The black figure moved slowly, his eyes locked on Evan Chu, ready to react to any sign of movement. To survive under such terrifying lightning strikes—he had never seen anyone do it before, not even himself.
Someone like this should have dodged away as fast as possible, but right now, the lure of a once-in-ten-thousand-years flesh was too much—he had to risk it. No matter how strong Evan Chu was, after weathering such horrific lightning, he was bound to be gravely injured. Otherwise, he wouldn't be standing there, unmoving for so long.
At this moment, though Evan Chu couldn't open his eyes, he could still sense the changes in his body. That soul-tearing agony was slowly fading, and the wounds torn across his flesh were healing rapidly.
He discovered that his body was now saturated with five-colored lightning power—thunder particles filled his blood and meridians. If Luna taught him the Thundershift technique right now, he felt he could probably master it on the spot.
Right then, the black figure stepped up to Evan Chu, but instead of attacking immediately, he stood quietly to the side, watching with cautious eyes. It was obvious he feared Evan Chu greatly.
At that moment, he noticed a small white sword and a faintly glowing cyan pearl lying on the ground near Evan Chu—neither were ordinary items.
"These two treasures must belong to that kid. If he’s abandoned them now, it’s clear he’s truly been gravely wounded. Heaven is helping me!" The black figure laughed loudly, his wariness toward Evan Chu easing considerably.
With that, he prepared to possess Evan Chu’s body. Evan, of course, was well aware of the black figure’s presence, but right now he simply couldn’t move—a fact that left him burning with frustration.
"Don’t you dare hurt my big brother!" Suddenly, the Wind-Binding Pearl shot up from the ground and fired a cyan beam straight at the black figure.
The sudden attack startled the black figure, who scrambled to dodge aside. But when he realized the cyan light came from the pearl on the ground, he burst out laughing: "Hahaha! How could my luck be this good? I’ve actually run into a conscious treasure! That white sword must be the same kind. So this kid survived the lightning only thanks to these two treasures!"
He lunged for the Wind-Binding Pearl, knowing Evan Chu was no threat now—if that conscious treasure escaped, it would be a huge loss.
But he grabbed at thin air—the Wind-Binding Pearl dodged nimbly. "You'd better not push me, bad guy, or I'll trap you here forever!"
He chuckled, "So you’ve become a true artifact spirit—excellent! Today you’ll belong to me!" He lunged again, but the Wind-Binding Pearl dodged once more.
He glanced at the white sword on the ground, reaching to pick it up. As his fingers brushed it, it flashed with white light and shot into the air.
"Touch me and you’re courting death!" the white sword rang out with a silvery, bell-like woman’s voice.
Another artifact spirit? Just who is this kid, to have such heaven-defying treasures? Even one is rare—now there are two! My ten-thousand-year wait is finally repaid.
But the white sword suddenly flew into Evan Chu’s brow. "Linfeng, wake up! This is a crisis—how can you be meditating now?" Luna urged anxiously.
"I want to move, but I just can’t! There’s nothing I can do!" Evan replied to Luna.
Luna immediately understood. "Gather your spirit and guard the one—cycle the thunder power through your meridians quickly. Your soul’s been paralyzed by the lightning. One full circuit and you’ll recover."
Evan hurriedly circulated the thunder power and Chaos Dragon Force through his meridians. Slowly, he felt a terrifying, heaven-shaking energy building inside him—wild and violent, but still under his control.
"So the kid has actually tamed the Spirit Sword—this is a first for me! Once I possess your body, both the sword and pearl will be mine. Prepare to die!" he declared, turning into black mist and lunging for Evan Chu.
But as soon as the mist touched Evan Chu’s body, a massive thunder force erupted, making the black mist tremble and recoil.
"Such powerful thunder force—how is this possible? How could he have thunder force in his body? Is it residue from those lightning strikes? What kind of monster is he?" the black figure muttered, shaken.
Looks like I’ll have to kill him. As long as the body remains, I can recover!
But Evan Chu had already cycled the thunder force through his body. In moments, he found himself fully recovered—the soul pain gone, his soul power even stronger than before.
He couldn’t explain why, but there was no time to think about it—dealing with the enemy came first.
"You really think I’m that easy to kill? You’ve underestimated Lord Frostbane!" Evan Chu opened his eyes and faced the black mist.
"Lord Frostbane? You’re Lord Frostbane? Impossible!" The black mist trembled, clearly terrified.
"Linfeng, this guy is pure soul now—absorbing his soul power would heal both me and the Wind-Binding Pearl, and make us stronger. You must capture him quickly," Luna said, her voice a bit weak.
"Don’t worry, Big Sis Luna. Watch me take care of him!" Evan Chu replied.
He shot the black mist a cold look. "No one who dares challenge Lord Frostbane has ever survived. Don’t you know that only I can wield Soul Rend?"
With that, the Frostbane Sword appeared in his hand and he unleashed Soul Rend at lightning speed. To his surprise, thunder force crackled along the blade—a new power he hadn’t expected.
Soul Rend wasn’t physically destructive, but it was lethal to souls. Evan’s sudden strike split the black mist cleanly in two—he had literally severed the ancient expert’s soul.