HSSB395: The real goal
In refining the Eternal Night Thunder Sword, Yan Zhaoge encountered more difficulty than he had expected.
This actually made Yan Zhaoge feel a bit happier, because it correspondingly meant that this treasure was even more powerful than he had expected.
Lin Zhou had wielded this weapon with all of his might to great effect, but it was limited by the strength of the wielder and therefore could not display all of its power.
Using the Eternal Night Thunder Sword had put a huge burden of Lin Zhou every time he tried to stimulate the Thunder of Eternal Night. Stimulating a power which was of such a high grade caused a backlash against his own body.
Of course, this sword also brought great benefits to Lin Zhou, just like when Yan Zhaoge had managed to secure the Eye of the Thunder Emperor fragment and merge it with his right eye. Lin Zhou was in a similar situation with his sword.
When refining the Eternal Night Thunder Sword, the thunder contained within the sword had also nourished and strengthened Lin Zhou’s flesh and blood.
The essence of darkness contained within the sword was not an evil darkness, but rather a primordial, life-giving darkness, like that of a baby in the womb.
When used against enemies, the Thunder of Eternal Night was exceptionally fearsome. The darkness would suppress one’s sensory abilities, while the explosion of the silvery white thunder could destroy all objects.
However, its ability to nurture its owner’s body was extremely high–to such a degree that it even surpassed the Eye of the Thunder Emperor fragment in this respect.
As he continued to examine the strength of the Thunder of Eternal Night contained within the sword, he couldn’t help but nod, “Although amongst the Nine Heavenly Immortal Thunders, it is only ranked ninth, and is slightly inferior in destructive power compared to the sixth ranked An Instant’s Thunder, it has unique points of its own.”
Although the Eye of the Thunder Emperor fragment had once been part of a Sacred Artifact, at the end of the day, it was broken, Yan Zhaoge just possessing a fragment of it.
As a result, the power of An Instant Thunder’s within it was incomplete.
In contrast, while the Eternal Night Thunder Sword in front of him was incomparable with the Eye of the Thunder Emperor fragment in terms of quality, the essence of the Thunder of Eternal Night within was relatively complete.
Yan Zhaoge quietly analysed the various subtleties contained within, gradually forming a vague understanding of the unique profundities of this Heavenly Immortal Thunder.
Other than the aura of the Thunder of Eternal Night as well as the sword-intent which had been forged into the sword alongside it, Yan Zhaoge was able to perceive that there was something else which was special about this weapon.
“This sword-intent generates thunder from noiselessness, which fits together perfectly with the Thunder of Eternal Night. No wonder it fits together so seamlessly…”
As Yan Zhaoge began to refine the Eternal Night Thunder Sword, he gathered his thoughts and swept his eyes over his surroundings to see Ah Hu and Pan-Pan still fighting with some of the Flame Devils.
Revealing the dark red ring, the sudden presence of the Flame Devil Emperor attracted the attention of all the Flame Devils in the vicinity, but also left them stiff with fear.
Currently, there were no Great Flame Devils. The influence of the ring was magnified against Flame Devils with comparatively weaker cultivation bases.
Yan Zhaoge didn’t waste any time as he drew back Heaven Shocker once more. Streaks of light outlined the trajectories of more Devil Shattering Ice Talismans as they shot out.
They were wrapped in a golden light tinged with purple in the deep sea. When they burst, a wave of cold qi instantly froze an entire area of the sea.
Although the surrounding environment was still that of the boiling sea water, the temperature was greatly reduced.
Trapped by these waves of the ice, the Flame Devils had the strength greatly suppressed.
Yan Zhaoge’s sword shot out like a dragon as he worked with Ah Hu and Pan-Pan to encircle the Flame Devils and slaughter them.
In the distance, Yan Zhaoge saw that the earlier underwater mountain range with the deep abyss of flames in its centre was now encompassed by an enormous vortex.
It extended outward in a giant swirl to a certain extent before finally stopping.
However, both ice and fire intermingled within the vortex as they rotated unceasingly. Despite the cessation of the vortex’s expansion, there was no slowdown in the speed of its rotation.
The rocks of the nearby underwater mountain range began to shatter unceasingly, a great amount of underground fire spurting out of the ground non-stop as in most of the Outer East Sea.
The boiling sea covered a vast expanse with steam.
With Yan Zhaoge’s current location as the epicenter, the Fire Pith Veins of this entire large region of surrounding sea began to gradually regain their former calm.
The conditions of both sides had once again reversed.
However, that was only in this region of the Outer East Sea. Elsewhere, the jade sea still remained a sea of flames, with scenes reminiscent to the end of the world.
Standing next to Yan Zhaoge, Ah Hu still wore the appearance of that Heavenly Thunder Hall martial practitioner surnamed Zhang.
While the effects of the Imitation Killing Jade still persisted, his appearance would remain this way.
However, the effect could be ended prematurely according to the user’s wishes.
His thin body let out a crackling noise.
Suddenly, that “senior apprentice-brother Zhang” became two heads taller as his figure also became large and stocky.
Ah Hu, who had returned to his original appearance, rubbed his chin, “Young Master, this Imitation Killing Jade sure is useful. It’s a pity that we only had one piece.”
His eyes remaining on the vortex in the distance, Yan Zhaoge said, “You sure took a big risk this time.”
“Under normal circumstances, the Imitation Killing Jade is only useful if you are intimately familiar with the person whom you are pretending to be, like that time with Black Nightmare Mountain.”
“Otherwise, even if the outward appearance is the same, the differences in personality and habits will cause doubt in those familiar with the victim.”
“Even though you are able to mimic the other’s inner qi breathing techniques, you were only able to get away with it due to the chaotic situation. Otherwise, as soon as the other party became suspicious, you would’ve been found out.”
Yan Zhaoge continued, “Luckily, this time, you appeared while they were preoccupied. Otherwise, you would have been in a very dangerous situation.”
Ah Hu laughed, “Young Master, all their attention was directed towards you. Even though the situation seemed dangerous for me, it was actually rather safe.”
Yan Zhaoge nodded as he kept his eye on the gigantic vortex of fire and ice.
As time passed, the force of the enormous ice and fire vortex began to weaken as it gradually dispersed.
Ah Hu touched his mouth, “Young Master, we shouldn’t have to go to each point region of stability and treat every single one, right? I’m afraid that in the entire Outer East Sea, even if there aren’t a thousand, there should still be several hundred of them ah!”
Yan Zhaoge shook his head, “It’s no use. Now that the Flame Devils have already succeeded in their scheme, going to each point region of stability is only treating the symptoms whilst ignoring the underlying cause. We’ll have to observe the situation.”
Hearing this, Ah Hu touched the back of his head and looked up seriously.
This was because he sensed that this calm region of sea had once again began showing signs of restlessness.
The underwater mountain ranges broke apart once more, the halted underground fire showing signs of erupting once again.
Even though their bodies were shielded from the seawater by their aura-qi, they could clearly feel the temperature of the surrounding water rising.
Yan Zhaoge suddenly smiled, “There are so many point regions of stability that are criss-crossed in a giant network across the entire Outer East Sea. Because we were only able to affect a single one, the rest of the network caused it to regain its forcefulness within a short period of time.”
“However, if we were to affect the single point region of stability at the center of the network… that would affect the entire fire net.”
Ah Hu had a flash of understanding, “Young Master, that was your real intention behind destroying this point region of stability?”
Yan Zhaoge looked into the distance, “Indeed. Through the recovery of this point region of stability, I was able to seek out the flow of power within the entire network, thereby determining where its centre lies. Therein lies the key to solving our problem.”
Yan Zhaoge let out a long breath, then turned to Pan-Pan, “Now, we’ll begin.”