"Rumble~~~"
A series of thunderous booms rang across the entire sky above the sea.
A handsome young man in black robes battled a Black-Toothed White Elephant demon a hundred zhang tall.
"Die!"
The handsome young man, who had used Law of Heaven and Earth, gripped a gigantic Silver Spear that moved like a flood dragon. It shot forward at tremendous speed, piercing the Black-Toothed White Elephant's eye.
"Spare... spare me—" A plea glimmered in the Black-Toothed White Elephant's eye, but Cold Shadow Divine Spear had pierced its head, leaving its consciousness badly clouded.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~~~
Lei Zhan's eyes brimmed with killing intent. With a thought, countless streaks of spear-light swept through the Black-Toothed White Elephant's skull, tearing it apart from within.
In an instant, the last remaining eye of the late-Myriad Phenomena white elephant demon dimmed.
"Phew." Lei Zhan slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, then flicked his sleeve and collected the corpse and treasures of the Black-Toothed White Elephant demon.
Most members of the Demon Race refined a part of their true forms into their life-bound treasures, just as God-Devil Body Refining cultivators forged Divine Demon Blood-Refined Divine Weapons.
The black tusks of this wicked Black-Toothed White Elephant demon were the most valuable part of its corpse.
"Next." A faint smile touched Lei Zhan's face. He was in an excellent mood.
Combat could rapidly spur a cultivator's growth. After several battles against Myriad Phenomena cultivators who outranked him, Lei Zhan could feel his understanding of spear arts deepening. Red Snow Spear Technique seemed on the verge of breaking through its bottleneck at any moment, allowing him to comprehend its second form.
Suddenly—
"Whoosh~~~"
A ripple of spatial energy swept past.
"Hmm?" Lei Zhan's expression changed. He abruptly looked ahead. While Law of Heaven and Earth was active, he adjusted Cold Shadow Divine Spear into the perfect position, ready to strike at any moment.
"So you're Lei Zhan? A disciple of Immortal Juhua?" A voice drifted out of the void, calm and offhand.
"You joined Immortal Juhua's sect, yet you've only reached the Purple Mansion level by now..."
Lei Zhan looked toward the spatial disturbance. A young cultivator appeared out of thin air. He wore an extraordinarily luxurious white fur robe, and his wild, flowing black hair was loosely tied back with a ribbon, revealing a somewhat sickly face.
"Who are you?" Lei Zhan tensed inwardly. The young man in the fur robe looked sickly, yet he gave Lei Zhan a lingering sense of danger.
"Me?" Madness deepened across the sickly face of the young man in the fur robe.
"Hahaha!" The young man laughed wildly. "Immortal Juhua really has lived up to his reputation as a Loose Immortal of several million years. He has so many enemies that he probably doesn't even know an insignificant nobody like me."
This person... is he here because of Master? Lei Zhan wondered. But Master's enemies... If I'm not mistaken, this man is only around the Myriad Phenomena level. To a million-year Loose Immortal like Master, he's no more than an ant that could be crushed with a flick of the finger...
The more Lei Zhan thought about it, the more puzzled he became. Still, he raised his guard to the highest level.
"Kid, I'll make sure you die quickly today! I am Shenrong Chong of the Shenrong Clan. I've come to avenge my younger brother."
"If you want someone to blame, blame that fine master of yours!" the young man in the fur robe snarled. His emphasis on "fine" was especially grating.
With Shenrong Chong's strength, he couldn't afford to provoke Immortal Juhua. But Juhua's disciple, Lei Zhan, was only at the Purple Mansion level. Killing him would be easy.
Shenrong Chong wasn't in a hurry. Immortal Juhua had caused him to lose his only younger brother. Now, he was going to make that lofty Immortal Juhua taste the pain of losing a disciple.
"Shenrong Clan, Shenrong Chong?" Lei Zhan's expression shifted. He immediately recalled the intelligence report Baili Changfeng had given him. The Shenrong Clan was one of the three forces that bought intelligence regularly.
"Remember now?" Shenrong Chong's face twisted into a grimace. "My well-behaved little brother only went to take part in some trial held by Immortal Juhua, and he died in there. He was only a Xiantian Being! With the Shenrong Clan's support, he could at least have grown into a Primordial Spirit Daoist someday. And now he's dead!"
"Opportunities are precious, and anyone who tries to seize one faces danger. Your brother died; that only means fortune wasn't on his side." Lei Zhan shook his head slightly and sneered. "Is that really worth taking revenge over? Even I nearly died back then and only survived by sheer luck."
If he hadn't happened to awaken his memories from his previous life, he might have fallen right there in that towering, shadowy Bronze Corridor.
"Damn you!" Shenrong Chong clearly wasn't listening. "All I know is that my brother failed, and you were the one who got the prize! You must die! Once you're dead, I'll torment your soul for ten thousand years..."
"Ten thousand years of torment? What a load of crap!" Lei Zhan's eyes brimmed with icy killing intent. Shenrong Chong's brother had died taking part in the trial, and Shenrong Chong didn't dare seek revenge against Lei Zhan's master, Immortal Juhua. He'd simply picked Lei Zhan as an easy target.
"Die!"
Lei Zhan's heart stirred. Cold Shadow Divine Spear shot from his hand like a dragon!
"A mere Purple Mansion cultivator dares attack me? Today, you—must—die!" Shenrong Chong's madness intensified, and golden light flashed in his eyes.
He let out a furious roar. Dazzling golden light burst from his body, and he grew larger and larger. With a rush of air, he became a giant nearly three stories tall. Even with Law of Heaven and Earth active, Lei Zhan only reached his waist.
As Shenrong Chong used Law of Heaven and Earth, a black staff as tall as a man suddenly appeared in his enormous hands.
"Boom!"
The black staff collided with Cold Shadow Divine Spear, and an explosion rang out across the sky like thunderclaps erupting from flat ground.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Their immense powers clashed. Lei Zhan couldn't stop himself from stumbling backward, and only came to a halt after flying nearly three hundred zhang.
"Law of Heaven and Earth?" Lei Zhan gripped the spear in his hand and stared at Shenrong Chong, who had swelled in an instant to a full eight zhang tall. He furrowed his brow.
If Shenrong Chong were a Qi Refining Path cultivator, Lei Zhan wouldn't fear him in the slightest, even if he were at the peak of the Myriad Phenomena level.
But if he was also a God-Devil Body Refining cultivator, with a higher cultivation level and a deeper mastery of Law of Heaven and Earth, then Lei Zhan's chances in a fight between them looked grim.
Yet a mere instant later, Lei Zhan pushed all distractions from his mind. Combat between cultivators was perilous, and a battle between God-Devil Body Refining cultivators even more so. He couldn't afford the slightest lapse in concentration.
"So what if you're a God-Devil Body Refining cultivator? So what if you've mastered Law of Heaven and Earth? Die!" Lei Zhan flicked his spear, his eyes ablaze with fighting spirit. This was his first battle against another God-Devil Body Refining cultivator since leaving the Water Mansion. His opponent was powerful, but victory was still within reach.
"Heh. The feeble struggles of an ant!" Shenrong Chong sneered, his sickly madness tinged with a trace of delight.
Shenrong Chong sprang forward, stomping on the clouds beneath his feet. He shot toward Lei Zhan like a streak of light, sweeping his enormous black staff across with earth-shattering force.
This single swing seemed capable of crumbling mountains and damming rivers.
"Die!" Lei Zhan's fighting spirit roared, his blood burning hot. He dragged his spear behind him, its tip slanting toward the ground. An almost imperceptible yet terrifying force flowed through the length of the weapon like water.
Divine ability—Star-Plucking Hand!
Red Snow Spear Technique, first form—Long Rainbow Piercing the Sun!
The spear collided with the black staff.
"Boom!" The explosion sounded as though space itself had been ripped apart in an instant.
"What?" Shenrong Chong's pupils contracted. An incomparably terrifying force surged from the spear. Caught off guard, he was sent flying backward hundreds of zhang, barely keeping hold of his staff.
"Well done, Lei Zhan! What kind of divine ability was that?" Shenrong Chong's sickly eyes fixed on Lei Zhan, who had also been knocked back hundreds of zhang. That one thrust had possessed such terrifying power? The one sent flying just now had been Lei Zhan!
"Want to know? Go join your brother in the underworld. Perhaps I'll take pity on you and tell you there." Lei Zhan snorted and charged Shenrong Chong again.
"Damn you! Let's see if you're still so stubborn after your soul has been tortured!" Killing intent surged in Shenrong Chong's chest.
The flames of revenge and his killing intent blended together, as though they'd undergone some kind of chemical reaction, sending his rage roaring sky-high.
Today, Shenrong Chong would ensure that Lei Zhan perished, his soul and true spirit tormented for billions of years.
"Boom!"
"Boom!" "Boom!"
Lei Zhan's spear flashed like lightning, sweeping out again and again. Countless streaks of spear-light engulfed Shenrong Chong.
"Damn you! Damn you! Damn you!" Amid the violent clashes, Shenrong Chong was utterly shaken. In the space of an instant, he had fallen to the disadvantage.
"What kind of explosive technique is this? I'm a late-Myriad Phenomena God-Devil Body Refining cultivator, yet I can't bring down a mere Purple Mansion cultivator in a short time!"
"Die!" Shenrong Chong roared. His three-story-tall body swayed, and two more heads and four more arms appeared. Two enormous black staffs filled his four hands.
"Divine ability—Three Heads and Six Arms!"
Diary of a Struggling Author
Some brothers mentioned the excitement factor... Honestly, that's one of my weak points. Other than building up strength, the earlier plot really was a bit flat. I've been writing with my head down for so long that I've gotten a little too close to see the forest for the trees.
Now that I know what the problem is, I'll start making changes! If you spot anything else, brothers, let me know and I'll take it into consideration.
I'll work on making things more exciting. Keeping everything so flat and bland as water isn't much fun to read, either! Sorry, brothers! I'll do my best!
Thanks to Books Are Confusing for the 500 Qidian coin tip.