Chapter 214: Samadhi True Fire

A bolt of otherworldly lightning struck down. The man in black remained unscathed, though his spirit body appeared slightly dimmer than before.

Given Zhou Qing’s current cultivation level, casting a Heavenly Lightning spell was not overly strenuous, yet it instantly drained thirty to forty percent of his spiritual power. Such a formidable technique had only managed to dim the opponent's spirit body; while no major damage was done, it was not entirely ineffective.

Thanks to his awakened Earth Spirit Root, Zhou Qing was entirely unconcerned about the consumption of spiritual energy. As long as the heavenly lightning could inflict damage, he was confident he could destroy his foe.

"It is truly rare for a human cultivator to summon this otherworldly lightning. I remember the last time I saw such a strike was over a decade ago, when an old Daoist priest came to storm this mountain and employed this very technique."

The short ghost cultivator in white, sitting nearby, spoke these words.

Hearing this, Zhou Qing halted his preparations for a second bolt of lightning and turned his gaze toward the white-clad figure.

"What became of that old Daoist?" Zhou Qing asked in return.

"He died. I beat him until his soul scattered into nothingness," the ghost cultivator in white replied with a chillingly indifferent tone.

No sooner had their brief exchange ended than the ghost cultivator in black, standing not far away, raised his hand and lashed out with a whip.

The whip descended with such velocity that Zhou Qing had no time to evade, and it struck him squarely. His protective aura proved completely ineffective; the whip bypassed the barrier, striking his physical body with a sensation akin to touching ten-thousand-year-old ice. Because he possessed a Fire Spirit Root, he had not felt the temperature of the world for many years, yet this blow sent a genuine chill through his marrow.

As the whip struck, Zhou Qing shifted his intent. Huo'er let out a sharp cry, its cat-sized body instantly transforming into a mass of flame. This ball of fire then exploded with a roar, fracturing into several smaller flames that scattered and flew toward the ghost cultivator in black. Simultaneously, Zhou Qing took a deep breath, sensing his spiritual energy already replenishing, and once again pointed his finger toward the heavens.

With that gesture, strange points of light appeared in the sky—white, blue, and purple. Initially, they looked like distant stars hung high in the firmament, but within a few blinks, they were almost upon them.

Another blink later, the white, blue, and purple orbs were less than ten yards above the ghost cultivator in black. The ghost, who had been swatting at the flames with his whip, looked up. With a single glance, the three orbs above him converged into a single tri-colored sphere, hovering eerily in mid-air as Zhou Qing manipulated his hand seals.

At Zhou Qing's command, the small flames dispersed by Huo'er surged toward the ghost cultivator in black. Simultaneously, Zhou Qing moved his fingers, and the tri-colored sphere descended.

Just as the ghost cultivator in black channeled his energy to deflect the flames, the tri-colored sphere fell, colliding with the green aura surrounding him. With a clenched jaw, Zhou Qing forced his hand downward, driving the sphere directly through the protective barrier and into the ghost's spirit body.

Zhou Qing withdrew his hand and stepped back, his intent causing the scattered flames to coalesce back into the form of Huo'er, which returned to his shoulder.

As Huo'er returned, the ghost cultivator in black let out a piercing shriek. The black whip in his hand dissipated into a mist, and a bizarre, multicolored flame erupted across his spirit body. It resembled a common red fire, but its outer edges were rimmed with white, blue, and purple.

In this world, there exists a flame known as the Samadhi Fire: the Karma Fire (white), the Subservience Fire (blue), and the Spiritual Fire (purple). When these three overlap, they form the True Samadhi Flame. This was the most powerful technique Zhou Qing could currently muster, bolstered by his Fire Spirit Root.

As the technique concluded, he felt his spiritual energy nearly depleted. As he stepped back and his feet touched the ground, an invisible flow of spiritual energy surged into his body from the earth. Not far behind him, several ancient trees on the hillside withered at a visible pace.

"Ah!"

The ghost cultivator in black, engulfed in the Samadhi Flame, let out an agonizing, earth-shaking scream. His spirit body persisted in the flames for about ten seconds before the fire vanished, leaving his form nearly transparent.

During those ten seconds, Zhou Qing’s spiritual energy had largely recovered. He fixed his gaze on the translucent ghost and sent a command; Huo'er dove forward. After a single pass, when Huo'er returned to Zhou Qing's shoulder, the spirit body of the ghost cultivator in black had dissolved into a wisp of smoke, vanishing from the world.

Having dispatched one, Zhou Qing turned his gaze back to the short ghost cultivator in white.

"I am curious. Why did you stand by and watch me destroy your companion without offering help?"

"Heh. I am a man of my word. Since he did not want my help and I had agreed to his terms, I would naturally not interfere while you were locked in combat."

From these words, one could infer that there was certainly no love lost between the two ghost cultivators. The white-clad figure rose from the stone and tucked his hands into his wide sleeves, his expression calm, as if he felt no surprise at the outcome of the battle.

"Your cultivation is impressive. I suspect you possess an Earth Spirit Root; otherwise, your spiritual reserves could not be so vast."

Zhou Qing ignored this remark. He took a deep breath, feeling his energy restored, and asked, "Can you tell me what relationship I might have had with the old Daoist who summoned the lightning?"

"Does it matter? We are now at a point where we must determine who stands and who falls, and who lives and who dies. The answers to such questions have no meaning now."

"You are right."

Following their brief exchange, the ghost cultivator in white pulled his hands from his sleeves. He held one behind his back and reached out with the other, forming a claw to draw from the earth. Instantly, a phantom sword, glowing with an intense green light, erupted from the ground.