More than ten thunder beasts charged over, a few of them with their single horns glowing white.
Instantly, several bolts of lightning struck Qin Shilei simultaneously, yet he seemed completely unharmed, continuing his charge forward.
He had been attacked by the thunder beasts' unique abilities before when dealing with them.
Perhaps due to a shared lightning attribute, and the fact that the thunder mark he had absorbed was purple, the thunder beasts' lightning-based abilities had minimal effect on him.
Thunder Shock Pierce!
Qin Shilei weaved through the thunder beasts, unleashing countless sword shadows.
Although the lightning damage from Thunder Shock Pierce was not very effective against the thunder beasts, its extreme speed and area-of-effect nature made it perfect for this kind of swarm battle.
White Rainbow Pierces the Sun!
An Qian, like an immortal descending from the heavens, rapidly approached from afar. With a single move, she annihilated one thunder beast, then fought side-by-side with Qin Shilei.
Thousand Vine Technique!
Zhang Xiaoli retracted the vines from Lu Tiangang's side and began controlling the thunder beasts near Qin Shilei.
Under their combined efforts, the more than ten thunder beasts were quickly dispatched.
Turning around, they saw that although Lu Tiangang and his group had killed another three to four thunder beasts, their situation was dire under the encirclement of numerous beasts.
Qin Shilei pondered for a moment and decided to charge towards them to jointly deal with the swarm.
As soon as they finished off this group of thunder beasts, nearly thirty more emerged from behind.
"They're still coming," Lu Tiangang said, exhaustion showing in his eyes. He turned to look at Qin Shilei, having resolved not to be the first to charge forward this time.
"This must be the group of thunder beasts that were surrounding Fan Xiaobo."
Qin Shilei paused and then added, "Let's go. I'll use my sword this time."
Xia Yunyan voiced everyone's question: "Is it the sword used for martial arts, or the arrow used for archery?"
Qin Shilei did not answer, gripping the Blood Soul and charging forward first.
After Qin Shilei endured the first wave of lightning attacks, An Qian and the others also swiftly charged towards the thunder beasts.
Half an hour later, the group arrived at the spot where Fan Xiaobo had been caught by the thunder beasts earlier.
On the ground lay the corpses of seven or eight thunder beasts and a mangled human body.
The person on the ground looked as if they had been mauled by countless wild dogs, their internal organs exposed and most of their face eaten away.
From the clothing, it was definitively identified as Fan Xiaobo.
Lu Tiangang lamented, "To think that one of the four great experts of Nanzhuang City would meet such an end."
Hua Feng also sighed, "We thought there was some treasure here, but we haven't even seen a shadow of it before perishing."
Xia Yunyan glanced at Qin Shilei and suddenly said, "I heard Fan Xiaobo is the illegitimate son of Deputy Commander Fan of the military. I wonder if it's just a rumor?"
Qin Shilei's eyes narrowed. He hadn't expected Fan Xiaobo to have such a background.
Zhang Xiaoli frowned, "He was killed by the thunder beasts. Will Deputy Commander Fan hold us responsible?"
When she had used her Thousand Vine Technique on Fan Xiaobo, everyone was focused on escaping and likely no one had seen that.
Xia Yunyan shook her head, "We can't possibly guess what Deputy Commander Fan, who commands a large army, will think or do. To save everyone some trouble, I think we should agree on a consistent story: when we get out, we'll all say we never encountered Fan Xiaobo here."
After speaking, she specifically looked at Lu Tiangang, the strongest of the military contingent.
Lu Tiangang was the first to declare, "I am a soldier of the people, not Deputy Commander Fan's private mercenary. And Fan Xiaobo was indeed killed by thunder beasts. I agree with Miss Xia's proposal."
His remaining two subordinates also voiced their agreement and praise.
Hua Feng chimed in, "If it can save trouble, that's best. I agree too."
Qin Shilei stated calmly, "I also agree."
Inwardly, however, he began to guard against this Deputy Commander Fan.
Lu Tiangang spoke again, "Shall we continue exploring this place together, or separately?"
Hua Feng suggested, "Let's team up for now, to avoid encountering another large swarm of thunder beasts."
Qin Shilei indifferently replied with a single word: "Alright."
Xia Yunyan also nodded in agreement, but specifically mentioned, "If we encounter thunder beasts again, I hope Mr. Qin and Miss An will choose to engage in melee combat."
Qin Shilei smiled and said, "Actually, I think my archery is quite good. Do you really not need me to provide support from the rear?"
Xia Yunyan stated with certainty, "I think you're much stronger with a sword than with a bow and arrow. Let's stick to close combat."
Qin Shilei lamented, "Alas, I wanted you all to witness my unerring archery. I guess that won't happen now."
After reaching an agreement, the group began to explore the bamboo forest together.
More than half a day later, they discovered that the bamboo forest had boundaries.
The bamboo forest was only about twenty to thirty kilometers in diameter, with an invisible wall at the edge that was completely impassable.
The group returned to the foot of the large mountain.
"Not only is there no treasure, but the light portal we came through is also gone. Are we trapped here forever?" one of Hua Feng's subordinates said dejectedly.
"We haven't explored this large mountain ahead yet. Perhaps the treasure and the way back are up there," Hua Feng said, looking up at the black peak.
Qin Shilei looked up at the towering mountain that reached into the clouds, and the vaguely discernible figures at its summit.
He frowned and said, "There isn't even a small path on this mountain. I don't know how those thunder beasts get up there, or why they insist on going to the top?"
The peak was precipitous and difficult to climb, and there was no food to be found. Did the thunder beasts only defecate and not eat?
As they were speaking, the summit suddenly erupted in light.
Countless bolts of lightning descended from the sky, as if a thunderstorm had begun.
Even from a distance, Qin Shilei and the others felt their eyes dazzle from the intense lightning.
An Qian, squinting, suddenly pointed towards the summit and said, "Look, those thunder beasts seem to be undergoing a baptism of lightning."
Qin Shilei took out his binoculars and looked towards the summit.
He saw the thunder beasts raising their heads, one by one, to receive the lightning descending from the sky, as if bathing in a cascade of light.
Were the thunder beasts cultivating using the lightning from the mountain peak?
There wasn't a single cloud in the sky, yet countless lightning bolts appeared out of nowhere.
There must be something peculiar about the mountain summit.
Qin Shilei said, "The way back is likely at the summit. Let's find a way to climb up."
An Qian expressed some concern, "Since those thunder beasts go to the summit to cultivate, will they be more powerful than the ones in the bamboo forest?"
"Very likely," Qin Shilei said with a frown. "Among that group of thunder beasts, more than ten were noticeably larger than the others. They must be stronger."
An Qian suggested, "To reach the summit, I think we should lure the thunder beasts down and kill them first."
Everyone nodded in agreement, and then collectively looked at Qin Shilei.
"Now you remember I'm an archer?" Qin Shilei said, sounding displeased.
Despite his grumbling, Qin Shilei took out his short bow and began to climb towards the summit.
"You all hide well. If there are too many, I'll lure them down for us to deal with together. If it's just a few, I'll handle them myself."
Soon, Qin Shilei crept to a large rock about two hundred meters away from the swarm of thunder beasts.
Silver Dragon!
He focused and shot an arrow at a thunder beast on the edge.
"Roar!"
The thunder beast had one of its eyes burst and let out a pained cry.
Then, it charged towards Qin Shilei in the direction the arrow had come from.