Lu Duo's emerald brilliance had already woven a fine life network on the ground: "Leave it to us."

Yu Nian's pure heart vine wrapped around the hall pillars, its milky-white halo flickering like breathing.

Three hours later.

The dawn departed from Shandora's Golden City, heading full speed toward the thunderstorm belt in the southeast.

Behind the ship, the second group's shuttle craft also turned into a silver stream of light, vanishing into the data mist to the northwest.

The bells of Shandora rang to see off the travelers.

And in the underground Holy Treasury, the light of the golden crystals began to slowly intensify.

Chapter 426: Trial of Thunder

The Eternal Thunderstorm Belt.

There was no soft golden color common in the sea of clouds here, only endless dark purple thunderclouds.

Lightning didn't strike down in bolts but exploded in entire sheets across the clouds, every outburst illuminating the airspace for hundreds of miles.

The cloud waves rolled like boiling lead and mercury, letting out a continuous roar like the howling of billions of giant beasts.

As soon as the dawn entered the peripheral area, the ship's hull began to vibrate violently.

"Energy shield load at 73%, continuing to rise," the ship's system issued a warning.

Bai Cheng stood on the bridge, the sigil on her forehead emitting a dark gold halo as she extended the authority of judgment to the ship's exterior, forcibly stabilizing the surrounding space.

Zi Yuan stood by her side, her long blade already half-unsheathed, the blade humming as it absorbed the stray lightning.

Garel's single eye stared intently at the data stream on the navigator.

"The entrance to the Cloud-Gap Corridor will appear when the thunderstorm intensity reaches its peak."

He pointed toward a massive pillar of lightning spanning the horizon outside the porthole, "That's the impact point of the Spear of the Thunder God."

"We need to rush in the moment it strikes."

"Isn't that just seeking death?" Zi Yuan frowned.

"No." The lightning in Garel's eye grew even brighter.

"The energy of the Spear of the Thunder God will briefly tear space at the impact point, forming a rift leading to the core of the thunderstorm belt."

"We only need to precisely calculate the angle and speed of entry to avoid the lightning itself and enter the corridor."

He pulled up the navigation log left by his grandfather.

"My grandfather's records say: The lightning is not an obstacle, but a ladder."

"The wrath of thunder will carve a path for the brave."

Bai Cheng's silver eyes gazed at the lightning pillar, which was growing thicker and thicker.

In her perception, it was indeed not just pure destructive energy; instead, it contained some ancient, array-like rule structure.

"This is not a natural phenomenon," she said suddenly.

Garel nodded: "Legend has it that Thunder God Island was the first sky island of the Sky Federation, carved out of the thunderstorm by the first Thunder God, Uranus, himself."

"He left behind this eternal trial."

"Only those who can understand the true essence of lightning can reach the island."

Before he could finish, the Spear of the Thunder God fully formed.

It was a pure white lightning pillar over a hundred meters in diameter, piercing down from the top of the thunderclouds, leaving glass-like cracks in the space it passed through.

Countless ancient runes faintly emerged within the lightning, each representing a law of lightning.

"Now!" Garel roared.

Bai Cheng pushed the authority of judgment to its limit, the dawn's engines roared, and the ship's bow aimed at the lightning pillar's impact point, rushing forward at a near-suicidal speed!

Zi Yuan's long blade was fully unsheathed, her Tide-Breaking Blade Intent cutting through the energy turbulence ahead.

The lightning in Garel's right eye erupted as he connected with the navigator, correcting the course in real-time.

Three seconds.

The lightning pillar struck.

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

The dawn grazed the edge of the lightning pillar and rushed into the torn spatial rift.

The imagined destruction did not arrive; instead, the surroundings of the ship suddenly became exceptionally calm.

Inside the rift was a passage composed of blue electric arcs, with the frozen, amber-like scenes of the thunderstorm on either side.

"We made it," Garel breathed a sigh of relief, fine sweat appearing on his forehead.

But Bai Cheng's silver eyes suddenly contracted.

She felt it.

Deep within the passage, there was a life reaction.

It wasn't a thunder beast or an elemental creature, but... the aura of intelligent life.

And more than one.

Zi Yuan also sensed it, holding her blade across her chest: "Someone got here before us?"

A flash of suspicion and surprise crossed Garel's single eye: "Impossible! The coordinates for the opening of the Cloud-Gap Corridor are random every time, unless..."

He didn't finish his sentence.

At the ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ corner of the passage ahead, three figures emerged.

Leading them was a tall warrior clad in dark purple heavy armor, wielding a lightning warhammer.

His helmet's visor was a single piece of polished obsidian, reflecting the blue light of the electric arcs.

Behind him were two others: one slender, holding a lightning short blade in each hand; the other floating in mid-air, surrounded by twelve rotating thunderballs.

"Thunder God Imperial Guard," Garel's voice turned grim.

"The island defense force left by Rego after Jaya fell."

"They should have gone into slumber along with Thunder God Island..."

The heavy-armored warrior took a step forward, his warhammer thudding against the ground, his voice resonating through the armor:

"Intruders of the Thunder God Trial, state your names."

His gaze fell on Garel and suddenly paused.

"This bloodline aura... are you the... descendant of Lord Rego?"

Garel took off his eyepatch, revealing his lightning right eye.

The heavy-armored warrior was silent for three seconds.

Then, he knelt on one knee, and the two behind him followed suit.

"This general, Thunder Hammer Baros, greets the Young Master."

"After a thousand years..." His voice held a certain mechanical stiffness, yet suppressed emotional fluctuations could be heard, "Finally, we have waited for the return of Lord Rego's bloodline."

Bai Cheng and Zi Yuan exchanged glances.

The development of events seemed to have exceeded expectations.

Why would the garrison of Thunder God Island be waiting here?

And deeper within, the oath core sleeping in the Thunder Pool Abyss...

What kind of truth was hidden there?

Nest of a Thousand Mirrors, Seventh Level.

Zi Yuan shattered a mirror-formed guard in front of her with a single strike, the broken shards dissipating into a silver data stream in the air.

Blue Bird's thunderstorm lit up the entire passage, reflecting countless shadows of themselves.

"How big is this damn place?" Blue Bird panted, looking at the mirror corridor ahead that split into three more forks.

Data streams flashed frantically in Leng Ningxue's icy eyes.

"We just passed through the Cognitive Corridor of the sixth level.

There, the mirrors reflect the most terrifying memory fragments of the intruders.

Now that we've entered the Seventh Level, based on structural analysis, it should be the Logic Trap Zone."

She pointed to a special mirror at the entrance of the left-hand passage.

That mirror didn't reflect any image; instead, it displayed a line of constantly changing mathematical formulas.

"Before entering each passage, the puzzle displayed on the mirror must be solved.

Choose wrong, and you'll be teleported to a random level to start over."

Zi Yuan frowned: "Can you solve it?"

"I need time." Leng Ningxue pressed both hands on the sides of the mirror, cold energy injecting from her palms as the data structure inside the mirror unfolded before her eyes.

"This is the encrypted logic chain of the Observer Council, triple-nested. The first layer is..."

She suddenly stopped.

The data stream in her icy eyes showed a brief disturbance.