Divine Emperor Demon Emperor

The bloody battle began anew. Spurred on by the massive reward, the members of the Qing Zhu Association fought as if their lives meant nothing. Greed had completely overshadowed their fear, and they attacked Lin Yun without a hint of hesitation.

One thrust of his spear pierced the chest of a cultivator at the Seventh Layer of the Primordial Ocean Realm. But before Lin Yun could pull out the Demon Bone Heaven-Dominating Spear, a member of the Qing Zhu Association slashed viciously at his back with a saber.

At the same time, members of the Qing Zhu Association on either side of Lin Yun landed two punches almost simultaneously, slamming into his ribs.

Spitting out a large mouthful of blood, Lin Yun erupted with Elemental Power, forcefully blasting away the men around him. As he did, he wrenched the Demon Bone Heaven-Dominating Spear free and thrust it backward, piercing the throat of the man with the long saber behind him.

The battle had raged on, and not only had Lin Yun activated the War God Transformation, but his Elemental Power was also rapidly depleting. All the while, his injuries grew more and more severe.

He quickly took out several Elixirs and swallowed them. These weren’t Healing Elixirs, but Low Grade Spirit Essence Pills. Though consuming them this way was harmful to his body, he had no choice. Lin Yun needed enough Elemental Power to maintain the War God Transformation.

If the War God Transformation were to deactivate, it would be perilous for Lin Yun to face the members of the Qing Zhu Association.

Having failed to kill Lin Yun even with such an encirclement, the men from the Qing Zhu Association surged forward to attack once more.

While Lin Yun was locked in a bloody struggle, Luo Feng was also in a great battle with a peak Spirit Realm expert from the Qing Zhu Association. His opponent’s Cultivation and Combat Power were on par with his own, and their fight remained a stalemate.

"Haha, Luo Feng, your Disciple is on the verge of death! Aren’t you going to save him?" The man wanted to distract Luo Feng with his words, but what he said was true. Lin Yun’s injuries were growing heavier. Although the hundred-plus men who had originally surrounded him were now fewer than thirty, the ones who remained were all at the Eighth or Ninth Layer of the Primordial Ocean Realm.

"You don’t need to worry about my disciple’s life. You should be more worried about your own," Luo Feng retorted. He knew the man was trying to distract him. In a battle between experts like them, a moment’s loss of focus would likely lead to his defeat.

An extra Spirit Realm expert would be free to slaughter the Disciples of Flawless Palace as easily as chopping melons and cutting vegetables.

Luo Feng fought with increasing ferocity. Lin Yun’s situation was indeed dire, but Luo Feng couldn’t spare a moment to save him until he had killed the man before him.

Having slain no fewer than eighty Martial Artists from the Qing Zhu Association, fewer than thirty now remained. But these thirty were the greatest threat, as the weakest among them was at the Eighth Layer of the Primordial Ocean Realm.

Lin Yun’s wounds piled on top of existing injuries, and his body was long past its breaking point. If not for his unyielding will, anyone else would have collapsed long ago.

"Lin Yun, surrender! You have no chance of winning. In your current state, forget about us attacking together—we could kill you just by taking turns," one of the Ninth Layer of Primordial Ocean Realm cultivators shouted as they surrounded him.

Holding the Demon Bone Heaven-Dominating Spear, Lin Yun stood within their encirclement. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, and his entire body was covered in wounds. The blood had long since turned Lin Yun into a Blood Man.

The blood was a mixture of his own and that of those he had slain; it was impossible to tell which was which.

Hearing the man’s cold shout, Lin Yun stood ramrod straight. His face showed no fear. Instead, he said faintly, "Twenty-eight left..."

The twenty-eight he mentioned were the men surrounding him now. An army of over a hundred had been whittled down to just twenty-eight by Lin Yun’s desperate struggle.

Hearing Lin Yun’s words, all twenty-eight men grew furious. ’What does he mean by that? Does he really think he can kill the twenty-eight of us?’

’What a joke! He was surrounded by over a hundred of us, and he fought until only twenty-eight remain. If we were all killed by him now, we wouldn’t be able to rest in peace even as ghosts!’

"Lin Yun, don’t be so arrogant! Do you really think you can still kill us in your condition?"

"Enough talk. Let’s attack together and finish him!"

The moment the man’s voice fell, Lin Yun was already in motion. Wielding the Demon Bone Heaven-Dominating Spear, he took the initiative and charged at the speaker.

Seeing that he was Lin Yun’s target, the man who had just been boasting about killing him was suddenly struck with terror.

This man was only at the Eighth Layer of the Primordial Ocean Realm. Lin Yun’s sudden attack was so fast that before he could even react, the Demon Bone Heaven-Dominating Spear had already pierced his heart.

"It takes more than just talk to kill me, Lin Yun. Come on, attack me together," he declared, shattering the man’s corpse with a burst of energy. By now, the Demon Bone Heaven-Dominating Spear was completely coated in blood.

Like a traveler parched for a long time, the Demon Bone Heaven-Dominating Spear, having drunk the blood of hundreds today, began to exude a palpable, bloodthirsty aura of slaughter.

"Good, good! Lin Yun, today I will hang your head on the North Gate!" Lin Yun’s fearlessness and arrogance thoroughly enraged the remaining twenty-seven men. With a furious roar, all twenty-seven charged at Lin Yun simultaneously.

"Haha! Demon Bone Heaven-Dominating Spear, let’s slaughter them all together!" Faced with the combined attack of twenty-seven men, Lin Yun laughed aloud.

Hearing Lin Yun’s laughter and sensing the boiling bloodlust in his heart, the Demon Bone Heaven-Dominating Spear began to tremble uncontrollably, as if to say it was willing to fight alongside him to the very end. Even if this was their last battle, it would face the enemy with Lin Yun.

In Lin Yun’s hands, the blood-soaked shaft of the Demon Bone Heaven-Dominating Spear began to faintly shimmer with a sanguine light, an utterly terrifying sight.

This change in the Demon Bone Heaven-Dominating Spear filled Lin Yun with excitement. ’This is... a Spear Spirit is about to be born!’

Whether it was a Spirit Soldier, a Treasure Soldier, or even the highest-grade Divine Soldier, an Artifact Refiner could only forge its form, not its will.

Swords had Sword Spirits, sabers had Blade Spirits, and naturally, spears had Spear Spirits.

The birth of an Artifact Spirit within a Spirit Soldier had nothing to do with the Artifact Refiner; it depended entirely on the will of its master. Everyone knew that Weapons possessed a trace of spirit. To put it plainly, the master’s will was the nourishment that cultivated this wisp of spirituality. When the spirituality within the Weapon grew strong enough, an Artifact Spirit could be born.

Some people could wield a Divine Soldier their entire lives and never see an Artifact Spirit born. For a Weapon to give birth to an Artifact Spirit, regardless of whether it was a Divine Soldier or a Spirit Soldier, was akin to a mortal ascending to sainthood.

With an Artifact Spirit, a Weapon could evolve on its own, no longer needing the work of an Artifact Refiner. Similarly, a Weapon with an Artifact Spirit and one without were two completely different things, not to be mentioned in the same breath.

An Artifact Spirit was the soul of a Weapon. Of course, since an Artifact Spirit was born from its master’s will, its personality would be an exact reflection of its master’s.

Across the entire Celestial Spirit Continent, there were likely very few Weapons that had given birth to an Artifact Spirit.

For an Artifact Spirit to be born while the weapon was still a Spirit Soldier was truly remarkable. This meant that from now on, the Demon Bone Heaven-Dominating Spear could continue to evolve. As for whether it could ultimately become an unrivaled Divine Soldier, that would depend on the efforts and fortunes of both Lin Yun and the Demon Bone Heaven-Dominating Spear itself.

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