Chapter 203: Artifact Spirit

Watching Linghu Shou's Nascent Soul plunge into the Five Elements Heaven and Earth Ring, Jiuyou took a few imperceptible steps back. Golden Sun Mountain expanded to the size of a zhang to shield him, and the Heavenly Wind Robe was over his shoulders in a flash, its gray fabric melting into the snowy night.

He didn't flee immediately. His gaze was locked onto that five-colored halo.

'This old bastard definitely still has a hidden card,' his thoughts raced. 'The Daoyang Sect couldn't possibly have missed that commotion. I don't know why their people haven't arrived yet, but if I drag this out any longer, I won't be able to leave. But if I retreat now, this entire trip will have been for nothing.'

In that split second of hesitation, the Five Elements Heaven and Earth Ring abruptly erupted in a continuous surge of golden light—so blinding it looked as though a sun had detonated inside the halo.

Surging shockwaves rippled outward wave after wave, sending rubble flying and kicking dust into the sky wherever they passed. Only because Golden Sun Mountain shielded him was Jiuyou spared from being blown backward.

The five-colored halo began to spin rapidly, blurring faster and faster to leave overlapping afterimages in the air, as if something were struggling violently deep within it.

'Not good.' Warning bells shrieked in Jiuyou's mind. A long golden whip slid silently from his sleeve, striking through the turbulent air to precisely snare the storage pouch at the waist of Linghu Shou's corpse. Then, without looking back, he tore off into the distance.

Almost the exact instant he fled, a more dazzling and ferocious wave of golden energy detonated behind him. Even brushing against the aftershocks of that power would be enough to make an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator's soul tremble.

Because of Jiuyou's profound mana, the shockwave only made him stagger slightly. But that aura gave him a much more visceral understanding of a Heaven-grade Spiritual Treasure's might—the aftershocks alone were enough to make anyone feel it was impossible to resist.

He didn't look back, pushing his escape light to its absolute limit. The golden sword shadow tore through the blizzard, dragging a long, razor-sharp tail across the night sky.

However, in the very next instant, a faster streak of golden light brushed past him before abruptly blossoming before his eyes, blocking his path.

Forced to halt his escape light, Jiuyou looked up, his pupils contracting.

It was the Five Elements Heaven and Earth Ring.

Everything Linghu Shou had done—slaughtering people to extract their souls, devouring soul power, abandoning his physical body—had all been to let his Nascent Soul merge into this Heaven-grade Spiritual Treasure and become an artifact spirit. The essence souls trapped inside that purple sphere had likely been prepared exactly for this step. The man hadn't been bluffing earlier when he claimed he wanted to devour Jiuyou's living soul to increase his chances of success.

He had seen mentions of an "artifact spirit" in ancient records, but those were merely a few vague sentences in decaying scrolls. The world had never heard of a magical treasure truly birthing an artifact spirit.

Could Linghu Shou have actually succeeded?

The Five Elements Heaven and Earth Ring hovered in the void, its halo still rotating slowly. Its spiritual light was as placid as still water, betraying no abnormality whatsoever, yet it felt more unpredictable than at any previous moment.

Right then, a steady, ancient voice echoed through the void.

"Hahaha, good lad."

The corner of Jiuyou's eye twitched slightly, but his Divine Sense remained firmly locked onto the sky-blotting five-colored halo ahead, refusing to waver by even a fraction.

"Lad, stop looking. I am right in front of you."

An Ember Moon Sword slid silently into Jiuyou's hand, its tip aimed straight at the Five Elements Heaven and Earth Ring. "Linghu Shou?" His voice was icy. "No, you aren't him. Who are you? Stop playing tricks."

The five-colored halo, hundreds of zhang tall, hung in the void like a golden sun fallen to the mortal realm. Standing in its shadow, Jiuyou looked as insignificant as a speck of dust.

He had nowhere left to retreat.

After several grueling battles, he could replenish his mana with Ten-Thousand-Year Spiritual Milk, but the heavy drain on his Divine Sense could not be recovered so quickly.

If he kept fighting, he wouldn't hold the slightest advantage. If he turned to flee, the speed his opponent had just displayed meant he had absolutely zero chance of escape. Both choices were dead ends, so he might as well risk it all in a final struggle.

Just as his nerves stretched to their absolute breaking point, the ancient voice laughed again. There was no killing intent in the chuckle—rather, it carried an indescribable sense of gratification, mixed with a hint of genuine amusement. "Hahaha, you ask who I am? Since you are a disciple of the Daoyang Sect, I can't really blame you for failing to recognize me. After all, over ten thousand years have passed. How many people still remember me? There is no harm in telling you: I am the founding ancestor of the Daoyang Sect, known as Ancestor Zhentian, Xuan Zhenzi."

Jiuyou's pupils contracted sharply, the Ember Moon Sword in his hand involuntarily dropping a few inches. "You're that Deity Transformation ancestor recorded in the ancient records? How is that possible... You're not dead? And you became the artifact spirit of this Five Elements Heaven and Earth Ring?"

"Five Elements Heaven and Earth Ring? Is that what later generations call this treasure? Quite fitting." The voice paused. "However, the true name of this object is the Five Origins Universal Hub. Not that it matters what you call it. In the end, a name is just a name."

As his voice faded, golden light flashed, and a miniature golden figure drifted slowly out of the halo. The little figure wore an archaic robe. Despite his bushy white eyebrows and aged face, he exuded an indescribably steady aura. With one hand clasped behind his back and the other stroking his long beard, the old man studied Jiuyou with deep interest, looking for all the world like someone who hadn't seen a living person in a very long time.

"Heh, Qing You, lad, aren't you going to come pay your respects to your martial ancestor?"

Jiuyou didn't step forward. His gaze swept back and forth between the miniature figure and the halo. Only after confirming the old man had no intention of attacking did he withdraw some of his hostility, though his sword remained unsheathed. "You recognize me."

"I devoured Linghu Shou's Nascent Soul, so naturally, his memories are now mine. How could I not recognize you?" Xuan Zhenzi scoffed coldly, his tone carrying a complex mix of emotions. "That man was pitiful, yet also detestable. To become the artifact spirit of this Heaven and Earth Ring, he schemed for centuries, slaughtered tens of thousands of innocents, and painstakingly extracted and refined their souls. Little did he know that I had already preceded him over ten thousand years ago, voluntarily fusing myself into this treasure. In the end, all his efforts merely served to benefit another."

His voice grew quieter. "What is pitiful is that his desire to revive the sect was genuine, even to the point of breaking the ironclad laws I laid down so long ago. What is detestable is that he simply went too far."

He turned slightly to gaze up at the sky in the direction of the Daoyang Sect, his eyes filled with sorrow. After a long silence, he let out a heavy sigh. "Ten thousand years have passed. To think my Daoyang Sect has fallen to such a state that its descendants must resort to such insidious methods... Truly, fate makes fools of men."

Having spoken, he turned back to let his gaze fall upon Jiuyou, a worldly detachment lingering in his ancient eyes. "Oh, right. And you, lad... you're no simple character yourself..."