Chapter 90: The Celestial Spear Unleashes Its Might for the First Time

After the flames dissipated, Lei Xiang gripped the Nine-Treasure Lotus Staff horizontally and silently slid forward. Where the fireball and the fire beast had once been, there remained nothing but a glossy black stone, about the size of a palm. Apart from emitting a dark, lustrous glow, it was otherwise unremarkable.

Lei Xiang hesitated, but Zhu Chi, within his sea of consciousness, hurriedly urged, “Boy, pick that up! That should be the Starfire Spiritual Root. Quickly, take it.”

Half-believing, half-doubting, Lei Xiang reached out with a grasp from afar. The black stone flew into his hand. At that instant, fire energy from a hundred miles around surged toward him, rapidly forming a dense wall of fire spiritual essence. The surrounding sea of flames swiftly vanished.

When the flow of fire energy ceased, the fiery wall was wholly absorbed by the Starfire Spiritual Root at a rate visible to the naked eye. Gazing at the stone in his hand and then at the blackened, muddy landscape around him, Lei Xiang let out a sigh.

Had the sea of fire stretching for hundreds of miles truly vanished just like that?

Lei Xiang could hardly trust his own eyes. If all that fire spiritual energy had indeed been absorbed by the Starfire Spiritual Root in his hand, then its power was nothing short of heaven-defying. It seemed he had truly made a fortune this time.

Having tidied everything, Lei Xiang took out the Northern Dipper Pearl to find his bearings and continued flying in the direction indicated by the summoning device.

After more than ten days, Lei Xiang finally emerged from the marshlands to find himself facing an endless azure sea. The tranquil blue waters were as serene as Lan Xi’s eyes. The thought of Lan Xi stirred a surge of inexplicable excitement in his heart.

Suddenly, a blue gleam flashed in his eyes. He plucked the embroidered needle from his chest, which, when flicked into the wind, extended to a length of fifteen feet. He stared intently at the distant sea.

Before long, a speck of white light sped toward him, flying low over the water like a pure white seagull. But its speed was astonishing—faster by a third than Lei Xiang’s Nine-Treasure Lotus Staff, and more than ten times swifter than ordinary swift-footed cultivators. In the blink of an eye, it was before him.

The white light gathered and revealed itself—a bed of flawless white jade, exuding a faint spiritual aura, clearly no common artifact.

A jade bed as a flying tool?

Seeing the cultivation levels of the two upon it, Lei Xiang relaxed completely. The leader was only about three feet tall, with red hair and hawk-like eyes, at the peak of Foundation Establishment. The other, whose tangled red hair was at least half white, was likewise of short stature, but his cultivation was only at the early Foundation Establishment stage. They were evidently two elves—not a single Core Formation cultivator among them—so Lei Xiang had nothing to fear.

The red-haired, hawk-eyed elf glanced at Lei Xiang, then at the endless marsh behind him. “Friend, you came from the sea of fire, didn’t you? Tell me what happened. How has the thousand-year-old sea of fire suddenly vanished? And how did this marsh appear?”

Lei Xiang pondered for a moment and, in the end, decided against telling the truth. He replied vaguely, “I was just passing through here. I didn’t see any sea of fire, nor do I know what happened.”

The red-haired elf frowned. “Boy, you don’t know the means of the Red Elf clan, do you? Ask around about my temper—Ma Lianlei. You think you’ll slip past me? Hmph! My master already warned me: there’s been a strange change in the Sea of Fire, perhaps a treasure has emerged. Speak—what did you see?”

Lei Xiang spread his hands to show his ignorance.

Ma Lianlei’s hawk-like eyes widened. He raised his right hand, gathering energy, and a faint red flame flickered in his palm. “If you won’t talk, I’ll destroy you.”

Lei Xiang could only give a wry smile, knowing he couldn’t avoid trouble today. There was no way to outrun that jade bed artifact. The only option was to eliminate these two and slip away unnoticed.

Decision made, Lei Xiang gave him no chance. He raised his hand, and the Nine-Treasure Lotus Staff swept forth like a hurricane, stirring up the muddy marsh. Even the pristine jade bed wobbled precariously. Ma Lianlei hadn’t expected Lei Xiang to attack without warning; he thrust his right palm forward, and a wave of flames a foot high shot out.

The staff’s sweeping wind crashed into the flames, but, strangely, the fire neither wavered nor extinguished. Instead, it baked the staff’s wind into wisps of blue smoke, instantly dispersing it, and the flames struck the staff itself.

Ma Lianlei sneered. He had full confidence in his Divine Lightning Fire—even the elders of his clan dared not take it head-on, let alone an outsider. He pictured Lei Xiang’s staff shattering, his life forfeit.

But he underestimated the Nine-Treasure Lotus Staff—a relic from the celestial-demonic wars of the Upper Realm, forged from meteorite fragments and not something his so-called divine fire could intimidate. After a tremendous roar, the staff radiated crimson light, and with a sweep, the line of fire was reduced to just over two inches, flickering violently like a candle in the wind.

Ma Lianlei was shocked. The divine fire he had cultivated for centuries was faltering? He changed his hand seals, and flames more than a foot long burst from both palms, pressing onto the divine fire, causing the flames to leap up over ten feet, morphing into countless tendrils that tightly wrapped the staff, preventing any escape.

Lei Xiang dared not be careless. Activating the third layer of his Azure-Yellow Alternation technique, three colors of light flashed on his right arm. He whipped the staff forcefully, sending it bursting with spiritual energy, shattering the fire’s encirclement and smashing into Ma Lianlei’s palms.

Ma Lianlei staggered back several steps, cycling his cultivation technique to dissipate the immense force. He was shaken: “How does this alien have such strength? His cultivation is late Foundation Establishment, a level below mine, yet his power surpasses even the elders of my clan.”

The more he pondered, the more suspicious he became. Perhaps the treasure had indeed fallen into Lei Xiang’s hands. Exchanging a glance with the middle-aged elf, he changed his seals, and the image in his palm transformed into lightning. With a sudden leap, he slashed down with both hands, red lightning-fire strikes crackling toward Lei Xiang.

Lei Xiang directed the staff to spin like a windmill, blocking all the lightning-fire. Meanwhile, the middle-aged elf, channeling his magic power, fled in the opposite direction on a beam of light. Ma Lianlei’s look had told him to fetch reinforcements, while Ma Lianlei himself would stall Lei Xiang, convinced that Lei Xiang could not split his focus.

But what he didn’t know was that Lei Xiang had already cultivated the Boundless Divine Sea technique, able to control eighteen magic weapons at once, and had even begun to master spirit-division techniques. With a faint smirk, Lei Xiang continued manipulating the staff while tossing a green gauze-like object into the air. With a spell, it vanished from sight.

The fleeing elf, seeing Lei Xiang wasn’t pursuing, relaxed and turned to change direction, only for a green shadow to appear overhead. He barely had time to toss out his flying sword. The green shadow instantly enveloped him; the sword could not cut through it, and he was tightly bound.

“Retrieve!”

Before Lei Xiang finished the word, the distant green gauze spun and whooshed back to his feet. Without glancing at the captive, Lei Xiang poured power into the staff, extending its red glow by another foot and bringing it crashing down with the force of Mount Tai.

Ma Lianlei had already summoned his Lightning Halberd, enlarging it to five zhang and bracing it like an iron gate.

A thunderous crash rang out. Ma Lianlei felt the overwhelming force from the staff; he struggled to hold his ground, gradually sinking, yet the pressure continued to mount.

Desperate, Ma Lianlei, seeing his companion captured and himself suppressed, resorted to a secret technique, heedless of its side effects. He spat a faint blue glow onto the halberd. His body instantly withered, aging a hundred years in a breath, but the halberd came alive, flashing with blue and red light, then bursting apart and coalescing into a giant blue-red lion.

The lion stood thirty zhang tall and at least a hundred zhang long. With a gaping maw, it summoned a gale, spewing torrents of red lightning spheres at Lei Xiang.

A weapon spirit?

Could that halberd have gained a spirit? Without hesitation, Lei Xiang seized the staff, his Wind-Fire Boots spinning, sliding forward ten zhang to meet the thunder lion head-on, staff raised high.

The lion roared, hurling a barrage of lightning spheres. Explosions erupted as the two sides clashed evenly, the staff’s spiritual might and Lei Xiang’s formidable technique matching the lion’s raw power. But their size disparity was vast; at best, his blows forced the lion back a few steps, unable to truly harm it. The longer the fight dragged on, the more anxious Lei Xiang became. If reinforcements arrived, he would be in grave danger. He needed to end this quickly.

Resolute, Lei Xiang drew the Immortal-Slaying Spear, loaded it with a freshly-forged Celestial Crystal round, and aimed at the lion’s massive head. Ma Lianlei, sensing the weapon’s threat, tried to recall the lion, but it was too late.

With a crisp sound, a white electric bolt shot from the spear, piercing the lion’s head in a flash. The lion’s skull exploded, the corpse crashing into the black mud, gouging a deep pit.

Lei Xiang coolly turned the spear, loaded another round, and finger on the trigger, simply leveled it at Ma Lianlei without firing. That was enough to terrify Ma Lianlei out of his wits.

“What kind of artifact is this? One shot penetrated all defenses—the thunder lion was blown apart instantly.” With a flick of his storage pouch, Ma Lianlei launched something skyward. With a pop, it burst, forming a massive lightning symbol in the air.

So he was calling for help. Facing an opponent whose courage had deserted him, Lei Xiang felt no satisfaction, only deep concern. “This is elf territory. If he summons others, how will I escape?” Yet he still did not fire—he had his reasons.

At his current cultivation, Lei Xiang’s spiritual energy could sustain only one shot. Unless he replenished it quickly, he was helpless. The Beauty Spirit Smoke Gourd had just absorbed fire energy, but Lei Xiang dared not absorb such domineering power directly. So he could only watch as the signal went up.

“Don’t move! Hands up!”

Suddenly recalling this phrase, Lei Xiang threatened Ma Lianlei. Unexpectedly, Ma Lianlei, startled, obediently raised his hands. Lei Xiang thought, “Heaven is on my side,” and pressed the muzzle of the spear at Ma Lianlei. “Turn around. Walk forward, slowly. Otherwise, I’ll shoot you dead.”

Seeing Ma Lianlei comply, Lei Xiang sneered. With a flash, the staff smashed down, crushing Ma Lianlei’s body and spirit into pulp as easily as smashing a rotten watermelon.

Lei Xiang let out a long breath, ready to collect his spoils, when suddenly a wave of divine sense swept over him.

It was an unimaginably powerful divine sense.