In a boundless forest, the sky overhead was shrouded with dark clouds, rumbling thunder reverberated between heaven and earth, and the heavy black clouds pressed down on the entire sky, seemingly about to collapse.
A torrential downpour descended from the sky, mixed with violent storms, as if the heavenly river had broken its banks, large swathes of trees were flattened by the hurricane, the entire forest land undulating like ocean waves.
Trees, unable to withstand the dreadful hurricane and storm, were continuously battered and shattered by the fierce storm; with a crashing sound, massive branches were torn in half, and then lifted by the fierce wind, soaring into the sky and swept into the turbulence.
On this expanse of land, electric snakes danced across the sky, since days ago this frenzied thunderstorm had not ceased, and the once densely interwoven forest trees were now sparse and shining, as if they had encountered the wild ravages of some gigantic beast.
Above the sky ravaged by the torrential downpour, amidst the heavy clouds, electric snakes danced wildly within the layers of clouds, shining with a piercing brilliance, transforming that entire area into something akin to a sea of lightning.
Austin glided through the clouds, surrounded by rampant electric light that spread out, permeating the entire sky.
At this moment, he had his eyes tightly closed, fully perceiving the thunderstorm weather emanating around him; amidst the ferocious storm, the elements of wind, water, and thunder were all reflected in his mind, as if he were in the midst expanding his senses, enveloping the entire area of the superstorm.
However, after attempting for three days and nights under the continuous thunderstorm weather, turning the forest below into a swamp, Austin still had no clue.
From the beginning, Austin knew that spherical lightning with such destructive power couldn't be developed so simply; otherwise, humanity wouldn't have had to wait until 2012 for the first scientific observational record of spherical lightning in human history from his previous life. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵•𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮•𝓷𝓮𝓽
The probability of spherical lightning naturally occurring in a thunderstorm area might be one in a thousand or even lower, one in ten thousand.
Austin's confidence stemmed from the fact that within the domain range of the superstorm, the entire thunderstorm area covered by the superstorm, the meteorites combining the elements of wind, water, and thunder were within his sensing range.
He could even artificially alter the various environments of thunderstorm thunder, through various attempts, to achieve the principles scientists from his previous life proposed for the appearance of spherical lightning, to see if it could be successfully realized in nature.
In Austin's previous life, scientists proposed numerous hypotheses about the causes of spherical lightning formation, and Austin happened to be somewhat interested in this area, because he remembered some of those theories.
For instance, traditional theory considered spherical lightning to be a vortex-like high-temperature plasma, utilizing the centripetal force created by inner high-speed rotation balanced with external atmospheric pressure to sustain prolonged stability, or maintaining energy stability through chemical reactions among high-temperature mixed gases.
And the reason these vortex-like plasmas occur is because during the occurrence of branching lightning, the air temperature in the lightning channel is very high, causing water vapor in the air to decompose into oxygen and hydrogen, and under special circumstances, the lightning channel splits into several sections. Thus, splitting the air near the lightning channel into clusters of gas containing hydrogen and oxygen, forming bead lightning, when the branching lightning stops, the temperature of spherical lightning drops, hydrogen and oxygen recombine, releasing energy during recombination, producing light while releasing energy, sometimes this energy release phenomenon is manifested through an explosion, resulting in spherical lightning.
Or lightning striking the ground, where the intense high temperature causes the silica in the soil to evaporate and become ionized, forming spherical lightning in the special thunderstorm environment in the high sky, and so on.
Or ordinary lightning excites macro-electrons, causing "macro-electrons" to be excited from lower energy levels to higher energy levels.
Those once dormant memories deep in Austin's mind had become clearer with his slumber and growth, as the legendary bloodline within the giant dragon awakened.
And through those theories, Austin had methods to attempt creating spherical lightning, which was also where his confidence lay.
However, Austin underestimated the difficulty involved.
Perhaps because his ability to control thunderstorm is not precise enough, or perhaps there are issues with the speculative theories about spherical lightning from his previous life, but at least during these three days and nights of continuous attempts, Austin had no leads, nor any signs of realizing spherical lightning.
"Failed! I was too confident; perhaps those theories are not wrong, it's just that my own control of thunder attributes is not perfect... or perhaps there are errors in the theories posited by scientists of my previous life; spherical lightning is more complex than imagined."
With no leads after three continuous days, Austin's mood sank accordingly.
After these days of attempts, he understood that continuing would only rely on luck, on the one in a thousand, even one in ten thousand probability of spherical lightning occurring in nature.
"No, merely relying on the luck of spherical lightning naturally forming is too slim a hope, other methods must be contemplated!"
Relying solely on luck might take half a year, by then, who knows, the flowers might have already withered, by then, the wave of zombie creatures might have already swept and occupied the Dragon Nest Territory.
With the failure to complete the attempt at spherical lightning through scientific hypothesis theories of his previous life, he could only seek other breakthrough directions.
"But, what other method can evoke spherical lightning?"
Within the clouds, Austin descended beneath a cliff amidst the wreckage below.
The sky was still shrouded in thick dark clouds, and fierce storms mixed with rain poured down, splashing onto the earth, everywhere within sight seemed to face a storm of flying sands and rocks, an apocalyptic scene.
Austin did not dispel the superstorm caused by his talent magic, but quietly remained perched on the cliff peak, allowing the rain like a bullet shower from the sky to fall, icy raindrops splashing on his head, perhaps this might help clear his mind.
"Could it be, just to give up ?"
If he couldn't develop spherical lightning in time, then the giant lump of zombie organisms couldn't be breached, and once the pyramid was completed, there would be no opportunity for a counterattack, meaning the Dragon's Nest territory, painstakingly established over three years, would be completely destroyed.