Awakening the Divine Spark
Chapter 211: Elder Ardent.

Chapter 211: Elder Ardent.

For several heartbeats Mori and Lee watched each other without moving a muscle. Obviously Lee was on the loosing side because of the excruciating pain he felt, but only he knew about it. He hoped that the last inner disciple would have enough common sense to end the fruitless endeavor.

"Damn it ..." Mori cursed with a sigh, and seemingly deflated. He waked over to the outer disciples, and asked, "Are you alright, guys?"

They looked back at him in confusion and even slight despair. One of them, the most talkative guy, said, "Senior brother, we can’t lea ..."

But that was as far as he got. Mori’s four quick slashes were too fast for the outer disciples to react. Even Lee knew he would’ve barely managed to evade them, in the best case scenario that is.

"Alright! You’re a complete psycho." He stated, took a deep breath, and prepared to fight through the agonizing pain. This was not going to be easy.

"Not really." Mori grinned back, "Even if you have swallowed ten sparks, you’ll die today. I want to see how long you can last, kid."

Only now Lee realized that he made a huge mistake by taking the sword directly out of one of the rings. Not only his last opponent eyed the sword, more likely he was set on getting the spatial treasure even more.

"Do you think you can catch me if I try to escape?" Lee said, trying to prolong the conversation, to have more time to think of a way out.

"Why would I catch you? I’ll follow until you drop dead on your own." Mori laughed in return, "In fact, I strongly suggest you try."

Then he walked over to one of his mates, raised his sword to stab the guy, but at that moment Lee attacked. He was currently in the Primordial Flame sect’s territory, and an enforcer was going to proclaim him a criminal. The only chance he had was to silence the guy and leave.

He was not clear of the last part, or rather – how he would manage to escape if the sect that was larger than the Nethermoon sect would be after him, but that was what he would think about afterwards. Dealing with the ever retreating roach was the priority.

Indeed, Mori didn’t care for Lee attacking. He kept his distance, effortlessly deflecting the few incoming strikes that could harm him, and kept taunting, spouting endless streams of nonsense.

His idea wasn’t bad, but it also allowed Lee to stabilize the elemental energies within. He took his time, switching to one of the basic combat techniques. It’s essence lie in performing dozens of different sword attacks, but in the current situation to Mori it looked like his opponent was desperately trying out all the moves he knew.

Inwardly he was surprised by how skilled the teenager in front of him was, but luckily, to his understanding, Lee was only an elemental warrior, and inevitably was doomed to die today. Lee, on the other hand, continued to perform useless attacks while focusing on his breath and the three types of energy within.

The spar lasted around hundred and fifty breaths.

The longer they fought, the more confident Mori became, and at some point began to counterattack. At that moment Lee was almost his old self, except he was still in pain, although not excruciating anymore. He barely avoided the first stab, but parried the following slash, almost cutting Mori’s hand off right after.

Either the guy was getting fed up with the fight or decided it was the time, his sword once again lit up in flames, indicating Mori was getting serious. His attacks became more intense, and when three balls of fire flew in Lee’s face in succession, the latter was forced to realize that his opponent had not become an enforcer only based on good looks.

Lee didn’t manage to avoid the last ball of fire completely, and the left hand he used to protect his face got badly burned. Fortunately, Mori’s elemental energy reserves weren’t endless, and he continued only with melee attacks, but Lee was still forced back.

Realizing he couldn’t fight fire with fire, Lee braced for another wave of agony and used another skill he developed in this life, something he witnessed Tess using when he was a toddler. He used his injured left hand, to send a burst of water particles towards his opponents sword, extinguishing the flames for a split moment.

Before his brain registered the pain, using the cover of the steam that filled the air and the opponent’s confusion caused by it, Lee rushed forth and punched Mori on the shoulder. Obviously, he targeted the guy’s jaw, but the involuntary spasm of pain coming from the Dantian region made him miss.

The cracking sound indicated that the hit was heavy enough to break a bone, but Lee had to immediately retreat because another ball of fire flew into his face. Mori’s move was a defensive one, but was enough to get the teenager off him for time being.

Both parties retreated, leaving around ten yards between them, and focused on their breathing, trying to recover as soon as possible. Lee wasn’t certain he had another strong move in him, but Mori’s left shoulder was broken, and the guy was probably struggling even more.

Without a doubt, Lee was in much more pain, but he kind of was used to it. Mori, on the other hand, was suffering and couldn’t hide the ugly expression. The problem was that neither could leave the situation as it was.

Clap, clap, clap ...

A man, not much older than Mori, announced his presence, coming out from behind a larger boulder. He looked amused, even happy. Apparently the earlier fight has been a great entertainment to him. The problem was that even though he was dressed in an elegant robe, he had a token similar to Mori’s on his chest.

"You know, this was one heck of surprise!" He said to Lee, "It’s my first time meeting an elemental warrior with three sparks. Are you completely nuts, kid?"

"I guess." Lee said, knowing it was unlikely to talk his way out of the situation now, "A series of bad decisions."

"I can see that." The man said with a nod, "Nice sword, by the way. Where did you get it?"

"Elder Ardent! So good you came in time!" Mori forcefully jumped in. He was fine with the elder getting Lee’s sword, but he really wanted to keep the spatial treasure for himself.

"What happened?" Elder Ardent asked.

"Our juniors found the guy stealing ancient relics, but after confronting him, instead of admitting his wrongdoings, he attacked them and beat them up." Mori truthfully explained.

"Then why are they dead?" Elder asked, his expression turning grave.

"It was horrible! We didn’t make it on time." Mori said, shaking his head in regret, "He already killed them. Then he sneak attacked my brothers, but I managed to prevent him from escaping in the end."

Lee knew he was screwed. It was delusional to hope he could get a fair trial. Mori, on the other hand, was celebrating the unexpected turn of events.

He said, "It’s so good you arrived, elder! The sword the guy has is by no means simple. Even an elemental master like I have problems defending against it. Of course, for an elemental lord, especially you, elder, it’s a child’s play do deal with."

"Mhm. That’s true." Elder Ardent said, "It’s called Stonerend. An incredible artifact for an earth element cultivator. In fact, people below the rank of elemental lord can’t comprehend how powerful the sword is. It was embarrassing to watch the kid swing it around like a stick."

Lee felt his hair stand on end. He was already ear-deep in shit, but one of the artifacts from the auction was recognized right after he pulled it out. The situation was beyond disastrous.

"Sigh ... indeed ... the weapon might be incredible ... but unfortunately it took the lives of my junior brothers." Mori said, his face full of pain.

"Right ... it’s regrettable." The elder said, "But explain me one thing, why are you the one with the blood splatters on your clothing?"