Chapter 118: Fallen In

Lei Xiang lifted his hand to retrieve the Qiankun Origin Bag, a small, toothy grin appearing on his face. He was aware that over twenty people were spying on him from around the derelict house, but he felt no fear. Although he had registered his cultivator identity upon entering the Crystal Jade Kingdom, Zhang Liao and his associates had been the first to strike; he was merely acting in self-defense, and the laws of the Crystal Jade Kingdom would not hold him accountable.

Silently reciting the first form of the Heaven-Veiling Art, Lei Xiang’s figure gradually blurred until he vanished from the spot entirely.

He did not notice a figure wearing a conical hat standing under the eaves of a nearby house, who let out a cold chuckle before turning and walking away.

Jade Buddha Temple was the largest temple in the Crystal Jade Kingdom and one of the three major sects of the Imperial Capital. True to its name, the sect was located halfway up Crystal Jade Mountain. Its incense was always thriving, and this day was no exception; by noon, hundreds of pilgrims were still making their way up the mountain.

Lei Xiang blended into the crowd. From Zhang Liao’s primordial spirit, he had obtained information about the organization. This ring of habitual thieves had eleven branches, named Fang One through Fang Eleven, spread across the eight nations of the Wuji Continent. It was truly inconceivable that the Jade Buddha Temple in the Crystal Jade Kingdom served as the organization's headquarters.

Following the memories stored in Zhang Liao’s spirit, Lei Xiang easily located the stele forest behind the temple. Following the sequence of three left turns, one right turn, and five more left turns, he reached the northeast corner of the forest and found the tenth dragon-coiled pillar. As his spiritual energy surged, the pillar began to rotate slowly to the left. After about a minute, it rose three feet into the air, revealing an opening beneath.

So this was the entrance to the organization’s headquarters?

Lei Xiang scoffed at the cleverness of the architect, then jumped down without hesitation, never to surface again.

After descending more than ten fathoms, Lei Xiang’s feet touched the ground, but for some reason, the floor gave way, sending him plummeting further. This did not match Zhang Liao’s memories. Remaining calm, Lei Xiang hastily cast a lightness spell to stabilize himself, but the earth below seemed to possess an infinite suction force, dragging him downward.

By now, Lei Xiang had tried ten different methods to halt his descent, but to no avail. According to his calculations, he had fallen several dozen miles into the heart of the mountain, with no end in sight. Sighing helplessly, he activated his Reverse Scale defense and unleashed his Azure Gauze screen. What could be down here? He refused to believe Zhang Liao’s memories were wrong; the only explanation was that he had been discovered, and the enemy had altered the path in advance.

After another half-hour of rapid descent, Lei Xiang estimated he had fallen over a hundred miles and should have reached the base of Crystal Jade Mountain. A wave of heat rushed toward him. He probed with his divine sense, but it was blocked by the intense searing temperature. Forced to activate his Divine Thunder Slash, his eyes flashed with blue light, and he finally saw a churning sea of magma beneath his feet. Falling directly into it would surely result in his body being pulverized.

In this moment of peril, Lei Xiang made an immediate decision. He swung his Nine-Treasure Lotus Staff, which pierced into the side wall like a one-foot-long red needle. He hung suspended from the staff, just dozens of feet above the magma. It was a close call; at his previous speed, he would have plunged into the churning lava in less than a second.

His strong state of mind helped him once again. Forcing himself to stay calm, he closed his eyes, projected his divine sense to scan the surroundings, and analyzed the situation. There was no way out; the surroundings were nothing but solid stone walls. About a quarter of an hour later, the needle-like staff began to loosen, as if the stone wall could no longer bear the strain.

Lei Xiang acted decisively, pressing his palms against the wall and sticking to it like a gecko. He recited a mantra to communicate with Tian Rui, the spirit of the Nine-Treasure Lotus Staff. The staff erupted in red light and expanded tenfold, its tip spinning wildly like a giant drill. It tore into the stone wall with a thunderous roar that filled the entire space.

The twenty-fathom-long Nine-Treasure Lotus Staff bored entirely into the stone wall, and Lei Xiang pulled himself inside after it. The tunnel created by the staff was indeed much cooler than the magma below, but Lei Xiang did not lower his defenses, unsure of what lay at the end.

The Nine-Treasure Lotus Staff continued to drill diagonally upward, with Lei Xiang close behind.

"Whoosh," a cool breeze blew in, and the staff flew out into the open. Lei Xiang was overjoyed. As the long-lost sunlight streamed in, he felt a warmth he had never appreciated before. He leaped out, but before he could even admire the endless mountain scenery, he froze in place.

He was in a mountain hollow, lush and green. Standing amidst the mountains and water was a person—a person wearing a conical hat.

Lei Xiang reached out, recalled his Nine-Treasure Lotus Staff, and asked coldly, "Who are you? Why are you here?"

The man chuckled coldly and slowly turned around. "That is a question I should be asking you. Who are you? Why did you kill Zhang Liao and infiltrate the sacred grounds of my Jade Buddha Temple?"

Lei Xiang was stunned. Judging by his tone, this man was also part of the organization and knew everything he had done. It seemed he was the one who had meddled in the shadows, nearly causing Lei Xiang to fall into the magma. Sensing the man’s Golden Core mid-stage cultivation, Lei Xiang decided to gamble; after all, he still had his Immortal-Slaying Gun as a trump card.

Before Lei Xiang could strike, the man attacked first. He flipped his palm, and a small, golden seal flew into the sky, growing into the size of a small mountain as it descended toward Lei Xiang. Even before it arrived, the spiritual pressure was suffocating, causing the air around Lei Xiang to solidify. In that momentary delay, the seal was already less than two fathoms above his head.

Lei Xiang channeled the God-Refining Treasure Mirror, his powerful mental state guarding his clarity. He pointed at the Nine-Treasure Lotus Staff, which expanded wildly until it was as thick as a house, standing like a pillar between heaven and earth beside him. As the seal pressed down with a thunderous rumble that shook the entire hollow, the staff actually managed to hold it back.

Lei Xiang caught his breath and quickly slid his feet, the four rollers on his Wind-Thunder Boots spinning rapidly to whisk him out of the danger zone. As he lifted his hand, he gripped the Immortal-Slaying Gun, aiming the dark muzzle at the man’s head. The man was taken aback; even with all his experience, he had never seen such a magical treasure. He recalled that when Lei Xiang killed Zhang Liao, he had mentioned some "Immortal-Slaying Gun" that could blow a head apart—it must be a high-grade treasure.

The man’s figure flickered, and he flew ten fathoms away in an instant. Lei Xiang’s gun barked. A white beam flashed by, and the Heavenly Crystal Bullet reached the man’s face. It was too fast; the man had never encountered such a rapid attack. However, having reached the mid-stage of the Golden Core, he was an old monster who had lived for hundreds of years and possessed immense combat experience. He dropped his hips, instantly lowering his height by half a foot.

That split-second difference saved his life.

The Heavenly Crystal Bullet grazed his scalp and slammed into the opposite cliffside, blasting a three-foot-deep hole. The man’s conical hat was blown away, revealing a bald head with nine ritual scars.

A monk?

Lei Xiang narrowed his eyes. So he was a monk from the Jade Buddha Temple; no wonder he wore a conical hat to hide his identity. Before Lei Xiang could finish his thought, the monk had already retracted the golden seal and vanished from the spot.

This was identical to the stealth technique used by Zhang Liao and his ilk, only faster. Lei Xiang knew this technique—it was the Heaven-Veiling Art taught to him by Dugu Yixiao, though his mastery was superficial. With blue light flashing in his eyes, he channeled the first form of the Heaven-Veiling Art and gave chase to the left.

As soon as the bald figure emerged from the cliffside, Lei Xiang arrived, raising his gun to fire. The monk vanished again, and Lei Xiang followed like a shadow. The two chased each other up to the peak of Crystal Jade Mountain and back down the other side, circling until they returned to the stele forest behind the Jade Buddha Temple.

The bald man appeared again, feeling deeply frustrated. As a dignified mid-stage Golden Core expert, being chased all over the mountains by a novice who had just reached the Golden Core stage was humiliating. If word got out, how could he show his face in the Crystal Jade Kingdom? In a flash of inspiration, he dove into the stele forest, with Lei Xiang hot on his heels.

The stele forest was like a labyrinth.

Even with the North Star Pearl for navigation, Lei Xiang got lost several times. After much effort, he finally spotted the bald man, whose face was pale; the chase had consumed a vast amount of spiritual energy. In truth, Lei Xiang was no better off; he only had enough spiritual energy left for one more shot, and that was only if he stopped the chase.

Spotting the monk, Lei Xiang raised his Immortal-Slaying Gun and pulled the trigger. To his surprise, the monk did not retreat but charged forward, holding the giant golden seal. He was counter-attacking!

The Heavenly Crystal Bullet collided with the golden seal with a deafening blast, shattering the seal into dust. The monk was also sent flying by the shockwave. Lei Xiang was overjoyed and prepared to press his advantage, but a sudden transformation occurred. The surrounding stele forest erupted in colorful light as a crystal jade pagoda descended from the sky, trapping Lei Xiang inside before beginning to grow rapidly.

The bald monk landed, hesitated for a moment, then walked away with a cold sneer. He had no confidence in dealing with this early-stage Golden Core novice, especially not with that gun. He could only rely on the mountain-sealing formation to trap him. He knew exactly what existed beneath the crystal jade pagoda; it was impossible for Lei Xiang to come out alive.

The next morning, pilgrims were astonished to discover that a hundred-fathom-tall pagoda had appeared overnight behind the Jade Buddha Temple. It became a new landmark of the temple—the Crystal Jade Pagoda.