The Map

Lei Chong formed hand seals with both hands and began controlling the rune.

The rune rose into the air and wrapped around his arms.

Sizzle!

A gigantic phantom appeared between Lei Chong's arms. It was an enormous feathered wing, with flames seeming to surge around it.

The wing swept forward, sending a crimson ray slashing out and tearing a huge rift in the void.

"This..." Lei Chong was stunned as well. That attack had been far too powerful.

A single, gentle slash had actually cut a rift in the void.

Of course, the rift was not large, only a few meters long.

The rune he had just formed was the most rudimentary one in the sphere of light.

Yet even such a rudimentary move possessed such terrifying might.

He dared not imagine what would happen if he obtained the complete sphere of light and fully mastered all its runes.

"Could it be a True Phoenix?" Lei Chong stared at the sphere of light within the array.

But on further thought, that did not seem right. How could a being like a True Phoenix have fallen in a place like this? It defied all reason.

Lei Chong shook his head and cast those thoughts aside.

The matter was too complicated to investigate in depth. He could only extract the sphere of light completely, then analyze and explain it based on what he found.

He continued studying the runes, repeatedly manifesting them between his palms.

As he grew more familiar with the runes, the enormous phoenix wing took shape again and again.

In the end, the phoenix wing shrank completely, wrapping tightly around his hand. Yet Lei Chong could clearly feel that its power had increased considerably.

Hum!

Lei Chong raised his hand and struck out with a palm blade in front of him.

A huge rift appeared silently in the void ahead.

Chaos churned within the rift, giving off a terrifying presence.

Swish!

Lei Chong opened his heavenly eye again and studied the runes within the sphere of light.

But no matter how he examined it, he found no deeper runes.

In other words, if he wanted to learn more runes, he would have to extract the sphere of light from the array and keep it at his side to study at all times.

But the array here was too powerful. He had no way to deal with it for now.

With no other choice, he could only give up for now, raise his cultivation realm first, and then find a way to take out the sphere of light.

If all else failed, he would use that method.

Otherwise, once the great calamity of the lower realm began, it would be too late to act.

Putting all those thoughts aside, Lei Chong prepared to continue improving his cultivation.

Over the following days, he devoted all his efforts to inscribing array patterns within his body.

Time passed quickly, and a month went by in the blink of an eye. He had cultivated without pause throughout that month, and his realm had advanced rapidly.

But over the past few days, Lei Chong had noticed that his cultivation had slowed.

Whenever he inscribed an array pattern, the other patterns interfered with it.

Lei Chong knew he had reached a bottleneck. He needed to stop for a while and restore himself to his best condition.

He rose from the boulder and leaped into the air, flying toward the Medicine Capital.

The month was up. He was returning to the Ten Thousand Blood Tower to see whether there were now any leads on the Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow's whereabouts.

The Ten Thousand Blood Tower!

Lei Chong returned to this place today, his heart already perfectly calm.

In the crimson passageway, only Lei Chong's footsteps could be heard.

The old man seated behind the counter opened his eyes at that moment.

The instant he saw who had come, the old man's expression stiffened slightly.

"Young friend, I didn't expect you to come looking for us again so soon." The old man hurried forward, greeting Lei Chong with an awkward laugh.

"Cut the nonsense. Where is the Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow?" Lei Chong asked.

Ahem!

The old man hurriedly gave a dry cough, as though trying to hide his embarrassment.

The Ten Thousand Blood Tower had a presence almost everywhere in the Desolate Region, and its reputation had reached nearly every faction. When had it ever encountered anything like this?

"Well... young friend, I'm terribly sorry. We searched most of the Fire Kingdom, but we didn't find him," the old man said, shaking his head.

The ancient kingdoms of the Desolate Region had vast territories, each measuring millions of li across.

How difficult it was to search a territory that vast.

From the old man's words, Lei Chong knew that the Ten Thousand Blood Tower knew something about the Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow. Otherwise, it would not have searched only the Fire Kingdom's territory.

Even so, they still had no clues.

Lei Chong did not answer him. He merely stared at him with a faint smile.

"Young friend, give us another month, and we will surely find him." The old man cupped his fists and bowed, his eyes full of confidence.

"I don't think that's necessary. Give me my money back," Lei Chong said expressionlessly.

The old man's face darkened at once, and he clenched both fists tightly.

"Heh heh, money that enters my Ten Thousand Blood Tower has never been returned." The old man suddenly began to laugh coldly.

As he sneered, the old man swiftly thrust his palm forward.

The instant the old man made his move, Lei Chong discerned his realm.

The peak of the Array Formation Realm, almost on the verge of entering the Venerable Realm.

A cultivator at that realm stirred no emotion in him.

Hum!

Lei Chong pointed a finger. A streak of lightning pierced the void and struck the old man's palm, blasting him away.

Bang!

A tiny ray shot from his finger. At first, the old man paid it no mind, but as it approached, he realized how terrifying it was, as though a colossal mountain from the immemorial era were bearing down on him.

The old man's body shook violently, and he stumbled backward uncontrollably.

His chest churned, and he could not help spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Hum!

Lei Chong reached out again and grabbed the old man, pulling him close.

"Well?" Lei Chong held him up as though he were a chick.

"My lord, spare me! This old man was greedy. We actually found some clues," the old man pleaded, his face flushed red.

Lei Chong tossed the old man aside without taking his life.

"Speak," Lei Chong said.

The old man coughed dryly a few times and quickly gathered his words. "We didn't find the Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow's nest, but we heard something about his whereabouts."

Lei Chong's heart stirred slightly; he already understood everything.

The old man had grown greedy and wanted to pocket his materials. That was why the earlier incident had happened: he had wanted to intimidate Lei Chong, then tell him the news and make him grateful.

Unfortunately for him, he had kicked an iron plate and run into a formidable opponent like Lei Chong.

Lei Chong said nothing, merely staring coldly at him.

"About three days ago, the Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow appeared in the Stone Kingdom, just outside its capital," the old man hurriedly explained.

"The Stone Kingdom's capital." Lei Chong nodded slightly.

As he spoke, he released the old man.

The old man breathed a sigh of relief, knowing he might have saved his life.

After silently considering it for a moment, Lei Chong turned to the old man. "Do you have a map of the Fire Kingdom here? One that includes all the dangerous places."

The Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow was enormous. If he had hidden somewhere ordinary, he would have been found long ago. Only a special dangerous place like that could block outside attempts to search for him, and it was also his best hiding place.

"Yes, yes, I'll fetch it." The old man hurried to his feet.

After being cowed this time, the old man had become completely obedient.

In just over a dozen breaths, he returned with a map.

The map was very large, at least a zhang across when unfolded. Its layout was very clear, with every important location marked.