of ten‑thousands of years."

The trees here towered a hundred zhang. They were like ants here; even ordinary weeds grew up to waist height.

The others also stared around in amazement.

Could this be a giant kingdom?

Ye Liuyun was pondering when the Ten Thousand Gods Command in his Sea of Consciousness emitted a joyful hum, and immediately began absorbing the ancient aura.

It was like someone who hadn't breathed spiritual energy for ages suddenly encountering a dense mist, greedily inhaling it.

Ye Liuyun didn't know why it was absorbing the aura. While curious, Lei Ming's claw suddenly clamped tightly onto his shoulder.

"Danger?" Ye Liuyun startled, unable to attend to the Ten Thousand Gods Command. He told Han Feng and Leng Yue, then immediately ran following Lei Ming's guidance.

While the others were still stunned, they were shocked by his sudden move. Only Han Feng and Leng Yue hesitated briefly before following.

"What's that?" someone shouted.

They looked toward the sound and saw the grass stir, the ground arching up a mound of earth—clearly something was bursting up from below at great speed.

Boom!

A massive black scorpion erupted from the soil.

Boom, boom!

Around them, two more scorpions burst out of the ground.

"Ah! We're surrounded!" a disciple shouted.

Each scorpion was seven or eight zhang long, like a huge monster, waving its pincers and swinging its tail, stabbing toward these people.

Someone drew a weapon and slashed at the scorpion's tail.

With a "clang", the weapon was shattered, while that person was directly pierced by the scorpion's tail and lifted up.

That person let out two miserable cries, then fell silent, and was immediately sent into the scorpion's mouth, where it was bitten with a grating sound.