Chapter 35: 34. Burning Spirituality

34. Burning Spirituality

The fourth shockwave swept outward. The soil and rocks on the surface had already been blown away; this time they did not turn into projectiles, but the ground rolled backward directly as the shockwave spread. Li Ang, his companion, and the two summoned beasts all had their feet sink into the ground, unable to move due to the vibrations.

The subsequent earthquake began. Li Ang realized this would not do and had the Gem Beast pick up Zoe, who was nearby, and toss her onto its back; both summoned beasts retreated together.

However, the Gem Giant’s legs were stuck in the cracks of the ground and difficult to pull out; only the Gem Beast returned to his side.

Just as Li Ang flipped over and climbed onto the Gem Beast’s back, the tremors of the ground had already made even the Gem Beast unable to stand steadily.

Zoe, on the back of the Gem Beast, stared at the ancient ruins of the half-temple. It had originally been connected to the mountain, but due to the tremors, large chunks of rock were falling off, burying parts of it. If more boulders rolled down, everything inside would likely be destroyed.

"That ruin..."

"Watch your head!"

The hollow glazed dome began to disintegrate during the fourth earthquake. The once gorgeous and beautiful crystals on the cave ceiling all turned into deadly mechanisms.

Li Ang drew the Water Array Dragon Tooth Sword to block the falling rocks, and Zoe also swung her sword to knock them away.

Having barely made it through, the giant snake was already charging up for its fifth impact.

He could not let it continue, even at the cost of getting injured.

Li Ang took a deep breath, focused his energy, and drew upon all the atmospheric magic his remaining stamina could handle.

"Zoe, I am going to exhaust my entire magic reserve now. Afterward, I will be mentally drained and unable to move; I will need you to take me away from the heart of the island."

The young girl had been using earth elemental arrows to attack the Earth Serpent, but the latter was desperate and relentless, and her attacks could not produce a decisive effect.

"Why? What are you going to do?"

She turned her head, as if realizing something, her expression worried: "Didn't you just say that over-casting would lead to mental exhaustion and death?"

At this moment, the greatest damage Li Ang could inflict was his ultimate technique—Myriad Spirits Agitation.

This move, as the ultimate technique of a curse master not skilled in destruction, could only be defined as a large-scale containment spell, even though it gathered Li Ang’s lifelong insights.

The reason was simple: although it could utilize the surrounding conditions to increase its power, it was equally limited by them.

In gaming terms, its area control and total area-of-effect (AOE) damage were high, but its single-hit armor-piercing threshold was insufficient; it was not the same concept as single-target burst damage specialized for killing.

Therefore, even with gems scattered everywhere, he hadn't unleashed his ultimate the moment he saw the Earth Serpent.

Most of the gems here were of Tier 4 strength, with a few higher, but even if activated all at once by Myriad Spirits Agitation, they would just be a pile of Tier 4 elemental energy clusters. They couldn't damage the Holy Serpent's Tier 6 scale armor; breaking its defense would be less effective than him using specialized rank-up spells combined with gems.

Now, however, it was different. Its defense had already been breached after repeated attacks, and Myriad Spirits Agitation would be enough to cause massive damage.

Confronting something like a Star Soul for the first time was indeed much more strenuous than fighting past magical beasts.

Matters related to the Star Soul had refreshed many of Li Ang’s perceptions. However, even without the help of his past powerful equipment and energy sources, the current situation was still within his capabilities.

His magic reserves had already been more than half-depleted; logically, Li Ang’s curse master ultimate should not be able to be activated.

But he was currently in a state of spiritual activation. In this state, even if his stamina and energy were insufficient, he could forcibly activate ultimates and skills because he was using the burning of his spirituality as a substitute.

However, as long as he didn't over-exert himself, the first thing to be consumed was the portion of spirituality that had increased after activation.

This was also the strongest point of this auxiliary curse. In this situation, it had the same effect as Zoe’s parents squeezing the spirituality of their magical artifacts.

"I won't die. I've done this before in several critical moments."

Li Ang first used a curse to write and release a Tier 2 curse—Spirituality Traction—to draw back the gems that had been blown away by the shockwave.

Regardless of whether Zoe’s parents had intentionally left the gems for later arrivals to fight the Star Soul, this time, it was all thanks to them.

The gem cluster rotated in the air, and Li Ang injected the magic to trigger Myriad Spirits Agitation into it.

The Earth Serpent finished charging and raised its head to slam into the ground.

The fifth shockwave.

This time, the shockwave suddenly intensified to the point of causing substantial damage. It swept across, burying the Gem Giant—which was already stuck in the ground—even deeper, and the gem armor on its body shattered and fell off one after another.

The elemental beast, having pulled out its four legs, instantly knelt under the impact. The shockwave affected the internal structure of its four legs, and it was unable to stand up for a moment.

Li Ang’s spellcasting was interrupted by the vibration. He coughed violently, clutched his temple, and the attack caused him to relax his traction, causing magic to escape and backfire on his spirituality.

"Li Ang! Are you hurt?" Zoe hurriedly supported him.

Before Li Ang could answer, the fifth earthquake began.

He raised his hand and gestured; the Gem Giant used its remaining magic to transform its form, creating a soil and rock canopy above the two of them and the elemental beast, with a fragile shield made of the remaining gathered gems on top.

The glazed canopy of the underground cavern began to disintegrate, as if the entire sky were shattering into pieces and collapsing toward them, causing the world to change color.

The world at the heart of the island, illuminated by fluorescent stones, underwent a drastic change in light and shadow. Crystals falling from a height of over a hundred meters poured down like a torrential rain. Everything on the ground that had just become familiar was pulverized, and even the ground that had already been overturned was plowed up by the endless falling crystals.

"We, we, I..."

Zoe bit her lower lip tightly, stunned by this scene.

The soil surged wildly like boiling bubbles, and the entire earth repeatedly disintegrated and reassembled, finally completely changing the face of the world.

The entire time felt as long as suffering a sentence. Under such an assault combined with the natural environment, human instinct only thinks about how to protect oneself.

Li Ang raised his hand to replenish the magic for the canopy formed by the mud-rock giant; otherwise, even if it were consuming spirituality to maintain its body, it wouldn't be able to withstand the bombardment of the falling crystals.

Zoe lowered her head, the courage she had just mustered seemingly suppressed again by her fear of the Star Soul. Two clear tears slid from the corners of her eyes, and her lips murmured something.

The mud canopy overhead shattered into dust, and the Gem Mud-Rock Giant completed its mission, returning to the earth.

Li Ang caught his breath; from that last hit, he felt as if his internal organs were about to shift.

If there were a sixth shockwave, it would likely really damage his internal organs.

Smiling at the girl with tear-stained cheeks, Li Ang tapped her forehead lightly.

"Don't space out. Pay attention to the situation and don't get into danger."

"Don't worry, this snake is already as good as dead."

"It's just that there might be a sixth impact. Although the damage to us will likely be less than this time, that ruin is connected to the cave wall and might be hard to preserve. Don't worry, I already have some leads on your parents."

"The battle will be over soon."

Although the fifth impact came earlier than expected, some of the wounds on the snake's body were healing; presumably, that Earth's Favor skill was still effective, so it had recovered a bit of energy.

This didn't matter. With so many high-grade gems acting as spellcasting materials, the ultimate he would unleash would be enough to produce massive elemental damage. The energy that erupted would likely be like a sun descending upon this place, shrouding the underground cavern in a blinding flash akin to direct sunlight.

"Close your eyes in a moment."

Smiling at the girl, Li Ang gathered his magic once more.

He did not see his profile reflected in the girl's pupils.

She stared blankly at him as he gathered magic bit by bit.

"No."

Zoe’s voice as she spoke carried a sob.

When Li Ang paused slightly because of this, she gasped for air, as if trying to use the inhaled air to squeeze out the cold fear occupying her body.

She shook her head vigorously, as if trying hard to drive away some thoughts in her mind.

She clenched her fists bit by bit, as if trying hard to grasp something.

"No."

She said it again, this time her voice clear and distinct.