Chapter 77: The Great Spirit Stone Battle!

"Cough, cough..."

The poisonous powder hit Pei Huoyu square in the face, catching him off guard. The Five Elements Forbidden Spell he had just conjured wavered in midair and dissipated. Shen Lian pressed his attack, rapidly weaving incantations. The lingering energies of the Heaven's Astral Thunderfire and Windfire talismans on the array disk were fully unleashed, reforming the domain of wind, thunder, and fire.

Yet Pei Huoyu produced two more Breaking-Seal Pearls from his hand.

Boom—

The two pearls erupted in a dazzling burst, tearing a gaping rift through the domain of wind, thunder, and fire. Seizing the chance, Pei Huoyu darted through the rupture, his palm—set with five colors and wreathed in blazing crimson flames—striking down at Shen Lian from above.

He truly could not have chosen a worse time—Shen Lian had only just advanced to Foundation Establishment. His spells were still at the first tier, and his strongest offensive tool was his arsenal of talismans. But Pei Huoyu wielded these Breaking-Seal Pearls. It was a wretched match-up.

Attacks from the era of Qi Refining were no match for a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Facing the oncoming Five Elements Fire Palm, Shen Lian summoned a firebird with a surge of flame in his palm. The golden-scarlet bird spread its wings, exhaling fire as it crashed against the palm.

A harsh, unexpected screech broke out as the two clashed. The crimson flames encircling the Five Elements Fire Palm seemed to meet their nemesis and were subdued almost instantly beneath the firebird's assault. The palm's chief force came from fire, but under the firebird's impact, it exploded into a burst of radiant, multicolored light.

The firebird, wings still beating, rushed toward Pei Huoyu.

"Condense!"

Pei Huoyu's eyes flashed with shock and doubt—what fire spell was this? It could even suppress his own fire arts.

His hands moved swiftly, forming a complex gesture; five-colored spiritual power wove like serpents between his ten fingers, shaping a cage of energy to ensnare the firebird. But as the bird burst apart, its golden-scarlet flames instantly dimmed the fire energy in the five-colored cage, and the Five Elements power collapsed midair.

His spell countered again, Pei Huoyu grew more alarmed.

From their first clash, Shen Lian had discerned that Pei Huoyu's dueling experience far surpassed his own. With a flick of his sleeve, a hundred and eight talismans in his storage bracelet stirred. But remembering the Breaking-Seal Pearls, he hesitated and refrained from deploying them.

Not only was his opponent battle-hardened, but he could also suppress the poison for so long and still had tools to counter his talisman formations. Unless the Breaking-Seal Pearls were exhausted, even the might of the Thunderfire Sequence Talisman Array would yield little.

The odds of victory dwindled.

Buzz—

In the next moment, six Swiftstride Talismans beneath Shen Lian's feet ignited simultaneously. He ran, instantly widening the distance between them.

Pei Huoyu, momentarily stunned by his opponent's sudden flight, quickly gathered his spiritual power and gave chase.

A mere first-layer Foundation Establishment cultivator, yet with so many talismans, and a fire art so bizarre it could even suppress his own fire power—surely, this was a heaven-sent opportunity, well worth his pursuit.

He cultivated the Five Elements, with his fire root outshining the other four. Was this, perhaps, heaven's compensation for his years of painstaking effort? A spell that could suppress fire spiritual power was no ordinary technique.

With the help of six Swiftstride Talismans, Shen Lian felt light as air, pulling the distance to six hundred, five hundred, then four hundred and fifty, then four hundred, and back out to four hundred and fifty feet. After several trials, he confirmed the strength of his opponent's spiritual perception.

Twice confirmed: Pei Huoyu's spiritual sense reached four hundred and fifty feet.

With that strength, he could use the Soul Seizure Mark.

But Shen Lian was in no hurry. His goal was greater. The Soul Seizure Mark could attack, but also peer into memories. The more critically wounded his foe, the weaker his spiritual sense, the more he could plunder from his mind.

He wanted Pei Huoyu's memories—especially those concerning Five Elements Mountain. He had to get to the bottom of this. Hunted for tens of thousands of miles to Black Whale Island, only realizing it at the last moment—the thought alone chilled him to the bone.

What if there were others behind this? What if someone else closed in and caught him off guard again?

Otherwise, he might not have bothered to fight at all, and would have long since returned to the safety of Black Whale City. But with his own safety at stake, he had no choice but to act.

Boom—

Pei Huoyu launched attack after attack, but Shen Lian's spiritual sense was a quarter stronger, allowing him to dodge in advance. After two more failed spells, Pei Huoyu ceased his assault, realizing that the more he used his power, the harder it was to suppress the poison building within.

Seeing his opponent pause, Shen Lian had to admit—this man had remarkable resistance to toxins.

Soaring past a mountaintop, Shen Lian plunged into a valley. Pei Huoyu was close behind.

Stopping in the valley's center, Shen Lian turned to face Pei Huoyu as he entered the range, forming a spell with both hands.

Five Elements Primordial Array, activate!

Multicolored light shot skyward, enveloping a region three hundred feet in diameter, weaving together like streams of flowing light within the formation.

"Go!"

Under Shen Lian's control, the five-colored radiance condensed into orbs and blasted toward Pei Huoyu.

"A second-tier, low-grade array?"

A flash of spiritual light in his palm—Pei Huoyu produced two more Breaking-Seal Pearls.

Shen Lian could only stare in disbelief. More Breaking-Seal Pearls. Each worth over a thousand spirit stones, and he threw out two at a time.

Damn! Today he’d truly met his match.

The two pearls spun upwards and exploded, black spiritual power tearing a hole over ten feet wide in the array's colored light. Pei Huoyu flew through the breach.

The array was meant to trap and kill, but if it could not even restrain its target, it was useless.

Shen Lian did not hesitate; with a rapid slap, he plastered another stack of Swiftstride Talismans onto himself and shot out of the valley.

Pei Huoyu, about to strike, paused as he saw Shen Lian's figure flashing away, the talismans fluttering ostentatiously on his robe.

More talismans! Each one cost at least a hundred spirit stones, and he used them in stacks.

Damn! No wonder he had taken Five Elements Mountain.

...

At that moment, Pei Huoyu coughed violently, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, a ringing in his ears. The constant use of spiritual power had brought on the full effects of the poison.

The bloodshot lines in his eyes turned a deep crimson, and the Five Elements power surging within him grew unstable.

"Ah—Five Elements Mountain!"

With a furious roar, his blood-red gaze blazed with ferocity, and the riotous Five Elements power in his body forced the poison down once more.

"Die!"

In midair, Shen Lian sensed the change in his pursuer. Pei Huoyu's aura had grown wild and unrestrained, brimming with chaotic energy.

He unleashed another Heaven's Astral Thunderfire Talisman to provoke Pei Huoyu, further accelerating the poison's rampage in his body.

Against a fourth- or fifth-layer Foundation Establishment cultivator, the Hundred-Spirit Poison was not quite enough, but as an auxiliary, it sufficed.

Pei Huoyu, faced with the oncoming thunderfire, did not even attempt to dodge. With a wave, he broke the attack apart with a Five Elements Fire Palm.

"Have the guts to stop running!"

A hoarse, almost bestial roar burst from Pei Huoyu's throat.

"I'm only first-layer Foundation Establishment!"

"Come down and fight to the death!"

"I'm only first-layer Foundation Establishment!"

Between Pei Huoyu's hands, the five colors wove together, forming a Five Elements Forbidden Halo that fell toward Shen Lian.

"Die!"

Regaining his rhythm, Shen Lian spun around and flung another Heaven's Astral Thunderfire Talisman, intercepting the incoming halo.

The five-colored halo was strange indeed—at a distance, Shen Lian could feel his own Five Elements spiritual power slow and even his Swiftstride Talismans falter. It was a spell meant to trap and cripple—a quintessential tool for ambush, especially with Five Elements attributes.

Unfortunately, after advancing to Foundation Establishment, he had yet to acquire any second-tier spells.

...

Boom!

As each effort failed and the poison's effects deepened, the Five Elements power in Pei Huoyu's body surged and coiled, condensing into a five-colored serpent.

"Five Elements Serpent!"

The multicolored snake, several yards long, shot through the air toward Shen Lian.

Gazing at the writhing creature, Shen Lian's eyes lit up. What a spell. Truly a marvelous spell.

He did not meet the attack head-on; instead, he slapped several more Swiftstride Talismans onto himself, his speed surging once again.

The more Pei Huoyu used such powerful spells, the faster the poison raged through his body.

Sure enough, Pei Huoyu finally faltered, spitting a mouthful of blood.

"Ah..."

He had crossed the entire Southern Immortal Cultivation Realm to the Wilds, a journey of nearly a million miles, slain seven or eight Foundation Establishment cultivators, but never had he encountered such a frustrating duel.

"Second-tier, mid-grade Five Elements Inversion Array, activate!"

As Pei Huoyu began to fall, Shen Lian threw out a set of array flags purchased long ago in the Yunmeng Market—originally for a first-tier, high-grade formation.

Seeing the flags fly, Pei Huoyu reflexively felt for his waist and produced a single Breaking-Seal Pearl.

But sensing the array's aura, he realized something was wrong.

"No, this is only a first-tier array!"

"Are you out of Breaking-Seal Pearls?"

Hovering in midair, Shen Lian watched as Pei Huoyu produced only one more pearl, his own sleeve flickering.

"I have plenty."

In an instant, a hundred and eight second-tier talismans streamed forth.

Thunderfire Sequence Talisman Array—unleashed!

"Still more!"

Pei Huoyu was stunned. How could a mere first-layer Foundation Establishment cultivator—even a talisman master—amass so many second-tier talismans? Did he never need spirit stones for cultivation?

An overwhelming aura engulfed the mountains, the gathered might of over a hundred talismans forming a dazzling storm of thunder and fire, whirling in twin layers above and below, enveloping Pei Huoyu completely.