Misty Thunder

"Since he's so promising, would he be willing to spare some time to teach me spells?"

After Li Mo voiced his concerns, Shen Yun smiled and comforted him.

"Don't worry. If it were before, he definitely wouldn't have time. But he borrowed a large sum of Spirit Stone to buy a magic artifact and is now in urgent need of Spirit Stone to repay his debt. Even a mosquito's leg is still meat. Go ahead with confidence."

Upon hearing this, Li Mo, with a "let's give it a try" mindset, found Tian Fen as Shen Yun had described.

This was a man shorter than Li Mo, with a large forehead and a square head. He had a peculiar appearance and a strange bone structure. When he learned Li Mo's intention, his eyes immediately lit up.

Li Mo could tell that he was indeed short on Spirit Stone.

"Sure, sure. How much Spirit Stone do you have?"

Li Mo was helpless.

"I have twelve Spirit Stone on me, but according to my agreement with Shen Yun, I only need eight Spirit Stone to learn an intermediate-level beginner spell."

"What's so great about intermediate-level beginner spells? How about this: find a way to gather three hundred Spirit Stone for me, and I'll teach you my secret Lightning Techniques!"

Li Mo was dumbfounded.

Three hundred Spirit Stone! That was equivalent to three thousand taels of Silver. How could he, a mere fourth-layer Qi Refining disciple, possibly gather that much?

Even when Nine Rivers Thunder Dragon Tai Shou went to Eighteen Mountains to rob people, it took him over two months to barely scrape together four to five thousand taels of Silver. He didn't have Nine Rivers Thunder Dragon's strength now, nor did he want to become a wanted criminal chased by the Heaven's Mandate Bureau.

As for so-called secret techniques, they could be understood as special spells known only to a small number of people.

These spells might be passed down within certain niche factions or created through chance encounters. They often possessed rare and special abilities, and were not included in the sect's spell grading system.

Besides these, there were also so-called Spiritual Power.

Spiritual Power generally referred to the well-known basic spells of various sects, advanced secret techniques, and sometimes referred to specific well-known spells of high-level cultivators, or was used when cultivators were flattering each other.

The Spirit Eye technique of Lingmu Sect, when cultivated to an advanced stage, was considered great Spiritual Power.

"Secret techniques, this..."

Li Mo sighed and shook his head.

"Although I am quite tempted, I am truly poor. Moreover, my Magical Power is weak, only at the fourth layer of Qi Refining. Even if I mastered a secret technique, I would find it difficult to unleash its power."

Tian Fen looked at Li Mo, his expression one of disappointment, like hating iron for not becoming steel, deeming him unworthy of being nurtured.

So he compromised.

"How about this: I'll teach you an advanced-level beginner spell. With your Magical Power at the fourth layer of Qi Refining, you should barely be able to activate it once. However, I will only teach you for seven days, until the year-end assessment. Whether you can master it during this period depends entirely on your comprehension. Twelve Spirit Stone is the final price, how about it?"

"This?"

Li Mo hesitated.

Only seven days to master an advanced-level beginner spell was indeed quite difficult. However, he suddenly remembered Zhang Guoyin's advice.

"Life is like a play, and every play has its final act. I hope you will do your best to seize the opportunities before you, and not end up with lifelong regrets like this old man."

So Li Mo took a deep breath, his gaze becoming firm.

"Deal."

He was about to write a contract when Tian Fen shook his head and waved his hand.

"Don't worry. I'm a person of some standing in the Advanced Study Hall. How could I possibly cheat you out of twelve Spirit Stone? After this assessment, I'm even planning to take a position in the Law Enforcement Hall. If you get more Spirit Stone in the future, you can come find me again."

"Alright then."

After all, this was within the sect, and it was indeed unlikely that the other party would cheat him.

After receiving the Spirit Stone, Tian Fen immediately put it into his Storage Pouch and chuckled.

"Follow me. Once you master this spell, you'll benefit endlessly in the future."

The two arrived at Wudao Peak in the back mountain. Tian Fen demonstrated the spell to Li Mo.

"Watch carefully."

Tian Fen shouted, "Summon Thunder Slave!"

Rolling thunder gathered before Tian Fen, forming two thunderous creatures that resembled hunting hounds, exuding a dangerous aura. Li Mo was greatly surprised; it was a summoning spell of Five Elements Spiritual Power.

With his current strength, if it were just one Thunder Slave, he might have a chance of winning.

But facing two at once would be certain death.

Tian Fen snapped his fingers, and the two thunderous creatures immediately sat down, allowing him to pet them.

"This is the advanced-level beginner spell I'm teaching you, Summon Thunder Slave. The strength of the Thunder Slave depends on your understanding of lightning, and the number of Thunder Slave depends on the strength of your Magical Power. While summoning Thunder Slave, it will continuously consume Magical Power. However, this is just a beginner spell, so theoretically, the upper limit of a Thunder Slave's strength will not exceed the twelfth layer of Qi Refining."

Li Mo was quite moved.

Compared to Palm Lightning and Lightning Ball Technique, Summon Thunder Slave truly lived up to its name as an advanced-level beginner spell. It was gradually moving beyond common knowledge and possessed the characteristic of a cultivator's vast Spiritual Power.

However, compared to mastering this Summon Thunder Slave spell, he had a more pressing question that lingered in his mind.

"May I ask, besides spending Spirit Stone to learn spells from others, what other ways are there to learn spells?"

Tian Fen was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter.

"The easiest way, of course, is to find a good Master. But that requires some luck. Next, you can attend lectures by senior uncles and aunts. Then there's the Hall of Collections, but to learn the spells inside, you need to spend sect contributions. This is usually used by cultivators who hold positions in the various halls of the Outer Sect."

Tian Fen seemed quite knowledgeable about this.

"There's also trading at the market at the foot of the mountain, which is run by our sect. Additionally, each prefecture and county has small markets frequented by local clan cultivators and rogue cultivators. Other methods include surveying ancient cultivator's cave dwellings, killing escaped evil cultivators, and exchanging insights with other sects... Of course, if you're a genius capable of comprehending and creating your own spells, then forget I said anything."

"I've learned a lot."

After Li Mo noted down what Tian Fen said, he began to ask for pointers on the casting techniques for summoning the Thunder Slave.

Seven days passed quickly.

Disciples who had gone home to visit their families returned to the sect one after another.

The annual year-end assessment was scheduled to begin tomorrow. Li Mo stayed up late in the back mountains, seeking guidance from Tian Fen until he was sure there were no omissions. He then attempted to cast the spell again, following the techniques Tian Fen had taught him.

The Magical Power in his Dantian boiled almost instantly.

With a loud shout, a dazzling bolt of lightning rapidly appeared before Li Mo. However, the bolt then collapsed and scattered, as the lightning spiritual energy ultimately failed to transform into the so-called Thunder Slave.

"A pity. Your comprehension of lightning is still a bit lacking, not reaching the minimum requirement to cast the Thunder Slave spell. But the spell itself is no longer an issue."

Tian Fen stretched.

"Alright, it's almost midnight, the deadline we agreed upon. We have the assessment tomorrow, so I'm heading back to rest."

After Tian Fen left, Li Mo stood in place, breathing slightly heavily.

"It truly is a pity, just a little bit short."

Fortunately, his efforts over the past seven days were not in vain.

Although he could not yet cast this advanced-tier beginner spell, he had mastered all its casting essentials. He could slowly work on comprehending the Way of Lightning in the future.

He was also nearing his limit from studying day and night for these seven days.

That night.

Li Mo found himself entering the Misty Dreamscape once again.

Normally, after the summer flood season, he could barely enter the Misty Dreamscape once a month. He was quite lucky today.

The scene was still a vast, ancient, and silent land. The sky was covered with dark clouds, and huge shadows occasionally drifted by.

Li Mo, in his shadow form, was about to habitually circulate the Greater Heavenly Cycle when he suddenly remembered Tian Fen's words.

"Lightning comprehension... still lacking?"

So, Li Mo slowly raised his head and looked at the cloud-covered sky.

The sky in the Misty Dreamscape was almost always turbulent with dark clouds, surrounded by volatile lightning.

Ever since Li Mo first entered this place, he had discovered after waking up that lightning seemed to hold a special significance here. Furthermore, the Mystic Box contained many methods for overcoming lightning tribulations. He had even researched this topic for a while when he was in the Pingshan Society, but he quickly gave up.

After all, no one could expect to be struck by lightning, right?

"Perhaps I can comprehend the power of lightning here?"

Thinking this, Li Mo sat down on the ground.

Instead of circulating his energy to cultivate as he had before, he closed his eyes, released his divine sense, and attempted to comprehend the Way of Lightning here.

Gradually.

Countless roars and low murmurs surged towards Li Mo from all directions, like a breached dam.

He frowned slightly.

Fortunately, over the past three years, Li Mo had gradually adapted to this pain. He endured the discomfort, which felt like his head was about to explode, and continued to listen carefully to the sounds here.

"Sun Palace, Mystic Peak..."

"Spirit Reflection Mountain, Goddess Palace..."

These were still mysterious place names that were impossible to locate. Their names seemed to be cried out from the mouths of countless people in painful moans, their voices becoming increasingly hoarse and shrill.

Evil, twisted shadows seemed to be engulfing those illusory legends. Incomprehensible, absurdly large, malevolent, and twisted Monsters greedily looked down upon the earth from the sky.

Li Mo's frown deepened.

A drop of sweat trickled down his forehead. He felt as if he could not hold on any longer.

Suddenly.

Crack!

A bolt of lightning descended from the sky, striking Li Mo's shadow form directly.

Caught off guard, he couldn't help but let out a muffled groan. He fell to the ground, and his shadow body, which had been as solid as substance, seemed to show signs of dissipating!

"Ah..."

Wrapped in lightning, Li Mo endured the pain for a moment before finally letting out a hysterical scream of agony. He rolled back and forth on the ground, his shadow at the edges continuously dissipating.

"How could this happen!"

Li Mo struggled to maintain his sanity.

He didn't understand why it had turned out this way and began to regret his recklessness.

Just as Li Mo thought he was certain to die this time, he felt the pain on his body begin to lessen. He looked at his shadow body and found that his shadow seemed much fainter, but the lightning on his body had been completely consumed.

"What is this?"

Silence.

Li Mo felt that among the countless noises that had previously flooded his mind, one passage seemed to become incredibly clear.

Before he could even think, he felt an foreign object appear inside his body. His mouth opened involuntarily, and he began to gag repeatedly.

A ball of golden paper floated out of his open mouth, or rather, drilled out.

Li Mo, in his shadowy form and gasping for breath, was somewhat shocked by this bizarre sight. Nevertheless, he slowly extended his weak, trembling right hand, opened the mysterious paper ball he had just vomited out, and looked at the text within.

"This, this, this is... an Elixir Recipe?"

Li Mo stuttered "this" several times, his heart in turmoil. He couldn't comprehend the bizarre logic behind it.