Undercurrents and Crystals

The black-robed elder was bound to the tree trunk.

Abundance Chain, green light coiled tightly.

He just woke up.

His eyelids twitched, then opened.

Quan Batian stood before him.

Destruction Dragon Spear rested against his Adam's apple.

The spear tip did not press down.

It hovered one millimeter away.

Quan Batian spoke.

"Who sent you?"

It was not a question.

The black-robed elder sneered.

"Killing me is useless."

Quan Batian said nothing.

The spear tip pressed down one millimeter.

It broke the skin.

A bead of blood seeped out.

Destruction Dragon Force seeped in along the wound.

It crushed his soul power.

The black-robed elder shuddered all over.

His soul power scattered.

He could muster no strength.

He gritted his teeth.

Quan Cangtian walked over.

He crouched down.

He leveled his gaze with the black-robed elder.

He spoke.

His voice was calm.

"What you want is not the Heavenly Fire."

"You cannot take the Heavenly Fire away."

"What you truly want is the gene inside my body."

The black-robed elder's pupils shrank violently.

Quan Cangtian saw it.

He did not press further.

Quan Batian's spear tip pressed down another millimeter.

A clicking sound came from the black-robed elder's throat.

He spoke.

His voice was hoarse.

"The Pontifex... will not let you go."

Having spoken, he bit down on his poison pouch.

Quan Cangtian reacted swiftly.

Abundance Power poured into the black-robed elder's mouth.

He attempted to neutralize the poison pouch.

Yet evil soul power remained within the poison pouch.

It met the Abundance Power.

It detonated.

Blood bled from the black-robed elder's seven orifices.

He died on the spot.

Quan Cangtian withdrew his hand.

A black mark was scorched onto his palm.

Seconds later, the black mark faded.

The skin healed.

He glanced at his palm.

He said nothing.

Quan Batian withdrew the Destruction Dragon Spear.

He looked at the black-robed elder's corpse.

"The Pontifex," he muttered low.

"The roots of the Dark Soul Cult are in the Sun Moon Empire."

Quan Cangtian stood up.

"We will discuss it when we return."

Quan Batian nodded.

He looked toward the depths of the forest.

"Let's go."

The campfire was lit anew.

Zixiao sat beside Quan Cangtian.

She reached out.

She turned his right hand over.

She glanced at the healed skin.

She let go.

She said nothing.

Huo Yuhao sat leaning against the tree trunk.

His Spirit Eye subconsciously swept the surroundings.

Tianmeng muttered in the consciousness sea.

"Kid, take a break. Your eldest brother's grandfather is right here; who dares to come?"

Huo Yuhao did not reply.

Yet he closed his Spirit Eye.

He glanced at Quan Cangtian's back.

Zixiao noticed Huo Yuhao's gaze.

She said nothing.

She laid the Thunder Light Sword across her knees.

She closed her eyes to rest.

Xiao Xiao boiled soup.

The Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron was set over the fire.

The soup boiled.

She picked up a bowl.

She walked over to Quan Cangtian and handed it to him.

Quan Cangtian took it.

He took a sip.

Xiao Xiao sat down beside him.

Wang Dong sat in the distance.

The Goddess of Light Butterfly flickered faintly behind her.

She was suppressing the restlessness of her martial soul.

When the Heavenly Fire erupted earlier, the second soul inside her had shaken along with it.

She was not certain what that was.

Yet she was certain of one thing.

The power within Quan Cangtian's body.

And the thing inside her own body.

Shared a certain resonance.

Wang Dong clenched her fists.

The Goddess of Light Butterfly's wings retracted.

Quan Batian stood at the outer perimeter of the campfire.

His back faced everyone.

Xiao Xiao spoke.

"That guy over level eighty earlier, I couldn't even block a single one of his soul skills."

Quan Cangtian did not raise his head.

"You blocked a level seventy-five palm strike."

Xiao Xiao pressed her lips together.

"That's different."

Quan Cangtian lowered his bowl.

"How is it different?"

Xiao Xiao had no answer.

She lowered her head.

She stared at the remaining soup in her bowl.

Everyone slept.

Quan Cangtian sat by the campfire alone.

He raised his right hand.

Beneath the black mark on his palm.

Lay a layer of extremely thin dark red crystal.

It was not a wound.

It was something formed beneath the skin by the fused beast gene.

He used Abundance Power to neutralize it.

It could not be neutralized.

He used Destruction Power to suppress it.

It was suppressed.

The moment he let go, it rebounded.

Thoughts flashed through his mind.

The overflowing energy of the Heavenly Fire grew harder and harder to control.

He withdrew his hand.

The dark red crystal shrank back beneath the skin.

He looked up at the sky.

The night sky of the Star Dou Great Forest was very clear.

The stars were dense like a handful of scattered crushed ice.

He stared at his palm for a long time.

The campfire crackled once.

Quan Cangtian still sat beside the campfire.

A voice rang out in his mind.

Flippant, casual, carrying a hint of a smile.

"You can't control it anymore, can you?"

Quan Cangtian's body stiffened.

This voice.

It was the Envoy of Elation.

The Envoy of Elation continued.

"The signs of awakening are even earlier than I anticipated."

Quan Cangtian wanted to press further.

The Envoy of Elation cut him off.

"Do not worry."

When you completely fall unconscious, you'll find a way when you wake up.

The voice vanished.

Quan Cangtian sat in place.

His hand was still raised.

The dark red crystal throbbed slightly beneath his palm.

Zixiao's footsteps came from behind.

she didn't walk in front of him.

she sat down beside him.

The two were separated by the distance of a fist.

Zixiao's lightning jumped at her fingertips.

It went out.

A long time passed.

Zixiao spoke.

After we go back, I want extra training.

Quan Cangtian turned his head to look at her.

Zixiao stared at the campfire.

Level forty-five is not enough.

Quan Cangtian didn't speak.

Dawn.

Quan Batian called Quan Cangtian to a distant spot.

The Destruction Dragon Spear was thrust into the ground.

The two stood and talked.

Quan Batian laid his cards on the table.

The Dark Soul Cult's roots are in the Sun Moon Empire.

The Pontifex holds an intelligence network covering the entire continent.

The ones who came today were only probing.

The next ones who come will be at the Titled Douluo level.

Quan Cangtian asked.

Return to the Quan Family?

Quan Batian shook his head.

Going back puts us on the defensive.

he paused.

When others think you're going to run, you charge forward.

Quan Cangtian nodded.

Quan Batian stated the plan.

Go straight to Tianhun City.

Do three things.

First, interrogate the Dark Soul Cult's stronghold in Tianhun City.

The token found on the black-robed elder has clues.

Second, Huo Yuhao needs to stabilize three martial souls.

Tianhun City has a contact point for the Body Sect.

Third, you need to find a method to control heavenly fire.

Quan Cangtian nodded.

Quan Batian called out to stop him.

Cangtian.

Quan Cangtian turned back.

Quan Batian's expression was rarely serious.

That heavenly fire thing—use it once and there's one less time.

The spear strike you used just now burned away more than just soul power.

Quan Cangtian nodded.

he knew.

Something inside his body was permanently consumed.

It wasn't soul power.

It was something deeper.

The team packed up the camp.

They prepared to set off.

Huo Yuhao was adapting to his new soul skill.

his spirit eye flashed with a purple light.

Zixiao's thunder light sword left its sheath.

she was practicing her swordsmanship.

Xiao Xiao was packing up the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron.

Wang Dong stood in the distance.

The Goddess of Light Butterfly flickered faintly behind her.

Quan Cangtian stood at the edge of the camp.

he looked toward the direction of Tianhun City.

he raised his right hand.

The dark red crystal throbbed slightly beneath his palm.

In his mind.

The envoy of elation's voice was still echoing.

When you completely fall unconscious, you'll find a way when you wake up.

he clenched his fist.

Quan Batian walked at the very front.

The Destruction Dragon Spear was held in his hand.

he didn't look back.

he took a step toward the direction of Tianhun City.

Let's go.

Quan Cangtian followed.

Zixiao put away her sword.

she walked beside Quan Cangtian.

Huo Yuhao, Xiao Xiao, and Wang Dong followed closely behind.

The genes within Quan Cangtian's body were awakening.

The envoy of elation had said after falling unconscious, waking up would bring a method.

Tianhun City was waiting for them.

The Dark Soul Cult was also waiting for them.

The real battle.

Was only just beginning.