Chapter 281 - 168: The Fall of a Divine Spirit, the Sigh of the Planar Will

Chapter 281: Chapter 168: The Fall of a Divine Spirit, the Sigh of the Planar Will

With his guidance, Su Ya had now mastered seven Zero-Circle Magic spells.

Pei Ze estimated that in another six months at most, she should be able to advance to a Third-level Wizard Apprentice. After that, she could start learning One-Ring Spells.

’As expected, the Succubus Bloodline is better suited for the Wizard’s path. This rate of improvement is much faster than practicing the Cultivation Breathing Technique.’

As for Peng Yan, he had a higher affinity for the Knight’s path.

Strengthened by a large amount of Thunder Beast blood, his constitution had already surpassed an energy level of 30.

In another month or two, he would likely break through and become a Tier Three Legendary Knight.

By then, with the strength and constitution bonuses from his barbarian bloodline and his Dual Elements Power, Peng Yan would be able to hold his own even against a Level 1 Liquidation Wizard.

In any case, once Peng Yan was promoted to a Tier Three Legendary Knight, both he and Su Ya would be capable of handling things on their own. At that point, Pei Ze could entrust them with more tasks.

...

「Two days later.」

Inside the study of the stone house.

Pei Ze sat behind his desk, head buried in his books.

The rapid rustling of turning pages echoed incessantly throughout the room.

A moment later, Pei Ze closed the book and casually set it down by the leg of his desk. Several thick stacks of books were already piled high around him.

He then closed his eyes and began to digest the knowledge he had ’recorded’ that day.

For the past two days, Pei Ze had used the Eye of Omniscience to scan through a vast amount of information, searching for a suitable target from which to extract blood.

The planes in the Multiverse were innumerable, and the species of creatures numbered in the countless billions. Trying to select a suitable target from among them was a truly grueling task.

Even with the aid of the Eye of Omniscience, the effort had still taken a considerable toll on him.

After a moment, Pei Ze opened his eyes. He glanced at the stacks of books around him, then gestured with his hand. A book levitated into the air and landed in his palm.

Placing the book on the desk, Pei Ze casually flipped to a page in the middle, his gaze landing on the illustration of a creature.

Thunder Abyss Giant: A large Otherworldly Creature and a branch of the Giant Race. They are born with immense strength. An adult possesses a constitution comparable to a Tier Five Legendary Knight and has mastered the power to control lightning and thunder.

This was the most suitable target for blood extraction that Pei Ze had spent two days searching for.

Like the Thunder Beast, the Thunder Abyss Giant met both of his requirements: a powerful constitution and the ability to control lightning. It could serve as a perfect high-level substitute for the Thunder Beast.

In terms of combat prowess, an adult Thunder Abyss Giant was no weaker than a Second-level Liquidation Wizard.

A few elite individuals could even reach the level of a Level 2 Crystalized Wizard.

A chieftain-level Thunder Abyss Giant was powerful enough that even a Level 3 Wizard would have to think twice before confronting it.

However, this was not a problem for Pei Ze in the slightest.

The real problem was how to find a Thunder Abyss Giant.

According to his research, Thunder Abyss Giants rarely appeared on the material plane. They mostly resided in the outer planes, like the Shadow Realm or the Star Realm.

Even knowing which plane they inhabited, finding a clan of Thunder Abyss Giants in such a vast realm would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

’If only I knew the specific location of a Thunder Abyss Giant tribe,’ Pei Ze sighed to himself.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t find other, more common lightning-based creatures. It was just that they were generally too weak to meet his standards.

For creatures weaker than a Thunder Beast, the strengthening effect from their blood would be negligible, even if he managed to extract it.

’I’ll ask around when I get back to Chenxi City.’

Snapping out of his thoughts, Pei Ze rose and left the study, preparing for his daily Meditation. But just then, he heard a sudden commotion outside.

Pei Ze frowned and walked out of the stone house.

His stone house was perched on a very high cliff. Standing at the edge, he could look down and clearly see the other cliffs, as well as the more distant square and city streets.

To Pei Ze’s surprise, the square and streets, which had been quiet for some time, were now inexplicably crowded with people.

Su Ya and Peng Yan, having also noticed the disturbance, emerged from the stone house.

Seeing them, Pei Ze ordered Su Ya, "Go see what’s happening."

Su Ya immediately complied, striding swiftly down the cliffside path.

A short while later, Su Ya hurried back, a hint of delight on her face.

"My lord, Red Maple City has announced an end to the lockdown! Starting today, the Teleportation Array is open for free entry and exit."

Pei Ze raised an eyebrow. His gaze shifted toward the Plane Teleportation Array, a flicker in his eyes.

’It seems the purge against the Pei Family is over.’

’I wonder how it turned out?’

Under normal circumstances, Pei Ze would have full confidence in the Council’s ability to execute its plans.

Since they had dared to move against the Pei Family, they must have been absolutely certain of success and would surely have left no loose ends.

However, what had happened with Pei Lingjie made Pei Ze somewhat concerned about the outcome of the purge.

The Council’s intelligence on the Pei Family’s research progress with unholy artifacts had clearly been flawed.

One misstep can lead to a cascade of failures. It was possible that because of this, the purge had not been a complete success.

After a moment of thought, Pei Ze shook his head.

’It’s useless to speculate about it here. I’ll just ask Yin Xue after a while. She’ll know the details of what happened in Chenxi City.’

"My lord, when are we returning to Chenxi City?" Peng Yan asked, his voice booming.

All he had done recently was train, and he couldn’t even leave the city to fight the Turin People. He felt like his body was about to rust from inactivity.

If they went back to Chenxi City, he could at least go to the fighting pits to blow off some steam.

"We’ll wait a little longer," Pei Ze said.

As long as he could keep earning large quantities of merit points with his resonance potions, he had no plans to leave Red Maple City.

After all, back in Chenxi City, it wouldn’t be nearly as easy to acquire Faith Crystals and Purified Soul Crystals.

However, Pei Ze knew what Peng Yan was thinking. He glanced at him with a smile and said, "If you’re looking for a fight, there will be plenty of opportunities later."

After returning to Chenxi City, he might have to take a trip to the Shadow Realm to track down the Thunder Abyss Giants.

That place was teeming with Magical Creatures and was exceptionally dangerous. There would be more than enough chances to fight there.

Hearing this, Peng Yan grinned and scratched his head, saying nothing more.

Su Ya rolled her eyes. ’What a battle maniac.’

Pei Ze smiled, retracted his gaze from the square, and turned to return to the stone house, planning to continue his Meditation.

But just as he turned, an unprecedented sense of foreboding suddenly washed over him.

Pei Ze’s body instantly went rigid.

’This feeling... it’s so familiar...’

His expression changed slightly. He spun around, rushed out of the stone house, and looked up at the sky.

Just as he expected. At the far edge of the horizon, a silvery-white halo was slowly spreading like ink bleeding into water.

It was remarkably similar to when Lady Frost’s avatar had descended upon Bai Bing City, only the sense of dread it inspired was far more intense.

In an instant, Pei Ze’s chest tightened, as if a heavy boulder was pressing down on him, making it almost impossible to breathe.

"Wh-what is that?" Su Ya’s face went pale, her eyes filled with irrepressible panic. "Don’t tell me Lady Frost’s avatar has descended again?"

"No, not an avatar."

Pei Ze shook his head, his expression utterly grim.

"That is the true body of a Divine Spirit!"

"Lady Frost has descended in her true form!"

The silvery-white halo was emanating from the direction of Winter Frost City, the capital of the Winter Frost Sect Country.

Connecting this to the recent battle reports he’d heard, Pei Ze instantly understood.

’The Red Maple City army has begun its assault on Winter Frost City!’

"H-Her true form?!" Su Ya was so shocked she stammered. "Don’t Divine Spirits rarely descend to the material plane?"

Pei Ze shook his head and said gravely, "Their capital is under attack. The Winter Frost Sect Country has been pushed to the brink."

"It’s only to be expected that Lady Frost would descend in her true form to defend her last bastion of faith."

"Unless she wants to fall into slumber or perish entirely, she has to defend Winter Frost City with everything she has."

Su Ya and Peng Yan finally understood, but the shock on their faces did not diminish in the slightest.

After all, in their experience, the descent of a Divine Spirit’s avatar was already a monumental, once-in-a-lifetime event, to say nothing of a Divine Spirit descending in its true form.

Pei Ze paid them no more mind, his gaze fixed intently on the distance.

At the same time, nearly every Wizard in Red Maple City was also watching the distant phenomenon with rapt attention.

They all wanted to know what the outcome of this battle would be.

Time ticked by, second by second.

After an unknown amount of time, the silvery-white halo at the edge of the sky began to slowly dissipate.

At that same moment, a faint, ethereal sigh, seemingly from the depths of the void, echoed in the minds of every Wizard in Red Maple City.

It was the lament of the plane’s will itself, grieving the fall of a Divine Spirit.