Lightning Pool

Rhodes shook his head. "His answers were completely pandering to me, meaning he feels no remorse whatsoever. The distortion of his cognition is extremely severe, and the chances of him returning to normal are slim to none." Milton stroked the cat's back, speaking slowly: "That item which distorts cognition belongs to the Alcoholic class. The distortions caused by an Alcoholic can be recovered from, unlike that rule-based item in the Second District, the Fallen Holy Grail. "It is just that the entity who distorted Channing Lu is of too high a tier, making it difficult for ordinary methods to eliminate it. It isn't easy for Heaven's Punishment to cultivate a level 8 Dominator. As long as there is a sliver of hope, we should try. "This is also the attitude of both Chiefs and the Board of Directors." Rhodes nodded. "Understood. By the way, Prosecutor, Sean Meade has arrived at headquarters. How should he be handled? And what about those executives who had relations with Donna but haven't paid the price?" Donna's lovers were not limited to New York County; here at headquarters, several high-ranking figures had maintained long-term affairs with her. Milton said in a deep voice, "Most have already paid the price. As for those who haven't, hand them over to the Association of God of Beauty to handle. Once the price is lifted, demote them and cut their pay across the board. Hmph, foolish people have no business wielding power." Demanding a price was one of the most potent methods of the Desire class. To eradicate such an imprint, the purification of a Day Wanderer was insufficient; only a Desire class walker of a higher tier could accomplish it. Milton did not object to members of the organization sleeping with Desire class walkers. What angered him were the fools who allowed a Desire walker to retain the right to 'demand'—they were utterly brainless. A smart person would pay the price on the spot right after having relations, leaving no lingering complications. Rhodes smiled. "The vacant positions can be left for Winnie Berrent. She performed outstandingly during the faction confrontation, arresting Channing Lu, rooting out a batch of spies, and yesterday joining forces with Chris to slay a level 8 Dominator. Her achievements are abundant. Once the faction war ends, it will be time to transfer her back to headquarters." Milton gave an acknowledging hum, then suddenly said, "That President of the Merchant Guild doesn't trust us at all. If he had joined hands with Heaven's Punishment in this operation, New York County's faction war would already be over." Rhodes let out a bitter laugh. "Not to mention us, he doesn't even trust members of the Merchant Guild. Otherwise, he wouldn't keep hiding in the Second District." Milton waved a hand. "Never mind him. Have Channing get ready. He enters the dungeon in half an hour." *** Confinement cell. Channing Lu, who was resting with his eyes closed, heard the Spirit Realm notification chiming by his ear. He waited quietly for the countdown to end. When he opened his eyes, he was no longer in the confinement cell, but in an ancient palace. Floating above the clouds, this palace rested on a foundation of conical monoliths and had no roof. Grayish-white stone pillars stood tall beneath the blue sky, each a hundred meters high and over eight meters in diameter. It was grand and majestic, archaic yet simple, like a floating city built by ancient giants. This was Spirit Realm No. 15—Palace of the Thunder God. Standing inside it, Channing Lu felt like a mouse that had stumbled into a human palace. He looked around, seeing only the grayish-white stone pillars and the azure sky. There was no wind, only dead silence. Channing Lu took a deep breath and began to walk forward, the chains clanking with his every step. After walking for fifteen minutes, he heard waves of muffled thunder—the sluggish rumbling produced by drifting collisions of lightning, not particularly loud, but ceaseless. Walking several hundred more meters, a glaring blue light appeared ahead. Between the grayish-white pillars, a bottomless pool came into view. Like a small lake, dark clouds roiled within it while plasma burst and crackled. Countless bolts of lightning lit up and annihilated in continuous succession, the lightning plasma so dense it resembled pool water. This was the Lightning Pool. According to the Spirit Realm's introduction, during ancient times, the natural power of lightning condensed to form a lightning pool. After tens of thousands of years of gestation, the pool gave birth to an innate deity: the Thunder God. Centering on the Lightning Pool, the Thunder God established a palace and resided here permanently. Channing Lu knew very well in his heart that this so-called Lightning Pool was actually a demigod-tier item, an object of the highest tier within the Spirit Realm. Heaven's Punishment's Chief Executive, ever since being ambushed and nearly killed ten years ago, had resided permanently in the Lightning Pool, slumbering within. On one hand, it was to heal his injuries; on the other, he wished to nurture himself through the Lightning Pool, gathering spiritual energy to break through to a higher level. The Lightning Pool condensed the essence of lightning spiritual energy; to a Lightning Mage, it was what life fluid was to a Musician. Therefore, he needed to undergo the cleansing of the Divine Power of the Sun within the Lightning Pool. Of course, entering the Lightning Pool required Dominator status. Below Dominator, even a Lightning Mage would be charred to cinders by the plasma in the pool. Beside the Lightning Pool stood a burly figure dressed in a white martial arts uniform distinctly Eastern in style. Plump chest muscles filled out the loose collar, white eyebrows were like swords slanting toward the temples, and a gilded sun shone upon his forehead. The overall impression he gave was dignified, righteous, and strictly stern. This person was none other than the Taiyi Sect's First Elder, the Crimson Sun Executioner. Seeing Channing Lu arrive, the Crimson Sun Executioner kept a sullen face, staring at him without a word. His dark brown pupils were tinged with golden lacquer, resembling two glittering golden beads. Under the gaze of those eyes, Channing Lu felt like thorns pricking his back, feeling as if he were a germ in a gutter exposed to the blazing sun. At that moment, the Crimson Sun Executioner retracted his gaze, looked toward the Lightning Pool, and said in a resonant voice: "He fears the Divine Power of the Sun and feels guilt in his heart. There is still a glimmer of hope." His voice was booming, drowning out the muffled thunder. From within the Lightning Pool came a grand, layered reply, seemingly echoing from all directions so that one could not discern its origin: "Channing Lu, enter the pool!" Channing Lu's heart trembled, and the hairs on his back stood on end. He felt the sensation of being watched. He knew the one watching him was the Chief Prosecutor inside the Lightning Pool—the Thunder God of the modern era. *Clank.* Channing Lu moved his feet, dragging the chains forward until he reached the edge of the Lightning Pool. Looking down at the lightning pool where plasma sputtered and dark clouds roiled, he took a deep breath and called out: "Chief, six years ago I came here. Back then, having just advanced to Dominator, I came to pay my respects at the Lightning Pool according to convention. Do you remember what you said of me back then?" Muffled thunder rolled within the Lightning Pool, but no one responded. Channing Lu gave a small smile and spoke to himself, "You said I was too slick, insufficiently just, and lacked firmness; that I was unfit to serve as a prosecutor. So you kicked me out of the prosecutorial system, leaving me with no choice but to join the Board of Directors. Even to the very end, I never held real power, doing coordination work between the two systems in New York County." The Lightning Pool remained silent, as if disdaining to answer. Channing Lu said no more and leapt into the Lightning Pool. *Boom!* Arborescent branches of lightning intertwined and surged over, engulfing him in dazzling plasma. The clothes on Channing Lu's body disintegrated into ash, and his handcuffs and shackles melted into molten iron. Dense, violent lightning spiritual energy washed over him like a tidal wave, battering Channing Lu's body frantically. Agonized, he opened his mouth and let out a heart-wrenching scream. As lightning spiritual energy poured ceaselessly into his body, his flesh and blood gradually turned into a brilliant, translucent blue, leaving his bones and internal organs clearly visible. Bright blue light burst from his eyes, and brilliant radiance spewed from his mouth. In the blink of an eye, Channing Lu transformed from a body of flesh and blood into an "elemental creature," becoming a sprite of lightning. The Lightning Pool endowed him with an alternative life form—an elemental state capable of ignoring most attacks. Seeing this, the Crimson Sun Executioner by the pool immediately spread his arms, the blazing sun mark on his forehead emitting golden light. A clear, pure pillar of light descended from the heavens, striking Channing Lu. Lightning spiritual energy was already overbearing enough, but the Divine Power of the Sun was even more domineering. The surrounding plasma was blasted away, forming a vacuum several meters in diameter; a second later, the plasma surged back like a flood to fill the void. Submerged in the golden pillar of light, Channing Lu's screams grew even more piercing. For Spirit Realm walkers who were not Day Wanderers, having their body and soul cleansed by the Divine Power of the Sun was among the world's cruelest punishments. *** The Grand Marshal's study. In the vast, endless pure-white study, Fu Qingxuan sat behind her desk. On the three-meter-tall bookshelf behind her, the left side held classics such as *The Great Learning*, *The Analects*, *The Spring and Autumn Annals*, *Records of the Grand Historian*, and *The Book of Changes*. The right side held works such as *The Hunchback of Notre-Dame*, *Les Misérables*, *Das Kapital*, and *War and Peace*. Holding a copy of *One Hundred Years of Solitude* in her hand, she looked expressionlessly at the uninvited Void class demigod. The President glanced at the bookshelf, his eyes finally landing on the book in her hand. He asked casually, "*One Hundred Years of Solitude*—what is it about?" Fu Qingxuan said coldly, "It is about people who enter rooms without knocking giving birth to babies with pig tails and living out their days in utter solitude until they die." The President shrugged. "Your interpretation of *One Hundred Years of Solitude* is the most unique I've ever heard. Well, I'm here to pay your compensation." He reached into the void and pulled out a bright crimson stamp. "This is a Myriad Worlds Mall Class B exchange ticket. Its function is to exchange items of the same tier. If you possess administrator authority from another class, you can use it to exchange for the administrator authority of the Scout class, and you will become the Five Elements Alliance's first level 11 demigod. Provided, of course, that the Myriad Worlds Mall has the administrator authority for the Scout class." Fu Qingxuan furrowed her delicate brows. "I prefer Class A exchange tickets." The President said helplessly, "The Class A exchange tickets are completely used up—at least, there won't be any in the short term. You can take this one; in the future, if you still have the Class B ticket, you can trade it with me for a Class A." A Class A exchange ticket allowed one to exchange an item of equivalent tier for combat power of that same tier. Trading one for three was an extraordinary bargain, the cost being that it was gone once used. A Class B exchange ticket was a barter—trading excess resources on hand for resources one personally needed. It could not achieve the feat of fighting one against three, but at least the item remained. Fu Qingxuan pondered for a moment, then reluctantly took the Class B exchange ticket. "How did it feel fighting a First District demigod for the first time?" The President fetched two wine glasses and a bottle of red wine from the void, personally pouring wine for the youngest demigod. "Very flashy, but I couldn't beat him," Fu Qingxuan spoke bluntly. "And there are three more like him in the First District, with someone even stronger in the Second District," the President lamented. "Now look at the demigods of the orthodox faction: aside from the Lord of the Stars and the two Chiefs of Heaven's Punishment who are level 11, the rest are just a bunch of crooked melons and split dates." "Crooked melon" Fu Qingxuan cast him a chilling glance. Though a swordsman never admitted defeat, Fu Qingxuan had to admit that the quality of demigods in the evil faction was higher than those in the orthodox faction. Evil classes were inherently stronger than orthodox classes, and their levels were higher too. Furrowing her brows, she said: "I don't know about the other orthodox classes, but the administrator permissions for the five element classes—Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth—seem to have vanished into thin air. Because of that, the Alliance Leaders, myself included, have long been unable to advance. "You are the only demigod of the Void class. If you are truly worried about the future of the orthodox faction, then help us search for treasure." The President swirled his wine glass, allowing the liquid inside to breathe. "It is indeed strange. Ever since the Spirit Realm came into being, there has only been a single demigod item across each of the five element classes—far too consistent. Do you have any clues?" Fu Qingxuan said, "We suspect that the demigod items for the five element classes are in Spirit Realm No. 19—Secret of the Five Elements. That dungeon is at the Dominator stage, so we can't enter it anymore. Spirit Realm No. 19 has appeared very few times. According to intel provided by the Zhao family, one Dominator in their family once cleared that dungeon. There were five bosses inside, corresponding to Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth respectively. "They discovered an abyss in the depths of the dungeon. Something seemed to be sealed within it, but their tier wasn't high enough, so they didn't dare go down to explore." The President gave a slight nod. "I will investigate on your behalf." From beneath the silver mask came a soft chuckle. "To share such valuable intelligence with me, it seems you are very satisfied with this collaboration. There aren't many demigods I trust, but you are one of them." Fu Qingxuan couldn't help but frown. "Fu Qingyang has already reported the battle within the dungeon to me. If you had cooperated with Heaven's Punishment, the evil faction of the First District would have suffered crippling blows by now." The President scoffed coldly. "A far greater probability is that you would have lost a younger brother and returned to the Fu family for a funeral feast." Fu Qingxuan asked curiously, "Why are you so guarded against the demigods of the orthodox faction? Especially Heaven's Punishment." The President sighed softly. "Because there is a major problem with Heaven's Punishment."