Serpent Subdued — The Lightning Ring Punishment
Mo Fan stared in stunned disbelief at the length of Su Causeway, at the sheer number of Palace Guards and Tribunal Agents lined up across it. The magical aura radiating from every one of them outstripped his own by an entire major tier.
Catching sight of even one or two High-Level Mages was ordinarily a rare thing — yet here, two full companies had assembled in one place.
The spectacle was unlike anything he had ever seen. The Totem Xuan Serpent, its massive head breaking the surface of West Lake, had clearly sensed the hostility radiating from the powerful humans on the causeway. It threw open its cavern-wide maw and unleashed a howling gale that shredded every row of willow trees along Su Causeway. Leaves spiraled into the air, spray exploded in all directions, and the wind tore through like a merciless typhoon.
"Lightning Ring Punishment — activate!" Councillor Luo Mian bellowed the command once more.
In an instant, wildly agitated Lightning Element surged overhead.
Mo Fan looked up. Vast purple lightning blazed at the edge of the black clouds, and within its radiance he could make out countless Lightning Element Star Motes shimmering like distant stars. They were linking to each other at breathtaking speed — threading together like lines of starlight, like streaking comets crisscrossing the sky — weaving into an awe-inspiring Star Chart.
Star Chart stacked upon Star Chart, each one joining the next to form a magnificent Constellation.
The Constellation hung beneath the vast black sky, edges razor-sharp, its form fully three-dimensional and startlingly vivid.
This was a Constellation — the kind that brewed high-level magic.
Mo Fan had assumed this magical ritual, already saturated with immense Lightning Element energy, was complete. He had no idea he was looking at the tip of the iceberg. As the clouds parted, he saw that the single Constellation — built from 243 Star Motes — was linked to six more Lightning Element Constellations of equal scale and equal splendor!!
Seven Star Motes form a Star Trail — basic-level magic.
Forty-nine Star Motes, seven Star Trails, drawn into a Star Chart — intermediate-level magic.
Two hundred and forty-three Star Motes, forty-nine Star Trails, seven Star Charts, raising a Constellation — high-level magic.
Seven Constellations in all now hung across the sky. Each one alone would have been an overwhelming sight — but when they merged together in magnificent sequence, draping across the black vault above West Lake, they formed a single blazing star-built structure: a Star Palace!!
A Star Palace!!!
A Transcendent Tier Star Palace!
Dazzling beyond comparison and resplendent in every color, it blazed above the city — towering within the boundless black Domain, gazing down upon the glittering, vibrant metropolis spread far beneath it!!
Mo Fan was thunderstruck!!!!!
The Star Chart he knew best contained a mere 49 Star Motes, and even that could unleash devastatingly lethal magic — so what kind of world-shattering power would this Star Palace directly overhead bring forth?!!!
The purple Star Palace loomed enormous, as though just within arm's reach. As Constellation after Constellation answered each other in radiant harmony, as the Lightning Element in the heavens grew so dense it condensed into rolling thunderheads — the world-shaking Lightning magic finally descended.
They were nine sky halberds forged entirely from lightning — countless bolts, each powerful enough to pierce the clouds, twisted together into shafts so long and thick they resembled titanic pillars holding up the sky...
A terrifying purple. Thunder halberds to stagger the mind...
With a single earthshaking crack — as though the night sky itself had shattered — this awe-inspiring force came crashing down from the heavens, plunging straight into the dark surface of West Lake.
In the bustling city — pedestrians on the streets, people in high-rise apartments gazing at the view of West Lake, those drawn by the brilliant purple glow at the edge of the horizon...
As the lightning halberds plunged downward, blazing across the vast dark sky, they fell into the sight of countless onlookers.
Majestic and awe-inspiring, each one contained a power of lightning tremendous enough to shake heaven and earth. Even in a world saturated with magic, demon beasts, and all manner of mysterious forces, witnessing this kind of magic with one's own eyes remained utterly unbelievable!!
"Is... is that magic too?"
"What terrifying lightning — it's like divine punishment raining down from the gods!!!"
"What's happening at West Lake?! Why are there lightning halberds in the sky?!"
The lightning halberds were visible to far too many people — even those in entirely different parts of the city.
They tore open the black horizon, as though divine power from some celestial realm had accidentally tumbled down upon the tiny mortal world...
The nine Thunder God Halberds landed, forming a nine-pointed star formation of towering pillars that rose imposingly above West Lake, ringing the Sky-Scraping Serpent on all sides.
They stood like purple lightning prison pillars. Each Thunder God Halberd crackled with thick chains of electricity passed between them — the lightning chains swarmed in dense, ceaseless motion, lashing and darting wildly around each sky-propping pillar without a moment's pause!!
**Crackle-crackle-crackle-crackle-crackle!!!!!**
Lightning bolts, thunder arcs, electric chains...
All Mo Fan could see was that terrifying purple, and the countless forms of lightning energy swarming without end around each massive halberd.
The halberds stood immovable. The Sky-Scraping Serpent, trapped within their formation, churned wave after towering wave in fury, even hurling its primordial body against the power of the Thunder God Halberds that imprisoned it.
But the halberds didn't budge an inch. Every time the Sky-Scraping Serpent slammed into them, the entire Lightning Ring Punishment formation retaliated — a barrage of lightning chains crackled and snapped against the serpent's body.
**Sssss-ROOAAARR—————**
The dark-blue Totem Xuan Serpent was like a great python that had blundered into a trap — thrashing with rage, only to be torn again and again by the trap's fangs. Its agonized screams were enough to shake an entire city.
"My god, is this a nightmare??"
"A snake — it's a snake — it's so... so enormous!!!"
"The Skyreach Serpent — it's the one that appeared in the shopping district before!"
"Good heavens, it's real — it's right here in West Lake!!!"
Beyond the perimeter of West Lake, vast crowds had gathered along the distant shoreline and the ring road surrounding it.
In truth, both the Thunder God Halberds and the Skyreach Serpent were very far away — but they were so monstrously large that even in the dead of night the halberds remained crystal clear. The purple lightning illuminated the vast expanse of West Lake and threw into sharp relief the terrifying form of the great dark-blue serpent as it reared toward the sky.
The city erupted into chaos and clamor. Even though all of West Lake had been sealed off, there were still countless vantage points from which the area near Su Causeway was fully visible. Had it been a small skirmish, the darkness and the vast, all-encompassing lake would surely have swallowed any trace of it — but this scene was simply too enormous, too overwhelming. People could make it out from miles away, and once they did, the shock on their faces was beyond anything words could describe!!!!
A vast, sea-black West Lake. Sky-propping pillars of lightning. A Skyreach Serpent, sealed within their ring — vivid, terrifying, impossible to look away from. This was the scene now unfolding in the heart of the city...