Chapter 262: The Overbearing Aristocratic Families, the Struggling Rogue Cultivators

Qian Chen spat out the Inner Scene True Lei Dan in his Dantian. A streak of Dan Qi like purple lightning hooked the Lei Hai, rolling up the surging thunder water, transforming into a spiral-shaped Heavenly River, head and tail connected, with infinite electric light flickering inside.

It was like a thunder storm.

When Qian Chen had polished and refined these electric lights with his Dan Qi, his true Qi swallowed and spat, gradually transforming the thunder water into flowing water, which not only nourished his true Qi and advanced his magic power, but also permeated his own magic power into this thunder water.

He struck out hundreds of Dharma formulas with his hands, all of which transformed into thunder talismans floating in the spiral thunder river.

Qian Chen pointed his finger, and several magic artifacts, such as the Great Sage Dasheng Dasheng Leiyin Qin, Magnetic Light Bottle, and Thunder Ray Electric Cable, were immersed in the thunder river for washing and refining. The thunder talismans transformed by his magic power slowly infected and refined the dozens of seals he had just added. Under the manipulation of Qian Chen's magic power, the qualityless and formless thunder water sometimes transformed into thunder swords, sometimes burned into thunder fire, practicing the dozens of spells attached to the thunder method until they were gathered and scattered as he wished, changing unpredictably.

This was already Qian Chen's third month of hard work!

Since returning from ending the Great Tang demonic tribulation, Qian Chen felt that his accumulation was sufficient. After several life-and-death battles and abandoning the temptations of the Divine Path and Demon Path, his state of mind and Dao practice had been polished to perfection, only lacking the accumulation of magic power and daily hard work.

Moreover, the magic artifacts that had been refined to completion overnight with the help of the Lord of Samsara also needed to be washed, polished, and refined until they were proficient.

So, in this Lei Hai, he used the infinite thunder essence to collect Qi and practice Qi every day, polishing his magic power. In three months, his magic power increased by thirty percent, his true Qi made great progress, and his twelve-success power became increasingly difficult to move an inch in this Divine Land Central Lands.

He refined the several magic artifacts on his body one by one. The Great Sage Dasheng Dasheng Leiyin Qin sounded with a string, rolling up seven electric lights from the Lei Hai, like swimming dragons.

The electric lights and thunder merged into one, each containing seven tones, which was actually the notes of the Lei Qin gaining essence, transforming into existences like living beings.

"With the help of magic artifacts, it also allowed me to touch a trace of the mystery of 'Dharma having true spirit.' The spells and supernatural powers issued are like living beings, capable of not relying on my magic power to maintain. They even absorb the essence of this Lei Hai to grow, until one day they cultivate into thunder spirit monsters."

Each of the seven thunder sounds Qian Chen casually issued had the ability to obliterate Core Formation cultivators. In this Lei Hai, the notes shattered, and killing eight or ten Core Formation cultivators was not a problem.

Qian Chen, who had unknowingly added a few more dangers to the Lei Hai, was completely unaware of how much trouble his casual actions would bring to the cultivators who would later enter the Lei Hai for adventure. He was still thinking there about how long it would take for his magic power quality to reach the realm where he could issue a streak of magic power containing true spirit that could not be obliterated without relying on magic artifacts and supernatural powers.

Roughly calculated, at least Core Formation would be required.

The Thunder Ray Electric Cable transformed into a dragon shape with eyebrows and eyes, resembling a true dragon, tossing and turning in the Lei Hai. After this magic artifact's seals were complete, it shed the shape of a Jiao dragon. As long as pupils grew in those two dragon eyes, and a key point of divine form was added, it could transform into a magic treasure.

Only the Magnetic Light Bottle did not reveal any color, just like a bottomless abyss, refusing no thunder water that drifted over, all of which were included in the bottle.

The knife and sword inserted on the three-zhang magnetic peak in the distance had already washed away the dense killing aura on them with the help of thunder tempering, as well as the countless demonic blood on the blades. They restored their inconspicuous appearance, and their power became increasingly restrained.

The Eight Scenery Furnace swallowed and spat thunder rays, and while constantly refining the thunder, it was also polishing the eight phases in the furnace.

Zhen, Dui, Ze, Liang, Qian, Kun, Kan, Li circulated, and he casually refined a Five-Thunder Dharma Pill.

The Five-Lei Dan, which Qian Chen used to have to collect materials and find opportunities to refine, was refined today in just three months, during his hard cultivation, when he had time to spare.

"In these few days, my magic power has been difficult to advance, and hard cultivation is no longer beneficial. It is time to set off again!" Qian Chen put away several magic artifacts and summoned back the Gold and Silver Boys who were playing nearby.

Er Dao Shen had already run out to "seek treasure."

During this period, it played in the Yuan Magnetic Earth Aperture all day, and it had brought back a lot of news for Qian Chen.

For example, there were more and more cultivators in the Yuan Magnetic Earth Aperture. Although most of them were people with low magic power who couldn't even break into the Lei Hai and could only collect spirit materials on the edge of the Lei Hai, it was also very lively. Er Dao Shen had already picked up several Qiankun bags from the cultivators who killed each other, and threw them all to Qian Chen when it came back.

It had the posture of a "garbage king."

Even it, as greedy as it was, didn't look down on them, which shows how shy they were.

"It is estimated that other entrances have appeared one after another, besides the one discovered by the Xin and Tao families!" Qian Chen didn't care.

These cultivators were just here to pick up the leftovers of his cheap apprentice.

Even a backer as big as Qian Chen didn't get much benefit, let alone others.

The Flying Cloud Pocket swayed, carrying Qian Chen to find a hole in the Yuan Magnetic Earth Aperture, and crossed the Lei Hai. After only a few hours, he touched the edge of the Lei Hai. Qian Chen's spiritual sense swept over and found that there was actually a team of cultivators ahead, exploring on the edge of the Lei Hai.

The Yuan Magnetic Earth Aperture is a large stone cave, and the Lei Hai is not a sea floating on the ground, but a sea of thunder suspended in the Earth Aperture. Therefore, the edge of the Lei Hai is the bottomless abyss between the cliff of the Earth Aperture stone cave and the sea of thunder.

The Yuan Magnetic here is unique, and there are many suspended peaks, stone bridges, and giant rocks containing metal and iron quality connected to each other. Coupled with that thousand-zhang cliff, which is winding and tortuous, it is the slightly safer place in this secret realm.

Between the thousand-zhang cliffs, there are also many caves that are riddled with holes polished by Yuan Magnetic Sha Qi and have extremely complex terrain. Many caves use the spirit machine of the Lei Hai and the spirit energy of the Earth vein to nurture spirit materials, which even Qian Chen could look up to.

These cultivators were climbing between the cliffs. The leader was a middle-aged cultivator with a goat beard under his chin, holding a compass in his palm, on which various spirit machines appeared. His cultivation was actually not weak, and like Qian Chen, they were all in the Penetrating Law realm.

Behind the middle-aged cultivator was a big man. Although he was walking facing the middle-aged cultivator, seven parts of his energy were on guard against his back. The middle-aged cultivator and the big man were obviously in the same group, while the few people behind them were scattered, almost walking side by side, obviously all on guard against each other.

Qian Chen knew at a glance that this team was definitely a wild group of rogue cultivators who had come to run a dungeon!

A female cultivator dressed in somewhat revealing attire stared at the compass in the middle-aged cultivator's palm and said cautiously, "Senior Liang, today's magnetostrictive storm has just passed. It should remain calm for a few hours, so shouldn't we take advantage of this safe time to explore further ahead? Otherwise, I'm afraid we won't be able to harvest any spirit materials!"

Another cultivator with a shifty, rat-like appearance also chimed in, "That's right! Senior Liang... you two walk in front, and as soon as there's anything good, you take it all. If we keep going like this, you might be able to stand it, but we'll be suffering a huge loss!"

The middle-aged cultivator finally lifted his gaze from the compass and sneered, "Luo San, do you know why I have explored secret realms for many years, always managing to retreat unscathed and successfully cultivate to this day?"

Luo San's face turned pale and then flushed, and he stammered, "Because you are cautious, sir!"

That Elder Liang nodded and said, "This Earth Aperture Lei Hai secret realm has been in the world for two months now. I have seen with my own eyes rogue cultivators who were reckless and ended up with no good outcome; I couldn't count them all on ten fingers. Some of them ran into the forces of those great noble families; if they met the easy-going Tao or Xin families, they were just scolded a few times and could still retreat unscathed. But if they met the ruthless Jin or Lei families and were ordered to go into dangerous areas to scout the path, or were simply captured and interrogated about the entrance to the secret realm they used, they died in a way too miserable to look at..."

The charming woman couldn't help but ask, "Didn't everyone come in by following the path of Lady Shisan? If the Jin and Lei families want to cause trouble, why don't they go find Lady Shisan of the Xin family instead of bothering us?"

Elder Liang sneered, "Although Xin Shisan occupies an entrance all by herself, her elder sister is the current Imperial Consort Xin. The women of the Xin family have extensive connections; it is said she even hooked up with a true disciple of the Shenxiao Sect and won over the Third Young Master of the Tao family to share the benefits of this passage together. Even the old fogies of the Xin family dare not touch her, so why would the Lei and Jin families want to get involved in that mess?"

"Besides, Xin Shisan has already announced that there are nine entrances to this secret realm in total. So far, only six have been found. Apart from the Xin, Tao, Lei, and Jin families each occupying one, the Wuling Sect occupies one, and Xin Shisan occupies one alone, there are still three whose whereabouts are unknown. Now, many noble families in the surrounding commanderies are searching for clues, wanting to get a piece of the pie in this Lei Hai secret realm."

"Although we rogue cultivators all came in by following Xin Shisan's path and give her thirty percent of our harvest, which is fair enough, who knows if some lucky person has found another entrance and avoided the embarrassment of having their storage bag searched upon leaving?"

"Isn't that how the Lei family's path came about?"

Having said this, a sneer appeared on Elder Liang's face.

Two months ago, the Lei family discovered that a rogue cultivator under their own market's jurisdiction had sold a large amount of spirit materials from the secret realm. They investigated secretly and found that he had not appeared at Xin Shisan's place, so they set a trap to capture and interrogate him. That cultivator also had an immortal sect backing him, and the two sides made such a huge fuss that the news of this newly appeared secret realm became widely known.

In these two months, the threshold of Xin Shisan's cave dwelling has been worn down.

If it weren't for the fact that she hooked up with a true disciple of the superior Shenxiao Sect and was a person of great tact who made friends everywhere, many noble families and immortal sects would still be plotting to seize the passage she controls. This forced her to announce that there are nine entrances to the Lei Hai.

"Besides the threat of the noble families, the Lei Hai frequently stirs up magnetostrictive storms, which have the power to destroy heaven and earth. The Jin and Lei families have both had Core Formation Elders trapped within them. When the tide of the Lei Hai rises under a magnetostrictive storm, the Five Elements Divine Thunder in its depths becomes restless and will also affect the edges of the Lei Hai. This is something even Core Formation cultivators fear like a tiger!"

"Furthermore, fellow cultivators kill to seize treasures, and the Thunder Essence in the depths of the Lei Hai sometimes comes to the edges; added to various dangerous areas and the various demonic beasts bred within, and even demon lords from deep underground—although this secret realm is rich in spirit materials, it is also a place that costs lives!"

"The Five Perils of the Lei Hai—magnetostrictive storms, noble families and immortal sects, Five Elements Thunder Essence, thunder-attribute demonic beasts, and underground demon lords! Any one of them could leave us all dead without a burial place, so we must be cautious, and then cautious again."

Although he said this, he also knew that these rogue cultivators were willing to follow him and give up thirty percent of their earnings because they relied on his knowledge of this secret realm and, more importantly, his secret techniques. If the harvest were too poor and they lost their capital, even if he retreated unscathed every time, people would still curse his ancestors.

Those who come here are all gambling their lives to get rich. If they only cared about safety, why not stay outside honestly, plant a few acres of poor fields, and harvest a few pecks of spirit grain?

To stabilize the hearts of his followers, Elder Liang stared at the compass in his palm and said with a hint of pride, "This God-Illuminating Luo Pan of mine can perceive the changes in the qi mechanism within a radius of ten miles. If the needle moves, I know whether it's Thunder Essence appearing or a magnetostrictive storm, and I can even detect the gathering of spiritual energy."

"It is a magic treasure that shares the same lineage as the South-Pointing Chariot in Xin Shisan's hands, and it will not be interfered with by this magnetostrictive malevolent qi."

"If we find a place where spiritual energy gathers, isn't that more reliable than you lot blindly fumbling around?" Elder Liang lifted the compass in his hand to let the people behind see it more clearly.

"A South-Pointing Chariot!" Everyone exclaimed, and someone boldly asked, "Could it be the magic treasure that Lady Shisan relied on to find this secret realm passage?"

About forty miles away, Qian Chen, who was floating on a cloud in the Lei Hai, looked at the Spirit Light Mirror in his palm.

This group of rogue cultivators was displayed in the mirror down to the finest detail, and the various complex terrains around them were as clear as fire.

The God-Illuminating Luo Pan in the palm of the rogue cultivator Elder Liang, which he treated like his own eyeballs, appeared clearly under the surveillance of the Spirit Light Mirror. Even though this Spirit Light Mirror was a magic treasure that Qian Chen was about to discard, it was still ten times stronger than that compass which had barely been refined with four layers of seals.

One could only perceive qi, while the other, although it consumed more magic power, could project light from a thousand miles away.

The difference is self-evident.

"It seems I was the one who told Xin Shisan about the secret realm passage she controls. She is truly clever; she only occupied one-ninth and knew to throw out the remaining information to disperse the attention of the noble families and immortal sects. She is indeed a person who knows how to make trade-offs."

"After this woman went out, she actually accomplished a great career. I don't have the ability to handle everything like that! I wonder if that Young Master Tao is still the same piece of trash? Is the Sixteenth Lady still clinging to her sister's thigh? Has Junior Brother Gu of the Shenxiao Sect succeeded in Core Formation?"

Qian Chen smiled slightly, although it had only been three months. But during this time, a magnetostrictive earth aperture and the Lei Hai secret realm had changed the fates of so many people.

It is foreseeable that in the future, this secret realm he opened up with his own hands will change the fates of even more people.