CHAPTER 4: Thundering sky
After a light sleep, Ray awakened and lazily stretched his body.
Ray returned to his house with the foldable chair and placed it in a corner inside.
After settling the chair Ray went into the bathroom and freshened up.
After freshening up, Ray changed into long-sleeved exercise clothes suitable for outdoor activities, took a fire axe from the hall, and left the house. Upon leaving Ray locked the front door to prevent any animals from wandering while he was away.
Upon leaving the house, Ray decided to first investigate the bamboo forest located on the right side of his property.
Having determined the direction of the investigation, Ray broke into a light jog and reached the bamboo forest within two minutes.
After reaching the bamboo forest Ray absorbed the surroundings for a few minutes and found animal trails leading into the forest.
By observing the trails Ray determined that the trails were all left by rabbits or bamboo rats.
Ray selected the largest trail from all the available paths and began clearing the path with the fire axe in his hand, allowing him to pass through and ensuring the path could serve as an entry and exit for his future needs.
Upon observing an intruder entering the forest, the small animals, which had been staying at the entrance and watching Ray, quickly scrambled back into the forest.
Ray watched the animals scrambling back into the forest with fright, which put a smile on his face as he had no intention of harming them. Hunting the small herbivores would damage the ecosystem here, and he did not want to see that.
While clearing the path Ray observed that the bamboo forest is full of vegetation, there are a variety of herbs and wild vegetables growing in the forest.
After following the animal for a few minutes, Ray reached a small clearing with a pond at its center.
The pond serves as the primary water source for all the animals in the bamboo forest, as Ray observed several animals frolicking near the water without any territorial disputes.
Ray approached the pond, dipped his hand into the water, scooped some, and drank it, finding the water was sweet and refreshingly cool.
Ray was exceedingly pleased to have secured a source of water for his daily needs.
After a brief period of observation, Ray discovered that the pond contained a variety of fish, which could also provide him with entertainment such as fishing.
After sitting by the pond for a few minutes, Ray stood up, dusted his hands, and began walking along the small trails until he reached the edge of the forest.
Upon reaching the edge of the forest, Ray encountered a rocky area with rocks and an uneven surface.
Upon scaling the rocks, Ray discovered that he was on a vast mountain not on the plain as he had previously assumed.
The mountain he stood upon was encircled by a vast lake, visible from its summit.
The, in turn, was surrounded by an expansive, primitive jungle, which was enclosed by a mountain range on all sides, with eight continuous mountains forming a barrier to the outside world.
Ray was captivated by the beautiful scene and remained there watching it until a small thunderclap in the sky jolted him from reverie.
After voicing his displeasure with the heavens for interrupting his enjoyment of the scenery, Ray slowly retraced his steps and arrived at the pond.
Ray meticulously cleared an area at the pond and then retraced his steps back to his house.
During his return journey, Ray gathered some wild vegetables and mushrooms to use for today's dinner.
By the time Ray returned to his house, the sky was covered with dense clouds and reverberating thunder.
After observing the sky for a moment and concluding that it would rain heavily today, Ray entered the house and closed all the windows to prevent rain from leaking inside.
Ray changed into his sleepwear and began preparing his dinner for the night.
By the time Ray had prepared his dinner, small drops of rain had begun to fall outside his house.
While listening to the sound of the rain, Ray happily had his dinner and later cleared his dining table.
Ray set the alarm for the next morning, then climbed back into bed and had a restful sleep.
------------- The eight-continent world-------------
Far away from Ray's house, the small thunderclouds that began there soon reached the entire continent.
Soon, the thunderclouds spread throughout the world, covering eight continents.
After brewing for few hours, the thunderclouds started raining thunder all over the world.
The few top holy mountains in the worlds had the worst nightmare tonight.
As thunder rained on the top mountain in the world, the spiritual energy on the mountains and the holy cities had decreased by a level and the inhabited places has the sudden surge in the spiritual powers.
Due to the lightning strike, most of the formations of the top sect have broken down, which will cost them a fortune to rearrange them.
The lightning strikes varied for different forces, The dragon palace, the phoenix nest, the Quillin garden and the Giant Mountain had only decrease in the spiritual power and lowered the grade of Spiritual vein.
The mermaids were the most severely affected, losing 4 out of 10 tribulation transcendence, with the remaining ones suffering injuries ranging from severe to minor.
On the Human continent, the Alchemy Hall, the Five-Elemental Sect, the Red Phoenix Family, and the Blue Dragon Family lost their supreme leaders, and the Sky Sword Sect had its spirit vein downgraded.
With the loss of four transcendence cultivators, only two transcendent beings remain on the continent: one from the Sky Sword Sect and another who is an independent cultivator who was trapped in some ruins by the other holy lands.
The spiritual power of the demon continent increased rather than decreased, enhancing its fighting capabilities.
The demon's control two continents, while the humans also have two continents. The dragons, phoenixes, Quillins, and giants each possess one continent.
The mermaids reign over the vast oceans in the eight-continent world.