Thunderwind Canyon

Immersed in cultivation, time passed quickly.

"Luo Feng, it's almost dawn. Hong and Lei Shen have both stopped cultivating," Babata said, his eyes closed, lying on a chair in the quiet cultivation room.

"Oh?" Luo Feng closed the book in his hand, shut his eyes, and reviewed the detailed cultivation process, execution methods, and theoretical explanations of the 'Myriad Sword Soul Seal' secret technique he had studied earlier. Then, Luo Feng smiled and opened his eyes. This night, he had theoretically mastered the 'Myriad Sword Soul Seal' secret technique.

Starting tomorrow, he would begin formal cultivation! Once mastered, this 'Myriad Sword Soul Seal' would be the only soul attack secret technique Luo Feng currently possessed that he could truly rely on.

"Babata, I'm leaving." Luo Feng placed the book on the bookshelf.

"Countdown alert: The Nuolanshan family forces will arrive on Earth in two years, four months, and twenty-nine days," Babata called out.

"Two years, four months, and twenty-nine days..." Luo Feng murmured softly, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. He couldn't rely on anyone else for the Nuolanshan family forces arriving in two years. In such a short time, Hong and Lei Shen wouldn't be strong enough to help. For now, he had to bear the burden alone!

"Just over two years."

"What should I do?"

"If the Nuolanshan family fleet sends Universe-level Tier 6 or 7 powerhouses, how will I cope?" Luo Feng was deeply troubled. His Golden Horned Beast body could indeed advance to Universe-level in a few months! However, once it reached Universe-level, the time required for evolution would become very long, and if he used metal combinations, the cost would be astronomically higher than at the Star-level, and he didn't have enough money.

***

Milky Way Galaxy, Void Region.

A streamlined D3-class spaceship, shaped like an axe, flew rapidly through the starry sky.

"Baikaluo, you've emerged from seclusion?" In the control room, Dewen Nuolanshan, the second-generation patriarch of the Nuolanshan family, with pointed ears, turned to look at the newcomer.

"Mm." Baikaluo, shrouded in a black robe, nodded slightly.

Dewen felt a pang of discomfort.

As the second-generation patriarch of the family, he had naturally become a disciple of the clan's ancestor early on. And this Baikaluo was his junior brother! However... Baikaluo possessed extremely high comprehension, making him one of the most outstanding among Nuolanshan's many disciples. Currently, Dewen was a Universe-level Tier 6, while Baikaluo was a Universe-level Tier 8! Baikaluo certainly had the right to be aloof!

At Universe-level Tier 8, and in terms of comprehension and combat experience, Baikaluo far surpassed Dewen, who had once been the patriarch.

"Baikaluo, what kind of experts do you think are on Earth? Even the elite squad couldn't send back a message before they all died. Their opponent's strength isn't weak," Dewen said, looking at the beautiful starry scenery ahead, asking his junior brother beside him. Baikaluo's cold eyes gazed outside: "The mechanical race's spaceship has been sitting there all this time, and no one has taken it. Even if there are experts, they can't be that powerful."

Dewen's eyes lit up, and he chuckled, "Junior brother makes a good point."

"Senior brother, how much longer until we reach Earth?" Baikaluo asked indifferently.

"Approximately two years, four months, and twenty-six days," Dewen replied.

"Oh, then I'll enter the Virtual Universe first," Baikaluo said, turning and leaving the control room.

Dewen watched Baikaluo's retreating figure, cursing inwardly: "That bastard, he probably only left his cabin this time to ask how much longer until Earth. He didn't even come out once when we were traversing the wormhole. Now that he knows the approximate time, he probably won't show his face again until we reach Earth."

Among Nuolanshan's many disciples, Baikaluo was an extremely reclusive one.

***

If Luo Feng knew that the two Universe-level powerhouses dispatched by the Nuolanshan family were a Universe-level Tier 6 and a Universe-level Tier 8, his psychological pressure would likely be much greater.

***

It had been 51 days since they entered the Thunder World.

"It's fine, let's keep going," Lei Shen called out, sitting on the ground. His waist was covered in blood, which had completely soaked through.

"Don't push yourself. We're very close to Thunderwind Canyon anyway, just over eight thousand kilometers, we can reach it in a day," Luo Feng said in a low voice. "Your injuries are severe right now. Even with Muya Jing, it'll take several hours to recover."

"Yes, second brother, it's not too late to set off tomorrow," Hong also looked at Lei Shen.

Lei Shen gritted his teeth and cursed under his breath, "Damn that bastard bird!"

Seeing this, Luo Feng felt helpless. Traveling from the Longsuo Mountain Range to 'Thunderwind Canyon' meant traversing more than half of the Thunder World. Earlier, in the Longsuo Mountain Range, relying on Babata's warning device, they hadn't encountered any danger, so they had all been quite optimistic. But who would have thought...

Only when they truly began traversing more than half of the Thunder World did they realize that, as a trial world designed for elimination and selection, it was far from as easy as they had imagined.

A 20,000-meter warning range? That was useful in mountain jungles, because many areas in mountain jungles had dense trees, making 20,000 meters a safe distance.

However, in plains, grasslands, swamps, rocky mountain areas, and so on, some fierce beasts could see for hundreds of li with the naked eye. Once spotted! With the speed of these fierce beasts, even with the Thunder World's strong gravity, they could cover 20 kilometers in just one or two seconds.

From a 20-kilometer warning to Luo Feng reacting and ordering the others, the time Luo Feng and his team had to escape was less than a second.

So, encountering danger was perfectly normal!

Just now... a golden monstrous bird, similar to a giant eagle, probably spotted them from high in the sky while flying far away, and swooped down to attack. This golden monstrous bird was incredibly fast and extremely powerful. It was much stronger than an average Star-level Tier 9 warrior. Tienan River was snatched away on the spot!

The fierce claw energy raged. Luo Feng and Hong, though wearing alloy combat suits externally, both had 'Moyun Battle Armor' internally to absorb a large amount of impact, so they were unharmed. But Lei Shen suffered.

Fortunately, it was only the claw energy that flew off his body. If he had actually been caught by those sharp claws, Lei Shen would have lost his life.

And that golden monstrous bird, after being hit by Aogu's soul attack, knew it couldn't win quickly, so it immediately turned and fled.

"Everyone must remain vigilant at all times." "The fierce beasts are incredibly fast. By the time I spot them and tell everyone... the time you have to dodge and escape will be very short," Luo Feng said in a low voice. "We're only a little over eight thousand kilometers from Thunderwind Canyon, a day's journey. We absolutely cannot afford any mistakes on this last day."

"We've faced so many dangers. Those squads without warning capabilities must have been in constant life-or-death peril all this way," Lei Shen couldn't help but say.

"We've encountered plenty of life-or-death crises ourselves," Hong said.

***

Another night of quiet cultivation.

That night, Luo Feng spent training in the killing space of the Slaughter Arena. Over these past ten-plus days of cultivation, practicing both the 'Duntiansuo' and the 'Myriad Sword Soul Seal,' he had finally mastered the first layer of the 'Myriad Sword Soul Seal.' The sign of the first layer was simple... being able to manifest a single Sword Soul Seal.

"Soul attack is about virtualizing psychic energy and then arranging it in the most effective way to form an attack."

"The soul attacks comprehended by the psychics on Earth back then were very weak; they couldn't even kill warriors of the same level with soul attacks."

"The structure of this 'Sword Soul Seal' is clearly strange and intricate, much more orderly." Luo Feng was overjoyed. With the Sword Soul Seal, his strength had effectively doubled! Even if a warrior a level higher than him had their soul attacked by his 'Sword Soul Seal,' they wouldn't die, but most would experience a momentary blankness in their minds.

And the Duntiansuo could seize the opportunity to kill the enemy!

One illusory, one real! This was the power of a psychic! If it was purely illusory (relying on soul attacks, illusions, etc.) or purely real (relying on psychic weapons), it wouldn't truly unleash the psychic's might. Unfortunately... whether it was secret techniques for psychic weapons or secret techniques for soul attacks, they were never passed down easily!

Every secret technique was incredibly precious.

And higher-level secret techniques were priceless! For instance, the 'Soul Seal' set of secret techniques, the greatest pride of the Yunmo Star Master, couldn't be exchanged even for a galaxy; Immortal powerhouses wouldn't even consider it.

This was why disciples with backing and masters cultivated faster and broke through more easily!

***

Five streaks of light stopped, revealing five figures.

This squad gazed at the distant mountains, which seemed shrouded in snow, a scene of dim chaos. To be precise, it wasn't snow, but fierce winds mixed with a large amount of stones! At the same time, dark clouds gathered above the mountains, with electric snakes swirling within them, seemingly ready to unleash lightning at any moment.

"Big Brother, Sanzi, according to the map, that's Thunderwind Canyon ahead," Lei Shen said, holding his breath.

"Thunderclouds have been hanging overhead for a long time. There's no other place in this Thunder World with such a sight apart from Thunderwind Canyon," Hong also narrowed his eyes.

Luo Feng watched, holding his breath.

Thunderwind Canyon, the core and central region of this Thunder World, was also the most dangerous place! However, one item required to pass the Cosmic Apprentice Mercenary assessment—the Wind Horn Stone—had to be obtained from this Thunderwind Canyon.

"Let's go," Luo Feng said in a low voice.

The five no longer flew but walked towards Thunderwind Canyon... Strangely, perhaps knowing the dangers of Thunderwind Canyon, not a single fierce beast appeared around it. There was no vegetation on the canyon walls either, just bare, dark stones, occasionally mixed with a hint of silver.

"The wind is so strong," Luo Feng felt, his steps becoming unsteady.

"How strong must this wind be?" Lei Shen and Hong couldn't help but exclaim in awe.

On Earth, what they called a Category 12 typhoon or similar couldn't affect a Star-level powerhouse in the slightest. Yet, at this moment, Luo Feng, Lei Shen, and Hong were all unsteady on their feet. How incredible was that?

"According to the books, the 'wind' in Thunderwind Canyon gets stronger the closer you are to the center and the deeper you go. The wind at the very bottom and center is like knives! It contains powerful cosmic origin energy, and even Universe-level powerhouses flying into the center of the canyon would be shredded into mincemeat by the gale, certain to die."

"The most dangerous bottom, covered by the fierce winds, holds the most Wind Horn Stones."

"Of course, many Wind Horn Stones also dance with the wind."

"Throughout Thunderwind Canyon, the most dangerous element is the lightning. Once lightning strikes, even weaker Domain Lords would die instantly. Universe-level powerhouses have no chance of survival, let alone us Star-levels. Everyone, tell me, how should we obtain those Wind Horn Stones now?" Luo Feng looked at the other four beside him. At that moment, a voice echoed in his sea of consciousness: "Luo Feng, within a 20-kilometer radius of your squad, there are a total of 1092 humans."