Chapter 249: Death Finger

Lei En had undergone two Soul Transformations before, but none had ever been this easy.

There was no pain, no soul tearing, only an indescribable sense of exhilaration; his whole body felt as if he were soaking in a comfortably warm bathtub, relaxed and at ease, as if he had shed heavy shackles.

The World Tree of Souls in his mind was growing rapidly.

Every leaf was glowing.

Countless soul power was converting into his own strength, driving the soul metamorphosis; that pleasant feeling made Lei En lose himself in it.

While feeling the Soul Transformation, he was still thinking in his mind.

What on earth is going on?

After thinking it over, it should be related to fusing with the Will of Truth and dispelling the Blood Soul Curse.

Human souls become weak due to the Blood Soul Curse, with terrible talent; extraordinary beings can only resist the curse by using potions refined from Soul-Eating Grass; once their soul power grows strong, they then use the potion to tear the soul, stimulating evolution in pain, metamorphosing to a higher stage.

This is a unique human cultivation method, both dangerous and painful, but there is no alternative.

For non-human races, such as elves, dwarves, and even trolls, they have no Blood Soul Curse, innate strong bloodlines; when their souls reach a certain level, they can metamorphose naturally without a Soul Transformation ritual.

Only when advancing to Legendary rank might there be some complications.

After the curse is lifted, I am just like humans from thousands of years ago; I no longer need to rely on Soul-Eating Grass potions!

Lei En realized he was a bit slow to react.

He had already dispelled the Blood Soul Curse when he was a third-stage Wizard, but he had never considered this before, so he had not accumulated much soul power for a breakthrough; he still went through the Soul Transformation ritual and advanced to Mid-stage Wizard.

If it weren't for this accident, he might not have realized it until much later.

He carefully sensed the metamorphosis.

Without the Soul Transformation ritual, there is naturally no pain.

Moreover, the efficiency of metamorphosis is much higher.

In a normal Soul Transformation ritual, the degree of transformation depends on how long one persists; the longer the time, the better, ultimately achieving perfect Soul Transformation.

Other races are different; their metamorphosis determines future potential based on the current amount of soul power accumulated.

For Lei En, this is fundamentally not a problem.

Lu Yin*Anseram is a Legendary high-rank Arcane Wizard; their souls are countless times stronger than ordinary people's; after absorbing the phone, even if only a tiny fraction is converted into electricity, for a sixth-stage Wizard, the soul power is so abundant it is unimaginable.

Because this metamorphosis method is different, the phone also underwent a change.

Lei En saw that the three circles representing battery power merged into one, and a progress bar appeared beside it, slowly moving forward.

He immediately understood that this progress bar indicates his own metamorphosis level.

"Roughly ten minutes and the Soul Transformation will be over."

Lei En made a quick judgment and temporarily stopped paying attention, because more important matters lay ahead—the crisis of Fu Kong Cheng had not been resolved.

He hid in the pit, a massive energy torrent sweeping over from above his head.

This is the purest arcane energy flowing from the Iola Core; unrestricted, it possesses terrifying destructive power; a random blast hitting the body is almost like a rainbow laser.

Just now, Lei En had rushed out; if it weren't for his third-stage Iron Body, he would probably have already turned to ashes.

This pit lies at the edge of the rune formation, farther from the explosion center, so only a trickle of energy rushed in, the power not that strong, allowing Lei En to endure it.

He shrank his head and hid for over ten seconds; the out-of-control energy finally dissipated completely.

Lei En jumped out of the pit.

The whole square was a mess; the surface layer of the ground had been washed away by energy, the rune formation left no trace; in the very center was a huge pit several meters in diameter and three to four meters deep; whether stone slabs or earth, all had been vitrified.

The streets around the square also suffered a violent impact, resembling ruins after bombardment.

The undead creatures Lei En had killed earlier had long since turned to dust and vanished.

The undead mages, liches, and death knights that had just charged forward to stop him were all gone, none daring to approach and court death.

"I wonder if any enemies were blown to death?"

Lei En gloated, thinking so, and looked up at the sky.

The light pillar maintaining the teleportation gate had already disappeared; deprived of the Iola Core's energy, the gate was gradually shrinking, and Naxxaras Fu Kong Cheng was being forcibly pulled back into the star realm, making descent even less likely.

After Lu Yin's death, control of Fu Kong Cheng was immediately taken back by the teacher.

A massive protective shield slowly rose from the center of the square, spreading outward; possibly due to lingering effects of the exploded formation, the shield opened slowly, appearing to need two to three minutes before it could envelop the entire Fu Kong Cheng.

Even so, this heralded the doom of the invaders.

Wherever the shield passed, whether undead creatures, liches, or death knights, terrifying arcane flames instantly erupted from the void, instantly reducing them to ashes.

Those undead creatures still falling from the sky, upon landing on the shield, were instantly burned to residue.

Tens of thousands of the Undead Army gathered below Weizelan High Tower were annihilated in ten seconds, leaving no corpses behind.

This scene terrified the enemies in Fu Kong Cheng to the point of losing their souls.

Liches and undead mages abandoned their opponents one after another, flying up to try to escape back to Naxxaras Fu Kong Cheng.

Most death knights cannot fly; they could only desperately flee within Fu Kong Cheng, being surrounded and suppressed by wizards and extraordinary beings.

"This is all soul power!"

Lei En felt a pang of regret; unfortunately, he is currently in Soul Transformation and cannot absorb more souls. After this, it will probably be hard to have another opportunity to harvest souls on such a large scale.

"Roar!"

Death Lord Ezasaz rode his massive bone dragon, emitting an unwilling roar.

"Retreat."

A cold, low voice came from beneath the Death Lord's helmet.

The entrance of Naxxaras Fu Kong Cheng contracted; the endless stream of the Undead Army descending finally stopped, and moreover, the deep entrance reversed, generating an upward suction.

This suction only works on members of Naxxaras Fu Kong Cheng.

Liches, undead mages, and death knights each have a skull-shaped emblem on their bodies, linked to the floating city above; a beam of light descends, enveloping the whole body, sucking them into the sky and into the entrance of Fu Kong Cheng.

As for those undead creatures, they were obviously abandoned.

To the Death Lord, only Death Knights who are Transcendents have any value; undead creatures are merely cannon fodder.

To protect the Death Knight returning in midair, he and Korstted kept fighting, launching a frantic assault that held Anxiwodasi.

Earlier, Anxiwodasi blocked the two to prevent them from damaging the Weizelan Fu Kong Cheng.

These two Holy Soul‑level strongmen can make people have nightmares just by hearing their names.

But Anxiwodasi's reputation is even greater.

As one of the Empire's three great heads, a Holy Soul Wizard renowned for a thousand years, one of Ai Lun E Si's greatest casters, the founder of the Mo Du sect, Master Anxiwodasi's strength exceeds that of the Death Lord.

Korstted, who has just advanced to Holy Soul rank, is also his student.

The battle among the three was essentially a showdown between Master Xi An and the Death Lord; Korstted was merely assisting, and had he faced his former teacher alone, he would have been blasted to death long ago.

After fighting for so long, Anxiwodasi gained a slight edge, holding the two great foes back from entering the Fu Kong Cheng; now the tide has turned, shifting from defense to offense, and he does so with ease.

This Holy Soul Wizard, specialized in fireball magic, excels at offense.

Fireballs swirl across the sky, terrifying flames that seem to scorch the heavens; few in the world can withstand a Holy Soul Wizard's offensive spells.

Even with the protection of the Death Lord and Korstted, it is impossible to cover everyone.

Shrieks of agony echo in the sky.

Clumps of ash rain down from the heavens.

Whether Lich, undead wizard, or Death Knight, fewer than half manage to escape and return to the Fu Kong Cheng.

"Should be fine now."

Lei En exhaled, and although the losses were great, the Weizelan Fu Kong Cheng did not collapse, a blessing amid misfortune.

A stray glint in his peripheral vision suddenly sparked a strange light.

He turned his head quickly and saw the light emanating from the ruins outside the plaza, where a pile of rubble half‑covered a column‑shaped gem.

Star‑Realm Crystal Pillar!

Lei En was greatly surprised; he had thought the gem had been blown apart, yet it remained intact and unscathed.

Clack! He used Electric Flash Teleport to dash over and grab it.

"Indeed, it's not broken."

Lei En brushed the dust off the Star‑Realm Crystal Pillar; the dazzling gem seemed to contain infinite starlight, with not a single crack on its surface.

He pocketed the priceless gem and scanned the surroundings.

Master Lu Yin possesses more than just the Star‑Realm Crystal Pillar; he also has an epic‑level staff, and what about his spatial gear?

Having achieved a great feat today, taking Lu Yin's relic as loot isn't excessive, right?

Lei En sprang into action.

The ruins surrounding the plaza were vast; after searching in vain, he raised his war hammer and struck hard, a bolt of lightning sweeping outward, blasting the rubble and debris into the air.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

After three or four blows, a half‑exposed light‑purple shaft of a staff finally emerged from a corner.

"Found it!"

Lei En sifted through the trash and pulled out the staff; indeed it was Lu Yin's former one, about 1.8 m long, minimalist in design, with a purple streamer tied to the tip that moves without wind, emitting a faint Arcane glow.

He didn't examine it closely, simply tossing the staff into his spatial ring.

He kept searching and soon found a gem brooch nearby, flower‑shaped and exquisitely crafted; he recalled it was Master Lu Yin's spatial equipment and slipped it into his pocket.

Having collected several treasures, Lei En felt delighted.

At this moment the Weizelan insignia became usable again; he activated it to create a random door, appearing on the steps leading into the high tower.

Ao Xi Li Ya, Akaland, and the Extreme Warriors were all present.

Heins was nowhere to be seen, likely having returned to lead his Holy Swordists.

All enemies outside the entrance were cleared by Arcane fire; even the countless undead corpses previously slain turned to ash, filling the air with a foul stench.

"Lei En..."

Ao Xi Li Ya turned and called out, a hint of inscrutable light in her eyes.

Akadlan also greeted enthusiastically.

"Boss!" the Extreme Warriors shouted in unison.

Lei En's gaze swept over them one by one; after this battle, Xikalious and Aoto both ascended to Legend, and the other eleven Extreme Warriors also made tremendous progress, reaching the strength of Level‑9 Transcendents, with four of them attaining Level‑9 Peak, capable of challenging Legends.

He was about to speak when a sudden intuition struck, and he looked up.

At this moment the shield already enveloped most of the Fu Kong Cheng; the Master, while confronting the Death Lord and Korstted, cast spells to eliminate enemies fleeing toward Naxus.

Outside the shield, hundreds of meters behind the Master.

A dark‑red silhouette hovered in midair.

The figure was invisible, appearing extremely aged, with pallid skin, dark eyes, sparse short black whiskers, a gaunt frame clad in an ornate dark‑red robe; his left hand grasped a fist‑sized black orb, while his right index finger pointed forward.

He was pointing at the Master.

"Lich!"

"And a terribly powerful Lich!"

Lei En's eyelids twitched wildly; he dared not use his Soul Eye to observe the Lich, yet he could feel its terror, seeming more dangerous than the Death Lord.

He shouted immediately, "Master, watch out!"

Anxiwodasi also sensed the danger, layers of protective spells surfacing around his body as he flashed downward, preparing to slip into the Fu Kong Cheng's shield.

However, his movement was still half a step too late.

The Holy Soul Lich concealed in the shadows completed the casting, a grim smile curling his lips, his finger locked onto Anxiwodasi, drifting slightly forward, and he said coolly:

"Death Finger!"

(End of Chapter)