“Who’s the asshole that dares steal my shit?!” Qing Ting cursed loudly in her anger. One king grade ghost crystal was the equivalent of a premium crystal vein or a king grade flying sword! That was no small sum of wealth in the Hongmeng.
The figure was out of sight—Qing Ting didn’t even get a clear glimpse of who’d taken her ghost crystal.
The troop of ghosts scattered in all directions when their king died. Lu Yun paused and soundlessly called upon the Spectral Eye; a black sparkle flashed through his eyes.
“It’s a third step king,” he frowned slightly.
“A third step king? A third step king went to the effort of stealing from a half step king?” Qing Ting looked on with resignation. It was a walk in the park for a third step king to kill a ghost king, why would they bother with stealing the spoils of a half step king?
“Don’t let me find out who he is or I’ll make him pay!” she grumbled sulkily. She was the little princess of Coiling Dragon City and the daughter of a seventh step king after all. If she wanted a third step king dead, it really wouldn’t take that much effort.
“We need to get out of here as quickly as possible after I detonate the crystal vein!” Lu Yun burrowed down into the crystal vein beneath them and directed a Detonation Talisman at its core section.
Numerous minor crystal veins formed around a large one, but someone had already excavated the ones here. Thus, the large crystal vein was an enormous mine. Lu Yun had to detonate not only this one, but the entire system in Starspace Major. Otherwise, the crystal veins would become cornerstones of the ghost tomb.
If he didn’t ruin the crystal vein, more ghosts would be along after a while to continue mining it. Small crystal veins could be completely extracted, but not large ones. Large crystal veins were rooted beneath the earth and not even ninth step kings could fully pull them out. They could only mine the crystal veins in increments.
The higher grade a vein was, the harder it was to excavate.
Rumble—
The entire vein shattered to pieces with the rise of a mushroom cloud. Endless purple crystals smashed into each other and returned to their most primitive form of Hongmeng qi, dispersing in the void.
Lu Yun, Qing Ting, and Li Zhen were already gone. High level ghost kings came to investigate the disturbance as soon as it was felt, but the area had been leveled and no clues were left behind.
……
“You really blew up a major crystal vein!” Qing Ting looked incredulously at Lu Yun. “The larger veins are incredibly tough and though ordinary king grade Detonation Talismans can damage them, they can’t completely destroy one like how you just did! You—”
She abruptly stopped talking, realizing that she was asking too much and infringing on a taboo. All geniuses of the Hongmeng possessed their own secrets and trump cards. Take herself, for instance. Her cultivation tenure paled far in comparison to her brother’s million years, but she also had her own secrets and aces.
“I assembled a king grade formation talisman with a hundred king grade talismans, then detonated the formation. The formation was what ignited the crystal vein, so there wasn’t much to it.” Lu Yun smiled carelessly. He actually possessed simpler methods—such as the Dragonquake Scripture. If he employed the Dragonshift Method within it, he’d be able to instantly crumble the crystal vein away.
However, he didn’t dare attempt that since the Dragonquake Scripture was forbidden within the Hongmeng. Instead, he had to deploy a fussier plan to blow up the crystal vein.
“The ghosts occupying Starspace Region are mostly gathered in the mines. There will certainly be high level kings in residence at the higher grade crystal veins. We won’t be able to touch those, but we can still destroy a few of the lower grade ones,” Lu Yun explained before they headed for another mine.
They’d carefully studied a map of Starspace Region before setting out, committing all of its important locations to memory.
Over the next seven days, Lu Yun detonated another three large, inferior grade crystal veins and slew three first step kings. Qing Ting took utmost care in her hunts this time and avoided having someone steal her spoils again.
Lu Yun condensed a second wisp of the order of flame during this process—naturally not through his own efforts alone. The Infernum in the Immortal Pagodas kept a steady stream of ghost crystals flowing to Lu Yun through the Tome of Life and Death. Bolstered with this incredible wealth of ghost crystals, not only did the second wisp solidify, but so did a third begin to form.
However, the fact that four large crystal veins had been destroyed in the region within ten days infuriated numerous high level kings in the core of Starspace Region. The ghosts couldn’t march through Cloudruin Region to access Redbud Region, so every crystal vein in Starspace was extremely precious. Any one of them being ruined meant a tangible weakening of the ghost tomb.
One hundred and eight purple crystal cannons were reassembled outside Starspace Region, firing barrages every second at the ghost tomb undergoing repairs. The relentless offensive kept the ghosts frantic and exhausted by their sorry plight.
Gradually, first step ghost kings overseeing inferior grade crystal veins were replaced by a team of one second step ghost king and two first step. While Qing Ting could triumph over first step ghost kings, she was still far from taking on second step kings. Li Zhen had yet to reach the titled duke level, so any random first step ghost king could easily take his life.
Ghost qi also abounded in Starspace Region, strengthening ghost kings in this territory by thirty percent compared to the outside world.
……
“What’s wrong, Li Zhen?” Lu Yun looked at his friend.
“I’m so close! I keep failing to grasp the core of transforming into a dragon. The dragon bloodline in my body seems to be sealed away,” Li Zhen answered dejectedly.
Lu Yun smacked his own forehead. “Why are you so concerned with tapping into that tiny bloodline? Did you see me turn into a real dragon when I deployed that technique?”
Li Zhen hunched in on himself without a word, simulating Lu Yun’s stroke in detail once more. Qing Ting sat off to the side, taking a moment to recover.
She’d made enormous gains over consecutive days of intense battles, especially since she’d killed four ghost kings by now. She’d outstripped her brother in terms of accumulated experience and cultivation reflections.
Lu Yun’s third wisp of order was about to solidify, granting him an enormous increase in strength when it did so. He didn’t know how strong he was either—at the very least, he could easily slice the version of himself who’d left Cloudexit City into two.
“Who goes there?!” He suddenly shot to his feet with an unfriendly shout.
“Kekekeke…” Strange laughter rang out. “You three kids are quite something to kill four ghost kings. Be smart and hand over all of your ghost crystals and treasures!”
A thin man dressed in a black combat outfit walked out of the shadows. He seemed to be submerged in black smoke as he drifted in and out of view. It was impossible to identify him.
“it’s you!” Qing Ting’s eyes shot wide open. “You’re the one who stole my king grade ghost crystal!”
Though she hadn’t gotten a clear look at the thief, she recognized him when he reappeared.
“So what if I am? I’d thought of letting you off the hook after robbing you once, but you’re unexpectedly strong and killed another three ghost kings. Considering all of the wealth you must have on you… you’ve got at least ten premium crystal veins worth.” Hidden in the smoke, the man shot two beams of vivid green light from his eyes and pierced through the inky smoke.
“You’re the Robber King!” Li Zhen suddenly shouted. “Your name is listed on the Enforcer Alliance’s Bounty Ranking. It’s a hundred million premium purple crystals for your life!”
