A middle-aged man manifested a golden miniature sword about a foot long in his hand, glaring furiously at Evan Lin. For him—a dignified Da Luo Golden Immortal—to be forced by some nameless nobody into using his life-bound artifact was the ultimate humiliation. But right now, if he didn’t use his artifact, he might very well lose his life right here.
He had to hold out until the true experts of the City Lord’s Mansion arrived—then his life would be safe. The Mansion was right next door, but killing someone took only a moment, especially when that youth was like a killing demon. Golden Immortal cultivators were instantly wiped out by him, making everyone worry.
Evan Lin shot the little sword a dismissive look and smirked, "So this is your artifact? Doesn't seem all that special. Let's see how many moves you can last against me."
The middle-aged man didn’t respond, instead rapidly performing the incantations to activate his artifact. The golden sword instantly radiated a dazzling light, so bright it was almost impossible to keep one’s eyes open. It shot from his hand and, in a blink, transformed into a massive golden greatsword several meters wide and over ten meters long. Sword-qi from its blade stretched more than ten meters—utterly terrifying.
“Look, that's Elder Liu's famous Golden Sword artifact from the City Lord’s Mansion! I can't believe he's actually being forced to use his life-bound artifact—his soul's tied right to it, if it breaks, he’ll be crippled! Its attack power is ridiculous!” someone in the crowd shouted, voice cracking with disbelief.
“That life-bound artifact hits like a mid Da Luo Golden Immortal—there's no way that kid survives. Who does he think he is, picking a fight with the City Lord’s Mansion?”
“Not necessarily. Maybe he’s got some terrifying artifact of his own. I think Elder Liu is the one in real danger here. Who would’ve thought Coldriver City would see an expert this strong? That youth probably comes from Pengzhou City—only a big city’s top clan could train someone like him.”
“He might even be from the Martial Spirit Dominion. Didn’t you see how he doesn’t give a damn about Coldriver City at all? Why’s he here now anyway—could it be connected to the auction in half a year?”
For a moment, the crowd below erupted into noisy debate. Evan Lin heard every word clearly. Staring at the massive golden sword before him, a hint of surprise flickered across his face. Artifacts in the Immortal Realm really were extraordinary. Judging by the sword-qi and energy waves radiating from its blade, it definitely had mid Da Luo Golden Immortal-level attack power.
With a thought, the Frostbane Sword shot up into the sky. Right now, Evan wanted to see if his Heart-Sword, infused with fire-element energy, could break through the opponent’s artifact attack with just a simple swing—he hadn’t even considered borrowing Stellar Power yet.
“Look, that kid’s got an artifact too! Wait, it’s just the longsword in his hand? How is that even possible?” someone below exclaimed when they saw Evan Lin’s Frostbane Sword.
Everyone was floored—even the middle-aged man stared, dumbstruck. Nobody in the Immortal Realm ever treats a weapon as an artifact! This was just insane, totally overturning common sense.
See, every artifact contains powerful restrictions or seals locking away some kind of force. To activate them, you use incantations to borrow heaven-and-earth power. The higher the artifact’s grade, the more power it can draw, and the stronger its attacks—but you can’t use it as a weapon.
That’s because artifact materials are really special, but compared to weapon-forging materials, they’re way weaker. Some weapons can cut iron like mud, true divine weapons. If an artifact meets a weapon like that, it can be chopped apart in a blink—meaning the artifact is destroyed. If it’s a life-bound artifact, the owner will suffer a brutal backlash and soul injury.
But right now, that kid was actually using a weapon as an artifact. It was just too weird—completely against everything people knew about artifacts.
At this moment, the middle-aged man’s fingers shot out ray after ray of white light as the golden greatsword tumbled through the air. Sword-qi screeched in the sky, and a surge of energy swept toward Evan Lin.
Meanwhile, Evan Lin was gathering fire-element molecules from heaven and earth. In just a few breaths, flames blazed along the Frostbane Sword, burning at an insanely high temperature. He’d already pushed Fireshift to the second layer, so he could gather even stronger fire-element particles.
The flames on Evan Lin’s Frostbane Sword stunned the crowd once again. More and more people started treating him like a monster, all eager to see whose artifact attack would come out on top.
In the Immortal Realm, if you fight in midair and reach a certain height, you won’t damage the buildings below. That’s why Immortal Realm cultivators love to battle in the sky. Top experts can fight across tens of thousands of miles, and a single teleport can cover tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of miles—far beyond anything ground combat can compare to.
Meanwhile, inside the City Lord’s Mansion’s grand hall, an old man in a red robe lounged on the throne. A beautiful woman beside him was feeding him fruit, while his hand had already slipped inside her clothes, playing with something as his face lit up with excitement.
Down below sat several others—a white-haired elder and four middle-aged men, each with a pretty woman by his side. One girl was straddling the white-haired elder, writhing on his lap and moaning softly.
Suddenly, the middle-aged man who’d just flown down from the sky burst into the hall. Before he could speak, one of the men above snapped, “How dare you! The House of Ecstasy isn’t a place your kind can just barge into. Spoiling the City Lord’s pleasure will get you killed!”
The newcomer immediately dropped to his knees and cried out to the red-robed elder, “City Lord, this is bad! A terrifyingly strong youth just arrived in Coldriver City and has already killed dozens of our guards. Two Protectors died by his hand, and even Elder Liu couldn’t beat him.”
The five men in the hall were shocked. The white-haired elder shoved the girl off his lap, jumped up, and roared, “Who dares cause trouble in the City Lord’s Mansion? I’ll go deal with him myself!” He glared at the girl on the ground and said, “After I kill that brat, I’ll come back and take care of you, you little slut.”
"Grand Elder, you don't need to waste your time on this. Let me go—no need to bring out a sledgehammer to smash a fly. You just keep enjoying yourself, and when we get back, hopefully you're still 'working hard.' Wouldn't want you to lose face! Hahaha!" Another middle-aged man stood up, stuffed his ugly thing back in his pants, and with a flash, vanished from the hall...