This is a tuff one for me as I know your style. I have to go now but I will return when I have had time to think about it more.
Update! I have been thinking about this image and don’t have any straight answers. I see what your saying about the lighting. At first glance the sky doesn’t seem to go with the ground. I can see at least one opening through the clouds but I don’t see any indication of areas of light hitting the ground. Did you have any hints of this before processing? Sometimes I will crank exposure way down so I can see were the lightest areas are located. I would use that for this image and brush an adjustment in so you can see them at normal exposure setting.
Maybe increase the highlights too, looks pretty flat to me.
