On the side with the flames, the blazing fire grew more and more intense, the icy coldness on his other side attempting to sustain the equilibrium with all its might.
A hint of a smile was revealed at the corners of Lin Zhou’s mouth as, stomping downwards, his foot landed heavily on the core spirit patterns of the spirit formation beneath him.
The spirit patterns shattered, spreading outwards in all directions as the entire spirit pattern became unstable, the space where the icy coldness was also beginning to collapse.
With this as the base, its effects played out on Old Man Great Sorrow’s entire residence. Not only did the underground lava world where his real coffin was located experience heaven-overturning, earth-shaking changes-the palace of ice above also started collapsing!
In the outermost region which was enveloped by the cold fog bewildering formation, the cold fog seemed to roil like lake water, temperamental and violent.
Within the fake tomb, that ice coffin suddenly flickered with a dazzling, bright light as the hidden mechanisms installed within activated, a destructive force beginning to spread outwards in all directions.
With the fierce flames within the underground lava world and the drastic changes that had suddenly began unfolding in the ice palace upstairs, they now even began merging and moving in sync.
The spirit formation that Old Man Great Sorrow had left behind began entirely collapsing and circulating in reverse, the originally smooth flow of power that had flowed within seemingly turning wild and crazed, erupting with a shocking force.
The ice and fire intermingled, resembling hell.
Lin Zhou also didn’t dare to remain there any further. He retreated and left the spirit formation, making use of its last vestiges of stable power before it collapsed to open a tunnel, allowing himself to retreat back to the surface.
Currently, within the underground lava world, the gigantic rock on which Yan Zhaoge and Ah Hu currently stood within the river of lava was already beginning to show signs of collapse.
Blazing fire spewed and flaming rocks flew, with it seeming like the sky was going to collapse and the earth shatter.
Ah Hu was rendered wide-eyed and speechless, “Without coming into contact with the coffin, only having taken away the Sacred Artifact fragment, there shouldn’t be this type of change occurring, right?”
Yan Zhaoge let out a long breath, “If the flow of the spirit formation were reversed at its core, that would be possible.”
“Such a calamitous power- even many Martial Grandmasters would be unable to withstand it!” Ah Hu had a pained expression on his face.
Yan Zhaoge shook his head, “The ancients speak true: With preparation comes assurance.”
Saying thus, Yan Zhaoge raised his left hand. On his left wrist was tied a thin rope, from which in turn dangled a rhombic-shaped crystal, crimson as fire, resembling a small shuttle.
Yan Zhaoge took it off, infusing his aura-qi within. The small crystal instantly skyrocketed in size, ending up around two feet long and around the size and thickness of a wrist.
It was precisely Yan Zhaoge’s homemade Underground Splitting Shuttle!
Yan Zhaoge tapped gently on the Underground Splitting Shuttle with his fingers, “Under such circumstances, two perfectly undamaged low-grade spiritual artifacts would not be of any help whatsoever. However, this thing’s different.”
“In undertaking dangerous treasure-seeking expeditions, this is a necessary tool.”
The two foot long Underground Splitting Shuttle increased in size once more, instantly transforming into a crystalline shuttle the size of a small boat.
Ah Hu looked on stunned as Yan Zhaoge grabbed him, the two entering the Underground Splitting Shuttle together.
The next moment, the Underground Splitting Shuttle transformed into a fiery red streak of light, plunging directly into the river of lava on its own accord.
Within the Underground Splitting Shuttle, only now did Ah Hu manage to get his lower jaw that had nearly dropped to the ground back in place, as he stroked it upon witnessing the scene before him, “Young Master, this is…the real use of the Underground Splitting Shuttle?”
Yan Zhaoge looked as though it was only normal, “Underground Splitting Shuttle-it is just as its name implies. What else would you think it would be for?”
Ah Hu scratched the back of his head, “I thought that it was just a tool which could create a path or scout ahead, never having thought that it would be able to take passengers.”
“Saying that it is for creating a path or scouting ahead is actually also not wrong,” Yan Zhaoge lifted his head, as, separated from them with a faint crystalline layer, the surging, blazing lava rampaged, seeming as though it could damage the Underground Splitting Shuttle at any time.
Yan Zhaoge smacked his lips, “Such an environment is still a little dangerous. Given enough time, the Underground Splitting Shuttle would also begin to crack and break apart.”
Shocked, Ah Hu was just about to ask what to do when, through the crystalline layer, the surroundings around them suddenly changed, the light of fire dimming as all was pitch black.
Gazing back, the crimson blazing fire as well as lava were still visible not far behind them.
Apparently, the Underground Splitting Shuttle had penetrated deeply into the rock layer, leaving that world of fiercely blazing flames and escaping from all that blazing hot lava.
Yan Zhaoge said, “Luckily, it was originally not meant purely for defensive purposes, but for breaking out from encirclement and escaping.”
“However, with this, the Underground Splitting Shuttle will inevitably suffer a huge blow to its vitality. Even with the Internal Crystal Furnace to restore it, if we wish for its efficacy to be as good as it currently is, we would have to wait some time.”
As he said thus, Yan Zhaoge looked towards the front as though in a bit of a trance.
Ah Hu finally let out a breath of relief, finally able to relax his greatly tensed heart.
Having escaped safely, he suddenly thought of something else, as he ground his teeth and said, “Young Master, this Lin Zhou has some methods ah!”
Yan Zhaoge shrugged, “Fighting for Sacred Artifact fragments; all rely on our own various methods.”
“Generally speaking, having gained the Sacred Artifact fragment, it would be fine to just leave. Not having met face-to-face or any casualties or enmity having sprung up, there would be no need to render a competitor dead.”
“However, my situation is a little special, even disregarding the fact that the Sacred Sun Clan and the Heavenly Thunder Hall are allies.”
“Infinite Boundless Mountain leaked out a little about the source of the Thunder Element Revival Art, and knowing that it was me who gave Infinite Boundless Mountain the idea to snatch their Thunderbolt Soul Jade, the Heavenly Thunder Hall would naturally wish to see me dead.”
“In recent days, our Heaven-Water-Mountain tripartite alliance and their Thunder-Fire alliance have basically already had a falling out for good. As a direct disciple of the Heavenly Thunder Hall, upon killing me and returning, not only would he not be punished, he would also have performed a huge merit.”
Yan Zhaoge lowered his voice, an obscure light flashing within, “Perhaps, he has an even more personal reason, hoping to erase my existence?”
Ah Hu grimaced, “But how could he have been so fast? We didn’t catch a glimpse of him from start to end, but not much time actually passed between when the spirit formation activated and when we entered it.”
Yan Zhaoge smiled carelessly, “Perhaps there are people above people, heavens above heavens?”
He extended his hands, pressing them onto the protective wall of the Underground Splitting Shuttle, infusing his own aura-qi within.
The direction in which the Underground Splitting Shuttle was headed changed slightly.
Ah Hu looked over curiously, “Young Master?”
Yan Zhaoge closed his eyes, raising his spiritual awareness to its peak,
“In specifically choosing the East Strangling Snow Mountain to set up house in secret, Old Man Great Sorrow might not not have had any other reasons.”
“Do you still remember the words of flame on the stone coffin, that did not dissipate despite the ravages of time?”
Ah Hu answered, “It seemed to be ‘alas’, holding the feelings of extreme regret.”
Yan Zhaoge asked, “What do you think Old Man Great Sorrow was regretting before his death?”
“He was regretting that he had obtained the Sacred Artifact fragment, yet still had to go into hiding, piling up with dust alongside his treasure?” Ah Hu scratched his head, saying somewhat hesitantly.
Closing his eyes, Yan Zhaoge lifted his hand and swiftly swiped within the Underground Splitting Shuttle, the resulting patterns that appeared actually similar to that of Old Man Great Sorrow’s spirit formation.
“What you say is a possibility, but there still exists another possibility,” Yan Zhaoge said slowly, “He was regretting his aspiration that he was unable to fulfil, his plan that had yet to succeed, that instead, his full longevity set to pass, could only live on in the form of regret.”
As these patterns of his were born, the Underground Splitting Shuttle began to experience an obvious change in direction as it moved forward unceasingly.
After a moment, the world before Yan Zhaoge’s and Ah Hu’s eyes suddenly lit up, as the dark underground world before them, suddenly exploded with light!
History's Strongest Senior Brother Chapter 143: A cooked duck can also fly
HSS143: A cooked duck can also fly
As the Underground Splitting Shuttle progressed, its pointed end suddenly hit thin air, facing much less resistive force as it seemed to have pierced through to somewhere.
In what had originally been a pitch black underground world, a large quantity of purple light suddenly appeared, dazzling and eye-catching.
“ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!”
Residing within the Underground Splitting Shuttle, Yan Zhaoge and Ah Hu could hear the incessant buzzing of electricity flowing.
The two blinked momentarily. Opening their eyes once more, they saw that in the midst of the underground layer of rock actually existed a massive cave.
A little purple light of thunder hovered in mid-air within the empty underground cave. With it as their centre, bolts of purple lightning were dancing about within the surrounding space incessantly.
On the walls of the cave surfaced numerous indistinct runes, their spiritual qi silent and peaceful.
The runes intermingled, red and white, resembling flames and ice combining.
The two spiritual qis of harsh winter and unbearable heat congregated, guarding the purple light of thunder in their midst, while also preventing the electrical energy within from leaking outwards.
At the same time, cold and hot maintained an equilibrium, not a single bit of coldness or hotness dissipating to the outside world.
The brightest purple light of thunder in the middle was shrouded in fog, that resembled a clump of violent thunderclouds.
Within those thunderclouds, a purple orb that was fully the size of a human fist was visible at times whilst obscured at others.
Looking at that orb, Yan Zhaoge snapped his fingers, “It is indeed so.”
Ah Hu stared wide-eyed, “According to the legends, the Sacred Artifact fragment that Old Man Great Sorrow obtained transformed into a purple orb shrouded by lightning, but it was only around the size of an egg. This one is quite a lot bigger than that ah.”
“Is this the manifestation of another Sacred Artifact fragment?”
Yan Zhaoge said, “That’s right. It was probably that the autonomous spirituality of this Sacred Artifact fragment being too strong, Old Man Great Sorrow was hard pressed to take it for himself and wield it despite having found it that year.”
“Thus, he set up this spirit formation, wanting to relying on grinding, slowly refining this Sacred Artifact fragment over time.”
Yan Zhaoge surveyed their surroundings, looking at those numerous spirit patterns of fire and ice intermingling, “Sadly, his longevity reached an end before he was able to completely do so.”
Ah Hu asked whilst stuttering a little, “Young…Young Master, you calculated all of this from the remnant words on Old Man Great Sorrow’s coffin?”
Now, he understood why Yan Zhaoge had replicated Old Man Great Sorrow’s spirit formation back in the Underground Splitting Shuttle earlier.
It had been as a guide, making use of the traces left behind by Old Man Great Sorrow to guide the Underground Splitting Shuttle to arrive here.
Yan Zhaoge shrugged, “Since we were riding the Underground Splitting Shuttle and entering deep underground to avoid the pursuit of the blazing fire and lava, we might as well just try it out.”
“Those remnant words of flame left behind on the coffin stayed untouched throughout the ravages of time-from this, it can be seen how intense Old Man Great Sorrow’s regret was that year, almost nearing the point of obsession.”
“To the point that his essence, energy and spirit were condensed to such a point right before he died,” Looking at that purple orb within those thunderclouds, Yan Zhaoge sighed, “We can also be considered as having benefited from this senior’s grace.”
Whether it had been that Sacred Artifact fragment that Lin Zhou had beaten them to or this one right before their eyes, both of them had been slowly refined over time by Old Man Great Sorrow.
Otherwise, let alone Martial Scholars, even a Martial Grandmaster like Old Man Great Sorrow would have been hard pressed to relaxedly grasp and wield it as his own.
Ah Hu grinned, “Young Master, although I haven’t seen the other Sacred Artifact fragment, with reference to the rumours and looking at this fragment right here once more, they should originate from the same Spiritual Artifact.”
Looking at that thundercloud, Yan Zhaoge’s voice was faintly discernible, “That’s right, it’s the same.”
“It’s named the Eye of the Thunder Emperor, and also Thunder Emperor’s Pupil.”
Exiting the Underground Splitting Shuttle, Yan Zhaoge took flight, stepping on the air and approaching that purple orb.
Just as he appeared, crackling noises began to resonate within the surrounding space, before numerous lightning snakes materialised within the air, simultaneously launching an assault!
Neither panicked nor harried, Yan Zhaoge swiped with his fingers within the air, tracing out numerous spirit patterns.
His aura-qi formed spirit patterns, remaining within the air, not dissipating in a long time.
The surrounding spiritual qi instantly pulsed, leading the numerous spirit patterns of fire and ice that intermingled on the surrounding stone walls to suddenly glow brightly.
A great amount of radiance emanated, intercrossing in mid-air.
Touched by this radiance, the numerous lightning bolts that had originally been chopping towards Yan Zhaoge instantly calmed down once more, taking the form of scattered bits of electricity as they dissipated within the air.
Walking on the air, Yan Zhaoge arrived at the boundary of the thunderclouds.
After observing carefully and feeling the flow of spiritual qi within for a moment, Yan Zhaoge directly extended his hands to touch the thunderclouds.
The intermingling spirit patterns of ice and fire on the surrounding stone walls shone as numerous streaks of red and also white light landed on Yan Zhaoge’s body.
While a huge amount of purplish-blue electricity also sped out from within the thunderclouds, moving about unceasingly on the surface of Yan Zhaoge’s body.
Seeing how Yan Zhaoge had been enveloped by lightning, the Ah Hu within the Underground Splitting Shuttle was extremely nervous.
The next moment, the thunderclouds abruptly swelled, nearly swallowing Yan Zhaoge whole before suddenly retreating once more.
The numerous lightning bolts were all absorbed within the purple orb, which, with a ‘weng’ sound, now transformed i
nto a dazzling bolt of lightning, shooting into the skies!
The spirit patterns on the surrounding walls dimmed simultaneously, no longer able to suppress the orb that was the manifestation of a fragment of the Eye of the Thunder Emperor.
In the form of a bolt of lightning, the orb directly pierced through the layer of rock, escaping far away.
Completely unharmed, Yan Zhaoge instead smiled as he leapt back within the Undergrounds Splitting Shuttle, “We chase!”
The Underground Splitting Shuttle set off once more, swiftly breaking apart the rock layer as they pursued in the direction in which the lightning bolt had vanished.
And at the same time, the Lin Zhou who had just exited Old Man Great Sorrow’s tomb, with a somewhat mocking smile on his face, was currently looking over the group of black-clothed martial practitioners of Yan Zhaoge’s whom he had left guarding the outside.
Then, without their knowing, neither panicked nor harried, Lin Zhou left the group of mountains where the tomb was located.
Having successfully obtained the treasure as planned as well as had some unexpected gains, Lin Zhou was really in quite a good mood.
But he had not gone far when, his face suddenly changed!
The baggage which he used to store treasures vibrated intensely. The next moment, a purple bolt of lightning directly ripped apart that baggage, shooting away!
It was, shockingly, that fragment of the Eye of the Thunder Emperor which he had obtained from Old Man Great Sorrow’s tomb!
Letting out rumbling thunder noises, the smooth purple orb the size of an egg, was about to escape into the distance!
Sucking in a deep breath, Lin Zhou lifted his hands and threw out a massive dark red net.
The net grew as it flew through the air, instantly expanding to the point where it looked to obscure the heavens and cover the earth, causing the entire sky to be painted a dark shade of red.
The escaping fragment of the Eye of the Thunder Emperor slammed headlong into the massive dark red net, and was caught.
Watching the trembling red net, Lin Zhou’s gaze flickered unceasingly, “This phenomenon, if it isn’t from the summoning of the Sacred Artifact’s previous owner.”
History's Strongest Senior Brother c1-1474 Page 93