Chapter 23: Chapter 22: Fusing with the Divine Artifact
Divine Artifacts were not without their weaknesses.
The Murong Family’s Star Shifting was renowned for its ability to redirect and reflect any form of power, yet it was helpless against purely physical attacks.
Murong Qing had held on to the Star Shifting Divine Artifact Incarnation until the very end, planning to use it to save his life.
But he never expected that what would truly cost him his life wasn’t Jiang Kaitai’s formidable Blood Fiend Power, but rather the Grappling Techniques of the low-level Jianghu People he had always disdained!
"Chen Yuan! You’re courting death!"
Murong Qing’s face twisted with rage. "The Murong Family will not let you go! No matter where you run, to the ends of the earth, my Murong Family will hunt you down and tear you to pieces!"
At that moment, Murong Qing’s heart was filled with endless regret.
’It’s finally dawned on me. Jiang Kaitai and I were both played by this Chen Yuan!’
’He made us fight until we were both crippled, just so he could swoop in and reap the rewards.’
Just then, a thought struck Murong Qing, and he burst out laughing. "Chen Yuan, all your intricate schemes are for naught! You’ll never be able to take the Seven Kills Stele!
Jiang Kaitai has already used up all the power from the blood sacrifice. What do you have left to take the Seven Kills Stele with?
After all that scheming, in the end, it was all for nothing!"
"Annoying!"
Chen Yuan frowned, picked up Murong Qing’s Dragon Patterned Green Gold Treasure Sword, shoved it into his mouth, and minced his tongue.
Murong Qing roared, his mouth full of blood, and glared at Chen Yuan with venomous hatred.
"Who told you that you need a blood sacrifice to fuse with the Seven Kills Stele?"
Chen Yuan’s gaze turned to the Seven Kills Stele.
There are many ways to master a Divine Artifact Demon Soldier. Some require strength, some a specific bloodline, and some just require the artifact to take a liking to you. Others rely on a host of messy methods like blood sacrifices, Arrays, and so on.
The Murong Family’s Divine Artifact, Star Shifting, for instance, relied on bloodline power. Any Direct Lineage Disciples possessing the Murong bloodline could wield the Star Shifting Divine Artifact Incarnation.
Furthermore, the strongest Murong of each generation could naturally master Star Shifting and become its Commander-in-Chief. This method of inheriting a Divine Artifact Demon Soldier is the most stable and enviable.
The small Clan that first found the Seven Kills Stele assumed that its Attribute required a blood sacrifice. They believed their only mistake was not sacrificing enough.
After seeing the murals, Jiang Kaitai and Murong Qing also believed that the Seven Kills Stele required a blood sacrifice to be successfully fused with and controlled.
In reality, they were dead wrong!
From the very beginning, their method was flawed.
A blood sacrifice could indeed stir the power of the Seven Kills Stele, but it was only temporary.
Once the power of the blood sacrifice dissipated, the Killing Intent Origin would immediately return to the stele.
The true method to fuse with the Seven Kills Stele was to rely on one’s own willpower to actively accept and merge with the Killing Intent Origin.
The Seven Kills Stele Fragment had appeared several times throughout history, and at first, everyone thought it required a blood sacrifice.
It wasn’t until its third appearance that someone successfully fused with the stele, and only then did the Jianghu learn that a blood sacrifice was not actually required.
However, fusing with the Seven Kills Stele was extremely perilous. When the Killing Intent Origin descended, anyone with weak willpower would be instantly overwhelmed and turned into a mindless puppet that only knew how to kill.
Moreover, when the Blood Fiend Power carried by the Killing Intent Origin entered the body, anyone with insufficient strength would be blown apart.
Therefore, fusing with the Seven Kills Stele required two strict prerequisites.
The first was to be a veteran of a hundred battles, having endured countless life-and-death struggles, in order to be compatible with the Killing Intent Origin.
Of course, this "killing" didn’t refer to slaughtering the weak, but the killing intent accumulated from life-and-death duels and bloody battles against powerful experts.
The second was strength. One needed at least the Cultivation of the Martial Dao’s Sixth Realm, the Condensing Truth Realm.
This meant turning one’s True Qi from illusory to solid, transforming it into True Essence and possessing greater power, in order to withstand the impact of the Blood Fiend Power entering the body.
’At first glance, I didn’t seem to meet the first condition. But in the game, I had genuinely experienced countless bloody battles.’
’I had even single-handedly wiped out an entire guild.’
’After I transmigrated, I originally thought this virtual combat experience would be useless.’
’But in actual combat, I found that my mind remained incredibly calm. I could unleash the ultimate destructive power of any Martial Technique in my hands.’
’Killing carried no psychological burden for me. Every swing of my saber, the sight of blood blossoming in the air, felt strangely familiar, as if I had experienced countless life-or-death battles before.’
’Since my combat experience from before transmigration remained, I could naturally be considered someone who had weathered countless bloody battles and could withstand the Killing Intent Origin.’
’As for the Blood Fiend Entering the Body, that was also easy to resolve.’
Murong Qing was the most crucial part of Chen Yuan’s plan to fuse with the Seven Kills Stele.
The Murong Family’s Star Shifting Divine Artifact Incarnation could redirect any form of power.
Divine Artifact Demon Soldiers have different levels of strength. Although Star Shifting was far weaker than the Seven Kills Stele, both were of the Divine Artifact Level, so it could naturally redirect the Seven Kills Stele’s power as well.
Chen Yuan had kept Murong Qing alive because Star Shifting required the power of the Murong Family bloodline to be activated.
To seize the Seven Kills Stele, he could do without people from the Sun-piercing Alliance, but not without someone from the Murong Family.
This was also why Chen Yuan had gone to such great lengths to have Wen Rou pass the news to the Murong Family.
Chen Yuan dragged Murong Qing over to the Seven Kills Stele. He then stepped forward and reached his hand toward the stele.
The Seven Kills Stele before him looked solid, but it was actually just a fragment, surrounded by a form manifested from an extremely dense Killing Intent Origin.
In an instant, the Killing Intent Origin fused with Chen Yuan’s mind.
Chen Yuan’s vision instantly turned into a sea of blood, and endless illusions flooded his mind.
Boundless killing intent surged forth, and a single voice echoed in his mind: Kill!
The disloyal must be slain! The unfilial must be slain!
The unkind must be slain! The unrighteous must be slain!
The discourteous, the unwise, the faithless—enact Heaven’s justice! Kill, kill, kill!
Cleanse the world of filth, purge it of all ugliness. Meet violence with violence, and end killing with killing!
As the boundless Killing Intent Origin assaulted him, Chen Yuan’s eyes turned blood-red, but he desperately held on to a sliver of clarity.
The Killing Intent Origin gradually fused with Chen Yuan’s own consciousness, and that sliver of clarity began to fade.
Just then, an overwhelmingly powerful surge of Blood Fiend Power washed over him. Chen Yuan used what little clarity he had left to viciously tear open Murong Qing’s artery.
Holding Star Shifting, Chen Yuan placed it over the gushing blood. At the same time, he channeled his Inner Strength, and a brilliant golden light instantly emerged from the Ancient Jade.
In the next moment, the surge of Blood Fiend Power coming from the Seven Kills Stele was instantly absorbed by Star Shifting.
As blood continued to pour over it, the golden light on Star Shifting grew increasingly intense.
Murong Qing felt the blood draining from his body, which grew colder and colder. He writhed and let out guttural whimpers and screams.
When the golden light on Star Shifting reached its peak, Chen Yuan fiercely threw the Ancient Jade in his hand. Instantly, the violent Blood Fiend Power blasted a massive crater—dozens of feet wide and of unknown depth—into the ground.
With a single stomp, Chen Yuan snapped Murong Qing’s neck.
’He was of no more use. Now, he could finally die.’
The most powerful wave of Blood Fiend Power had been redirected by Star Shifting. The remaining Blood Fiend Power surged into Chen Yuan’s body, which he could fully absorb on his own.
At the same time, the illusory image of the Seven Kills Stele continuously shrank, gradually merging into Chen Yuan’s body.
It finally turned into a small stone that branded itself onto Chen Yuan’s chest, looking just like a tattoo.
Simultaneously, another large stream of information flooded into Chen Yuan’s mind.
This time, however, it wasn’t an assault of killing intent, but rather information on how to use the Seven Kills Stele Fragment.
The reason the Seven Kills Stele was the ultimate Divine Soldier of the first version was because most Divine Artifact Demon Soldier fragments required at least half or a third of the whole to be usable.
But the Seven Kills Stele was different. One-seventh was enough.
And with each fragment collected, its power would grow even stronger.
Chen Yuan sat cross-legged on the ground and let out a long breath.
His Inner Strength was almost completely depleted, and a sharp, burning sensation shot through his Meridians.
It was an aftereffect from the Fire Dragon Pill’s power being used up.
But this bit of damage was insignificant compared to his gains.
After fusing with the Seven Kills Stele Fragment, Chen Yuan could lightly burn his Qi Blood to draw the Blood Fiend Power into his body.
If he burned his Qi Blood intensely, he could even cause the Killing Intent Origin to descend, and its might would be even more terrifying.
With every Seven Kills Stele Fragment he collected, this power would increase, and it would also have more variations.
If he collected the entire Seven Kills Stele, the complete Killing Intent Origin could even form the Blood Killing Divine Body, which could be described as the advent of a true god of slaughter.
Furthermore, each Seven Kills Stele Fragment contained a powerful Cultivation Technique derived from the Killing Intent Origin.
The Cultivation Technique on this Seven Kills Stele Fragment was called the "Blood Killing Heaven-Seizing Hand."
It could create a Blood Coagulation Fiend and unleash a Descent Killing Tribulation. Its Palm Force was fierce and tyrannical, capable of suppressing and extinguishing True Qi of most Attributes.
The only prerequisite for using this Cultivation Technique was to activate the Killing Intent Origin, and it consumed an enormous amount of Blood Fiend Power.
Chen Yuan estimated that with his current strength, using it for a single palm strike was his absolute limit.
But the power of this Cultivation Technique was astonishing, enough to be ranked at the Celestial Level!
One Seven Kills Stele Fragment contained one Celestial Level Technique, so seven fragments meant seven techniques.
There was a reason the Seven Kills Stele was ranked as the ultimate Divine Soldier of the first version. The value of these seven Celestial Level Techniques alone was comparable to some Divine Artifact Demon Soldiers themselves.
The only drawback was that the Cultivation Techniques carried by the Seven Kills Stele were all derived from the Killing Intent Origin.
They could only be used by someone who possessed the Seven Kills Stele, so they couldn’t be taught to others.
Chen Yuan barely recovered some of his Inner Strength and immediately prepared to leave.
Delays could lead to complications. Heaven knew if the Murong Family or the Sun-piercing Alliance would suddenly send people. He had to leave Lianshan City at once.
Before leaving, Chen Yuan only took the fragments of his Yanling Saber.
Although the Yanling Saber was just an ordinary, standard-issue weapon, the hilt had a mark carved by the ’Chen Yuan’ from before his transmigration, and it couldn’t be left behind.
As for the bodies of Murong Qing and Jiang Kaitai in the secret area, Chen Yuan didn’t need to destroy the corpses to erase the evidence.
The bodies could be destroyed, but this secret ruin from the late ancient era could not. So, as soon as the Murong Family arrived, they would definitely discover that the Seven Kills Stele had once been here.
And everyone who knew Chen Yuan was involved in the fight for the Seven Kills Stele was already dead. No one knew of his existence.
Perhaps Wen Rou could guess some of it, but she wouldn’t speak recklessly.
The Celestial Wind Listening Rain Tower had existed for over a thousand years and had always followed the rules. They wouldn’t break them for Chen Yuan.
Of course, even if Wen Rou didn’t follow the rules, Chen Yuan wasn’t afraid.
The Murong Family’s sphere of influence only covered half of You Province. Outside of You Province, the world was vast. If the Murong Family wanted to find him, it would be like finding a needle in a haystack.
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