Chapter 157 Thunderstorm

The two Fire-element Awakeners on the hillside were once again gathering their strength, preparing to deliver a fatal blow.

Down on the field, the battle between the Spirit of Solid Rock and the Spirit of Hurricane had also reached its white-hot climax.

With its massive and sturdy body, the Spirit of Solid Rock blocked the path of the Spirit of Hurricane, preventing it from advancing even an inch, yet it was unable to inflict any substantial damage in return.

Meanwhile, the Spirit of Hurricane pressed forward step by step, using the violently spinning gales surrounding it to furiously slice through the body of the Spirit of Solid Rock like an electric circular saw, sending stone fragments flying and peeling away.

The body of the Spirit of Solid Rock was already heavily damaged, with multiple cracks spreading across its form.

With a dull, muffled thud, one of the arms of the Spirit of Solid Rock was torn off, sucked into the body of the Spirit of Hurricane, and subsequently ground into gravel, which only served to fuel its combat power.

The disparity in strength between the two elemental spirits was instantly clear; the Spirit of Solid Rock could not hold on much longer.

Upon seeing this, Baidi wore an expression of intense elation and bloodlust.

He was going to completely crush the Spirit of Solid Rock to prove his own strength, and take this opportunity to wipe out old lady Wanjun and old man Yu, subsequently seizing their village.

As for the convoy below, he had long since regarded it as money in the bag.

After all, for this raid, he had other trump cards up his sleeve—trump cards that made him entirely unafraid of any retrospective reckoning from the capital's authorities.

The elderly people gathered in the small depression were all sweating nervously for Granny Wanjun and Old Man Yu.

Not all wilderness dwellers were Awakeners; aside from Ah Bang, none of the remaining elders possessed such abilities.

Although Ah Bang was also a Wind-element Awakener, his power was never suited for offense. When it came to scouting and running away, he was quite skilled.

Yet if he were to go out and fight head-on against Baidi, he wouldn't even last the time it took to smoke a cigarette before being sliced into chunks of meat and shattered bones.

Therefore, at this moment, Ah Bang was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, clenching his fists so tightly that his nails dug deep into his flesh, while muttering frantically under his breath:

"Granny, hurry, hurry up..."

Just as Baidi was reveling in his triumph, the wind and clouds in the sky suddenly shifted drastically.

Directly above the people on the hillside, a massive, roiling dark thundercloud successfully gathered, churning ceaselessly.

Enormous energy seemed to be pooling within the cloud layer, accompanied by incessant, rumbling peals of thunder, with flashes of lightning occasionally flickering, poised and ready to strike.

Behind Old Man Yu, Granny Wanjun abruptly snapped her eyes open and let out a sharp, piercing shriek.

Purple electrical arcs filled her eye sockets and mouth, spitting outward for more than half a meter, causing her silver-white hair to stand straight up on end.

At this very moment, everyone's gaze was drawn irresistibly to Granny Wanjun.

Leaning against the tire of an off-road vehicle, Chen Pingkui froze, his pupils dilating slightly.

He heard his own heartbeat suddenly accelerate and muttered to himself:

"Is... is this still that gentle and refined old lady from just now?"

Static electricity permeated the air, affecting many of the electronic devices on the cargo trucks; even the tablet belonging to the little cutie inside the cab began to experience a jittery screen display.

Regardless of whether it was the members of the convoy, Old Man Yu, or the elders in the depression, none of them noticed what was happening nearby.

Among the wilderness dwellers led by Baidi, a hooded man was taking advantage of the moment when everyone's attention was captivated by Granny Wanjun to stealthily fish a pair of swimming goggles out of his pocket and strap them onto his head.

While the wilderness dwellers were unleashing grand elemental spells against one another, this action by the man should have appeared completely out of place.

Yet right then, genuinely no one spared him a glance.

He simply adjusted his swimming goggles, took a deep breath, and executed a forward dive right into the ground, his body vanishing into the earth as smoothly as if he were plunging into water.

Baidi turned his head to glance at the spot where the man's figure had disappeared, then looked back up at the churning ink-black clouds, narrowing his eyes with constricted pupils as he let out a low roar:

"Damn it! That accursed Wanjun old hag, her skill is about to finish charging! Spirit of Hurricane, hurry, charge forward!"

As if sensing its summoner's intent, the Spirit of Hurricane suddenly swelled in volume once more, its gale-force winds strengthening further.

A few breaths later, the Spirit of Solid Rock, which had been blocking its path, completely dissolved into a pile of ordinary stones and crashed heavily to the ground.

Before it, aside from a dilapidated earthen wall, nothing remained to stop it.

In the blink of an eye, thunder suddenly exploded across the sky, and pillars of purple lightning as thick as water barrels finally descended right on time.

Baidi roared at the top of his lungs: "Scatter!"

With that, he was the first to charge down the hillside.

The two Fire-element Awakeners had no choice but to interrupt their spell-charging, dissipating the massive amount of fire elemental energy they had managed to gather in their hands, and fled sideways together.

As for the exhausted Earth-element Awakener, he was not so fortunate.

With weak legs and sluggish limbs, before he could run more than a few steps, he was struck head-on by a bolt of lightning.

Even at the very last moment, when he invoked all of his internal reserve energy to wrap himself in a suit of armor condensed from yellow sand, it still proved entirely useless.

When the lightning finally dissipated, the yellow sand had turned to black soil, slowly peeling away.

White steam rose from within, along with a charred corpse.

The Spirit of Hurricane, which had been displaying such terrifying might just moments before, could no longer maintain its form after enduring five consecutive lightning strikes, and burst into nothingness.

The indiscriminate attacks of the purple lightning chased Baidi and his lackeys into a panicked, scattering flight.

During the chaos, several non-Awakeners were likewise struck, collapsing onto the roadside with dull thuds as they were instantly reduced to charcoal.

The situation on the field instantly reversed!

The elders in the small depression cheered as one.

This was Granny Wanjun, the very pillar of strength of their village—a Lightning-element Awakener wielding the power of heavenly punishment itself.

It was just that unleashing this skill required a relatively long charging time.

Therefore, she frequently teamed up with Old Man Yu, relying on him to buy her the necessary time.

Granny Wanjun's real name was Wanjun, and ever since she awakened her lightning affinity, the villagers had universally dubbed her Thunderous Granny Wanjun.

Meanwhile, Old Man Yu also possessed a resounding moniker: Shield of Rock.

The lethal power of the purple lightning was plain for all to see, but the aftereffect was that a single wave of this skill would completely drain every ounce of internal reserve energy within her body.

Once she unleashed her burst, she instantly transformed into a weakling.

Baidi and the others fled in terror from the range of the dark clouds, gathering back together once again.

As he watched the fallen villagers not far away—especially the Earth-element Awakener whose life or death hung in the balance, knowing the probability of survival was exceedingly slim—his heart bled profusely.

So much so that the gaze he directed toward Granny Wanjun was filled with intense hatred.

Every single elemental Awakener was a precious strategic resource to the village, and he even began to vaguely wonder whether this venture was a profit or a loss!

Within the region shrouded by dark clouds, the lightning continued to rage.

Baidi and his crew did not dare to cross the line even by half a step, and could only hide in the distance, praying for the thunderclouds to disperse quickly.

The battlefield was cleanly split!

"Damned old hag, once your skill is exhausted, let's see how I deal with you!"

Just as everyone was retreating far from the thunder-storm zone, waiting for the violent elemental energy to subside, a head wearing swimming goggles slowly poked out from beneath the chassis of a cargo truck.

It emerged from the ground as effortlessly as surfacing from water.