Chapter 1073: Black Obsidian Dust

Having read the library's introduction, Zhang Xuan now had a detailed understanding of the Thunder Orb, including its advantages and disadvantages. To refine it, he would first need to warm it with his true qi.

Forcible contact was certainly impossible; it required gradual warming, just like King Shi Ye's previous actions.

He raised his hands, and a stream of potent true qi surged from his palms, slowly enveloping the Thunder Orb.

As if sensing the incoming true qi, the orb gently spun, emitting a brilliant blue light. Immediately, countless crackling bolts of lightning descended from the sky.

Zhang Xuan quickly hurled King Shi Ye's corpse to shield himself from the lightning striking above. Feng Xun, who was lying nearby, wasn't so fortunate. Two bolts of lightning shattered the seal left by King Yu Ye, causing his body to stiffen from the electric shock and twitch even more violently than before.

Fortunately, the seal blocked most of the force; otherwise, he would have been electrocuted to death on the spot.

"Be careful..." Zhang Xuan's mouth twitched. He quickly composed himself, concentrating his true qi and letting it flow slowly towards the orb.

This time, acting cautiously, he didn't provoke any resistance from the Thunder Orb. After about twenty minutes, his body swayed slightly, and a look of delight appeared on his face.

With a gentle hook of his hand, the Thunder Orb slowly floated towards him. After half a day of persistent effort, it had been completely refined.

"It's truly a good item..." As he held the orb in his palm, carefully sensing it, Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up involuntarily.

As he had previously speculated, the Thunder Orb did indeed control the external lightning formation. While he wasn't strong enough to fully activate the formation yet, he could definitely store it.

Taking a deep breath, he raised his eyebrows and lifted the Thunder Orb abruptly, his true qi churning within him.

"Absorb!" he whispered.

Whoosh!

Countless lightning bolts from the sky descended directly into the orb in his hand, like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, or iron filings drawn to a magnet.

"Huh!"

Not far away, Feng Xun slowly regained consciousness. Seeing this scene, his eyes widened, and he trembled uncontrollably in fear.

The scene before him was utterly terrifying: a figure, battered and disfigured by lightning, stood with a raised hand as countless bolts of electricity from the sky surged down, appearing as if they would tear him to shreds.

"Am I dead, or is this a dream? Is that... Master Zhang?"

After a careful look, he finally recognized the figure.

The lightning-struck person nearby was, in fact, Zhang Xuan.

He quickly turned his head and saw King Shi Ye's corpse lying nearby, lifeless.

"He killed King Shi Ye?" Feng Xun couldn't believe it.

Only then did he finally confirm that he was still alive.

When he had lost consciousness, King Shi Ye was attacking them, incredibly powerful and unstoppable.

And now, he was awake, and the corpse of that Otherworldly Demon was lying on the ground... What had happened? What price did Master Zhang pay to save him and kill the enemy?

Furthermore, and most importantly... even though he wasn't dead, why was he... involuntarily twitching? And why did the back of his head hurt so much? Who had knocked him unconscious repeatedly?

He puzzled over it for a moment, unable to comprehend. Then, seeing the figure still being battered by lightning in the distance, he was filled with profound gratitude: he had always wanted to teach the other person a lesson, yet at the critical moment, he had been saved by them...

The thought of his past behavior made him feel utterly ashamed, wishing he could just crawl into a hole.

No wonder Luo Ruoxi didn't like him; anyone would probably choose this person over him!

In a short while, Zhang Xuan had absorbed all the lightning from the sky. He then sighed in relief and placed the Thunder Orb into his storage ring.

He stretched his somewhat stiff body, intending to circulate his true qi to alleviate the pressure, when he saw Feng Xun walking towards him.

"Thank you, Master Zhang, for saving my life..." Feng Xun clasped his fists and bowed.

"Don't mention it..."

Zhang Xuan hastily waved his hand, feeling embarrassed.

Although it had been forced by circumstances, he had still knocked Feng Xun unconscious three times in a row and electrocuted him once until he was rigid. Even now, Feng Xun was still trembling, probably a lingering effect of that brick... If Feng Xun were to learn the details, would his gratitude vanish, and would he instead try to kill him?

Never mind, it's better not to say anything. Causing internal disunity isn't good.

He remained silent, but that didn't mean the other person would. Immediately, Feng Xun's puzzled voice rang out: "Master Zhang, I want to ask, do you know if King Shi Ye was the one who kept attacking me just now? I'd like to flog his corpse..."

"That... is not important!" Zhang Xuan's mouth twitched, and he quickly shook his head. "Let's head back. Master Wu and the others should have recovered by now..."

With the lightning gone, the sky gradually cleared. It wasn't long before they returned to where Master Wu and the others were hiding, finding them already out of the Golden Origin Cauldron.

Sighing, Zhang Xuan placed the dormant cauldron back into his storage ring.

Although he had awakened Lu Chong and Wei Ruyan, this cauldron was a Sacred Artifact, different from humans. His previous experience was completely inapplicable. He would have to find an opportunity to visit a higher-level artifact forging academy to find a solution.

"Master Zhang killed King Shi Ye..."

Back among the group, Feng Xun relayed what he knew, leaving everyone wide-eyed with astonishment.

Even Master Wu couldn't withstand King Shi Ye's power, yet this person had successfully killed him and even dismantled the great lightning formation... It was hard to believe. Looking at him again, everyone was filled with admiration.

He had originally intended to explain, but in the end, Zhang Xuan stopped himself.

The fact that King Yu Ye and King Shi Ye had been tricked into killing each other was difficult to explain. The more he said, the more trouble he would cause, so it was better to remain silent.

"Your injuries haven't fully healed yet, and the path ahead is certainly more dangerous. We might as well rest and adjust here today. It won't be too late to proceed once everyone has fully recovered..."

Seeing that the others hadn't fully recovered from their injuries, Zhang Xuan said.

Having experienced the previous events, everyone understood the danger level. They all nodded in agreement and closed their eyes to cultivate.

Once everyone had regained their strength, Zhang Xuan found an opportunity to release Luo Ruoxi, then entered the Myriad Anthive.

The Thunder Orb appeared in his palm.

"Witch Soul, depart!"

With a mental command, his Witch Soul flew out and gently picked up the Thunder Orb.

Previously, refining his soul with the Sea of Thunder had been extremely effective. Now that he had refined the Thunder Orb and wasn't in a hurry to proceed, it was a good opportunity to temper his soul further and allow his soul cultivation to advance more quickly.

Thunder surged within the orb. His Witch Soul stretched out its hands, holding it in its palms, and began to circulate the cultivation art of the Heaven's Path Witch Soul.

Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!

Bolts of lightning spread from the Thunder Orb, entering his soul form and continuously refining it.

Half an hour later, his Witch Soul, originally seven meters tall, had shrunk to six meters, and its cultivation had reached the Leaving Aperture intermediate stage.

An hour later, it was five meters tall, at the Leaving Aperture late stage.

Two hours later, it was four meters tall, at the Leaving Aperture pinnacle!

Although the soul's size had decreased, its power had become even purer. Furthermore, every movement now carried the might of lightning, giving off an incredibly powerful aura.

With its current strength, his Witch Soul alone could probably defeat a Saint 2-dan pinnacle expert.

"My soul, physical body, and true qi have all reached the Leaving Aperture pinnacle..."

After cultivating for a while longer, knowing that without further cultivation techniques, continuing to refine might cause problems, Zhang Xuan's Witch Soul returned to his physical body, and he smiled faintly.

In less than a day since entering the relic, he had forcefully elevated both his physical body and soul to the Leaving Aperture pinnacle, just like his true qi cultivation. One could say he had gained immensely.

If he were outside, it would be hard to say how much longer it would take to achieve this.

"This Thunder Orb is greatly beneficial for soul cultivation. You should cultivate with it too!"

With his soul power enhanced, Zhang Xuan tossed the Thunder Orb to his clone before leaving the anthive and rejoining the group.

After this period of adjustment, everyone's strength had completely recovered, their aura as vigorous as dragons.

"Let's go!"

With a shout, everyone began to walk forward in unison.

The Sea of Thunder had vanished, and the path ahead was clear. After walking for a while, Master Wu stopped.

"Master Zhang, can you identify this object?"

He said, handing over an item.

It was a longsword, broken in half by something, with only the remaining half stuck in the nearby dirt.

Traces of a battle remained on the ground. Though much time had passed and they were partially buried by sand, they were still clearly discernible.

"I don't recognize it..."

Zhang Xuan glanced at it and shook his head.

This sword was similar to the Ice Rain Sword, both reaching the Half-Saint artifact level. However, neither its appearance nor its aura was familiar to him, let alone recognizable.

"It's Zhang Yinqiu's weapon... I've fought him before and seen him use it..."

Wu Tianqiong stepped forward.

As the dean of Cloudsoaring Academy and having met the old dean of Hongyuan Academy multiple times, he knew what his weapon was.

"The old dean's?" Zhang Xuan was surprised.

"It's his!" Wu Ran and the others also came forward.

"Since his longsword was found here, he must have passed through this area. Let's continue forward!"

Everyone's eyes lit up.

Since entering the relic, they had experienced so many dangers. Now that they had finally found traces left by their predecessors, they were all filled with excitement.

The group sped up, and before long, they stopped.

Ahead, a massive, pitch-black storm raged, filling them with a sense of dread even from a distance.

"What is this?"

"I don't know..."

Although they didn't recognize what it was, they could clearly feel the terrifying power emanating from it.

"This is Black Annihilation Dust!"

After observing it for a moment, Wu Tianqiong spoke with a grim expression.

"Black Annihilation Dust?" The others were puzzled.

"Yes, it's an extremely bizarre sandstorm with incredibly strong corrosive properties. Anything, be it a person or an object, that enters it will be easily corroded and turned to ash."

After a brief hesitation, Wu Tianqiong said, "If you don't believe me, watch..."

With that, he took out a pinnacle spirit artifact and threw it into the sandstorm.

Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!

As soon as the spirit artifact entered, it immediately let out a screeching sound and developed countless spots, looking like an iron object left to rust in the rain for days.

He grabbed it, retrieving the spirit artifact, and lightly flicked it with his finger.

Crack!

The incredibly sturdy pinnacle spirit artifact instantly shattered like melting ice, falling into pieces on the ground.

"This..."

Everyone's expression changed simultaneously.

Pinnacle spirit artifacts were extremely rare even in first-tier empires, yet this one couldn't withstand the storm for more than a few breaths before shattering. This Black Annihilation Dust was truly terrifying!

"This place... can we go around it?"

A combat master couldn't help but ask.

"Probably not..."

President Han observed it for a moment, then shook his head with a bitter smile.