Chapter 4905 — Herb-Blind

"Well?" Wei Zhao asked urgently.

"This is the racial memory left behind by a thunder dragon at the great assembly of the dragon clans in those years. It mentions this very City of Thunder Burials. According to him, the so-called thunder burial here is in truth the highest-grade death rite bestowed upon powerful lightning-type spirit beasts!" Old Ghost said.

"A thunder burial is actually a death rite?" Wei Zhao was startled. Hearing the Alliance Chairman's earlier alarmist description, he had assumed the thunder burial was something like a tsunami or an earthquake—a natural calamity unique to Thunderfall Plain Isle. Never had he imagined it was a death rite.

"Just so. What outsiders see as a thunder burial actually originates from this City of Thunder Burials. True, it sometimes spills over into the surrounding regions and makes those outside thunder tribulations flare up with sudden ferocity, but that is not the true thunder burial—it is merely some peripheral reaction stirred up by the thunder burial, just as every time a typhoon sweeps through your mortal world, it comes accompanied by wind and rain." Old Ghost explained.

"So compared with the true thunder burial, all of that is small change?" Wei Zhao said thoughtfully.

"Naturally. The true thunder burial is confined to this City of Thunder Burials and would never be so absurd as to blanket the whole of Thunderfall Plain Isle. Of course, for ordinary human cultivators like you, even those tribulations that have been affected and abruptly grown stronger are deadly enough—whether or not it is a true thunder burial makes little difference." Old Ghost said.

"Then, Senior, do you know how this thunder burial came to be?" Wei Zhao asked again. Since it was an established death rite, there had to be someone presiding over it—like sky burial in the mortal world. The procedure might be simple, but at the very least someone had to carry the corpse to a designated spot and lure in hawks, vultures, and other fierce birds and beasts.

"It is said that before any lightning-type spirit beast dies, it will of its own accord enter the City of Thunder Burials, then willingly invoke the thunder tribulation to carry out the thunder burial, dying together with the mightiest force of lightning. That, to them, is the most ideal final rest." Old Ghost spoke with a sigh of emotion.

"So in that case, I really can't go in? Go in and I'll likely be struck dead..." Wei Zhao could not help but waver.

Though he had condensed an unprecedented composite eightfold spiritual root, and a single lightning strike from it was now comparable to a minor thunder tribulation—which had swelled his confidence enormously—it had not yet swelled to the point of fearing no thunder burial. With his present strength, Wei Zhao could easily handle a thunder tribulation of ordinary intensity; he could even grit his teeth and bear a tenfold tribulation. But who knew what force a thunder burial possessed? What if it far exceeded the limit of what he could withstand?

"That's true enough, but there's no harm in going in for a look. I've never been to the City of Thunder Burials myself. With an opportunity this good, don't you want to see the graveyard of lightning-type spirit beasts? Who knows—you might reap some unexpected gains!" Old Ghost, however, urged him on.

Wei Zhao's heart warmed at the words. Setting the Nourishing Mystic Grass aside, since this place had gathered the corpses of a great many powerful lightning-type spirit beasts, the bodies alone would likely yield no small number of fine things—a temptation no smaller than the Nourishing Mystic Grass, only greater.

"But what if I die in there... then what?" Wei Zhao had at least not lost his head entirely. Profit and risk always went hand in hand; the more treasures within, the more perilous it must be—any fool could work that out with his toes.

"It shouldn't come to that. The greatest threat inside is, barring surprises, the thunder burial itself—and you, boy, happen to have the lightning attribute. Your tolerance for lightning is probably on par with a lightning-type spirit beast, and ordinary lightning-type spirit beasts might even fall short of you. After all, you are a composite eightfold spiritual root led by the lightning attribute." Old Ghost clicked his tongue in admiration.

"That's true enough." Wei Zhao recalled the scene of being struck by the lightning eagle. He had taken one of its lightning bolts and come away without a scratch; presumably the other lightning eagles were no different.

"And if it really comes down to it, you can always run. You're so fast that ordinary things can't catch you. No matter how fierce the thunder burial, take a couple of hits and you can flee out—surely it won't cost you your little life." Old Ghost pressed on.

"Fine. They say curiosity killed the cat—but you, Senior, have quite the curiosity yourself. Dreaming up so many reasons just to get me in there for a look. You really put yourself out, Senior." Wei Zhao grumbled inwardly.

"Heh heh, the world is vast and full of wonders—how could one pass up such a fine chance to see them? Besides, I mean you no harm. If you die, boy, I'm finished along with you." Old Ghost curled his lip.

"I never took you for an explorer, Senior!" Wei Zhao chuckled. In truth, he could tell as much from the way Old Ghost had once braved the danger of having his primordial spirit utterly annihilated to descend into the mortal world in search of the bloodline of the King of Spirit Beasts. This thing was a thoroughgoing man of action, and bold to the core; before his eyes, this land of thunder burials was probably no more than a trifle.

Wei Zhao nodded to Wang Xinyan and the others, then clenched his jaw and leaped down. His figure soon vanished into the layered fog, leaving no trace behind.

"This place always gives me a most ominous feeling. I only hope nothing happens to him." Wang Xinyan gazed at the spot where Wei Zhao had disappeared, worried. The cultivation method she practiced was the direct lineage of the Divine Nun of the Eastern Sea, and her premonitions of fortune and misfortune had always been accurate—only she had no profound arts of divination. On the strength of that premonition alone, she plainly could not dissuade Wei Zhao.

"Mm, I feel it too—something's off. My gut tells me it's very dangerous in there." Huang Xiaotao had entered the sect only recently, but her experience with all manner of trials was exceedingly rich, and her intuition was keen as well.

"You two needn't worry so much. This is Master Lin we're talking about, not some ordinary fellow—he'll be fine, surely. Let's go look for Nourishing Mystic Grass!" Lu Xiaozhong comforted them offhandedly, then could scarcely wait to set off in search of the grass—that long-dreamed-of prize. Yet before he had taken two steps he froze, turned his head, and asked meekly: "What does Nourishing Mystic Grass look like again?"

Wang Xinyan and Huang Xiaotao were instantly amused, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "Didn't we just look at Ni Caiyue's specimen earlier? Forgotten it already?"

"Well... to be honest with you two young ladies, your little Lu is herb-blind..." Lu Xiaozhong scratched his scalp pitifully.

"Herb-blind?" Wang Xinyan and Huang Xiaotao exchanged a blank look.

"I mean I can't tell one spirit herb from another at all. To your little Lu's eyes, most spirit herbs look no different from wild grass—basically indistinguishable. My old dad's the same way, so every spirit herb in our family is bought; we seldom gather our own. Otherwise, even if we brought back a whole heap, it'd all be wild grass. I've done that plenty of times before..." Lu Xiaozhong said with a bitter face.

At those words, Wang Xinyan and Huang Xiaotao held it in for the longest time, their faces turning red, before they finally managed to force the laughter back down into their bellies.