Crystal Giant

The bottom floor of the ancient tower was a mess, littered with rubble and metal wreckage.

An Changqing looked at Chen Guan, his eyes showing not just surprise, but also a hint of contemplation. "Student Chen Guan, your spiritual energy just now... was very unique."

Long Ao also retracted his crimson aura, glancing at Chen Guan with a cold snort. "Just a trick. Still, you've got some skills."

Although Long Ao said this, he was actually quite astonished inwardly. In his eyes, the aura Chen Guan emitted was entirely negligible, yet his speed in killing the enemy was even faster than his own. How could he not be shocked?

However, even these two experienced individuals had never seen such strange spiritual energy.

Could it be the effect of an Esper ability? An Changqing pondered in his heart.

Chen Guan knew he couldn't hide it, but there was no need to over-explain. He simply said, "I just happen to have some sort of counter against these kinds of things."

Su Yuehe didn't have as many reservations. Plus, the two weren't exactly strangers after these past few days. To satisfy her curiosity, she asked directly, "Chen Guan, you're amazing! What was that grey light? An Esper ability?"

"It's my spiritual energy. I'm still figuring it out."

Chen Guan answered vaguely. In truth, he himself didn't know whether it was spiritual energy or mental energy.

An Changqing didn't press the issue. Everyone had their own secrets. As long as it didn't harm their companions, he was willing to respect it. Take himself for example—didn't he have secrets too? Therefore, secrets were nothing to be surprised about.

Geniuses always had some secrets.

He looked toward the depths of the ancient tower, where a dark purple light flickered. "The guard is dealt with. Let's keep moving, but we need to be more careful. The direction the stone giant retreated to might lead to where the tower's treasure is located."

The four of them rested briefly. After taking pills to restore their spiritual energy, they set off again, following the direction the stone giant had retreated to explore the upper levels of the ancient tower.

The higher they went, the more spacious the inside of the tower became, but the black wind also grew thicker, almost forming a viscous fog.

The dark purple light grew brighter, and a chilling aura began to permeate the air, making them feel uneasy.

Finally, they reached the middle level of the ancient tower.

This was a massive circular hall with a towering dome, covered in damaged murals and reliefs. They depicted incomprehensible scenes: falling stars, the earth tearing apart, and countless figures being annihilated in the disaster.

In the center of the hall stood a damaged altar made of dark purple crystal.

Above the altar floated a fist-sized prismatic crystal, constantly flickering and emitting an unstable dark purple glow.

The chilling aura and the dark purple light originated from it.

"That's it!" Su Yuehe affirmed, looking at the wildly spinning needle on her compass.

However, before they could even approach the altar, a sudden change occurred.

The dark purple crystals around the altar suddenly lit up all at once. Twisted, vein-like dark purple patterns spread out from the altar, instantly covering the entire hall's floor, walls, and even the dome.

A pressure far more massive than that of the stone giant swept out like a tidal wave. The black wind in the hall was instantly cleared out, replaced by a suffocating heavy pressure.

"Not good! It's a trap! The crystal is a bait!" An Changqing's expression changed drastically as he shouted sharply, "Fall back!"

But it was already too late.

The dark purple crystal above the altar suddenly erupted with a blinding light. The dark purple patterns throughout the hall seemed to come alive, madly extracting the residual spiritual energy within the ancient tower, as well as the spiritual energy and life force from the four of them.

An invisible suction force arrived, locking them firmly in place. The power within their bodies drained outward uncontrollably.

At the same time, from the shadows around the hall, four even taller crystal giants slowly rose. Their entire bodies were made of dark purple crystal, and deep purple flames burned in their eyes.

Their auras impressively reached the third tier, and because they were right in front of the crystals, their might was even greater.

The true guards had only just appeared.

And that bait-like crystal was clearly a trap designed to absorb the intruders' spiritual energy and activate the final guards.

"Damn it!" Long Ao cursed angrily, desperately resisting the suction force, his crimson aura flickering erratically.

Su Yuehe tried to rely on her spirit words to escape the predicament, only to find her spiritual energy dropping faster and faster. She was already unable to cast a sufficiently powerful spirit word.

If she forced it...

An Changqing pushed his golden light to the limit, trying to sever the invisible connection, but the effect was minimal. He shot a glance at Su Yuehe; he knew exactly what she was thinking.

Unless it was an absolute last resort, she absolutely must not force it.

Chen Guan also felt the power in his body, including the grey energy, rapidly draining away, sucked out by the altar.

But he quickly realized that the suction force didn't seem to draw his grey energy smoothly. There was a natural repulsion involved, and the existence of the Black Iron Coffin also helped him offset a portion of the suction.

"We have to destroy that crystal or cut off the supply," Chen Guan said through gritted teeth, his gaze sweeping over the spreading dark purple patterns around them and the four slowly approaching crystal giants.

Resisting the suction head-on to forcefully attack the crystal or the giants was clearly unwise; it would only accelerate the drain of their own power.

They had to destroy this device at its source.

"Yuehe, I need you to help me locate the device's connection points."

An Changqing asked in a deep voice, simultaneously forming hand seals. The golden light around him flared up again. This time it wasn't a shield, but condensed into fine golden threads that danced at his fingertips, as if weaving something.

Su Yuehe nodded. Enduring the pain of her spiritual energy being extracted, she took a deep breath and raised the runic compass again. Driven by her faint spiritual energy, the compass turned with difficulty. The needle trembled, pointing to a few spots on the floor and walls where the dark purple patterns intersected most densely and the light was brightest.

"The floor in the southeast corner, the dome in the northwest, and the third crystal on the left side of the altar's base."

Su Yuehe spoke rapidly, her voice trembling slightly but unmistakably clear. Even putting her Esper abilities aside, her mind was top-tier. Once she calmed herself, she could make judgments very quickly.

"Good." A brilliant light burst from An Changqing's eyes. "Chen Guan, Long Ao, help me hold off those crystal giants. Leave the rest to me."

"Leave it to me!" Long Ao shouted loudly. He stopped resisting the suction force and instead instantly detonated the remaining crimson aura in his body along with a portion of the extracted spiritual energy.

Boom!

His aura surged explosively. Like a burning blood-red meteor, he actually managed to temporarily break free from the suction's lock and fiercely lunged at the nearest crystal giant.

Chen Guan didn't waste words either. No longer stingy with his mental energy, he forcefully activated the remaining grey energy in his body, covering his body's surface with it to the maximum extent.

The natural repulsion toward the dark purple crystals allowed his movements to be slightly smoother than the others.