Awakening the Divine Spark

This was the first time Lee witnessed elemental lord’s combat prowess. It wasn’t clear how the actual combat between two elemental lords would go, but Junior Elder Shen’s fire blast at the Blackwater Sect’s gate shook both the ground and the fortress.

Surprisingly, despite the hit being not weaker than artillery blast, it didn’t even leave a crack. The gate glowed in golden light at the moment of the impact, indicating it was protected by a strong elemental formation.

"More power!" Shen Rouya shouted, and one after another several more blasts hit the gate, and this time it was blasted away like a sheet of paper.

Nethermoon sect’s army cheered, but Lee hated how the only point of breach was directly in front on him. Moreover, the crowd was pushing the attack at fast pace, not giving him any options to retreat or regroup to the side.

Fortunately Chi Yanzhen and Li Hanchen led the charge, allowing everyone, even Lee, have the sense of false safety. Their advance was the easiest since they were a part of the only group that had solid ground below their feet.

But if things looked too good to be true, they probably were.

About fifty yards from the fortress’s breach, both young men found themselves waist-deep in water. Turns out the path that resembled a road was another trap that was about to disrupt Nethermoon sect’s advance and this time cause serious casualties.

"Hanchen!" Chi Yanzhen called out for his friend, but he was already smacking his palms on the water surface.

"On it!" Was his reply, and the area of ten yards around him was covered in a layer of ice within heartbeat.

It all happened in an instant, and when Lee caught up to them, both elemental masters had climbed up to the surface level.

They didn’t rush forth, though. Li Hanchen knelt on the ice, still pressing his palms down on it, while Chi Yanzhen made sure the crowd that came behind him didn’t trample the guy to death. Their cooperation was remarkable and only now Lee noticed that he hadn’t seen them bickering for the longest time. Maybe the guys had finally matured.

Because the last trap was covered with large amounts of sand, the ice Li Hanchen created also was. That allowed the vanguard to rush over it without anyone slipping.

"Lian! We’re piercing through!" Lee shouted, after quickly assessing the situation.

Their protection was gone and he wasn’t going to rely on the other elemental masters. Surely they had their own plans – be it showing off, punishing the Blackwater forces or pawing path for the rest of the army.

His idea was actually simple. No matter what happened in this war, at this point the best way to survive was to get behind the first line of defense, regroup somewhere with friendly elemental lord present, and then wait for the whole thing to end.

Surprisingly, Lee’s shout was received as a battle cry by the people around them, and resonated as a loud cheer with everyone shouting Piercing through! Witnessing Li Hanchen’s effort increased the morale, and the present elemental masters quickly overtook the outer disciples.

As the result, Lee’s questionable formation of five was carried inside the fortress, and didn’t even face the annoyed defenders at first.

Everyone on the Blackwater’s side expected the whole army stumble a moment ago at the large trap that was disguised as the road. Their elemental masters were prepared to rain fire as soon as attackers went for a swim, but in a blink of an eye found themselves retreating under the pressure of the Nethermoon Sect’s forces.

"Stop!" Lee shouted, "To the right!"

He had never been in the Blackwater fortress, but Xiao Lian once was. And while the boy was stressed out of his mind back then, he more or less could remember the layout of the part around the gate. That allowed Lee prior to the attack think of several potential routes they could take inside.

Now, after the elemental masters clashed against their counterparts, Lee noticed a weaker looking group of defenders between two one story buildings not far from the gate and directed Xiao Lian their way.

He heard Ling Xiaotao loudly gulping in fear behind him, but could only smile to himself. If it happened during any of his previous lives, he also would’ve thought he was nuts to go against these fifteen or so bearded guys with a tiny group of two boys and three girls.

After training in the Ashland’s fortress for months and taking part in several so called recruitment conquests, he recognized that the guys in front of them were nothing but a cannon fodder. Their clothing was ragged, shields large, but wooden, and the spears looked crafted in a hurry.

With how much Xiao Lian’s firepower had grown during the past months, Lee had no doubts they could easily run these defenders over. Their numbers didn’t matter.

And it was so.

Seeing they were attacked by a bunch of kids who still had mother’s milk on their lips, the group grinned and raised their shields and spears in preparation. But at this rate, it was as if they were hiding behind a sheet of paper.

Maybe he was showing off in front of his sweetheart, or maybe it was the result of the hard training, but after easily deflecting the closest spears to the side, Xiao Lian’s sword connected with the shield of the largest guy in the middle.

He and the other defenders braced for the impact, and prepared to stab the kids to death the moment the advance was stopped. What they didn’t expect was a concentrated blast of fire destroying the shield and rupturing the guys hands at the same time.

The biggest guy and his two closest mates were thrown back, and the rest froze in shock at the sight. But it was only the beginning.

Lee, holding Xiao Lian’s right side, performed a similar attack, although visibly weaker. But instead of brutally blasting shield apart, he stabbed two defenders in the face in quick succession, blowing their heads off like they did with dreadtalons back in Serrakar Plateu.

Noticing his friend’s attack had more finesse to it, Xiao Lian realized his superior power could’ve been applied more effectively, and his following blast took lives of three defenders at once, creating a thick rain of blood that covered everyone in the small battlefield between the two buildings.

Qin Yujian didn’t, or maybe couldn’t, use any elemental power, but her techniques were much more refined compared to the two guys.

First she deflected the incoming spears to protect their formation’s left side, but from the inertia she had, she nimbly stepped on one of the defender’s shields and propelled herself into a high flip. On the way up she removed the shocked expression along with the head of the guy holding the shield, and stabbed two more on the way down.

After the bloody advance there were only a handful of panicked guys left, two of which died under Ling Xiaotao’s and Shu Ying’s swords. The girls were clearly anxious, and released their stress by slashing the lifeless bodies of the opponents, shouting kacha! Kacha! Meanwhile Xiao Lian and Lee took care of the last two defenders and the group could finally catch their breath.

Lee walked over to the opponents who still had their bodies in tact, and stabbed them in the heart. They were already dead, but after experiencing Victoria’s failure to kill him, he was not going to repeat her mistakes. And they didn’t need any surprises.

The girls watched his actions in shock and disgust, but it wasn’t that hard for them to guess his reasons. The guy, covered in blood and brain matter, did look like a monster, but that only added to the scene of dismembered bodies around them. It was so revolting, it made them nauseated.

The were similarly covered in blood and it’s salty stench that assaulted their senses didn’t help. And while Xiao Lian and Lee had killed before, it was a new experience to the three girls.

Lee, of course, realized that. Trying to take their mind off the massacre, he said, "This looks like a safe position. Nethermoon’s forces are probably advancing quickly and the longer it goes, the safer we should be." ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

The area inside the walls was filled with sounds of people fighting and screams of agony. But according to Lee’s standards, they had done enough. For him the war was over.

"What should we do now?" Xiao Lian asked, sheathing his sword.

"Now ... you die!"

A shout from above made froze everyone in shock. A man on the roof of one of the buildings, threw a thick spear and rushed away, probably jumping off on the other side. And while the guy escaped, Xiao Lian awkwardly stood, pinned to the wall, his eyes wide, unblinking.