Chapter 307: Lightning Dance

These past few days in the river valley, we've already faced multiple thunderstorms; the weather is capricious, sometimes a single day brings several heavy downpours, making it very uncomfortable.

Lei En and his companions have almost gotten used to it.

Every time a downpour hits, Lei En finds that the element density in the valley changes dramatically, especially the Lightning Element and Water Element, whose values keep rising.

This time it was especially intense; in just two or three minutes it doubled.

Rainwater pours down wildly, even obscuring visibility; the river swells, and the whole forest seems submerged.

Lei En's gaze pierces the rain curtain, barely seeing the scene on the cliff.

Flocks of thunder birds take off, flying toward the lightning that splits the sky; the raging bolts strike them, yet cause no harm, seeming instead to recharge them, and they chirp joyfully. Their azure feathers glisten, lightning arcs between thousands of thunder birds, from the cliff top to the clouds, as if holding a grand dance with the thunder.

The sight is spectacular, but it also makes Lei En very wary.

He realizes the thunder birds are absorbing lightning to boost their power, a method many lightning‑based creatures use to strengthen themselves.

Because of its geography, the Ismu River Valley has Lightning Element levels far above average, causing abnormal weather.

This cliff sits at the valley's center and is the highest point within dozens of miles, like a lightning‑attracting tower, so the thunder birds have claimed it as their territory.

The heavy rain continues.

Lei En looks at the turbid river and says, "I'll go investigate now; you hide and wait for me here."

"Investigate what?" Bulaimit asks, a bit confused.

"Isn't getting close to the thunder bird flock even more dangerous now?"

Lei En gives no further explanation, pulls a bottle of "Underwater Breathing" potion from his ring, drinks it, and leaps into the rapid river, before the dwarf can stop him.

Splash!

Because of his steel body, Lei En actually weighs far more than he looks, already over five hundred pounds, sinking like a lump of iron straight to the riverbed.

The water is both swift and deep; even with Soul Eye it's hard to see a few meters ahead.

But that actually better masks his presence.

Following the current, Lei En swims‑runs for about five minutes, reaches the base of the cliff, plants his palm into the riverbed, then slowly rises upward.

A pair of eyes opens a few centimeters below the surface.

Lei En's gaze pierces the water and rain, looking toward the thunder birds in the sky.

Blue giants revel in the lightning and rain, dancing wildly, completely unaware they're being watched.

Through Soul Eye, their souls and elements are laid bare.

Thousands of souls flutter in the sky, moving fast and constantly crowding together, their souls overlapping, making Lei En's vision dizzy.

He steadies himself, focusing on the nearest thunder bird for observation.

This is a Mid-stage thunder bird, with only three Elements:

Lightning Arrow, Electric Spark, Swiftness.

In less than half a second Lei En completes the identification, then does the same with another. He scans over a hundred thunder birds consecutively; most are Mid-stage, their Elements are three or four, occasionally a more prominent one with five Elements.

Every thunder bird carries "Swiftness"; the rest are basically low‑tier lightning spells.

Lei En's eyes are truly opened.

The teacher's "Thousand Spell Handbook" records a huge number of spells; regardless of element category, or Arcane, Shadow, low‑tier spells dominate, mid‑tier follow, and high‑tier are scarce, down to a handful.

Thunder spells are the same; low‑tier spells of up to third rank make up over seventy percent.

Some of these spells are very rare and hard to find.

Yet among these thunder birds' souls, Lei En can almost locate every low‑tier thunder spell listed in the Thousand Spell Handbook.

There are even two or three spells he's never heard of, absent from the teacher's notes.

It's practically a paradise for the Law Seal school's lightning‑element practitioners!

Yet there is no Lightning Affinity.

"This is really maddening…"

Submerged in the water, Lei En feels depressed, only able to patiently continue observing.

Soul Eye can see far, but the range for distinguishing Elements is limited; only when a thunder bird flies within a hundred meters above the river surface can Lei En seize the chance to identify.

And thunder birds often repeat their flight, being observed many times.

Ironically, the few high‑tier thunder birds most likely to have Lightning Affinity fly at the highest altitude near the clouds, rarely descending; even Mid-stage thunder birds fly high, and after identifying only a dozen, he still gets nothing.

"Continuing like this won't work."

Lei En's mind whirs, looking up at the cliff; most nests are already empty, the thunder birds are in the sky and probably won't notice anyone approaching their nests.

"Worth risking once."

He hesitates little, activates his Invisibility Ring.

A few seconds later, an unseen humanoid silhouette climbs the riverbank, using the heavy rain as cover, and clings to the base of the cliff.

While invisible, Lei En lies prone on the ground to avoid rain exposing his position.

He carefully selects his landing spot and uses Flash.

After each Flash he pauses a few seconds to ensure he hasn't startled the thunder birds, then flashes to the next spot.

After several casts, Lei En silently lands atop the cliff.

He hides at the edge where the thunder birds have already left, crouching in the grass, looking up. At this height, at least a third of the thunder birds will enter Soul Eye's detection range, some flying just a dozen meters overhead.

Lei En holds his breath, seizing the time to observe.

In under five minutes he identifies over six hundred times, including dozens of Mid-stage thunder birds.

Logically, the chance of Mid-stage avians showing Lightning Affinity isn't low; after all, the fused Swift‑Shadow Lightning‑Blade Leopard was a Mid-stage beast.

But he still hasn't found Lightning Affinity, unsure if it's bad luck or something else.

The rain gradually eases, and the cloud‑borne lightning weakens.

Lei En mutters a bad word, noting that the valley's heavy rain comes fast and leaves fast, rarely lasting more than twenty minutes.

The lightning gathering was drawing to a close, and batches of Thunder Birds descended back to their nests.

Lei En wanted to leave at once, but felt somewhat reluctant.

He noticed a high-level Thunder Bird also flying low, as if returning to its nest, so he decided to take a chance, crouching motionlessly on the cliff edge.

More and more Thunder Birds landed, the nearest being only a few steps from Lei En.

Lei En was like an invisible statue, not even moving his neck, maintaining a gaze upward at the sky, making no sound, his blood‑red cloak masking his breath, leaking not a trace.

Finally, a high-level Thunder Bird entered his observation range.

Lei En rolled his eyes, performing the fastest identification, and saw five Elements.

"None."

He also observed a dozen Mid-stage Thunder Birds, and found no Lightning Affinity.

The second high-level Thunder Bird arrived.

Its appearance was almost identical to the previous high-level Thunder Bird, its body larger than Mid-stage, wingspan close to eight meters, and Lei En subconsciously glanced at it.

Six Elements manifested before his eyes.

"Lightning Affinity!"

Lei En's eyes froze, his joy nearly betraying his movement, his heartbeat quickening a half beat, but he recovered in time, suppressing his emotion, thus avoiding exposure.

He locked onto this high-level Thunder Bird, observing it carefully.

It possessed six Elements, the most among all Thunder Birds he had seen. Besides the long‑awaited Lightning Affinity, it also had the Arcane Elements "Electric Claw Technique", "Thunder Cloud Technique", and "Wind‑Thunder Wing", as well as the Physical Elements "Strength" and "Swiftness".

Strength was at Tier 3, not remarkable for a high-level Thunder Bird's size.

But its Swiftness was astonishingly Tier 5!

The same Swiftness Element has vastly different effects on flying beasts versus land monsters.

Thunder Birds already fly, at great speed; Tier‑5 Swiftness can boost that speed dramatically, its effect showing more in aerial agility than in ground sprinting.

Its form was as light as wind, yet swift as lightning.

Diving from the clouds, it reached the cliff top in the blink of an eye; at the moment it was about to strike the nest, its broad wings beat rapidly, leaving a blur that softened the impact, its slender body descending like a feather into the nest, leaving Lei En awestruck.

"That's the one."

Lei En hadn't decided how to escape or whether to strike the high-level Thunder Bird, when suddenly, several Thunder Birds returning to their nests let out sharp cries in the sky.

The cries instantly stirred the flock.

The dark clouds had cleared, the rain was easing, and in the distant horizon five massive fiery red flying dragons approached above the forest.

"Oh no..."

Lei En muttered that things were bad; Keluonuan had come with the Flame Dragon looking for him.

For the past few days he had Keluonuan and the Flame Dragon trailing behind, catching up every half hour, without time to warn them to avoid, and the Thunder Birds spotted them.

Sure enough, the Thunder Birds that had just landed took off immediately.

They gathered in the sky, forming a massive black cloud that surged toward the Flame Dragon, blotting out the sky, their cries like a tide.

A single high-level Thunder Bird was far weaker than the Flame Dragon, but their numbers were overwhelming; each bird's wings flashed with electricity, moving at breakneck speed, covering half the distance in a few breaths, then countless bolts of lightning erupted in the sky.

Lightning Arrow, Falling Thunder Technique, Chain Lightning;

Thunder Cloud Technique, Electric Spark, Lightning Arc, Electric Blast Orb, Electric Shock Pearl;

Within a radius of several miles, Lightning Elements boiled, hundreds to thousands of different lightning spells crowded together, triggering a chain reaction like the Seven Rings' "Thunder Cloud Storm" descending, unleashing a massive indiscriminate attack.

Even a great dragon could not withstand such overwhelming force and fled in panic.

But the Thunder Birds were faster than the Flame Dragon, and they could not escape.

Keluonuan on the dragon's back and another Extreme Warrior were frightened and panicked; before they could figure out what was happening, the Flame Dragon, out of control, plunged into the forest, landing at Bulaimit's and the two Extreme Warriors' hideout.

"Where's the boss?" Keluonuan asked anxiously, having not seen Lei En.

His schedule was reversed again; he needed to readjust...

(End of Chapter)