"What's going on? That terrifying lightning from the heavens — it actually just dissipated like that?"
People raised their eyes to the sky, staring unblinkingly, their faces blank with confusion.
"That can't be someone breaking through, right? At least, I've never seen anyone's breakthrough summon lightning that terrifying."
Someone spoke up.
"Not necessarily. Maybe there's an expert in seclusion here, and that's what triggered the phenomenon?"
"But if someone really succeeded in breaking through, the heavenly lightning would definitely strike. Why didn't it come down?"
"There's only one possibility — the person who was breaking through ultimately failed."
The crowd buzzed with speculation. Some were convinced it was a catastrophe of some kind, though they couldn't fathom why it had suddenly vanished. Others were certain it was someone with a Heaven-level bloodline attempting to advance their cultivation.
Those in the latter camp, however, were equally sure that the cultivator had failed — which was why the heavenly lightning never struck.
The debate raged on for a long while, and people seemed to have entirely forgotten why they had come to this place in the first place. The only topic of discussion was the terrifying lightning. As for the hunt itself, no one seemed to care about it anymore.
Yet while the crowd argued to no conclusion, Chu Feng — deep within the hunting ground — had already opened his eyes.
At this moment, his face was brimming with excitement. Even his aura had changed.
Chu Feng had successfully broken through. He was now a Second Rank True Immortal.
"Incredible — you actually pulled it off. That Divine Thunder just now was pretty terrifying, but the speed at which it dissipated this time was way too fast."
"Something's off. Could it be that the Martial Dao you comprehended this time is so powerful it actually shortened the time you had to endure the Divine Thunder?" Eggy asked, curiosity clear in her voice.
Even though the Queen had remained in the Spirit Space the entire time, the Nine-colored Divine Thunder had been rampaging in every direction, bombarding Chu Feng relentlessly just moments ago. The display had been earth-shaking — utterly terrifying. The Queen had felt the full might of the Divine Thunder.
But this time, it had arrived quickly and vanished just as quickly, which left her thoroughly puzzled.
"No chance. The Martial Dao I comprehended this time doesn't even give me confidence in successfully breaking through," Chu Feng said. He was equally baffled himself.
"Could it be a side effect of reaching the True Immortal realm?" the Queen ventured.
"I don't think it has much to do with that." Chu Feng shook his head.
"Don't tell me it's something to do with this hunting ground," the Queen said.
"How could that be?" Chu Feng laughed and shook his head.
"Why not? What if this hunting ground isn't just an independent space for hunting, but also a treasure capable of suppressing the Divine Punishment Mystic Art — kind of like Li Yue'er's umbrella, except way more powerful?" The Queen grinned as she spoke. Though she said it with a straight face, she was clearly joking. She didn't actually believe the hunting ground had any such ability.
"This time was definitely unusual. The Divine Thunder's power was immense, but it vanished in an instant."
"Still, I'll find out what's really going on once I break through to Third Rank True Immortal."
Chu Feng spoke with quiet certainty.
Right now, his heart wasn't merely joyful — it was ecstatic. He hadn't been confident in this breakthrough attempt at all, yet he had succeeded. Sure, the success had been a little... unconventional. But in the end, he had still made it.
With the cultivation of a Second Rank True Immortal, combined with the host of techniques at his disposal, Chu Feng now had the strength to go toe-to-toe with Chu Xianshuo.
"Regardless, you definitely got the effect you wanted," the Queen said cheerfully. "I bet everyone outside the hunting ground right now is scratching their heads wondering who on earth just broke through and summoned that kind of heavenly lightning."
At the Queen's words, the smile on Chu Feng's face grew ever wider.