Blocked In

This time, however, the engraving took a long while, more than half a day.

The runes were so intricate and abstruse that they resembled the stars in the sky, dazzling the eyes and taxing the mind enormously to engrave.

"Ah!"

The God-Striking Stone suddenly let out a terrible scream, like the wailing of ghosts and howling of wolves.

It was many times louder than the cries he made when striking people.

"What are you screeching for?" Shi Hao snatched up the God-Striking Stone.

The God-Striking Stone rolled about, shrieking strangely, before finally speaking in a shaky voice. "I took one look at that bone, and it felt like my head was going to split open."

Lei Chong understood. The God-Striking Stone was a stone, after all, and relied entirely on his primordial spirit to see things, so naturally his primordial spirit had been injured.

"So every time you scream, you really do feel it," Shi Hao muttered, understanding the God-Striking Stone's behavior.

"Of course it hurts. Why else would I scream?" the God-Striking Stone cried.

"You're the one casting the technique, so it can't hurt that much. Most of it is for show," Lei Chong said, exposing him without hesitation.

The God-Striking Stone wanted to argue, only to find that it was true.

Lei Chong fetched another bone and engraved another copy of the god-striking runes.

"This one is yours. Study it more when you have time after you get back. It can strengthen your primordial spirit." Lei Chong handed the rune bone to Shi Hao.

Shi Hao accepted the rune bone, feeling that something was a little off.

What had happened today felt especially strange, but if asked exactly what was wrong, he couldn't seem to say.

He had swindled people before, but today it seemed he had been swindled.

Yet on second thought, he didn't seem to have lost anything. He had even gained another precious technique, so it seemed he had come out ahead.

The God-Striking Stone remained silent at the side. He felt he had taken a loss this time.

He had no way to calculate just how much he had lost.

"Forget it. I, Shi Batian, don't just strike gods. I also study the way of formations, so this isn't a loss at all," the God-Striking Stone muttered.

"I forgot to mention one thing. This God-Striking Technique is extremely important. You'd better not pass it on carelessly, or it will bring a great deal of trouble," Lei Chong reminded them.

"Don't worry, I know how serious it is," Shi Hao said with a slight nod.

"All right, I'll be going. We'll meet again before long." Lei Chong waved and turned to leave.

His gains in the few days since coming to the Stone Kingdom Imperial Capital had indeed been astonishing.

Counting the God-Striking Technique, he now possessed three complete precious techniques of the Ten Fiends. He believed collecting all ten was not impossible.

There was one thing he still had to watch out for, though: the Void Beast Hide in his possession. Many people were surely coveting that treasure.

Judging by the hints that morning, those forces had already made their moves and must have prepared everything, waiting for him to leave the city.

Nor could he avoid them. One way or another, he had to face them.

"Brother Lei, do you need my help?" Shi Hao suddenly asked.

Those people had set their sights on him too, and he wanted to deal with them personally.

"No need. They're all small fry. I can handle them myself." Lei Chong shook his head.

As he spoke, he had already walked out of the palace.

Shi Hao was still uneasy, however. He didn't know how strong Lei Chong was and feared he would be ambushed by those people and have the God-Striking Technique stolen.

Shi Hao followed Lei Chong from a distance, hoping to see if he could help.

Lei Chong made his way easily through the crowded streets.

Hum!

His body trembled slightly, and a flash of light passed over its surface. He vanished completely into the void, leaving no trace.

Whoosh!

A golden light flashed, and another figure appeared where Lei Chong had just vanished. It was one of his spirit bodies.

His true body, meanwhile, concealed itself in the void and left without a sound.

The whole process was so fast that it happened almost in the blink of an eye. Lei Chong's true body and spirit body had switched places so quickly that the people nearby didn't notice.

For those lying in ambush outside the city, they couldn't be bothered to use their true bodies.

Following secretly from afar, Shi Hao saw what had happened.

Strange. Why is he using a spirit body? Does he mean to draw the enemy away with it and have his true body escape in the meantime? Shi Hao wondered.

His doubts only grew, and he could only keep following.

Outside the Stone Kingdom Imperial Capital, several forces had long since finished their preparations. Not only had their numbers multiplied several times over, but their methods were even more terrifying.

"Do we really need to prepare this much?" the young man from the Martial King Manor asked.

"Hmph, that boy is very powerful. I'm on the verge of entering the Array Formation Realm, yet I couldn't resist that slap of his. We must never underestimate him. This isn't too much," the old man from the Rain King Mansion said confidently.

"Hmph, damn that boy. When he sees us again, I wonder if he'll still be able to act so arrogantly," the young man from the Martial King Manor said with a cold snort.

Just then, a figure appeared at the city gate.

It was Lei Chong-or, to be precise, only his spirit body.

"He's here. Activate the formation at once!" Yu Yan, the old man from the Rain King Mansion, shouted.

Hum!

At his command, everyone behind him immediately sprang into action. Countless formation patterns quietly lit up, completely enveloping the city gate.

Before Lei Chong could react, light appeared all around him.

His figure flashed, and he vanished from the city gate.

Lei Chong's spirit body manifested among a range of mountains outside the imperial capital.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Several flashes of light appeared around him, and the people from the various forces emerged.

"Hahaha, boy, where are you going?" Yu Yan laughed.

"Where's that arrogance you showed earlier? Let's see it again," Shi Chuan of the Martial King Manor snapped, the killing intent on his face undiminished.

"Hand over the Void Beast Hide, and we'll leave your corpse intact," the people from the other forces shouted.

Lei Chong stared at them with a cold smile, making no move with his hands. "What have you all brought? Let me take a good look first."

"Boy, you're courting death."

"You still want to score points with your tongue?"

"..."

The major forces spoke up at once, pressing forward aggressively.

"Why are you still hiding what you have? Didn't you bring anything good?" Lei Chong asked with a faint smile, the mockery in his eyes plain to see.

"Let's see how long you can keep that mouth of yours hard. All of you, activate the formation. We must keep him here today," Yu Yan said coldly.

As he spoke, he directed his subordinates to act.

Boom!

Countless sword beams burst from the mountains, completely surrounding Lei Chong.

Lei Chong silently tested them, then shook his head helplessly. These formations were far too mediocre; they couldn't stir the slightest interest in him.

Bang!

Lei Chong's body shook, and the sword beams around him shattered one after another.

"This..." Seeing that Lei Chong was unharmed, Yu Yan and the others' faces changed. "How is this possible? This is a Venerable-level formation."

As he spoke, he took out a sheet of yellow paper.

The paper was crumpled, with strange marks on it.

A closer look revealed a character-an ancient one, barely recognizable as the character for "suppress."

Hum!

The paper floated into the air and radiated streams of golden light. Anything touched by the light was suppressed by the paper.

This was the pressure of a deity. Although it was only a divine decree, it exerted a terrifying suppressive force on cultivators of lower realms.