Lassim sat cross-legged on the floor of his room, his right hand outstretched as tendrils of blue water mana flowed over his now bandaged fingers. The skin had mostly reattached, thanks to his healing efforts, but the process was a bit slow to mend the tendons that had been severed.
His [Lifestream] technique, while effective, required patience as he knew little about the body and how it worked. He planned to add some sort of healing volunteering to his workload so that he could get more practice with the technique soon.
He then opened and closed his fist as he tested the joints. The slight stiffness in his fingers was a reminder of his overconfidence the day before.
"Almost back to normal," Lassim muttered, flexing his fingers experimentally. He’d learned his lesson—using the spatial element on his own body without any prior experience had been reckless. The fact that he managed to not die or end up in some space beast’s stomach had been a miracle in itself. He might not always be so lucky in the future.
He glanced toward his magic pouch, pulling out a thunder stone he had kept as he still hadn’t used a single one yet from his early days’ payments from the sect.
A simple, yet powerful artifact, the stone crackled with latent lightning energy, sparking faintly as it levitated just above his palm. He figured it was the perfect candidate for his experiments—an object smaller than himself, easier to control, and less likely to lead to injury.
If he could manage to reliably get more comfortable with using the space element, it might lead to him using it in combat.
He was inspired by Tristan’s ability to lock on and target far away enemies with his massive lightning bolt attacks. Could he do something similar? Surprise an opponent with a thrust of his halberd from an unexpected angle? Possibly assassinate a target in another continent? The potential options were mostly limitless once he became proficient enough.
His hand began buzzing faintly with the sensation of void energy as Lassim focused his attention on the stone. He envisioned the fabric of reality stretching out between his current position and the other side of the room.
The void energy stirred within him, flowing through his black progenitor marks as they flickered dimly in response. He could feel the threads of space tighten to secure the portal’s beginning and end destinations as he willed the teleportation, weaving the fabric together around the thunder stone.
The stone flickered in his hand and, with a faint bubble pop, it vanished from his palm, reappearing on the far side of the room near the window.
Lassim exhaled slowly, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
The process had been much smoother this time—teleporting an object, particularly one as small as the thunder stone, required significantly less effort and mana than teleporting himself. There was no threat of the void shattering beneath him. Just a simple, clean shift in space.
He retrieved the stone, feeling the faint hum of energy still vibrating within it, and placed it back into his palm. "Smaller objects are definitely easier," he muttered to himself, considering the implications.
If he could master this on a smaller scale, it could lead to larger experiments. Perhaps with more practice, he could increase the size of what he teleported—though he wouldn’t make the mistake of testing on his own body again so soon.
Lassim sat back and let the thunder stone float in front of him again, focusing once more on the threads of space that surrounded it. The fabric of reality felt malleable in his grasp, and as he slowly manipulated the weave, the object flickered in and out of existence, appearing briefly in one spot and then another. Each time, the effort grew easier, more intuitive.
The sense of control gave him confidence. He could feel himself improving with each successful attempt, and more ideas for how he might use this ability in combat started to form in his mind. Teleporting his companion’s attacks towards the enemy, or even when he has the confidence to use himself again, teleporting around an opponent to gain the upper hand—it all seemed possible.
But before he could continue his experiments, a low, ominous hum filled the air.
Lassim’s eyes snapped to the window as his spirit sense began to spread out. The room, normally filled with the small dull glow of sunlight filtered through the storm clouds above, was suddenly bathed in a blinding white light. He shot to his feet, dropping the thunder stone as he rushed to the window.
His heart skipped a beat.
Above the sect, the thick, swirling clouds of the perpetual lightning storm were evaporating, dissipating as though burned away by an invisible force.
In their place, a searing beam of light cut through the sky, growing larger and brighter with each passing second. The source of the light was high above, far beyond the clouds, but it was moving fast—too fast.
Lassim squinted, raising a hand to shield his eyes, but the light was too intense. It was as if the very sun itself had descended upon the sect, its heat washing over everything. He could feel the oppressive energy from here, like standing in front of a furnace.
Then, a split second later, terrifying alarms blared across the sect.
The sharp, high-pitched wails echoed through the streets, sending disciples running in all directions. Lassim could hear the frantic shouts of cultivators outside, the confusion and panic spreading as the beam of light continued its rapid descent toward the heart of the Lightning Sect.
Without a second thought, Lassim summoned his halberd and burst out of his room, his senses immediately assaulted by the sheer intensity of the heat outside.
The air was shimmering, distorted by the overwhelming power of the approaching beam, and he could already feel the sweat forming on his brow.
As he stepped into the street, the full scale of the threat became clear. The once proud and untouchable lightning storm that had protected the sect for who knows how many millenia was unraveling, the clouds dissipating at an alarming rate.
Lassim’s eyes widened in horror.
Suddenly, the ground beneath him shook violently, and from somewhere deep within the sect, a surge of powerful lightning energy shot upward into the sky.
Lassim looked toward the center of the sect, where the tallest spire stood. Grandmaster Volten was there, his form barely visible against the backdrop of the storm, but Lassim could feel the unmistakable pressure of his power.
A massive lightning snake, formed entirely from pure lightning essence, erupted from the spire, coiling and twisting through the air as it shot toward the descending beam. The beast crackled with untamed energy, its eyes burning with the fury of the storm itself as it lashed out at the solar ray, meeting it head-on with a deafening crash.
The two forces collided, creating a blinding flash of light that momentarily obscured the sky. The air crackled with raw power, the shockwave from the impact rippling across the city.
But the beam didn’t stop. The lightning snake held it at bay for a moment, but the sheer heat and force of the solar energy began to overwhelm it. The snake writhed, struggling to maintain its form as the beam pushed it back, inch by inch.
Lassim’s heart pounded in his chest. If that beam reaches the sect…
He couldn’t just stand by and watch any longer. The heat was beginning to become too much for many of the pedestrians and other disciples on the street. Especially of those in the stages below Spirit Ascension.
Drawing in a deep breath, he activated his [Grand Aegis], the familiar blue aura of ice and water mana swirling around him as the icy dragon roared to life.
With a swing of his halberd, he directed a wave of frost spreading outward, coating the streets and buildings while also creating thick ice barrier shields around the disciples who had gathered nearby.
The heat was intense, more than he had ever felt before, but the ice held—for now.
"Everyone, get behind cover!" Lassim shouted, his voice barely audible over the roar of the clashing energies above.
Several disciples, their faces pale with fear, nodded and scrambled to take shelter behind the barriers Lassim had created. He could feel the strain already—the heat from the beam was evaporating the ice faster than he could regenerate it.
This isn’t enough, he thought, gritting his teeth.
The power of the sunfire beam was immense, and even the combined efforts of Grandmaster Volten and the sect’s natural defenses were struggling to hold it back.
Suddenly, a series of loud cracks echoed across the city as more beams of lightning shot from the spires of the sect. Lassim looked up just in time to see the full power of the Lightning Sect’s defensive array spring to life. He could spy Grandmaster Volten throwing rapid lightning filled punches, more than a thousand every second as his spirit sense couldn’t capture every movement he made.
Each fist was filled with the most violent and angry lightning he’d ever witnessed. It felt like it was more furious than anything he could even imagine the god of Lightning, Famthar, could create.
The storm above, which had been on the verge of collapse, now roared back to life with renewed fury. Bolts of lightning, drawn from the very heart of the sect, filled the sky and then fed the cycle by raining oddly upwards from the clouds. Each bolt of lightning the size of a building struck with deadly precision at the point where the solar beam met Volten’s lightning snake.
The array, a secret known only to the highest-ranking members of the sect, had never been activated before. It was a massive Lightning gathering array, designed to draw in lightning mana from the entirety of Nexaria. It’s what created the never ending thunderstorm that always floated above. Now, it was finally doing what it was created to do. For the first time in centuries, it was fully unleashed.
The sky above the sect exploded with light as the storm’s power was funneled into the array and then through the Sect Master’s guidance. Bolts of lightning, thicker than any Lassim had ever seen, struck the descending beam with terrifying force. The shockwaves traveled downward and the ground shook with each impact.
The air crackled with electricity as the lightning snake, Grandmaster Volten’s elemental spirit companion grew in size and ferocity, fueled by the storm’s energy.
For a moment, it seemed like the tide had turned. The beam of solar energy, once so unstoppable, began to waver under the combined assault of the lightning array and Volten’s power. The heat lessened, and the oppressive force pressing down on the sect began to lift.
Read 𝓁atest chapters at fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm Only.
But just as hope began to rise, a powerful presence washed over the battlefield.
Lassim’s eyes darted upward, his breath catching in his throat as he saw the figure descending from the sky.
Yuan Zhen, the leader of the Endless Sun Sect, floated just above the battlefield, his white and golden robes billowing in the wind as his eyes glowed with a bright white light.