Chapter 932: Source Crystal Ore

You can call me Lei En.

Ailuotixiya nodded slightly, but did not speak it out.

She had spent years in the Abyss, aside from the time she spent studying under her teacher, she had mostly been on the run; in the court of the Succubus Queen she had stayed even longer, where countless succubi and demons repeatedly staged the law of the jungle—deceit and treachery, the strong preying on the weak.

Even though Lei En had saved her life and shown great kindness, she had not forgotten that this handsome human before her possessed terrifying power comparable to that of an Abyssal Lord.

Moreover, he commanded an immensely powerful legion.

Lei En saw her wariness, smiled inwardly, and did not press too eagerly, lest he frighten her.

A few minutes later.

On the wilderness, gunfire ceased, the battle subsided, and the Extreme Warriors returned from all sides to Lei En's side.

Over a hundred Extreme Warriors stood around, their tall, burly figures like a metal wall; the rumbling engines behind their heavy armor exhaled a breath that almost suffocated Ailuotixiya—any one of these legion soldiers was stronger than she.

She felt gazes fall upon her, neither hostile nor enchanted, merely a hint of curiosity, yet her heart pounded.

Is this truly a mortal legion?

"Sir!" Marius reported loudly: "The vampires have been slain, none escaped."

Marius was the only one in the Extreme Legion who addressed Lei En as "Sir," unlike other Extreme Warriors who called him "Boss," for he felt "Boss" lacked solemnity and respect; toward the original entity he must be as formal as worshipping a deity.

Lei En did not insist on having him do so.

Reslin controlled the battlefield from high altitude, confirmed no fish had slipped through the net, and guaranteed no vampire would leak news of the Star Destroyer and the Extreme Legion.

Demons slain in the Abyss truly die; there is no need to worry about resurrection.

Moreover, Lei En had started charging his phone at the battle's outset, happily harvesting the souls of several thousand vampires; after ascending to Holy Soul Ascension Wizard, the range for absorbing souls remotely expanded to ten thousand meters, with only a few vampires dying outside that range.

He glanced at the soul pool, satisfied, and said: "Board the ship."

A tall portal opened.

The Extreme Warriors filed in; the Holy Swordswoman succubus saw beyond the portal a wide, bright place with walls and floor cast of metal, and there were many more legion soldiers similarly clad in blue armor, causing her heart to leap.

The portal soon closed, leaving only Lei En and the succubus on the wilderness.

Lei En asked: "Ailuoya, will you come along?"

"Yes!"

Ailuotixiya gladly agreed; entering the Prime Material Plane had been her pursuit for years, and now she finally saw humans from that plane—so powerful, full of goodwill—she naturally did not wish to miss this opportunity.

Lei En smiled, and two positioning teleportation spells descended from the sky, taking him and the Holy Swordswoman succubus away together.

In the next instant, the two appeared on the bridge of the Star Destroyer.

"This is……"

Ailuotixiya let out an exclamation.

She gazed at the view outside the bridge, immediately recognizing it as the interior of the metal fortress; looking up she could see leaden gray clouds, the surrounding walls were transparent, she turned a full circle, confirming the metal fortress was right where they had just emerged, hovering above the wilderness, merely concealed by an Invisibility Field.

The bright, transparent bridge gave the succubus a feeling she had never experienced; everything felt novel.

Most importantly, there was no fel energy contamination here!

She drew a deep breath; the air not only lacked that foul evil, but even carried a fresh, sweet fragrance, making her close her eyes, somewhat intoxicated.

When Ailuotixiya opened her eyes, she saw the outside scenery receding, and the speed was increasing.

She immediately realized the metal fortress was flying.

"Such a colossal metal fortress, not only able to fly but at such speed……" Ailuotixiya was utterly shocked, and at once recalled what her Holy Swordswoman teacher had mentioned countless times; she could not help but ask: "Consul…… Lei En, is this your Fu Kong Cheng?"

"Sort of." Lei En nodded with a smile, "but I call it the Star Destroyer."

"Are you a Holy Soul Wizard?" the succubus asked again. Her teacher had said that only Holy Soul Wizards in the Oriense Empire could build Fu Kong Cheng.

"Of course."

Ailuotixiya's face lit up with understanding; no wonder Lei En possessed such formidable power. Even in the bottomless Abyss, the renown of Holy Soul Wizards spread far and wide.

However, Holy Soul Wizards are spellcasters, aren't they? Why does Lei En seem like a mighty warrior?

He wields a war hammer……

Lei En, so young, is already a Holy Soul Wizard and even an Empire Consul; such a heroic figure in the Empire would surely be known to all, yet his teacher had never mentioned his name—clearly, Lei En is a rising star of recent years.

A Holy Soul Wizard bringing a Fu Kong Cheng into the Abyss must have an important purpose.

Ailuotixiya harbored many doubts.

But seeing Lei En seated on a metal chair, focused on piloting the Star Destroyer, she felt embarrassed to interrupt; there was no one else on the bridge to ask, so she could only stay silent, gazing outside, her emotions turbulent.

Today's events had been a rollercoaster; she still could not calm down.

The scenery outside the bridge shifted rapidly.

Soon, Ailuotixiya noticed the Star Destroyer flying back and forth within a region, Lei En's gaze sweeping the ground, occasionally slowing to observe, as if searching for something. This piqued her curiosity; she sighed at the barren wilderness, wondering what could possibly draw Lei En from the distant Prime Material Plane here.

"Lei En, what are you looking for?"

The succubus whispered, then felt she had been too bold, quickly explaining: "I too am entering the Sighing Wilderness for the first time, but I have previously read an introduction to this layer of the Abyssal Plane; perhaps I can help you."

Lei En nodded: "Have you seen this kind of ore?"

He took an unrefined source crystal ore from his nebula ring and let it drift lightly into the succubus's hand.

Ailuotixiya examined it carefully, then shook her head: "I have not seen it. However, if there truly is a mine in the Sighing Wilderness, there should be only one place, and I happen to know where it is—I passed by not long ago and can guide you."

Lei En was somewhat surprised, nodded: "Then I'll trouble you, Ailuoya."

"No trouble."

Ailuotixiya's lips curled into a faint smile; being able to help Lei En made her feel pleased, and she breathed a sigh of relief inside.

She had Lei En slow the Star Destroyer's speed, orient herself, and point westward.

With a boom.

The Star Destroyer shuttled through the void, crossing hundreds of li in an instant, reappearing above the Sighing Wilderness; Ailuotixiya, experiencing the Star Destroyer's teleport for the first time, was deeply shaken, her gaze toward Lei En now holding several more degrees of awe.

"Lei En, look over there." The succubus pointed to the front right.

The horizon of the Sighing Wilderness was originally as flat as a water surface, with no undulation, but a few dozen li away, under dim clouds, hills rose. Though these hills were low— the highest only a few hundred meters— and very scattered, they were clearly different from other parts of the Sighing Wilderness.

Lei En quietly praised the succubus's cleverness; here it was indeed more likely that a mine existed.

The Star Destroyer flew into the sky above the hilly area and found the region very dry; dust swirling everywhere obscured vision, and while the sandstorms were not intense, they were still extremely uncomfortable.

The sandstorm struck the Star Destroyer, but was deflected by the repulsion field.

Lei En had to lower the flight altitude to see the ground clearly; after about a quarter‑hour of flying, he finally spotted a clue.

Between several hills lay a ruined building on the ground.

The ruin was of unknown age; most of it was buried under dust, leaving only faint outlines of foundations. Lei En did not descend himself; he had Reslin teleport into the ruin for a quick survey, and soon found some vague high‑elf script.

Elf ruin?

Lei En was very surprised—had the elf race ever come to the Sighing Wilderness? Judging by the ruin's scale, the elves had once built a small town here; Reslin also sensed lingering magical fluctuations, extremely weak but indeed different from elsewhere.

He recalled something: why had Hei Sita Fu passed through here?

Or perhaps Hei Sita Fu never merely passed through; his purpose in the Sighing Wilderness was to explore this elf ruin.

This place likely hides a secret, and the Source Crystal vein must be nearby.

Lei En immediately piloted the Star Destroyer to circle the elf ruin as a waypoint. Sure enough, not long after, only a few thousand meters from the ruin, he found a shallow mine pit covering tens of thousands of square meters at the foot of a hill, looking like an unremarkable depression.

Yet Lei En saw at a glance that something was different.

Among the dust above the pit floated specks of silver light; on closer inspection, they were fragments of Source Crystal blown aloft!

Reslin appeared at the pit's center, planted his staff into the ground, and with a booming crack a set of eight‑ring virtual gravity fields opened, lifting the dust‑covered ground upward; after the gale howled, the true shape of the pit was revealed.

The ground was littered with bluish‑gray shards, hard and sharp‑edged, clearly high‑grade rich iron ore.

Lei En had no interest in iron ore, but among many iron pieces were embedded silver crystals!

Source Crystal!

"Finally found it!" Lei En exclaimed with joy; indeed it was an open‑pit Source Crystal mine of abundant reserves—Hei Sita Fu had not lied.

The Star Destroyer lowered its altitude and hovered over a clearing beside the pit, opening the hangar doors.

Dwarf craftsmen, barbarian warriors, and members of the Holy Spear Knight Corps rushed down; although they had been warned beforehand, Lei En also used the Star Destroyer's Iola Core to grant each a mental shield, yet upon exiting the hangar everyone's minds were still jolted.

The air was thick with corrupt energy, and a succession of garbled demonic tongues drilled into ears, straight into the soul.

And dust filled the sky.

The Abyss's harsh environment made people extremely uncomfortable; after a few minutes they gradually adapted, then began work under the lead of the Thundercast Celestial Soldiers.

First they moved all equipment and materials out of the hangar, measured the mine data, and selected a nearby hill to excavate a cavern for storing machinery and for rest.

Dozens of Thundercast Celestial Soldiers spread out, took out prepared alchemical materials, and prepared to erect a massive camouflage rune array and a corrupt‑energy shielding field. Otherwise, except for Extreme Warriors, others could not stay long in the Abyss environment without their minds being polluted and turning into Abyssal monsters.

These two rune arrays were extremely costly, but indispensable.

Everything proceeded in an orderly fashion.

Lei En need not lift a finger; through the Thundercast Celestial Soldiers he controlled the whole scene, sitting on the bridge and turning his head toward the succubus Holy Sword Knight.

"Thanks; without your guidance I wouldn't have found the mine so quickly," he said with a smile.

Ai Luoti Xiya nodded gently.

Lei En surveyed her again; at this moment, the succubus used her innate shapeshifting to assume human form.

Her red bat wings and twin horns on her forehead retracted, the demon tail vanished, her hooves became slender legs, she was barefoot, looking just like a human woman, yet each rounded toe exuded allure.

The succubus sensed Lei En's gaze lingering on her feet and became slightly uneasy.

"Ai Luo Ya."

Lei En spoke softly, moderating his tone, "Forgive my presumption; I have never seen a succubus become a Holy Lance Knight—this is astonishing."

"I am not wholly a succubus," Ai Luoti Xiya whispered.

"Oh?" Lei En raised an eyebrow, feigning surprise, his face showing interest, "Could you tell me more? If you don't mind."

"Um…"

Ai Luoti Xiya recalled for a few seconds, then said, "I was once a Blazing Heaven Divine Envoy of the Heavens; long before that, I was a human…"

Lei En showed appropriate shock.

One spoke, one listened.

A moment later, Lei En couldn't help being moved by Ai Luoti Xiya's tortuous history.

In short, Ai Luoti Xiya was originally human; she did not remember which nation she hailed from, died young, and her soul ascended to the Heavens becoming a low‑rank member of the Aila Tian Race. Her talent was extraordinary; after centuries of forging and battle she rose to become one of the strongest Blazing Heaven Divine Envoys, later, during a campaign against the Abyss, she encountered the succubus queen Mei Kan Weita.

No Blazing Heaven Divine Envoy, however strong, could rival a deity; Ai Luoti Xiya was slain, and her soul captured by the succubus lady.

Her soul became one of Mei Kan Weita's favorite trophies, imprisoned in a Ruby Prison, subjected to countless torments, and lost most of her memories.

Many years later, Mei Kan Weita fused an Angel Soul with a newly‑born primordial succubus.

Thus, Ai Luoti Xiya was born.

The succubus queen's plan was to cultivate Ai Luoti Xiya into a pain nun, making her one of the thirteen most loyal and powerful maidservants at her side, but an accident occurred.

Ai Luoti Xiya's Angel Soul awoke, lay dormant for decades, and finally escaped the queen's palace.

During her flight she met a Legendary High-rank Holy Sword Knight, took her as a disciple, guided her onto the Holy Sword Knight path, and became a follower of the justice god Tiriel. After years of joint battles, the teacher died tragically, passing his armor and silver Holy Sword to her.

Over the years, through repeated escapes and battles, Ai Luoti Xiya sought and merged demonic souls, gradually reaching Legendary High-rank.

Until recently, she entered the Sighing Wilderness and was severely wounded by a Vampire Duke.

Then came the scene just rescued earlier.

Lei En sighed, "Ai Luo Ya, your existence is a miracle; a series of coincidences forged the you you are now."

"Did you already see something?" the succubus Holy Sword Knight asked earnestly.

She had long sensed that Lei En's first glance at her was filled with goodwill, unlike the typical human attitude toward demons.

"Yes."

Lei En smiled lightly and said, "I possess the ability to discern good from evil; although you bear a succubus's appearance, I see an angel. I cannot stand by while a kind angel perishes."

Ailuote Xiya's face froze; since her teacher's sacrifice, this was the first time anyone had trusted her so completely.

Her eyes grew a little moist, and she said solemnly, "Thank you, Lei En."

Lei En waved his hand to indicate no need for thanks.

"May I ask you a favor?" Ailuote Xiya's eyes were full of anticipation.

Lei En already knew what she wanted, and he nodded proactively, saying, "Of course, I will take you to the Prime Material Plane. But before that, I must finish my own business."

Ailuote Xiya was very pleased, looking down at the busy dwarven craftsmen, and asked, "You mean mining this kind of ore?"

"This is only one of them."

Lei En's gaze turned toward the distant north, the direction of the vampires' castle and lair, "I intend to exterminate all demons in the Sighing Wasteland."

(End of chapter)