With a muffled buzz, a black curtain of light surged up from the altar. Lin Qi's axe came down heavily upon the thin light screen, and an immensely powerful rebounding force—so strong it horrified even him—raced up the haft. The skin on his fingers split open, threads of golden blood slowly seeping from the wounds. Lin Qi could even hear the bones in his arm groaning.
The rebounding force was absurdly powerful, far beyond Lin Qi's expectations. Violent ripples spread across the light screen, which his blow shattered into countless strands of black light that slowly drifted away in every direction. With a clang, the Army-Slaying Axe fell from Lin Qi's hand. His face dark, Lin Qi kneaded his split palm and gave a grim, chilling sneer.
The magical shield upon the altar was astonishingly powerful. Only Lin Qi could have broken through it here; had it been anyone else, they might not have been able to damage this layer of magical protection at all. Yet there was nothing mysterious about this shield. Unlike the blackstone golem, it was the most commonplace kind of conventional shield. It was merely that its creator had been too powerful, and the magical materials used had been of too high a grade, giving it such staggering defensive power.
Bending down to pick up the Army-Slaying Axe, Lin Qi brought it down upon the altar once more. This time, his arm was wrapped in a layer of deep blue watery light. He did not employ fierce, tyrannical force, but instead used the soft, yielding hidden force of the water element, with its immensely potent erosive power.
This time, no light screen rose. The Army-Slaying Axe descended slowly, laden with powerful hidden force, and the altar—made from some unknown material—turned into countless grains of dust beneath