Longevity Thunder Ancestor

Chapter 779 Hoping to be the Cicada but Not the Bird
Soon after, the group arrived at a vast, endless black swamp.

The spirit ship took off directly into the air and flew at low altitude.

After flying for hundreds of miles, a black mountain peak resembling a soaring eagle appeared ahead.

Liu Chengjun's expression brightened with joy as he said, "Everyone is almost here. Let's fly over directly."

With that, the group left the spirit ship and flew away into the air.

During this journey, Ning Fa's feeling of being secretly followed became even stronger.

This made him frown deeply. It seemed that the thing had really caught up and was already close to the limit of his divine sense's detection range.

However, Ning Fa dared not unleash his divine sense to investigate, as this would easily alert the other party.

He secretly activated his Moon Goddess Heart, making his divine sense even more concealed.

Soon after, Ning Fa had a sudden realization; he finally noticed the thing that was secretly following them.

Or to be more precise, it was a woman dressed in a black dress with her face veiled.

This woman was actually a Nascent Soul cultivator in the early stages.

Although Ningfa maintained his composure on the surface, he was inwardly astonished upon realizing this.

It turns out that a human Nascent Soul cultivator is following them. What is his purpose?
It was clearly not Huo Yong and his group who found them.

Moreover, it's unlikely that they would be targeting him, even if the Sikong family knew he had come to Qiyuan Island.

However, Sikong Jing should know her own strength, and it's unlikely that the Sikong family would only send one Nascent Soul cultivator.

Then it could only be to deal with that Thunder-Swallowing Ancestor.

Thinking of this, Ning Fa suddenly realized what had happened; he had a rough idea of ​​the other party's identity.

According to information from the Hidden Star Pavilion, this Thunder-Swallowing Ancestor is a defector from the Spirit-Subduing Hall and is being hunted down by the Spirit-Subduing Hall.

Therefore, this woman in the black dress is most likely a Nascent Soul cultivator from the Fuling Palace.

She likely also learned that Huo Yong and the others were being controlled by the Thunder-Swallowing Ancestor, so she wanted to find him by following the clues.

Thinking about this, Ning Fa suddenly understood and felt that this was very likely the case.

But even though he had a rough idea, he still felt uneasy.

Since this Nascent Soul cultivator from the Fuling Palace is also targeting the Thunder-Swallowing Ancestor, wouldn't his plan be ruined?
Since Huo Yong and the others were captured by the Thunder-Swallowing Ancestor in that Star-Patterned Thunder Iron Mine, it is highly likely that the mine and the Thunder Soul Star Marrow contained within it have already been obtained by this person.

While flying with a calm expression, Ningfa was urgently thinking of a solution.

Although he could leave now and the cultivator from the Fuling Palace behind him should be unable to do anything to him, this would easily alert the enemy and allow the Thunder-Swallowing Ancestor to escape ahead of time.

In that case, he would undoubtedly miss out on the Thunder Soul Star Marrow, which was something he could not tolerate.

So Ningfa ultimately decided to take the risk and enter the underground cave as originally planned.

According to his estimation, the Nascent Soul cultivator from the Fuling Palace would likely make his move before the Thunder-Swallowing Ancestor could kill them.

After all, the Thunder-Swallowing Ancestor was able to devour these Thunder Spirit Root cultivators to heal their injuries, so the Fuling Palace cultivators probably wouldn't just sit idly by.

In that case, he should be able to escape during the chaos of their fight.

You could even try being the oriole that catches the worm.

For him, the best outcome would be for the Thunder-Swallowing Ancestor to escape severely injured, only to be caught by him, the oriole that catches the bird.

Although the chances of success were slim, Ningfa decided to give it a try.

After all, the cultivator from the Fuling Hall behind them was only at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm.

While Ningfa was pondering, the group had already arrived at a secluded ravine on the mountain peak, where a dark cave entrance, about ten feet wide, appeared in front of them.

"The star-patterned thunder iron ore vein is inside this cave."

Liu Chengjun spoke to the crowd with a slightly solemn expression.

Huo Yong laughed and said, "Now that things have come to this point, I don't think anyone will back down."

"Then let's proceed according to the original plan. Those two late-stage Tier 3 Thunder Beasts will be dealt with by Fellow Daoist Meng, Fellow Daoist Zhu, and Fairy Qimeng. The rest of the Thunder Beasts will be ours."

Ning Fa and the others nodded to indicate that they had no objections.

At this moment, Ning Fa even sensed an extremely faint divine sense transmission.

He noticed that the ear of the early-stage Core Formation cultivator named Lu Dong twitched slightly.

Ning Fa remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he understood that it must have been the Nascent Soul cultivator behind him who had transmitted his thoughts to this person.

Although he didn't hear the content clearly, it was obvious that this Lu Dong was very likely a mole of the Fuling Palace.

Judging from his previous conversation with Huo Yong, Lu Dong had only recently joined the Changsong Society.

Then, the group flew into the dark cave.

It appeared to be a natural stone cave. Although the entrance was narrow, it became more spacious as one went deeper inside, and a faint, oppressive aura of thunderous spiritual energy emanated from within.

The group proceeded cautiously.

After walking several miles forward, they saw some azure crystal fragments appearing on the nearby mountainside, with faint silver patterns on them. Zhu Tianlei reached out and touched them, examining them closely before exclaiming in delight, "It really is Star Pattern Thunder Iron!"

"Now you all believe me, right?"

Huo Yong chuckled softly, but there was a hint of sarcasm in his smile.

After entering a slightly narrow fork in the road, a very spacious cave hall suddenly appeared in front of them, which was hundreds of feet long and wide, and even tens of feet high.

The surrounding mountain walls are covered with blue crystals of varying sizes, emitting a faint blue light, making the hall look somewhat eerie.

These are clearly star-patterned thunder iron crystals, but there aren't many left in this hall.

This area has clearly been heavily mined, with many pits of varying depths.

Zhu Tianlei, who had been beaming with joy, suddenly changed his expression and frowned as he asked Huo Yong, "Fellow Daoist Huo, what's going on?"

The star-patterned thunder iron ore vein here clearly looks like it has been mined. Don't tell me that it was done by those thunder beasts.

There are obvious signs of magical artifacts bombarding this place. Could it be that someone else also knew about this location and had already explored it beforehand?

Ning Fa thought to himself: It's coming.

Huo Yong said with a strange smile, "Fellow Daoist Zhu, there's no need to be alarmed. The Star Pattern Thunder Iron Vein in this place has indeed been mined by us."

Zhu Tianlei's expression changed drastically, and a blue light suddenly emanated from his body as he tried to retreat, clearly having sensed that something was wrong with Huo Yong.

But just then, several thunderclaps rang out, and suddenly several blue lightning bolts emerged from the ground.

It not only went towards Zhu Tianlei, but also towards Ning Fa, Su Wanwan, and Lu Dongfei.

In the blink of an eye, all three of them were trapped by a blue lightning ring on their right feet.

The surface of the lightning ring shimmered with lightning, and a lightning rope chain connected it to the ground, firmly binding the three people.

Zhu Tianlei's expression changed drastically. He hurriedly summoned his natal magic weapon, which resembled a blue flying knife, and slashed wildly at the blue lightning ring on his feet, but it was ineffective for a time.

He glared at Huo Yong in a fit of rage: "Huo Yong, are you insane! Do you even know who I am? How dare you plot against me!"
"Let me tell you, I bear the Bloodstained Spirit Seal bestowed upon me by my master. If anything happens to me, even if you flee to the ends of the earth, you will not escape my master's pursuit!"

Ning Fa also pretended to be angry and glared fiercely at Huo Yong.

He secretly glanced at Fairy Qimeng, and saw that although she also looked terrified, she didn't seem to be afraid at all.

Just then, a grating laugh, like that of a night owl, came from the depths of the hall.

With a slight tremor in the hall, a colossal beast emerged from one of the mine pits.

The beast was about two zhang long, resembling a leopard, with a bluish-black body. Two fangs flashing with intense lightning protruded from its large mouth, and its two vertical pupils swept over the crowd with a fierce light.

This was clearly a Thunder Beast, and it had already reached the late stage of the third tier.

On its back sat a middle-aged man dressed in light black armor.

The man had a square face and was quite handsome, but he was completely bald, with no hair or beard.

His exposed skin was covered with purplish-red spiritual patterns, which flickered with lightning and even twisted slightly, making it extremely eerie.

The spiritual pressure emanating from this person was extremely powerful, clearly indicating that he was a Nascent Soul stage cultivator.

Upon seeing this person, Zhu Tianlei, who had previously been filled with shock and anger, suddenly turned deathly pale.

Ning Fa also pretended to be shocked, but secretly cheered in his heart.

This person is clearly the Thunder-Swallowing Ancestor.

This person is indeed a Nascent Soul cultivator in the early stage, and judging from his divine sense, his spiritual aura has indeed slightly declined.

But his impression was that this person was very capable.

Even if this person is injured now, he might still be a match for an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator.

In the past, this would certainly not have been good news, but now it is the best thing for Ningfa.

The more this happens, the stronger the challenge that the Thunder-Swallowing Ancestor can pose to the cultivators of the Spirit-Subduing Hall becomes, and the greater his chance to take advantage of the chaos.

Zhu Tianlei forced himself to remain calm and said, "May I ask your honorable name, senior? I am a disciple of the Raging Waves Sect. My master is True Monarch Shushi. Perhaps we are acquainted."

This person introduced himself, attempting to instill fear in the Thunder-Swallowing Ancestor.

Upon hearing this, the Thunder-Swallowing Ancestor gave a strange smile and said in a hoarse voice, "I do know your master, True Monarch Shushi. I've heard that he was also a cultivator with a thunder spirit root."

Hehe, I was planning to go find him once I recovered from my injuries.

After all, if I were to devour it, it would likely save me decades of arduous cultivation.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Tianlei felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

With a gritted tooth, he suddenly crushed a blood-red talisman hidden in his hand.

Suddenly, a dense crimson light enveloped it, and it broke free from the blue lightning ring's restraints, its speed increasing dramatically as it flew backward.

However, the Thunder-Swallowing Ancestor merely snorted coldly, and with a flick of his right hand, two enormous lightning pythons formed from blue lightning appeared at the entrance of the hall, lunging towards Zhu Tianlei who was coming towards him.

After a brief roar, the man, looking utterly hopeless, was bound by a lightning python and flew toward the Thunder-Swallowing Ancestor.

(End of this chapter)