"What's happening?"
Jiang Yan felt his head spinning as the ground quaked beneath his feet.
"It's the rhythm of the ley lines," Morax said solemnly after a moment of concentration.
As the God of Geo and the one who wielded the authority of stone, he could sense the flow of the earth's veins better than anyone.
"So basically… an earthquake?" Jiang Yan steadied himself, thinking it was nothing serious.
Morax shook his head. "No, it's not that simple. This place isn't a ley line nexus. By all logic, there shouldn't be a tremor here at all."
"Not natural then?" Jiang Yan frowned. "Maybe some gods are fighting nearby?"
Again, Morax shook his head. Jiang Yan quickly dismissed that thought too—the forest around them was lush and untouched, showing no signs of divine battle.
"If there's no conflict above ground," Morax said, looking toward the earth beneath their feet, "then something below is disrupting the ley lines."
"Step back," he warned.
Jiang Yan obediently retreated several paces.
Morax raised his hand, a shimmering golden shield flaring to life around them both.
"Heavenly Motion of All Things!"
The once-clear blue sky darkened as a ray of golden light pierced through the clouds.
A massive meteor—radiant and divine—descended from the heavens, crashing into the ground with a thunderous impact.
Dust and shockwaves surged outward, flattening everything within sight.
When the haze settled, a massive crater yawned before them.
At its center stood a towering boulder, trembling violently.
Even from afar, the two could see streams of glowing energy flowing along its surface—this was no ordinary rock.
Morax's golden eyes narrowed.
To resist his celestial meteor and still remain intact… that alone spoke volumes.
But even more astonishing was the faint, oppressive aura emanating from it—one that even he, the Geo Archon, could feel.
That shouldn't be possible.
The rock's trembling gradually subsided.
Then, as if realizing Morax was the one who had struck it, the ground beneath them began to quake once again—far more violently than before.
It was angry.
"Stay back!" Morax barked.
The boulder shuddered—and then rose into the air, hurling itself toward them like a living creature.
A massive stone strike descended from above.
"As unshakable as bedrock!"
Morax spread his hands, summoning a powerful barrier of geo energy. The impact slammed into the shield, sparks of gold scattering like shooting stars.
"So you wish to fight?" His deep voice rumbled like thunder. "Then let it be battle!"
The Conqueror of Demons and Gods was not one to suffer a challenge in silence.
With a flash of golden light, the Vortex Vanquisher spear materialized in his grasp.
Morax charged forward, meeting the stone head-on.
Behind him, Jiang Yan pressed his palms together. If Morax was fighting, there was no way he'd just stand by!
"Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!"
A roar erupted from beneath the ground as a colossal Wood Dragon surged upward, wrapping its body around the airborne boulder and snapping its jaws down.
Crack!
The dragon's fangs shattered like glass against the stone.
The boulder didn't even flinch.
Jiang Yan stared, wide-eyed.
That was his Wood Dragon—harder than steel, forged from condensed life energy—yet this thing had broken its teeth effortlessly.
The battle raged on.
Wooden spikes and thick vines erupted from the earth, lashing toward the boulder.
From above, Morax called down rain after rain of geo spears and meteors.
The boulder retaliated with terrifying fury—bolts of lightning and waves of fire burst forth from its surface, obliterating everything within reach.
"It's channeling other elements?!" Jiang Yan gasped.
He couldn't shake a strange sense of familiarity.
Morax's expression darkened. "It's drawing upon the energy of the ley lines themselves!"
Even he couldn't conceal his excitement.
A foe that could withstand him, that could match his power—such opponents were exceedingly rare.
This boulder… no, this being… had reached the level of a god.
"A worthy challenge indeed!" Morax roared, lunging forward once more.
Jiang Yan's hands flew together again, his body surrounded by surging elemental energy.
No one knew how long they fought.
The forest was gone—reduced to ash and splinters.
The sun had long fallen from east to west, and still the echoes of their battle shook the land.
Morax's once-impenetrable barrier now bore a single, visible crack.
The boulder, too, was dimming—its once-brilliant glow now flickering weakly.
And Jiang Yan?
See that giant crater over there?
He was lying in it.
By the middle of the fight, his elemental reserves had completely run dry.
Honestly, it was a miracle he lasted as long as he did—thanks only to the week he'd spent obsessively opening treasure chests and boosting his power bit by bit.