Holy Soldier

Gu Qingfeng hastily retreated.

Clang!

The black sword returned to its sheath.

Suddenly, an idea struck Gu Qingfeng. With a subtle flick of his finger toward the ground,

a radiant divine light flashed across his body before vanishing into the earth. That wisp of sacred light slithered along the ground until it reached the roots of the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul-Infant Flower.

In an instant, the flower absorbed it.

Abruptly, the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul-Infant Flower began to sway vigorously, its petals blooming more vividly, appearing lush and dewy, while a dazzling divine glow emanated from its form.

Simultaneously, an unusual fragrance began to spread.

When the scent reached the woman, her expressionless face finally showed a flicker of emotion. Her eyes fixated on the Soul-Infant Flower, as if coveting something.

Seeing this, Gu Qingfeng thought to himself, Just as I suspected.

The Soul-Infant Flower could enhance spiritual power, making it irresistibly alluring to soulless Dao Servants who had only developed a sliver of sentience.

Seizing the moment while the woman was entranced, Gu Qingfeng quietly crossed the three-meter warning line. The woman showed no reaction, her attention wholly consumed by the flower.

Two meters, one meter...

Finally, Gu Qingfeng stood right before her chest—and in one swift motion, he struck!

His hand shot toward the black sword at her waist.

The moment his fingers touched the sword, he willed it away, stashing it into his storage.

Without a second thought, Gu Qingfeng turned and bolted at full speed!

He hadn’t gone far when—

Boom!

An unimaginable, sky-rending aura erupted from the woman, shaking the heavens and earth!

Then, with graceful steps, she began walking toward Gu Qingfeng.

Her movements were elegant yet impossibly fast. Though she seemed to take only a single step, her figure appeared miles away in an instant, closing in rapidly.

Gu Qingfeng’s pupils constricted at the sight.

Shrinking the Earth to an Inch!

As expected of a Heavenly Monarch!

Swish!

Just as the woman was about to seize him, Gu Qingfeng repeated his earlier trick—vanishing into the Palm World and narrowly escaping.

Left with no target, the woman lingered expressionlessly for a long while before eventually returning to the Soul-Infant Flower.

Inside the Palm World,

Gu Qingfeng clutched the black sword, exhilarated. That was way too close!

Stealing a weapon from a Heavenly Monarch was far more dangerous than snatching food from a tiger’s mouth.

Though he hadn’t precisely measured his current strength, he was certain he fell within the Divine Core Realm.

After all, he hadn’t endured a single blow during the battle between the Heavenly Phenomenon Ancestor and the Longevity Demon.

The question was, where exactly did he stand within the Divine Core Realm? Human Yuan, Earth Yuan, or Heaven Yuan?

At the very least, he could crush a Human Yuan Second-Layer Elephant Demon with one hand. Conservatively, he estimated his strength to be around Human Yuan Ninth-Layer. If he were bolder, he might even test himself against Earth Yuan.

The problem was, he’d never fought an Earth Yuan expert before, so he couldn’t gauge their strength accurately.

But no matter how he compared, as a cultivator in the Second Great Realm, he was no match for a Heavenly Being—let alone a Heavenly Monarch.

[Realm Hierarchy:

Foundation Realm: Qi Sea, Dragon Transformation, Divine Soul.

Divine Core Realm: Human Yuan, Earth Yuan, Heaven Yuan.

Heavenly Realm: Heavenly Being, Heavenly Monarch, Heavenly Venerable, Heavenly Supreme, Heavenly Emperor.]

Thankfully, the woman lacked a soul and sentience, rendering her unable to employ her profound techniques. Combined with the protection of Heavenly Dao aura, even with the Palm World, escaping a Heavenly Monarch would’ve been near impossible otherwise.

Gu Qingfeng examined the black sword in his hand. For a suspected Heavenly Monarch to wield it spoke volumes about its extraordinary nature.

The sword was pitch-black, its blade covered in fine, scale-like patterns.

When he ran his fingers over it, he froze.

“This is... dragon scales! Not from a flood dragon—true dragon scales! And these are reverse scales!”

A dragon’s reverse scales were its most sensitive spot—touch them, and death followed.

Thanks to his Prison-Suppressing Dragon-Elephant Physique, he could clearly sense the faint draconic aura emanating from the sword.

Beyond that, it also carried a formidable thunderous power, akin to heavenly lightning.

“Was this forged from the scales of a Void Thunder Dragon?”

The thought made Gu Qingfeng suck in a cold breath. Void Thunder Dragons were ancient direbeasts of immense power. To think someone had used its scales to craft a sword!

And reverse scales, no less—meaning the dragon must have died. No one could obtain reverse scales from a living dragon.

“With materials like these, this sword can’t just be a Divine Weapon. It’s likely a legendary Sacred Weapon!”

[Weapon Grades: Spirit Weapon, Divine Weapon, Sacred Weapon, Emperor Weapon.]

Emperor Weapons were exclusive to Heavenly Emperors—the strongest arms in existence, unusable by anyone else.

Sacred Weapons stood just below them, priceless treasures beyond measure!

“I’ve struck gold!” Gu Qingfeng exclaimed excitedly.

Next, he prepared to test the sword’s power—but first, he needed to erase its previous owner’s imprint.

The question was, could he overwrite a Heavenly Monarch’s mark?

Channeling his formidable divine soul energy, he sent it surging into the sword with overwhelming force.

Yet...

He found nothing.

The sword had no owner!

This discovery stunned him. Then it hit him—Dao Servants had no souls, meaning the original owner had long perished. What remained was merely an empty shell.

With the owner dead, the sword had become masterless.

Now, it belonged solely to Gu Qingfeng. Without any resistance, he imprinted his divine soul mark onto it, claiming ownership.

A Sacred Weapon, now his!

After waiting cautiously in the Palm World for a long while, he finally dared to peek outside. Seeing no one around, he returned to the Primordial Forbidden Land.

With his body shrunk and cloaked in invisibility, he didn’t linger—immediately making his escape.

Three days later,

Gu Qingfeng finally stepped out of the Primordial Forbidden Land!

But he remained on high alert. Unfamiliar with the land and still haunted by the Forbidden Land’s terrors, he needed to find shelter quickly before seeking cultivation techniques.

After relentless flying, he spotted his first city since arriving in the Cangming Realm.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t a demon city—it belonged to humans.

The city was grand and ancient, sprawling endlessly. Its towering walls bore countless scars from blades and claws, a testament to its long history.

At the gates, several Dragon Transformation Realm soldiers inspected entrants while collecting tolls.

Gu Qingfeng acted swiftly. Blending into the queue, he discreetly slipped into the sleeve of a fair-looking young maiden, hitching a ride into the city.

It’s worth noting that his actions weren’t to evade the toll—nor out of any lustful motives.

The truth was, as an outsider from the lower realm, he had no identity in the Cangming Realm. He couldn’t withstand the soldiers’ scrutiny or explain his origins. To avoid unnecessary trouble, he had no choice but to resort to this underhanded method.