Chapter 316: Chapter 316: Major
The thunderstorm lasted for a full three hours. As the dark clouds gradually dispersed, the apocalyptic thunder that had blanketed the sky also vanished.
Ning Xuan felt as if the meridians in her body were about to burst. The Thunder coursing through them sent sharp, stabbing pains through her.
"Commander Ning, what’s wrong? You’re so pale," someone asked with concern.
"I’m fine. Give me a status report," Ning Xuan said.
"Group Two’s numbers aren’t in yet. Group One deployed a total of 500 people. Currently, 39 are injured, 17 of them seriously. The medical team is already treating them. For now, there are no fatalities." The one reporting to Ning Xuan was Liu Linfeng, the captain of Squad E9.
Liu Linfeng was bold yet meticulous and thorough in his work. He was the deputy commander Ning Xuan had just appointed yesterday after assuming her post, taking over the support role she had previously held.
"The injured will receive treatment. All squad captains are to immediately organize the remaining personnel to search for the special ore," Ning Xuan ordered.
"Yes, ma’am." The squad captains immediately acknowledged the order and departed.
"Commander Ning, are these all Thunder Beasts you captured? Why are they so small? I thought Thunder Beasts couldn’t be captured?" Liu Linfeng asked curiously after ordering his subordinates to clean up the battlefield, noticing Ning Xuan fiddling with a small, furry beast.
"These are the juvenile form of Thunder Beasts. They haven’t completed their first evolution, so of course they’re small." Ning Xuan had just tried channeling the restless Thunder from her meridians into a Thunder Beast. She discovered that it could actually absorb the Thunder she inputted. It not only showed no discomfort, but its fur also grew a little brighter.
"How was the haul?" Ning Xuan asked.
"We found eleven pieces of the special ore in total. They’re all in here." Liu Linfeng handed over a Space Button.
"Commander Ning, we’d heard rumors that the casualty rate for new recruits on their first thunderstorm mission is extremely high. They said that of those who endure the first wave of Thunder Body Refining, fewer than three in ten survive." Liu Linfeng looked at Ning Xuan with an agitated expression. He knew the rumors weren’t wrong; rather, Ning Xuan had used a special method.
After all, many people could sense Ning Xuan drawing the Thunder into her own body to weaken the Thunder Power.
By weakening the Thunder Power, Ning Xuan allowed almost every soldier to withstand this wave. When they encounter a thunderstorm in the future, they will all have some resistance.
In truth, when new recruits face their first thunderstorm, the threat to their lives comes not only from the Thunder Power but, more importantly, from the Thunder Beasts. The reason there were no fatalities this time was because Ning Xuan had captured all of them.
Even more fortunately, they didn’t encounter any fully evolved Thunder Beasts this time. If one had appeared, even if Ning Xuan could have defeated it, the battle would have taken considerable time, making it impossible for her to protect everyone.
Ning Xuan looked down, fiddling with a captured Thunder Beast, and responded nonchalantly, "Perhaps the rumors were exaggerated, or perhaps we were just lucky. Clean up the battlefield and return immediately to rest. Have Group Two come relieve us."
The next thunderstorm could arrive at any moment, and the new recruits in Group Two also needed to be tempered.
After Ning Xuan gave the order, the two groups quickly completed the changing of the guard.
Just as the soldiers of Group Two were in position, the sky was suddenly torn apart by a bolt of violet lightning. The heavens immediately grew dim, and the world seemed to be swallowed by darkness.
CRACK! With a tremendous roar, a bolt of Thunder as thick as a horned dragon or a giant python shot down from the highest heavens, bathing the entire mining zone in a ghastly white light.
Before the recruits of Group Two could even cover their ears, a deafening thunderclap exploded overhead. The sonic blast sent several of the slighter youths sprawling to their knees.
"Formation!" Liu Linfeng’s roar echoed in a lull between thunderclaps. The new recruits staggered into a defensive formation, gritting their teeth as they stared up at the lightning-streaked sky.
The low-hanging black clouds suddenly descended. Huge raindrops began to fall, splashing against the soldiers’ armor and creating sparks of eerie blue light—each drop was imbued with the aura of Thunder, which coursed over their armor.
The rain on their exposed faces, unprotected by armor, immediately brought a numbing sensation.
The Thunder slithering through the clouds had transformed into great electrical pythons. Each strike split the ground, creating a new fissure. The earth of the mining zone was incredibly hard, yet it was still being carved with gash after gash.
As the weather had turned, Ning Xuan had evenly fed the Thunder within her body to the dozen-odd Thunder Beasts she had just captured.
At this moment, Ning Xuan felt only an emptiness in the blue meridians within her. She activated the Guiding Spirit Scripture at full power. Instantly, bolts of violet-blue Thunder struck straight down toward her head with world-destroying might.
Liu Linfeng and the others watched this scene in terror. Liu Linfeng felt his limbs go numb, and he found it difficult to breathe. He couldn’t imagine how Ning Xuan could possibly survive a lightning strike of such power.
Just as despair filled Liu Linfeng’s heart and he felt an overwhelming urge to charge into the Thunder, numerous black threads emerged from Ning Xuan’s body, plunging straight into the dozen or so captive Thunder Beasts.
A trickle of blood escaped the corner of Ning Xuan’s mouth. She had underestimated the power of this wave of Thunder. Activating her Cultivation Technique at full force had caused several violent bolts to surge into her body, inflicting a certain amount of damage on her meridians.
However, she had already taken a medicine to repair her meridians and diverted the excess Thunder Power into the Thunder Beasts. In just a few short minutes, the bodies of the dozen-odd Thunder Beasts had swelled to twice their original size.
This wave of the thunderstorm had been ferocious, even more powerful than the last. But after Ning Xuan drew the Thunder into herself, the storm gradually subsided, and the sky began to brighten.
"Everyone, focus on Body Refinement! Use your physical bodies to resist the Thunder! Do not evade!" Ning Xuan commanded.
"Attention all! Focus on Body Refining!" Seeing that Ning Xuan was unharmed, Liu Linfeng felt as if he’d been brought back from the dead and immediately relayed her order.
This thunderstorm ended quickly, lasting almost half as long as the previous one.
After it was over, they once again tallied the results. Thirteen people had been struck dead by the Thunder, and 32 were seriously injured. If Ning Xuan hadn’t intervened in time, the vast majority would not have survived.
Ninth Mining Zone: 15 deaths, mortality rate of 1.5%.
First Mining Zone: 321 deaths, mortality rate of 32.1%.
Second Mining Zone: 298 deaths, mortality rate of 29.8%.
Third Mining Zone: 309 deaths, mortality rate of 30.9%.
...
After the first thunderstorm ended, all the zones reported their casualty figures. The Ninth Mining Zone’s mortality rate was far lower than any other, and this data immediately attracted the attention of the higher-ups. That very afternoon, an investigation team arrived at the Ninth Mining Zone.
Facing the investigation team’s inquiry, Ning Xuan calmly and unhurriedly explained that her Companion Spirit was of the Wind and Thunder Element, allowing her to use Thunder for her Cultivation. Beyond that, she said, their mining zone had just been very lucky.
