"Thunder spirit! Hold the formation!" The squad leader shouted.
The thunder spirit slammed into the Dark Water Formation's barrier, erupting in blinding purple light and crackling sounds.
The Dark Water Formation used water to counter lightning and should have had some advantage, but the Zixiao Thunder Sha contained within this thunder spirit was extraordinarily pure and violent. It sent the barrier shaking violently, and several members of the formation paled.
Seeing this, a calculating gleam flashed in Mark Montgomary's eyes. He was about to order the second squad to provide support when he heard Qin Xue giggle from behind: "Brother, this thunder spirit is rather interesting. The condensed thunder sha is quite pure."
Qin Hao merely nodded slightly, giving no other indication. The three Qin family guards were like wooden statues, completely indifferent to the fierce battle ahead.
The chill in the hearts of the Montgomary Palace members deepened. A gloomy expression flickered across Mark's face before returning to normal. He waved his hand: "Second squad, ranged spell support! Don't get close!"
Another ten stepped forward, casting water arrows, ice spikes, and other spells to attack the thunder spirit from a distance. Under assault from both inside and outside, the thunder spirit was finally dispersed, reverting to a mass of thunder sha.
But three members of the Dark Water Formation had already been invaded by the escaping thunder sha, suffering considerable internal injuries that required them to fall back for treatment.
"Continue forward!" Mark commanded expressionlessly, though his mind raced to calculate how to minimize his own side's losses while observing the Qin family's attitude.
Sure enough, the deeper they went, the more frequently thunder spirits appeared, and the stronger they became.
Sometimes several appeared simultaneously. The Montgomary Palace elites had to take turns entering the fray, forming defensive arrays, using talismans, magical tools, even lives to fill the gaps.
One cultivator, covering his companions, was pounced on by a thunder spirit and instantly charred black, convulsing as he fell dead.
Another had violent thunder sha invade his heart meridians. Though his companions managed to retrieve him, his cultivation was completely crippled, and he was barely clinging to life.
The Dark Water Formation was besieged by several powerful thunder spirits yet again. The formation broke, people were wounded, and several more were lost.
Through every crisis, the five Qin family members simply watched from afar, occasionally commenting on the thunder spirits' forms or the purity of the thunder sha, never once lending aid.
Mark's heart churned with rage and frustration, but his face grew ever more calm. He even began consciously adjusting the team's formation, placing weaker or less obedient members in more dangerous positions.
Only once—when an exceptionally powerful giant Thunder Spirit King approaching False Core realm appeared, crippling an entire Montgomary Palace squad with a single strike, its aftershock even reaching near the Qin family—did Qin Hao slightly furrow his brow.
"Noisy." He uttered two words softly, raising his hand and flicking his finger.
A barely perceptible golden glimmer flashed and vanished, instantly entering the roaring Thunder Spirit King's body.
The next moment, the towering Thunder Spirit King suddenly froze. Golden light seeped out from within, and then with a "boom," it was completely annihilated, not even a wisp of thunder sha remaining.
With a flick of his finger, he had destroyed a False Core-level thunder spirit!
The Montgomary Palace members stared slack-jawed, cold dread rising from the depths of their hearts.
The strength Qin Hao had displayed far exceeded their imagination. Mark's pupils contracted, the fear of the Qin family and the humiliation of being at their mercy reaching its peak.
But he quickly lowered his head, concealing the coldness in his eyes.
"Continue." Qin Hao withdrew his hand as if he had merely brushed away a speck of dust.
Mark took a deep breath, suppressed his turbulent emotions, and said respectfully: "Yes..."
He turned and continued directing his remaining subordinates forward, though his craving for power had never been stronger.
After paying a heavy price of nearly twenty dead and wounded—with everyone injured—the team finally passed through the long Erosion Thunder Gorge.
At the gorge's end was a relatively open platform composed of some kind of lightning-resistant crystal.
Scattered across the platform were several charred skeletons—clearly the remains of previous climbers.
Beside the bones lay some ore tempered by lightning, flickering with electric light, as well as two severely damaged fragments of lightning-attribute magical tools that still showed faint traces of their former spiritual glow.
Qin Xue walked forward and picked up a few pieces of lightning stone with evident interest, then kicked at the magical tool fragments and pouted: "Too badly corroded by the thunder sha. Not much use anymore."
Her gaze swept over the pitiful state of the wounded Montgomary Palace members, showing not a trace of sympathy—only detached indifference from on high.
Qin Hao walked to the platform's edge and gazed upward at the mountain path that appeared and disappeared in the clouds above, saying flatly: "This place is a convergence point for thunder sha—a minor spiritual eye. You may rest here for two shichen to heal and recover. After two shichen, we continue."
Mark looked at his exhausted, battered subordinates, then at the lightning stones and broken artifacts the Qin siblings had discarded as worthless but which still held some value for Montgomary Palace. He squeezed out a smile and saluted Qin Hao with clasped fists: "Thank you for your consideration, Young Master Qin."
He then turned and calmly directed his men to collect the spoils and treat the wounded.
But what dark currents churned beneath that calm surface, only he knew.
Elsewhere lay the path chosen by the Bai family.
The mountain terrain was extraordinarily steep. A deep ice ravine wound upward, flanked on both sides by cliffs of primordial black ice that had remained frozen for ten thousand years. The piercing cold was bone-deep; even ordinary cultivators with spiritual energy protection felt their blood flow sluggish. Within the ravine, extreme cold gale winds howled intermittently, carrying ice crystal shards as sharp as blades.
The Bai family team was small—only eight people. Led by Bai Wei, both Bai Qingxue and Bai Wuhen were present, with the remaining five being carefully selected experts from the Bai family's surviving members.
Under the treatment of the spiritual medicines her brother had brought, Bai Qingxue's injuries had largely healed.
"The Frost Ice Ravine's extreme cold environment provides some enhancement to our Bai family's 'Mystic Frost Technique,' but the 'Black Ice Sha Spirits' and 'Soul-Freezing Gale Winds' within should not be underestimated."
Bai Wei, as the elder with the most experience, cautioned as they walked. "Pay special attention to ice surfaces or ice pillars that appear calm—they may harbor sha spirits within. Wuhen, though your sword intent is powerful, you must control your spiritual energy consumption. Don't rely solely on brute force."
"Yes, Aunt." Bai Wuhen nodded. He still wore his simple moon-white sword-sleeved robe, the ice crystal longsword floating at his side. His aura was restrained, but when his gaze swept across the ice ravine, it was sharp as a blade.
Bai Qingxue was more silent. While circulating her technique to resist the cold, she observed the surroundings, clutching the jade pendant Dustin had given her. Threads of warmth flowed from the pendant into her palm, helping stabilize her mind and offset some of the chill.
The team advanced cautiously. Sure enough, before they had gone far, one side of the ice wall suddenly cracked open. Several semi-transparent humanoid sha spirits, entirely condensed from black ice sha energy, burst out wielding ice blades, emanating a cold that froze the very soul.
– Marinien
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