Gales swept across the face, the pungent wind assaulted the nose. The Artifact Spirit, transformed into a nine-ringed Zhu abdomen, darted next to Zhu Bufan and then swung its powerful tail filled with strength, striking towards Zhu Bufan.

"Cut it out!"

In response to the Artifact Spirit's counterattack, Zhu Bufan snorted coldly. He immediately thrust back with Emperor Yan's Pojun in hand against the incoming tail. With a 'clang!' the massive tail nearly swept Emperor Yan's Pojun from Zhu Bufan's grip. However, using this force, Zhu Bufan stepped on Fire Lotuses and ascended into the air, neutralizing the Artifact Spirit's subsequent combo attacks.

"Vermin, come down here!! Blood Poison!"

Clearly inheriting the explosive temper of the nine-ringed Zhu abdomen, the Artifact Spirit saw Zhu Bufan rising on flames and burst out with terrifying Killing Intent from its blood-red eyes. Opening its mouth wide, a cloud of blood mist furiously sprayed towards Zhu Bufan.

Facing the blood mist surging forward, anyone who saw it would probably get goosebumps, but Zhu Bufan displayed an unmatched cool demeanor, with a mocking smile never leaving his lips.

"Hmph! A monkey in silk is still a monkey! Thinking you possess the nine-ringed Zhu abdomen's power just by taking its form? No wonder you're just an Artifact Spirit, a total idiot!" With a cold laugh, facing the sweeping blood mist, the Poison Fire surged out of Zhu Bufan's body like a tidal wave.

"Chenjiang Duanliu Break? Wave-Rolling Formation!"

A hurricane-like sword energy was unleashed, swiftly rolling up the blood mist. Zhu Bufan had dealt with many serpentine Demon Beasts' poisonous mists before, from the transformed snakes to the recent Purple Cloud Swallowing Sky Python. None of them were strangers to spewing a heap of poison. For such tactics, Zhu Bufan had long been prepared.

A tornado of sword energy quickly swept up the blood mist, and Zhu Bufan himself soared into the high sky along with the sword energy. Supported by the Sealing Thunder Clean Jade and several specially made Sealing Thunder Crystals, Zhu Bufan, now, had little burden in executing the Chenjiang Duanliu Break. Thus, when he had swept the bloody mist aloft, he flipped his long sword, and the next wave of assault was promptly unleashed.

"Chenjiang Duanliu Break? Overwhelming Sky Formation!"

The boundless sword energy, carrying both Poison Fire and blood mist like a rampant river, surged directly towards the Artifact Spirit. Faced with this overwhelming onslaught, the Artifact Spirit clearly lacked experience in dealing with it and desperately spat out blood mist in an attempt to halt the advance of the sword energy.

"That's why, in the end, you're merely an Artifact Spirit! Chenjiang Duanliu Break? Overwhelming Wave Formation!"

A cold smile flitted across his lips, and the Blood-colored Soul Shadow behind Zhu Bufan became even more distinct. With a chilling cry, Zhu Bufan, like a cannonball, with a trace of bloody mist, charged into the midst of his own sword energy.

The sword energy that swept up again completely rolled over the blood mist expelled by the Artifact Spirit, and the sword tide laced with Poison Fire and blood mist fell upon the body of the Artifact Spirit. In an instant, the Artifact Spirit was slashed into countless droplets of blood. Under the Chenjiang Duanliu Break, everything before one's eyes could only be ground to pieces.

'Boom'

After shredding the Artifact Spirit's body, the momentum of the Chenjiang Duanliu Break continued unabated, blasting into the dark red muddy ground, creating a huge pit as a large amount of bloody mud was lifted into the sky.

"Tch! Crafty thing!"

Even after shredding the Artifact Spirit's body, Zhu Bufan showed not a trace of joy but furrowed his brows instead. Following this, an intense stench rapidly approached from afar. Zhu Bufan swiftly turned Emperor Yan's Pojun in hand into a defensive ring, blocking the incoming venom in time.

"Ignorant rodents, do you really think that by destroying my physical body, you can eliminate me? Laughable! Here, I am eternal and undying. You'll never be able to kill me, hahaha..."

As the Artifact Spirit's voice sounded again, the surrounding blood water also began to condense anew. In little time, a nine-ringed Zhu abdomen, formed from fresh blood, reappeared, flicking its massive tail straight towards Zhu Bufan.

"Emperor Yan, is there any way to eradicate this thing? It couldn't truly have an Undying Body just as it claims, could it?" Retreating rapidly to dodge the sweeping tail of the Artifact Spirit, Zhu Bufan asked Emperor Yan in his mind.

"There's no easy method, to be precise, it's not an Undying Body, but rather this entire blood-colored space is the Artifact Spirit's true body. You destroy one of its created avatars; naturally, you can't actually kill it. However, it's somewhat impossible to destroy the entire space, since after all, this place exists as its own space. If you can't shatter the space, destroying it here is too difficult. Therefore, when it claims to have an Undying Body, it's not entirely incorrect."

"Psh! Is there really no way out? If this keeps up, we're going to be drained to death here!" After listening to Emperor Yan's words, Zhu Bufan's eyebrows were already knitted in frustration.

"Let's set that aside for now, because that's not the most important thing!" After a pause, Emperor Yan continued: "The more important matter is, who exactly are you?"

"What do you mean, who am I? Aren't I Zhu Bufan?" Taken aback by Emperor Yan's inexplicable question, Zhu Bufan was momentarily confused, nearly getting struck by the poison spit out by the Artifact Spirit in his momentary distraction.

"Aren't you talking nonsense? If you're not Zhu Bufan, are you Feng Nie then?" Rolling his adorable little white eyes, Emperor Yan said bluntly. Hearing this, Zhu Bufan, who was fully occupied dodging the Artifact Spirit's attacks, nearly stumbled.

"Emperor Yan, you've totally confused me, what's going on?" Even though releasing the Blood-colored Soul Shadow had turned him violent and murderous, Zhu Bufan's affectionate and indulgent attitude towards Emperor Yan remained unchanged; even with the interference, Zhu Bufan couldn't bring himself to utter a harsh word.

"What's going on? It's exactly as I said, who are you?" Hearing Zhu Bufan's question, Emperor Yan persisted with the previous query, leaving Zhu Bufan totally bewildered.

"What do you mean exactly as you said? I am still Zhu Bufan, don't tell me I've turned into someone else, right?" With a wry smile, Zhu Bufan thought Emperor Yan was just joking around, after all, it wasn't the first time Emperor Yan liked to tease, even though the timing and place were a bit concerning to Zhu Bufan.

"No, no, I'm not talking about what name you go by! What I'm saying is, what Race do you belong to!" Shaking his little head like a rattle drum, Emperor Yan continued: "The entity lending you Soul Power from behind is definitely not human! Don't tell me you didn't know this, as there's no welcome for the Alien Race here!"

"Not human?"

Emperor Yan's words instantly stunned Zhu Bufan, and a blood-red poison arrow took advantage of his momentary lapse to strike his left arm.

'Zzsshhh'

A puff of blue smoke rose, followed by an agonizing burning and numbing pain emanating from the spot where the poison hit, frightening Zhu Bufan into hastily retreating. The poison had scorched not only his clothes but also his close-fitting Water Mysterious Silver Garment to a crisp black. If not for the Water Mysterious Silver Garment, Zhu Bufan's arm might have been corroded away.

"Hold on, let's deal with this guy first!" Jolted by the searing pain, Zhu Bufan regained his senses and, while retreating rapidly, he kept unleashing the Heavenly Tyrant Mixed Element Sword's Blood Breaking the Sky to block the incoming poison arrows. The hit by the poison arrow just now had put Zhu Bufan on high alert, and with the distractions provided by Emperor Yan, retreating seemed the wisest choice.

"Actually, breaking this guy's space is not impossible." While Zhu Bufan was retreating somewhat awkwardly, Emperor Yan said to him: "Just need to borrow the strength of the big fellow behind you, that's all."

"The big fellow behind me? Are you talking about the Blood-colored Soul Shadow?" Zhu Bufan was no stranger to the Blood-colored Soul Shadow behind him, and Emperor Yan had already informed him about it, so Zhu Bufan wasn't surprised or concerned about having such a 'backing spirit' after fully exerting himself; he just wondered why it had appeared.

"Are you saying that I can borrow the power of that Soul Shadow? For real?" With a frown, Zhu Bufan had no trouble ignoring the Soul Shadow, but the idea of borrowing its power gave him pause.

"Don't worry, there won't be any problems." To Zhu Bufan's doubt, Emperor Yan was full of confidence, "In fact, you have been under the influence of the Killing Intent from the big chunk behind you, that's why you've been like this. Strictly speaking, you haven't borrowed its Soul Power yet."

"That means…"

"That means, every time you unleash yourself, what you actually borrow is the killing intent that accompanies the big guy's soul behind you. In reality, you haven't borrowed any of its power yet. Just the Killing Intent can influence you so much, imagine what would happen if you borrowed its power?"

"Goodness, Emperor Yan, stop messing around. The mere Killing Intent of this Soul Shadow is so formidable – if I borrow his power, aren't you afraid I'll be controlled by him? I can't handle such a level of power yet. If I end up being controlled by it, I'll have to change my name for real." Faced with Emperor Yan's suggestion, Zhu Bufan was caught between laughter and tears. If it weren't because he was strenuously dodging the Artifact Spirit's assaults, Zhu Bufan would have felt like giving Emperor Yan a good spanking.

"Why be afraid? Would I ever tell you something I haven't thought through? Rest assured, I've been observing this big guy for a while now. He's truly formidable, and it feels like he's just a fragment of a soul. At his peak, he probably wasn't far off from me! But even if his Soul Power is millions of times stronger than mine, you don't have to worry about losing your mind or body, because…"

"Because why?"

"Because this Soul Shadow, it has no consciousness. Simply put, it's just powerful Soul Power, condensed into the form of its former master. As for intelligence and such, it doesn't possess that, at least not until now!"

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