章 36: Lightning Quartz.

After fending off the ambushers, the group returned to the hollow boulder they used as a base. Sun Xia closed up the entrance again, and Lei Qiang put out the fire, as it was likely the smoke that had alerted others to their presence. They did not go to sleep again, as everyone was wide awake after the previous battle. Sun Xia started working on a light breakfast, Lei Qiang stood guard at the entrance, using his control over the earth element to vigilantly scan the surroundings, and Tang Chao got to work on fully healing Liang Chen's shoulder.

After spending around half a day of concentrated effort, Tang Chao finally managed to return Liang Chen's shoulder to an unwounded state. A large and rather gruesome scar still remained where the attack had torn out a chunk of his shoulder, but his left arm could now be used at full capacity again, so the group would be able to move out again soon.

They would have to be at full strength to travel deeper into the stone forest, so they collectively decided that it was best to wait for the next day before setting out, giving Tang Chao a chance to rest after spending so much time focusing on Liang Chen's shoulder. The moment the sun rose the next day, the group set out once more, aiming for the depths of the stone forest.

Two days after setting out, the group had managed to travel a good distance deeper into the stone forest, the pressure growing stronger, the frequent storms more harrowing. They were now forced to travel in a defensive formation, two people constantly raising a small layer of Qi around the group, defending them from the strong winds, rain, and lightning. With two people focusing on defending them, the third could focus on scouring for treasures, while the fourth could keep a vigilant eye on their surroundings.

Sun Xia currently had her hand placed on the ground, which occasionally crackled with lightning, her eyes closed in deep concentration. After spending a few minutes like this, she opened her eyes again, her brows furrowing slightly. They had already been traveling for two days without finding anything, so Tang Chao could not help but anxiously ask.

"Find anything?"

Sun Xia's brows were still furrowed as she sucked on her teeth, seemingly still thinking over something. In the end, she turned towards Liang Chen, who was currently working together with Lei Qiang, shielding the group.

"There might be a low-grade Lightning Quartz a few kilometers to the west, but its a bit hazy. Chen, can you try?"

As she spoke, she pointed in the general direction where Liang Chen should search, narrowing it down for him. Tang Chao took over the role of working together with Lei Qiang, allowing Liang Chen to fully focus his senses and check out what Sun Xia had found.

Lightning Quartz was the name given to the crystals that were formed when the lightning within the stones crystallized. The more lightning gathered together, as well as the purer and stronger the lightning was, the higher the grade of the quartz was, going from low to mid, to high, to top, to transcended.

As for how they searched for these Lightning Quartz and other treasures, it was rather simple. Lei Qiang and Sun Xia would use their connection to the stone or earth element to find places where these two elements were more diluted, while Liang Chen would use his connection to the lightning element to find places where the lightning element was denser, as these were the places where it was most likely for treasures to be formed.

Liang Chen closed his eyes, stretching his consciousness into the surrounding and connecting it with the lightning element in the area, following it in the direction that Sun Xia had pointed out. After spending a few minutes, he opened his eyes again, giving a slight nod.

"The lightning is far denser a few kilometers to the west, but it's not dense enough for me to tell if it's a Lightning Quartz. If we can stop at a spot a bit closer, it should be easier to tell."

The others quickly lit up with excitement at the prospects of finally acquiring some more rewards, so they quickly set out again, surrounding Liang Chen so that nothing could disturb him as he continued to sense the lightning in the surroundings. After spending about an hour moving a mere two kilometers, Liang Chen stopped in his tracks, pointing at a tall stone that looked like a seven-clawed hand stretching towards the sky.

"There is indeed a Lightning Quartz over there, a few meters into that claw-shaped stone over there. But it's not as dense as it first seemed, so it is likely that it has only reached the lowest reaches of low-grade."

Liang Chen knew very little about Lightning Quartz, so he could only guess at the actual grade of it, but if he were to give his guess, he would say that it had formed not long ago, just barely taking shape. Lei Qiang was overjoyed that they had found something, but he did not completely lose himself because of it, quickly questioning a bit further.

"It's still low-grade, so it's good enough. Sense any guardian?"

A Lightning Quartz was very useful to humans or Demonic beasts that that had the lightning element, so most Lightning Quartz or other similar treasures would most often be guarded by Demonic beasts or people waiting for them to mature. Liang Chen had already expected the question, so he quickly gave his answer, his voice somewhat uncertain.

"I managed to sense only one, there might be more, but the one I sensed doesn't seem to be stronger than us."

The entire stone forest was filled with lightning energy, so while sensing places where that energy was dense was easy, it was far harder to sense any living beings and how strong they were, so Liang Chen did not guarantee that he had sensed correctly. Lei Qiang and the others thought it over a bit, but in the end, decided that it was still worth risking it, Lei Qiang quickly handling the matters of their battle formation.

"Alright, we'll go with the usual formation. Xia, protect Chao, I'll go with Chen. It's raining so be careful, it might use the rain as a conduit for its lightning. Once we weaken it sufficiently, heighten your vigilance, lest it calls down lightning from the sky, then we'll really be in trouble."

Demonic beasts and cultivators that had a good affinity with the lightning element could stretch out their Qi and concentration, acting as lightning rods for the lightning that danced around far above them. Liang Chen himself had already done this several times, even doing it once within this hidden realm, when he called down a bolt of crimson lightning to kill the snake while he was wounded.

The group quickly got into formation, making their way towards the claw-shaped stone. They spotted a cave dug into the bottom of the stone, a few meters in height and width, so it was likely that the Demonic beast guardian was using it as a home while it kept an eye on the Lightning Quartz.

As they got closer to the cave, they slowly became able to see the Demonic beast that was resting within the cave. It was in the shape of a three-meter tall toad, its leathery skin a murky yellow in color, covered in fist-sized green boils. The four people in the group locked eyes, giving each other a quick nod before they sprung into action, Lei Qiang jumping forwards and letting out a loud shout.

"You overgrown toad, why don't you watch how I stomp you!"

He slammed the ground with his halberd, causing several finger-length spikes to grow up from the earth around him, flying at the toad and piercing into its skin. The beast let out a loud croak, the sound echoing out from the cave. The toad jumped towards Lei Qiang and Liang Chen, the ground shaking every time it landed and kicked off. The toad glared at Lei Qiang, thick and foul-smelling green blood slowly oozing out from the small wounds created by the earthen spikes.

The cheeks of the beast expanded as it drew in a breath, letting out a loud croak that shot out a ball of lightning at Lei Qiang. Lei Qiang matched eyes with Liang Chen, giving him a slight nod and dashing forward. His halberd was coated in a thick layer of earth, intercepting the ball of lightning, pushing it down and crushing it against the earth. Earth was one of the elements that countered the lightning element, almost completely neutralizing it.

After slamming the ball of lightning into the ground, Lei Qiang bent his body forward, Liang Chen dashing up from behind him. He jumped up, using Lei Qiang's back like a springboard as he jumped forward, quickly arriving above the head of the toad. He laid his body flat and gave it a slight spin, slashing down with his sword, lightning crackling around the edge of the blade as it sank into the flesh of the toad.

The attack left a wound on the toad, but it also cut open one of the many boils that covered the skin of the beast, an acidic-smelling green liquid covering the front half of Liang Chen's blade. Upon coming into contact with the green liquid, his sword started to sizzle and smoke, deforming and melting. The toad was just about to turn its head and lash at Liang Chen with its tongue, but three arrows cut through the air and rained down on the head of the beast, piercing its hide and one of the boils. Liang Chen took this chance to kick the head of the toad, using the resulting force to put some distance between them, warning the others.

"Watch the boils, they contain corrosive liquid!"

A bit before Liang Chen's foot made contact with the ground, two small pillars grew up from the earth, acting as footholds he could step on. Once he made contact with the pillars, they quickly moved backward, pulling him away from the toad so that he wouldn't suffer another attack. The eyes of the beast landed on Liang Chen, recognizing him as the current threat. It wanted to jump at him, but several more arrows came flying, forcing it to jump back and dodge.

Lei Qiang took this chance to dash forward and close the distance between him and the beast, lashing out with his halberd to draw the attention of the beast. And it was thanks to this that he managed to catch a glimpse of the inside of the cave, discovering that there were two indents in the ground, marks that something large had spent a lot of time sleeping there. Since there were two indents, that could only mean one thing, his expression distorting as he quickly called out.

"Xia, there's another one!"

He had discovered it quickly, but as he turned his head and warned, he realized that they had still discovered it too late. There was a second Demonic beast currently sneaking up on Sun Xia and Tang Chao. The Demonic beast looked like a slimmer toad with smoother skin, but it moved in an unnatural way, crawling low to the ground on all fours, moving extremely quietly. Lei Qiang and Liang Chen could see bloody limbs sticking out from the closed mouth of the beast, so it seemed like it had just come back from a hunt and stumbled upon the scene. Sun Xia quickly reacted, spinning around and using her cross-shaped shield to bash at the toad, cursing at it all the while.

"Fuck off, don't you sneak attack me!"

While Sun Xia focused on bashing the toad to force it back, Tang Chao jumped away, out of the beast's range so that he wouldn't suffer any attacks. Lei Qiang's expression distorted slightly, his eyes turning towards Liang Chen. Liang Chen understood what he wanted to say, so he gave a quick nod, letting go of his now melted sword and pulling out one of the saber's he had scavenged from the bandits he met in the city.

Lei Qiang swiped his interspatial ring, throwing Liang Chen a murky white crystal, a Low-grade Spirit Stone. During a battle, they could only rely on their own Qi to form a defense against the harrowing storms, something that quickly drained their Qi. This meant that they could only rely on Spirit Stones if they wanted to quickly refill their reserves and continue fighting. After tossing him the Spirit Stone, Lei Qiang turned around and dashed away from the beast, running towards Sun Xia to aid her.

Liang Chen placed the Spirit Stone inside his mouth, slowly draining the stored Qi to refill his own. With Lei Qiang gone, the eyes of the toad once again landed on Liang Chen, a loud croak sounding out as it jumped towards him, lightning dancing around it and spreading into the surroundings thanks to the rain. Liang Chen tightly grabbed the saber, which was far heavier and thicker than the sword he was used to. He didn't try to dash away and use guerilla tactics to wear down the beast, he instead dashed forward, right at the beast.

The toad landed on the ground, its cheeks expanding as all the lightning around it, as well as the lightning in its immediate surroundings, gathered inside its mouth. It opened its mouth, but there was no ball of lightning that shot out this time. Instead, its long tongue shot out like a blur, the sound of thunder ringing out. Liang Chen's eyes narrowed somewhat as he stomped down, halting his own momentum and using the counterforce to take half a step the right and give his body a slight twirl, causing the electrified tongue to just barely miss him.

The tongue moved so fast that he was unable to properly see it, so he had simply given up on locating it through sight. He simply quieted down and listened to his instincts, tracking the tongue by the dense amount of lightning that had gathered around it. After dodging the tongue, he delivered a quick upward slash with the saber, cleanly slicing through the tongue before the toad managed to pull it back. The foul-smelling green blood splashed onto his face, but he was far too focused to pay attention to it now.

It was the blood of a lightning element Demonic beast, so his body did not reject it, doing its best to absorb it the moment it landed on his skin, the pain only causing Liang Chen's instincts to sharpen further. He pulled out another weapon from his interspatial ring, a simple metal spear. He grasped it tightly with his left hand, a faint purple light gathering around the tip, turning into a single drop of concentrated poison.

He gave the spear a quick jerk, throwing it at the beast, lightning arcing around it and forcing its speed up. The toad was still reeling from the pain of having its tongue cut, so it was unable to react to the spear in time, the weapon piercing into one of its eyes, the drop of poison quickly causing the flesh around the spear tip to sizzle and melt, turning into a bloody stream that ran down the beast's body.

The toad let out a loud scream, a sound Liang Chen had not expected it to be able to make. But now was not the time to wonder how it managed to produce such a sound, now was the time to deliver the finishing strike. He dashed forward, grabbing onto the saber with both hands and raising it high, the lightning in the surrounding area gathering towards the edge of the blade. He quickly arrived in front of the reeling beast, delivering a forceful downward slash onto the head of the beast.

The saber dug into the head, almost cleaving it in half, rampant lightning flooding its body and roasting its organs. Even though it was a lightning element Demonic beast, if too much, and too strong, lightning entered its body, it would die just like everything else. Lei Qiang, Sun Xia, and Tang Chao were not specialized in attacking, like Liang Chen, they geared more towards a defensive style, so they had yet to kill the second Demonic beast. It had been badly battered thanks to their combined effort, but it was still able to see the end of its mate, something that drove it into a mad frenzy.

It let out a silent and sorrowful scream, gathering all its energy in its two hind legs, the lightning that arced around them so intense that small burns started to appear. Before Lei Qiang and the others had a chance to stop it, the beast kicked off and shot towards Liang Chen, whose back was turned since he had just delivered the finishing blow.

The beast, that had put its all into this one attack, was far faster than Lei Qiang and the others were able to react, they could not even call out in warning. But just as the beast approached Liang Chen's back, he jumped to the side and turned his body halfway around, his eyes landing on the approaching toad. Lei Qiang and the others were unable to see it since he was covered by the beast, but his golden pupils had narrowed, glaring at the toad like a beast gazing at its prey.

He let go of the saber, pulling another spear out from his interspatial ring, turning the tip toward the beast. If he simply tried to block it head on, he would be smashed by the force of the beast, so he had decided to do something else instead. He pointed the tip at the toad, but the handle of the spear was placed against the ground. The moment the beast touched the tip of the spear, he let go of it and threw himself onto the ground, dodging beneath the beast.

The sheer speed and force of the beast forced the spear into its body, almost skewering it right through. The beast passed over Liang Chen and crashed into the ground, completely dead. When he stood up, his pupils had returned to normal, as if nothing had happened. Lei Qiang and the others quickly ran over, their mouths agape in shock and awe. Sun Xia pumped her fist in excitement, but even she could not help but question.

"Holy... How did you manage to react to that in time?"

Even they had been unable to react to the speed of the Demonic beast, so how had Liang Chen, who had a lower cultivation, been able to react in time, even preparing a counter attack? Liang Chen merely gave a simple explanation, pointing at the cave.

"I've got good instincts. Let's fetch the spoils of battle."

He had no idea how to explain his bestial instincts to them, nor was he interested in explaining them, so he simply settled on giving a casual excuse. With his words, Lei Qiang and the others were quickly reminded of what they had come here for, rushing into the cave to look for the Lightning Quartz.

Liang Chen stored the two corpses into his interspatial ring before entering the cave. They were both lightning element Demonic beasts, so their blood and flesh would be useful for him. He then quickly followed the others, passing by several half-molten bones and regurgitated meat, feathers, and fur. It was not hard for them to find the Lightning Quartz, as it was located at the very end of the cave.

The Lightning Quartz was shaped like an oval orb and was embedded in the wall, about the size of a grown man's head. It was light blue in color, pulsating with a faint light, the muffled sound of thunder sounding out from within it. Even without touching it, Liang Chen could clearly feel the concentrated power of lightning within it. If something like this had barely reached the low-grade, just how precious and mighty were the higher grades. The eyes of Lei Qiang and the others lit up as they looked at the Lightning Quartz, their eyes gleaming with a nearly lustful gaze, Lei Qiang licking his lips as he moved a bit closer.

"Ain't that a thing of beauty? Hard to imagine that such a pretty thing can contain such destructive force."

Lightning Quartz was lightning energy concentrated to a terrifying degree. If it were to shatter and become unstable, all that energy would be released at once, resulting in a massive explosion. Lei Qiang and Sun Xia carefully dug out the Lightning Quartz, their hands trembling as they looked at it, the light of greed appearing in the eyes of Lei Qiang, Tang Chao, and Sun Xia. Even if they couldn't use it for themselves, they would gain a large amount of Spirit Stones once they sold it. They quickly took several deep breaths, repressing their greed, Lei Qiang handing the quartz to the one person who hadn't looked at it with the same greed as them, Liang Chen.

"Chen, you hold onto it for now, lest we all start fighting amongst each other. We can sell it once we return to the city."

Liang Chen would not say no to something like that, so he carefully grabbed the orb and stored it into a secluded spot within his interspatial ring, making sure that there was nothing around it that could come into contact with it. The three others could not help but let their gazes linger on his interspatial ring for a bit longer, but they still managed to repress their greed.

The group gave the cave one last sweep, but there was nothing else valuabel they could take, so they decided to leave. Shortly after leaving the cave, a strange phenomenon took place. All the lightning in the surrounding area started to vanish rapidly moving to the north, deeper into the stone forest. After just a short moment, there was no more lightning in the area, even the gathered lightning within the stones had been pulled away. Facing such a strange occurrence, Liang Chen could not help but glance at Lei Qiang, questioning him.

"What... was that?"

Liang Chen was rather surprised when his eyes landed on Lei Qiang and the others because he could see that their bodies were trembling slightly, their eyes gleaming with even more excitement than when they had seen the Lightning Quartz. Lei Qiang locked eyes with Sun Xia and the others, his voice trembling.

"It can't be... a Lotus, so far out?"

The two others nodded their heads, similarily trembling from joy and excitement. Liang Chen, on the other hand, was utterly confused and lost. Since they were acting like this, it was clear that this lotus was not a normal lotus, so he quickly asked for clarification.

"What's a lotus, is it something rare?"

Just this one Lightning Quartz had taken them quite some searching to find, was it possible that they would encounter something even rarer this quickly? Did they truly have such great luck? Of course, what Liang Chen failed to realize was that any bout of great luck would often be followed by great risks. Lei Qiang quickly took several deep breaths, rapidly explaining.

"Both yes and no. They are incredibly rare this close to the entrance of the hidden realm, but a bit more common in the deeper parts. But only the Lotuses with one to three petals are a bit more common, those with more are still extremely rare. There is no telling what sort of bloody battle will happen if a lotus with more than three petals were to appear."

Lei Qiang's eyes were darting around, searching for any trace of this lotus. Sun Xia and Tang Chao were also doing the same, but Lei Qiang had yet to actually explain what one such lotus was, so Liang Chen had to press on with his question.

"You still haven't explained what it is."

Lei Qiang quickly snapped back to reality after hearing Liang Chen's somewhat flat comment. He quickly let out a slightly awkward laugh, rubbing the back of his head as he made sure to give a proper explanation, wanting to make Liang Chen understand the rarity of what they were facing now.

"Right, right. Sorry, got a bit too excited. They are called Elemental Lotuses, and thanks to how hard it is for them to be formed, they are extremely rare in the outside world, even the larger clans only have a very limited storage of them, and even those should only be of the lowest grades. They are created when large amounts of normal and elemental Qi are compressed together thanks to great pressure, forming a lotus. The more elements that are compressed together, the more petals the lotus will have, and the rarer it will become."

It was one thing to create a One to Three-Petaled Elemental Lotus, but it became far harder the more elements you wanted to mix in. Because of that, even the larger clans and sects like the Storm Wolf Sect and the Moon Dragon Sect were unlikely to have a large amount of them. Lei Qiang turned to the north, towards where all the surrounding lightning had been drawn. His voice rising an octave as he locked eyes with the others.

"The one that was born just now should only be a One-Petaled Elemental Lotus, but we might be lucky, it could be a Two-Petaled Elemental Lotus. We need to hurry over before too many other people learn about it and come to try their luck! Let's dip into our storage of Spirit Stones, they will let us refill our Qi while we move."

Sun Xia and Tang Chao quickly agreed, and Liang Chen had no reason to refuse, so they immediately started moving. They each pulled out some Spirit Stones from their interspatial rings, holding onto them as they moved as fast as they could, hoping to reach the Elemental Lotus first so that they could avoid a large scale battle.