Chapter 15: The Heroes' Cemetery

It was a spirit beast twice as large as the others, its entire body a vivid crimson. Unlike the usual spirit beasts, it did not carry their peculiar pipes, but instead wielded an enormous flag, which was typically rolled up and unnoticed unless one looked closely—as Li Mingxing usually did not.

But now, that great spirit beast was unfurling the flag, waving it continuously. With each sweep, a plume of black vapor shot forth from the fabric, descending upon the corpses of fallen spirit beasts. As long as their bodies were still largely intact, the dead would immediately leap back to their feet.

Li Mingxing observed for a while and noticed that the black mist did not emit the faintest trace of necromantic aura, much less any breath of life that could truly revive the dead. Plainly, this was another bizarre technique of that inner world.

Yet Li Mingxing had no intention of standing by to study it. Like a streak of violet lightning, he lunged straight for the great beast wielding the flag.

The instant he sprang forward, the spirit beast rolled up its flag and swiftly retreated, vanishing into the throng after only a few steps.

This infuriated Li Mingxing. No longer restraining the bloodlust surging within him, he set about slaughtering the spirit beasts around him with terrifying speed.

In the blink of an eye, every spirit beast that had not yet escaped was slain. Li Mingxing spotted the retreating, flag-bearing beast.

With a roar, he charged after it, but before he had gone far, he found himself running from one cave into another.

Inside this cavern, Li Mingxing came upon a vast burial ground, before which stood more than a dozen of those massive flags.

Behind the flags rose a platform like an altar, tiered with dozens of steps, each level rising more than ten meters high.

Standing at the base, Li Mingxing could see from afar several coffin-like objects atop the platform. He could not tell if the people of this inner world also used such things, but judging by the palpable aura of decay, this was indeed a graveyard.

The spirit beast that had fled here made no further attempt to escape. It stood atop the high platform, regarding Li Mingxing with a cold gaze, muttering something under its breath.

Before it, more than ten spirit beasts were kneeling and prostrating themselves repeatedly. With each bow, a wisp of black vapor rose from their heads and was drawn into the nearby flags.

Witnessing this uncanny spectacle, the killing intent in Li Mingxing’s heart quieted a little, but he continued forward relentlessly.

The great beast soon noticed his approach. With a smirk, it pointed its flag at the coffins behind it.

Immediately, two of the coffins sprang open. Out stepped two humanoid figures shrouded in crackling lightning. Li Mingxing could see clearly that, though both radiated with electricity, the powers within their lightning were fundamentally different.

One stood seven meters tall, clad head to toe in golden armor; the other, six meters high, was formed entirely of thunderclouds. The source of their electricity differed—one from its hands, the other from the vaporous clouds encircling it—and even the color of their lightning contrasted: one brighter, the other gloomier.

After emerging from their coffins, the two giants stood in place, seemingly dazed, while the great spirit beast above was drenched in sweat, struggling to control them.

Li Mingxing, watching from a distance, immediately recognized their identities. The first, with mastery over thunder and lightning, was surely the Titan; the second, rarer among the elemental lineages, was a true Lightning Elemental.

Both, in life, had likely reached the fifth or sixth rank in power. Though now dead and summoned by some unnatural means, their strength, though diminished, would still not fall below the fourth rank.

Li Mingxing knew he stood no chance in a head-on fight. His only hope was that the spirit beast would be unable to maintain control for long.

For this reason, when the beast sent its two monstrous puppets to attack, Li Mingxing made the wisest choice: he ran.

He did not escape the cavern entirely, but darted nimbly around the high platform, always keeping just out of reach. As he did so, he slew several of the kneeling spirit beasts.

To his surprise, this unexpected tactic worked to his advantage. The kneeling beasts were in fact fueling the Titan and Lightning Elemental with power; for each one he killed, the giants shrank in size.

By the time Li Mingxing had slaughtered all those spirit beasts, the Titan and Lightning Elemental had dwindled to just over three meters tall. Li Mingxing judged that the great beast would not dare use the flag’s power to revive them now.

When the Titan found itself reduced to three meters, it seemed uncomfortable. It strode toward the platform, intent on intercepting Li Mingxing.

The Lightning Elemental, however, remained in place, aimlessly lifting and lowering its lightning-wreathed arms.

At last, as the Titan charged at Li Mingxing, the Lightning Elemental suddenly lashed out with a bolt of lightning. The silver arc struck the Titan, then, fused with the Titan’s own electricity, leapt to Li Mingxing.

Caught off guard, Li Mingxing was blasted away, crashing hard to the ground, unable to move. The purple scales and fur covering his body turned black, curling with wisps of smoke.

As the Titan advanced to finish him off, Li Mingxing’s Blackstone Champion leapt forward, bringing its battle axe down on the Titan’s heel.

Unaccustomed to fighting such diminutive foes, the Titan had just lifted its leg when the axe struck, causing it to lose balance and topple.

The instant the Titan fell, Li Mingxing, who had lain motionless on the ground, sprang to life. He pounced onto the Titan’s back, plunging his scorpion tail into the nape of its neck, then tore and bit with his fangs and claws.

But he had barely begun before the Titan’s lightning faded, its golden armor turning ashen and its once-mighty muscles withering away.

Glancing back, Li Mingxing saw the great goblin on the platform half-kneeling, the flag fallen from its hand; clearly, it could no longer control the two corpses.

Without hesitation, Li Mingxing hurled himself onto the platform and bit the goblin to death in one savage lunge. Then, after a glance at the Lightning Elemental—now shrunk to the size of a fist—he headed straight for the coffin from which the Titan had emerged.

As soon as he reached the coffin, a stench of scorched flesh assailed him. Peering inside, he found only charred remains, testifying that even in death, the Titan’s thunderous power could not be wholly extinguished.

Rummaging through the burnt debris, Li Mingxing unearthed two gems, each larger than an ordinary jewel, their settings wrought from metal—evidence that these bases endowed the gems with their unique powers.

After pocketing the blue and red stones, Li Mingxing approached the Lightning Elemental’s coffin. To his astonishment, the fist-sized elemental still retained consciousness; as Li Mingxing neared, it rammed him, knocking him into the coffin.

Fortunately, his companions had by now arrived and forced open the lid before Li Mingxing could suffocate.

Despite this setback, Li Mingxing found a reward: inside the Lightning Elemental’s coffin lay a pale golden belt inlaid with a blue and a red gem.

With the belt in hand, Li Mingxing understood that he had completed his mission—he had found the Elemental Belt he sought.

Though it was not the legendary belt said to summon the four elements, as Midalin had described, this one could still call forth wind and fire, and even combine them to summon smokestack elementals.

After instructing Midalin to safeguard the belt, Li Mingxing did not hurry back to the real world. He said to his companions, “I will explore further inside. Search this place thoroughly for anything we can take. If not, open all the coffins and deposit whatever you find with Djinn. Midalin, you supervise and choose only the best. If you encounter any more creatures that can resurrect, just call out and we’ll leave immediately.”

Saying this, Li Mingxing gathered his battle panthers and Blackstone Champion and ventured deeper into the cavern.

As he departed, Midalin hesitated. She knew well that these coffins surely held treasures, but she also realized that they were likely the tombs of heroes from the elemental wars ten millennia ago. Disturbing them left her uneasy.

Yet Li Mingxing’s orders compelled her to obey. Gritting her teeth, she pointed to the final coffin atop the platform. “Let’s open this one first. If nothing comes of it, we’ll try the others.”