"Impressive divine technique," Elian commented while resisting with the Fiery Void Sword. At the same time, Su Mingwei seized the opportunity to activate her life-bound artifact, the Verdant Wood Divine Flame Shield.
The Verdant Wood Divine Flame Shield was Su Mingwei's signature artifact. The saying goes, "Wood enhances fire's strength, and fire relies on wood's momentum." As she activated it, waves of Wood-Attributed Divine Flames surged forth.
This fire-attribute artifact was highly effective against Wood Spirit Beasts. However, the beast responded swiftly, summoning a pale green lotus platform that formed a protective barrier against the flames of the Verdant Wood Divine Flame Shield.
"That's a Pure Water Green Lotus," Elian noted, his pupils contracting slightly as he recognized the artifact.
The Pure Water Green Lotus was a third-tier spiritual plant with dual water and wood attributes. Its seedpod, in the hands of a skilled artisan, could be refined into a third-tier artifact.
Though the Wood Spirit Beast's crafting techniques were crude, the lotus had still been fashioned into a high-grade second-tier artifact. Its superior material quality allowed it to counter fire-attribute artifacts, creating a stalemate between the two.
The Wood Spirit Beast didn't just defend; it retaliated by summoning two artifacts: a flying sword forged from millennium lightning-struck wood and a Wood Elemental Pearl, both high-grade second-tier artifacts.
Seeing the incoming attack, Su Mingwei summoned a high-grade second-tier alchemical cauldron to block the Wood Elemental Pearl.
The Lightning-Struck Sword, however, struck like a streak of electricity. Its incredible speed and resistance to fire and lightning allowed it to knock aside several of Su Mingwei's artifacts, heading straight for her.
In the critical moment, Elian activated the Purple Radiance Mirror. The artifact released a beam of light that neutralized the Lightning-Struck Sword's momentum. Unfortunately, Elian could only unleash 70% of the Purple Radiance Mirror's potential, failing to completely immobilize the sword.
Still, the sword's brilliance dimmed significantly, its power reduced by 70-80%, rendering it temporarily ineffective.
The Wood Spirit Beast hastily recalled the damaged Lightning-Struck Sword and resorted to spells instead.
With the immediate threat neutralized, Elian took a breath and summoned the Purple Sun Furnace. This high-grade second-tier artifact, acquired from the Lin family, unleashed streams of Purple Sun Flames against the Wood Spirit Beast.
If the Purple Sun Furnace and the Verdant Wood Divine Flame Shield attacked in tandem, the beast would struggle to withstand them even with the Pure Water Green Lotus.
At this crucial juncture, the Wood Spirit Beast unveiled its trump card. A thunderous crack resounded as a streak of green lightning, like a serpent or dragon, struck toward the Purple Sun Furnace, illuminating the sky.
"Wood Divine Thunder," Elian muttered, his pupils contracting further. He hadn't expected the beast to have awakened a second innate divine technique.
The Wood Divine Thunder was exceptionally powerful. Empowered by the beast's abundant true essence, a direct hit on the Purple Sun Furnace would severely damage the artifact, rendering it unusable for years.
"Clang!"
At the critical moment, Elian activated the family's inherited divine technique, the Heavenly Flame Sword Art.
A golden sword light soared into the sky, illuminating the void for a hundred meters. It clashed fiercely with the Wood Divine Thunder, causing an explosion of firelight that engulfed the battlefield.
Though the Wood Divine Thunder was formidable, it ranked among the weaker five-element divine thunders and couldn't match the Heavenly Flame Sword Art in destructive power. Despite the beast's vast reserves of true essence, its attack lost much of its potency after breaking through the Heavenly Flame Sword Art.
Seizing the moment, Elian activated the Nine Deflection Bell to block the diminished Wood Divine Thunder, successfully neutralizing the attack.
The Wood Spirit Beast's expression shifted drastically. But it was too late.
The Purple Sun Furnace and the Verdant Wood Divine Flame Shield unleashed their combined flames, overwhelming the Pure Water Green Lotus's barrier. White steam billowed into the air as the flames burned through the barrier.
At the same time, Su Mingwei cast her own divine technique—another Wood Divine Thunder.
A deafening explosion rang out as the Wood Divine Thunder created a massive breach in the Pure Water Green Lotus. Purple Sun Flames and Verdant Wood Flames surged through, engulfing the beast in agony.
Despite its imminent death, the Wood Spirit Beast managed to summon a protective barrier and narrowly escape. However, with flames now coursing through its body, its abilities were significantly impaired.
Elian seized the opportunity. His eyes sharpened as the Fiery Void Sword, glowing brilliantly, broke free from the restraints of the Verdant Wood Divine Light and slashed toward the beast.
In its final moments, the beast tried to counterattack, but the searing flames within its meridians caused excruciating pain, preventing it from gathering its true essence.
In that fleeting instant, the Fiery Void Sword cleaved through the beast, decapitating it.
"What a swift celestial sword," Su Mingwei remarked, her pupils narrowing. Even she had felt the threat from that strike.
With the beast slain, Elian collected the Pure Water Green Lotus and finally let out a sigh of relief.
However, the prolonged use of artifacts had drained much of his true essence. Feeling his strength waning, he swallowed a Vitality Pill.
With the powerful beast defeated, Elian and Su Mingwei turned the tide of the battle. The remaining Wood Spirit Beasts, lacking artifacts or divine techniques, posed no lethal threat to the human cultivators.
After another quarter of an hour, the battle atop the mountain reached its conclusion. Jiang Linglong broke through the stalemate, slaying the Wood Spirit King with a single sword strike.
With the king defeated, Jiang Linglong quickly dispatched Lin Qianshu's opponent. The remaining second-tier Wood Spirit Beasts, demoralized by the loss of their leader, were soon scattered or slain by the cultivators.
Over the course of half a day, the group cleared out the Wood Spirit Beasts from the three-hundred-mile leyline. They then began scouring the area for resources.
After three days of searching, they gathered large quantities of spiritual herbs and treasures and returned to the leyline's core at the mountain peak.
"This is actually a mid-grade second-tier wood-aligned leyline," Lin Qianshu exclaimed with delight as she stood before the leyline's Wood Energy Pool.
A mid-grade second-tier leyline produced Wood Essence Crystals every sixty years. These were incredibly rare and valuable treasures.
Jiang Linglong nodded with a faint smile.
"Although we didn't find any Purple Sun Jade this time, obtaining two Wood Essence Crystals makes this venture worthwhile. Mingwei may now have a chance to break through to the Purple Mansion stage."
At that moment, Su Mingwei entered the chamber with a ledger in hand.
She handed it to Jiang Linglong, her expression pleased.
"Master, this is the record of our spoils from this expedition."
...
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I need POWAAA! Gimme Power Stones :D