Amid the crowd's sighs of amazement, Lin Xuan, inside the Jade Carriage, was preparing to draw the four sword embryos over to him.
Whoosh!
At that moment, a startling phenomenon suddenly appeared atop Spirit Sword Mountain.
A beam of black light descended from the sky, transforming into a gigantic black figure hundreds of zhang tall.
The tens of thousands gathered at the foot of the mountain looked up, and couldn't help drawing sharp breaths.
"That's the Dharma Form of the One-Armed Ape King!"
The black figure was a giant black ape with only one arm.
To many sword cultivators in the Eastern Wasteland, this figure was more familiar than any other.
That was because he was one of the few Demon Race sword cultivators in the entire Eastern Wasteland in nearly five thousand years.
The One-Armed Ape King!
Legend had it that the One-Armed Ape King was an exceedingly rare innate great demon, with a monstrously gifted talent for cultivation.
His attainments in the Sword Dao, moreover, left many of the Eastern Wasteland's sword heroes looking pitiful by comparison.
It was widely said in the Eastern Wasteland that the One-Armed Ape King had nearly reached the "unity of man and sword" a thousand years ago.
His right hand had already become one with his sword: his hand was the sword, and the sword was his hand!
Relying on such monstrous talent,
the One-Armed Ape King had slaughtered without restraint, showing the human race a cruelty beyond all bounds.
His most outrageous act was to massacre three hundred sword sects across the Eastern Wasteland in a single night, slaughtering a million people.
At the time, everyone believed the humans of the Eastern Wasteland would remain trapped beneath the One-Armed Ape King's terrible shadow from then on.
Fortunately,
the Demon Race's physical limitations meant that, after all, they were fundamentally different from the human race.
In the end, he failed to achieve perfect "unity of man and sword." His right hand shattered, leaving him one-armed.
And that was when the name One-Armed Ape King spread throughout the Eastern Wasteland.
Now that the One-Armed Ape King's Dharma Form had suddenly appeared atop Spirit Sword Mountain, anyone with a quick mind could immediately see what he intended.
He was going to snatch the four Primal Magnetic Sword Embryos!
Sure enough!
The enormous Dharma Form reached out with its left hand and grabbed at the four sword embryos.
Seeing this, Lin Xuan's gaze turned cold. "You want to steal something?"
Whoosh!
His Rakshasa Divine Sense instantly unfurled, forming a pure golden ring of light high in the sky.
Boom!
A thunderous explosion followed.
In an instant, the Rakshasa Divine Sense blasted the One-Armed Ape King's Dharma Form's left hand to pieces, then rapidly expanded and blew the entire form into fragments.
"My heavens! To crush the One-Armed Ape King's Dharma Form so completely—no wonder the great one from the Northern Profound Heaven is so powerful!"
"The One-Armed Ape King's Dharma Form was actually so utterly helpless. That's unbelievable!"
"When all's said and done, the great one in the Jade Carriage is just too powerful!"
The cultivators at the foot of the mountain all wore expressions of deep awe.
At that moment, a streak of white light shot out from the Jade Carriage.
Lin Xuan's Rakshasa Divine Sense covered a thousand li in every direction, and he immediately found the One-Armed Ape King's hiding place.
A vicious Demon Race thug had dared to steal from him. Lin Xuan had no reason to let him off.
Meanwhile,
the One-Armed Ape King, lurking a hundred li from Spirit Sword Mountain, suddenly felt his head ring with a loud bang!
His vision went black, and he spat out a great mouthful of blood.
"Damn it! Where did such a freakish powerhouse come from?!"
He had just rushed toward Spirit Sword Mountain from ten thousand li away when he happened to see the four sword embryos floating there.
Delighted, he had acted without thinking and urgently conjured his Dharma Form to snatch them.
Who could have known he'd end up losing more than he'd bargained for?
A terrifying divine sense had crushed his Dharma Form in an instant, shaking him so violently that his head nearly split apart.
Only now did he realize he had provoked a supreme powerhouse he should never have offended.
Sensing that things had taken a bad turn, the One-Armed Ape King turned and tried to flee.
A streak of white light landed in front of him, blocking his way.
The One-Armed Ape King's expression darkened, and he hurriedly said, "Senior, I didn't mean to steal your things. I just acted on impulse and reached out!"
Although Lin Xuan had a face as flawless as uncarved jade and looked like an immortal banished from heaven, young and handsome,
the One-Armed Ape King was nearly five thousand years older than Lin Xuan.
Even so, he didn't dare show the slightest disrespect. He even addressed Lin Xuan as Senior of his own accord.
He knew that the handsome man in white before him must have been the one who destroyed his Dharma Form.
And the other man had crossed a hundred li in the space of a breath to block his escape.
Even if the One-Armed Ape King cultivated for another half a lifetime, he could never match such ability.
Faced with a powerhouse like this, he had no choice but to bow his head!
Lin Xuan gave a cold laugh. "When you kill people, do you listen to them apologize, even if they didn't mean it?"
He released the aura of the Emperor Realm. Its immense pressure made the One-Armed Ape King feel as if he were choking.
Circulating his true essence, Lin Xuan struck the One-Armed Ape King with a palm, using the most direct and overbearing move.
Bang!
His formidable true qi needed no technique at all to tear open the One-Armed Ape King's chest, piercing straight through his torso.
The One-Armed Ape King cried out and crashed to the ground.
Even as he died, he regretted not observing the situation a little longer before making his move.
If only he had waited a single breath more, perhaps he wouldn't have offended such a freakish powerhouse.
Lin Xuan then stepped forward, searched the One-Armed Ape King's body, and took his storage ring.
There weren't many members of the Demon Race who could conjure a Dharma Form.
Lin Xuan thought that the One-Armed Ape King might have something in his storage ring that could help him better understand and deal with the Demon Race.
Back in the Jade Carriage, Lin Xuan put away the four Primal Magnetic Sword Embryos, then had the Green-Winged Flying Bird slowly lower the carriage.
When he walked out of the Jade Carriage with the five little girls, everyone's eyes turned toward them.
Xuanzhu, Xuanxi, Xuanhan, and Xuanyou looked so alike that anyone could tell at a glance they were quadruplets.
And when they saw the Green-Winged Flying Bird Jade Carriage behind Lin Xuan, those quick-witted enough immediately guessed who he was.
The crowd at the foot of the mountain erupted at once.
"Good heavens, so this great one is the Emperor Consort of the Northern Profound Heaven!"
"The Emperor Consort has such a dignified bearing. He's truly worthy of everyone's admiration!"
"If I could live even one percent as splendidly as the Emperor Consort, I'd die without regrets!"
At that moment, Lu Changsheng, Xiao Wuhen, and everyone else felt nothing but sincere admiration and awe.
In fact, many of them thought that seeing the Emperor Consort of the Northern Profound Heaven today was worth more than obtaining a Primal Magnetic Sword Embryo.
Ignoring the clamoring crowd, Lin Xuan walked forward with the children for a short while.
Then he saw Tang Chengjian part the crowd and approach, bowing respectfully. "Emperor Consort!"
Lin Xuan gave a slight nod, signaling for Tang Ying to return to Tang Chengjian's side.
Now that the moment of parting had finally arrived, Xuanzhu and the others, along with Tang Ying, were all reluctant to say goodbye.
"Big Sister Xuanzhu, Big Sister Xuanxi, Big Sister Xuanhan, Big Sister Xuanyou, you're all leaving. I'm so sad!" Tang Ying sniffled again.
"We don't want to leave you either!"
The four little girls all furrowed their brows and pouted.
Lin Xuan stroked each of his daughters' little heads in turn, comforting them. "We'll come down to play again."
"Really?" Tang Ying looked astonished. "Will all of you come on my birthday?"
"We definitely will!" Xuanzhu and the others bobbed their little heads.
Seeing that Tang Ying still didn't quite believe them, Xuanxi held out her hand. "We can make a pinky promise."
Xuanzhu smiled. "Let's all make one together!"
Xuanhan and Xuanyou hurriedly nodded. "Okay!"
Then the four little girls held out their pinkies and linked them with Tang Ying's.
"Hook pinkies, hang yourselves—one hundred years, no takebacks!"
The little girls were so adorable that everyone present felt their hearts melt, forgetting all about the Primal Magnetic Sword Embryos.
They envied Lin Xuan even more.
He was not only handsome and powerful, but also had a stunningly beautiful and formidable wife like Empress Profound Ice, as well as four porcelain-doll-like quadruplet daughters.
That was what it meant to be a winner in life!
Seeing that the little girls had made their promise, Lin Xuan casually asked Tang Ying when her birthday was. Then, under the gaze of the entire crowd, he boarded the Jade Carriage with his four daughters.
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