Chapter 80: Thunder Stomp

Lei En stood in front of a massive iron cage, observing the monster inside.

It was a colossal beast, nearly five meters long from head to tail, with stout limbs and a torso as tall as an adult's shoulders, wide and thick like a wall.

Its skin was rough, pale gray, partially covered with light‑blue scales; a half‑meter long sharp horn rose from its head, and a row of triangular bony fins ran along its back to the tail, looking rather terrifying.

At this moment it lay in the cage for all to see, having starved for a long time, its eyes vacant, bound tightly by thick chains, showing no sign of struggle.

Lei En estimated that the creature weighed at least three to four tons!

It wasn't his first observation; each time he came he found it odd: "It's clearly a huge rhinoceros, why is it called a Thunder Lizard?"

In Lei En's mind, lizards were slender, swift little animals, not this ferocious, bulky, power‑packed beast.

The Element seen by the Soul Eye also confirmed this.

This Thunder Lizard was an Initial-stage Beast, extremely powerful, a top among Initial-stage Beasts, equivalent to a Tier 3 Transcendent.

It possessed three Elements: "Strength", "Lightning Arc", and "Thunder Stomp".

Lei En was familiar with the Strength Element; although it was only Level 1, it indicated that the Thunder Lizard's weight wasn't trivial—if it charged and struck with its horn, few Transcendents could withstand it.

Physical Elements like Strength can be stacked with the same Element after fusion.

Lei En was fairly satisfied with this Element, as it could at least boost his own strength.

Lightning Arc is a ring spell and a rare thunder‑electric spell.

The Thunder Lizard cast Lightning Arc through the horn on its head.

Earlier, the owner of this Magic Soul Shop had provoked the Thunder Lizard, causing it to release a Lightning Arc; its power was quite good, and the blue current made the entire large iron cage tremble.

At that time Lei En, a few meters away, felt a faint numbing sensation, and his hair stood on end.

The spell was strong, and its range decent, reaching at least beyond ten meters.

Its only drawback was that the casting time was too long.

A Lightning Arc ring took three to four seconds to cast; Lei En estimated that if he mastered the spell and practiced for a while, he could reduce the casting time to under three seconds.

But three seconds was still too long for him.

In close combat, engagements are extremely rapid; even one second feels too long, let alone three.

Three seconds allowed him to hammer several times, turning enemies into meat paste; it also gave enemies enough time to slash several blows, sparking on his own body.

But it wasn't entirely hopeless.

If he could increase the number of Lightning Arc rings, wear one or two casting‑speed gear, and drink the appropriate casting elixir, perhaps he could cut it down to under a second, which would be almost sufficient.

Lei En's favorite was still the last Element, Thunder Stomp.

It is an ability‑type Element, and a rare‑grade one!

The Thousand‑Soul Book described Thunder Stomp: by stamping the ground with its feet, it releases a shockwave centered on the user, a ring imbued with thunder‑electric power, delivering both physical and energy attacks within a three‑to‑four‑meter radius, and it can also paralyze foes, making it hard to defend against.

Most importantly, Thunder Stomp can be triggered instantly!

It is the Thunder Lizard's signature move; according to the seller's owner, just this one technique caused three soul hunters who captured it to suffer serious injuries, and they are still recuperating.

Lei En was very intrigued by this Element.

He currently lacks a decent attack skill, relying solely on brute force, smashing foes with a war hammer.

If he could obtain Thunder Stomp, it would be useful whether fighting solo or brawling with a crowd.

Imagine, in battle, a sudden stomp that releases thunder, and few can react in time; almost everyone gets hit.

Thunder Stomp can knock people down and paralyze them—doesn't that let him cut them up at will?

If a drawback must be mentioned, it is that Thunder Stomp is an ability Element, cannot be actively upgraded with Soul Power, and only has a chance of strengthening during Soul Transformation.

This limits its potential; it may be strong early on, but by the mid‑to‑late stages it should have little effect.

If Thunder Stomp were a Physical or Arcane Element, Lei En would not hesitate and would immediately choose to fuse it.

Unfortunately it isn't.

"Why is such a good Element an ability one?" Lei En sighed helplessly.

The other two Magic Souls he selected, the Phantom Mantis and the Wind Roc, were not much inferior to the Thunder Lizard.

Those two Magic Souls, in other shops, were dead items, contained within Soul Stones.

Before death, the Phantom Mantis was a large insect, entirely teal‑green, with a fierce appearance, also possessing three Elements: "Phantom Step", "Tear", and "Sonic Blast"; the first two are Physical Elements, the latter a spell.

Lei En liked Phantom Step a lot; it is a rare‑grade skill that, when used, makes him move at lightning speed within seconds, even fast enough to leave after‑images, greatly compensating for his lack of speed.

Tear was also good; when a sharp weapon struck an enemy, it instantly ripped the wound open, causing greater damage.

However, Lei En's usual weapon was a war hammer; a direct hit usually killed the enemy outright, making the Tear Element somewhat superfluous.

Sonic Blast cast quickly, compressing air in a small area before exploding, attacking enemies with sound waves; the massive noise also created a brief ringing, causing disorientation.

Lei En valued Phantom Step and Sonic Blast, both greatly enhancing him.

The last Magic Soul, the Wind Roc, possessed "Acceleration Technique", "Air Cutting", and "Wind Breath".

Acceleration Technique needs no explanation; that day in the battle at Dong Ting Hu, Viola had infused it for him, roughly boosting his speed by twenty percent.

Air Cutting is a wind‑type spell; its casting is slower, but it is an area attack, forming dozens of wind blades that blanket a large front area, cutting wildly with no blind spots.

Wind Breath is a rare ability Element that coats the whole body with wind power, slightly increasing movement speed; whether bare‑handed or wielding blades, spears, swords or hammers, it imbues attacks with wind elements, similar to a magic swordsman, though its potency is a notch lower.

Moreover, because it is an ability Element, Wind Breath's potential ceiling is also somewhat limited.

These three Magic Souls each had strengths and weaknesses, already the best Initial-stage Magic Souls Lei En could find on the market. Mid-stage Magic Souls were better and stronger, but too powerful for a Level Two Wizard to fuse.

Because they all contained rare Elements, their prices far exceeded those of ordinary Magic Souls.

The most expensive Thunder Lizard sold for five hundred Gold Shields; the Phantom Mantis and Wind Roc were a bit cheaper, around four hundred fifty Gold Shields each.

Two days ago, Viola had already dealt with those spoils, handing the money to Lei En—over four thousand three hundred Gold Shields in total—a hefty profit.

So Lei En now isn't short of money; even if the price were several times higher, he could still afford it.

What he's now wrestling with is which Magic Soul to fuse, and he's been pondering it for two days.

"Mr. Lei En, have you decided?"

A woman in a red robe asked from beside them.

She is the owner of this demon soul shop, herself also a transcendent, and seeing that Lei En is a genuine potential client, she is very enthusiastic.

Lei En gave her a glance, shook his head without speaking, still hesitating inside.

The female shopkeeper laughed, then said slowly, "Mr. Lei En, you'd better act quickly; many customers have asked me about the price of a Thunder Lizard, and I've kept it for you until now."

"Got it," Lei En nodded.

He is well aware of these tactics; the shopkeeper is merely trying to create a sense of urgency, giving the illusion that demon souls are in high demand.

In reality, few transcendants can afford such an expensive beginner demon soul, and there aren't many potential buyers.

For the vast majority of transcendants, the first demon soul fused after a Soul Transformation—the Main Soul—is already predetermined by their profession.

People come to the market to purchase demon souls, usually as secondary souls.

Usually just after a soul ascension, reaching second or third tier, or fifth or sixth tier.

Because of conflict between Main Soul and secondary soul, the stronger the demon soul, the harder the fusion; if it fails, at best an Element is lost, at worst power regresses, wasting an upgrade opportunity.

To be safe, many transcendants choose less powerful demon souls as secondary souls.

These ordinary demon souls usually have only one or two Elements, and some transcendants even fuse identical demon souls to strengthen existing Elements.

Conversely, very powerful demon souls are harder to sell, priced high, and transactions don't conclude quickly.

Moreover, the demon souls Lei En selects all contain Arcane Elements.

Many transcendent professions lack casting ability, such as Iron Guard, Berserker, Shadow Warrior; even if they fuse these demon souls, without soul power they cannot wield the Arcane Elements, making it pure waste.

If a Wizard buys them and extracts the Arcane Elements to forge a Law Seal, the remaining physical Elements are of little use, also wasteful.

Thus, the most sought‑after demon souls are those whose Elements are all physical, or all Arcane.

Occasionally, having Psychic Elements is acceptable; both soul power and physical strength can trigger them.

Transcendent professions like Lei En's, which require demon souls with multiple types of Elements, are actually rare.

Including Battle Wizards, Demonhunters, Engineers, Magic Swordsmen, and Elemental Archers, they are either rare professions, advanced professions, or clergy of the Church; advanced professions are at least fourth tier and disregard beginner demon souls.

Lei En negotiated prices for these three demon souls, paying a deposit of ten Gold Shields for each, having the shop reserve them for two days.

Within those two days, as long as no one bids higher, he has the right of first purchase.

If the deadline passes without purchase, the deposit is non‑refundable.

Today is the last day, and Lei En no longer wishes to delay. He doesn't look at the other two demon souls, standing before the large iron cage for a while, already having made up his mind.

"Overthinking won't help; I'll take the Thunder Lizard."

Lei En sighed softly and said to the shopkeeper, "Take out the demon soul of the Thunder Lizard; I'll buy it."

"Mr. Lei En, you're so straightforward."

The shopkeeper rejoiced, immediately called someone from the shop to come in and prepare to kill the Thunder Lizard.

Lei En didn't watch the killing, turned and left to the shop's counter to pay.

He took out five golden notes from his coat; they are Empire gold notes, each worth one hundred Gold Shields.

Over 4,300 Gold Shields, piled up as heavy as a refined‑iron war hammer—over 120 lb—hard to carry, so Viola exchanged them into gold notes for him: three worth a thousand Gold each and thirteen worth a hundred Gold each, all on his person.

Before long, the shopkeeper handed over a soul stone.

Lei En picked it up, examined it carefully, activated his Soul Eye, confirming it was indeed the demon soul of the Thunder Lizard.

Besides the soul stone, the shop also refunded fifty Gold Shields, covering the deposit and the Thunder Lizard's carcass material, which was also valuable.

Lei En didn't linger, pocketed the soul stone and took his leave.

Leaving the shop, he cautiously used his Soul Eye to watch nearby transcendants while contemplating fusing the demon soul that night, and heard a jumble of sound waves in his ears.

Halfway there, before exiting the market, faint voices of conversation drifted from afar.

It seemed a group had gathered.

Lei En hadn't paid much attention nor intended to join, but a word caught his ear.

"Dragon Power Technique?"

He couldn't help but stop, pinpointing the source, and soon understood: someone there was selling demon souls bundled with the Dragon Power Technique!

Lei En instantly became very interested.

He had heard of this spell; it's a rare‑tier, one‑ring auxiliary spell, usable on oneself or to empower others, dramatically boosting strength, comparable to a dragon's might.

Of course, that's an exaggeration; a one‑ring spell cannot have such astonishing effect.

But the Dragon Power Technique can be upgraded; each additional ring increases the strength boost, and legends say beyond five rings the power rivals that of a true dragon!

Moreover, the technique does more than increase strength; after empowerment it seems to coat the user in dragon hide, raising magical resistance—known as "Dragon Hide Technique."

A dragon's skin naturally possesses strong magical resistance; Dragon Hide Technique derives from mimicking that skin.

When comparing pure strength increase, Dragon Power Technique is slightly weaker than Giant Strength Technique, but with added magical resistance the overall effect far surpasses Giant Strength Technique.

One Dragon Power Technique equals the combined effect of Dragon Hide Technique and Giant Strength Technique!

Lei En changed direction and soon saw, on a small plaza beside the street, five or six people gathered around a stall, pointing at a soul stone.

He didn't approach immediately, first scanning with his Soul Eye.

There are three such small plazas in the demon soul market, set up especially for transcendants.

Many transcendants, dissatisfied with shop prices or wishing to barter, set up stalls here hoping to meet discerning buyers.

Lei En has browsed stalls these past days but hasn't found what he wants.

With his keen eye, he can easily spot that many stallholders are swindlers, exaggerating their wares which are actually worth little.

Lei En's gaze swept quickly, not seeing any followers of Luo Xi, and he moved to the stall, pushing into the crowd.

When he recognized the stall owner's face, he was slightly surprised; he had seen the two before.

"It's them…"

(End of Chapter)