Chapter 1 The Beginning
“Th-this is it?”
Wan Lei’s eyes widened in disbelief. He stood halfway up the mountain, a vast sea of clouds behind him, a small platform beneath his feet, and before him, an ordinary mountain cave with its entrance sealed tight.
Qian Duoduo, Ba Ernu, He Shibao, and the others beside him showed no surprise, clearly having known this beforehand.
“Yeah, this is it.”
Qian Duoduo nodded.
“What about the promised cave mansion? I only see a cave, where’s the mansion? This place has a good view of the clouds, but I didn’t come here for the scenery. Did you get the wrong place?”
“How could we be wrong? This is the Lei Di’s cave mansion, passed down for fifty thousand years. We couldn’t possibly mistake it.”
“Alright, maybe there’s something special inside.”
At this moment, Young Master Lei could only hope for a bit of luxury inside. After all, given Lei Di’s greedy nature, he wouldn’t have shortchanged himself, would he?
As Wan Lei took a step forward, a formation appeared outside the cave entrance, protecting it. The formation extended into the mountain, clearly safeguarding the entire cave mansion.
Wan Lei’s eyes narrowed slightly, a thought beginning to form in his mind. His sect leader master had sent him to the cave mansion but provided no method to open it, nor did he mention any formations. This was clearly a test. It seemed the news of his formation mastery in the Wood Immortal Secret Realm had already spread. Fine, he would let his sect leader see just how strong his mastery of formations truly was.
With this thought, Wan Lei immediately activated his observational array, and the entire formation protecting the cave entrance came into clear view. Even the parts integrated into the mountain were completely visible.
This formation wasn’t too difficult, but it certainly wasn’t simple either. It contained many thunderous dao rhymes, subtly present. Wan Lei could feel its power; anyone who dared to trespass would be annihilated by its lightning. It seemed this was a formation personally left by Lei Di in his prime. However, it was unlikely he set it up after becoming an Emperor, as no one would dare to enter his cave mansion then. Since it was set up before he became an Emperor, its difficulty wouldn’t be too high.
What Wan Lei needed to do now was not just break through this formation, but to completely refine it and make it his own.
After observing for a full five minutes, Wan Lei’s fingers moved, channeling several currents of lightning power into the mountain to activate the formation’s base. He then took out a formation flag and flung it into the gap in the center of the cave entrance. His spiritual sense probed in, following the formation flag into the formation’s core.
Refinement.
Complete.
“How was it?”
Young Master Lei flicked his sleeve, exuding an air of casual grace.
“How was what?”
Qian Duoduo and the others looked at him, bewildered.
Seeing that his impressive display had gone unnoticed, Young Master Lei was displeased. “How was the formation I just broke? We can enter safely now. If we had gone in earlier, we would have been instantly killed.”
“Oh, you were breaking the formation? No, why would you break the formation of your own cave mansion? This is the cave mansion left by our ancestor Lei Di. Besides possessing a token, only direct descendants with Lei Di’s bloodline can open it.”
Qian Duoduo produced a token. “If you wanted to enter, you just had to tell me. Or, if you placed your hand on it, this formation would have recognized you as the master. Why go through all that trouble?”
“…”
Young Master Lei was speechless. “Then why didn’t you say anything while I was observing the formation?”
“How was I supposed to know you were breaking the formation? I thought you were overwhelmed with emotion, gazing with reverence at your ancestor’s immortal abode, admiring Lei Di’s might and feeling his lingering presence.”
“Get lost! What lingering presence am I admiring?”
Young Master Lei, exasperated, pushed open the cave door. Beyond it lay a corridor about ten meters long. The corridor was dim. Too lazy to use his spiritual sense to probe, Wan Lei took out several luminous pearls and inserted them into the grooves on the walls. As for why there were grooves, it was undoubtedly where Lei Di had placed luminous pearls during his residency.
At the end of the corridor was a spacious main hall, but it was only a single hall.
It opened up, everything in sight.
In the center of the hall, only a meditation cushion was placed. Apart from that, there was nothing else.
“This is the legendary… Lei Di’s cave mansion?”
He Shibao looked around in disbelief. This place, by any measure, did not look like the residence of an Emperor.
Wan Lei took out more luminous pearls and placed them on the walls, and the hall began to brighten. People could now see the entire scene.
The result was still a great disappointment. The walls, apart from some insights Lei Di had casually jotted down and some condensed thunder dao rhymes, were empty.
“Qian Duoduo, are you sure you didn’t bring me to the wrong place?”
Wan Lei still found it hard to believe. He had expected Lei Di to at least leave some treasures in his cave mansion for his descendant. But this place was as if it had been ransacked by bandits; there wasn’t even floor tile.
“Yes, how could we be mistaken? We couldn’t possibly mistake Lei Di’s cave mansion.”
“No, but my impression of Lei Di was that he was incredibly greedy, someone who wouldn’t let a single feather pass him by. He shouldn’t be this poor, should he? He should have left me something, at least. What’s going on here?”
Wan Lei didn’t believe the Yin Yang Sect would have taken Lei Di’s belongings; no sect would do something so base. That left only one possibility…
“That’s right, Lei Di was that kind of person. But do you think someone like him would leave his possessions behind when he departed?”
“…”
For the first time in his life, Young Master Lei looked down on his ancestor. Previously, when he heard stories of Lei Di, he had admired him greatly. Later, as he heard more tales, that glorious and majestic image gradually crumbled. In truth, he had deified Lei Di in his heart from the beginning, making it difficult to accept reality later. In reality, Lei Di was also a person; being human, he had his strengths and weaknesses, his own personality and temper. Moreover, Lei Di’s personality was quite to Wan Lei’s liking.
“How about I have someone come over to renovate it for you? You can decorate it however you like,” Qian Duoduo suggested.
“Never mind. I’m here to cultivate, not to indulge. This environment is fine; it’s conducive to a pure and detached cultivation. You guys can stay and look around for a while longer. I don’t have much to entertain you with. I’ll come over to your place for a meal some other time.”
Wan Lei picked up the meditation cushion from the ground and patted it, finding no dust. It seemed the Yin Yang Sect did come to clean it regularly.
“Sigh, forget it. I had quite high expectations for Lei Di’s cave mansion, but seeing it like this, there’s really nothing special. It’s not even as good as my own place,” He Shibao sighed and turned to leave, followed by Li Lei and Wang Chao.
Only Qian Duoduo and Ba Ernu remained.
“Why are you two still here? I’m not providing meals, let’s go.”