Whoosh!

A figure rapidly approached from dozens of miles west of Thunder Mountain. As it neared, it was revealed to be a grey-clad old man. The glint in his eyes suggested his cultivation was undoubtedly exceptional.

"Heh heh, the treasures of Thunder King Valley belong to me, Tang Yuanmu. Anyone who dares to compete for them will meet a fate worse than death!"

The grey-clad elder, who introduced himself as Tang Yuanmu, laughed twice, but his face held a cold and intimidating aura.

An iron plaque engraved with a tiny thunder character faintly appeared in his withered palm. If Yun Xiao were here, he might notice that this iron plaque looked somewhat similar to the one he held.

The figure of Tang Yuanmu soon vanished into Thunder Mountain in the distance. Who knows what kind of turmoil his arrival might stir?

...

At the same time, in the eastern direction of Thunder Mountain, two figures were approaching, one male and one female. The male wore purple robes, while the female donned white, both appearing remarkably striking and refined.

"I say, junior sister, our sect already has everything. Why insist on coming to this Thunder Mountain to hunt for treasures? Do you really believe that Thunder King Valley is the relic of a Heavenly Rank expert?"

The young man in purple, walking beside the woman in white, seemed rather helpless, and his words showed little respect for the legends surrounding Thunder Mountain, almost dismissing them as mere rumors.

"Whether it's true or not, it doesn't matter. We're idle anyway, so why not take a look?"

The woman in white didn't seem angry. After speaking, she gently touched her waist, and an iron plaque appeared in her palm, emitting a faint, unique aura.

"I've had this item for several years unintentionally, but recently it's been showing some changes, almost as if guiding me. The source of this guidance seems to be the Thunder Mountain ahead, or rather, Thunder King Valley!"

Her words, sounding both reflective and explanatory, silenced the young man in purple, who stopped persuading her, but still held an air of disdain.

"In such a remote place, I wonder what kind of expression those folks will have upon seeing us?"

The young man in purple wore a superior expression, but his words earned him a disapproving glance from the woman in white, as if she disagreed.

"Heh heh, the 'Su Shou Yanluo' Ye Suxin and 'Ziyi Xiushan' Tong Baisha from the Killing Heart Sect have impressive titles, but it's doubtful whether they'd recognize us in this guise!"

A hint of hidden murderous intent flashed across her pristine face; such words might make outsiders quake in terror.

"True enough. Alas, the rules of the Killing Heart Sect are annoying. I guess I should find a time to discuss this with the master!"

The young man in the purple robe nodded, looking somewhat dejected. In his youthfulness, anyone would want to shine in public after making a big name, yet due to the sect's peculiarities, their identities had to remain hidden.

"If you don't mind getting a beating, go ahead and talk. I won't speak up for you then!"

The woman in white's eyes flashed with a hint of murder, and with that, she moved swiftly, disappearing tens of meters away in an instant, her speed astonishing.

"Hey, hey, I was just joking! Wait for me, junior sister!"

The young man in purple watched her departing figure with a trace of eagerness, then hurriedly gave chase, heading straight towards the famous Thunder Mountain.

...

Unaware of the events occurring within Thunder Mountain and elsewhere, Yun Xiao had been recuperating in the mountain since he left the Yang family days ago, restoring his Meridian Qi.

Though he hadn't suffered severe internal injuries at the Yang family, activating his Thunder Wings had depleted his Meridian Qi. After several days of rest, he finally recovered to his peak.

Bam!

A dark shape flew backward from the dense forest, crashing into the trunk of a large tree and sliding down lifelessly.

"A middle-level seventh-rank demon core, better than nothing, I suppose."

Yun Xiao leisurely stepped forward, extracted a bloodstained demon core from the wolf-shaped Vein Demon's body, slipped it into his Waist Storage, and without another glance at the wolf demon's corpse, continued deeper into Thunder Mountain.

With Yun Xiao's current Meridian Qi cultivation, at least these Seventh Rank Intermediate Vein Demons pose no threat to him at all, and even some Seventh Rank Advanced Vein Demons would have to suffer in his hands.

However, for Yun Xiao now, the Demon Core of a Seventh Rank Intermediate doesn't have much effect. The energy required by the Ancient Dragon Taming Technique has always been something higher than Yun Xiao's own cultivation.

"Hmm? Is someone over there?"

Just after Yun Xiao had walked about several dozen feet, his ears twitched slightly, as if he vaguely heard the sound of a fight not far ahead, which sparked his interest.

As Yun Xiao moved forward, he finally saw clearly, deep within the dense forest, that there was a figure in green fighting a large Vein Demon. However, the battle was one-sided.

Yun Xiao could see that it was a Vein Demon that had already reached the Seventh Rank Advanced, equivalent to the late stage or even peak of the human Qi Seeking Realm, and yet it was being suppressed by the young man in green, who seemed to have no chance to fight back.

In Yun Xiao's sensing, the young man in green seemed to only have a Half-step Origin Seeking Realm cultivation, but for some reason, the Seventh Rank Advanced Vein Demon was completely suppressed in his hands, making it roar in anger with no way out.

Boom! Crack!

As Yun Xiao was watching from the side, the young man in green suddenly stretched out his right hand, and then a silver lightning unexpectedly shot out from between his fingers, coincidentally hitting the Vein Demon's right eye.

"Roar!"

The Vein Demon let out a painful howl, as the raging thunder energy not only blasted its right eye but also reached its brain, rendering it lifeless in an instant.

"Is this... Thunder Attribute Ancestral Veins?"

Seeing this scene, Yun Xiao's eyes couldn't help but narrow. To be honest, he himself had just activated a Thunder Attribute Ancestral Vein upon breaking through to the Qi Seeking Realm, and recently, he had been searching for thunder-related items to enhance this vein's power. So naturally, he was highly sensitive to such an attribute.

On the continent, there are not many who possess Thunder Attribute Ancestral Vein Power, even in the Nine-layered Dragon Cloud, and it might be only under certain fateful circumstances that one can activate the Thunder Attribute Ancestral Vein.

One reason is if the ancestors had greatly powerful thunder attributes, there might be a small chance of inheriting a Thunder Attribute Ancestral Vein. Since Yun Xiao's reincarnation, he had only seen the Du family of the Thunderwind Empire in Hidden Dragon Continent barely possess such a Thunder Attribute Ancestral Vein, and it wasn't too pure.

As for other reasons, one could bear the Heavenly Tribulation or kill a Thunder Attribute Vein Demon, granting a slight chance to activate the Thunder Attribute Ancestral Vein, but the prerequisite is still that your ancestors have the Thunder attribute, as the Ancestral Vein relies on inheritance.

The young man in green Yun Xiao saw now could summon lightning with a mere wave, demonstrating thunder power control far superior to the Du family in the Thunderwind Empire, at least tenfold.

While Yun Xiao was pondering, the young man in green seemed to sense something, suddenly turning his head, his gaze fiercely fixing on Yun Xiao in the distance, with even a faint flicker of lightning in his eyes.

From that look, Yun Xiao sensed a hint of warning, making him quite puzzled. He was just passing by, so why did that person show such great hostility?

Fortunately, the young man in green made no further movements, only glancing at Yun Xiao. Perhaps upon discovering that the other was just a Qi Seeking Realm late stage cultivator, he lost interest, retrieved the Demon Core from the fallen Vein Demon, and vanished into the depths of the forest.

"Judging by the dense thunder attribute aura on this person, could he possibly be from Sky Thunder Valley, one of the Three Valleys?"

Although slightly annoyed by the man's gaze, Yun Xiao's thoughts shifted to another level. Previously, on the way from Yujiang City to Yuyang City, Yun Xiao had thoroughly asked Lin Xuanhao about the power distribution on Tenglong Continent.

Apart from the top four forces of the Palace and Double Associations, Tenglong Continent houses thirteen first-class forces, including Double Islands, Double Mountains, Three Valleys, and Three Families of Xiao, Chu, and Zhao.

The so-called Sky Thunder Valley is one of the Three Valleys. It is said that the experts in the valley have special control over Heavenly Thunder, capable of guiding lightning from the sky to attack enemies.

According to some small rumors, when some Meridian Refining Masters reach the Heavenly Rank, they occasionally seek out Sky Thunder Valley to use their control over Heavenly Thunder to reduce the Pill Tribulation's power, increasing the chance of successful refining.

Of course, these are unverified, and except for the Heavenly Rank Meridian Refiners and Sky Thunder Valley people themselves, such things won't be casually disclosed. Even if it's true, the Heavenly Rank Meridian Refiner would have paid a significant price.

This is why Sky Thunder Valley occupies a position within the Three Valleys. Compared to Wu Tong's Firewood Valley, which Yun Xiao saw at the Wangu Conference, their overall strength is probably equally matched.

"Sky Thunder Valley, Thunder Power, it seems that this journey to Thunder King Valley is not so simple!"

With these thoughts swirling in his mind, Yun Xiao couldn't help but shake his head with a self-deprecating smile, thinking that with Sky Thunder Valley's obsession with thunder power, they must be determined to obtain the items in Thunder King Valley.

However, Yun Xiao had not the slightest fear. Having conquered even experts at the Seeking Origin Realm level, how could he possibly worry about a mere Half-step Earth Rank Sky Thunder Valley genius?