First Entry into Thunder World

In a flash, the scene shifted. One moment, it was the sunny, bustling Cosmic Mercenary Alliance outpost with its villas. The next, darkness enveloped them!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! The moment Tienan River, Luo Feng, Hong, Lei Shen, and Aogu arrived in the Thunder World, they immediately plummeted downwards at an astonishing speed. The five quickly tried to control the miniature planets within them to alter the surrounding gravity, but it was too late! With five dull thuds, Luo Feng and the others crashed onto the ground below.

“That really hurt,” Luo Feng said, immediately standing up.

“Is this ground covered in nails?” Lei Shen also rose. The five stood up, looking around.

In the pitch-black world, only a faint glimmer of light from high above in the distance prevented it from being utterly dark. Beneath their feet lay an endless expanse of black… desert!

“A desert?” Hong squatted down in surprise. “Is this the Death Desert mentioned in the books we bought?” Lei Shen was equally astonished. “We plummeted so rapidly, yet only made such shallow indentations. And this is a desert?”

“It is a desert.” Luo Feng picked up a handful of sand from the ground. The grains were dark blue, appearing black at first glance. Each grain was incredibly heavy, its density easily hundreds of times greater than iron on Earth. The sand also had a faint magnetism, causing the grains to cling together. Even crashing down on their rear ends only created a shallow pit.

“The Thunder World’s gravity is approximately 3900 times that of Earth’s,” Hong said solemnly. “Because this entire world was created by a Realm Lord expert using ‘Cosmic Origin Energy,’ and the foundation of this Realm Lord world is ‘Cosmic Crystal.’ The soil, sand, rocks, and everything else are influenced by Cosmic Origin Energy, making them far more special than ordinary matter.”

“It is special; every grain of sand is very heavy,” Luo Feng nodded.

“How extravagant! How much Cosmic Origin Energy must it have taken to create a world this vast?” Lei Shen couldn’t help but exclaim.

Cosmic Origin Energy. It was an energy with incredible power that only Realm Lords could wield. Once this energy condensed, it formed ‘Cosmic Crystals.’ Cosmic Crystals were a hard currency in the cosmos. Unlike currencies established by nations such as Silverblue Coins, Black Dragon Coins, or Ganwu Coins, Cosmic Crystals were condensed from Cosmic Origin Energy itself! Therefore, they were universally accepted in any Cosmic Nation and by any race!

“The gravity is too strong; my mental energy is also affected,” Luo Feng frowned.

“What’s your range of dispersion?” Lei Shen asked.

“Less than one-thousandth of what it was on Earth,” Luo Feng replied.

A Planet-level First-tier mentalist on Earth could disperse their mental energy up to a kilometer. A Star-level First-tier could reach a hundred kilometers. However… Luo Feng, a Star-level Second-tier mentalist, found his dispersion range to be less than a hundred meters in this Realm Lord world with gravity 3900 times that of Earth.

“My mental energy dispersion range is less than a thousand meters,” the elder Aogu said.

“The Death Desert is one of the most dangerous regions in the Thunder World,” Hong quickly stated. “And it’s deep night here, so we can’t determine our exact direction. The longer we stay in the Death Desert, the more dangerous it becomes! We must depart immediately, choose any direction, and advance at maximum speed.”

The Death Desert, one of the forbidden lands of the Thunder World, was a place where even fierce beasts dared not reside.

“Right, let’s go quickly,” Lei Shen also urged.

“This way then, let’s move,” Luo Feng said, pointing randomly in a direction.

Instantly—Luo Feng and the five others took to the air. Although the gravity here was immense, it wasn't enough to prevent Star-level experts from flying. Of course… due to the astonishing gravity, their flight speed was significantly slower than before.

…After flying for about five minutes, Luo Feng and the others were still soaring rapidly above the Death Desert when suddenly, Aogu, the strongest mentalist in the group, frowned. “Master, something feels wrong.”

“Something wrong?” Luo Feng looked at Aogu.

“Look behind us!” Lei Shen shouted urgently.

“Behind?” Luo Feng, Hong, Tienan River, and Aogu all turned their heads. Behind them was an overwhelming, black dust storm, approaching them at an incredibly astonishing speed. Beneath the vast dust, a group of young men and women were desperately flying for their lives.

“A Death Duststorm!” Aogu’s face turned pale.

“It’s a Death Duststorm, run!” Lei Shen also shouted.

“Faster, faster, faster!” Hong grew anxious.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! The five instantly accelerated to their maximum speed. In his anxiety, Aogu even grabbed hold of Hong and Lei Shen, who were the slowest flyers. Luo Feng, relying on his Duntiansuo, flew at a speed similar to Aogu, who was carrying two people.

The Death Duststorm was one of the many dangers recorded in the books Luo Feng and his companions had purchased. It was one of the three great dangers of the Death Desert, appearing with no discernible pattern, sudden and overwhelming… leaving no way to hide. Generations of predecessors had taught their descendants: facing a Death Duststorm, burrowing beneath the desert was courting death! Flying high into the sky was also courting death! The only method was to outrun it! If the Death Duststorm dissipated before catching you, it meant you had survived.

“We just entered this Thunder World and already ran into a Death Duststorm, what the hell is this?” Lei Shen cursed. “Look, those behind us seem to be one of the four Black Cloud Society squads that entered the Thunder World before us.”

Luo Feng controlled his Duntiansuo with mental energy, maintaining maximum speed.

“Hmm?” Luo Feng turned his head to look behind. Indeed, there was a squad of young men and women, fiercely pursued by the overwhelming dust. Judging by their attire, they were indeed one of the four Black Cloud Society squads that had entered the Thunder World slightly before Luo Feng. That squad, desperately fleeing for their lives, consisted of six people: four men and two women.

Run! A desperate flight for their lives! The Death Duststorm relentlessly closed in on the Black Cloud Society squad. The burly man with a single horn on his head, at the very rear of the group, roared in angry defiance.

Swoosh~~ The Death Duststorm finally reached the man, sweeping him up directly. Under the onslaught of sand grains imbued with Cosmic Origin Energy, the man was instantly shredded as if he had been put through a meat grinder. His combat uniform instantly disintegrated, and a large amount of blood, flesh, and bone fragments flew out.

“Ah!” “Run!” “Faster!” The other five members of the Black Cloud Society squad had faces contorted in terror. In the face of death, each of them burst forth with their fastest speed.

…Meanwhile, a few kilometers ahead, Luo Feng’s squad was so terrified they ran even faster.

“Faster, faster, faster, hurry and escape!” “Don’t let the Death Duststorm catch us!” “Damn it, this Death Duststorm is terrifying. To generate such a powerful duststorm, I’m sure even deep underground, one would be subjected to that terrifying churning force. No wonder the books said burrowing underground was certain death.” Though Lei Shen was tense, he had nothing else to do, as he and Hong were being carried by the mentalist Aogu.

Aogu carried two people alone, Luo Feng rode his Duntiansuo, and Tienan River flew by himself. Their speed was indeed very fast.

…After two more slow-running members of the Black Cloud Society squad died, the Death Duststorm’s speed began to decrease, and its overwhelming momentum also started to wane. Clearly, this Death Duststorm was coming to an end.

“Phew, we finally escaped that ordeal,” Luo Feng sighed in relief.

“Look, only three members of the Black Cloud Society squad are left. One Star-level Ninth-tier mentalist, and two Star-level Second-tier and Third-tier youths,” Lei Shen observed the three rapidly approaching figures behind them. Among them, the Star-level Ninth-tier man stood on a disc, carrying a pair of young men and women.

“That’s normal,” Luo Feng also watched the three figures in the distance. “Every squad arranged by the Black Cloud Society will have a ‘Star-level Ninth-tier’ member. The Star-level Ninth-tier members are there to serve as guardians; the ones truly being trained and tested are the Star-level Second-tier and Third-tier youths. These are the Black Cloud Society’s important junior elites.”

The three deliberately put distance between themselves and Luo Feng’s group, flying off in another direction. This sudden Death Duststorm had caused heavy losses for that Black Cloud Society squad. Although Luo Feng’s squad suffered no losses, none of them dared to relax their guard.

…After flying for about another half an hour. “Master, there’s a continuous mountain range ahead,” Tienan River said, his sunken eyes spotting the inconspicuous mountain range in the distance at a glance.

“A mountain range?” Luo Feng and the others immediately accelerated. Indeed, a mountain range stretching as far as the eye could see appeared before them. This range was covered in a large number of trees and plants, and compared to the Death Desert, it was clearly full of vitality.

“It really is a mountain range,” Hong said, looking down at his smart optical computer screen. “Second Brother, Third Brother, according to the map, I believe we’ve reached the ‘Longsuo Mountain Range.’”

“Longsuo Mountain Range?” Lei Shen shot into the sky, flying higher to carefully observe the contours of the mountain range and some specific landmarks. Then he looked down at his auxiliary optical computer screen. “Hmm, this should be the central point of the border between the Longsuo Mountain Range and the Death Desert. It’s 16,000 kilometers from one of our destinations—Demon Moon Lake.”

Demon Moon Lake was located deep within the Longsuo Mountain Range. It was a lake over a hundred kilometers wide, and due to its abundant water sources, several fierce beast groups had gathered around it, including a herd of ‘Unicorn Iron Rhinoceros.’

The horn of a Unicorn Iron Rhinoceros was one of the items required to pass this assessment.

“Big Brother, Second Brother, we need to be even more careful in the Longsuo Mountain Range than in the Death Desert,” Luo Feng reminded them. “The Death Desert primarily poses natural threats, but in the Longsuo Mountain Range, with its abundant forests and plants, fierce beasts lurk everywhere, and many humans participating in the assessment will also be inside! Battles with fierce beasts and mutual slaughter among humans are common here.”

“Understood,” Hong and Lei Shen both nodded.

In terms of danger, the Longsuo Mountain Range was the truly perilous place.

Of course… in the Thunder World, Unicorn Iron Rhinoceros herds were not found only around Demon Moon Lake; there were several other locations. However, Demon Moon Lake was currently the closest to Luo Feng and his group.

“Be wary of humans, and be wary of the natural threats of this Realm Lord world, especially lightning! If there are any signs of thunder, immediately move away from places likely to be struck by lightning.” Luo Feng still remembered the experience descriptions from the books they had purchased: the most terrifying natural power in the entire Thunder World was—lightning!

This world was named ‘Thunder World’ precisely because its lightning was too terrifying, far surpassing all other natural powers! If struck, even weaker Domain Lords would instantly turn to ash. Star-level? Absolutely no chance of survival.