Chapter 27: The Seven Mystical Heavens Inferno Array

Only a breath away from death.

Lei Xiang glanced at Lan Xi, who was still outside the crystal wall, and made up his mind. With his left hand, he pulled Lan Xi up, and she jumped onto the Swift Step. His right hand reached into the storage pouch, and then with a tap of his toes, the Swift Step shot forward at a speed ten times faster than an arrow, hurtling toward the shrinking crystal wall.

The opening had shrunk to barely a foot in diameter. Lei Xiang and Lan Xi arrived just in time, and without hesitation, he steered the Swift Step straight through. In the instant they pierced the crystal wall, Lei Xiang drew something from the storage pouch with his right hand, and, twisting from under his arm, flung a flash of white light toward the "Black Chancellor."

The crystal wall sealed itself silently behind them, while outside, an earth-shattering explosion sent tremors through the black Swift Step within the wall. Lei Xiang quickly pressed his hand against the Swift Step, channeling a thick surge of spiritual power to steady it.

They had finally escaped, but what world awaited them inside?

Suddenly, Lan Xi spoke first. "Why do you trust me? Aren’t you afraid I might set you up?"

Lei Xiang, driving the Swift Step, smiled faintly. "Instinct. Your blue eyes give me an inexplicable sense of familiarity. You know, blue is my favorite color—it’s my lucky color."

A spark of crystalline light flashed in Lan Xi’s deep blue eyes. She hurriedly changed the subject. "What magic weapon did you just throw? Its explosive force was extraordinary."

"Celestial Crystal Seed," Lei Xiang replied.

Lan Xi let out a long breath. "I didn’t expect you to have a Celestial Crystal Seed. In the entire Yue Kingdom, that’s something money can’t buy. Good thing you were quick-witted—otherwise, that crystal wall might not have withstood the Black Chancellor’s bear paw."

Lei Xiang flashed his little tiger teeth in a grin. "Maybe he’s already a crippled bear now. The Fiery Kingdom should be peaceful for a while. Let’s wait a few days, make sure it’s safe, and then we’ll go out."

"Go out? You still want to leave? Ha—once inside, I won’t open the crystal wall for you," Lan Xi retorted.

Lei Xiang frowned. "We can’t leave? Then we’ll live out our days here."

Lan Xi stared at him with her large blue eyes, the azure glow flickering as if she wanted to see right through him. "You can stay here. I’m leaving." With that, she turned and ran deeper into the space. After a few steps, she stopped and, without looking back, tossed out, "You came for the Xuan Heaven Fiery Array, didn’t you? Follow me."

Lei Xiang smiled wryly and drew a breath, then followed.

After three turns, Lan Xi stopped abruptly, extending her slender, fair hand to point ahead. "That’s the array disk for the Xuan Heaven Fiery Array. There’s a method inscribed to break the crystal wall. Go take it yourself; I’m leaving." She turned and walked deeper into the space.

Lei Xiang did not pursue her, but said softly, "I helped you, and you led me to the Xuan Heaven Fiery Array. We’re even now. I hope that next time we meet, we’ll still be friends."

Lan Xi halted. Her deep blue eyes seemed to mist over, but her voice remained icy cold. "Do you really hope for another meeting? If you knew my identity, you’d regret it."

Lei Xiang replied calmly, "True friends never regret—even if you’re not human."

Lan Xi trembled, suddenly spun around, and fixed her blue eyes on Lei Xiang. She spoke, word by word, "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely certain!"

Lei Xiang caught the object Lan Xi tossed to him. "What’s this?"

Suddenly, three pairs of transparent wings appeared on Lan Xi’s back, and she soared into the air. Her voice rang out, "This is my clan’s call token. You can use it to find me—but only once." Her voice faded as she flew away.

Lei Xiang looked down at the irregular blue crystal in his hand and gave a wry smile. "This is practically a pager. The cultivation world is truly full of wonders!"

Steadying his mood, Lei Xiang threw out the Swift Step and leaped into the air. Blue light flickered in his eyes as he meticulously searched every inch of the hundred-yard radius.

Nothing. Not a trace of spiritual energy.

Thinking for a moment, Lei Xiang summoned the Sky Comb, infusing it with spiritual power. The thirteen comb teeth spat out apricot-yellow light, sweeping forward and then turning back a thousand meters away.

On the ground, thirteen two-meter-deep trenches were left behind. The Sky Comb shifted to another spot, repeating its search. In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Lei Xiang had scoured a kilometer around.

He put away the Sky Comb, his gaze settling on a trench several hundred meters away. Within it, the soil was a meter thick and blue-black. Without hesitation, Lei Xiang struck it with a palm thunder—"Boom!"—blasting a meter-wide pit on the side.

Blue-black soil, just as he suspected.

Lei Xiang waved both hands, dozens of fireballs shot from his fingertips, blasting a pit over twenty meters long into the ground. He flashed his tiger teeth in a smile.

"Finally found it," he muttered. "Just as I thought—this blue-black earth must have been baked by the Xuan Heaven Fiery Array for years. I’ve broken through its surroundings and found the channel that transports the fiery energy."

There was a meter-wide tunnel, and the surrounding soil was deep blue. "Follow this channel, and I’ll find the array disk. The Xuan Heaven Fiery Array’s energy is driven by the disk, which then sends the fire through such tunnels to the volcano’s fire outlet."

If Lan Xi hadn’t left, she would surely have praised him as a genius child.

Lei Xiang threw out the Chrysanthemum Thorn, which hovered briefly overhead before plunging into the tunnel. He sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began to silently weave incantations, sensing the Chrysanthemum Thorn’s position underground and guiding its advance.

Suddenly, Lei Xiang’s eyes snapped open. Spiritual power surged madly within him, and he raised both arms sharply. At a point in the northwest corner, a huge explosion erupted. Dust, stones, and powder flew as the Chrysanthemum Thorn burst from underground, leaving a three-meter-wide hole.

Lei Xiang slapped his storage pouch, reinforced himself with Thunder Nails and beast hide armor, and leaped down.

Only then did he understand why even the blue light in his eyes couldn’t locate the array disk—it was buried so deep, five thousand meters below.

A natural cavern, without any ornamentation, lay before him. In the center, a magic platform stood three and a half zhang tall. In its center, six diamond-shaped top-grade spirit stones surrounded an oval blue disk, radiating dazzling light.

Lei Xiang drew out the Chrysanthemum Thorn and threw it at the disk. With a clang, the sharp thorn was rebounded by an invisible barrier.

Instead of being alarmed, Lei Xiang was delighted. Such formidable array protection only proved the disk’s importance. But his knowledge of arrays was limited; brute force was his only option.

At this moment, the bowl-shaped barrier had solidified, emitting a blue glow. The six top-grade spirit stones flashed, filling the array with spiritual energy. Lei Xiang finally understood why the Fiery Kingdom had no guards here—the array’s protection was so strong that even a Foundation Establishment cultivator would need at least half a month to break through, and reinforcements would arrive in just a dozen hours.

It had to be swift. Lei Xiang had no desire to be surrounded by Fiery Kingdom experts. He untied a red storage pouch from his waist and tossed it into the air, sending a spell at it. The pouch’s mouth opened, spraying out a surge of red wind—over a thousand fire talismans.

These talismans formed a raging wind, rushing to attack the barrier. Anyone seeing this would be astounded—was this guy some rich, handsome immortal, or a second-generation cultivator? Even Foundation Establishment or Core Formation cultivators wouldn’t casually expend a thousand talismans without pain.

In truth, Lei Xiang did feel the pain. Though he’d mastered talisman crafting at the Black Miasma Marsh and could replicate them in batches with the Blue Lotus Dish, such a quantity was not easily produced. Replication was limited to the first and fifteenth of each month.

But to break the array quickly, he could only rely on quantity.

A thousand fire talismans struck the same spot on the barrier. Such focused force would normally shatter an array—but not this time.

A series of explosions shook the barrier violently. The blue light flickered unsteadily, but soon stabilized as if nothing had happened. Lei Xiang felt like coughing blood.

But his sniper’s instincts restored his calm instantly. After careful analysis, he decisively took out a jade box, cautiously broke its seal, and released a blue flame the size of a bean, which floated overhead.

Lei Xiang wove his hands like wheels, controlling the Xuan Heaven Fiery Flame in the air. This was all that remained after he’d reforged Oxford’s brain, but if he could obtain the entire array, sacrificing this bit was worth it.

It was like giving up a golden egg to obtain the hen that lays golden eggs.

The bean-sized flame erupted with azure light. Lei Xiang threw a Thunder Nail, its tip enveloped and refined by the outer flame. Then he summoned the Silent Thunder Hammer to smash down.

The Thunder Nail pointed to a spot on the array below. Lei Xiang swung his arm forcefully, and the hammer struck the nail. This time, the nail did not emit white lightning; instead, it pierced straight into the array.

With a faint hiss, the tip wrapped in the Xuan Heaven Fiery Flame easily penetrated the array. The area around the contact point turned azure blue, and the blue light began to spread outward.

Lei Xiang’s expression remained calm, as if he had expected this result. He hurried to cast spells, hastening the spread.

Half an hour later, Lei Xiang wiped sweat from his brow and drew out a five-nines purity spirit stone to replenish his depleted spiritual power. "Less than an hour to finish."

He reached out with a surge of spiritual power, enveloping his right hand in purple light, grabbing the oval array disk. When he tried to collect the top-grade spirit stones, he found four of the six had already been ruined. Lei Xiang smiled, showing his tiger teeth, and put away the remaining stones, then focused on the array disk.

It was a blue plate about a foot in diameter, neither gold nor jade, of unknown material. Its blue glow was now dim, revealing nothing special.

But Lei Xiang knew it was due to the restrictions placed upon it—so many that it defied imagination, sealing the disk’s spiritual energy. Strange symbols faintly appeared among them.

Suddenly, a beam of golden light shot from beneath the disk, incredibly fast, heading straight for Lei Xiang’s head. Even Lei Xiang, usually calm, was startled.

"Damn, an ambush!"

ps: Sorry for the late second update.