Nine Great Heavenly Thunder Secret Arts
The origin of the altar in this cave is mysterious, and it is impossible to verify who built it. However, judging from its array patterns and the shape of the altar, it has existed for a very long time.
About two thousand years ago.
At the time, Lei Clan's ancestor was just a Qi Refinement cultivator practicing Qi Rogue Cultivator. He accidentally sneaked to the stone wall leading to the cave entrance, picked up a stone disc that opened the wall, and fortuitous opportunity chance entered the cave and saw the altar.
He obtained a Jade Slip containing Cultivation Method from the altar. The Jade Slip contained a secret Thunder Method technique called the Thunder Scripture, which not only included various thunder-based Law Technique from the Cultivation World, but also nine legendary heavenly thunder techniques.
These nine bolts of heavenly lightning correspond precisely to the nine realms of immortal cultivation. Each time one advances to a new realm, one can cultivate a new Thunder Method.
Upon obtaining the Thunder Scripture, the ancestor of the Lei Clan began cultivating the first Heavenly Thunder, named the North Pole Divine Thunder.
The Lei Clan ancestor had a decent talent for Thunder Method magic, and it wasn't long before he successfully cultivated the North Pole Divine Thunder.
With the power of the North Pole Divine Thunder, the ancestor of the Lei Clan rose rapidly and successfully Foundation Establishment in just a few years. However, he was not satisfied with this and began to study the function of the altar.
After years of research, nothing has been found.
It wasn't until one day, when he brought a dying enemy into the cave and accidentally activated the altar, absorbing the Thunder Method's spiritual energy from him, that he discovered the altar's power.
After that, the ancestors of the Lei Clan kept kidnapping cultivators with talent in Thunder Method, taking them to caves, and devouring their spiritual essence in Thunder Method.
As they devoured more and more cultivators, the Lei Clan ancestor's Thunder Method grew stronger and stronger, and they gradually began to stand out in the Cultivation World, establishing a cultivation Lineage.
The area around the Altar Cave lacked Spiritual Qi and was not suitable as Lineage residence. The ancestors of the Lei Clan set up their Lineage residence next to a high mountain with abundant Spiritual Qi, a hundred miles away.
The altar is miraculous; even when activated and absorbing the spiritual energy of others' Thunder Method, it will not emit any Spiritual Qi fluctuations. Even Nascent Soul Cultivator's Divine Sense cannot detect it. The Lei Clan is not afraid that the existence of the altar will be known to outsiders.
As the Lei Clan grew stronger, their original Lineage residence could no longer meet the Spiritual Qi needs of the many cultivators in the Lei Clan moved their Lineage residence to a place with more abundant Spiritual Qi.
Several hundred years later, the first ancestor of the Lei Clan died after his lifespan was exhausted. One of his descendants had a sudden inspiration to use lightning-type Demon Beasts to replace cultivators with Thunder Method magic talents.
The Lei Clan then discovered that the spiritual energy of Thunder Method on Demon Beasts could also be devoured. Just like humans, Thunder Method Demon Beasts could only be devoured when they were alive.
However, there are not many Demon Beasts with the talent for Thunder Method magic, and Demon Beast with outstanding talent are even rarer. Moreover, in the Cultivation World, most Demon Beasts with the talent for Thunder Method are powerful and difficult to capture.
Thanks to the altar, each generation of the Lei Clan produces at least one person with exceptional talent in Thunder Method, making the Lei Clan stronger and stronger.
There were also righteous sects that coveted the Lei Clan's nine Heavenly Thunder Secret Method. These sects discovered that the first two Heavenly Thunder Secret Method they had painstakingly acquired were not as powerful as they had imagined after cultivation, and were much weaker than those of the Lei Lineage members.
Over time, rumors spread throughout the Cultivation World that only those with the Lei Clan bloodline could unleash the true power of the Nine Heavenly Thunder Secret Method. As the Lei Clan's strength gradually increased and Nascent Soul expert emerged, no one dared to covet the Nine Heavenly Thunder Secret Method anymore.
Lei Yue carefully examined the area around the altar, discovering the ashes left by Lei Hong's body and the embers in the rubble pit.
From the lingering scent in the air, he deduced that not long ago, there were five people and one beast here, two of whom were Lei Hong and Lei Tianyu.
The air still lingered with the strong aura of demonic corpse cultivators, suggesting that Lei Hong and Lei Tianyu were likely killed by them.
The other two of the five were likely righteous cultivators, and female cultivators at that; they were probably also dead.
His reasoning was that he could sense that fragments of souls, belonging to the two female cultivators, still lingered in the area.
As for the souls of Lei Hong and Lei Tianyu, no fragments of their souls remained.
Lei Yue raised his right hand and slowly swept it through the air, a gentle spiritual energy flowing through the cave.
A moment later, several faint points of light converged into his hand from all directions.
Lei Yue muttered incantations and repeatedly made hand seals towards the light spot.
After several dozen breaths, Lei Yue's face turned somewhat pale, and his breathing became weaker.
"This Ghost Dao's 'Remnant Spirit Soul-Seeking Art' is far too Law Power- consuming. Just a few fragments of remnant souls have already drained nearly half of my Law Power."
Lei Yue learned some basic information about what the two had seen before their deaths from the remnants of their souls' memories.
He knew that both of them were killed by Lei Hong, and that Lei Hong had attacked Lei Tianyu, but he had no information whatsoever about the corpse cultivator that he most wanted to know.
"Could it be that these two female cultivators didn't see the corpse cultivator before they died?"
Lei Yue searched around the altar several more times but found no further clues. He then flew deeper into the cave and searched slowly within it.
Fifteen minutes later, he discovered the Vertical Tunnel that Song Wen had dug. Passing through the Vertical Tunnel, he arrived at a cave in the mountain.
A search of the cave yielded no results.
He used the rocks in the cave to block up the Vertical Tunnel and then exited the cave.
Lei Yue stood in mid-air, his powerful Divine Sense sweeping across the surrounding area. To his disappointment, he still couldn't find any trace left by the corpse cultivator.
Standing suspended in mid-air for a long time, Lei Yue shook his head in disappointment.
He flew to a large mountain, and with a single slash of his sword, a hundred-meter-long stone slab was cleaved away.
Lei Yue flew with the stone slabs, arriving at the Vertical Tunnel he had created. He blocked the Vertical Tunnel with the stone slabs, then struck out with his palm from mid-air, disturbing the soil on the nearby ground, so that no one could see anything amiss.
After concealing everything, Lei Yue flew back to the Lei Clan's residence.
The task of tracking down the corpse cultivator will be handled by the younger generation of the Lei Clan.
This place is too close to East Birch Market, and it's teeming with Rogue Cultivators. Finding a corpse cultivator who is intentionally hiding among them, even if he is Nascent Soul Cultivator, will not be easy.
Now, the two most likely places for that corpse cultivator are East Birch Market and the Mountain Ravine Ghost Market.
East Birch Market is the largest market in the vicinity, a distribution center for treasures such as Spirit Stones, elixirs, and herbs. The corpse cultivator who committed murder and looted treasures will likely go to East Birch Market to sell the stolen goods. Starting with East Birch Market might yield some clues.
The Mountain Ravine Ghost Market is a mixed bag, with Devil Cultivators appearing from time to time, and it's also possible to find traces of that corpse cultivator.
Of course, Lei Yue didn't need to do these things personally. The Lei Clan had businesses in Eastern Splendor Market and Ghost Market. He gave the orders, and a large number of the younger generation of the Lei Clan went to investigate.
Song Wen hid at the bottom of the lake for two whole days. Seeing that the mighty Divine Sense had not reappeared, he then released a Black Armor Gu.
The Black Armor Gu slowly swam to the surface of the lake. After confirming that no one was around, it slowly crawled onto the shore and circled the area for several miles, but found nothing.
Only then did it take to the sky. Relying on its eyesight, the Black Armor Gu scanned the surrounding area for dozens of miles, but saw no one.
Song Wen breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Emerging from the silt at the bottom of the river, Song Wen did not activate his spiritual power, relying instead on his powerful physical body to slowly move forward at the bottom of the lake.
The underwater resistance was great, Song Wen walked very slowly, only managing to travel a few miles in an hour.
He walked for two days at the bottom of the lake, covering nearly two hundred miles, before finally climbing back onto the shore.
After drying off the moisture on his body, Song Wen determined his direction, bypassed the location of the Altar Cave, and leisurely made his way to East Birch Market.