"The Thunderhowl Hellvine only grows in places densely covered with lightning. This plant must absorb the power of heavenly thunder to continue its growth, so it typically appears in regions with frequent lightning activity—remote mountain forests are its ideal habitat."
"According to sparse records, the Thunderhowl Hellvine is one of the top-tier plant-type soul beasts from birth. It possesses innate intelligence and, when newly sprouted, resembles a bamboo shoot—just a small section. It can only grow during thunderstorms. Each lightning strike it endures strengthens it slightly. A hundred strikes are said to equal a full year of cultivation for an ordinary soul beast."
"Lightning is the most violent force in all of nature. Under this violent tempering, the Thunderhowl Hellvine grows stronger. Initially, its development is slow and difficult, since it must rely on waiting for natural lightning to strike it to evolve."
"So, while an ordinary soul beast may train for one year, the Thunderhowl Hellvine may need ten years to accumulate the same hundred lightning strikes. Its cultivation rate is more than ten times slower than average."
"However, over time, once the Thunderhowl Hellvine reaches the century mark, everything changes dramatically."
"Once it reaches one hundred years of cultivation, it gains the ability to actively attract lightning during thunderstorms, allowing it to be struck dozens—if not hundreds—of times in a single night. Although at that stage, one hundred strikes no longer equal one year of cultivation, its overall training speed increases significantly."
Yun Yibai looked once again at the soul beast, which he suspected to be the Thunderhowl Hellvine.
"I believe this lightning-attracting valley isn't entirely natural," he said.
"Due to its unique nature, once the Thunderhowl Hellvine reaches a certain cultivation level, its destructive power becomes terrifying. It often causes entire regions to become engulfed in thunder pools. As the vine grows stronger, these pools expand, consuming everything around them."
"A Thunderhowl Hellvine with Ten-Thousand-Year cultivation is capable of altering the weather, summoning lightning from the heavens, and wielding thunder to destroy everything in its path."
"Thus, if a Thunderhowl Hellvine of that level appears, it inevitably brings disaster to the area. Only super-powerful individuals stand a chance at destroying it."
"But the Thunderhowl Hellvine also has a fatal flaw. Because it relies on absorbing lightning to grow, once its strength surpasses a certain point, the destructive thunder it summons becomes too condensed—too powerful—and it risks destroying itself at any moment."
"Most Thunderhowl Hellvines grow deep in uninhabited mountains and forests. Yet in the end, they often perish during their cultivation."
"Depending on the growth of each vine, their self-destruction typically occurs somewhere between twenty thousand to fifty thousand years of cultivation. Very few survive beyond fifty thousand."
This was the first time Yang Wudi had heard of such a soul beast.
"So you're saying… this extreme change in the weather is due to that soul beast? It's the one drawing all this lightning here?"
"Looks like following it here really paid off."
"If what you say is true, and this is a Thunderhowl Hellvine… can you estimate how many years it has cultivated?" Yang Wudi asked directly.
"I would estimate this Thunderhowl Hellvine is between thirty to forty thousand years old," Yun Yibai answered. "I've never seen one myself—I can only judge based on the ancient records."
"But in its current state, I can't tell whether it's cultivating… or undergoing tribulation."
"Tribulation?" Yang Wudi asked, unfamiliar with the term in this context.
"In the old texts, it's written that after reaching Ten-Thousand-Year cultivation, every advancement of ten thousand years brings about heavenly lightning meant to hinder the Thunderhowl Hellvine's progress. Soul masters of the past referred to this process as undergoing tribulation."
"I see."
"Well, I suppose now you've got another option. Do you prefer this one?"
"Rationally speaking, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon is more suited for me… but something deep inside me is telling me that I want the Thunderhowl Hellvine's soul ring even more."
"Hah! You brat!"
"You didn't waste your time reading those old books after all. The Thunderhowl Hellvine is rarer than a Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon soul beast."
"But, Yibai, did you happen to notice the bones scattered throughout this valley? Although most are covered by windblown sand and worn down by lightning, even a glimpse of one was enough for this old man to detect."
As a Soul Douluo, Yang Wudi's spiritual sense had developed to the point where he could scan the area—but only within a certain range.
Yun Yibai had not noticed that. After Yang Wudi's reminder, his eyes lit up with a faint blue glow.
After consuming the "Clarity Spring Elixir," not only had his spiritual strength reached the level of a Soul King while still only a Soul Ancestor, but his eyes had also gained a "True Sight" ability—capable of perceiving rare treasures and hidden forms.
As his gaze swept the area, bones half-buried in sand and scorched by lightning gradually came into full view.
"As expected… these remains—they're all soul beasts!"
Yang Wudi nodded, his expression still grim.
"If there are this many soul beast skeletons here, that means a great battle must've occurred in the past."
"And the culprit… is very likely that Thunderhowl Hellvine, absorbing lightning in the center of the valley."
At first, Yun Yibai hadn't felt it—but now, he sensed a heavy aura of death lingering across the valley. Still, with the presence of rampant thunder energy, it made sense that this deathly aura had been suppressed.
"This probably isn't the first time," Yun Yibai speculated. "These soul beasts likely gathered here in pursuit of the seemingly injured Thunderhowl Hellvine, fought each other to the death—and the vine finished off the survivors."
"Then it used their blood and flesh as nourishment for its growth."
"That's probably why more soul beasts keep coming—it's the Thunderhowl Hellvine they're drawn to."
"For any lightning-attribute soul beast, such a rare Thunderhowl Hellvine is an unparalleled tonic, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
"From all my years as an alchemist, I'd say this plant-type soul beast isn't inferior to even the most elite spirit herbs!"
Of course, that "experience" was mostly a hunch. The fact that so many soul beasts coveted this plant-type soul beast was evidence enough—it was extremely rare for a plant soul beast to draw so much attention from other beasts.
"Senior Yang is right," Yun Yibai said. "In the end, it's still a plant."
He hadn't considered the Hellvine as medicinal, but now that he thought about it, any soul beast that had managed to reach the Ten-Thousand-Year mark likely had immense medicinal value.