Si Chen lowered his head and gazed at the spear in his hand, formed entirely from dazzling lightning, momentarily lost in thought.
While condensing it just now, that feeling had appeared again.
An innate sense of control, almost like a kind of "authority."
It was just like when he had heard Third Uncle describe spiritual roots years ago, felt that something was missing from his body, and then grown spiritual roots of his own.
In his hand, the violent lightning was as docile as a part of his body. With a single thought, it naturally took on the perfect form for slaughter.
At the same time, a faint, familiar sense of strain came from deep within his body, as though this new "toy" was still a little too heavy for his current flesh.
Although it was nowhere near as severe as when he had first grown his spiritual roots, it still reminded him that he had to continue his body-tempering cultivation.
This body still needed to be forged stronger.
These thoughts flashed through his mind.
Above Ancient Gaze City, there was deathly silence.
Everyone who saw that Thunderbolt Spear held their breath.
The madness and triumph on Lü Yan's face froze in an instant.
He was the closest, and he felt it most clearly.
The oppressive force emanating from that lightning spear was absolutely not a power a Foundation Establishment cultivator should possess!
"Deviant tricks!"
He could not admit, nor did he dare admit, that he had felt fear before a Foundation Establishment junior.
Lü Yan suppressed the inexplicable unease in his heart and let out a fierce shout. Spiritual power surged around him once more, his dark blue Daoist robes billowing in its wake as he turned into a streak of light and charged at Si Chen again!
He refused to believe a Foundation Establishment junior could overturn the heavens!
Facing this furious strike, Si Chen no longer dodged. Instead, he flicked his wrist, wielding the lightning as a real spear, and raised it to block Lü Yan's thrusting sword light!
Boom!
The lightning spear and sword light collided head-on, unleashing a deafening roar.
Blinding flashes of electricity and scattering Sword Qi plowed through the already ruined buildings around them once again.
Lü Yan felt an overwhelming force surge through his blade, numbing his arm with the impact and deepening his horror.
This thing formed from lightning was actually tougher and stronger than many genuine spiritual artifacts!
The two separated upon contact, then clashed again at an even greater speed.
Lü Yan's sword techniques were seasoned and ruthless, his spiritual power immense. Every strike carried the pressure of a Golden Core cultivator as he tried to crush his opponent with sheer force.
Si Chen, however, moved like a phantom. Thunderbolt Flash let him make the most exquisite evasions within the narrowest spaces.
The lightning spear in his hand moved at his will, as though it were an extension of his arm. Wherever his thoughts reached, the spear tip followed, its sweeping strikes utterly devoid of flourishes.
Every collision with the spiritual sword sent tiny arcs of electricity leaping toward Lü Yan, forcing him to divide his attention to fend off the lightning's intrusion.
Clang!
Boom!
For a time, explosions of spiritual power and the howling of thunder rang out without pause.
The two fought from midair down into the ruins, then from the ruins back into midair, leaving devastation wherever they passed.
The Qi Refining cultivators and even the few Golden Core experts all watched with their jaws hanging open.
"He... he can actually fight Elder Lü at close quarters to this extent?"
"What kind of spell is that lightning spear? I've never heard of anything like it!"
"He... is he really at Foundation Establishment?"
Lü Yan himself was even more shocked and furious. He could not gain the slightest advantage in a direct confrontation!
After another fierce collision, the two separated once more.
"You little bastard, all you have are sinister tricks!" Lü Yan spat through gritted teeth. His Daoist robes were scorched black in several places, and his disheveled hair left him looking rather bedraggled.
Si Chen glanced at the lightning spear in his hand, its radiance still blazing, then at Lü Yan in the distance, who looked like a man possessed.
Then he made a move that left everyone dumbstruck once again.
He drew his arm back, his body like a powerful bow pulled taut, then hurled the Thunderbolt Spear straight at Lü Yan!
Whoosh!
The lightning spear left his hand at far more than twice its previous speed! As though it had truly become a bolt of lightning that tore through heaven and earth, it shot before Lü Yan in an instant!
Lü Yan's soul nearly fled his body. He felt a lethal threat emanating from that spear.
He dared not meet it head-on. Abandoning all concern for the dignity of a Golden Core expert, he threw himself sideways with all his strength, looking utterly wretched.
Boom!!
The lightning spear skimmed past his Daoist robes and struck the top of an unoccupied tower far behind him.
Bang!
As though struck by true heavenly lightning, the tower's upper half was instantly reduced to dust, while its lower half erupted in roaring flames, lightning flickering and leaping within.
Amid spreading smoke and dust, the tower collapsed with a crash!
All of Ancient Gaze City seemed to tremble slightly with it.
Even louder cries of astonishment erupted from the watching crowd.
Condensing lightning barehanded, destroying a tower with a hurled spear! Was this really something a Foundation Establishment cultivator could do?
Having narrowly escaped disaster, Lü Yan looked back at the sight, his scalp prickling.
Had that spear struck him squarely, even if he survived, it would have stripped a layer of skin off him!
But before he could catch his breath, he felt that heart-stopping fluctuation of lightning from behind him again.
He whipped his head around, only to see Si Chen calmly raise his hand. Electricity gathered anew above his palm, and within a single breath, a second, identical Thunderbolt Spear had taken shape!
Lü Yan was shaken to his core.
How was he supposed to fight this?!
While Lü Yan was utterly horrified, Si Chen's mind remained perfectly clear.
The lightning spear was powerful, but its consumption of spiritual energy was also terrifying. Had his foundation not been so solid, and his spiritual energy reserves so much greater than those of ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators, three to five uses would probably have drained him dry.
He silently estimated that he could probably manage several dozen more full-force throws like this.
Then he would have to wait a little before throwing another several dozen.
Once this is settled, I need to raise my cultivation.
As he thought this, his hands never paused. With a flick of his wrist, the new lightning spear tore through the air once again!
Shocked and furious, Lü Yan could only dodge again. He tried to close the distance and overwhelm Si Chen with his Golden Core cultivation and close-combat experience.
But Si Chen never gave him the chance.
Thunderbolt Flash kept him at a relatively safe distance, while Thunderbolt Spears flew from his hand one after another, as though they cost him nothing.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Under the bombardment of these violent lightning spears, the surrounding ruins became ever more devastated.
Amid the lightning filling the sky, Lü Yan scrambled to fend off attacks from every side, exhausted from running for his life.
Offense and defense had completely reversed.
The occasional bursts of Sword Qi he unleashed were always easily evaded by Si Chen's greater speed, or shattered in midair by a newly condensed lightning spear.
His Daoist robes were in tatters, his beard and hair curled and blackened by electricity. Bloody marks from stray electrical arcs covered his face and arms, leaving him looking utterly miserable.
Where was even a trace of a Golden Core elder's dignity?
The spectators below had gradually gone from their initial shock to numbness.
They watched the youth in blue hurl destructive lightning spear after spear without expression, and watched Elder Lü, who had held sway over Ancient Gaze City for years, being chased until he had no road to heaven and no door into the earth.
The sight overturned everything they thought they knew.
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