Since my fall had triggered a collapse in this place, it signified instability. Even a grand mage wielding potent spells of confinement could scarcely withstand the crumbling of this Lightning Immortal Realm!” Wang Lin stood within a tunnel, a location divined after committing the labyrinthine pathways to memory.

This point, to be precise, was a nexus, a junction where nearly all branches of the tunnels converged.

“Using the time-locked exits as bait, driving me to frantic flight and escalating vexation… This tormentor is possessed of a cruel boredom!” A chilling glint flashed in Wang Lin’s eyes.

His nature could not abide being so easily manipulated. He would shatter this game with his own strength!

Wang Lin raised his gaze to the earthen ceiling of the tunnel. With a slap to his storage bag, the God-Slaying Chariot shot forth, transforming into a thunder beast. Upon its emergence, the beast roared, its spirit bound to Wang Lin’s. Without command, lightning crackled across its form, concentrating into the silver horn upon its head.

In that instant, the silver horn blazed with blinding light. A defiant roar ripped from the beast’s throat as it surged upward, a spear of concentrated thunder. The silver horn, a weapon of celestial lightning, pierced into the tunnel’s earthen roof.

A cataclysmic boom echoed through the passages, a tremor so intense it rippled through the very ground beneath Wang Lin’s feet. The shockwaves pulsed outward, engulfing the entire subterranean network.

The thunder beast, battered by the backlash, staggered back, its body shimmering faintly, yet its eyes blazed with unyielding defiance.

In that moment, a spectral form flickered behind Wang Lin. The Immortal Guard puppet strode forth, its golden armor shot with streaks of amber. With a mighty heave, it unleashed a fist upon the very spot where the thunder beast’s horn had struck.

*Thoom!* The sound of celestial discord rent the air, the earth shuddering with each blow.

The Immortal Guard, its flesh unyielding, withdrew its fist only to strike again, a relentless assault that unleashed further quakes and jarring reverberations. After five such strikes, the puppet was forced to retreat, its golden aura dimmed, even its lifeforce faltering.

Wang Lin watched with detached calm. The point he had chosen was assuredly correct. As the Immortal Guard retreated, Wang Lin once more tapped his storage bag. The immortal sword, imbued with the awakened sword spirit of Xu Liguo, shot forth with a piercing wail. Amidst Xu Liguo’s curses, the blade lunged skyward.

The combined assault of thunder beast, puppet, and immortal sword triggered a violent upheaval within the fragment of the Lightning Immortal Realm. The tunnel in particular became an epicenter of destruction, sending tremors through all connected pathways.

With a guttural cry, Wang Lin wove hand seals. Immortal energy surged within him, his nascent soul radiating the power of lightning. Bolts of pure energy coalesced in his hands, hurled forth with potent force. Simultaneously, the thunder beast roared, its silver horn leading the charge, accompanying Wang Lin’s electric onslaught.

The Immortal Guard followed close behind!

The fragmented continent trembled as never before. The tunnel collapsed!

The collapse of one tunnel triggered a chain reaction, bringing down all connected passages in a chaotic cascade. The earth caved in, revealing the raw fabric of the land, but even amidst the destruction, a faint network of Heaven’s Qi remained, spread wide, both horizontally and vertically.

These fine threads, a dense latticework, seldom intersected. Yet each point of intersection birthed a gateway of light.

Wang Lin’s pupils constricted. The tunnels’ collapse had not dispelled his foe’s sorcery; it lingered still!

But with the earth barrier gone, escape through the time-locked exits became far easier. As the next gateway of light appeared, Wang Lin darted forward, a wisp of smoke moving at impossible speed. The Immortal Guard and thunder beast followed hard on his heels.

Emerging into the open, he paused not a moment but leapt into the void, drawing a deep breath.

“What could be this one’s aim? To slay me? Such arts could easily accomplish that. To ensnare me? The exits need merely disappear. Why then…” He furrowed his brow, casting a glance at the lingering threads of Qi that formed the prison below.

After a moment of contemplation, Wang Lin recalled his thunder beast and puppet. He could not fathom his enemy’s motives, but the ethereal strands of energy sent a chill down his spine.

He surveyed his surroundings, muttering, “So this is the Lightning Immortal Realm…” To those who had attained the Second Step of cultivation, he thought, immortal jade would hold little worth. They seek the Force.

This question, ever since learning of the Force’s importance, had troubled his mind. Why would those of the Second Step so desperately seek this place?

His doubts began to unravel after encountering Shen Gonghu. By probing inquiries, he learned more.

Beyond immortal jade, the Lightning Immortal Realm contained immortal pills and treasures. Though each opening yielded some finds, many remained hidden.

Whether one could find them depended on fate. Rumors spoke of whole immortal techniques buried within the Realm. Although some had recovered fragments of such arts, the complete techniques remained elusive. Yet all cultivators in the Luo Tian Starfield believed them to exist!

Furthermore, this realm held eight preserved bodies of immortals.

If one could find more, or even a mere clue, selling such information to the Lightning Immortal Hall would bring great reward. If the information proved true, the Hall would bestow significant benefits.

And if one recovered an immortal’s corpse, the rewards, beyond imagining, would extend to the finder’s very family.
Should a cultivator of sufficient talent acquire the remains of a celestial being within the Realm of Thunderous Heavens, they might even be chosen as a disciple by one of the Ten Great Elders of the Lightning Immortal Palace! Such fortune would propel them skyward on winds of destiny, their future gleaming with limitless potential.

Yet, beyond such grand prospects, another allure beckoned the Second Step cultivators of the Luo Tian Starfield to this perilous realm – the enigmatic Void Pits.

Legends spoke of a Yuan Power Pit, a relic of the Thunderous Heavens, discovered but once, more than ten thousand years past. Its finder was a mere Ascendant cultivator who, within its depths, astonishingly broke through the first barrier of cultivation and ascended to the Second Step!

This tale, somehow whispered into the cosmos, ignited a wildfire of desire amongst all cultivators.

The origins of the Void Pits remained shrouded in mystery. Even during the countless openings of the Thunderous Heavens prior, no such pit had been found. It seemed to have materialized from thin air.

Within these pits lay vast quantities of Heaven-Earth Yuan Power, so dense that even those who had not yet reached the Second Step could absorb it simply by breathing, without need of laborious refinement.

This confluence of miracles, amplified by countless rumors, drew a multitude to the Thunderous Heavens.

Alongside the Yuan Power Pits, another treasure awaited – Source Vessels, as the Second Step cultivators of this realm called them. These vessels contained celestial energy unlike that found in Immortal Jades; an altogether more potent and peculiar power. First Step cultivators who absorbed this energy could forge it into celestial power within their bodies, while for those of the Second Step, it transformed into Yuan Power itself!

These were the whispers that truly piqued Wang Lin’s interest. He wondered why such things were unheard of in the Realm of Rain within the Alliance Star System, why he had never even glimpsed them.

But the answers remained elusive. He suspected that the Realm of Rain was somehow smaller, perhaps more fragmented, than this Realm of Thunderous Heavens. Or perhaps it had been deliberately altered, made incomplete, its secrets concealed, its full potential never unveiled.

“My cultivation… it is still insufficient,” Wang Lin murmured, transforming into a streak of lightning, ready to depart. But then, the ethereal strands of Yuan Power on the ground abruptly collapsed and vanished.

He halted, his gaze fixed on the ruined earth.

From deep within the wreckage, a faint, almost imperceptible ripple of celestial power emanated. Half-buried within the soil, a gray-white, curved handle was revealed.

The celestial energy pulsed from this object.

On a fragment continent within the Thunderous Heavens, a white-haired elder stood with his hands clasped behind his back, staring at a towering mountain that pierced the clouds. He licked his lips, about to approach when he paused, as if sensing something. He chuckled, “The little one uses cunning. Had he not, he would never have escaped in seven days. But cunning is no matter. If you so desperately desire to be my chosen one, I shall be mercifully accept you!”

“However, more important matters beckon. For this, I have schemed and gathered for tens of thousands of years. Now, at last, I shall succeed! Once I claim the soul of this immortal mountain and cast the Great Luo Tian Array, then I shall seek you out!”

Excitement burned in the elder’s eyes. Few things in this world could stir such passion within him. But this grand plan, tens of thousands of years in the making, was such a thing!

With a hearty laugh, he stepped forward and vanished towards the towering mountain. “I shall be the first in the Luo Tian Starfield to achieve this! When this plan is complete, I shall sweep through the Alliance Star System and ensure that the wretched Chong Xuanzi dies a most agonizing death!”

Meanwhile, Wang Lin descended slowly, his hand reaching out to grasp the handle in the soil. It was a fragment, a piece of what appeared to be a broken teapot.

His eyes flickered as he scanned the ground. He could sense, faintly, other emanations deeper within.

“Why did I not sense this before…? Why only after the collapse…?” He pondered, staring at the fragment.

Just then, a streak of black light tore across the distant sky. It carried with it a palpable aura of demonic energy. As if sensing something, it hesitated, then abruptly changed course and hurtled towards Wang Lin.

The demonic energy pulsed with naked killing intent and domineering force!

“Insolent whelp! Leave that which you hold and begone! Defy me, and you shall find death!”

It had been long since he had tasted blood! The hunt begins! Let the Moon Tickets flow, and the slaughter shall be glorious! Should they surpass two hundred, I shall carve out a legend of carnage within the Thunderous Heavens! Let Wang Lin’s rise to renown begin now!