At this moment, Yuan Ming had figured out the intricacies of the black sword qi and was no longer as flustered as before. As he retreated backward, he flicked his wrist and threw out four Heavenly Thunder Talismans in one breath, while a black needle shadow also shot out from his sleeve, disappearing in a flash.

Half of the First-level Upper Stage talismans he had purchased in Little Lake City were Heavenly Thunder Talismans, specifically chosen because the Thunder Attribute posed a certain restraint on Soul Cultivators. Now, he used them all at once.

Amid the thundering sound, four massive Thunder Flood Dragons appeared and struck the black sword qi.

Although the black sword qi was formidable, it couldn't withstand the combined strike of four Heavenly Thunder Talismans and disintegrated into blue smoke with a "sizzle."

Simultaneously, a fuzzy black line flashed before the circling White Eagle in the mid-air storm clouds. Before it could react, the black needle blurred for a moment and pierced through the head of the White Eagle, causing it to plummet rapidly.

After advancing to a top-grade magical tool, the Black Needle not only had an attack power that was unimaginably high, but its speed also greatly increased. A common Second-level demon beast like the White Eagle had no chance to retaliate.

"Hagon!" Sha Hao felt the death of the White Eagle and was deeply pained, recklessly charging towards Hagon.

However, a silver thunderbolt fell from the storm clouds with a "thunderous boom," striking Sha Hao with a thickness much greater than the previous lightning strikes.

Sha Hao dared not be careless and had to stop, activating his Grey Umbrella and unleashing a golden protective shield to defend himself.

The silver thunderbolt struck the golden protective shield, causing it to tremble violently.

Sha Hao's complexion slightly changed, obviously surprised by the power of the thunderbolt, and his previous poisoning, combined with the consecutive swings of the Soul Destroying Sword, had also significantly depleted him.

But this electric strike was just the beginning. The thundering inside the storm clouds grew louder as one bolt of lightning after another fell, shaking the golden protective shield sporadically, almost to the breaking point.

The hovering gray umbrella overhead also dimmed, severely damaged in spirit.

Sha Hao's expression darkened like water, and with a low roar, he made several hand seals towards the umbrella, causing it to burst forth with intense golden light and finally stabilized the light shield.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming immediately formed hand seals with both hands.

The storm clouds summoned by the Lei Yu rapidly enlarged and thickened, expanding several times within moments, and the lightning zipping inside the clouds also doubled in size.

Lei Yu, hidden within the clouds, was delighted. Thunder shone brightly on his wings, sending purple electric arcs shooting out in all directions.

The lightning within the rain clouds, as if summoned, all converged towards the center, intertwining and entangling.

With a "thunderous boom," a thunder column as thick as a bowl fell from the sky, striking Sha Hao on the ground.

Seeing this, Sha Hao bellowed, his clothes inflating and then bursting apart, revealing a golden half-body inner armor. A continuous stream of golden light flowed from within the armor, covering his entire body like a light curtain.

Just as he finished these preparations, "crackle" the golden protective shield shattered like glass, and the grey umbrella was also destroyed.

The undiminished power of the silver thunder column continued to strike Sha Hao, producing a deafening sound.

The golden light curtain trembled violently, its surface flashing chaotically with electric sparks and emitting a piercing roar.

The light curtain rapidly thinned and faint cracks began to appear.

Sha Hao's face looked extremely grim as his facial muscles twisted. He bit his tongue, spraying essence blood onto the golden inner armor.

Liquid-like golden light surged from the inner armor and circulated around his body, restoring the golden light curtain to its original state and seemingly making it even thicker than before.

Sha Hao breathed a sigh of relief, but a trace of pain flickered through his eyes as the suppressed green Qi rose again on his cheeks.

Then, with a sudden jolt, he suppressed his discomfort and stimulated the silver sphere to shoot out a bright silver light toward a certain point in the void.

There was a "bang" sound!

A dark shadow was blasted away by the silver light—it was Yuan Ming's top-grade magical tool, the Black Needle!

Meanwhile, from another misty side, two golden talismans and a greenish-blue sphere flew out—two First-level Upper Stage Golden Spear Talismans and the last Heart-splitting Bomb.

Two shadows of Golden Spears, each about a zhang long, and a massive thunder column appeared out of thin air and struck the golden protective shield.

Sha Hao was shocked and tried to activate the silver sphere again to block, but it was too late.

The three attacks fiercely struck the golden light curtain surrounding him. The light curtain trembled violently, and Sha Hao staggered.

Before he could stabilize himself, the Black Needle magical tool struck again from behind, piercing the golden light curtain and penetrating nearly half its length before wriggling like a venomous snake, drilling further inside.

The golden light curtain shook nonstop, again showing signs of failure.

Sha Hao felt a chill in his heart and started making wheel-like hand seals. Then with a roar, he pressed his hand firmly on the golden light curtain, pouring mana into it.

But just then, a burst of white mist opposite the Black Needle bloomed, and the White Ape Vajra appeared, grasping the Earth Burying Mallet and swinging it down viciously!

"Bang!" With a huge noise!

The golden light screen trembled violently, and cracks appeared on its surface, clearly unable to hold any longer.

Sha Hao's face was stricken with horror, just about to repair it desperately, when suddenly his face surged with a dense, green color and the intense poison within his body erupted completely.

His body quivered, a mouthful of green-tinged blood spurted out, and he collapsed weakly onto the ground.

The eyes of Vajra glinted with a bloodthirsty excitement. A flash of golden light passed under his rib, and his two ape arms shot forward, transforming into two afterimages that struck the golden light screen, making the surrounding air buzz and tremble.

Finally, under Vajra's fierce pounding, the light screen shattered with a bang, scattering into countless golden specks of light.

The freed Black Needle Magical Artifact immediately transformed into a blurry black line, piercing through Sha Hao's Dantian.

Sha Hao groaned in agony, the Mana remaining in his Dantian dissipating completely as he half-knelt on the ground.

"Boom!"

Another silver thunder column came crashing down, engulfing Sha Hao's body, while the two Blood Bats coiling around him were also enveloped by the Power of Thunder and Lightning, extinguished instantly before they could even scream.

The bright and dazzling thunder light quickly faded, revealing Sha Hao's charred body, already passed out, his breathing extremely faint, barely clinging to life.

A silver sphere rolled to a stop next to him, motionless.

The surface of the sphere had several obvious scratches, but its Mana fluctuations were stable, and it had not suffered major damage.

In his other hand, he was still tightly clutching that black strange sword. The spirit light on its surface was somewhat dim and the chaotic flicker of black light on the blade gave the impression it could collapse at any moment.

Yuan Ming emerged from the white mist, took out the Cold Star Sword, and touched it to the two artifacts, neither of which reacted.

He activated the Cold Star Sword, forming thick white ice crystals on the two artifacts, enveloping them. Yuan Ming then collected them both, and approached Sha Hao, gesturing with one hand.

The Black Needle Magical Artifact flashed into existence in front of Sha Hao, aimed at his forehead, ready to pierce through his skull at any sign of movement.

Sha Hao's Illusion Technique was formidable; Yuan Ming had to stay alert.

However, Sha Hao made no move at all, his breath growing weaker and weaker; it seemed he really was nearing his end.

Finally reassured, Yuan Ming removed the inner armor and Storage Ring from Sha Hao's body, pressed his right hand against his head, and performed the Soul Searching Divine Ability.

He quickly withdrew his hand and stood in place, silently and without speaking.

Through Soul Searching, Yuan Ming mostly understood what happened to Sha Hao after the destruction of Biluo Cave.

On the day Biluo Cave was destroyed, Sha Hao woke up amidst Xi Ying's illusion to find the Soul Suppressing Kettle he was guarding missing. Fearing the Great Elder's pursuit for his negligence, and believing the Great Elder wouldn't stand a chance against Xi Ying, he took the opportunity when no one was watching him and hastily fled Biluo Cave.

Before leaving, he decided to take everything and swept away all the items stored by the Great Elder in the cave, and made his way to Central Plains.

Sha Hao then assumed the name Pu Zhengqing and began hunting cultivators across Central Plains—not for wealth, as the Great Elder's collection, whether Spirit Stones, materials, or elixirs, left him with plenty to spend for a considerable time. He hunted cultivators primarily for that black strange sword.

Yuan Ming took out the Black Sword, his eyes becoming eager.

According to Sha Hao's soul memories, this sword, named "Soul Extinguishing," was indeed a top-grade Soul Cultivation Magical Artifact.

As a disciple of the Great Elder, Sha Hao had spent ten years gathering precious materials for the Great Elder to request Master Hei Mu to refine.

The Soul Extinguishing Sword was forged using Nine Nether Iron as the main material, combined with many Yin Attribute Spiritual Materials from Southern Border. When activated, the Soul Destroying Sword Light it emitted could attack the Divine Soul, ignoring the defenses of most Defensive Magical Artifacts.

Nine Nether Iron is the highest grade of Yin Attribute Spiritual Material. Yuan Ming had seen records of this material in the Record of Strange Stones; it originated in Extremely Yin Land, a product of the fusion of Yin Qi and Nether Iron Ore, with an incredibly hard texture, not susceptible to common elemental weaknesses like thunder, flames, or other such forces, making it incredibly difficult to destroy.

Moreover, Nine Nether Iron had one special property: it could absorb Soul Power and thus was also called "Soul Capturing Nether Iron." The Divine Souls slashed by the Soul Extinguishing Sword would be absorbed and digested, enhancing its own power.

The refining of Soul Extinguishing Sword was extremely difficult starting from the Forging Embryo step. The runes on the sword were copied from the runes on the Soul Suppressing Kettle by the Great Elder. When Master Hei Mu reached the final engraving step in the refining, he found the sword to be ferocious and seized the opportunity to secretly escape. Master Hei Mu's desertion led to the collapse of the sword's runes.

At this point, Yuan Ming recalled a passage in the Black Wood Handbook, "Tripped up during the refining of a special secret treasure." Master Hei Mu's final words also said, "If this continues, everyone will die!".

It turns out, his choice to leave Biluo Cave was related to the forging nau

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.