Chapter 99: Proceed in the Opposite Direction

Mu Qingchun was startled, not yet reacting, a fiery red hand snatching toward the silk rope belt, while behind her a thin rod simultaneously extended toward the cloth bag. Everything unfolded in the blink of an eye. In that fleeting moment, Mu Qingchun stood empty-handed; the silk rope belt and flower stem were seized by the massive hand, and the cloth bag holding the essence blood of the Soul-Returning Grass was lifted away by the rod. Her mood plunged into the depths at once. She had been brimming with delight upon securing the Soul-Returning Grass, yet now it felt as though she lingered in the glacial cold of a thousand years.

Anger and shock flared in her eyes as she whirled around. She beheld Lei Xiang baring small tiger teeth in a furious smile, wondering why he still had the heart to grin. Her gaze then caught the thin rod retracting slowly into his palm, revealing that he had reclaimed the essence blood of the Soul-Returning Grass. Her heart eased slightly. But suddenly thunder crashed through the air, a voice of fury booming forth: “Where did this alien come from, daring to steal our clan’s treasure? Hand over the Soul-Returning Grass at once and become our clan’s slave. I will spare your worthless life.”

From the oppressive pressure emanating from within the red cloud, Lei Xiang judged that the speaker’s cultivation far surpassed his own, perhaps reaching the late stage of the Core Formation realm. He must be the leader of some elf clan. Yet this trial admitted no one of high cultivation; how had he infiltrated? Lei Xiang stayed silent, handing the cloth bag to Lan Xi and whispering instructions to divide the Soul-Returning Grass into three portions—one for Mu Qingchun—before transmitting voice to her.

No reply came. The figure in the air grew even more enraged. “Die!” A pair of blood-red hands descended like judgment. Beneath them, Lei Xiang was no larger than a tiny ant, moments from being crushed.

At that instant the white jade bed blazed with blinding white light, morphing into a silver star that teleported clear of the hand’s reach. Boom! The massive palm struck empty air, scattering sparks. Lan Xi had just tossed the remaining one-third of the cloth bag to Mu Qingchun when she stepped onto a banana-leaf magical artifact and fled in the opposite direction.

Simultaneously, Lei Xiang unleashed his Nine Treasure Lotus Rod, blocking the blood-red hand from striking again. The cloud elf clan leader was beyond furious; a mere alien dared to defy their leader. A thought struck him—his agents had failed to obtain the Starfire Spirit Root, losing most of his forces, save for one escaped soul slain by an outsider. Could the grinning young alien before him be that killer?

He dared not hesitate, refusing to underestimate this youth. The blood-red hand swept outward; clouds around him churned and were drawn in. An old elf with wild red hair appeared, his bulbous head resembling a four-happiness pill. He laughed heartily. “Alien, you are the one who slew my Red Elf Clan’s Xuan Hong and seized the Starfire Spirit Root, yes? If so, I truly cannot harm you. You see my advanced age and recent injuries; at best we are even. Let us make a bargain. I will exchange your Fire Spirit Root and part of the Soul-Returning Grass essence blood. State your conditions.”

The Red Elf Clan Leader’s words sounded reasonable, yet Lei Xiang, having lived two lives, was not so easily deceived. He declared loudly, “I care not whether you were injured, but your strength far exceeds mine. I refuse to lose the treasure only to be slain by you.”

The Red Elf Clan Leader’s face darkened with rage at the refusal. “You offer no face yet demand mercy? This lord will kill you and take what is mine!” He raised his blood-red hand again. The gray sky churned wildly; winds and clouds converged above his head. He began forming seals, the cloud layer thickening until electric arcs danced like countless bolts of lightning.

Lei Xiang gripped his palm-held immortal shooting gun, his tone cold. “I know my strength is inferior, yet I still calmly reject your offer. There must be some scheme here, you foolish pig. My Lei will show you who is truly swift.” The cloud layer, crackling with arcs and spanning ten miles, advanced slowly under the Red Elf Clan Leader’s control toward Lei Xiang and the others.

Lei Xiang’s lips curved in a faint, cold smile. His right index finger pressed the trigger. A streak of cold light flashed toward the cloud layer, “swish,” and vanished inside. In an instant it pierced the ten-mile expanse and appeared before the astonished Red Elf Clan Leader. The elf clan leader’s first instinct was to slap at it with his hand. The sky crystal bullet shattered through the blood-red palm like a leaking balloon, shrinking to normal size with a charred round hole at the center.

Thanks to the hand’s interference, the bullet veered half a foot, “pa” shooting into the Red Elf Clan Leader’s right arm. An explosion erupted; his arm and a section of his chest disintegrated into glittering crystal fragments that scattered like dust.

Lei Xiang cursed inwardly: the current immortal shooting gun could fire only once, and its destructive power remained inadequate. Even shattering the opponent’s heart would prove useless if their soul could flee. Speed was already excellent; accuracy and destructive force needed refinement.

The Red Elf Clan Leader howled in agony, spitting a sheet of burning flame that wrapped his severed arm. He shook his right shoulder violently twice, and a new fiery red arm sprouted in its place. His blood-red eyes glared at Lei Xiang atop the white jade bed as he tested the new limb.

Lei Xiang forced a bitter smile and swiftly replaced the white jade bed with a superior spirit stone, urging it skyward to escape. There might be no further chance if they waited until the Red Elf Clan Leader recovered.

Yet fate proved cruel. Moments later, searing heat baked their backs. When divine sense swept behind them, the Red Elf Clan Leader pursued on a fiery cloud, his escape speed more than double theirs. Capture was inevitable. Lei Xiang analyzed options swiftly, then tapped his toe on the white jade bed, tilting its head ninety degrees to veer sharply.

He had originally flown toward the outermost layer, roughly orienting himself with the Big Dipper Jewel. Now he turned, circling back to the innermost layer. That space brimmed with mystery and peril; no one had entered it in a thousand years. Legends claimed it led directly to the immortal realm, yet legends were unreliable—some believed it connected to the underworld. All knew that every entrant, including several elf clan leaders and elders, had perished.

Lei Xiang drove the white jade bed forward resolutely. The Red Elf Clan Leader’s pursuit slowed; he hesitated, weighing whether to follow. For this alien, for the Starfire Spirit Root and Soul-Returning Grass, was it worth risking the most mysterious inner sanctum? “Could the ultimate goal of this trial—the Fire Spirit Autumn—lie within?”

The Blood Space held countless taboos, foremost among them that cultivators beyond the middle stage of Core Formation could not enter. The Red Elf Clan Leader, at late-stage Core Formation, should never have been able to come. As Lei Xiang had surmised, these high-level elves had all come seeking the Fire Spirit Autumn, forcibly suppressing their cultivation with clan secret arts to early Core Formation. They could infiltrate and fight at that level, but the backlash was severe: they would be unable to recover without a century of bitter cultivation and might even drop a realm. Yet the elves still pressed on, underscoring the Fire Spirit Autumn’s importance.

The white jade bed had become a tiny black speck, vanishing into the void in the blink of an eye. The Red Elf Clan Leader finally gritted his teeth, turning his pursuit. The Starfire Spirit Root and Soul-Returning Grass held irresistible allure, and the unknown Fire Spirit Autumn added to the temptation. These were more than enough to make the Red Elf Clan Leader risk everything and force his way into the Blood Space’s inner depths.