That night, in an area tens of miles away from the 7th army camp.

Shua!

A streak of bright light with a dazzling starry light tail slashed at a mountain peak not far away.

Boom!

The mountain peak split into two from the swift stroke like tofu being cut and was left with a clean and smooth cross-section.

It wasn’t over yet. The bright and almost transparent broken blade continued to flash, slash, stab and streak in the air, tearing countless cracks in the void wherever it passed.

Then, a loud boom and rumble shook the area.

A mountain that was hundreds of feet high was cut into neat boulders, and they tumbled down one after another.

Shua!

Meanwhile, the Broken Blade had already returned to Lin Xun, floating gracefully in front of him. It was as bright as snow and as shiny as jade and without a fleck of damage on its body.

Lin Xun stood still, pondering quietly.

The so-called spirit-controlling technique was not particularly complicated. It was just a way of using the spirit sense as a means to control spirit weapons.

The primordial spirit, cultivation base, and spirit weapon formed a complementary relationship. The stronger one’s cultivation level, the more terrifying the power of the spirit weapon.

The stronger the power of the primordial spirit, the easier it was to control the spirit weapon.

Similarly, the inherent power of the spirit weapon brought out the defense power of one’s cultivation and primordial spirit.

However, it might be easy to understand the technique, but it wasn’t as easy to practice it. The yuan dao rune array inheritance contained extremely complicated mysteries. A cultivator had to constantly practice it to completely master it.

“The Broken Blade is now more than twice as strong as before. And now that it can be controlled with the spirit, it has become even stronger and it won’t have any problem defeating great Cyclic Derivation cultivators…”

Lin Xun analyzed, “Unlike the No-Nonsense Bow, the Broken Blade doesn’t consume as much power. As long as I don’t run into half-step kings, I believe I can fight for a long time.”

In the following time, he continued to practice the art of spirit control, progressing very smoothly and making great results.

One after another barren mountain collapsed, causing earthquakes in the nearby areas.

Soon, the cultivators in the 7th army camp were alarmed and came to watch.

At first, they were very surprised and confused because, in their impression, Lin Xun was most skilled in archery techniques.

Who in the entire Blood Kill Battlefield didn’t know that Young Master Lin had a godlike aim?

That was the reason why the cultivators were so astonished to see Lin Xun practicing something else other than the art of archery.

But soon, their curiosity was piqued. Besides archery, what other combat arts had Young Master Lin mastered?

Then, when they saw Lin Xun manipulate the Broken Blade and destroy one mountain after another, their curiosity was replaced by shocked disbelief. They stared, horror-struck at the flattened land.

They couldn’t imagine how a Heaven Ascension teenager would not only possess heaven-defying archery skills, but also other amazing combat skills.

“Could Young Master be a legendary saint? He’s just too strong...”

Many cultivators’ hearts were swaying.

“If Young Master Lin was the enemy, then I likely won’t be able to block his attacks.”

Yan Feng also came. As he watched on, his expression turned extremely solemn and his eyes glazed over.

As a renowned Cyclic Derivation cultivator in the 7th army camp, Yan Feng was very influential, and his words immediately caused an uproar among the nearby cultivators.

“The Spirit Control Art! The broken blade in his hand is a spirit weapon!” Zhangsun Lie’s eyes shot out terrifying flashes of lightning as they opened and closed. “Both his bow and blade are so powerful. Could that kid be blessed by the heavens?”

It wasn’t until nightfall that Lin Xun returned to the camp in exhaustion.

However, he was filled with joy and satisfaction. The spirit control art from the dao rune inheritance had mysteriously brought out the Broken Blade’s strongest powers.

“Paying my respects to Young Master Lin.”

“Master Lin, when are you going to kill the Magu Brute bastards again? I would like to follow you and battle alongside you!”

“Young Master Lin, are you free tonight? Do you want to have a drink together?”

On the way back to the camp, all the cultivators he ran into greeted him enthusiastically.

He bowed his head with a smile, but declined all the invitations. He was too focused on honing his cultivation arts and had no time to socialize or entertain other people.

At nightfall, the camp was still brightly lit.

However, the night wasn’t peaceful. Soon, an empire spy rushed into the army camp in the dark and headed straight to the room of General Zhangsun Lie.

“What? General Xia Houjie is dead?” Zhangsun Lie’s angry and shocked voice boomed out in the room.

At the same time, the desk in front of him had been smashed to dust once again.

“What happened?” he asked, strongly suppressing the shock in his heart.

After learning everything, his face turned ashen and grave, and he fell into utter silence.

Early the next morning, the entire 7th army camp was shaken by the news. A feeling of unease and worry swept the cultivators and the atmosphere was gravely quiet.

Last night, the latest news from the Mulberry Woodland sent the cultivators of the empire into a state of shock and panic like a clap of thunder from the blue sky.

A top general of the empire, Xia Houjie, a Life Death Stage King...was dead!

𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

It was a huge matter that no one could accept.

A Life Death Stage King was the strongest power in the camp. Their existence was like a pillar and deterred enemies from rashly attacking.

Now, one of the Life Death Stage Kings had fallen. It was as though a corner of the sky had collapsed. How could anyone remain calm?

“According to the news, a mysterious dao temple appeared in the Mulberry Woodland and was believed to hold an earthshaking opportunity. It attracted the attention of many terrifying creatures in the woodland and sparked many battles. Top General Xia Houjie was killed in those battles.”

“It’s terrifying. I heard that the murderer was an azure dragon that had set foot onto the Saint path. He took the life of Top General Xia Houjie with just a swipe of its claws!”

“It’s a terrifying creature who has set foot onto the Saint path! Also, there is more than one of them! I heard that almost all experts from both our empire and the Magi Brute Race were killed whenever they got near the mysterious dao temple.”

The news alarmed even Lin Xun, who was solely focused on practicing the mysterious art.

Although he already had a premonition, he was still paralyzed with shock when he heard the news of Xia Houjie’s death.

Although he had never met Xia Houjie before, he knew that Xia Houjie had spoken out many times in the Mulberry Woodland that he would protect him with all his powers.

Unfortunately—

Such a righteous king had fallen...

His mood became more and more glum.

A few days later.

More and more news was brought back from the Mulberry Woodland, causing all the cultivators’ faces to be clouded with great sorrow and the atmosphere to be deathly silent.

“Near the mysterious dao temple, the saint-level creatures broke into terrifying duels that caused explosions all over the area. All the experts who approached were affected and died on the spot!"

……

“It is estimated that at least a dozen of our half-step kings have died. Even the whereabouts of Top General Xie Shian are now unknown!”

……

“The gate of the mysterious dao temple opened! A great opportunity descended! The terrifying saint-level creatures went completely crazy for the great opportunity. The area has been turned into a bloody purgatory!”

……

“Top General Xie Shian’s whereabouts are still unknown. The only good news is that many of our empire cultivators left the Mulberry Woodland in advance once they sensed the danger.”

……

“Not only has our empire suffered a huge loss this time, but King Jin Po from the Gold Tribe of the Magi Brute Race also met with disaster. He was killed by a Saint-level black vine tree!”

“In addition, King Lei Xiao from the Lightning Tribe and King Yan Qiong from the Fire Tribe both suffered near-fatal injuries but they were lucky enough to survive. Now they have retreated to the Magi Brute Camp and likely can’t fight for a while!”

“The number of deaths in the Magi Brute Race is too many to count.”

……

Lin Xun was focused on practicing his cultivation arts every day.

But he also heard about the recent news. Besides sighing and feeling upset, he couldn’t help much.

“What is hidden in that mysterious dao temple? What could make those terrifying creatures who have set foot onto the Saint Path fight like crazy?”

Lin Xun pondered the same questions several times.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t figure it out. The Saint Path was too distant to him. He couldn’t begin to imagine what sort of opportunity could make the terrifying creatures go crazy.

To vent his emotions, he directed all his energy to his training instead.

“When the Great Dao Catastrophe comes, the terrifying creatures lying dormant in the Mulberry Woodland won’t be bored. Perhaps, they are hibernating there waiting for the great age to come!”

Lin Xun had a premonition that the path of the great dao was bound to become crueler and more intense than before.

All he could do was make the best use of time and seize all opportunities to improve his strength. Perhaps then, he might be qualified to gain a foothold when the great age came!

“The Cyclic Derivation Stage, the Life Death Stage, the Nine Tribulations of Longevity...I still have a long way to go until I step foot into the Saint Path. But time is pressing. Once I leave the Blood Kill Battlefield, no matter what, I have to go to the Ancient Wasteland Domain!”

“There, I can find more ways to become stronger and also find out more about the battle of the great age!” Lin Xun said resolutely.

The turmoil in the Mulberry Woodland lasted half a month before calmness was restored.

Both the empire and the Magi Brute Race suffered heavy losses in the turmoil, and their morale suffered a huge hit.

Now, the Mulberry Woodland had become a forbidden place that no one dared to get near.

In the past half a month, Lin Xun had already thoroughly comprehended and mastered the control spirit art. He only lacked practice in real combat.

That night, he finally relaxed and planned to meet up with Lu Wenting, Old Huang, Hu Tong, Yan Feng and other friends.

However, when he went to find Hu Tong, he realized that he was not in the camp.

“Boss went out on a mission three days ago. We haven’t heard from him since...” Abi’s voice was low, and her brows were creased with worry. She looked distracted and not her usual self.

Lin Xun’s heart sank. That was no doubt bad news.