Chapter Fifty-Eight: The New Role of the Black Spear

Just as the beam of light shot into the void, Gu Fangcheng, seated in a convertible off-road vehicle, suddenly lifted his head and cast a suspicious glance toward Shen Lie's direction. Below the armored vehicle, Du Lili seemed to sense something as well; the expression beneath her mask was tinged with doubt. Professor Liu even put down the test tube in his hand, closing his eyes to focus his senses.

Meanwhile, five kilometers ahead of the group, within a cluster of spider creatures, a massive spider marked with three distinct patterns on its back suddenly emitted a series of shrill chirps. Its expression was a mix of anger and fear. Moments later, its eyes turned blood-red as it let out a fierce screech. Instantly, the entire spider horde surged like a tidal wave, charging mercilessly toward the survivors’ formation.

Unaware of these developments, Shen Lie only knew that after the energy formed by the toad pearl was sent into the void, a long time passed. Just as he thought the sacrifice had failed, an almost imperceptible, invisible to the naked eye but sensed by him, faint line returned feedback from the void, descending onto the Sacrifice Token and being stored within it.

The five crystal stones had by then turned to powder; only the Sacrifice Token remained intact. Shen Lie picked up the token and noticed a black mist had seemingly materialized inside it, resonating with the leaf-shaped mark on his forehead, suggesting it could be absorbed at will.

A smile crossed Shen Lie’s face—this meant the sacrifice was successful. According to the sacrificial technique information he had, the energy returned was the reward from the ritual. This energy was categorized into several levels and was truly extraordinary.

Turning over the token, Shen Lie saw some characters emerge on its back—Starlight Clan script, which he did not recognize. However, a spiritual connection had formed between him and the token, allowing him to understand their meaning despite unfamiliarity.

“Common star energy, usable for conventional energy storage.”

That was the message. Shen Lie knew the sacrifice had succeeded, but the energy gained was merely the most ordinary kind. He had anticipated this result and felt no disappointment, eagerly preparing to absorb the star energy.

Just as he was about to draw the power from the token, a sudden commotion erupted from the direction of the team. Chaos spread rapidly, followed by the booming sound of gunfire from the front lines—and then from the rear as well. The entire area was suddenly engulfed in a barrage of artillery fire.

“Spider creatures are attacking?” Shen Lie immediately understood the situation but remained calm. Instead of rushing back, he steadied his mind and communicated with the token through his will, beginning to absorb the strange energy within.

The connection was smooth; as soon as his intent moved, the black mist was drawn from the token and swiftly pulled into the Mud Pill Palace at his brow.

As the energy entered the Mud Pill Palace, Shen Lie instinctively tried to channel it into the leaf-shaped mark on his forehead. Yet, to his puzzlement, no matter how he directed it, the mist would not merge with the mark.

This startled Shen Lie. When he had consumed the white petals before, the energy had naturally entered the mark. Why was it different now? If he could not store this energy in the mark, would it dissipate?

His heart grew uneasy, but then he noticed the sacrificial energy spreading throughout every corner of his Mud Pill Palace, which seemed to be expanding in size from the influx. At the same time, the white floral energy originally contained within the leaf mark suddenly grew agitated, causing the mark itself to tremble slightly, as if the star energy and the white flower energy were fundamentally incompatible.

This was a grave matter. Shen Lie’s face turned green with alarm—if one energy clashed with the other and harmed their host, it would be disastrous, especially within his precious Mud Pill Palace.

Fortunately, the solution was straightforward. The white flower energy could merge with his own bloodline power and even enhance it. Previously, he had reserved it solely to power the Black Spear, but now, with the arrival of star energy, it was time to unleash this power fully.

With a thought, the white flower energy separated from the leaf mark, passing through the Mud Pill Palace and integrating into his entire bloodline system. Though the amount was insufficient to power the Black Spear, it was ample to boost his bloodline power significantly, almost igniting the third node within it. Shen Lie was overjoyed.

“Could it be that the white flower energy is not star energy?” a sudden thought flashed through his mind. The more he considered it, the more certain he became.

Though the white flower energy could animate the Black Spear and Sacrifice Token, it did not necessarily mean it was star energy. The true star energy was stored within the Mud Pill Palace and could not enter the skill tree. Perhaps higher-grade star energy could, but certainly not this common kind.

Shen Lie was unsure whether this was good or bad, and it was beyond his control. For now, both the white flower energy and the star energy were useful to him, so he resolved to let things unfold naturally.

With the energy fully absorbed and the sacrifice ritual complete, Shen Lie secured the token and Black Spear close to his body, then hurried back toward the camp.

Before reaching Dongfeng Town, the group had been attacked multiple times by monsters and had thus gained some experience in combat. Commander Zhang Kaitai, a major general though not an awakened one, was in charge of tactics and command, proving exceptionally adept.

As Shen Lie approached, he noticed the formation was circular: the outermost layer consisted of a handful of awakened warriors and soldiers armed with small thermal weapons. Behind them were the artillery battalion positions, followed by the logistics team composed of young and able-bodied men. At the center were the elderly, infirm, and powerless survivors.

Before entering the formation, Shen Lie took out binoculars to survey the front. The spider creatures had retreated, appearing only as small black dots, yet even these were numerous enough to surprise him—dark and dense, they blocked much of the road ahead, numbering at least over a thousand.

“Stop! Identify yourself. I am Wu Shan, Vice Leader of the Awakened Alliance. You have been conscripted by our alliance!” Shen Lie followed the path back into the ranks. In times of war, there was no room for traitors, so he paid no mind to potential resistance—yet he was unexpectedly stopped.

“Conscripted? By what right do you conscript me?” Shen Lie sneered, already noticing the sharp-featured Zhao Jun beside Wu Shan, nicknamed the Water Ape, who was watching him with a malicious grin.

“Hmph, this is wartime. As one of the commanders, I have the authority to conscript any non-command personnel. You are hereby assigned to the special suicide squad for decapitation missions within the monster camp. Do you dare defy orders?” Wu Shan, also an awakened, spoke harshly.

“And what if I do defy?” Shen Lie snapped. He had no time for such nonsense—being conscripted into a suicide squad to infiltrate and execute missions amid monsters? Might as well send him to die outright.

“Impudent!” Wu Shan’s face darkened as a shard of ice suddenly shot forth—a piercing spear of ice magic, revealing that Wu Shan, like Xiao Gang, wielded ice-type powers.

Wu Shan knew Shen Lie’s identity but sought only to provoke him. Shen Lie’s brazen attitude embarrassed him before his subordinates. If he did nothing, he’d lose all face.

“Looking for death?” Shen Lie’s anger surged. Without using bloodline power, he drew his Black Spear and smashed it against the incoming ice spear, shattering it into powder.

Intent on closing in to teach this arrogant man a lesson, Shen Lie suddenly realized that when he channeled star energy into the Black Spear, their connection deepened—as if the spear was an extension of his own arm. Instinctively, he flicked his wrist; the spear became a streak of light, striking Wu Shan’s shoulder before spinning back into his hand.

“The Black Spear can be used like this?” Shen Lie discovered a new technique. Without wasting further time on petty disputes, he strode back to his squad amidst the astonished and fearful gazes of Wu Shan, Zhao Jun, and the others.