Chapter 365: The Origin of the Heart of Thunder, A Demon Awakens!
"Argh! You'll die a horrible death!"
A miserable scream rang out as the injured man's soul fled from his body in a desperate attempt to escape.
Crack!
But in that instant, a streak of lightning arced down from above the Thunder Lake, striking the soul and instantly disintegrating it into nothing.
The one who had launched the sneak attack snatched the Heart of Thunder and retreated decisively, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
The others didn't even have time to react.
Around the lake, many of the cultivators exchanged wary glances, eyes filled with alertness and greed as they stared at the two newly emerged Hearts of Thunder.
"Big Brother Lin Fan, there's definitely something unusual about the bottom of this lake," Lin Dong whispered, leaning in.
Lin Fan nodded slightly. "Yeah. These Hearts of Thunder are forming at the lakebed and then slowly rising to the surface."
"Should we go down and take a look?" Lin Dong's eyes flashed with desire as he stared into the depths.
"Let's go," Lin Fan agreed without hesitation.
He called out to Mu Lingshan, and the three of them dove together into the Thunder Lake.
Seeing this, Liu Xiangxuan and the rest of the Xuan Heaven Palace group hesitated, then their expressions sharpened.
"We're going too!" Liu Xiangxuan said firmly, leading her group in after them.
With that, wave after wave of people leapt into the lake.
"Whatever treasure's here must be at the bottom!"
The remaining onlookers immediately understood what was happening, their eyes gleaming with greed.
Splash splash splash!
One after another, cultivators plunged into the lake in a frenzy.
In the blink of an eye, the once-still Thunder Lake turned into a churning frenzy.
Zzzzt!
Within the Thunder Lake, Lin Fan and his group moved like swimming fish, cutting through the current.
The Thunder Lake wasn't filled with ordinary water—it was thick, silver thunder magma, with arcs of lightning crackling throughout, releasing an intensely violent energy.
Lin Fan, possessing control over thunder, moved unimpeded through it. He also extended his power to shield Lin Dong and Mu Lingshan, lightening the pressure on them.
Behind them, Liu Xiangxuan and her group, as well as many others from the Devil Chaos Sea, continued to descend deeper.
Though Lin Fan was aware of their presence, he paid them no mind and continued diving toward the lakebed.
As they went deeper, Lin Fan realized the lake stretched far wider than expected, and its terrain was complex.
Massive silver stone formations rose like submerged reefs, stretching out endlessly across the lake floor.
Eventually, Lin Fan came upon an enormous trench in the thunderrock seabed. It was deep and dark, as though it connected to the very core of the earth.
On the trench's walls, countless caves could be seen. By reflecting the light from the thunder magma, Lin Fan caught sight of faint figures seated within those caves.
But those figures… were completely lifeless.
"Could those figures be disciples of the sect that once owned this temple? Did they choose to pass away in meditation in those caves?" Lin Dong asked in astonishment.
"Possibly," Lin Fan replied, shaking his head.
They drifted closer to one of the caves.
Now at close range, they could clearly see that the caves did indeed contain corpses seated in meditation.
The corpses were shriveled and thin, their bodies infused with thunder energy. From them, Lin Fan could sense lightning compressed to the very limit.
Over the centuries, these corpses had been completely saturated by thunder, and combined with the crushing pressure of the lake, they had become mummified husks formed entirely from thunder energy.
At the abdomen of each corpse, Lin Fan saw faint wisps of black, evil energy swirling.
However, that black energy was almost entirely sealed off—repressed by the pure thunder energy within the corpses.
Because of this, the black energy could not take control of their bodies, unlike the other violent, mindless corpses they had encountered earlier.
These people were worthy of respect.
To avoid falling to corruption and becoming killing machines, they had chosen to die here beneath the lake, sealing their own bodies with thunder.
Boom…
Suddenly, a dull rumble echoed from a nearby cave.
A silver corpse inside one of the caves began to glow with brilliant lightning, its entire body flickering like a miniature silver sun.
Boom!
In the next moment, the corpse exploded, and from the blast rose a glowing orb—inside of which floated a pulsing silver heart.
It was a Heart of Thunder!
"So that's how the Hearts of Thunder are formed?" Mu Lingshan gasped, her big eyes widening in surprise.
"This may have been their final wish…" Lin Fan said quietly, his heart filled with respect for those fallen cultivators.
And they weren't the only ones to witness it—others who had dove into the lake were beginning to understand the origin of the Hearts of Thunder as well.
Instantly, the Thunder Lake was in uproar.
"Hahaha! So many silver corpses—if all of them became Hearts of Thunder, this would be insane!"
"Outside, Hearts of Thunder are incredibly rare. And here, they're everywhere! This really is the Reincarnation Temple!"
"If I can grab a few more of those hearts, this trip will have been more than worth it!"
…
Voices echoed through the crowd as a storm of greed swept the lake floor.
Unable to resist the temptation, cultivators surged toward the trench and the caves lining it.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
One after another, the silver corpses within the caves began to explode.
Hearts of Thunder floated upward, glowing with dazzling energy.
Each time a heart appeared, those nearby would charge in with red eyes, fighting viciously for the prize.
Soon, the entire trench was plunged into brutal chaos. Blood dyed the thunder magma red, and the scent of slaughter hung in the water.
People's greed was insatiable—one Heart of Thunder wasn't enough. They wanted two… then three…
Amid the bloodshed, no one noticed the subtle change occurring deeper in the trench.
In some of the caves further down, the more muscular, larger silver corpses began to stir, reacting to the scent of blood.
Faint wisps of black, eerie energy slowly began to rise.
And at the very bottom of the trench, inside a massive cave, sat a towering silver corpse, over several meters tall.
Its entire body was etched with twisted, evil black runes—demonic markings of the Yi Mo.
And its tightly shut eyes, sealed for centuries…
…trembled slightly.
As if a demon was about to awaken.
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