Chapter 1046: Thunder Yuan Pearl

Under normal circumstances, with the thunder becoming so dense, even at their peak, Wu Shi and the others could not leave. Yet they had vanished into thin air, which could only mean one thing: that Shiye King had returned and attacked them!

“No… Although the Gold Origin Cauldron seems unreliable, its combat strength is not to be underestimated. Unless one reaches the fifth level of the Saint Domain, the Out-of-Body stage, defeating it is nearly impossible. With its protection, there should be no major problem.”

This thought turned in his mind before he dismissed it: “Moreover, I wasn’t gone long. Even if they couldn’t win, they could hold out for a while. Besides… with such violent thunder, even if that Shiye King is formidable, he surely can’t defend against it. If he can barely save himself… how could he have the leisure to trouble Wu Shi and the others!”

As a mid-grade saint artifact, the Gold Origin Cauldron, even without a driver, would only charge recklessly, displaying limited combat strength. But with its protection, even if that Shiye King wanted to act, he might not succeed!

Moreover, the thunder was so ferocious that even he could only save himself; killing someone here was absolutely impossible.

“Hmm?”

Speculating that the Shiye King might not have returned, Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief and looked toward the ruins before him.

Since they weren’t under siege, they must have hidden themselves.

Looking closely, he indeed noticed something off and couldn’t help but smile lightly.

The soil on the ground was fresh. Although the previous city walls had all collapsed, they were piled on top of the new soil. If his guess was correct, Wu Shi and the others had dug a pit and hidden underground.

Above ground, humans, due to their special physique, attracted lightning. But burrowing into the ground would be much safer—indeed a good method.

Whoosh!

He released his physical body from the storage ring, his soul entered it, and with a burst of true energy, he pushed aside the soil and drilled straight down.

Entering the soil, the lightning attacks indeed weakened considerably. After sinking seven or eight meters, he indeed saw a huge cauldron hidden within.

It was the Gold Origin Cauldron!

At this moment, the Gold Origin Cauldron was enormous, with a diameter of twenty to thirty meters. No one was outside; it seemed everyone was hidden inside it.

“You’re injured?”

Just as he was about to lift the cauldron lid to see how everyone was, Zhang Xuan noticed that the Gold Origin Cauldron before him had a weak aura, clearly suffering from significant injuries.

“Young master, you’re here…”

Seeing him arrive, the Gold Origin Cauldron responded, its voice feeble: “They’re all fine…”

“What happened to you?”

Zhang Xuan frowned.

“The thunder turned fierce. I had to save people, so I grew too large and was struck by lightning… Now I just want to rest…”

The Gold Origin Cauldron wobbled.

Zhang Xuan clenched his fists.

With the thunder so dense, and the Gold Origin Cauldron expanding to a diameter of twenty to thirty meters, it naturally suffered extremely intense attacks.

As a mid-grade saint artifact, lightning attacks wouldn’t damage it much, but… its spirit couldn’t withstand it.

Lightning inherently has a strong attacking power against souls.

Thus, although the Gold Origin Cauldron protected everyone, its own spirit was agitated, seemingly on the verge of falling unconscious.

“I’ll teach you a technique; practice it first… Don’t fall asleep!”

Knowing that if the Gold Origin Cauldron’s spirit fell asleep, it might die, Zhang Xuan was anxious. With a thought, he transmitted a cultivation method.

It was a soul-tempering technique. Though he didn’t know if it would work on a spirit, he had no other choice at the moment.

This fellow was usually carefree, but his loyalty was beyond doubt. This time, he had sacrificed himself to save others; Zhang Xuan couldn’t let anything happen to him.

“Alright… I’ll practice when I have time… Young master, though I fear death, I am no coward…”

The Gold Origin Cauldron’s voice grew fainter and fainter until it fell silent.

“Cauldron…”

He called out urgently, only to find it had already fallen into slumber.

It had been unable to endure for a long time, but had persisted only to report to him.

“You are no coward, but a hero…” His eyes flashed, and Zhang Xuan clenched his teeth: “Rest assured, I will wake you up…”

Although this fellow was merely a weapon and had always been afraid of death, when faced with a major moral choice, he resolutely chose to protect everyone.

He had promised to help it reach the Out-of-Body stage and to take it along on the journey. Now that it had fallen unconscious to save others, he would do whatever it took to revive it and fulfill its wish to become stronger.

Having made up his mind, he lifted the cauldron lid and jumped inside.

“Master Zhang, you’re back…”

Seeing him appear, Wu Shi and the others hiding inside all stood up.

Protected by the Gold Origin Cauldron, they had suffered no harm. Instead, after this half-day of adjustment, their injuries had healed and their strength had recovered considerably.

“Hmm, what happened? Wasn’t the thunder stable before? Why did it suddenly become so violent?”

Zhang Xuan couldn’t help asking.

He had gone to find Luo Ruoxi and didn’t know what had happened inside. The others, being in the center of the thunder ocean, should know more clearly.

“It should be related to that Shiye King you mentioned! He went to find the so-called treasure and might have triggered something, causing the thunder to become this powerful!”

Wu Shi said.

They had already speculated about it inside just now, and everyone agreed that this was likely the reason.

Otherwise, such a vast sea of thunder wouldn't have changed so suddenly, dropping so much lightning at once.

"Highly possible..." Zhang Xuan nodded.

That's right!

They had mentioned earlier that Shi Ye Wang, that Saint Realm Fourth Layer cultivator, had gone to look for some treasure, and not long after, this situation occurred... There must be some connection between the two.

"Which direction did Shi Ye Wang head in earlier?"

Zhang Xuan's eyes narrowed.

If it weren't for this guy, Jinyuan Cauldron might not have fallen into slumber; no matter what, he must take revenge!

Moreover, no matter what treasure it was, if the other party actually obtained it, humanity would face great danger; he would risk his life to stop it.

"He went deeper into this ancient city..."

Teacher Wu pointed in a direction.

Their location was a dilapidated ancient city at the very center of the sea of thunder, and the place Shi Ye Wang had gone to was the innermost part of the ancient city.

"I'll go take a look. You all continue to stay here and cultivate or recover from injuries..." Zhang Xuan waved his hand.

Actually, the safest method would be to put everyone into the Thousand Ants Beehive.

Doing so, while protecting everyone, would also expose the secret of the beehive. Besides, everyone had come for the trial; they certainly wouldn't be willing to stay hidden all the time.

It would also be disrespectful to the many master teachers.

"Teacher Zhang, that Shi Ye Wang is extremely strong. I'll go with you. Moreover, I have a special technique to track the Spirit Race..." Feng Xun stood up.

He had been affected by the demonic sound, but had only exhausted his strength. During the battle with the Spirit Race, he was protected by Teacher Wu and the others, so he wasn't too seriously injured. After resting for a while, he had fully recovered, his aura like a dragon, filled with intense battle intent.

"Alright!" Seeing that his body was intact, Zhang Xuan didn't say much and nodded.

A battle teacher was all about charging forward fearlessly, undeterred even by death. If he kept hiding, it would destroy his confidence.

Besides, although Feng Xun had been beaten up during their spar, that was because he suppressed his cultivation. If he used his full strength, as a Saint Realm Third Layer peak cultivator, he could even fight Shi Ye Wang!

A battle teacher's ability to fight above their level was no lie.

Moreover, he had a method to track the Spirit Race.

Although the Eye of Insight could also do it, many traces had disappeared under the lightning strikes. Instead of struggling to find them, it was better to bring him along and also witness the methods of a battle teacher.

Others also wanted to join, but Zhang Xuan refused them one by one.

For one thing, their strength had not fully recovered; for another, they needed to take care of Wu Shi and the others and could not easily leave. Otherwise, if they failed to find Shi Yewang and his group and instead were found by them first, without the protection of the Jinyuan Cauldron, it would still be very dangerous.

Knowing his concerns, the others said no more and could only bury themselves in cultivation to recover as quickly as possible.

Zhang Xuan, along with Feng Xun, burst out from the earth and returned to the surface.

The thunder seemed to have diminished somewhat compared to before; even without relying on the witch soul, they could dodge it. The two breathed a sigh of relief and flew straight toward the city.

The further they went inside, the fewer thunderbolts there were, as if this ancient city possessed some special power that shielded against thunder.

Although the thunder had lessened, Shi Yewang had used some means to conceal the traces he had left. After walking for a while, even Zhang Xuan found it hard to determine the direction.

"Let me investigate..."

Feng Xun stopped, turned his wrist, and a special artifact appeared in his palm, somewhat similar to a compass, capable of indicating direction. He bit his finger and dabbed blood on it.

Buzz!

The artifact let out a crisp sound, and the needle pointed in a direction.

"They went that way..."

Feng Xun nodded.

"What is this? Can it identify the path taken by the alien race?"

Zhang Xuan found it strange and couldn't help asking.

This was the first time he had seen such a thing.

"This is the Wugou Mirror. It is extremely sensitive to blood and slaughter. The alien race cultivates the true qi of slaughter; wherever they pass, they inevitably leave behind an aura. This can be used to detect it! Of course, it cannot be too long; after more than two hours, the effect diminishes..."

Feng Xun nodded.

"Wugou Mirror?" Zhang Xuan nodded.

The purpose of the War Masters was to fight against the alien race. It seemed this item was precisely what they had researched and refined, specially used to find those who had escaped.

Following the direction, the two hurried forward.

Every time they flew for a while, Feng Xun would take out the Wugou Mirror to confirm the direction. After several times, they arrived at a dilapidated mansion in the very center of the ancient city.

"Be careful!"

Knowing that Shi Yewang was very likely inside, the two exchanged glances, each gave a warning, and flew in silently.

The courtyard of the mansion had been completely destroyed. A tall alien race member was now standing in the very center, his hands raised, power surging out wildly, as if resisting something.

In front of him was a small pond, above which a fist-sized deep blue sphere spun continuously.

The power surging from this alien race member landed precisely on it, as if trying to suppress something with all his might.