Awakening the Divine Spark

’No ... no ... no!’ Lee inwardly screamed, ’Fuck! No!’

Because of the rush, he made a disastrous mistake by overlooking a simple defensive nuance – the roofs of the buildings inside the fortress. Objectively it wasn’t his fault. He had no clue about wars or mass warfare, and went by the common sense. The problem was, it led to Xiao Lian getting impaled by a spear, thick as a hand.

The guy on the roof most likely was an elemental warrior, possessing an earth spark. The moment he threw the spear, it gave off a slight golden glow. Probably that was what allowed him to easily pierce Xiao Lian’s chest despite wearing the defensive clothing.

Lee wasn’t the only one who placed an order for Han Li before the departure. Xiao Lian got both a new weapon and gear. The chest armor, crafted from thick scaled leather, was another Han Li’s masterpiece, and should’ve provided a decent protection against regular weapons.

The problem was, the spear that pierced Xiao Lian’s chest was by no means simple piece of wood.

"What are you standing there for! Do something!" Qin Yujian’s panicked scream returned Lee to reality.

She stood there, holding Xiao Lian’s hand, tears rolling down her face uncontrollably. She wasn’t loudly crying, but the pain and panic on her face was obvious. Her scream was addressed to Lee, but her eyes were on Xiao Lian, full of despair.

He was staring back at her, his pupils dilated. He couldn’t speak, though. He tried to move his lips, as if saying something, but the only thing that came out was a stream of blood from the corner of his mouth.

Lee could only watch them, helplessly clenching his fists. The spear didn’t kill Xiao Lian right away, but pierced his chest next to the heart, and it was inevitable the boy had only moments of his life left.

"Lee! Do something!" Ling Xiaotao and Shu Ying echoed Qin Yujian’s scream, but with a glance it was obvious they were as panicked as the rest.

’What exactly do you expect me to do?!’ Lee inwardly shouted.

Yes, he had made an error, but this time it wasn’t his fault! He did pick the safest path and they cleaned up the enemies perfectly! More importantly, the guy on the roof could’ve killed any of them! Maybe even two or three! Maybe he was still up there and they were about to die next!

And where were the mighty junior elders looking? What the fuck were they doing while the heir of the Xiao clan was killed? Right! Where the fuck was the almighty Xiao clan? Didn’t Lian’s father care about his son at all? Why was he Lee’s responsibility?

Lee wasn’t the one who started the war, and he didn’t order the disciples to run to their deaths either. If anything, in his few lives he had learned that the small people died first, and this time, they were the small ones. Until they become elemental lords or at least masters, they were nobody! That’s how cultivation world worked! It wasn’t his fault!

Everyone knew that. The girls too. That’s why they didn’t scream or shout anymore, but looked at Xiao Lian while sobbing.

Except for Qin Yujian.

For some reason she suddenly turned calm. Even smiled. She took Xiao Lian’s other hand, and gently looked him in the eyes without saying a word.

It was strange how looking back at her, he also became peaceful. He did try to smile, but he clearly was in too much pain. He tried to hide it, though.

’This ...’ Lee had witnessed it before.

He didn’t need them to say anything – he knew exactly how they felt. He had seen that look Qin Yujian now had – a long time ago Lisa looked at him exactly the same way, before they were killed.

The two were saying goodbyes.

But he and Lisa had been together for years. And these were only teenage kids! How was it possible? Weren’t children supposed to have some kind of platonic love or something?

But it didn’t matter. Lee knew what pain Qin Yujian was about to go through better than anyone. Yes, he remembered his past lives after each reincarnation, but often felt that it was more like a curse. Without batting an eye he would’ve exchanged all of his limitless future for a year, no, a day with Lisa, but unfortunately he was bound to live in memories for eternity.

’What if?’ A stupid idea sprouted in Lee’s mind.

There were no ways to fix his suffering, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t at least try to do something! In general, he didn’t give a fuck whether he lived or died, but if he did die, it would be for the smile on her face. Right! After he died he would see her again, like always!

Lee had no clue how exactly it was supposed to work, but if Jian Wuji pulled through, maybe Xiao Lian could as well. The latter wasn’t an elemental master, though, but Lee didn’t go all out while trying to help Jian Wuji during the night attack on the Nethermoon Sect.

"No!" Qin Yujian shouted in despair when Lee interrupted their parting moment.

He didn’t care, though.

With a swift motion he broke off the spear Xiao Lian was impaled with, and pulled his young friend off the other piece that was still stuck in the building.

Blood gushed out of the large wound, but Lee ignored it and tore off Xiao Lian’s leather armor. Then, after putting him on the ground, Lee grabbed a gourd of water from his spatial bag and poured it over Xiao Lian’s chest, cleaning the wound.

It was a deep, through and through injury, exposing shattered pieces of bone beneath. It was obvious that anyone in Xiao Lian’s position would bleed out within moments.

The girls watched his actions on shock, but Lee ignored everything around him and sat next to Xiao Lian’s convulsing body, pulling him up on his lap. Then, pretending his friend didn’t bleed, put his left hand on Xiao Lian’s chest and right on his back, as if closing the wounds.

Qin Yujian finally woke up from stupor, and this time began to hysterically cry, hammering Lee’s shoulders with her fists, angrily cursing him through her tears. But he didn’t care. He was going all out.

This time he didn’t use the excessive elemental particles. He directly dived into the place the two sparks were located at and with thick streams directed both earth and water particles through his hands, toward Xiao Lian’s wound.

Lee had no clue how it should work, but he similarly didn’t know what he was doing while helping Edward or Jian Wuji. His guess was that the nature will take care of the rest – all he had to do was to provide it with enough elemental energy. And he had plenty.

Lee wasn’t doing it for Xiao Lian, although he did consider the guy something like a friend. But they weren’t the best friends in the traditional sense – the boy had become more like a silly younger brother to him.

Lee also didn’t do it for Xiao Lian’s and Qin Yujian’s sake. They were young and would probably screw everything up sooner or later anyway.

He did it for him and Lisa.

It was an obvious and foolish attempt to relive their final moments, a futile effort to change the past that had long passed. But Lee didn’t care.

At this point nothing mattered. He wasn’t bothered with his future prospects during the following lives, much less with the silly revenge and killing off the red-eyed bitch.

He was going all out.

Lee didn’t know how Tess exchanged her lifeforce for his, almost dying in the process. He also had no clue how the other elemental warriors aged after using their skills. But it probably had something to do with the power of the sparks weakening.

In fact, Lee was in agony. He didn’t feel Qin Yujian punching him in anger over and over only because of the excruciating pain in his abdomen.

It was painful, as painful as when he swallowed the water spark. But he couldn’t care less. Inwardly grinning, he intensified the flow of the elemental particles, almost loosing consciousness in the process. Two thick streams – one of yellow particles through his left hand, and the other blue through his right, he channeled toward Xiao Lian’s wound.

Lee felt the burning sensation in his arms, that quickly overtook his whole body. He also saw how the two sparks began to become smaller and loose their brightness, almost dying out. But for some reason he felt amused.

Lost in the process, Lee didn’t notice how Qin Yujian stopped hitting him and, like the other two girls, stood paralyzed at the sight before her.

Xiao Lian had wasn’t moving, but lie asleep in between two clouds of bright light – golden and blue, that covered him like two pillows, from above and below. His eyes were closed, but expression peaceful, even smiling.