"Brothers!" standing at the edge of sand river I screamed, my voice barely audible over the localized hurricane of sand and grit. "Don't just drive it back! If we finish it here, the essence... it'll be enough split it and create a hundred Servant-level Soul Essences!"
Li Wei, his hands already weaving the complex patterns of an Advanced-tier spell, let out a manic, jagged laugh. The heat radiating from him began to warp the air. "You heard the kid! We're not leaving until this mountain is a molehill! Let's show this overgrown sandcastle why the Li family shouldn't be disturbed!"
The Sand-Dune Tyrant, a Commander-level entity that had likely ruled this stretch of the river for centuries, let out a final, earth-shaking roar. It sensed its impending mortality. It thrashed against the Ice Element: Frozen Coffin, the sound of cracking permafrost echoing like a series of heavy cannon blasts through the canyon. Even under the crushing, gravitational weight of the Earth Element: Rock Monster's Judgment, the beast began to liquefy the very riverbed beneath it, desperate to re-form its colossal torso from the ancient silt.
"It's trying to consolidate its core into the earth!" Li Jun shouted, his silver eyes flashing with celestial light. He thrust his hands forward, manifesting the Space Element: Silver Diamond Boundary. The air itself crystallized into a physical vise, slowing the monster's frantic burrowing to a crawl. "Strike now before it slips through our fingers!"
Li Shen's face was a mask of cold, lethal intensity. He slammed his palms together, his fourth Star Constellation completing with a resonant, sub-zero hum that silenced the wind.
"Ice Element: Ice Throne – Frozen Bolt!"
From the depths of the frozen river, massive lances of black-ice erupted like the ribs of a titan. They pierced through the Tyrant's shifting sand-flesh, pinning its core in place. Thanks to the 6× multiplier of Glacier's Breath, the ice was no longer mere frozen water; it was a transcendental substance harder than refined tungsten.
"Wei! Finish it!" Li Shen bellowed, his mana flickering.
Li Wei was already hovering in position, his eyes burning with a predatory crimson light. Though he hadn't yet constructed a Star Palace, his mastery of the Star Constellation was flawless—a blur of practiced, violent intent.
"Fire Element: Sky-Flame Funeral – Flaming Whale!"
The sky didn't merely turn to fire; it condensed into a singular, suffocating weight. A massive, concentrated orb of Crimson Lotus flames took the shape of a breaching leviathan, crashing down directly onto the Tyrant's crown. The thermal shock was catastrophic. The sand, already brittle and frozen from Shen's ice, exploded into a lethal mist of superheated steam and jagged glass shards.
But Wei wasn't done. He was a dervish of destruction.
"Lightning Element: Silent Thunder – Sky Punishment!"
He followed up instantly with his secondary element. A singular, heavy pillar of violet lightning descended from the charcoal clouds, striking the Tyrant's vitrified skull. The lightning bypassed the outer shell, surging through the cracks in the glass to strike the Commander's true core—a blackened, ancient ribcage pulsing with dark, stagnant energy.
CRACK.
The core shattered like a dropped mirror. The mountain-sized form of the Sand-Dune Tyrant shuddered one last time before it began to disintegrate into a rain of lifeless, grey dust.
In that instant, my vision was blinded by a notification that burned brighter than any Fire spell.
[Commander-Level Kill Confirmed: Sand-Dune Tyrant]
[Base Reward: 1 Commander Soul Essence]
[10x Multiplier Activated...]
[Received: 10 Commander Soul Essences!]
I gasped, my heart hammering against my ribs. Ten streaks of brilliant, blindingly pure blue light erupted from the dying monster. They didn't just drift; they roared toward me like shooting stars drawn to a magnet. My Soul Vessel hummed, vibrating so violently it felt like it might shatter as it swallowed the ten essences one by one.
The silence that followed was heavy, broken only by the sound of falling ash. The Washing Sand River was now a frozen graveyard of vitrified glass. Li Wei landed softly, his chest heaving as he gasped for air. Even for an Advanced Mage, chaining two high-output spells was an immense drain on his Galaxy's mana.
Ten... I thought, my mind singing with a mixture of terror and joy. There are ten of them. A literal fortune.
Li Shen looked at the vessel, then scanned the horizon with narrowed eyes. While the military rarely patrolled this deep, a mana surge of this magnitude was like a flare to every high-level "vulture" and rival hunter group within fifty miles.
"Hide that light, Yuzi. Now," Li Shen commanded, his face grim and etched with fatigue. "We just harvested the equivalent of ten 'small goals' (1 billion RMB). If word gets out that we're carrying ten small goals and we're this drained, we won't make it back to Shanghai alive. We move. Now!"
_______
We didn't linger to celebrate. We vanished into the shifting shadows of the dunes, navigating the trek back to the city with hushed urgency. On our way, we crossed paths with several hunter teams drawn by the commotion, but they were mostly Mid-level mages who took one look at our battle-hardened group and wisely chose to keep their distance.
By the time we reached the sterile safety of our hotel in Shanghai, the adrenaline had faded, replaced by a bone-deep exhaustion. The brothers had fought for over two hours before the final boss appeared, leaving their mana pools dangerously shallow. Only Brother Han remained fully combat-ready, his Summoning Element mana still fresh and his Commander-level Steel Hide Beast standing guard in the spiritual dimension.
Once the door was sealed and the privacy curtains drawn, I performed a final inventory. The haul was staggering—the kind of wealth most mages wouldn't see in three lifetimes:
408 Servant-level Essences
80 Warrior-level Essences
10 Commander-level Essences
The others only knew of a single Commander essence; the "10x multiplier" was a secret I had to guard. To balance the books, I used the Soul Vessel to "split" one of my essences into 100 Servant-level units to distribute the wealth fairly.
I divided the 508 Servant and 80 Warrior essences equally into five portions. I took Brother Zhu's share for safekeeping before preparing for my return to Bo City. My brothers stayed behind in Shanghai, utilizing the city's superior cultivation facilities to push their respective Galaxies toward the next breakthrough.
Before leaving, I handed Brother Wei and Brother Han each a Mind Stone. While the others had already achieved Level 5 Spiritual Power, these two needed the mental fortification to ensure their focus could keep up with their newfound raw power.
The trip was a success beyond my wildest dreams, but as I boarded the transport back to Bo City, I knew this wealth could bring as much danger as it would power.
To be continued...
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