176: Chapter 176 The Eighteenth Sect Master: I Will Return

"Senior Brother Shi, forgive me for making a fool of myself."

Alchemist Luo withdrew her white sword and returned to the sword formation.

Since she was no longer absorbing the lightning, the Leiming Beasts did not continue to attack the sword formation after they recovered. Before long, the surrounding Leiming Beasts dispersed.

Senior Sister Bao put away the sword formation.

The group began walking toward the mountain peak once again.

"Ye Mo, take this Seal Consciousness Pill first and consume it after you enter. Remember, the Thunder Spirit Tree is at the very depths of the cave. Although the Seal Consciousness Pill can prevent the thunder fiend energy from eroding your Sea of Consciousness, it will still affect your mind. Once inside, ignore whatever you see or encounter."

Outside the entrance of the Leiming Cave, Alchemist Luo handed the Seal Consciousness Pill to Ye Mo and said solemnly.

"Understood."

Ye Mo nodded. On the way here, Alchemist Luo had told him that there were illusions inside the Leiming Cave that could affect one's mind, and might even cause one to lose themselves.

This was caused by the lingering consciousness of various Soul Transformation Cultivators after they passed away.

"Yes, I believe you will definitely succeed."

Alchemist Luo smiled slightly, as if to give Ye Mo confidence.

Ye Mo took the Seal Consciousness Pill and held it in his hand, then stepped into the Leiming Cave.

As soon as he entered the cave, Ye Mo felt a series of cold winds blowing around him, along with incredibly dense Spiritual Qi.

Ye Mo walked forward slowly. Soon, he arrived at an extremely spacious area, with alcoves lining the surrounding rock walls.

Skeletal remains sat inside many of these alcoves.

As soon as he walked here, Ye Mo felt that the thunder fiend energy around him had grown much stronger. Of course, it still couldn't cause him any harm.

However, Ye Mo quickly felt a brief wave of dizziness in his head.

The thunder fiend energy was now eroding Ye Mo's Sea of Consciousness.

But this force was still very weak, and Ye Mo recovered just as quickly.

On the surface, Ye Mo's Divine Sense was only at the Foundation Establishment stage, but in reality, he was already at the Late Stage of the Nascent Soul. The thunder fiend energy had clearly failed to distinguish this.

Ye Mo thought to himself that perhaps he didn't even need to take the Seal Consciousness Pill.

Ye Mo cast a few glances at the skeletal remains in the alcoves, feeling somewhat emotional. Even those as powerful as Soul Transformation Cultivators ultimately couldn't escape their Lifespan, eventually fading away into nothingness between heaven and earth.

"Becoming stronger is the only path."

For some reason, looking at these bones, Ye Mo's desire for power not only deepened by another level, but also became even firmer.

Be they gods and demons, or demonic Cultivators, as long as he was given a bit more time, he would definitely wipe them all out.

He continued forward.

The further in Ye Mo walked, the narrower the path became, and the stronger the thunder fiend energy grew.

Moreover, the Spiritual Qi became increasingly dense, seemingly condensing into spiritual liquid. Ye Mo felt as if he were walking through water.

Furthermore, his vision was obstructed, with a visibility of only a few dozen meters.

Ye Mo immediately spread out his Divine Sense, but right at that moment, a voice like a divine thunder from the Nine Heavens echoed in his ears.

"I am Lei Kun, the Eighteenth Sect Master of the Tianlei Sect. Junior, are you a Disciple of my Tianlei Sect?"

The voice was loud and powerful, and Ye Mo instinctively covered his ears.

Yet, it was completely useless.

"Tell me, which generation of Disciple are you of my Tianlei Sect?"

Lei Kun asked once more.

How could Ye Mo know which generation he belonged to? It seemed no one even remembered how many years the Tianlei Sect's Legacy had lasted.

Who would care about which generation they were?

"Senior, I have only just joined the Sect," Ye Mo said instinctively.

"Liar! If you've just joined the Sect, how could you be qualified to enter Leiming Mountain?"

As the voice rang out again, a figure in white slowly emerged.

"I was sent by Alchemist Luo, the daughter of the current Sect Master, to pluck the thunder spirit fruit."

Ye Mo stared blankly at the white-clothed figure for a moment.

The man in white was not old, looking to be only in his twenties. Ye Mo had thought this Eighteenth Sect Master would be an old man.

"The thunder spirit fruit? Kid, that thunder spirit fruit isn't something you can just pluck whenever you want. You must..."

"The thunder spirit fruit is very important to me. Senior, I hope you won't stand in my way."

Ye Mo's face suddenly darkened.

Whether he could obtain the thunder spirit fruit was directly related to whether he could acquire the golden core condensation pill.

"Presumptuous! A mere Disciple like you dares to speak to me in such a manner? According to the Sect rules, anyone who shows contempt for the Sect Master shall have their cultivation crippled and be expelled from the Sect!"

The man in white shouted angrily.

Immediately after, with a wave of his hand, thunder and lightning erupted violently all around.

Before Ye Mo could react, several bolts of lightning struck his body in an instant.

Ye Mo immediately smelled the scent of his own skin being scorched.

However, he quickly recovered.

Ye Mo hadn't expected the other party to strike directly, and a surge of anger instantly welled up in his heart.

Without another word, he attacked.

Ye Mo's hands quickly formed hand seals, and countless bolts of lightning instantly condensed into a Thunder Sword.

Tianlei Nine Swords, Eighth Sword, Heaven Splitter!

Lightning flashed as the sword struck, looking as if it were about to split heaven and earth apart.

The man in white was filled with surprise, but he did not resist. When the Thunder Sword drew near, his figure instantly dissolved and vanished, leaving only a voice echoing in Ye Mo's ears.

"I'll be back!"

At the same time, the illusion around Ye Mo suddenly flashed.

"This is???"

Ye Mo's brow furrowed tightly as he realized that he was actually still at the entrance of the Leiming Cave.

"Was that an illusion just now????"

Ye Mo was somewhat dazed, as he had absolutely no idea when he had entered the illusion.

Ye Mo calmed his mind and walked toward the depths of the Leiming Cave once more.

Soon, he arrived back at the place where the Soul Transformation Cultivators had passed away.

It was exactly the same as what he had seen before.

This time, Ye Mo didn't look at the skeletal remains, but soon, another voice came.

"I said, I'll be back!"

This time, Ye Mo didn't waste any words and directly unleashed the Eighth Sword.

In the next second, Ye Mo returned to the cave entrance once again.

"What's going on?"

Ye Mo wanted to leave, but even though the entrance was clearly right before his eyes, he was still near the entrance after flying for several minutes.

Helpless, Ye Mo could only walk toward the depths of the Leiming Cave once again.

Soon, the voice rang out once more.

"Little fellow, your strength is quite decent. But in my illusion, I am the Dominator. It is basically impossible for you to break free from my illusion based on your strength alone. Now, can you listen to me finish my words?"

The man in white smiled.

"Speak."

Ye Mo's expression was very sour. This person claimed to be the Eighteenth Sect Master, but he had been dead for who knew how long, so Ye Mo naturally wouldn't be polite to him.

"Hehe, it's not impossible for you to obtain the thunder spirit fruit, but you must do something for me."

"What is it?"

Ye Mo asked coldly.

"Go to Tianzhou and help me find my wife and daughter. As long as you agree, I will let you out."

The man in white said.

"Fine." Ye Mo agreed without a second thought.

"Very well, little fellow. I hope you keep your word. Otherwise, I'll be back!"

After saying this, the man in white vanished.

Strangely, however, nothing changed around Ye Mo.

Then, Ye Mo looked at the skeletal remains of the Eighteenth Sect Master on the rock wall and instantly understood in his heart that he had likely fallen into the illusion when he looked at these bones.