The Blood Emperor's gaunt body leaned so far forward that he was nearly sprawled across the Stone Table.
His blood-red vortex pupils spun faster and faster, almost to the point of collapse. Fine cracks even appeared along their edges—a sign that his Divine Sense Incarnation had suffered too great a shock.
His withered hands gripped the edge of the Stone Table, all ten fingers digging deep into its grain. His knuckles creaked under the strain.
"Three hundred and eight thousand!"
His voice rasped like sandpaper. Every word seemed squeezed from the depths of his throat, trembling despite his efforts to hold it steady.
"Three hundred and eight thousand swords, each one comparable in quality to a top-tier Immortal Artifact!"
The Nether Emperor's illusory figure flickered violently. The two frozen stars in his gray eyes flashed wildly, like supernovas on the verge of exploding.
"Refining so many high-level Immortal Artifacts at once," he said. "That's incredible!"
The Elf Emperor pressed a hand to her chest, her emerald eyes filled with shock.
Her Divine Sense Incarnation dimmed considerably, as though the invisible Sword Intent radiating from the three hundred and eight thousand small swords in the Light Mirror had struck her Soul Origin.
She covered her lips, her voice as soft as a murmur in sleep. "Isn't this boy's Artifact Crafting ability a little too heaven-defying?"
The Heavenly Human Emperor said nothing.
He sat upright on his Stone Chair, his golden Sacred Robe billowing like a sail. Holy Light thrashed around him like a candle flame battered by a gale.
The arrogance on his face had frozen completely. It had not vanished; it was as though the invisible Sword Intent of those three hundred and eight thousand swords had frozen it in place.
He stared at the Purple-Gold Sea of Stars in