MMORPG: War God, You are Invincible Again
Chapter 141 - 135: Storm’s Choice, Thunderous Battle (Part 2)

Chapter 141: Chapter 135: Storm’s Choice, Thunderous Battle (Part 2)

The Punisher of the Thunder is the Third Transition profession for Thunder warriors. Starting as a First Transition Thunder warrior and advancing to a Second Transition called Thunder Light Fighter, until reaching the Third Transition of Punisher of the Thunder, it can be said that the promotion of Thunder warriors is singular and directed. There are no other branches, which also results in a very high specialization of professional skills, each skill being extremely formidable.

After all, it’s easier to focus when the Heavenly Gods study along a single line compared to multiple lines.

The Third Transition Level Nine of the Punisher of the Thunder possesses a Skill called "Liberation." Its effect is to release all the Thunder Force within the body in an instant, in exchange for a momentary, incredibly powerful combat strength.

This skill had once caused the invasion army of the empire during the Storm Plane invasion to suffer greatly. Once a Third Transition’s Punisher of the Thunder decided to fight desperately, they could definitely achieve scenarios like exchanging one for three or four, making a blood profit.

This was also why it allowed the Gold Family to exploit loopholes; originally, the army attacking the Storm Plane decided unanimously to return directly to God’s Grace after receiving the opponent’s surrender, possibly being scared off, although they won, it was too tragic a victory. Therefore, they did not wait for the garrison troops dispatched by the empire to take over, which would otherwise not have given the Gold Family the courage to attack the surrendered Storm Plane right under the eyes of the empire’s troops.

"Liberation!" Old Hank bellowed, and instantly, rolling black clouds descended from the sky. A lightning bolt as thick as a bucket thunderously fell, enveloping Old Hank within it.

We can’t let him release this Skill! Lu Hong distinctly felt the electrical energy dissipating into the air around him, and even the air he breathed brought a tingling sensation.

"One-shot sacrifice." Lu Hong dashed towards Old Hank, who was still using his Skill; his entire vital energy rapidly contracted and frantically surged into the holy sword.

"Too late." Old Hank, speaking through the curtain of thunder, looked at Lu Hong who was close at hand. The power of thunder poured out in torrents, flipping Lu Hong over with the flood released from the thunder alone, immediately submerging him.

"Burst!" Old Hank quietly spoke, and the thunder liquid filling the arena immediately became turbulent.

Lu Hong struggled to emerge from the stormy liquid but before he could free himself, eight chains transformed from thunder trapped him tightly and dragged him back to the depths.

The Level Three professional had so much more energy than Lu Hong. No matter how Lu Hong struggled, the thunder liquid always managed to lock him within it until the thunder liquid exploded.

This shattered small world was originally floating in a void without any foothold, and under the impact of the explosion, it immediately began to wobble.

"You’ve lost." Old Hank gasped heavily, looking towards Lu Hong who lay motionless on the ground, "Forcing me to use my final move means you did well, but unfortunately, you couldn’t convince me."

"I...I...haven’t...lost!" At this point, Lu Hong was barely alive, but still struggling to stand.

"Not lost? Try standing up then?" Old Hank’s face was indifferent as he continued, "The Gold Family, as rulers of a higher plane, have too many people with combat power equal to mine. You couldn’t even defeat me; how could you execute the decapitation plan in the Swallow Flower Plane?"

Lu Hong’s breathing was weak. Though Old Hank was right, he didn’t want to give up just like that. The wilderness was ultimately a lower-level plane, and no matter how powerful the fighters were at the same level, they were only country bumpkins who hadn’t seen the world, just as the Golden Lion said, the strongest in the lower-level planes were mostly frogs at the bottom of the well.

Lu Hong had no understanding of this aspect; defeating Tong Ling, the strongest among his peers in the wilderness, he thought he had already reached the peak of his level. This battle had finally made him see reality.

"I still haven’t lost!" Lu Hong gathered his last bit of energy and struggled to rise, although his bones had already been corroded and powdered by the thunder, he still stubbornly stood up.

"Good, then I’ll let you face reality." Old Hank dragged his heavy steps towards the crumbling Lu Hong.

"If you surrender now, at least you’d suffer one less sword strike." The sharp blade of the Thunderfall pressed against Lu Hong’s abdomen.

"The experience of hara-kiri isn’t pleasant." Although Old Hank wouldn’t deal a fatal blow, it was definitely very painful, especially with a weapon imbued with the power of thunder, it could absolutely make the pain multiply many times over.

"I haven’t lost!" Lu Hong grabbed the blade of the Thunderfall; doing so had completely drained him, making a counterattack impossible.

Old Hank stared intently into Lu Hong’s persistent eyes and asked, "Is there someone important to you in the Swallow Flower Plane? Worth the price of your life?"

"Yes!"

Old Hank took a deep breath, suddenly his vision darkened, and he collapsed to the ground.

????

The Thunder warriors watching from the outskirts of the arena were confused; how could the Clan Leader faint suddenly—didn’t that mean he lost?

Just as everyone was bewildered, an elderly member of the Thunder Family stood out. He was also a Third Transition Punisher of the Thunder: "Don’t worry everyone, the Clan Leader simply ran out of strength. The Liberation Skill extracts all the strength from the body, and the fact that the Clan Leader could last so long without fainting is no small feat. This match—the victory goes to this young man."

"Oh! So that’s how it is." After hearing the senior’s explanation, everyone nodded. Then they cheered for Lu Hong, celebrating his victory. This battle had earned him the recognition of the warriors of Thunder.

Of course, Lu Hong didn’t get to enjoy this enthusiasm and followed in the old man Hank’s footsteps, crashing to the ground with a thud and passing out.

He didn’t know how much time had passed when he suddenly woke up from the darkness.

At that moment, he was being soaked in a large iron pot, while Caesar was on the side fanning the flames, occasionally grabbing a handful of spices and throwing them into the pot.

"Why am I here? What are you doing? Have your dark cooking skills finally moved on to human flesh?"

Faced with Lu Hong’s barrage of questions, Caesar snorted discontentedly, "We had agreed to persuade Hank, but instead, you went ahead and fought him. Then you got carried back here, how is that not embarrassing?"

"Wait, hold on, forget about that for now. Why are you adding spices? You’re not really planning to cook me, are you?"

"You? Look at the meat on your body; using you as ingredients would be a waste of my spices. What I added are herbs to help your recovery, and grinding them up helps them absorb faster. If we weren’t pressed for time, I wouldn’t bother doing all this." Caesar then shifted his tone, somewhat admiringly adding, "But truthfully, being able to fight Hank to almost a draw is quite impressive. The power of the Thunder family has been renowned for thousands of years. It is one of the few families that made the Empire pay a heavy price to conquer."

"Did Hank say anything when he brought me back?" Lu Hong asked next.

"He said to hurry and get you well-rested. When you wake up, he will assemble the team to join you as you enter Duan Hua."

"That’s great!" Lu Hong was slightly excited, having seen Hank’s strength firsthand. Once they entered Duan Hua, he would definitely be a top-tier force.

Caesar stopped what he was doing, brushed off the powder from his clothes, stood up, and said, "Another half day of soaking and you’ll recover. Be careful after entering Duan Hua. The Gold Family’s stealth traps are excessive; my people have already suffered major losses. According to the reports, Nono has been ambushed and is currently unconscious."

"What?!" Upon hearing about Nono’s unconscious state, Lu Hong exclaimed in shock, then angrily said, "What about Lai Li? Wasn’t she always with Nono?"

Facing Lu Hong’s accusation, Caesar’s expression chilled, and he spoke harshly, "Watch your tone. Lai Li is also seriously injured."

"I...," Lu Hong realized his mistake.

"Alright." Caesar understood Lu Hong’s mood and softened his tone, "There’s definitely something off with the Empire’s 78th and 36th Armies; never trust them. As for more intelligence, you’ll get it firsthand once you enter the wilderness. My people will actively report to you."

Lu Hong knew that Caesar must have used some special methods to communicate with his people locked in Duan Hua, but such methods surely had limited capacity for conveying information.

"I understand."

Caesar nodded, "I’ll go call Hank over to make arrangements in advance. As soon as you recover, we’ll set off."

Just as Caesar had left, Qi Rong and Hagrid poked their heads into the kitchen.

"Tong, are you okay?"

"Yes, Lord Tong, when you were carried back yesterday, you looked no different from a dead man."

Seeing Hagrid voluntarily visiting, Lu Hong seized the opportunity to ask, "Lord Hagrid, if I gather enough manpower, how soon can we reach the Duan Hua plane?"

"If the manpower is ready, it would take only a half hour for me to arrange your entry into Duan Hua." Hagrid then expressed his confusion, "But Lord Tong, your friend came yesterday, and it seems the headquarters of the mercenary group doesn’t agree with your borrowing troops."

"I understand." Lu Hong nodded, seeing that Caesar hadn’t been wrong, then turned to Qi Rong and Hagrid, "Was the soup good last time?"

"Soup!" At Lu Hong’s inquiry, Hagrid and Qi Rong seemed to recall a delightful memory, "I’ve never tasted soup that good before."

"Yes, after just one sip, I felt like I had entered the realm of Gods, frolicking and playing with the beautiful goddesses..."

"Mm-hmm, I felt the same!" Qi Rong eagerly nodded in agreement with Hagrid’s additional comments, "It was such a wonderful feeling!"

Well, these two were poisoned and still dreaming sweet dreams. Hopeless!