Chapter 101: Old Dried Ginger is a Product of Meteor Showers

To be safe, Lei Xiang did not dispel the concealment of the Phantasm Eye. He proceeded in the direction opposite to the Red Elf Clan chieftain. Although this required constant consumption of spiritual energy to maintain the Phantasm Eye, it ensured he could handle any unexpected situations. Lei Xiang held a spirit stone in each hand, ready to replenish his drained energy at any moment. After traveling only a few miles, he turned toward the southwest.

Suddenly, Lei Xiang stopped beside a pitch-black spirit lake. This time, Lan Xi did not ask questions; she knew Lei Xiang had his reasons. Sure enough, not long after, a fiery red trail of light streaked across the sky behind them. It was the Red Elf chieftain returning. Had he discovered them?

Observing Lei Xiang’s calm expression, Lan Xi felt a sense of reassurance and remained still. The red light flew past them, soaring directly over the black water of the lake. After a long while, Lei Xiang sighed and sent a telepathic message, "Lan Xi, it seems we cannot leave. Look across the lake. That group of elves appears to be surrounding something, and the Red Elf chieftain must have received word and rushed over."

Lan Xi lacked Lei Xiang’s ocular ability. She strained her eyes but could discern nothing beyond the dark lake and the oppressive shadows. However, she nodded thoughtfully, a sense of melancholy rising within her. Just as she had recovered her magic and could continue her pursuit of the Great Dao, she was to be trapped here. The feeling was truly agonizing.

There was only a day and a half left before the trial ended, and they had to constantly evade the Red Elf chieftain. The possibility of escape was near zero. Yet, a sudden sweetness surged in Lan Xi’s heart, and her cheeks flushed involuntarily. She found herself thinking, in a strange twist of fate, that while she was unwilling to accept Lei Xiang as a companion, if she were to be trapped in this realm forever, having him by her side would be, at the very least, bearable.

The two remained there in silence, waiting for fate to take its course.

With the aid of his ocular power, Lei Xiang watched in astonishment as a massive siege unfolded. There were at least seventy or eighty elves participating, representing all clans except the Green Elves. At least two of them possessed power comparable to the Red Elf chieftain. With such high-ranking elders involved, they must be hunting an extraordinary treasure. The encirclement formed by the elves had tightened, and the attack had begun; their target was a massive spirit ape.

The spirit ape stood two zhang tall, its arms hanging past its knees, its left claw tightly gripping a tuberous root. At that moment, attacks of all kinds converged upon it—light arrows, fireballs, and lightning pillars completely blocked its path. Three chieftain-level figures led the assault: the Red Elf chieftain hurled lightning spheres; an elf in yellow robes released two earth-yellow, bat-like spirit beasts; and a majestic elder in purple robes, wielding a purple-gold staff, fired a beam of purple light as thick as a barrel. These were attacks the spirit ape could not withstand.

The ape’s free right claw stretched out, easily grabbing a tender willow branch by the lake. With a light swing of its heavy body, it dodged the barrage of attacks, then swung again to fly another three zhang away. Lei Xiang was truly baffled—how could such fragile willow twigs support such a heavy body?

Before Lei Xiang could fathom it, the earth-yellow bats flew in. Their wide wings flapped violently, whipping up a gale that blew the ape off the branch. Just as its massive body was about to fall into the lake, it hooked its arm, swung, and leaped over the heads of the bats. In a split second, it kicked one of the bats in the stomach. With a "puff," the creature crumbled into a pile of yellow dirt; the spirit beast was merely constructed from earth.

Before the ape touched the ground, it swung its massive fist, shattering the other bat. At that moment, the purple light and lightning spheres struck simultaneously. The ape could not dodge in time and was grazed by the purple light, leaving half its fur singed away. Enraged, the ape let out a roar and charged into the crowd of elves. In an instant, over a dozen were struck down. The purple-robed elder brandished his staff and shouted, "Melee combat! Swarm it!" No sooner had he spoken than a dozen purple-clad elves wielding Vajra staves charged in. The ape’s iron-hard hide proved decisive, ignoring the staves entirely. With every swing of its long arms and iron fists, more purple-clad elves perished.

The impatient Red Elf chieftain raised his hands to the sky, conjuring a lightning sphere a zhang in diameter, and hurled it regardless of the consequences. A deafening blast echoed through the sky, creating a massive crater. The purple-robed elder rushed over, but there was no sign of the ape in the crater—only the corpses of twenty elves. "Are you brainless? You killed so many of your own men and let the ape escape!"

The Red Elf chieftain curled his lip in disdain. "Obtaining the Fire Spirit Autumn is what matters. What are a few dead clansmen? Watch me flush it out." He formed hand seals and pushed outward with all his might. A hundred-zhang radius was engulfed in a sea of flames. The surviving elves fled, and the ape was forced out from the corner of the fire. Three beams of purple light and dozens of lightning spheres struck at once. The ape could no longer dodge and was buried in a storm of lightning and purple flame.

As the roaring ceased and the smoke cleared, the three elders lunged forward simultaneously, neither wanting the other to gain an advantage. The yellow-clad elf arrived first, only to see a mangled body with a strangely human-like face. Its two large, upturned nostrils suddenly sprayed a jet of foul, black liquid like a massive fountain, drenching everything within ten zhang.

The yellow-clad elf was caught off guard and hit square in the face. With a shriek of agony, he clutched his eyes and rolled on the ground. The severely wounded spirit ape used its remaining strength to flee. The red and purple elders ignored the injured elf and gave chase.

Watching from across the lake, Lei Xiang sighed. He did not sigh for the ape’s fate, but for his own and Lan Xi’s. How miserable their luck was—the ape was fleeing directly toward them. A barrage of lightning and purple fire caught up to the ape, and a pungent, burnt stench filled the air. The ape finally collapsed twenty zhang from Lei Xiang. Lei Xiang’s heart, which had been in his throat, finally settled.

The ape made no sound, its massive body twitching, yet its left claw remained tightly gripped around the tuberous root.

Could this black, shriveled thing, looking like an old piece of ginger, be the ultimate goal of the trial—the Fire Spirit Autumn the elf clans were so desperate to possess? The purple elder’s actions confirmed Lei Xiang’s guess. Both he and the Red Elf chieftain lunged for the "ginger," but the purple elder grabbed it first. He turned and ran without looking back, but the Red Elf chieftain would not let him succeed so easily, his arm wreathed in crimson flames, ready to strike.

Lei Xiang was watching the spectacle with keen interest, but the Nine-Treasure Lotus Staff tucked in his chest suddenly acted on its own. It leaped from Lei Xiang’s robes, expanded to over a dozen zhang, and smashed down onto the purple elder’s wrist. Caught off guard—for he could not fathom how a gargantuan staff had appeared from thin air—the elder’s wrist was shattered, and the root went flying.

Lei Xiang was startled by the staff’s actions. Seeing the Red Elf chieftain’s expression, he immediately retracted the Phantasm Eye and deployed the Azure Veil, knowing they had been exposed.