Chapter 145: The Stormy Desolation

Ready, Ghost Lady took Su Che back to the entrance of the Stormy Desolation. Yet, as soon as they arrived, they attracted the attention of several people.
“Huh? Old witch, how did you…?”
Several exclamations came from several wooden houses at once, for these Golden Core cultivators had simultaneously noticed that Su Che’s spiritual energy fluctuations resembled those of the Wild God Rat.
Bang, bang, bang…
Several wooden doors opened, and several figures rushed out, appearing before Su Che and Ghost Lady in an instant.
“Old witch, where did you find such a treasure?”
One of the bearded Golden Core cultivators stared at Su Che greedily, as if a miser had seen an entire mountain of gold.
The expressions of the other four were no better, making Su Che’s skin prickle with fear.
Ghost Lady replied solemnly, “He was originally one of my disciples. Now, he has become my direct disciple.”
The Wan Gui Sect only distinguished between ordinary disciples and direct disciples. It was said that there were barely over 300 direct disciples in the entire sect, while the remaining tens of thousands were just ordinary disciples.
“Haha, Old Witch, what good luck!” The bearded cultivator laughed and said, “Now, your Black Domain Immortal Lotus will have a home.”
“I hope so,” Ghost Lady replied indifferently.
“Then, once your precious disciple picks the Immortal Lotus for you, can we borrow him for a few days? Likewise, we can take him as our disciple too. Hahaha…” The bearded cultivator made his request openly.
“That depends on whether he’s willing,” Ghost Lady said in the same calm tone.
The bearded cultivator then turned to Su Che, smiling broadly and using as gentle a tone as possible as he asked softly, “Kid, would you be willing to help us? We’ll give you many benefits, and of course, treat you as our most cherished disciple.”
The other four nodded, also staring at Su Che expectantly.
Su Che glanced at the bearded man and thought to himself: This uncle must be used to giving orders from a position of power; even his words to persuade others sound so unpleasant…
So, Su Che imitated Ghost Lady’s tone and replied calmly, “Sorry, I’m not willing.”
“Hm?”
The bearded man and his companions were stunned. Their expressions darkened, and he snarled, “Kid, I advise you not to make such hasty decisions. Do you know who we are?”
Su Che glanced at Ghost Lady, showing a hint of arrogance, and said proudly, “With my master here, I don’t care about anyone else.”

Su Che did this on purpose to test Ghost Lady’s attitude. The bearded man and the others, considering their status, couldn’t bring themselves to argue endlessly with a junior, so they turned to Ghost Lady and said, “Old witch, what do you say?” At that moment, another middle-aged beautiful woman at the Golden Core stage couldn’t help but threaten, “Sister Ghost Lady, if you refuse, don’t blame me for being petty. If you don’t agree to our demands, we certainly won’t allow this kid in either! Hmph, then just stay here!” “Wasteland Valley is a land without masters. When did you guys become its guardians?” Ghost Lady sneered. “No one can stop me from doing what I want!” Hearing this, Su Che had just given her a mental compliment when suddenly, Lao He poured cold water on him: “Master, I sense that Ghost Lady is secretly communicating with those people. Their strength is too great; I can’t detect the exact content, but I’m sure they’re exchanging messages.” “Damn it!” Su Che couldn’t help cursing inwardly. “So, Ghost Lady’s words earlier were just for me. Since they’re secretly communicating behind my back, they must be plotting something harmful against me. This Ghost Lady is indeed someone who breaks promises.” In just an instant, Su Che made up his mind. Even if he really got that Black Domain Immortal Lotus, he wouldn’t give her even a shred of it. Old witch, just wait for your death! Su Che valued his promises greatly, and he also despised those who were untrustworthy the most. Next, he heard Ghost Lady arguing fiercely with the bearded man and the others. It almost came to a complete breakdown before she managed to intimidate them. The bearded man and the others, with gloomy faces, cursed and muttered as they returned to their small wooden houses. Their acting was excellent, but Su Che had already seen through their true nature. He also put on an appropriate expression of “indifferent pride” to show that he was unaware of anything. “Go in. Be extra careful,” Ghost Lady warned solemnly at the entrance to the Desolate Land. Su Che nodded silently, crossed the narrow entrance of the valley, and stepped in resolutely. The Wind and Thunder Desolate Land, the valley within the valley of Wasteland Valley! Although he had entered the Desolate Land, Su Che felt a sense of liberation as if he had regained his freedom. He would rather turn into dust and return to nature than die at the hands of villains in a humiliating and worthless manner!

To be precise, Wind and Thunder Desolate Land is not a valley but a basin surrounded by countless mountains, with an unfathomably deep center, like a bottomless pit. To date, no one has ever been known to explore the entire desolate land completely. At first glance, it is a desolate world covered in charred ruins, with only some oddly shaped black stones on the ground, along with countless deep gullies and pits. Apart from these, no other colors can be seen.

Click!
About a dozen zhang to the left, a blue lightning bolt appeared out of nowhere and vanished instantly.

Whoosh!
Dozens of zhang straight ahead, a pale golden shadow rushed past, carving a long gully in the charred ground before speeding away.

These are the two most terrifying elements in Wind and Thunder Desolate Land: heavenly lightning and fierce winds. What’s even more terrifying is that the nature of these lightning and winds is completely unpredictable. One might be the Earthly Metal Divine Lightning, the next the Woodly Yin Divine Lightning, and the one after that the Purple Sky Divine Lightning… The fierce winds are the same—their properties change constantly, making it impossible to predict or defend against them. A defensive artifact at the level of a precious treasure will become severely damaged after being hit by fierce winds of different properties several times, losing much of its spiritual power.

Many cultivators who come to search for treasures think they are well-prepared when they enter, but within less than fifteen minutes, they retreat in disarray, having found no treasures and often damaging their most cherished artifacts, resulting in a great loss and deep regret.

The closer one gets to the central area, the more frequently heavenly lightning and fierce winds appear. Relying on protective artifacts to withstand them head-on is utterly unrealistic. Perhaps only legendary immortal artifacts could have a chance.

Only those who can prevent these lightning and winds from touching them at all can wander freely in this desolate land. The Wild God Rats in the Wild God Valley are such miraculous creatures.

As soon as Su Che entered Wind and Thunder Desolate Land, he clearly sensed a strange fluctuation surrounding him, very similar to his own spiritual energy fluctuations, with a faint sense of harmonious resonance. It was similar to the feeling when taking the Earth-Diving Pill, when one’s heartbeat resonates with the pulse of the earth.

Even so, Su Che did not dare act rashly but proceeded cautiously, probing his way forward. The direction he chose was the southeast, as designated for him by Ghost Princess before he entered.

Decades ago, someone had seen the Black Domain Immortal Lotus in Wind and Thunder Desolate Land. However, the lotus grew right at the heart of a storm eye, and at least a dozen cultivators at the Golden Core stage had lost their lives there. No one was able to harvest it.

Later on, two more Yuan Ying ancestors returned defeated, nearly losing their lives over it. After that, no one dared to try again. After all, there were many other ways to extend one’s lifespan; there was no need to risk losing one’s life just to extend it by a single day, only to have it reset instantly and forcing one to be reborn as a new person… Most importantly, such matters couldn’t be solved by sheer numbers. The more people entered, the denser the thunder and gales would become, making things even more dangerous. There were no fools among cultivators—they must have tried every possible method. That Black Domain Immortal Lotus continued to grow peacefully in its original place, so the difficulty involved need hardly be mentioned. Su Che’s attitude toward this was: see how it goes; if it works, great, otherwise, forget it. Even though his current spiritual root quality was a bit poor, his cultivation speed was still satisfactory. After advancing dozens of feet, at least seven divine thunders and five gales passed by Su Che, causing him great concern. Fortunately, the spiritual energy fluctuations of the Wild God Rat proved useful—the thunder and gales did not target him directly; in fact, they seemed to ignore him completely. Bang! Su Che leaped into a ditch and picked up a dark, shiny stone from inside—it was one of the specialties of the Wind and Thunder Gorge, the “Perilous Stone.” The so-called Perilous Stone meant that such stones, having endured countless thunder disasters in desolate places, could still remain intact, thus possessing a certain degree of resistance to lightning. Adding some to the creation of magical artifacts could effectively enhance defense against lightning-based spells. However, these stones were common in the Wind and Thunder Gorge and weren’t considered treasures. A fist-sized piece could be bought for just a few dozen spirit stones. Su Che casually put the Perilous Stone into his Qiankun Bag and continued moving southeastward. After walking a short distance, he suddenly saw a Wild God Rat over three feet long rushing toward him from afar. It only had the strength of a mid-stage Qi Cultivator, yet it was far bolder than Su Che. Aside from stopping occasionally to sniff the ground, it kept running at high speed, completely unfazed by the thunder and gales around it. Su Che couldn’t help but mock himself: “They say I’m as timid as a rat. It seems my courage is even less than a rat’s.” The Wild God Rat also noticed Su Che. At first, it retreated slightly, but then it rushed over, boldly approaching and sniffing around Su Che’s feet for a while.

Because of Lao Hei, Su Che’s aversion to rats diminished a lot, though he still wouldn’t take the initiative to get close to them—after all, they aren’t particularly likable creatures.