Chapter 102: Spirit Burst Bead
Luo Zhidong gave a brief account of the high-density energy situation, then hastily ended the video call.
Almost at once, Zhang Chu and Zhang Xueying’s perception glasses received the shared three-dimensional map of District 301, along with the precise location of the Vajra Demon-Suppressing Stone.
According to the temporary command center’s operational plan, the Vajra Demon-Suppressing Stones in Districts 302 and 303 would be reexamined and surveyed by specialist maintenance crews, with replacement to be completed within twenty-four hours.
But before that could happen, an energy balance inspection had to be carried out.
That meant the condition of the Vajra Demon-Suppressing Stone in District 301 had to be transmitted first, so that the balance check could proceed.
Now, however, a dense cloud of energy was blanketing the area.
The energy balance inspection had been obstructed.
So within twenty-four hours, Zhang Chu and Zhang Xueying had to race more than two hundred kilometers to District 301, report on the condition of the suppressive stone, and investigate and deal with the dense energy cover along the way.
“You’ve looked troubled all this time. Is something wrong?”
The two of them rushed onward according to the navigation route.
On the road, Zhang Chu said nothing, his brows tightly knitted, clearly unlike himself.
“Previously, in the sixth high-level forbidden zone, Hu Sanyi and I went looking for Old Guan, but he wasn’t there. I suspect he sensed movement in the Demon-Suppressing Tower and entered this area.”
Zhang Chu spoke at last.
“You mean Teacher Guan from the Luo Institute, Spirit Realm Practitioner Guan Zifang?”
Zhang Xueying reacted immediately and hurried to comfort him. “Don’t worry. Old Guan is a Spirit Realm Practitioner, the guardian of Canglong Mountain. He should know the Demon-Suppressing Tower better than we do. I believe nothing will happen to him.”
Two hundred kilometers was nothing for martial practitioners.
A four-hour sprint.
Along the way, they even ran into several waves of star beast swarms.
Zhang Chu was exceptionally skilled at group combat.
He still had no time to check his personal status panel.
In any case, he was still some distance from breaking through to six stars.
“Command center, we’re approaching the designated position.”
About five kilometers from District 301, Zhang Xueying used her perception glasses to transmit the surrounding situation to the command center in the form of photos and video.
“Little Chu, the energy density here really is enormous.”
Ahead stretched an endless plain.
The Vajra Demon-Suppressing Stone of District 301 stood on an island in the middle of a salt lake, deep within the grasslands.
At this moment, white energy clouds were churning above the plain.
As a dual-force warrior who had awakened spiritual power, Zhang Chu had already sensed the powerful fluctuations of spiritual energy all around him.
“Doesn’t feel like Old Guan.”
Through his spiritual sense, Zhang Chu quietly let out a breath of relief.
After all, he had met Guan Zifang once.
He still recognized Guan Zifang’s aura.
This dense cloud of energy felt a little unusual. “Sister Xueying, ask Director Luo whether there are any special methods for creating dense energy clouds besides a spirit realm practitioner’s self-detonation—especially methods used by the Godfall Alliance.”
Zhang Xueying immediately contacted Luo Zhidong in the command center after hearing Zhang Chu’s reminder.
Deliberately damaging the Vajra Demon-Suppressing Stone and causing unrest in the Demon-Suppressing Tower.
Apart from the Godfall Alliance, no one else seemed capable of such a thing.
“Xueying, I’ll go look ahead. Be careful.”
Right now Zhang Chu was deeply worried about Wang Peng and Hu Sanyi.
District 301 was not large, only about thirty kilometers in radius.
He activated a miniature drone and began a carpet search of the entire district.
Zhang Chu hurried straight toward the salt lake where the Demon-Suppressing Tower stood.
The salt lake was not large, and the sky and water blended into one another in breathtaking beauty.
On the lake island at the center stood a huge stone monument, shaped exactly like the Vajra Demon-Suppressing Stone they had seen in District 302.
“Ding-dong. High-density spiritual power detected nearby. Activate passive devouring?”
At that moment, the system’s voice rang out in his mind.
“So you do know how to seize an opportunity.”
Whether it was a spirit realm practitioner’s self-detonation or the Godfall Alliance using some other method to create high-density spiritual power, it was all rich nourishment in Zhang Chu’s eyes.
He could avoid Zhang Xueying, and that was exactly what he had been waiting for: the moment his system cheat would kick in.
After confirming there were no star beasts nearby and that the drone still had not found Wang Peng or Hu Sanyi, Zhang Chu’s thoughts moved.
“Activate passive devouring.”
“Ding-dong!”
The system prompt sounded.
The densest portion of the energy cloud above the salt lake was instantly torn apart by the system, and a white pillar of energy slanted down from the sky, enveloping Zhang Chu.
An endless stream of spiritual power began to be frantically devoured by him.
“Ding-dong. Host has reached the passive devouring limit. Automatically shutting down.”
No one knew how long had passed before the system pulled Zhang Chu back to reality.
“That’s damn comfortable.”
Absorbing spiritual power was simply too satisfying.
How should one put it?
It was like after a long day of exhaustion, a black-stockinged level-eight technician giving you a thorough chest massage.
He opened his personal status panel.
Zhang Chu threw his head back and shouted, “Damn, that’s awesome!”
Martial power: 54,000/100,000.
Spiritual power: 68,000/10,000.
Just a few minutes of absorption.
And he had actually gained 15,000 spiritual power.
He had moved yet another step closer to breaking through to six stars.
“Little Chu, did you find something?”
At that moment, Zhang Xueying appeared behind him, startling Zhang Chu badly.
“I just saw the dense energy cloud disperse.”
Zhang Xueying looked up, and it really had.
Its appearance had been strange enough; its disappearance was equally bizarre.
She could never have imagined that Zhang Chu could directly absorb pure spiritual power.
At this point, they no longer even needed to fire energy-dissolution bombs.
“Have you found any trace of Wang Peng and Hu Sanyi?”
Zhang Xueying asked.
“Not yet.”
The moment Wang Peng and Hu Sanyi were mentioned, Zhang Chu immediately grew tense.
Wang Peng was a gifted one with formidable spiritual power.
By all rights, his location should have been easy to track.
Yet after the drones swept through District 301 once, they still had not found either of them.
“Director Fan just called me. Besides a spirit realm practitioner’s self-detonation, there’s another possibility behind the dense energy cloud: a spiritual explosive bead.”
Spiritual explosive beads were a prohibited piece of equipment.
Using a special formation, a spirit realm practitioner’s spiritual power was continuously compressed into a special steel sphere.
Once the steel bead was struck by an external force, it would explode.
The impact produced by a spiritual explosive bead could cause tremendous damage to a spirit realm practitioner. In severe cases, it could even directly shatter the sea of consciousness and leave the victim in a vegetative state.
Beyond that, releasing spiritual explosive beads could form an energy barrier that blocked electronic interference.
Fan Tianlei and Luo Zhidong’s guess was that a fierce conflict had broken out in District 301, forcing the people of the Godfall Alliance to use spiritual explosive beads.
“Could Old Guan have discovered the Godfall Alliance’s scheme and gotten into a fight with them?”
Zhang Chu’s brows drew together slightly.
“Let’s go check the Vajra Demon-Suppressing Stone in District 301 first.”
Zhang Xueying suggested it.
The stone stood on the lake island in the salt lake.
Carrying Zhang Xueying with him, Zhang Chu skimmed over the water and landed directly on the island from the lakeshore.
The moment they stepped ashore, they saw two people lying unconscious beneath the stone stele.
It was Wang Peng and Hu Sanyi.
“What the hell is going on?”
Zhang Chu was completely dumbfounded, and exchanged a look with Zhang Xueying.
Just moments earlier, from the lakeshore, they had not seen a single person on the island.
In the next instant, both of them were struck with dread.
“There’s a barrier around this Vajra Demon-Suppressing Stone in District 301!”