A sword ray made from many fragmented pieces stabbed forward with a sharp hiss.
[Fragmented Sword]!
Ai Hui’s [Fragmented Sword] was quite different from before. The ray was now half the bulk but consisted twice as many fragmented pieces.
With more fragmented pieces, more speed was required during execution, and a smaller bulk meant that it had more compressed elemental energy.
Ai Hui was much stronger than before; he hadn’t been frittering away his time.
Sensing danger, the lava-spitting beast blew up its body like a balloon and floated backwards as its short snout sprayed wildly at the sword ray.
Balls of red glow flickered incessantly as they struck the sword ray consecutively. Yet, as each lava ball hit the ray, it splitted cleanly into two.
With its sharp whistling and unstoppable nature, the fragmented sword ray was like a rare treasure sword that could easily break through obstacles.
When the fragmented sword ray reached the lava-spitting beast, its round body released a dazzling red glow as the blazingly condensed fire elemental energy formed a layer of solid defense cover.
Sss!
The sound of a knife slashing across a piece of cloth was heard.
The fragmented sword ray broke through the flaming cover and shot the beast’s body in a swift manner.
Pfff, a sound alike to the slashing of cowhide could be heard.
Another scar, more distinct this time, appeared on the beast’s body, causing it to stiffen. The next moment, a piercing whine swept over the whole area like a high-rise tide.
Red lava splurt out from its wound and its balloon-shaped body deflated rapidly.
The lava-spitting beast turned around and floated away as its two snouts extended backwards and sprayed flames in a steady flow, its speed gradually increased.
Ai Hui immediately realized that it was trying to escape!
But he’d expended more than half of his elemental energy in his earlier pursuit for a destructive [Fragmented Sword] blow, leaving his body weak and empty and unable to recover in time. He could only watch as the beast sped up.
A white figure whizzed across, along with a spear as her long black hair fluttered.
It was a plain, non fanciful thrust that produced no whistling but managed to hit the beast nevertheless. The lava-spitting beast’s body, as if struck by lightning, instantly exploded with a boom.
Like rain, lava sprayed at the direction where it had been fleeing.
Shi Xueman stood victorious.
Ai Hui was dumbstruck. Iron Lady’s skills were becoming increasingly terrifying. That ordinary-looking thrust made it apparent that she’d already perfected her control over all her elemental energy, which kept it contained yet powerful.
Her execution had reached the realm where it appeared light as feather yet struck solid as a mountain.
Ai Hui felt that her current abilities were already of a Master’s standard but she’d somehow been suppressing her base level. When asked, she mentioned that this was a special kind of training method.
Alright, Ai Hui was actually envious.
While he had been progressing significantly, there was still a relatively long path for him to become a Master.
Ai Hui regained his senses, shouting, "Clean up!"
The tense atmosphere lightened up. Dire beasts were extremely dangerous but if a victory yielded, rich will be harvested.
Fatty flew over and reminded everyone, "Do not miss any pieces of skin and lava."
Everybody burst out in laughter. It was their first time collecting war spoils from dealing with such a powerful beast without any casualties so they were all in high spirits.
Dire beast is full of treasure. How true a phrase.
The lava-spitting beast had yet to refine fire elemental elixir but its skin was a fire elemental ingredient of supreme quality. Its snouts could be reactivated by skilled workmen, and were the best defensive weapons when it came to guarding the cities. Even the lava in its body was extraordinary. It had been harvested from earth fire and was therefore, through constant refinement, it would be richer and purer. In the market, each gram was sold for an alarming price.
Lava-spitting beasts lived in a land of ample earth fire. Rarely straying away from their homes, they were extremely difficult to hunt.
The gang swept everything within a meter radius, not overlooking any fragmented pieces at all. Their actions clearly expressed what it meant for one to be influenced by his or her environment.
Ai Hui was rather moved, "I did not expect that I would’ve had the opportunity to hunt down a lava-spitting beast..."
No one responded.
Among the team, Iron Lady already possessed a standard equivalent to a Master’s. Ai Hui and Duanmu Huanghun excelled as well. While the others were slightly weaker, they were all in the Third Elemental Realm. Plus, none of them were lacking in standard. In fact, they made an outstanding city expansion team.
Only Lou Lan praised loudly with an approving look on his face, "Ai Hui is amazing!"
No one let down their guard. They rested and recovered their elemental energy on the spot.
The thick fire elemental energy in the valley was exceptionally eye-grabbing. Lava-spitting beasts’ breath would disperse weaker dire beasts.
Elemental energy in the Wilderness was in a mix, so to everyone, training efficiency was drastically reduced as they needed a longer time and more revolutions in order to recover their elemental energy.
The team set off upon full recovery. They were in the right direction since they bumped into a lava-spitting beast. Their destination was exactly a place where earth fire surged.
The team did not meet any dangerous dire beasts again. Instead, they were caught in a rainstorm once again. Rainstorms in the Wilderness were much colder. It was bone-chilling. Advancing through a storm like this required active elemental energy to withstand the cold, hence, elemental energy consumption was very high. And because the elemental energy amid the rain was very disordered, the team could had easily lost their way.
Having learnt from their previous experiences, the team stopped in a cave on the cliff to wait it out.
No one had expected Wang Xiaoshan to be the most useful person in the Wilderness. A simple technique of turning rocks into clay had been perfected and was made magical by him.
Drinking Lou Lan’s brewed soup in the cold night was simply a wonderful indulgence.
The rain went on for a whole night and was taken over by a clear and boundless sky the next day, raising everyone’s spirits. Nevertheless, no one dared to fly high as the extremely strong dire beasts residing in high altitudes weren’t monsters they could contend against right now.
Fiery Floating Cloud was only a few feet above ground and the gang scattered around in pairs, strongest with the weakest, strictly guarding.
A few days were all it took for everyone to feel the difference between the Wilderness and Avalon of Five Elements. Take the rainstorm as an example, rainstorms in the Wilderness were more powerful, cold and even more dangerous. In the avalon, rainstorms had no effect on their flight. They could still pass through cumulonimbus clouds and fly freely.
Ai Hui was at the far front. There were many extremely dangerous plants and he had to remind the gang to avoid poisonous plants, swamps and so on.
The Wilderness was a place where experience reigned supreme. Even with master-like abilities, one would not survive long in the Wilderness without experience.
Apart from dangerous dire beasts, there were many hidden poisonous insects,which was a pain in the ass. Although Ai Hui was equipped with insecticides, there were some poisonous insects that were immune to it and hence unaffected.
After twenty days of arduous travelling, they had finally reached their destination. In the Wilderness, teams consisted of more than ten members operated in diminishing efficiency.
It was difficult to calculate the exact number of attacks they had been subjected to. The only glad worthy fact was that they hadn’t met any other dangerous dire beasts aside from that lava-spitting beast.
Fatty looked at the towering and fuming volcano before him, his eyes lit up. "Is that our destination?"
The fire here was exceptionally rich, a good training place for him.
Sang Zijun disliked the sulfur smell very much. "This stinks", she said while crinkling her brows.
Fatty responded with a drunk look on his face. "Stinks? Not at all! Such a beautiful fire elemental energy odor."
Ai Hui ignored both of them. He brought everyone across a mountain range and pointed towards the front. "This is the place!"
Crossing over the range, everybody looked over and were pleasantly surprised.
The huge valley was enveloped in a thin layer of mist. The lush green forest could faintly be seen and even the babbling of river streams could be heard.
"How magical!"
"How can there be such a lively and flourishing place near a volcano?"
"Is it dangerous inside?"
The gang was excited. Other than fire elementalists like Fatty, no one liked the blistering hot and barren volcano land.
"Already checked. No dangers." Shi Xueman, too, broke into a smile. She remembered how happy she was to see this valley when she accompanied Ai Hui over to explore.
Ai Hui was excited as well since he’d finally brought everyone over safely. In time, they were going to build a city in this valley. A city that belonged to them and a city that was going to be the foundation of their future.
"Alright, this is our territory now." Ai Hui declared. "Go down and take a look."
He led the way as others followed suit, excitement evident on their faces.
Upon entering the valley, it was as if they’d been transported into an entirely different world. The unpleasant sulphur smell was completely gone. The air within the valley was filled with the scent of grass and flowers. The exterior of the valley appeared to be engulfed in mist but the mist seemed to become milder and did not affect their vision at all on the inside.
The terrain in the valley was uneven so they were able to spot lakes, grasses and trees.
With a closer look, one would notice that the valley’s shape was like an irregular pentagon and could be divided into five sections. Its topography was also structured in a way that promoted the engenderment of the five elements. It was like a shrunken Avalon of Five Elements.
A mound was located at the highest terrain, it was likely formed from accumulated volcanic ashes. Under it was a weird, rugged cave. They did not know where it led to and the subterranean metal wind blew day and night, causing a weird whistle occasionally. The metal wind exited from the cave swept across the area, producing many gorges in a fan-like manner over time. These gorges were extremely glossy and carried a metallic luster as if the cave had sprayed silver lines outside.
Following these silver gorges of uneven thickness, the metal wind plunged straight into a mini waterfall located mid-mountain, creating a big sheet of mist. It was this mist that enveloped the valley.
The small lake was situated at a low-lying area of the valley. Abundant underground water rushed out from cracks on the waist of the mountain, forming a small waterfall that eventually formed a small and clear jade-green lake.
By the lake was the lowest-lying piece of land. Grass and vines filled the ground and a few tall trees grew sporadically. The brimming lake water formed small brooks that covered the whole area.
Beside the grassland were raised black rocks in wrinkled folds. Red glow could faintly be seen within the folds as they emitted great heat. Not even a blade of grass grew on those rocks.
This natural land of five elements had everyone enchanted.
Nature’s precious land!