Chapter 248: Third Soul Transformation

The Death Knight heard Lei En's shout, and its remaining single eye flickered.

It didn't understand the meaning of the words, but sensed danger.

Even without a flesh body, its soul hidden in a steel avatar, the powerful pressure emanating from Lei En made it very uncomfortable.

The Death Knight lacks human emotions, but that doesn't mean it's mindless.

On the contrary, because their Willpower is hard to affect, they stay rational at all times, thinking calmly like machines, thus able to make the most correct choices in battle.

The Death Knight instantly felt a desire to retreat.

But before it could act, Lei En charged forward again, a simple charge, swinging his war hammer down.

With seventh‑level swiftness, the Death Knight had no chance to escape.

It could only be forced to respond.

The Thunder Hammer left trailing afterimages, colliding with the heavy hammer amid surrounding lightning; with a boom, everyone within several hundred meters heard an ear‑splitting blast, and a raging gust laced with lightning swept the area, turning the undead at the tower entrance steps into powder.

The death flame emitted by the dual‑handed heavy hammer was completely suppressed.

The Death Knight was knocked to the ground by a hammer blow.

The Ironblood Armor couldn't withstand such a powerful strike; it had already shattered, the chest of the armor dented, the whole body deformed, causing sluggish movement, and lying on the ground it temporarily lost the power to counterattack.

Nearly eleventh‑level power finally turned the tide, crushing this terrifying foe!

Lei En, of course, wouldn't miss the golden opportunity.

He swung the war hammer wildly down.

Bang bang bang…

One explosive crack after another echoed across half of Fu Kong Cheng, and each time the war hammer fell, countless bolts of lightning erupted.

With a twenty‑fold power boost, the lightning from the Thunder Hammer finally reached its limit, equivalent to a six‑circle spell.

The lightning's strike range also expanded to nearly a hundred meters.

No matter how many undead creatures rushed forward, none could survive three seconds under the lightning, effectively blocking the steps leading up to the tower entrance.

"Eighty! Eighty! Eighty…"

Lei En muttered in his mind, swinging the hammer with no reserve, as if forging metal.

Under the war hammer, the Death Knight resembled a lump of iron on an anvil, its shape gradually altered by the storm‑like blows.

The thunder roared continuously for half a minute.

Even with his soul constantly replenishing, Lei En's stamina seemed limitless, an inexhaustible power, yet he was still a mortal flesh; after hammering over a hundred blows at full force, a wave of uncontrollable soreness spread through his body, and the hammering pace slowed.

At this point, the ground bore a huge crater from his strikes.

The Death Knight lay in the pit, barely retaining a human shape, its entire armor hammered to pieces, resembling a heap of scrap metal.

"Seems I lack the talent for forging,"

Lei En muttered, yet dared not let his guard down.

The Soul Eye saw clearly that the Death Knight's soul power had plummeted to a low point; even the Ironblood Armor could no longer be sustained, yet it still clung to the armor and was not slain.

It possessed four supreme Elements, three of which Lei En had already witnessed.

The fourth, the "Nether Soul Realm," remained unused.

This Element can create a demi‑plane resembling the Abyssal Netherworld, filled with death energy, granting undead creatures a massive environmental boost; it can exile a person into it, kill targets within, and devour souls for amplification.

Lei En had been on guard against this technique.

He hammered again, unleashing lightning that cleared the incoming Undead Army.

Then, he crouched cautiously, reaching to touch the Death Knight's armor, preparing to activate Activated Metal to utterly destroy the armor.

Suddenly, a gray‑white ghostly light emanated.

Lei En had prepared; his whole body transformed into lightning, and in an instant he retreated a hundred meters, avoiding the gray‑white glow.

During the rapid retreat, he still swung his troll slayer, countless fine blades flashing, slicing the surrounding undead into fragments.

A spherical space dozens of meters in diameter descended, enveloping everything.

"Nether Soul Realm!"

Inside and outside the space were like two worlds; the Death Knight floated at the center, its tattered armor and heavy hammer levitating, only to find that within the realm there was only itself, not a single undead.

The armor quivered incessantly, emitting a silent, desperate cry.

Without soul power replenishment, the Death Knight could not sustain the Nether Soul Realm; after a few seconds it dissipated automatically, falling back into the pit.

Lei En, no longer worried, charged back into the pit, hammering a few blows to strip the Death Knight of any resistance.

Then, he placed his hand on the armor.

"Metal Touch" Element took effect first; the armor's properties and structure instantly transmitted to his mind, and Lei En thought, "So it's a steel avatar forged from Sarlong Evil Iron; no wonder it's so powerful."

Sarlong Evil Iron is a very rare magical metal, the vast majority harvested from the Abyss, with only a few found in extreme environments beyond the Abyss.

This metal possesses qualities similar to refined gold, with high density and hardness.

But it has an advantage over refined gold: it conducts evil energy, shadow, or death power extremely well; rune armor and weapons forged from it can unleash maximum potency in the hands of Demons and undead.

Though rare, the metal isn't necessarily expensive.

Sarlong Evil Iron has little use for humans; only evil beings like Demons and undead need it, so it fetches little price.

Lei En didn't hesitate and activated Activated Metal.

Sure enough, he sensed repulsion.

This Sarlong Evil Iron armor, fused with the Death Knight's soul, possesses the "Steel Soul" trait, allowing it to control the armor's form and resist external intrusion.

If it were at its full strength, Lei En might have had no way.

Now the Death Knight's soul is weakened.

Moreover, Activated Metal had just risen to level three, its ability to alter metal now several times stronger than at level one; Lei En's gaze hardened, his spirit focused, fully driving the Element.

On the Soul World Tree, the leaves of Activated Metal blossomed with light.

One second later, the Steel Soul's defense was shattered.

The tattered armor instantly softened, turning into a pool of liquid metal; Lei En controlled its shape, contracting it inward, and in the blink of an eye it became a dark‑green iron sphere.

His hand slipped into the iron sphere and lifted it.

In this state, the Death Knight had no resistance left, as if its limbs and head had been cut off, leaving only the torso.

The liquid‑like Saron Corrupt Iron kept contracting, squeezing the soul inside out.

A human‑faced soul protruded from the surface, thrashing wildly, opening its mouth to emit a shrill screech toward Lei En, striking his mind.

"Hmph."

Lei En's expression remained unchanged as he hummed, completely unaffected.

The Death Knight's soul was being squeezed out bit by bit; in a few more seconds it would separate from the Saron Corrupt Iron, and without its steel avatar it would be absorbed by the device and converted into electricity.

"Lord!"

The Death Knight mustered its last strength and let out a hoarse cry: "Ai Long Ruiwen Nate is willing to give everything, only ask the Lord to save me!"

Its voice rose straight to the heavens, reaching the Death Lord's ears, and a reply sounded from the sky:

"As you wish."

Lei En's face changed dramatically.

He looked up and saw Death Lord E Sa Zi, bracing the teacher's spell barrage, pointing the legendary Frostmourne Sword in his direction.

A blast of icy force fell through the air.

Lei En didn't even have time to react; his whole body froze, thick ice spreading over his skin, instantly turning him into an ice statue. The massive icy power solidified into a cone of ice over three meters tall, its tip pointing upward like a square obelisk.

A terrifying chill invaded his brain, but fortunately the Will of Truth repelled it.

Lei En was immobilized; even with nearly eleventh‑level power, he couldn't break free at that moment.

He watched helplessly as the Saron Corrupt Iron sphere slipped from his grasp and flew upward, taking Ai Long Ruiwen Nate's soul with it; even its two‑handed hammer didn't fall, being sucked into Naxas Floating City.

"What the—!"

Lei En swore inside, having fought to the point of exhaustion, just as he was about to harvest the soul, the cooked duck somehow flew away from under his eyelids.

He also felt a lingering dread.

That icy will that invaded his brain was a terrifying killing move, capable of striking straight to the soul; without the Will of Truth, anyone else would have been frozen to death on the spot.

Crack!

Lei En's power erupted, and cracks appeared on the icy obelisk.

A fireball descended from the sky, the scorching flames shattering the ice; it was a rescue spell sent in time by Anxiwodasi.

Lei En leapt out of the shattered ice, looked up with hatred at the Death Lord, and silently swore:

"Sooner or later I'll snap your helm and take your sword."

The surrounding undead surged forward again.

Lei En swung his war hammer, unleashing lightning, scattering the undead of the calamity legion.

Amid the roar of thunder, wave after wave of lightning burst, undead beings fell one after another, their souls continuously surged to replenish soul power.

Such killing efficiency was even more terrifying than a crossfire net.

Lei En alone blocked the stairs, holding back countless troops, leaving Ao Xiliya, Heins, Akaland and the others at the tower entrance staring in amazement.

They also possessed large‑area destructive spells or abilities.

But none could match Lei En, whose stamina and soul power seemed endless, casting spells as casually as splashing water.

Lei En not only triggered the Thunderous Heavy Strike's lightning to annihilate nearby foes, but also hurled several Electric Blast Orbs each second, blasting distant undead to death, turning a radius of several hundred meters into a lightning hell!

"How much soul power does he actually have!"

"Titan Power can triple the soul‑recovery speed, but it can't be that exaggerated, right?"

Akaland saw Lei En unleash a dozen Electric Blast Orbs in one breath, carpet‑bombing the Undead Army, and couldn't help inhaling a gasp of cold air.

Heins' expression remained imposing, yet his flickering gaze revealed inner unrest.

Even Ao Xiliya, who was very familiar with Lei En, was stunned.

Only the Extreme Warriors, each swelling with excitement, proud of their original forms' might, were eager to rush down and join the fight.

Amid the booming roar.

Lei En suddenly sensed a hint of fatigue, his power slipping down from its peak.

He carefully sensed that the Frenzy Beast Blood Elixir's duration was ending; more than ten minutes had passed since he drank it.

The elixir's effective time was fifteen minutes.

Dragon Power Technique and Blessing of Justice could be replenished at any time; Titan Power's effect was the strongest and lasted the longest, about an hour, so there was no immediate worry.

However, without the Frenzy Beast Blood Elixir, his strength would drop severalfold, the Thunderous Heavy Strike's lightning would weaken, and its range would shrink.

"We must seize the time."

Lei En looked up at Naxas Floating City; the three Holy Soul‑level battles showed no sign of a decisive outcome yet.

From the plaza, Lu Yin was still maintaining the portal.

Snap...

A fragment split from Lu Yin's cheek, exposing flesh, then was charred black by the energy.

"He's about to give up!"

Lei En felt great joy, deciding to accelerate Lu Yin's bodily disintegration while his power was still at its peak.

"You all hold here!"

He shouted, then charged toward the plaza without looking back.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Three consecutive charges, brandishing his war hammer and great axe, he cut a bloody path; the undead along the way fell like wheat being reaped, turned to ash by lightning or sliced into fragments by the blade.

He reaped countless souls along the way, and Lei En rushed onto the plaza.

Lu Yin stood in the middle of the protective shield, while outside it lay a dense mass of undead, packed tightly, reminding Lei En of the crowded train stations during the Spring Festival travel rush, with nowhere even to set foot.

He raised his war hammer and struck several times, and lightning cleared the undead on one side of the shield.

Hundreds of souls were absorbed and converted into electricity.

"Sss…"

Lei En let out a muffled hum, his head feeling a bit swollen.

It was too far from the tower entrance, so the excess electricity could not be fed to the Extreme Warriors, causing his soul power to accumulate excessively with nowhere to vent.

"It can only be consumed."

Lei En disabled the soul-absorption function, then circled the shield with a charge, hammer pounding wildly, countless bolts of lightning erupting, and individual Electric Blast Orbs hurled out; in less than half a minute he cleared all the undead from the plaza.

In fact, among those undead were a few Death Knights.

Lei En spotted their traces at a glance, but paid them no mind, treating them as ordinary undead and dispatching them casually.

With his current strength, even a legendary early-stage Death Knight would fall with a single hammer blow.

The throbbing in his head vanished, and the electricity plummeted rapidly.

Lei En hurriedly reactivated his phone's charging, then looked at Lu Yin inside the shield; fragments of his face kept falling off, his entire visage sinking as if eroded over a thousand years.

Even at this point, Lu Yin's Willpower remained steadfast, his posture unmoving.

"Pathetic!"

Lei En shook his head and sighed; an Arcane Master should not meet such an end.

But now is not the time for sentiment.

The Truth Will roared into full power, and Lei En's gaze seemed to pierce all illusion to the essence, sweeping over the shield and finally landing on the plaza's ground.

The plaza, named after Lu Yin, bore a massive rune formation.

Through the formation, Lu Yin temporarily gained control of the Iola Core, forcibly cutting off its energy and transferring it into a star realm crystal pillar to open a portal.

At the same time, Fu Kong Cheng's protective shield was reduced to protect Lu Yin himself.

Lei En made no attempt to attack the shield.

It was destined to be futile.

Fu Kong Cheng's shield equated to a Ten-ring Spell; even a Holy Soul Wizard was helpless, unable to break it in a short time.

One must admit, this rune formation was truly profound.

Lei En had studied rune knowledge for a few months; he could only say he was a fresh beginner, far inferior to Master Lu Yin by more than eight streets.

He glanced a few times, unable to grasp the formation's principles; it far exceeded his current knowledge.

Nevertheless, the Truth Will still let him notice the anomaly.

Perhaps Lu Yin's body was disintegrating; he could no longer fully control the rune formation, causing the shield to become unstable, contracting every few seconds before expanding again.

The contraction was slight, only a few centimeters.

Just now the shield's surroundings were again swarmed by countless undead, so no one noticed.

Lei En kicked aside several undead corpses, clearing the ground, and saw that when the shield contracted, a tiny gap appeared at the edge of the rune formation.

The gap was small, yet it became a fatal flaw.

"If I can destroy it…" Lei En immediately began to gather power, focusing as he waited for the next shield contraction.

A few seconds later, the rune formation quivered inward.

"Now!"

Lei En exerted all his strength, leapt down along the shield's edge and hammered down, just as the shield contracted and revealed the gap.

Boom!

Half the plaza trembled; without energetic protection, the ground collapsed, the edge of the rune formation was slightly damaged, the shield rippled but remained stable.

Lei En did not lose heart, waited a few seconds, and swung his hammer down again.

Boom boom boom!

The plaza kept shaking, the ground bore a huge crater from Lei En's blows, the formation's damage grew worse, and the shield quivered violently, like a stone thrown into water, sending out rippling waves.

This phenomenon finally sparked panic among the enemies.

They all saw Lei En charging toward the plaza but did not intervene, doubting he could break the shield; they never expected he would actually succeed!

"Stop him quickly!"

Within Fu Kong Cheng, several Seal Masters, Mid-stage and above undead Wizards and Liches, flew toward the plaza to stop Lei En from further attacking the shield.

However, they were all a step too late.

Lei En stood in the crater he had created, ignoring the enemy's assault, wildly swinging his hammer.

Bang!

The plaza's collapse triggered a chain reaction; the massive rune formation cracked inward from its edges, the shield finally shattered, and the formation emitted an earth‑shattering explosion.

Terrifying energy burst forth like a breached dam, exploding in all directions.

Lu Yin * Anserram, who was at the forefront, was instantly blown to powder, leaving no bones or even a final word.

Lei En, seeing the situation turn dire, immediately dove into the crater to evade the energy blast.

Amid the energy torrent, a soul flew in and was absorbed.

The soul's massive soul power made Lei En's eyes widen instantly, his head feeling as if it would burst, his eyes bloodshot, a splitting headache.

But the Extreme Warriors were too far away to distribute the soul power to them.

The entire Soul World Tree trembled.

Every Element leaf glowed, massive soul power had nowhere to vent, raging wildly in consciousness, even forming an invisible soul‑power vortex that churned souls outward.

The soul power converted by the phone kept increasing, showing no sign of stopping.

It's already too late to shut off the soul‑absorbing function now.

"I won't have my head explode from the soul power, will I?" Lei En was terrified, his heart pounding, and tried to leap out of the pit toward the tower entrance, allocating the soul power to the Extreme Warrior.

But as soon as he stuck his head out, the terrifying energy swept over him, nearly burning him to ash.

Only a Holy Soul‑ranked strongman can endure the energy of the Iola Core.

Lei En could only shrink his head and keep hiding.

Only a few seconds passed, and the soul power in his mind surged severalfold; just when he thought he would be burst by the soul power, his whole body suddenly shivered, and the pain miraculously vanished.

Not only did the pain cease, the soul was not Tear, and instead a pleasant sensation arose.

Lei En was stunned for a moment, then finally understood what was happening.

"Did I just force a Soul Transformation?"

(End of Chapter)