Chapter 247: Reunion of Old Friends (1/2)

Chapter 247: Reunion of Old Friends

Translator: YHEditor: X

”It’s right in front, Ai Hui.”

Right after Lou Lan spoke, the wall in front of them suddenly melted and collapsed, revealing a dark cavern.

Behind the three of them was a large passage about seven meters high and six meters wide. The entire passage was an astonishing 400 meters in length and was created by Lou Lan alone.

Lou Lan’s exceptional abilities often left Ai Hui feeling like a tourist.

Seeing Lou Lan’s entire process first hand, Shi Xueman could not resist offering incessant praise. ”Lou Lan is amazing! Wow, truly amazing! Lou Lan is definitely the world’s most amazing sand puppet!”

Creating a 400-meter passage this deep underground was no mean feat. The ground was lined with huge, solid rocks and building a tunnel of this scale would probably require at least 10 earth elementalists working for an entire night. Lou Lan, however, was able to do it with ease, leaving Shi Xueman in awe.

Besides following the wrong person, Lou Lan did not seem to have any flaws.

Shi Xueman stared at Ai Hui angrily. She felt that Ai Hui was unworthy of such an amazing sand puppet, it was like casting pearls before swine! She imagined what it would be like if Lou Lan followed her home. Oh, what a fine time they’d have!

”Why are you glaring at me like that?”

The Iron Lady continued to glare angrily at Ai Hui. Ai Hui felt that she was being ridiculous, especially since he had not even done anything to provoke her.

”Hmph!” Shi Xueman snorted as she turned her gaze away.

Ai Hui entered the cavern and began to examine his surroundings. This cavern was much smaller than the one with the lava spider, but the golden needle was still able to fit in it.

Lou Lan had found the right place!

Ai Hui could sense that the elemental energy here was much more vigorous than that of other places.

He had seen his master’s plan and recognized that the nodes involved were something that they had discussed before. His master believed that the world’s elemental energies were not stationary, but ever flowing. Its slow movement was the reason why it appeared to be stationary.

According to his master’s theory, the force driving these movements was the constant cycling of the five elements.

This was the secret of the nodes. Here, the five elements cycled into a whirlpool of energy. The elemental energy around these nodes were influenced by its activity, making it flow.

Current studies involving the five elements rarely touched upon this aspect, so there were not many full-fledged theories regarding the nodes. Many of his master’s preliminary ideas were proven as a result of the current plan’s execution.

His master had discussed his deepened understanding of the subject matter when they last met.

Ai Hui snapped out of his daze and began to inspect the cavern. It appeared to have been formed by flowing water, something evident from the stalactites hanging above. The floor was largely uneven and was marked by many slippery gulches. There were two natural crevices situated at the corners of the cavern. A stream could be seen through only one of them, but the other was most likely formed as a result of water erosion as well. Ai Hui could hear the sound of flowing water through both of them.

Small streams were probably responsible for shaping this interesting underground environment, while lava acted as its main source of light.

Ai Hui felt extremely relieved that there were no blazing corals around.

Subterranean dire beasts were dangerous creatures to begin with and were even more deadly after turning into subterranean blood fiends. If the Iron Lady had not gone on a rampage against the lava spider, Ai Hui would not have had much confidence in defeating it.

Ai Hui could feel how different he had become.

Without the sword embryo’s state, Ai Hui’s senses were not as keen as before. His perceptive range had reduced greatly, an immense disadvantage in this dark, complex, underground environment. On the bright side, his understanding of swordplay had deepened tremendously, and he was now more conscious of his sword movements. At the moment of contact between his blade and his target, Ai Hui could now react faster and more rationally than before.

The unique sword pills of elemental energy in his body, coupled with his achievement of elemental internalization, had increased his strength by a large amount. The electricity that remained in his flesh had been channeled into his hand palaces as well as his earth palace, imparting a distinct lightning flavor to his elemental energy.

All things considered, he was much more formidable than he used to be.

Although he was more powerful, the enemies he had to face were similarly also becoming more powerful. He often experienced situations where his improvements were practically cancelled out.

Shi Xueman stuck closely to Ai Hui, ready to provide assistance when required. Having had experience in leading a team, she had become much more accustomed to cooperating with others. While it was difficult to persuade her to do certain things, Shi Xueman often quickly adopted practices that she deemed useful.

Ai Hui decided to further examine the crevice for signs of activity. He would ask Lou Lan to seal it up if no such signs were found.

The same would apply for the other crevice.

Ai Hui felt a cold, biting wind blowing out from the crevice as he neared it. Instead of hastily entering it, Ai Hui stopped a short distance away, listening intently for any anomalies. Shi Xueman stood nearby, holding her breath. She knew that Ai Hui was much more experienced in such situations than her. Although she often looked at him with disdain, Shi Xueman had absolute faith in Ai Hui’s decisions regarding combat related matters.

Nothing out of the ordinary was heard.

Ai Hui walked closer toward the crevice. Just as he was about to enter the crevice, a premonition arose in his heart.

His body reacted immediately. The limp Dragonspine in Ai Hui’s hand immediately shot up and straightened like a cobra that had sensed danger as he swiftly stepped backward.

Ding!

Just as the Dragonspine’s tip made contact, the seven sword pills of elemental energy within his body simultaneously exploded.

Ai Hui flew backward as if he had been hit by a heavy blow.

A gentle gasp of surprise could be heard from the crevice.

Right after, a red flash shot out of the crevice directly at Ai Hui.

Shi Xueman stepped forward with her spear raised and accurately stabbed the red flash.

The immense force of Cirrus managed to scatter the red flash, but the impact forced Shi Xueman several steps back.