Chapter Forty: The Seven-Faceted Prism of Light

Senior Brother Mu gazed intently at Lei Xiang, who looked to be eighteen or nineteen, with rather unremarkable features. “This inconspicuous young cultivator—his words actually carry some weight,” he mused.

At that moment, Lei Xiang spoke again, “The ones who will share the treasure with us have arrived.”

Senior Brother Mu’s eyebrow twitched. He hadn’t sensed anything unusual, but after a moment he sighed, realizing that there was indeed a fluctuation of spiritual energy on the mountain path. He shot Lei Xiang a curious glance, puzzled. “How is it that this unnoticed young cultivator’s divine sense is so formidable? With my mid-Foundation Establishment cultivation, I didn’t notice a thing, yet he sensed it in advance.”

The newcomers were also students from the Hongji Foundation Establishment Academy, each carrying a piece of “plexiglass,” and also there for “recreation.” Senior Brother Mu was acquainted with several of the Intermediate Class seniors among them. After a brief discussion, they decided to join forces and seek treasure together.

The party thus swelled to over a hundred people, a mighty procession heading deeper into the mountains. The sunlight beat down relentlessly, the heat oppressive; many cultivators grew parched and weary. Situ Yan even unfurled a violet gauze magical artifact to shield herself from the sun—for her, tanned skin was the greatest horror, as nothing was more important than a girl’s beauty, even at the cost of spiritual energy.

As for the dangers of this treasure hunt, Situ Yan was unconcerned. Even if she exhausted her spiritual power, she was certain these people would protect her—and in any case, they were still within Hongji’s domain. If anything truly went wrong, her father would come to her rescue.

Suddenly, Situ Yan noticed the group had stopped. Following their gaze, she saw a towering mountain fiend standing about twenty zhang ahead.

Senior Brother Mu was the first to speak. “This is a ghostly spirit born of the spiritual energy here, with cultivation equivalent to early Foundation Establishment. I’ll handle it.” Puffing out his chest, he strode forward, casting a sidelong glance at Situ Yan, whether by accident or design.

Situ Yan responded with a radiant smile, making Senior Brother Mu feel a surge of blood and energy. Power seemed to pour from him in waves.

“Be careful, Senior Brother Mu,” she called softly.

This simple admonition sounded in his ears like celestial music. “Don’t worry, Junior Sister Situ, your brother will protect you with all his might.”

With heroic fervor, Senior Brother Mu unleashed his trump card right from the start. To win the beauty’s favor, he could not hold back; he needed not only to win, but to win gloriously.

He summoned a massive, eight-foot-long halberd, which grew to ten zhang in the wind. With a quick incantation, he sent it crashing down with the power of thunder and lightning—so overwhelming that even a small mountain would have been split in two.

Yet the mountain fiend was enveloped in a swirl of black smoke. As it dissipated, the fiend’s body swelled tenfold, now truly resembling a small mountain. It reached out a house-sized hand and with a thunderous bang, swatted the halberd aside.

Everyone gasped in surprise. Senior Brother Mu was shocked and enraged—he felt utterly humiliated. With another incantation, the halberd transformed into a beam of white light and struck again.

The fiend met the assault with a fist, but there was no halberd in the white light. Instead, a white flood dragon emerged, winding itself around the fiend’s massive arm.

The fiend grew frantic and spat out a cloud of black smoke, within which was wrapped a sparkling object that gleamed a bewitching blue in the sunlight. The fiend raised it above its head, and as the smoke cleared, the object was revealed to be a triangular crystal chip.

The fiend gave a wild roar, and blue light flared from the triangular crystal, shining like the sun itself. Where its rays touched the rocks, white smoke hissed upward and pits the size of date stones appeared. The crowd retreated hurriedly, all except for Lei Xiang, who simply watched the fiend in silence, deep in thought.

Suddenly, the fiend blew a breath of black air onto the crystal chip, which spun and locked onto Senior Brother Mu. Dozens of blue rays shot forth. Senior Brother Mu had to summon a small white porcelain bowl, which inverted and projected a misty white shield, enveloping him securely. The blue rays were all deflected.

The chip shifted its aim to the entwining white flood dragon. The dragon tried to block the beams with its foreclaws, but within moments it was overwhelmed, reverting to its original halberd form and falling to the ground.

Senior Brother Mu’s face turned ashen. He sat down, forming hand seals to recover. The other Foundation Establishment cultivators saw their chance to shine and surged forward, magical artifacts and talismans flying toward the monstrous fiend.

After a fierce barrage, the mountain fiend still stood tall, though dozens of wounds oozed with thick black fluid. It shrouded itself in black smoke once more, and when it reappeared, the wounds had miraculously healed.

The cultivators felt bitter frustration. “Old Mu, that thing’s body is too tough. Let’s work together to form a formation.” But before they could act, the fiend, seemingly possessed of keen intelligence, anticipated their plan. The triangular chip spun again, and a hundred blue beams shot forth, enveloping them all.

“Damn it!” They could only combine their strength to create a massive shield, barely holding off the blue rays, but leaving them no spare energy to form a formation.

Lei Xiang, who had been deep in thought, suddenly broke into a mischievous smile, revealing his small tiger teeth. He took two steps forward, and a vermilion flag appeared in his hand. With a flick, the black flag unfurled, revealing a gaping, blood-red maw lined with uneven greenish fangs.

With a mental command, Lei Xiang released the Gluttonous Maw, which swallowed the spirit stones he fed it and then shot howling toward the mountain fiend. The fiend seemed startled, evidently terrified of the Gluttonous Maw, and immediately turned and fled. Lei Xiang’s smile grew even brighter. “Just as I thought—this isn’t a spirit born over ages, but an artificial creation. Otherwise, why would it fear sunlight?”

Lei Xiang pointed. “Go!” The Gluttonous Maw chased after the fiend without hesitation, and Lei Xiang, tossing out his black flying shuttle, followed suit, leaving a group of astonished cultivators behind. “Who is this Lei Xiang? Incredible! So many Foundation Establishment cultivators couldn’t handle it, but as soon as this little Qi Refining cultivator stepped in, the fiend ran for its life!”

Lei Xiang, of course, couldn’t hear their discussion. He was pleased that the fiend had fled their sight, as it allowed him to use methods unknown to others. Seated atop his flying shuttle, he quickly formed seals, summoning a nine-inch lotus disc from his storage pouch and aiming it at the fiend a hundred zhang away. “Attack!”

The lotus disc wobbled and flew somewhat erratically, landing five hundred zhang ahead of the fiend, failing to strike its target.

Lei Xiang shook his head and smiled ruefully. “I still can’t control this Blue Lotus Disc. Clearly my cultivation is lacking—when I attain Core Formation or even Nascent Soul, and truly refine it, then I’ll wield its full power.”

By now, the fiend had reached the lotus disc. Lei Xiang shouted, “Enlarge, enlarge, enlarge!” The three pale blue lotuses on the disc glowed with dazzling white light as the disc expanded in rings, until the fiend saw nothing but blinding white.

The fiend seemed stunned, its power bound by the Blue Lotus Disc. The Gluttonous Maw closed in, and Lei Xiang shouted, “Devour!”

The blood-red mouth opened, green fangs snapping shut.

In that moment, the only sound in the world was a crunching, grinding “crack, crack, crack…”

In the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, the fiend had been wholly consumed by the Gluttonous Maw. Lei Xiang withdrew the lotus disc and took out a spirit stone to reward his familiar, but for the first time ever, the Gluttonous Maw refused, belching contentedly before merging back into the vermilion flag of its own accord.

“So even this greedy creature can be sated,” Lei Xiang thought, walking over to pick up the triangular chip left on the ground. It was an irregular triangle, with two sides half a foot long and the third barely two inches. When Lei Xiang tilted it, it reflected light at different angles.

The two longer sides were rough and jagged, as if broken from something larger.

After pondering a long while, Lei Xiang put it away. “This must be a fragment of some magical treasure. Those rough breaks say as much.”

Behind Luoxia Peak, in the only cave there, a round arched stone door stood firmly shut.

In front of the archway, over five hundred cultivators had gathered, all dressed in the apricot-yellow uniforms of Hongji Academy. Among them were thirty-five Foundation Establishment cultivators, seven of whom were mid-Foundation Establishment, and over a dozen leaders, each holding a piece of that “plexiglass” treasure map.

The cracks and arrowheads on every piece of plexiglass pointed directly at the sealed door.

At that moment, a flash of black light appeared in the sky, and Lei Xiang returned on his flying shuttle. “You’re back?” The first to speak was none other than Du Gu Yixiao, who was usually the most taciturn of the group. Lei Xiang felt a warmth in his heart and nodded silently, and Du Gu Yixiao, as if understanding, did not press further.

Liu Tianzui, unable to restrain himself, ran over. “How did it go, Lei Xiang? That fiend wasn’t easy to deal with, was it?”

Lei Xiang smiled lightly. “I was lucky to kill it.”

At his words, all eyes turned to him. Senior Brother Mu’s eyes were wider than anyone’s, for he knew better than anyone how formidable the fiend had been. “You killed it?” he murmured. “Did you get the Light Treasure Heptaprism fragment?”

“Light Treasure Heptaprism?”

Senior Brother Mu nodded emphatically. “We just discussed this. What that creature wielded was a facet of the Light Treasure Heptaprism, a magical artifact used by ancient cultivators. We’ve only seen it in old texts, so we can’t be certain.”

At this, the group of leaders holding the plexiglass maps all gathered around, eager to take a closer look at the junior who had slain the fiend and claimed its prize.

Suddenly, Senior Brother Mu slapped his thigh. “Everyone, the spiritual energy here at Luoxia Cave is abundant—surely this is what we’ve been seeking. But no matter what we try, we can’t open this door. Seeing Junior Brother Lei Xiang reminded me—shouldn’t we try the Light Treasure Heptaprism on it?”

A mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator immediately nodded. “Senior Brother Mu is right. Since this treasure was found here, perhaps it’s related to the cave’s seal. It’s worth a try.”

Everyone agreed.

Lei Xiang, who had been quietly observing, now had no choice but to step forward. He drew out the Light Treasure Heptaprism, infused it with spiritual power, and aimed the crystal chip at the stone arch.

A beam of blue light shot into the seam of the arched door, which then rumbled open.

“That was almost too easy! Could this Light Treasure Heptaprism be the very key to the seal?”

Senior Brother Mu leapt onto a boulder at the side and shouted, “Everyone! The treasure vault is open. Go and seek your fortune!”

His words electrified the crowd. This was the very purpose of their journey, and with the treasure before them, none could delay. They surged toward the three-zhang-wide gate.

Situ Yan put away her purple gauze artifact, preparing to enter, but Senior Brother Mu grabbed her arm. “Junior Sister Situ, there’s something I’ve always wanted to say…but I don’t know how…”

Situ Yan looked at him in confusion. Was he about to confess? This hardly seemed the time—did he want to create a bit of mystery and romance in these unusual circumstances?

By now, only the two of them remained outside the cave. Suddenly, with a thunderous crash, something fell and blocked the entrance completely.