Chapter 86: Steal

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Azalon looked at the Spirit Core he held in his hand with interest. The Spirit Core was pale yellow in color and the size of his fist. It felt extremely heavy and solid for such a small object. The Demon Mountain Ape was an Earth Affinity Spirit Beast and its Core was the accumulation point as well as the storage point of its Spirit Essence.

Azalon looked at the Spirit Core he held in his hand with interest. The Spirit Core was pale yellow in color and the size of his fist. It felt extremely heavy and solid for such a small object. The Demon Mountain Ape was an Earth Affinity Spirit Beast and its Core was the accumulation point as well as the storage point of its Spirit Essence.

He felt a warm tingling sensation from the Core being transmitted through his palm and he could feel the vibrant and rich Spirit Essence and Spirit Energy contained within the Core. The pale yellow in color Spirit Essence, the color of Earth Affinity Spirit Essence, was swirling around in a small vortex within at the center of which he could make out the faint outline of the harvested soul of the Demon Mountain Ape.

But what excited him the most was that the dormant brown colored Earth Soul Spirit lying dormant in his Soul Root trembled very slightly when he held the Spirit Core in his hand! This meant that this Spirit Core and the soul of the Demon Mountain Ape contained within was compatible to Awaken his Earth Soul Spirit!

His body suddenly flashed and appeared at a distance in a flash just as Smith recovered from his stunned state.

“Its you!” Smith was truly surprised when he clearly saw Azalon. Isn’t this the brat from the group of three they encountered when they killed the Netherlake Basilisk? He still remembered how they claimed that they were the ones who chased and injured the Netherlake Basilisk. But what would that matter here?

“You brat! Hand over the Spirit Core immediately and I will make your punishment slightly less painful for your mistake. Otherwise, I don’t mind giving you a lesson on how to behave with your seniors.” Smith growled with a sinister expression on his face.

Azalon didn’t speak and he grinned at the wrathful expression on Smith’s face as he played with the Spirit Core in his hand. Instead, he turned towards the others of Smith’s group who shook off their stunned states one by one. All of them were looking at Azalon with angry and stunned expressions on their faces. They could have never imagined that a kid with his cultivation at the Second Level Condensation Realm could be this daring. Even Steven was watching Azalon with a weird expression on his face.

“Hey, weren’t you the one of that group who claimed that they injured the Netherlake Basilisk? What are you doing here?” His voice trailed off as he saw the Spirit Core of the Demon Mountain Ape in Azalon’s hand. His expression sank and his eyes became cold. How dare this kid try to steal from them?! The others also saw that Azalon was holding the Spirit Core and their expressions turned frosty as well. They swiftly moved and surrounded Azalon on all sides. Only Smith and Steven were standing in their places without moving.

“Senior Brother Smith. He is one of the freshmen of the Academy like me and my classmate as well. Please let me talk with him. May be he is being impulsive and tried to take some petty revenge because of the matter of the Netherlake Basilisk before. But once he understands his silliness, I am sure he will come apologizing to you.” Steven sighed and spoke when he saw the expressions on the others. Smith gave him a glance and nodded his head silently. After all, with his strength, a kid with Second Level Condensation Realm would be like a bug to him, something he can squash even in his weakened state.

Steven turned towards Azalon who was also looking back at him, without bothering about the people that surrounded him. He was about to open his mouth and speak some reprimanding words to Azalon when his heart suddenly sank as he watched a playful smile lit up on Azalon’s face.

He watched as a purple streak of light rushed from behind him and landed before Azalon, revealing a purple wolf with an exquisite crown on its head. Lightning flashed on its body and arcs of which snaked towards the group of people surrounding him. The group who just got out of their stunned states because of the howl once again became petrified as volts of electricity ran through their bodies.

‘Not good!’ Smith and Steven’s expressions sank when they saw this happen.

“See you later, Senior. I will always remember this huge gift that Senior prepared for this Junior. Bye then.” Azalon grinned widely towards the duo and waved his hand as his body flashed and he retreated into the wilderness.

Smith snapped out of his shock and immediately gave chase. “You fucking kid! Stop right there!” His roar resounded and Azalon just smirked. He flipped his hand and stored the Spirit Core into the Void Ring. His lightning Spirit Energy rumbled through his Spirit Veins and his speed soared as he executed the Illusionary Ghost Steps. A small grey figure shot down from one of the trees and Raka appeared on his shoulder. With the Lightning Wolf following him to his right, he rushed deeper into the wilderness like a phantom with Smith hot on his heels.

“Alright, you two. My part is done here. Its now up to both of you. Please make sure that you succeed. Otherwise this new life of mine will almost come to an end in this forest!” Azalon mumbled to himself as both of their figures disappeared within the cover of trees in a few breaths.

The others who were stunned by the lightning recovered and their faces were now covered with a thick killing intent. They were the disciples of the Blacksmith Hall, and they were respected and feared by almost all the students of the White Deer Academy, except for those really powerful fellows among the students and the Alchemist apprentices who commanded even more respect than them. They didn’t even have the time to celebrate their killing a Class 5 Spirit Beast before its Spirit Core was stolen from them!!

They all took out their Spirit Weapons and prepared to rush towards the direction in which that kid and Smith disappeared towards. The rules of the Academy prevented the students from killing each other, but they sure can beat that audacious kid half to death!

Skreeeee!!!

A loud and grating cry of a vulture made them, who had rushed into the wilderness for some distance, turn their heads up towards the skies. They saw a huge phantom of a vulture standing in the skies with its bony wings spread out just above the area where they killed the Demon Mountain Ape. A very creepy looking half human, half vulture creature dropped down from within the vulture phantom and dropped heavily on the ground.

Their expressions turned ugly and they immediately turned around and rushed back.

“He is after the corpse of the Demon Mountain Ape. That should be a friend of the kid that escaped with the Spirit Core. Senior Brother Smith went after the first one. This should be their real plan, one of them would steal the Spirit Core and distract Senior Brother Smith to chase after him while the other would swoop in to claim its body. I imagine that the other one would drop the Spirit Core after some time and escape. That way they would at least get the corpse of a Class 5 Spirit Beast without any difficulty!” One of them tried to analyse the situation and the others also nodded when the others heard this explanation. It made a lot of sense to them and it was something that two kids at the second and third level Condensation Realm could somehow pull off.

In the meantime, Mark reached the body of the Demon Mountain Ape lying at the center of the crater. Even after being killed, Mark could feel the pressure of standing in front of a powerful Spirit Beast, that made something deep within his blood mourn the fall of such a magnificent creature.

He bowed deeply to the corpse for a moment and offered a slight prayer. It was the custom in the Black Lands to pay respects to any Spirit Beast that fell, as its death would provide for the sustenance of the humans living in the Black Lands, so it became a kind of tradition to offer prayers for the slain Spirit Beasts.

His already huge hands bulged some more as he easily lifted the corpse from the ground. The Demon Mountain Ape weighed only a few hundred pounds, something even a Spirit Novice could lift. He walked out from the crater carrying it like it weighed almost nothing.

When he walked out the crater, he looked around and smiled. Standing around the crater were the youths who were staring at him with angry expressions on their faces and their Spirit Weapons pointed at Mark. Their expressions grew disdainful when they sensed Mark’s cultivation base.

Steven walked forward from the back of the group. “Don’t be reckless, Mark. That is your name, right? We saw through your plan of one being a decoy while the other one steal your real target, the corpse of the Demon Mountain Ape. Its a very good plan. A bit reckless and insane, but a good plan nonetheless. But you seem to have severely underestimated our group, don’t you think?” Steven’s voice had a tinge of anger when he spoke. This was their kill and Steven was the one who had suffered the most under the Demon Mountain Ape’s attacks.

But when he saw Mark grin at him just like how he saw Azalon smile at him before, his heart dropped as he looked around.

Just then, the wind became wild accompanied by a faint melody that sounded beside their ears. The wind howled and blasted against their bodies with increased ferocity as the melody increased more and more in tempo.

“Wind Blade Hurricane Wall” A young woman’s voice resounded across the wind and the melody suddenly stopped along with the wind. When they looked around they were shocked to see that they were now within the eye of a hurricane that rumbled around them like a huge cage, effectively trapping them within. The hurricane was formed from countless Wind Blades that whooshed around them, slicing the very wind itself, the sharp sounds making their faces turn even paler.

“A third accomplice. And this should be a Heaven Grade Spiritual Art!” Almost all of them shouted out at the same time with pale faces. Only those Spiritual Arts at the Heaven Grade could bring out such a powerful changes to its surroundings when casted. And none of them stood a chance against such kinds of Spiritual Arts! Not to mention they were terror stricken by the sheer number of Wind Blades contained within the hurricane.

“We are not the one underestimating you guys. It is you who are thinking that you saw through our plan. Consider this as a payback as what you guys did to us for the Netherlake Basilisk, with a little interest thrown in!” Mark suddenly rushed towards a direction as he threw out those words while laughing. The howling wind split to form a small opening in the hurricane through which Mark rushed out. Once he passed through, the opening closed off sealing off the half dozen youths, still shocked to respond, within.

Off in a distance, a very satisfied lit up the beautiful but pale face of Leora as she watched Mark approach her with the corpse of the Demon Mountain Ape. With her cultivation level, keeping this Heaven Grade Spiritual Art was very draining on her spirit energy reserves and she had even mixed in the Spirit Essence from her Soul Spirit to sustain the hurricane a little bit longer.

“Hahahahaha… that kid, Azalon sure is crazy to come up with a plan like this. Its very simple but very effective! Now all we need to do to get to the arranged meeting point and wait for Azalon to come. Let’s hope that he will be able to successfully shake off that Smith. If he is to get caught, I would not even dare to imagine what his condition would be like. After all, his opponent’s cultivation is at Fifth Level Condensation Realm.” Mark laughed loudly but his face became serious when he reached the end of his words.

“Hah? What are you saying? Didn’t we see how he battled with the Netherlake Basilisk alone and almost kill it? How can a trifling cultivator at a Fifth Level can be his opponent when he could kill a Spirit Beast that can be considered a peak Condensation Realm cultivator?” Leora scoffed at Mark from above the branch she stood on, as she divided her concentration slightly from maintaining her Heaven Grade Spiritual Art.

Mark shook his head. “You don’t understand. A Spirit Beast is generally considered more powerful than a cultivator of the same level but that is only because of its tough body and brute strength. But a human is different from those beasts, with its cunning and more intricate use of the Spirit Energy in the form of Spiritual Arts. This difference may not be that much in the initial stages but later on, it will become glaringly obvious.”

Leora stopped to think of Mark’s words as worry clouded her face. But it was immediately cleared as she looked towards the direction where Azalon had run into the wilderness. Even though the time they spent with Azalon was very short, they felt they were connected with and understood each other very closely.

“Let us go too. Try and maintain the Spiritual Art for a few moments while we retreat.” Mark lifted the corpse of the Demon Mountain Ape as his body transformed into his half – vulture form. Leora jumped down from the branch and both their bodies flashed as they transformed into streaks of lights rushing into the wilderness.

The hurricane howled for a few moments more and gradually disappeared revealing half a dozen youths with pale faces. They couldn’t believe that they had let the corpse of the Demon Mountain Ape get stolen from beneath their noses! No one spoke a word as all of them collapsed on the ground.

Far inside the Wilderness…

Clang! Clang! Bang!!

Fierce battle sounds shook the ground as the surroundings were filled from the flashes of the Spirit Energy explosions.

Spear shadows covered the space as the surrounding trees exploded to bits under the assault from the countless spear shadows. A lone youth stood there with a long spear in his hand. He waved his spear and numerous spear shadows flew covered the area as they wreaked havoc in the surroundings.

If one could observe closely, the spear shadows were aimed at a silhoutte rushing around the area, dodging the spear shadows with a hair width.

Smith was about to go crazy as he watched Azalon dodge all his attacks. His unpredictable movements were difficult to follow and even if sometimes his attacks did reach Azalon, his attacks would pass through his body like Azalon’s body was not corporeal! With his Spirit Energy almost drained to empty because of his fight with the Demon Mountain Ape, he had to rely on his physical strength and use his Spirit Energy sparingly. This made his attacks less powerful and completely within the range that Azalon could handle.

Azalon dodged a spear shadow but another followed right behind him forcing him to use the effect of the Ghostly Illusionary Steps to turn his body into a phantom. The spear shadow passed through his body and Azalon’s face paled a bit as he retreated. He was lightly panting and his lightning Spirit Energy was less than one – fourth remaining.

He frowned as he watched Smith who once again raised his spear with its tip pointed at him. He had to admit that Smith with his cultivation at the Fifth Level Condensation Realm proved to be far stronger than he imagined. He had been full of confidence because of his battle with the Netherlake Basilisk but it was only now that he understood the difference between humans and Spirit Beasts.

Spirit Beasts may be powerful than its human counterparts with the same cultivation level but that was only in a general sense. The attacks of the Spirit Beasts were limited to its inborn abilties while humans had the support of the Spiritual Arts. He had only found that now after experiencing an intense battle with Smith. After all, his battle experience with humans was pitifully low that it can be almost neglected.

If he had to deal with Smith in front of him, he had to look for another way. He had already found through the hard way that a head on collision would be very disadvantageous to him.

“LILY, have you finished analysing the battle patterns of this kid?” Azalon asked within his mind.

“Data capture is 60% completed. Simulating a basic model with the data collected. Chances of you winning this battle is calculated at 58% probability. But this is only in the case that you don’t hold back your strength and bring out all your cards. If you wish to hide them, the probability drops down to 39% with an additional risk of fatal injury.” LILY’s respond confirmed his suspicions. This Smith was definitely bad news.

“Hey you brat! I am running out of patience here. I have been holding back my attacks because of the fact that I don’t want to injure a fellow student. Otherwise do you really think that you would have lasted this long with the difference between our cultivation levels? Obediently hand over the Spirit Core and I will let you go without any long lasting injuries.” Smith spoke with a bland tone as he kept his spear levelled against Azalon, but he was practically waiting to beat Azalon to a pulp!

Azalon ignored Smith’s words as he took a deep breath. Handover the Spirit Core? This Spirit Core was very important for the Awakening of his Earth Soul Spirit. If he lost it now, who knows how long it would take before he would come across another Spirit Beast with such compatibility to Awaken his Soul Spirit? He had a faint premonition that he had to Awaken all his dormant Soul Spirits before he would reach the Spirit Core Realm. He didn’t know why he had that feeling but he could tell that this feeling was right there at the back of his mind.

Smith became enraged when he saw his words were ignored by Azalon. He took a step forward and was about to bring his spear to launch another attack when he suddenly stopped in his tracks. His eyes widened and his body shook as he watched something unexpected before him.