Heaven-Surpassing Divine Emperor

Inside the meditation chamber.

Jiang Chen lay quietly upon a jade bed, surrounded by a golden radiance.

This golden light emanated entirely from a brocade box. At the center of the box, a drop of Jiang Chen’s golden blood had condensed into a resplendent Golden Lotus.

The Golden Lotus had eighty-one petals in total.

On each petal were strange, silk-like threads that formed profound patterns and symbols.

When all eighty-one petals had fully blossomed,

the brocade box clicked open with a CRACK. From within, a brilliant, rainbow-gold light suddenly shot out in all directions.

BUZZ!

From within the brocade box, a Nine-Colored Lotus suddenly flew out!

The Nine-Colored Lotus spun slowly in the air, devouring all the golden light that filled the meditation chamber. As it did, the light from the Nine-Colored Lotus itself grew ever more brilliant and dazzling. It moved with a divine quality, as if sentient, slowly rotating as it drifted toward Jiang Chen.

It hovered above his chest,

spinning silently.

Light of nine different colors cascaded down, enveloping Jiang Chen’s body.

Bathed in the nine-colored light, Jiang Chen’s tightly knitted brow twitched slightly, and his closed eyelids trembled.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

Scarlet, orange, red, green, cyan, blue, violet, gold, and a sacred white light transformed into nine ribbons of light that entered Jiang Chen’s body. This caused his body to slowly lift off the jade bed and hover in mid-air.

These nine ribbons of light flowed like gentle streams.

At the center of the nine circling ribbons was Jiang Chen’s Dantian, and from within it, a black light was steadily rising. It was Jiang Chen’s Martial Soul—the God-slaying Sword!

A Holy Dragon coiled around the pitch-black God-slaying Sword.

It pulsed with a terrifyingly sharp aura!

Bathed in the light of the Nine-Colored Lotus, the God-slaying Sword trembled slightly, as if resisting fiercely. However, this did not last long. From the very tip of the sword, a drop of golden light suddenly condensed.

It was a drop of golden blood!

Just like the blood in Jiang Chen’s body, it was a pure, golden-yellow color, without a single impurity!

Pure golden blood gushed from the tip of the God-slaying Sword.

It continuously flowed into Jiang Chen’s body.

It seemed this golden blood was absorbed from the powerful experts the God-slaying Sword had once slain, much like how Jiang Chen had obtained the Eyes of the Heavens after the sword had killed the Azure Heaven.

The golden blood continued to merge with Jiang Chen’s body.

His body, which had become withered and gaunt from excessive blood loss, slowly began to fill out and become whole again!

The entire process was extremely slow.

Outside, time flew by...

In the blink of an eye, two months had passed.

「Outside the meditation chamber.」

The Black Emperor and Little White stood guard. The Black Emperor had someone bring over two large chairs, and it was now lounging lazily in one of them. Holding a wine jug in one hand and a piece of roasted meat in the other, it devoured its food with gusto, grease dripping from its mouth. It took a swig of wine and said with great dissatisfaction, "Sigh, after having Wind Emperor Fire Brew once, all other wine tastes like piss."

"..."

Little White, lying nearby, rolled its eyes and looked speechlessly at the Black Emperor. "Brother Black, aren’t you worried about the boss’s safety at all?"

"Worried?"

The Black Emperor glanced at it and said dismissively, "What’s there to be worried about? The kid is awakening his bloodline. This Emperor is too busy being jealous to have time to worry about him."

"Awakening his bloodline?"

Little White sat up straight, also grabbing a piece of roasted meat. It asked quizzically, "Brother Black, I’ve heard you mention bloodline awakenings before. What exactly is a bloodline? Is it really that awesome?"

"Awesome? It’s beyond awesome!"

The Black Emperor smacked its lips and sat up straighter. "Little White, do you remember Qingyi’s Martial Soul?"

Little White nodded.

At the mention of Xiao Qingyi, its expression darkened slightly.

The Black Emperor continued, "Normally, you can only continue to cultivate after awakening a Martial Soul. But that girl Qingyi cultivated all the way to the Heavenly Destiny Realm, and we never saw her Martial Soul. This Emperor thought it was strange at the time. It wasn’t until she used a Forbidden Technique for Jiang Chen that I understood. It wasn’t that she hadn’t awakened a Martial Soul—it was that she had awakened the power of her bloodline. This Emperor once heard the Venerable Emperor mention it. It seems to be called a Blood Inheritance Martial Soul. Let me tell you..."

As the Black Emperor explained, the shock on Little White’s face grew more and more intense.

As everyone knows...

before awakening their Martial Souls, ordinary people can strengthen their soul and body by training, taking Soul Nourishing Pills, and so on, all in order to achieve that awakening.

But to continue cultivating further, one must awaken a Martial Soul!

Martial Souls come in all shapes and sizes: beasts, Divine Beasts, Divine Soldiers, Elements, and more...

The grades of Martial Souls are also divided, from lowest to highest: Yellow, Profound, Earth, Heaven, followed by Saint Tier and Divine Tier.

However...

there is a type of Martial Soul even rarer than a Divine Tier Martial Soul—the Blood Inheritance Martial Soul!

Strictly speaking, a Blood Inheritance Martial Soul is divided into two parts!

Bloodline and Martial Soul!

Once a Blood Inheritance Martial Soul is awakened, the Martial Soul and bloodline merge completely.

Little White asked in confusion, "The Martial Soul and bloodline merge completely? What does that mean?"

The Black Emperor rapped Little White on the head with the bone in its hand, chiding it as if scolding an underachiever. "What does it mean? Are you a blockhead? Think about where Martial Souls come from."

Little White clutched its head with its furry paws and said plaintively, "Aren’t Martial Souls granted by the Celestial Dao?"

"Exactly!"

The Black Emperor stood up and gazed toward the meditation chamber, its voice turning grave. "Martial Souls are granted by the Celestial Dao; they are, in essence, the personification of a portion of the power the Celestial Dao controls. A wind Martial Soul, for example, is just a personification of the wind element between heaven and earth, allowing its owner to borrow a portion of the wind’s power. A sword Martial Soul allows its owner to use the Martial Soul Talents of the sword..."

"These Martial Souls are all granted by the Celestial Dao. But for someone with a Blood Inheritance Martial Soul, their Martial Soul is..."

The Black Emperor took a deep breath, and a sharp glint flashed in its narrowed eyes. "Bestowed by their own bloodline!"

Little White’s eyes widened.

This was like the old story: give a man a fish versus teach a man to fish!

What the Celestial Dao bestows, no matter how strong, is ultimately still within the bounds of the Celestial Dao.

What one’s own bloodline bestows, no matter how weak, has already transcended the Celestial Dao!

"So... so the boss is that awesome?" Little White stared wide-eyed toward the meditation chamber.

The Black Emperor nodded, a playful look on its face. "I didn’t expect him to be the owner of a Blood Inheritance Martial Soul either. And This Emperor feels that his Blood Inheritance Martial Soul is even more mysterious and powerful than Qingyi’s!"

The two beasts turned their gazes to the meditation chamber in unison.

「Meanwhile...」

The Nine-Colored Lotus hovering over Jiang Chen was gradually wilting, and the golden blood flowing from the God-slaying Sword was also dwindling.

It seemed to be depleted!

As the final drop of golden blood merged into Jiang Chen’s body, the God-slaying Sword suddenly erupted with an incomparably terrifying and sharp aura, which surged out in all directions.

The entire meditation chamber exploded with a BOOM.

Jiang Chen’s eyes remained tightly closed, but the God-slaying Sword trembled. Then, an incredibly fearsome Devouring Power emanated from Jiang Chen’s body.

The first things affected were the two Mysterious Dharma Bodies in the Black Emperor’s possession. They began to vibrate violently before shooting toward Jiang Chen.

The range of the devouring effect grew larger and larger.

All the Spiritual Qi within a hundred-mile radius began to converge on the Heaven-Soaring Saint Sect.

It formed a Spiritual Energy Cover a hundred miles wide, blanketing the sky above the Heaven-Soaring Saint Sect.

From the mountains and rivers within that hundred-mile radius,

Spirit Medicines that had been maturing for ages, along with Spiritual Ores buried deep beneath the earth, all flew into the air. They transformed into streaks of Flowing Light, converging on Jiang Chen...

The terrifying fluctuations attracted the attention of countless experts.

「In the Ancestral Land of the Fengyang Ancient Country, atop the Immortal Volcano.」

Two figures stood side by side. They were the Ice Emperor and the Fire Emperor, their gazes fixed on the Cloud Domain.

The Ice Emperor murmured to himself, "Such terrifying fluctuations. It seems that kid not only didn’t die, but his strength has greatly improved!"

"I wonder if that Cyan Ox Child is still around!" the Fire Emperor said, his eyes narrowed.

The Ice Emperor said faintly, "That Child probably won’t interfere, right?"

"Just in case!"

The Fire Emperor narrowed his eyes, then looked to the side and said indifferently, "Yang Qiong, send Yang Hong to the Cloud Domain with the Emperor’s Bow. Have him wait for an opportunity to kill Jiang Chen!"

"Ancestor, should I go myself?" Yang Qiong asked.

The Fire Emperor shook his head. "That mysterious Child might still be in the Eastern Continent. You shouldn’t make a move. Let Yang Hong handle it."

"Yes!"

Yang Qiong immediately withdrew.

The Fire Emperor narrowed his eyes, staring toward the Cloud Domain as a cold glint flashed in his eyes: ’With Yang Hong taking the Emperor’s Bow to the Cloud Domain, as long as that Child isn’t there, Jiang Chen will certainly die!’