Judging by their attire, although these people's family backgrounds were not as prominent as theirs, they were certainly wealthy.
This was normal; compared to ordinary people who knew nothing about the ruins, it was definitely these Noble Family descendants, who had some inside information, who arrived here first.
Without paying them much attention, Jing Yuan quickened his pace toward the main peak where lightning flashed in the distance.
When Jing Yuan arrived at Startling Thunder Peak, there were already many people present.
"Young Master Yuan."
"Young Master Yuan."
"Young Master Yuan has arrived."
Those who could reach this place now were primarily descendants of various Noble Families, and they were naturally familiar with Jing Yuan, the Third Young Master of the City Lord's Manor.
Even when Jing Yuan arrived, the young masters and young ladies who were cultivating all stood up, automatically clearing a path for Jing Yuan toward the core area of the Startling Thunder Pool.
Jing Yuan was not surprised by this situation.
Nodding, Jing Yuan walked toward the interior of the Startling Thunder Pool.
Just by stepping into the vicinity of the Startling Thunder Pool, Jing Yuan felt extremely violent Thunder Spiritual Power.
Unlike the peaceful and serene Forest of Life, the Startling Thunder Pool was filled with flashing, violent lightning.
In the Forest of Life, at worst, you would just gain no fortuitous encounters.
But within this Startling Thunder Pool, carelessness could lead to severe injury, and in serious cases, death was not impossible.
The closer one got to the central area of the Startling Thunder Pool, the denser the surrounding thunder storms became, and the more terrifying their power grew.
This was why, when Jing Yuan arrived earlier, most people were gathered around the periphery of the Startling Thunder Pool.
Except for a few highly skilled and daring individuals, most people chose to first adapt to the power of the lightning on the periphery before moving inward.
Danger aside, the Lightning Spiritual Energy here was truly dense.
After taking just a couple of steps, Jing Yuan could already feel the spiritual power within his body becoming active and slowly increasing.
"As expected of the cultivation treasure ground of an Ancient Great Sect."
Feeling the changes within his body, Jing Yuan praised the location and continued walking toward the interior of the Startling Thunder Pool.
Along the way, Jing Yuan saw many Noble Family descendants cultivating. When they noticed Jing Yuan passing by, they all stood up and respectfully called out, "Young Master Yuan."
As Jing Yuan moved closer to the core area of the Startling Thunder Pool, the surrounding crowd thinned out.
"Hmph!"
Just as Jing Yuan continued approaching the core, a white-clothed youth not far away suddenly groaned, immediately spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, and flew backward violently.
Jing Yuan stepped forward and caught him. The moment their bodies touched, a domineering stream of Thunder Spiritual Power flowed through Jing Yuan's arm and rushed toward his Dantian.
Golden lightning flashed in Jing Yuan's eyes, and a phantom image of a Golden Divine General seemed to flicker at Jing Yuan's Dantian before instantly vanishing.
The spiritual energy that had rushed into Jing Yuan's body instantly quieted down, like a mouse encountering a cat.
"Are you alright?"
After absorbing the suppressed Thunder Spiritual Power within his body, Jing Yuan asked the person he was holding.
"Thank you for your assistance, Young Master Yuan."
The person stood up, saw that the one who caught him was Jing Yuan, and immediately spoke respectfully.
"You are Zhou Qi of the Zhou Family, right?"
The Zhou Family was considered a First-Rate Noble Family in Tianyuan City. As a direct descendant of the Zhou Family, Jing Yuan had seen him a few times at banquets.
"I didn't expect Young Master Jing to remember me."
The Zhou Family was only considered to be at the bottom of the First-Rate Noble Families, and they had limited opportunities to interact with the Jing Family.
Furthermore, Jing Yuan himself wasn't fond of such social interactions, so being remembered by Jing Yuan made Zhou Qi feel somewhat flattered.
What he didn't know was that Jing Yuan remembering him was entirely due to Pei Lingyi's efforts.
From his elder brother Jing Tian down to Jing Yuan, the first time they attended a banquet, Pei Lingyi required them to memorize the information of important figures from Noble Families of all sizes.
As the next generation of the City Lord's Manor, if they didn't even know who was under their jurisdiction, how could they manage Tianyuan City well in the future?
But Zhou Qi didn't know this, so he was slightly excited when Jing Yuan called out his name.
Did this count as showing his face in front of the Jing Family's Third Young Master?
A First-Rate Noble Family sounded powerful, but above it were Top-Tier Noble Families and Super Noble Families.
Of course, these were all implied divisions; officially, Noble Families didn't really have ranks.
It was simply that differences in family power naturally formed social strata, leading to these unspoken divisions.
There are only nine Super Noble Families in the Dixia Republic, which are the nine City Lord Families who govern the nine pinnacle Mega-Cities, respectively.
Below them are the Top-Tier Noble Families, which include the family Yan Lin belongs to. There are only four families of this caliber in Tianyuan City.
Yan, Bai, Ye, Liu.
It is worth mentioning that the Pei Family, which Jing Yuan's mother belongs to, is also a City Lord Family governing one of the Nine Great Cities.
As for why Jing Dongfeng and Pei Lingyi could still be childhood sweethearts despite belonging to two different major cities...
That's because Old Master Jing and Old Master Pei were both the type to take their children to the battlefield.
We don't know why, but they claimed that children shouldn't lack a father's companionship at such a young age, so they directly dragged the two toddlers to the front lines.
Ordinary Couples: Youth is fireworks and the starry river.
Jing Dongfeng and Pei Lingyi: Youth is war and cannon fire.
Fortunately, wars were mostly fought in space, and the Massive Fortresses where they usually resided were not affected.
Otherwise, who knows if children so young would go insane listening to the baptism of cannon fire every day.
"Cultivation must be done within your limits. Ruining your foundation for the sake of a minor immediate improvement is not worth the loss."
If Jing Yuan hadn't helped him block that violent Thunder Spiritual Power just now, he would have been bedridden for at least a month after leaving this place.
Moreover, if his Dantian was affected, his future cultivation would become difficult.
"Young Master Yuan is right to instruct me; I was too impatient."
Thinking back to what just happened, Zhou Qi broke out in a cold sweat.
He felt he was on the verge of a breakthrough, so he intended to intercept a stronger stream of Thunder Spiritual Power.
However, he didn't expect that halfway through the process, a thunder storm suddenly appeared not far from him, disturbing his momentum and boosting the power of that Thunder Spiritual Power.
The strengthened Thunder Spiritual Power easily broke through his restrictions. If Jing Yuan hadn't intervened, he truly might have been severely injured.
Furthermore, with his cultivation level, which had not yet broken through the Captain Rank, his Meridians would have burst before the power even reached his Dantian.
"Go treat your injuries first, and don't leave any hidden wounds."
After giving this instruction, Jing Yuan continued walking toward the core area of the Startling Thunder Pool.
"As expected of the Young Master of the Jing Family."
Watching Jing Yuan stroll so leisurely through the perilous Startling Thunder Pool, Zhou Qi couldn't help but sigh with admiration internally.
Finally, Zhou Qi dared not linger any longer and turned to run out of the Startling Thunder Pool.