Chapter 661: Impressive Wind and Thunder, But Still Lacking Heat
Shen Mo had already spread his divine sense far and wide.
The moment this person approached, he became instantly alert.
He opened his eyes and looked toward the newcomer.
The thunderous roar of the giant elephant within his body abruptly ceased, vanishing without a trace.
The young man who approached was handsome, exceptionally youthful, with a trace of immaturity still on his face.
At a glance, he was clearly a flower raised in a greenhouse.
Someone who had secluded himself in cultivation for hundreds of years, and only now emerged to wander the world.
Shen Mo glanced at the young man's life panel.
Just as he expected.
"I'm cultivating. Why are you approaching?" Shen Mo asked calmly.
The young man chuckled. "Fellow Daoist, you seem like a master. Dare to spar with me?"
As he spoke, he directly pulled out a spirit artifact from his robe and tossed it into the air.
"This is a peak Heaven-grade spirit artifact."
"If you can defeat me, it's yours."
Shen Mo smiled faintly.
What a generous gesture.
He casually threw out a peak Heaven-grade artifact like it was nothing.
"Not interested." Shen Mo shook his head and was about to continue his cultivation.
The young man clearly wasn't willing to miss such a good chance for a fight. He suddenly summoned his manifestation.
Buzz!
A giant bird appeared out of thin air.
Its enormous wings flapped, carrying wind and thunder.
Its gaze was cold and arrogant, as though it were the sole king that commanded thunder and lightning.
Shen Mo's brows lifted.
Thundercry Luan.
An ancient exotic species.
On par with the Heaven-Shrouding Skylark.
This youth was no ordinary figure.
"Lei Zizhen! I ask fellow Daoist for guidance!"
The young man shouted and pointed toward the sky.
The Thundercry Luan let out a long cry, carrying wind and thunder as it shot forward.
It was like a colossal spear formed entirely of storm and lightning!
Shen Mo nodded slightly. "Fine wind and thunder—just still lacking a bit of refinement."
He stepped lightly on the ground.
The Manifestation of the Primal Elephant appeared out of nowhere.
Its long trunk swept upward like a massive whip slicing through the sky.
Its tusks stood tall, as if they could pierce through any defense.
Lei Zizhen froze.
He didn't recognize this manifestation.
But he could clearly sense the ancient, boundless aura emanating from it.
It was undoubtedly older and more primordial than his Thundercry Luan.
Very likely an ancient exotic beast—above even the ancient species.
Yet despite that, Lei Zizhen felt no fear.
Instead, his fighting spirit surged.
From the moment he was born, he had been raised not in his mother's arms, but deep underground in the Lei Prison Clan.
Taught personally by the Old Supreme.
In just five hundred short years, he had reached the Nirvana Realm.
Only after tempering seventy Dao patterns did the Old Supreme permit him to leave the Lei Prison Clan and travel the world.
Even then, he was forbidden from sightseeing or idling in pleasure—his task was to challenge the world's finest.
But that suited Lei Zizhen perfectly.
He loved combat.
He wanted to know where he stood among the countless geniuses of the world after five hundred years of bitter cultivation.
He had heard that the Heaven's Will Sect had produced an unparalleled "Heavenly Maiden."
He was planning to go there and spar with her.
But unexpectedly, while passing this mountain, he encountered a powerful cultivator.
Naturally, he couldn't just walk away—he had to fight!
"Thundercry Spear!"
Lei Zizhen shouted lowly.
Spiritual energy surged wildly.
The Thundercry Luan accelerated, truly transforming into a giant spear of lightning, hurtling forth!
Boom!
The Thundercry Luan collided with the Primal Elephant.
A thunderous explosion erupted.
The solid ground of Blackstone Mountain fractured by several inches.
Crumbled into powder finer than flour.
The Thundercry Luan let out a wail and burst into a sky full of lightning before recoiling around Lei Zizhen and reconstituting.
Lei Zizhen also let out a muffled grunt, spitting a large mouthful of blood. His face paled as he looked at Shen Mo in shock and uncertainty.
Lei Zizhen saw clearly—Shen Mo remained completely unscathed, not even taking a single step back.
The Primal Elephant Manifestation above his head stood tall like a mountain, utterly motionless.
Those small eyes seemed to be looking down on him with contempt.
Lei Zizhen's face flushed red.
He couldn't believe he had been defeated in a single strike.
"I underestimated the talents of the world."
He clenched his teeth.
Then tossed the spirit artifact toward Shen Mo. "I, Lei Zizhen, always keep my word. This treasure is yours."
Shen Mo didn't even glance at it. He said flatly, "Not interested."
Lei Zizhen's face turned from pale to flushed again.
But he harbored no resentment. Instead, he felt genuine respect for Shen Mo.
A true expert—especially one stronger than oneself—deserves respect.
"May I ask your name, fellow Daoist?"
Lei Zizhen bowed respectfully, asking sincerely.
Shen Mo raised an eyebrow and smiled faintly.
This young man was rather interesting.
As a supreme prodigy of the Lei Prison Clan, having cultivated in seclusion for five hundred years, he hadn't developed an arrogant or domineering temperament.
Instead, he still showed deference toward the strong.
No wonder his destiny panel had shown he was fated to become the future head of the Lei Prison Clan, stepping into the half-Saint realm.
"Shen Mo."
Shen Mo spoke the two words calmly.
"Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Lei Zizhen from the Lei Prison Clan. Greetings, Daoist Shen." Lei Zizhen said with sincerity.
Shen Mo only nodded.
But his gaze unconsciously swept toward a section of the distant sky.
In that sky—
A pair of eyes had been observing him from afar, full of suspicion and unease.
"He noticed me?"
Concealed within the clouds was an aged figure, hair white as snow but spirit still vigorous.
His name was Lei Chuan, an elder of the Lei Prison Clan. By order of the Old Supreme, he was secretly protecting Lei Zizhen on his journey.
His strength had reached ninety-nine Dao patterns.
"This person is not ordinary. To defeat the young master in a single blow… his power must be on par with mine."
"And that manifestation… ancient and vast—it must've been visualized from a primordial beast, even predating the ancient era."
"How could someone of this level be wandering the outside world?"
"Surely he can't be some disciple from the minor Douxuan Sect?"
Lei Chuan frowned and immediately used his sound-transmission jade to order his subordinates to investigate Shen Mo's identity.
On Blackstone Mountain—
Lei Zizhen looked at Shen Mo with great respect.
Just as he was about to ask for pointers, a look of pain suddenly flashed across his face.
His body collapsed to the ground, and the skin exposed to air turned bright red, like a boiled shrimp.
The rock beneath him, the solid bedrock of Blackstone Mountain, began to melt under the intense heat.
A translucent, glass-like layer emerged.
Shen Mo's expression remained unchanged.
He had already seen this problem when he scanned Lei Zizhen's life panel earlier.
So he wasn't surprised at all.
Swoosh!
A figure streaked through the air, descending in an instant to Lei Zizhen's side.
He reached out, trying to touch Lei Zizhen, but was immediately forced back by the scorching heat radiating from him.
Looking down, he saw his own hands had been burned within moments!
Lei Chuan clenched his teeth in pain, inwardly panicked.
"Wasn't the Demonic Thunder already sealed? Why has it erupted again—and at such a critical time!"
He scratched his head in desperation.
The Demonic Thunder had been a congenital phenomenon that accompanied Lei Zizhen's birth.
To Lei Zizhen, it was both poison and medicine.
It was precisely thanks to the Demonic Thunder that Lei Zizhen could cultivate at such a rapid pace.
When Lei Zizhen was two hundred years old, the Old Supreme had invited three other Supremes to help suppress the Demonic Thunder.
And yet now, it had inexplicably erupted again.
At this moment, no one could even touch Lei Zizhen.
Lei Chuan couldn't take him back to the Lei Prison Clan alone.
He was now completely overwhelmed with anxiety.
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