Free Web NovelChapter 223: Chapter 223: Thunderstruck Wood
They flew upward along the spine of the mountain range, reaching the clouds at the summit where the rock faces formed winding lines in the morning mist.
When countless rays of dawn pierced the clouds, Ning Xuan saw the sea of clouds below, seemingly ablaze. Hills of various heights and shapes dotted the landscape, while isolated, wind-eroded rock pillars cast long, thin shadows. The scene resembled a chessboard left behind by ancient giants.
"Hold on tight." Di Youlin suddenly folded his wings, taking her into a vertical dive. Ning Xuan faced the wind, and in that moment of weightlessness, she saw them rapidly approaching the ground. The sea of clouds, the mountains, the trees, the green grass—like pieces of a puzzle—went from scattered points to a cohesive whole, gradually coming into focus.
Ning Xuan wrapped her arms tightly around Di Youlin’s neck, her eyes shining with excitement. This feeling of soaring freely between heaven and earth was intoxicating.
When they were less than a hundred meters from the ground, Di Youlin abruptly spread his wings, halting their descent and leveling out into a steady flight at low altitude.
Lin Mo’s convoy was nowhere in sight. At Ning Xuan’s direction, Di Youlin landed on the summit of an isolated peak. Beside them was a crooked pine tree growing from a crack in the rock. The clean, sharp scent of its needles mixed with the morning dew and wafted to her nose.
Ning Xuan stood on the summit, looking down at the rushing rivers, the verdant trees, and the birds and beasts in the forest. Di Youlin suddenly sighed in admiration, "It really is beautiful here."
In the Federation Star System, the various celestial bodies were divided into different Levels based on the richness of their resources and the concentration of energy. But not even the Central Star System had a view as beautiful as this.
Here, every mountain, river, blade of grass, and tree was natural and pristine. It was unlike the Federation Star System, where most Star Systems had been contaminated by the virus. In the habitable cities, the trees were transplanted, and the environment was engineered with technology. Although one couldn’t feel much of a difference while living there, the contrast became palpable once you witnessed the true grandeur of nature.
"It’s a shame. The virus is spreading, and Exotic Beasts are running rampant. This beautiful planet will soon be unrecognizable," Di Youlin said with regret. freewebnøvel.com
"Actually, it wasn’t the virus that made the environment unrecognizable. The reason the Federation Star System ended up like that was mainly due to the use of large-scale radioactive weapons." Ning Xuan had specifically studied that period of history to better integrate into Federation society.
"You’re right." Di Youlin was slightly taken aback, then nodded thoughtfully.
’Is that also why the military doesn’t allow the garrisoned troops to use large-scale radioactive weapons?’
’Of course, there might be another reason: to better exploit the high-grade resources on this planet.’
"This cliff pine is beautiful. Youling, help me pull it out. I want to take it back and plant it in the villa’s courtyard." Ning Xuan’s Space Ring contained soil that could maintain a plant’s vitality, specifically for cultivating medicinal herbs and Spirit Plants.
"Yes, Master." Having received Ning Xuan’s order, Di Youlin folded his wings and got to work.
HISS... A sound reached Ning Xuan’s ears. She turned her head slightly to see a black-and-white patterned snake slithering up from a crack in the rock on the other side. It raised its head, poised to strike.
Ning Xuan extended a hand, and a sharp vine shot out, pinning the snake in place.
HISS... The snake let out a piteous cry and soon went still. ’Poor thing. It snuck all the way up here only to die before it could even attack. The Snake Gallbladder can be used for medicine, and the meat can be made into a soup.’
Ning Xuan and Di Youlin hadn’t split off from the main group and taken flight just for fun. They were shouldering an important mission: to survey the terrain, observe suitable routes for advancement, and find a proper place to set up a base.
During their flight, Ning Xuan discovered two natural Spirit Medicine Fields and a patch of multi-colored mushrooms. She also found a tree hollow in a towering ancient tree that reached into the clouds and was a full ten meters in diameter. From the outside, the hollow looked like just a tiny crack. Ning Xuan had unintentionally noticed the crack flashing with light. Curious, she moved closer to inspect it and discovered a space inside the tree. The entrance was extremely narrow, but a huge space lay within.
Ning Xuan recorded each of these locations. She noted down the giant tree hollow as one of the suitable spots for a base.
The tree hollow was a good thirty to forty meters above the ground. Such a height would prevent sneak attacks from Exotic Beasts at night. Aside from the slight trouble of climbing up and down, it was a very suitable place for a base.
Ning Xuan found a few other potential base locations afterward, but in her opinion, none were as ideal as the tree hollow. She marked it down as the top candidate.
To get a better understanding of the tree hollow, Ning Xuan and Di Youlin landed on the great tree again. This time, Ning Xuan inspected it thoroughly, inside and out.
On the southwestern side of the ancient tree’s trunk, three charred, spiral-shaped grooves ran straight to the hollow’s entrance. Between the cracks in the bark, carbonized, Dragon Scale-like crystals were faintly visible—these were "Thunder Patterns" left behind by a lightning strike.
Squeezing through the crack-like entrance, which was only wide enough to pass through sideways, they entered an oval space that suddenly opened up. It was about four to five meters high and seven to eight meters in diameter, comparable to a small auditorium.
The hollow had been formed when lightning set the tree ablaze, burning out and hollowing the trunk. Miraculously, a network of translucent wood grew at the tree’s heart. This wood secreted an amber-colored gel that had both repaired the tree’s structure and made the inner walls of the hollow exceptionally dry.
Ning Xuan embedded some glowing Fluorite into the dry inner walls and took out a high-powered flashlight to inspect the inside of the hollow. In the center, she discovered a piece of gleaming black wood more than a meter thick. Ning Xuan caressed the wood, looking at the silver, thread-like patterns covering its surface. A wave of ecstasy washed over her. ’This is Thunderstruck Wood, forged by Thunder! This is an incredibly rare treasure.’
Ning Xuan wanted to cut off the Thunderstruck Wood and take it with her, but in the process, she discovered another cavity below the oval-shaped space.
The tree hollow actually had three levels: upper, middle, and lower. The bottommost level was only about twenty meters off the ground.
The more Ning Xuan looked, the more satisfied she felt. She took the piece of Thunderstruck Wood, left a marker at the location, and then went with Di Youlin to rendezvous with Lin Mo and the others.
Ning Xuan had placed markers on Lin Mo, Yun Han, and Chen Nan, allowing her to sense their positions. Under Ning Xuan’s guidance, Di Youlin flew at full speed, and they soon reunited with the main group.
Lin Mo and Yun Han’s group had just encountered a pack of mutated wolves. The pack was enormous, with over a hundred of the beasts. Lin Mo had summoned his Blue Flame White Tiger, and Chen Nan had called out his Companion Spirit, Little Jin, to join the fight. The corpses of mutated wolves littered the ground.
The Little Fox watched from the side, looking somewhat bored and showing no intention of intervening.
