Chapter 1716: The Three Dark Giants

Swish!

Like a hungry wolf, the Broken Blade shot into the stream of Treasure Refining Dao Qi as soon as it appeared. The glistening, snowy weapon emitted terrifying and obscure fluctuations as it chanted joyfully.

The naked eye could see that the Treasure Refining Dao Qi was being melted away and refined little by little.

During this process, the surface of the Broken Blade began changing in an incredible way—

One Natal Treasure Rune appeared after another, and they seemed to be alive as they resembled golden dragons roaming with their heads high within the Broken Blade.

Lin Xun and A’hu gawked in astonishment.

The speed of this transformation made it conspicuous. In just a few breaths, eight more Natal Treasure Runes emerged in addition to the existing eight!

Moreover, the transformation was still continuing…

Buzz~

The Broken Blade’s chants became more and more impassioned, and its obscure aura became more and more intense. Zooming in, the three word inheritances of Yuan, Extreme, and Zhu seemed to have come to life and started exhaling a mysterious breath.

The dark cave was now resplendent, filled with divine light.

If A’hu wasn’t seeing this with her own eyes, she would never have believed that the growth of a treasure could present such a marvelous and mystified phenomenon.

Just what is the origin of this blade?

A’hu became more and more curious.

Meanwhile, Lin Xun wasn’t calm either. Since the Broken Blade had long since become his life-bound Saint weapon, every change in it was currently vividly reflected in his mind. It was a pleasant surprise and a shock.

“Twenty.”

“Thirty.”

“Forty.”

“Fifty.”

......

In just the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the weapon’s transformation was akin to a bamboo tree growing like crazy in the spring rain!

As the Broken Blade metamorphosed, the Treasure Refining Dao Qi derived from great dao runes gradually became dim and blurred.

Up to this point, there were only remnants of it left.

In the end, under the shocked gazes of Lin Xun and A’hu, the Broken Blade completely refined this stream of Treasure Refining Dao Qi.

And on its surface were fifty-four dazzlingly golden, dragon-shaped Natal Treasure Runes!

Clang!

Before the two returned to their senses, Lin Xun suddenly glowed as if he had accumulated too much power and it all began to release recklessly at this moment.

Boom!

A radiance surged out from the tip of the Broken Blade, accompanied by a ferocious aura so thick that it was almost a substance.

Unable to withstand the impact of this terrifying aura, the dark place was pierced through. The beam rushed out from the top straight to the earth surface and drilled a hole in the clouds!

“Huh! What a shocking light, shooting into the void with a murderous sharpness. A supreme treasure must be emerging!”

A group of cultivators in the nearby area were startled and looked over with a fire in their eyes.

“Let’s go, quick!”

They teleported toward the beam without delay.

When they arrived, however, the treasure light abruptly dissolved into nothingness. At the same time, Lin Xun and A’hu swept out from underground.

Those cultivators stopped dead on their tracks, their faces turning pale.

“Damn it, it’s that fellow!”

“Who?”

“Lin Xun!”

“It’s him!?”

Their hearts trembled as they recalled the intense battle of Lin Xun soloing a bunch of experts and killing Lu Ang just a few days ago. They immediately thought of retreating.

“You guys want to fight me for the treasure?” Lin Xun put on a pondering look.

The group of cultivators trembled in unison and repeatedly shook their heads.

“Uh, we’re just passing through, we’ll take our leave now.” Without hesitation, they swiftly turned around and slipped away.

Even Lin Xun was stunned by this act.

When had the cultivators on this Ancient Nebula Road become so timid?

A’hu’s lips curled up. “They have begun to understand that you, Demon God Lin, are not someone to be trifled with casually.”

Lin Xun smiled and explained, “I just wanted to test the Broken Blade’s new power.”

With the addition of every Natal Treasure Rune, the Broken Blade gained an additional one percent in battle power.

With ten, it gained ten percent!

Now that the weapon had fifty-four Natal Treasure Runes, how powerful would it be?

A’hu said, “When it coalesces a hundred Natal Treasure Runes, there will be a whole new transformation on another level, and it will birth a weapon spirit. At that time, your weapon will double your combat power.”

Lin Xun sighed, “That’s too difficult. Even absorbing that powerful Treasure Refining Dao Qi could only get the Broken Blade to this point. Coalescing a hundred Natal Treasure Runes…who knows how long it will take.”

He then smiled. “But I’m already content.”

The two then got back in action to find some more Treasure Refining Dao Qi in the remaining bit of time.

During this, they also learned new information.

One of them was that currently in Treasure Refining Land, many experts were searching and investigating Lin Xun’s whereabouts, vowing to exterminate him!

This gave rise to a murderous intent in Lin Xun’s heart. Did these bastards really think that he was a fish on their chopping board?

Meanwhile, he and A’hu also got news on Sha Liuqing.

Holy Illumination Ancient Sect!

A’hu’s beautiful eyes turned serious as she said, “A Holy Apostle. No wonder he’s capable of such mysterious and unpredictable battle tactics.”

Lin Xun could not remain calm either as it reminded him of a past event.

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Back then in the Nine Domains Battlefield, he had asked Zhu Yingkong what he knew about quasi-Emperor Baqi.

It wasn’t until Zhu Yingkong had neared his last breath that he gave a reply—

He proceeded to say that Baqi was one of the founding members of the Holy Illumination Ancient Sect in the Absolute Yin Ancient Domain. He was a quasi-Emperor who had always been lurking around the border battlefield!

Zhu Yingkong had also said that Lin Xun would be able to easily kill Baqi after he entered the quasi-Emperor stage. However, that would invite the wrath of the Holy Illumination Ancient Sect, which was something that he would not be able to withstand.

At that time, Lin Xun hadn’t believed it at all.

Zhu Yingkong hadn’t explained it either and just told him,

“…you will understand in the future how terrifying of a force this sect is.”

Lin Xun hadn’t expected that Sha Liuqing would be from that same Holy Illumination Ancient Sect!

“Is the Holy Illumination Ancient Sect very powerful or something?” asked Lin Xun upon noticing A’hu’s strange mood.

“In the underworld of the Ancient Nebula Road, the Holy Illumination Ancient Sect is regarded as one of the Three Dark Giants. This force…” A’hu proceeded to inform him about the Holy Illumination Ancient Sect.

Lin Xun quickly understood that this was a mysterious assassin organization. Their disciples were called Holy Apostles and they moved around with great secrecy and used cruel tactics to deal with their targets.

The most frightening thing about this sect was that it came from the underworld and was extremely mysterious. No one had any idea about its depths.

A’hu concluded, “This sect has a Holy Punishment List. Every target of their assassination is recorded in this list. I suspect…”

“You suspect that my name has also been put on it?” Lin Xun raised an eyebrow.

Assassins who came and went without a trace were the most difficult to guard against. Being targeted by such a terrifying and mysterious assassin organization was indeed a huge headache.

“Mhm.” A’hu’s eyes flashed with an odd light. “Another one of the Three Dark Giants of the Ancient Nebula Underworld is the Earth Treasury Realm. Those bald donkeys proclaim that they are Netherworld Ferrymen and take it as their duty to eradicate all heresies in existence. Don’t forget that they’ve had their eyes set on you for a long time as well.”

Lin Xun was surprised, “What is the relationship between the Earth Treasury Realm and the Earth Treasury Temple?”

A’hu quickly explained, “The Earth Treasury Temple is a branch of the Earth Treasury Realm. It can be considered the outer sect. On the contrary, true disciples of the inner sect never reveal their identity.”

Lin Xun was speechless for a while.

His feud with the Earth Treasury Temple began with him obtaining the Great Treasury Silent Scripture left behind by Saint Monk Duji. During that period, he had killed quite a number of their disciples.

For example, the eighteen sons of the Earth Treasury Temple, as well as a Saint called Fa Lin…

However, he had never thought that the Earth Treasury Temple located in the Ancient Wasteland Domain would have such a special connection to the Earth Treasury Realm in the Ancient Nebula Underworld.

“In that case, I’m afraid that the black-robed monk we saw before wasn’t from the Earth Treasury Temple, but from the Earth Treasury Realm.”

Lin Xun’s gaze darkened as he recalled the black-clothed monk with a black lotus flower mark on his forehead that they had encountered not long ago.

Any other cultivator would have collapsed if they were targeted by two Dark Giant forces of the Ancient Nebula Underworld at once.

While Lin Xun was not even shocked or scared, he became serious, which caused him to frown.

He knew more than anyone the style of the Earth Treasury Temple. Each of those bald vultures was more ruthless and fearless of death than the other, and they wouldn’t hesitate to disregard their lives in order to kill their enemies.

A’hu teased, “What’s wrong? Are you a little scared now?”

Lin Xun rubbed his nose. “I just don’t like trouble. Being stared at by a bunch of flies is annoying enough, and now it’s two bunches.”

He paused a little before asking curiously, “By the way, who is the last Dark Giant?”

A’hu’s eyes gleamed as she answered, “The Copper Sparrow House, a mysterious organization whose forces are spreading throughout the underworld. They control the Land of Chaos and the Underground World.

“Nowadays, on the ‘bounty list’ circulating on the Ancient Nebula Road, ninety percent of the criminals come from the dark nations in the Copper Sparrow House’s territory.

“Unlike the Holy Lumination Ancient Sect and the Earth Treasury Realm, the Copper Sparrow House is more like a lord who enacts the order of the underworld, maintaining its entire operation with supreme will and unshakable strength.

“I once heard that if the Copper Sparrow House was no longer in place and the order of the underworld collapsed, then those vicious criminals all over the underworld would inevitably roam free and flood into the Ancient Nebula Road, bringing about unimaginable, bloody calamities.”

Saying this, A’hu gazed at Lin Xun. “Now, you’re probably thinking that the Copper Sparrow House does not behave like a Dark Giant at all, right?”

Lin Xun nodded.

“Unfortunately, most cultivators in this world don’t think so.” A’hu continued, “In their opinion, those criminals would have long been exterminated it wasn’t for the Copper Sparrow House sheltering them, and the so-called Underground World and Land of Chaos would have long been swept through and eradicated.”

Lin Xun was shaken by this. Seeming to be musing something, he asked, “What about you; what do you think of the Copper Sparrow House?”

Her eyes were clear as she replied with a solemn expression rarely seen on her face, “I only know that, without the Copper Sparrow House presiding over the underworld, the Ancient Nebula Road would have long been taken over by chaos!”