Treasure-Gathering Art: A Greater Divine Ability That Seizes an Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon!

Pfft!

As soon as Blood Sea Ancestor finished speaking, he spat out a mouthful of vital blood. Every drop contained the life essence of a mighty cultivator at the ninth level of the Saint Emperor Realm.

The instant that blood merged with the void,

the entire starry sky began to tremble violently, as though something that had slumbered for countless ages was awakening.

Whoosh!

In the next instant, the void split open.

A blood-red demon blade slowly emerged from the rift.

Its blade was three zhang long, its entire surface a dark red so deep it seemed almost congealed, as though it had been forged from the vital blood of hundreds of millions of living beings.

The moment the blood-red demon blade appeared, the starry sky for hundreds of thousands of miles changed color.

Its towering bloody radiance swallowed the light of countless stars. Even the laws of heaven and earth trembled and wailed beneath its edge.

The cultivators aboard the seven Blood God Palace warships were no longer merely kneeling. They lay flat against the decks, their very souls shuddering beneath that imperial might.

"An Emperor Weapon!"

One of the three severely wounded Saint King Realm elders, still flying backward, cried out. His voice brimmed with irrepressible joy and awe.

"The ancestor has brought out our forefather's Emperor Weapon!"

"It's the Immortal-Slaying Demon Blade!"

"The treasure that guards our Blood God Palace!"

"We're saved!"

With the Emperor Weapon in hand, Blood Sea Ancestor's aura rose higher and higher.

The humiliation of having been forced to kneel and slap his own face by Chen Changqing turned, at that moment, into murderous intent that surged to the heavens.

He had lived for nearly ten thousand years and commanded awe across a star domain. When had he ever suffered such humiliation?

If he failed to tear Chen Changqing to pieces today, how could Blood Sea Ancestor ever show his face in the world again?

"Brat—"

Blood Sea Ancestor glared at Chen Changqing, his face twisted with murderous frenzy. "I admit you have some strange methods. You even managed to suppress my movements."

"But before an Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon—"

"Those tricks of yours are utterly worthless!"

He stepped forward and raised the blood-red demon blade high.

Wherever its edge passed, it tore a jagged rift through the void as if it were thin paper. Imperial might bore down on Chen Changqing like a solid mass.

With this strike, he would wash away every shred of his earlier humiliation.

Yet—

Chen Changqing smiled.

His smile was light and untroubled, as though what stood before him was not an Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon capable of destroying stars, but a rather interesting toy.

He looked the blood-red demon blade up and down, even showing a hint of appreciation in his eyes.

"Not bad at all."

He nodded and said with a smile, "I'll gladly take it."

With that, he raised a hand and beckoned lightly.

Greater Divine Ability—Treasure-Gathering Art.

Every treasure under heaven, whether an innate treasure born of heaven and earth or an Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon tempered in a mighty cultivator's vital blood...

So long as it existed in this world, a single thought from him was enough to summon it.

Hum—

The blood-red demon blade let out a piercing wail.

The countless ancient runes flickering across it all stopped working at once. The blade struggled frantically, as though trying to break free of some force pulling it away.

But unfortunately—

before the supreme laws of the Greater Divine Ability, Treasure-Gathering Art, even the imperial might of an Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon seemed pale and powerless.

The vicious grin on Blood Sea Ancestor's face froze.

"No!"

"That's impossible!"

Sensing that the Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon was about to slip from his control, Blood Sea Ancestor roared himself hoarse. Veins bulged on his forehead as he gripped the hilt with both hands so fiercely that he even cracked his teeth.

But it was all in vain.

Whoosh!

A sharp sound cut through the air.

The blood-red demon blade sliced through the void and landed firmly in Chen Changqing's palm.

Bloody light flowed across the blade for a moment before slowly receding. It became a dark-red saber lying quietly in his hand, as docile as a spirit beast that had finally found its master.

In that instant—

Blood Sea Ancestor stood there, utterly dumbstruck.

His blood-moon eyes stared fixedly at the blood-red demon blade in Chen Changqing's hand, now as tame as a pet. It was as if countless thunderbolts had gone off inside his head at once.

How was that possible?

How could that possibly be?!

That was an Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon, the treasure that guarded Blood God Palace! Its founding ancestor had tempered it with his own imperial blood when he attained the Dao. It contained a trace of a Great Emperor's lingering imperial might and the laws of Heavenly Mandate!

An Emperor Weapon had a spirit, and its imperial might was like the heavens.

Forget wielding one—even approaching it would crush an ordinary cultivator's body and soul out of existence.

That was why, whenever Blood Sea Ancestor used the Immortal-Slaying Demon Blade, he had to sacrifice his own vital blood just to barely draw out a sliver of its power.

Yet this junior at the Great Sage Realm had snatched the demon blade right from under his nose. Not only that, its imperial might showed Chen Changqing no resistance at all. It had even withdrawn its edge of its own accord, as obedient as a trained dog.

"How the hell... does any of this make sense?!"

Blood Sea Ancestor squeezed the words through his teeth, all the dignity of a Saint Emperor Realm expert gone.

He had lived for nearly ten thousand years and seen more prodigies and monsters than he could count.

But he had never seen a prodigy casually take an Emperor Weapon away!

Was this... what it meant to be the invincible Divine Son of a million years ago?

Not far away,

the faint hope that had just risen in Xue Wuyou's heart went out in an instant.

He had thought the ancestor bringing out the Emperor Weapon would be their chance to turn the tables.

He knew the Immortal-Slaying Demon Blade's fearsome reputation better than anyone.

In his previous life, even a Supreme powerhouse from a Forbidden Zone had been wary of that demon blade.

Yet now, the supreme Emperor Weapon he had considered invincible lay quietly in Chen Changqing's hand. Bloody light flowed gently along its length, without a trace of its legendary savagery.

It's over.

We're completely finished.

If even an Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon could do nothing to Chen Changqing, what other means did they have?

Their ancestor at the ninth level of the Saint Emperor Realm had been forced to kneel and slap his own face by a single sentence. The Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon had been taken with a casual beckon. Even Xue Wuyou's escape by Blood Escape Technique had ended with Chen Changqing effortlessly dragging him back...

The gulf in strength... was enough to leave anyone hopeless and helpless.

Xue Wuyou slumped in the void, feeling as though all the strength had been drained from his body.

In his previous life, he had survived countless brushes with death and turned desperate situations around more than once.

But now, for the first time, he felt a helplessness that sank into his very bones.

At last, he truly understood how the prodigies of a million years ago had felt when they faced Evergreen Divine Son.

It was not the wariness one felt toward a fellow prodigy. It was the trembling, soul-deep despair of facing a monster who should never have existed in this world.

"That guy... isn't even human..."

Xue Wuyou muttered, his voice thick with bitterness.

What prodigy at the Great Sage Realm could defeat three Saint King Realm cultivators joining forces to kill him with a single palm strike?

What prodigy could make a mighty cultivator at the ninth level of the Saint Emperor Realm kneel and slap himself with a single sentence?

What prodigy could take an Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon with a casual beckon—and make it submit of its own accord?

Across the entire Great Desolate Realm, how many of those old monsters who had sealed themselves in Divine Source for countless epochs could even accomplish such a feat?

I was wrong!

I was so wrong!

The Chen Family's Divine Son was far more powerful than Xue Wuyou had ever imagined!

Yet!

Just when Xue Wuyou thought he had reached the very bottom of despair, with no way to sink any lower—

Whoosh!

A purple figure suddenly appeared beside Chen Changqing.

It was Chen Haotian, an ancestor of the Chen Family.

"Changqing... what happened? Are you all right?"

Chen Haotian frowned, concern showing on his face.

He had been studying a divine ability in the Purple Star Domain when he suddenly sensed the aura of an Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon erupting in this stretch of the starry sky.

The appearance of an Emperor Weapon was no small matter!

He had torn through the void and teleported over almost immediately.

He had not expected to find Chen Changqing here.

As he spoke, he swept his divine sense across the scene.

What he found gave him quite a shock.

"What the hell?"

"You little monster!"

"You did all this by yourself?"

Chen Haotian could scarcely believe what he was seeing.

Three Saint King Realm cultivators severely wounded—that much he could accept.

But how had even an expert at the ninth level of the Saint Emperor Realm ended up with a face swollen like a pig's, beaten by Chen Changqing without any apparent ability to fight back?

Most importantly,

the blood-red demon blade in Chen Changqing's hand still gave off wisps of imperial might... It was unmistakably an Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon painstakingly tempered by a Great Emperor!

Even the Chen Family of Longevity possessed only three such treasures!

They were among its most vital trump cards!

And now Chen Changqing had one in his hands?

"That blade..."

Chen Haotian paused, sounding somewhat uncertain. "You took it from him?"

Chen Changqing nodded.

"That old bastard tried to cut me down with it. I thought the blade looked pretty good, so I took it."

"If you like it, Ancestor, you can have it!"

What???

That's an Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon!

What do you mean, you just took it?

Does he even hear himself?

Chen Haotian fell silent.

He had lived for many years and weathered countless storms, yet Chen Changqing's offhand tone still left him at a loss for words.

Forget a Great Sage Realm cultivator—even a Quasi-Emperor Realm expert like him would have a hard time forcibly taking an Emperor Weapon.

This boy's strength had grown far too outrageous!

Even knowing Chen Changqing's methods were extraordinary, Chen Haotian still found it hard to believe.

Was this... still the Chen Changqing he knew?

"I... I'm sorry!"

"This was all that bastard's fault! It had nothing to do with me!"

Blood Sea Ancestor's face was full of terror as he pointed at Xue Wuyou and begged for mercy.

The moment he saw Chen Haotian, it was as though the last of his strength had been drained away. He no longer had any thought of resisting.

He did not know who this purple-clad elder was, but the aura coming from him—the pressure that left Blood Sea Ancestor unable even to think of fighting back—could mean only one thing: the Quasi-Emperor Realm.

The Chen Family truly did have a Quasi-Emperor Realm expert protecting it.

And judging by his aura, he was a Quasi-Emperor Realm expert at the very peak of his vitality!

Blood Sea Ancestor wanted nothing else now. He only hoped to survive!

"Who are you?"

Chen Haotian frowned as he asked. The fact that this man could bring out an Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon proved his background was far from ordinary.

"I am Blood Sea Ancestor of Blood God Palace. I only attacked the Lin Family because I believed that bastard's lies. I didn't know about the Lin Family's connection to the Chen Family. This was never what I wanted!"

Blood Sea Ancestor answered, trembling with fear.

But then,

Xue Wuyou gave a cold laugh, refusing to let him distance himself from the matter.

"Ancestor, don't make me laugh!"

"Weren't you the one who kept assuring me the Chen Family was nothing to fear?"

At that,

Blood Sea Ancestor flew into a rage.

"If you hadn't lied to me, you bastard, and said you could see the future!"

"If the Lin Family were a great calamity to my Blood God Palace, requiring me to snuff them out in advance, would I have gone to such lengths?"

Upon hearing Blood Sea Ancestor's words, Chen Changqing felt something stir inexplicably in his heart.

"Hmm?"

"You can see the future?"

"What do you mean?"