Chapter 4904 — The City of Thunder Burials

"How could that be? This Nourishing Mystic Grass of mine was actually found by pure luck, at the very edge of this basin. Anywhere else, you wouldn't stand a chance of finding it!" Ni Caiyue shook her head again and again, then added: "My master once said that Nourishing Mystic Grass is an exceedingly rare spirit herb. Even here in the Thunder Burial Basin, it isn't some common weed lying everywhere for the taking—it's very hard to find."

Hearing this, Wei Zhao could not help but knit his brows. He stood gazing at the basin before him in silence. Well, he had come—but this legendary Thunder Burial Ground really was somewhat terrifying.

The Alliance Chairman had said before that no one could survive beneath the thunder burial. Whether he had meant only the academy disciples, or had included even existences of his own caliber, Wei Zhao did not know—but at least one thing was certain: the thunder burial was by no means a trifling matter, far beyond any ordinary thunder tribulation.

Even the tenfold thunder tribulation he himself had endured could hardly be mentioned in the same breath. With all his present strength, Wei Zhao still had no confidence that, once inside, he would necessarily come back out.

Seeing that everyone had fallen silent, Ni Caiyue suddenly spoke up: "I've brought you to the place. I'm heading back."

"Mm, by all means." Wei Zhao nodded and made a gesture of *go slowly, no need to see you off*.

"Then goodbye, you deeply hidden good man!" Ni Caiyue stuck out her tongue and skipped away, bright and cheerful.

"A good man is a good man—what's this 'deeply hidden good man'..." Wei Zhao watched the little girl's receding figure and pursed his lips in exasperation.

"You should count yourself lucky. It's already something that she thinks of you as a good man at all—better than a deeply hidden bad man, isn't it?" Wang Xinyan said with a smile, while Huang Xiaotao and Lu Xiaozhong snickered to one side.

"Fine, so I've come out ahead, then?" Wei Zhao gave an awkward laugh, then pointed at the basin: "It's rare to come to a place like this. I want to go down and take a look—otherwise there'll never be another chance."

"What? But this is a thunder burial ground—going in means death!" Wang Xinyan and Huang Xiaotao were instantly aghast. Nourishing Mystic Grass was fine and good, but it could not be weighed against one's life.

"My mind is made up, so don't try to talk me out of it. This place is indeed certain death for you, but I should be all right. Even if I truly can't withstand the thunder burial, I can still hold out long enough to run back—I won't die in there." Wei Zhao's tone was firm.

"This..." Wang Xinyan and Huang Xiaotao exchanged a glance, and in the end could only nod with great reluctance: "All right, then—but whatever you do, don't try to be brave. The moment you sense something wrong, flee at once, without the slightest hesitation. Things like Nourishing Mystic Grass—if I get them, my fortune; if I lose them, my fate. It's no great loss to go without."

Of course they did not want Wei Zhao to enter this utterly perilous thunder burial ground. Never mind a few stalks of Nourishing Mystic Grass—even if ten thousand stalks lay piled at their feet, they would not want Wei Zhao to take the slightest risk. But they knew his character: for all that he was easy to reason with day to day, once his mind was set, he would never turn back.

"Mm, rest easy. My little life is precious—I'm not about to throw it away over a few stalks of Nourishing Mystic Grass." Wei Zhao gave them a reassuring look, then went on: "While I'm down there, you might as well look around the area. With luck, you might even pick up a few stalks of Nourishing Mystic Grass like that little Ni girl did. But be careful—there may well be something dangerous lurking about here too."

"All right. Remember—be careful, careful, and more careful still! The moment you spot danger, come straight back!" Wang Xinyan and Huang Xiaotao cautioned him yet again, still uneasy.

"I know!" It was nagging to hear, but it warmed Wei Zhao's heart all the same. This was treatment reserved for him alone; with anyone else, they would never have troubled themselves to repeat such endless warnings.

Wei Zhao was just about to leap down into the basin when, before he could even stir, the voice of the Ghost Thing suddenly sounded in his mind: "Wait!"

"What is it?" Wei Zhao was startled. If even the Ghost Thing meant to stop him, then he really would have to weigh carefully whether to go at all.

Wang Xinyan and the others still did not know about the composite eight-spirit root within his body, but the Ghost Thing knew all of it perfectly well—and with his breadth of knowledge, he could judge with utter clarity whether Wei Zhao could withstand such danger. If he said it was impossible, then it was essentially truly impossible; going would be nothing but seeking death.

"This place... seems to be the legendary City of Thunder Burials!" the Ghost Thing said after a moment of musing.

"What do you mean?" Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback. Ni Caiyue had only said there was a thunder burial here—but what in the world was a City of Thunder Burials?

"Mm, this should be the City of Thunder Burials, no mistake!" The Ghost Thing observed carefully for a while longer before reaching his final conclusion, then explained: "This is a hidden legend of the spirit beast clan—you humans rarely know of it. If I'm not mistaken, this place is the final resting ground of those powerful thunder-attribute spirit beasts!"

"Final resting ground?" Wei Zhao was stunned for a moment before it sank in: "You mean... this is a graveyard for thunder-attribute spirit beasts?"

"Exactly! Did you know that among the branches of our dragon clan, there is also a Thunder Dragon lineage?" said the Ghost Thing.

"Thunder Dragon lineage? Never heard of it." Wei Zhao shook his head. By now, apart from the Ghost Thing, this Azure Dragon, he had seen no small number of dragon kinds—from the Dragon of the Five Baleful Spirits he had encountered back in the mundane world, to the Five-Venom Flood Dragon of the Five-Venom Swamp, and later the Sea Dragon counted among the sea beasts. But a Thunder Dragon—that he had never heard of.

"Heh heh, the Thunder Dragon's bloodline isn't pure to begin with. It's actually the descendant of a Lightning Eagle and our dragon clan—but it's been entered into our clan's genealogy all the same, so I know a thing or two about it. Give me a moment, let me think it over carefully," the Ghost Thing said with a laugh.

"All right." Wei Zhao nodded, inwardly somewhat amused. The saying that dragon nature is lustful was truly no exaggeration—it seemed they could get together with any creature at all. Most absurd of all, they could even overcome a natural barrier like reproductive isolation, and had stubbornly produced a whole pile of assorted hybrid offspring under every name imaginable.

Legend had it that the flood dragon was a hybrid of dragon and snake, the sea dragon a hybrid of dragon and sea beast, and this Thunder Dragon a hybrid of dragon and Lightning Eagle. As for the Dragon of the Five Baleful Spirits—that half-dinosaur—Wei Zhao dared not imagine what mischief the dragon clan had wrought there. The sheer breadth of their romantic conquests was truly breathtaking.

Seeing Wei Zhao suddenly fall still and silent, Wang Xinyan and the others found it rather odd. They exchanged glances, assuming he was studying the situation in the basin below, and so did not disturb him, only waiting quietly at his side.

"Hm? Found it!" the Ghost Thing suddenly said with delight. At his level, "thinking it over carefully" was nothing like the ordinary act of recollection—he simply went straight into his own memory fragments and rummaged through them!