Chapter 1096: The Power of Loa

"We've been discovered!"

The Thunder-forged Divine Weapon sensed a massive danger approaching, instantly cast a teleportation spell, but found that the hundred‑meter radius around it was shrouded in a black shadow.

Beneath this shadow, darker than ink, space turned into a bizarre trap, generating a terrifying suction that immobilized him, his thoughts and soul force lagged, and only darkness remained in his sight, as if even light could not escape the void.

"Boom…"

A black spell sphere several meters in diameter fell from the sky, struck the Thunder-forged Divine Weapon, and exploded instantly.

The sphere burst into countless tide‑like mists, flattening the buildings within several hundred meters and leaving a huge crater on the ground.

The blast startled the entire Aweiken.

At the same time, an invisible high‑pitched scream rang out from the temple's summit, and instantly the city's trolls boiled with fury.

On the outer platform of the temple, the silhouettes of powerful trolls appeared, and many trolls poured out from the residential district beyond the square, while patrolling troll guards rushed in from all corners of the city.

Their target was the Thunder-forged Divine Weapon.

Within a few breaths, the two strongest trolls reached the crater's edge: one wielded a war axe and wore fine armor, the other clutched a wooden staff, his robe embroidered with Ancient Saint Runes, both bore black bat tattoos on their skin and exuded the aura of Saint Rank elites.

Both were Gumanra Trolls, serving the God of Night as Loa Warriors and Loa Priests.

They scanned the crater but found no enemy.

"Dead?"

The thought arose, and another invisible scream echoed from the temple; as Loa's most important followers, they instantly received the deity's command.

The enemy not only survived but fled Aweiken.

The two troll elites glanced at each other in horror.

That earlier strike was Loa's own hand; had it been them, they would likely have been dead and gone, yet the enemy survived and fled in an instant!

Loa sent another decree, ordering an immediate pursuit and providing a direction.

High above the western sky of Aweiken, black spell spheres continuously coalesced and exploded with thunderous sounds, signaling the trolls that the enemy's position lay there, speeding away, evidently trying to escape Loa's divine‑power projection field.

"Chase!"

Across Aweiken, swarms of mist‑shrouded bats took flight, each bearing a troll on its back; their wings beat wildly as they pursued in massive flocks.

On the ground, trolls led by the two Loa Warriors activated the totems on their skin, their forms turning into black mist that merged with the night and vanished.

These are the "Nightwalkers" blessed by the God of Night.

At night they gain amplified power and possess the ability to leap across darkness; a high‑level Nightwalker can jump hundreds of meters in a single bound, faster than flight.

However, neither bat knights nor Nightwalkers could catch the enemy.

They lost the target as soon as they left the city; Loa's command remained, but grew farther, and the sound became completely inaudible.

The trolls stared at each other.

In a forest over a hundred li west of Aweiken, the Guranman Troll that the Thunder-forged Divine Weapon had become fell from the void, its body weak and stumbling to the ground. The earlier strike's power was equivalent to a Ten-ring Spell and contained massive divinity, instantly inflicting severe damage on its body.

Fortunately, the Thunder-forged Divine Weapon had been upgraded; its titanium‑extreme golden body and Energy Furnace had both reached level two, so it did not die on the spot.

A Saint Rank elite in its place would already have been soul‑shattered.

Just as it recovered, the Thunder-forged Divine Weapon mentally leapt out of Aweiken and instantly used teleportation to flee.

Only then did it have time to inspect its wounds: no patch of skin remained intact, dozens of bones were broken, organs ruptured, and the worst was a gash at the waist where flesh had vanished, exposing the organs as a mist‑like energy frenziedly corroded inward.

The Thunder-forged Divine Weapon immediately tapped its electricity.

As hundreds of energy units were consumed, the wounds healed rapidly and muscles regenerated, yet the black energy on the waist behaved like a bone‑affixed ulcer—only stopping the bleeding; the wound did not worsen further, but could not be removed for now.

The Thunder-forged Divine Weapon frowned, dabbed a pinch of energy on its fingertip, and held it before its eyes to examine.

The energy existed as a black liquid, constantly emitting black mist outward.

It is intensely corrosive!

Corrosion is merely the basic effect; there must be other forms, but only the God of Night can command them.

Lei En on the bridge of the Luo Sheng Du saw all of this in sync.

"Divine power?"

Lei En quickly dismissed the guess; the black energy was indeed powerful, but clearly had not reached the level of divine power.

"It should be divinity," the All-Seeing Eye peered into the black liquid, showing Lei En more properties and concluding: "A highly dense divinity combined with an exceptionally pure energy forms this unique force. If I'm not mistaken, that energy is the magical energy of the Ancient Saint Altar!"

Lei En recalled the scene he had just witnessed.

The God of Night Xiric, that gigantic bat, hung upside down in the palace, releasing its divinity and circulating it outside its body.

The Ancient Saint Altar's magical energy participated in the cycle, enabling Xiric to augment its strength.

The Soul Eye observed that it was not back‑fired upon.

This shows that the so‑called God of Night is at most a demigod. Even a demigod with vast divinity is still not a deity.

So it wasn't He, but it!

Lei En thought of this and instantly felt much more at ease. As long as he wasn't facing a deity directly, there was nothing to fear. He suddenly felt eager to test, wondering whether Loa truly controlled the Ancient Saint Altar, or to what extent it did so.

If Loa left the temple, could there be a chance to steal the altar?

At that thought, Lei En could no longer hold back.

"Let's try."

The Thunder-forged Divine Weapon suppressed its injuries, stood up again, its Truth Will generating a strong warning, eyes fixed on the distant night sky where a massive shadow rushed forward at astonishing speed.

The shadow was concealed within black mist, with two red glows shining deep inside.

His eyelid twitched.

"The God of Night Xiric is chasing us personally!"

Before Xiric descended, the energy within a kilometer‑wide forest boiled, the night turning like a torn curtain that rolled inward, a terrifying wave of energy crashing down, with a single target: the very self standing on the ground.

Bang!

The Thunder-forged Divine Weapon turned into a bolt of lightning, flew out of the black energy torrent, and vanished in an instant.

Almost at the same second he teleported away, Xi Li Ke arrived.

A massive black fog coalesced above the forest, taking the shape of a gigantic bat whose wings spanned over a hundred meters. It saw the target had already fled far, let out an angry, piercing screech; the sound wave contained divinity, drawing forth the magical energy of heaven and earth in a tide, and a black shockwave instantly destroyed the forest below, leaving a clearing over a kilometer wide.

Xi Li Ke lingered only for an instant, the bat wings flapped, and it merged back into the night.

A Thunder-Forge Divine Soldier appeared a hundred li away.

He had already seen it: Xi Li Ke did not master a teleportation spell; it relied on some innate talent akin to shadow‑stepping, activated by divinity and combined with the power of the Ancient Sacred Altar, allowing it to achieve night‑time movement speeds comparable to teleportation.

However, it was not true teleportation, and it was still a bit slower.

The Thunder-Forge Divine Soldier lingered for a few seconds, then teleported again, departing the attack range exactly one second before Xi Li Ke arrived.

If it were willing, it could soon escape the domain of the Aweiken Ancient Sacred Altar.

Luo A could not leave the Ancient Sacred Altar; once the enemy left this area, Xi Li Ke could no longer give chase.

But the Thunder-Forge Divine Soldier did not do that; it deliberately slowed its speed, shortened the teleport distance, giving Xi Li Ke the illusion of being able to catch up. Each time it was only a hair's breadth away, as if the next attempt would succeed, making Xi Li Ke reluctant to give up.

While the chase and escape unfolded, a squad of Thunder-Forge Divine Soldiers was gathering deeper in the forest ahead.

Half a minute later.

The Thunder-Forge Divine Soldier watched Xi Li Ke pursue, was about to cast teleport again, then let out a muffled hum, clutching its waist; blood mixed with black energy spurted from its fingers, its legs staggered, and its casting motion lagged half a beat.

Xi Li Ke materialized in the night sky, emitting a sharp screech toward the Thunder-Forge Divine Soldier.

"Whoosh..."

The world fell silent for an instant.

Then a terrifying sound wave erupted; the black wave that had just been emitted from Xi Li Ke's mouth, originally a few meters in diameter, instantly expanded to over a thousand meters. The divinity within the wave was visible to the naked eye, and everything in its path was shattered into dust finer than sand.

The Thunder-Forge Divine Soldier clutched its ears and cried out in pain, its skin split, blood splattered, and its entire body disintegrated within the sound wave.

Xi Li Ke's scarlet eyes flashed with triumph.

It drew upon the Ancient Sacred Altar's energy, and above the forest swiftly formed a black orb, about to crush the enemy's life, when it suddenly sensed danger.

Rumble!

Rumble rumble...

The dim night sky suddenly turned to daylight, several white flashes erupted in the heavens, flooding Xi Li Ke's vision. Though it was a nocturnal creature no longer fearing light, it still instinctively despised brightness; the blazing glare stalled its thoughts for half a breath.

Before it could regain its sight, a dozen thunderclaps exploded over its head.

The bat's hearing was extraordinary; the upgraded Luo A Xi Li Ke could even hear movements dozens of li away. Yet such hyper‑sensitive hearing could backfire, especially when the source was massive and right beside it, causing it pain.

Advanced Thunderclap Technique!

Twelve full Seven‑Ring Advanced Thunderclap Techniques erupted simultaneously at Xi Li Ke's ears, briefly robbing it of its most relied‑upon sense.

A squad of Thunder-Forge Divine Soldiers ambushed in the Ether plane leapt from void and landed on Xi Li Ke's back.

At this moment, they took the form of Gumanra Giant Trolls, bodies swollen, entering an endless berserk state, wielding battle axes and long spears that blazed with fierce electric light, striking Xi Li Ke's head and back. Several other Thunder-Forge Divine Soldiers kept distance and instantly unleashed a chain of spells.

Mind Blast!

Space-Time Shock!

Disintegrate!

Electric Ray and Electric Blast Orb!

Although Thunder-Forge Divine Soldiers can at most cast Eight‑Ring Spells, after being amplified by numerous Elements, the potency of their released spells is no less than Nine‑Ring, and even surpasses it.

Nevertheless, the greatest threat to Xi Li Ke remained close‑quarter attacks.

The Thunder-Forge Divine Soldiers disguised as trolls, yet their strength far exceeded that of genuine Gumanra Giant Trolls; even the weakest possessed at least fourteen levels of 'Strength'. Their weapons, though appearing crude, were forged from the finest magical alloy—heavy and hard—releasing dozens of times the lethal power in a single strike.

Xi Li Ke, deaf and blind, still sensed an enemy on its back and instinctively flailed wildly in the air.

But it was already too late.

Bang bang bang...

The mist surrounding Xi Li Ke was sliced away, exposing its body; battle axes and sharp blades drove straight in, carving several massive wounds.

Several portions of its head were cut open, spewing black blood.

Two metal spears, each several meters long, pierced flesh and bone—one left, one right—stabbing the heart from different angles; the black bat wings were also torn open like a ripped rag. A swarm of spells descended, striking Xi Li Ke and worsening its injuries.

Boom!

Xi Li Ke let out a painful screech, its divinity erupted, and the sound wave instantly spread, blasting the Thunder-Forge Divine Soldiers attached to it away.

Magical energy within several thousand meters converged, forming a massive black mist that corroded everything, crushing all Thunder-Forge Divine Soldiers in the area like seawater; the energy seeped everywhere, eroding souls as if trapped in quicksand.

The Thunder-Forge Divine Soldiers were immediately restrained; their own spells were nullified, and their thoughts and speed grew sluggish.

The All-Seeing Eye saw Xi Li Ke within the mist; its wounds had already healed.

"After all, a demigod!"

"I see."

Lei En aboard the Star Destroyer saw the scene, shook his head, and suddenly understood.

Xi Li Ke's divinity was enormous, far beyond the scope of a normal demigod. Elder Suolim's divinity was less than a tenth of its.

Such massive divinity was already enough for ascension, and once ascended, Xi Li Ke's divine power could surpass many deities!

And that is the crux.

The Southern Continent lacks divine fire, so demigods cannot transmute divinity into higher‑level divine power; they can only fuse divinity with the magical energy of the Ancient Sacred Altar to become "Luo A". Luo A, controlling the Ancient Sacred Altar, essentially possesses a massive energy reservoir, so they scarcely mind the consumption of divinity and can use it freely in battle.

However, Luo A's might is more than one tier below that of deities, hardly something to fear.

Thunder-Forge Divine Soldiers might not be able to kill them, but they can still pose a threat.

Ants bite, elephants die!

Wounded, Xi Li Ke fell into a rage; after regaining composure, it launched a frenzied assault on the Thunder-Forge Divine Soldiers, and within a blink two of them were slain by it.

Lei En felt no remorse; when a Thunder-Forge Divine Soldier dies it can be recreated, merely consuming some electricity.

He had the Thunder-Forge Divine Soldiers entangle Xi Li Ke.

Aweiken, a thousand li away, more thunder‑forged divine weapons slipped into the city, approaching the magnificent temple.

Lei En wants to know the relationship between the temple and the Ancient Saint Altar. If they can locate the Ancient Saint Altar, seize control of the altar, or cut off magical energy, would that be enough to kill Luo A?

(End of Chapter)