The arrival of the Hexapath Sword Sect caused a huge uproar in the Archaion Sect, and many people gathered in the Heaven Divine Hall. The place was ma.s.sive, as it was a place meant to receive the eight divine realms’ masters and disciples. During the Number One Summit period, the eight divine realms would be staying in this hall.
To control the situation, all three Sect Masters were present, along with the masters of the Archaion Sect, to receive the guests. The Number One Summit was an event for friendly sparring. The last time the Archaion Sect had hosted it was a hundred years ago.
But everyone knew that this Number One Summit would be different. It was rather obvious, judging from the Hexapath Sword Sect’s att.i.tude. Chaos was descending, and everyone had their own thoughts. So who could be free from it?
The Archaion Sect’s atmosphere was intense. It felt like they were facing an enemy, which ignited a fire in Tianming’s heart.
“This is probably my last chance to make a breakthrough before the battle begins. I might be able to defeat Xuanyuan Yuheng with my current strength, but it’s meaningless since I’m only ranked in the middle of the Heaven Branch.” Tianming didn’t want to be put in a situation where he was powerless about everything. This was when his pa.s.sion was high, and he didn’t want to take a break.
After he bid farewell to Ouyang Jianw.a.n.g, he entered the Fiend Palace. The Archaionfiend Eye was still the same as before, and Tianming observed it for a long time.
“The nine soulshaker meridians are all unlocked. Next is to cultivate the Soulshaker Eye, and I don’t need the Archaionfiend Eye for that. But I’ll wait for tonight since Xuanyuan Yuheng is dead.” There were still people in the Fiend Palace, and they were all disciples of the Trioptic True Dragon Branch. When Tianming entered, all of them looked at him with a complicated gaze.
They had grown up with Xuanyuan Yuheng, and regardless of the reason, it was undeniable that Tianming had killed Xuanyuan Yuheng. Xuanyuan Yuheng’s position in the Archaic House of Xuanyuan wasn’t something that Xuanyuan Yufeng could be compared to.
“Forget it. Since he’s joining the fight, then let him fight for the sect.”
“Even Uncle Xuanyuan Xiao has already admitted to it. Let’s not join the mess.”
“In the end, Yuheng had a bad life.…”
Tianming wasn’t bothered by their reactions. He had never hoped that they would stand on his side to begin with, but at least they had the same goal.
He sat down and started his cultivation. After some time pa.s.sed, he heard a loud explosion coming from outside that shook the Heaven Sacred Mountain several times.
“It must be the Hexapath Sword Sect.”
“Their display of strength seems pretty powerful.”
“They’re taking it too far!”
Disciples continued leaving the Fiend Palace to look at what was going on. After all, it would be tough to concentrate with all the divine realms gathering over the next few days.
Tianming was just waiting for them to leave. Around evening, everyone had finally left and he was left alone with the Archaionfiend Eye.
“Finally.” Tianming closed his eyes and soared into the sky, looking at the Archaionfiend Eye with the eye in his hand. Above the eye was the Heaven Cauldron, suppressing it. That was the reason there was no life in the Archaionfiend Eye.
“Is there a possibility that the Archaionfiend Eye changed Xuanyuan Yuheng?” Tianming approached the Archaionfiend Eye with that thought. When he was beneath the Archaionfiend Eye, and only one meter away, he could no longer get close to it. There was a layer of the Heaven Cauldron’s energy covering it, and there was nothing Tianming could do. But the impact was significant when he looked at the eye from up close.
“Dad didn’t tell me how I should take the Archaionfiend Eye.” Tianming rubbed his temples. He realized that there was no reaction even after getting close to the eye. The Heaven Cauldron was acting as a barrier that stood between him and the eye. Looking at it from this position, Tianming felt nothing aside from sore eyes.
“So what’s so bewitching about the Archaionfiend Eye?” But just as Tianming was about to go down, he suddenly sensed a commotion coming from his spatial ring. He had changed to a ring with a larger internal s.p.a.ce that day. Aside from his personal items, it was packed with food prepared for Xian Xian.
Wildbeast corpses wouldn’t rot in the spatial ring for a short period, and Xian Xian wasn’t picky when it came to what it ate. So Tianming had made a brief trip to the Abyssal Battlefield to gather food. Not only had he resolved the exhaustion from his battle with Xuanyuan Yuheng, but there was a surplus to use later.
The commotion had come from his personal items in the spatial ring. When Tianming changed his ring earlier, he had gone through all of his items. Even the spirit core he got from Red Twill Mountain was well-kept. When he looked through his personal items, he discovered that the commotion was coming from a black chain lying in the corner.
“Isn’t this the weapon my father gave me when I went to the Grand-Orient Sect? What’s the name again?” Tianming pondered. “Archfiend!”
Tianming’s body jolted as he took out Archfiend from his spatial ring. “Back then, dad was still Uncle Yang, and he told me there was something strange about this chain he got from the Abyssal Battlefield.
“The name Archfiend is so similar to the Archaionfiend Eye. Is there a connection between them? Can it be that dad already prepared everything for me?” Tianming became emotional. Archfiend was composed of eyes that had been made into links of a chain.
He remembered using it briefly before tossing it aside. He didn’t spend any time looking into it. But when he took it out this time, he discovered something unusual about it.
“I can’t believe I failed to notice something like this on me!” Tianming smiled bitterly. But he was more curious about the connection between the Archaionfiend Eye and Archfiend. Would there be a reaction if these two came in contact?
When Tianming took out Archfiend, it turned into a circle just like those in its eyes. The reaction coming from the chain also started to grow. At the same time, the Archaionfiend Eye also jolted. The dull-looking eye suddenly appeared to be trembling in fear.
“What’s going on?” Tianming opened his third eye. He saw the Archaionfiend Eye trembling as it released a dark red miasma toward Archfiend. When the miasma fused into Archfiend, it caused the chain to change.
The aura on it began increasing, as though something baleful had awakened. Even the spikes on it became sharper. Under the Archaionfiend Eye’s nourishment, Archfiend began increasing in strength.
The foundation of an artifact was its spiritual runes. As time pa.s.sed, a saintly heavenly pattern appeared on Archfiend, transforming it into a saint b.e.a.s.t.i.a.l weapon. But it didn’t stop there. The heavenly patterns continued increasing in number and reached a hundred after an hour. After one night, the patterns increased to a thousand before they converged into a crimson tribulation pattern. The pattern was long, and covered the entire chain like a blood vessel.
With the formation of a tribulation pattern, it meant Archfiend had turned into a tribulation artifact. It even had a transformation like the Three-Thousand Starfield. It could extend in length now up to at least a thousand meters. Although the length was still inferior to the Three-Thousand Starfield, it was more than enough for battles.
Aside from looking a little gross with countless Archaionfiend Eyes strung together, the black spikes could instantly turn someone into meat paste when they pierced a target. With just a glance, Tianming knew that it was an ominous weapon.
Even after the tribulation pattern took form, it continued devouring the Archaionfiend Eye’s essence. Tianming didn’t know what Archfiend was absorbing, but called it essence for the time being. He had a feeling that the Archfiend was draining the Archaionfiend Eye of something, as the eye was slowly losing its l.u.s.ter.
Although Archfiend hadn’t absorbed too much right now, would it suck the Archaionfiend Eye dry if this goes on? Tianming laughed, “Can it be that I’ll have to suck the eye dry with Archfiend and transfer its power to the eye in my hand?”
He had no proof, but his thinking was sound, and he could only allow Archfiend to continue absorbing the Archaionfiend Eye. At least he could tell that the Archaionfiend Eye couldn’t resist, since the Heaven Cauldron was suppressing it.
“This means I’ll be able to suck the Archaionfiend Eye dry as long as no one disrupts me and turns it into an empty sh.e.l.l. Furthermore, with more tribulation patterns forming on Archfiend, will I be able to use it as a weapon?”
Archfiend was being strengthened. It was now stronger than the Three-Thousand Starfield, but it was only the beginning. Who knew how many tribulation patterns it would have by the end of this process.
……
In the Number One Pavilion in the Heaven Branch, Lin Xiaoxiao was cultivating and a cry suddenly sounded out from the Archaionfiend.
“What the h.e.l.l are you doing?” Lin Xiaoxiao frowned.
“This is impossible! Impossible!” the Archaionfiend roared and charged out of Lin Xiaoxiao’s lifebound s.p.a.ce. Crimson bolts of lightning began discharging and reduced the cultivation chamber to ash.
“Are you insane?” Lin Xiaoxiao was speechless.
“He has Archfiend! He has Archfiend!” the Archaionfiend Eye yelled.
“So what?” Lin Xiaoxiao asked.
“That means he can take my eye away! No, I can’t let this go on any further!” The Archaionfiend had violence flas.h.i.+ng in its eye. “Lin Xiaoxiao!”
“What?”
“Right now, this instant, go with me to kill Li Tianming!”