Chapter 1289: Peak of the Cloud Sea, flashing thunder ranking

The old man stared fixedly at Wang Lin, his terror and disbelief impossible to conceal in the slightest. He had been in deep meditation, and without him noticing a thing, the door to his Immortal Cave had rumbled open.

In his hundreds of years of cultivation, he had never encountered such a bizarre event. What made his hair stand on end even more was that the moment the door to the Immortal Cave opened on its own, a figure he was extremely familiar with walked in from outside.

This Immortal Cave contained a vast number of Restrictions. Some were left from the past, while many others had been personally imprinted by the old man over the last few hundred years. Once all of them were activated, any Core Formation Cultivator entering would certainly die. Even a Nascent Soul Old Monster stepping inside would be severely injured if they were the least bit careless, and it was highly likely they would perish on the spot!

Yet… yet he watched with his own eyes as that familiar figure walked slowly toward him, step by step, amidst the roaring of Restrictions and the flashing of various Spell lights.

At this moment, the old man's scalp tingled. In particular, the other party's cold gaze felt like ten thousand arrows piercing his heart. As it landed on him, it immediately caused his Nascent Soul to feel a stinging pain, as if that gaze had materialized into substance, piercing countless holes through his entire body, leaving even his Nascent Soul unable to escape!

Furthermore, a pressure emerged invisibly as the other party approached step by step. Each step felt like it was trampling onto his Nascent Soul, causing the old man's face to instantly turn pale. His body trembled, he spat out blood, and he scrambled backward in horror, unable to even manage to stand up!

"Yu… Yu Fei!!!"

Wang Lin walked through the layers of Restrictions and entered the Immortal Cave. He swept his gaze over the Nascent Soul junior, then withdrew it, no longer looking at him, and instead examined the surroundings of the Immortal Cave.

The Immortal Cave was not small; it contained six stone chambers and connected to the mountain valley, with a small path leading into the valley.

The sound of flowing water could be faintly heard, coming from the stream in the valley, and a refreshing fragrance permeated the air, clearly indicating that many Spiritual Plants had been planted.

The Immortal Cave was very clean, without a trace of clutter, and the surrounding stone walls were quite smooth, faintly reflecting images. In particular, a huge Formation pattern was carved above the Immortal Cave, slowly rotating. Once activated, it could make the stone wall above transparent, allowing someone sitting in the Immortal Cave to see the starry sky outside.

The Nascent Soul old man's heart pounded faster and faster, yet he dared not move at all. The look of disbelief in his eyes remained intense. In his eyes, Wang Lin was like the owner of this Immortal Cave, leisurely looking around, while he himself had become the outsider, sitting uneasily with his mind in turmoil.

Wang Lin looked up at the Formation above the Immortal Cave. Although he considered this Formation crude, it also had its ingenious aspects.

The moment he looked up, a flash of murderous intent appeared in the old man's eyes. His body lunged forward, executing the teleportation technique that only Nascent Soul Cultivators could possess!

Teleportation was the most obvious distinction between Nascent Soul and Core Formation. A Nascent Soul Old Monster possessing teleportation was overwhelmingly powerful among Core Formation Cultivators.

In an instant, he appeared behind Wang Lin and spat out a green light. That green light contained a heavenly thunder, and there were faintly many vengeful spirits inside, transforming into miserable phantoms that circled within the green light of the heavenly thunder as it struck directly at Wang Lin.

Without even looking at the result, the old man teleported again after spitting out his Lifebound Treasure, intending to leave the Immortal Cave and escape!

But the moment he prepared to teleport and escape, his eyes bulged wide. His body came to a complete stop in mid-air, staring blankly ahead, cold sweat dripping down. In front of him, Wang Lin, who should have been behind him, had appeared, looking at him coldly.

"Did I let you leave?"

Wang Lin pinched the green heavenly thunder with two fingers of his right hand and flicked his wide sleeve. The old man's body retreated repeatedly, spitting out a mouthful of blood, and he slammed into the wall behind him with a bang. Terror occupied his entire gaze, and he stammered, "You… how did you become so strong!!!"

With a gentle pinch of two fingers, the green heavenly thunder was suddenly extinguished, vanishing without a trace.

This scene struck the old man's mind like a heavy hammer, causing his body to shake. His face lost all color, his internal Nascent Soul immediately withered, and black blood flowed from the corners of his mouth.

"You cannot kill me!!! Life-and-death fighting is not allowed among clansmen. If you kill me, the clan Elders will definitely…"

The old man was now completely filled with fear. Wang Lin's strength had already exceeded his imagination. He could not understand how a Cultivator who was previously only at Core Formation, whom he could bully and drive away at will, had become so powerful after just a few days.

But before he could finish speaking, Wang Lin released his Divine Sense, which transformed into an invisible giant hand that pressed directly onto the old man's heavenly spirit in the void. He immediately activated the Soul Searching Spell. Under his powerful cultivation, the old man did not even have the qualification to resist; his body immediately trembled violently, and a moment later, he collapsed on the ground, unconscious.

After reviewing the Nascent Soul old man's memories, Wang Lin's eyes flickered, and he began to ponder.

In the Primordial Stars, he had not killed many members of the Flashing Thunder Clan, but when all the memories he had obtained were added together, he had gained a relatively detailed understanding of the Flashing Thunder Clan.

"By using this free-range method, they make the people within the clan learn to scheme against each other, learn the law of the jungle, and from within it, they can evolve generation after generation of outstanding talents for the Flashing Thunder Clan!"

"Of the sixteen Cultivation Planets, apart from the three mother planets inhabited by a large number of clansmen, the remaining thirteen are all trial planets for the Flashing Thunder Clan members! Every hundred years, there is a quota to enter the Holy Land, and this single quota requires all clansmen on the thirteen Cultivation Planets to compete for it!"

"Because once one enters the Holy Land and personally comes into contact with that Indestructible Thunder, it can cause the Clan Seal to open further, causing the cultivation of the one entering the Holy Land to skyrocket!"

"Currently, there are still seven years until the next quota battle… However, the method the Flashing Thunder Clan uses to compete for this once-in-a-century quota is extremely interesting… It is not just about looking at cultivation and fighting, but about obtaining Thunder Crystals!"

"Seven years from now, the person with the most Thunder Crystals can enter the Holy Land! This opportunity should not be missed; it can allow me to enter the Holy Land openly and absorb that Indestructible Thunder!"

Wang Lin's eyes flashed. He grabbed at the void with his right hand, and the lightning mark on the Nascent Soul old man's brow trembled urgently. A dark light flashed, and a Jade Slip flew out from within it.

People in the Primordial Stars rarely use Storage Pouches. Their brow marks contain a Storage Space, and all items can be placed within it.

With the Jade Slip in hand, Wang Lin easily saw the content of the Jade Slip without damaging the Divine Sense mark on it.

This Jade Slip contained a Formation that was constantly running, faintly merging with heaven and earth, and the content within it changed at any time; it was a ranking list!

On this ranking list, names were arranged, totaling exactly eight hundred. Behind each name was a row of numbers, and those numbers represented the Thunder Crystals!

The number of people in the Flashing Thunder Clan was clearly far more than eight hundred, but only by entering the top eight hundred could one be listed on this ranking!

"One billion nine hundred seventy million…" Wang Lin glanced at the number of Thunder Crystals of the person ranked first, and his brows could not help but furrow. This person ranked first was named Yun Shanzi.

"One billion three hundred ninety million…" The person ranked second was named Furong.

A hasty glance showed that even the eight hundredth place had over four hundred thousand Thunder Crystals. As for the Nascent Soul old man in this Immortal Cave, his Thunder Crystals were only a little over seventy thousand, which was insignificant.

Thunder Crystals were not physical objects, but a term. There were many ways to obtain Thunder Crystals. The fastest was through offerings—whether it be Cultivation Techniques, Divine Abilities, Magic Treasures, Medicinal Pills, or things like Artifact Refining or Alchemy Materials, and even incense power; offering them to the Flashing Thunder Clan would allow one to exchange for Thunder Crystals.

Among them, exchanging with incense power yielded the most, while other items depended on their grade.

This was not the first time Wang Lin had encountered such a thing. When he first entered the Demon Spirit Land, it was very similar to the current situation. The Demon Spirit Land looked at battle merits, while this Flashing Thunder Clan had changed to a different method, mobilizing the entire clan to collect various items, allowing the Flashing Thunder Clan members to not only improve their cultivation but also accumulate resources.

"Quite interesting!" Wang Lin's eyes flashed. He slapped the void with his right hand, and the mark on the Nascent Soul old man's brow opened completely. Magic Treasures and Medicinal Pills flew out from within, and with a flick of Wang Lin's sleeve, they were all taken away.

Wang Lin did not kill this old man. He naturally knew that the Flashing Thunder Clan strictly forbade life-and-death fighting among clansmen; once it occurred, someone would surely come to investigate.

No longer looking at the unconscious old man, Wang Lin walked toward the path leading to the valley deep within the Immortal Cave. Upon entering the mountain valley, the sound of flowing water became clearer, and a small river flowed not far in front of him.

On both sides of the riverbank, many Immortal Plants were planted. What attracted Wang Lin's attention the most was a Thunder Branch that emitted faint pulses of lightning power. This object grew on the mountain valley wall, extending about seven feet out, and it had six cyan fruits the size of fists on it.

Just as Wang Lin was observing these Thunder Fruits, a thousand miles outside the Immortal Cave where he was located, four sword lights came whistling in. Standing on those four sword lights were four old men. All four of them had eyes like lightning and were not weak in cultivation. Among them, one had even reached the Middle Stage of Nascent Soul, with an arrogant expression and cold light flowing in his eyes.

The people beside him were behind. One of them pointed forward and said respectfully, "Uncle, ahead is that Qi Zhi's Immortal Cave. He is the only Nascent Soul Early Stage Old Monster within a hundred thousand miles around here, and over the years, he has plundered quite a few treasures."

The Middle Stage Nascent Soul old man nodded slightly, his expression revealing indifference, and said slowly, "Very good. You three can go to the Heavenly Thunder Sect to receive your rewards afterward. Working for my Heavenly Thunder Sect will naturally not leave you mistreated."

The three Core Formation Cultivators immediately showed wild joy in their eyes. The person who spoke before hurriedly thanked him respectfully and smiled, "Uncle, this time taking all of Qi Zhi's treasures will surely allow you to exchange for quite a few Thunder Crystals, and by that time, your status in the Heavenly Thunder Sect will surely rise quite a bit."

The Nascent Soul old man looked at the Core Formation Cultivator who spoke and said calmly, "The items I obtain are not for me to exchange for Thunder Crystals myself, but to hand over to the Sect Master. My Heavenly Thunder Sect Master is already extremely close to the flashing thunder ranking and will soon be listed within it!"

Once this was said, the three Core Formation Cultivators immediately showed shock in their eyes, and their expressions became even more respectful.