Chapter Seventy-Nine: The Realm of Thunder

“This is information regarding the distribution of power within the Black Dragon Mountain Empire. Take a look,” Luo Yuan said, transmitting the data from the screen on his armguard to the other thirteen people.

The foundation of the Black Dragon Mountain Empire lay in its two sacred lands: Black Dragon Mountain itself and the Divine Kingdom of the Icy Sea. These were the most formidable official forces.

Among the populace, however, there were four major organizations. Their influence spanned over a thousand star systems, and each group boasted a host of domain lord-level powerhouses. In terms of sheer power, they were not to be underestimated. Moreover, the backgrounds of these four organizations were tied to some of the most influential superiors within the Qianwu Cosmic Nation, so while their internal cohesion might not rival that of the two sacred lands, in terms of peak combat strength, they were nearly on par.

“What? Noranshan is a member of the ‘Hundred Tiger Tower,’ one of the four major organizations?” Luo Feng exclaimed in surprise.

“Noranshan has such a powerful background?” Thor was equally shocked, and instinctively formed a soundproof barrier of origin force around them.

“He’s only a low-level member, not part of the upper echelons,” Hong explained.

Hundred Tiger Tower, one of the four great organizations, counted even a ninth-rank universe-level warrior as a mere foot soldier.

“Don’t worry. Once we complete the universe probationary mercenary assessment, we’ll have nothing to fear from them,” Luo Yuan said calmly.

...

“We’re here for the universe probationary mercenary assessment.”

Luo Yuan and his thirteen companions stood before the villa.

“Beep!”

A signal scanned over the fourteen of them, and only then did the guards, hearing the sound, nod in acknowledgment. “You may enter!” Clearly, the identity signals of Luo Yuan’s group had been approved.

A spacious garden lay ahead. At its heart stood an ordinary three-story villa. At the entrance, two women in black stood, their expressions ice-cold. One of them surveyed Luo Yuan’s group gravely. “Fourteen adventurers, I trust you’re all aware of the dangers awaiting you in the domain lord’s world. Should any of you regret your decision, you may still withdraw now.”

“No need. Open the door,” Luo Yuan replied.

With a creak, one of the black-clad women pushed open the villa’s main door. “The domain lord’s world is on the second floor.”

The fourteen filed in and crossed the hall, then ascended the stairs to the second floor. All the other rooms appeared normal, save for one. Before its entrance stood a woman whose face was marked with violet patterns. Upon seeing the group, she immediately pulled the door open, and a stream of shimmering radiance spilled out from within.

“A teleportation gate?” The fourteen held their breath, staring.

The radiant light, like bubbles, was utterly impenetrable to their gaze.

“Step through, and you’ll enter the World of Thunder,” the woman said coldly.

“Very well.”

The fourteen exchanged glances and then each reached out their hands, clasping one another. If they didn’t, upon entering the World of Thunder, they would be scattered across different locations.

“The World of Thunder!”

“Let’s go.”

Silently, the fourteen vanished into the stream of light.

With a snap, the woman at the door closed it again.

The stars revolved; the world shifted.

Moments ago, they had stood under the sunlight, at the bustling headquarters of the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance. In the blink of an eye, everything turned to night.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!...

Luo Yuan, Luo Feng, Hong, Thor, and the others plunged downward at an astonishing speed the instant they arrived in the World of Thunder, frantically trying to adjust the gravity around them by manipulating the miniature stars within their bodies, but they were too late! With fourteen muffled thuds, all of them slammed into the ground below.

Luo Yuan managed to steady himself as he touched down, avoiding any embarrassment, but the other thirteen sprawled on the ground like frogs.

“Pah! Pah! That hurt!” Luo Feng scrambled to his feet, spitting out dirt and sand.

“Was the ground covered in nails or something?” Thor stood up as well, looking rather disgruntled.

The fourteen rose and surveyed their surroundings.

A pitch-black world stretched around them, with only faint glimmers of light high in the distant sky, keeping total darkness at bay. Beneath their feet lay a boundless, black—desert!

“A desert?” Hong crouched down, startled.

“Is this the so-called Death Desert we read about in the guide we bought?” Thor was equally astonished. “We fell at such speed and only made such shallow dents? And this is supposed to be a desert?”

“It is a desert,” Luo Yuan replied, grabbing a handful of sand. The grains were a deep blue, almost black at first glance. Each grain was heavy, its density hundreds of times greater than iron on Earth, and they were faintly magnetic, causing them to cling together.

“The gravity here is about 3,900 times that of Earth,” Hong said solemnly. “This entire world was created by a domain lord using ‘cosmic origin energy.’ The foundation of the domain lord’s world is cosmic crystals—so the land, sand, and rocks are all influenced by cosmic origin energy, making them vastly different from ordinary matter.”

“It’s certainly unique—each grain is incredibly heavy,” Luo Yuan agreed.

“How extravagant. Imagine how much cosmic origin energy it took to build a world this size,” Luo Feng couldn’t help but remark.

Cosmic origin energy—an extraordinary power only those who reached the domain lord level could wield. Once condensed, it became a ‘cosmic crystal.’ Cosmic crystals were the true universal currency—not like the silver-blue coins, black dragon coins, or Qianwu coins issued by various nations, but actual solidified cosmic origin energy!

Thus, they were accepted everywhere in the universe, by every race.

“The gravity is so intense that even my telekinesis is being affected,” Luo Yuan frowned.

“How much can you spread it?” Thor asked.

“Less than one-thousandth of what I could on Earth,” Luo Yuan replied.

A first-rank planetary spiritual master could extend their force about a kilometer on Earth. A first-rank star-level could reach 100 kilometers. Luo Yuan, a ninth-rank star-level spiritual master, could extend his range a hundredfold with the system’s help. But here, with gravity 3,900 times that of Earth, even his range was less than ten thousand meters.

“The Death Desert is one of the most dangerous regions in the World of Thunder,” Hong said quickly. “And right now it’s the dead of night—we can’t determine our direction. But the longer we stay, the more dangerous it becomes! We must set out immediately, choose a random direction, and move as fast as possible!”

The Death Desert—one of the forbidden zones of the World of Thunder, so perilous that even beasts wouldn’t dare reside here.

“Agreed, let’s move,” Thor echoed.

“This way, then. Let’s go,” Luo Yuan said, pointing in a random direction.

At once, the fourteen of them rose into the air. The gravity was immense, but not so overwhelming as to prevent star-level powerhouses from flying. Of course, their flight speed was much slower than before, but Luo Yuan, after coating himself with traces of space law, felt much lighter and flew far faster than the others.

After about five minutes of flight—

They were still rushing over the Death Desert when Luo Yuan suddenly frowned. “Something’s wrong. Look behind us!”

“Behind?” Luo Feng, Hong, Thor, and their ten attendants turned to look. Behind them, a vast, churning cloud of black sand was racing toward them at a terrifying speed. Beneath this overwhelming sandstorm, a group of young men and women could be seen desperately fleeing for their lives.

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