Sabonis Phoebe felt a cold sneer building inside him. Asmontis Thorn must have heard the news; knowing Assam intended to pass the Blacksmith Guild’s throne to Jiliu Feijing, he would surely intervene!
How weighty was the position of the Chief Elder of the Blacksmith Guild? Only those at the highest levels understood its true value! Asmontis Thorn further realized just how much a Guild Master like Assam—a Pre-Demon who hadn't awakened his bloodline power—would benefit his family, his own future, and the Crown Prince.
As for Jiliu Feijing? Asmontis Thorn despised the arrogant half-breed Demon. More crucially! Sabonis Jianying was dead… his beloved Demon was dead!
Few Demons knew that the Demon Asmontis Thorn favored was Sabonis Jianying! Only Sabonis Phoebe knew! He had vehemently objected before, but he couldn't change the minds of the two Demons; he had tacitly accepted their relationship.
No excuse was needed. Sabonis Jianying died by Jiliu Feijing’s hand. That alone was enough! Asmontis Thorn had etched Jiliu Feijing onto his kill list! Regardless of the Crown Prince’s thoughts, even if it meant facing punishment later, he had to kill this Jiliu Feijing!
“Disturbing my forging, damn it!”
Jian Jin’s enraged shout violently interrupted Asmontis's musings. The body standing before the furnace suddenly spun around, knees bent like a bow, the torso swaying as if a legion of heavy cavalry were charging forth with a deafening roar, diving straight toward Asmontis Thorn!
Arrogant! Haughty! Each one more wildly presumptuous than the last!
The surrounding Demon Elders were instantly stunned speechless. Asmontis was arrogant, but this Master Jiliu Feijing was even more reckless, daring to attack and kill a fellow Demon outright!
The battle erupted instantly without any warning. Jian Jin held two specialized blacksmith hammers of his own making, not the battle hammer gifted by Bahuang Wusheng. His body flashed like a dragon or a leopard driven by lightning, appearing before Asmontis Thorn.
“Seeking death!” Cold arrogance flashed in Asmontis's pupils. His deliberately trimmed sword-brows twitched repeatedly, and a semi-solid Dou Soul—resembling a colossal green demon—shot violently out of his body! His potent bloodline power ignited instantly, his body swelling rapidly, ripping his clothes apart in a single moment, his height surging to nearly three meters. His skin took on a hue akin to black iron.
Troll Bloodline! That was right! The Asmontis family was also one of the Ten Great Dual Bloodline power families among Demons!
Dou Soul! No one had expected Asmontis Thorn, so young, to have reached the level of Dou Soul, or at least the realm closest to it!
Without awakening his next bloodline refinement, yet relying solely on his innate talent, he was on the verge of completely breaking through the peak of the Golden Dou Heart to condense a true Dou Soul! This was the mark of a prodigy among prodigies within the bloodline powers!
Lucifer Liushui’s single eye shot out a keen light. This wasn't a Dou Soul yet! This was the pinnacle manifestation of the Golden Dou Heart, reaching its extreme just as the true Dou Soul was about to condense—it was the slight release of the nascent spirit within! The Void Soul Combat Skill of the Nightmare Bloodline Demon Warrior was created by reordering Dou Qi according to this very principle.
In a sense, this already qualified as a true Dou Soul! At the very least, the surrounding Demon Elders accepted that Asmontis Thorn possessed his own Dou Soul.
As Asmontis Thorn’s size increased, his longsword instantly transformed into a viper, emitting a hissing sound. His body abruptly compressed downward; moving like an ape in the jungle, he drove the tip of his sword toward Jian Jin’s throat, showing no sluggishness despite his massive frame.
On the contrary, this contrast between immense size and extreme speed instilled an indescribable sense of dread.
The Sword Demon’s signature sudden thrust technique! Ape Pulling the Sword! Lucifer Liushui’s heart clenched tightly. This seemingly simple strike, legend held, encompassed thousands of variations and concealed hundreds of killing moves!
Driven by surging rage, Asmontis Thorn executed this sword move at a level nearing its peak! All the surrounding Demon Elders felt as if this Demon Warrior of the Troll Bloodline had merely casually pushed his sword outward, and the tip instantly appeared before Jian Jin; all spatial gaps and obstructions vanished before this single thrust.
Asmontis Thorn’s sword moved as if it were a genuine living thing, integrated into his very being. The sword followed his thoughts seamlessly; it was difficult to distinguish where the sword ended and the Demon began—they were utterly unified.
Sword and Demon Unity!
Though the Demons present were not sword arts experts, they had heard the concept repeatedly put forth by the Sword Demon Lucifer Nihao: Sword and Demon Unity!
At this moment, Asmontis Thorn seemed to have completely entered that state; between heaven and earth, there appeared to be nothing but this one sword and this one Demon.
Indeed! Asmontis himself felt this was a state he had never reached before. If his Dou Soul were fully condensed, this single strike could pierce the stars! What hope did this blockhead who only knew how to forge have?
Jian Jin sensed his opponent suddenly vanish, replaced by a sword flying toward him out of thin air. His footsteps appeared casual as he suddenly stamped the ground, his muscles and bones vibrating at strange, high frequencies, his body silently evading to the side.
Swoosh! Asmontis Thorn’s longsword flashed, piercing directly into the throat of the charging Jian Jin. A surge of joy flared in his heart, immediately followed by eyes widening in alarm—No! He clearly struck, yet there was no sensation of impact? Why was that?
“Be careful!” At the exact same moment, Lucifer Serig roared.
Jian Jin’s body had already appeared behind Asmontis Thorn. His Ascending Peaks Eighteen Hammers descended like falling meteors, aimed directly at Asmontis Thorn’s head.
Myriad Shadows! Ascending Peaks Eighteen Hammers!
No good! It’s too late! Asmontis Thorn’s heart tightened; every hair on his body stood on end, and death completely enveloped him.
“Stop!”
Simultaneously! A Demon Warrior beside Lucifer Serig moved! He, too, possessed the Troll Bloodline! However, he had a complete Dou Soul, and not just an ordinary one—at least a Rank Five Dou Soul!
Hidden Super Void Soul within my body! Explode for me! Jian Jin’s three Dou Hearts pushed to their absolute limit. The particularly large Super Void Soul Seal within his Third Dou Heart instantly shot out millions of streaks of refined Dou Qi essence.
The light from Jian Jin’s Third Dou Heart surged violently, as if his entire head were about to turn into a dazzling sun. The large Super Void Soul Seal instantly shattered and disintegrated. A ferocious torrent of Dou Order, like a wild horse released from its tether, surged wildly throughout Jian Jin’s body.
A colossal black phantom arose behind Jian Jin, twisting and writhing. No one could discern its true form; it seemed as if it were still growing, having descended upon this world prematurely before absorbing sufficient nourishment to fully materialize.
Demonic energy overflowed! A phantom resembling the legendary devil rose behind Jian Jin. Within each of its two fists shone a massive, perfectly round sphere of energy—one shimmering crimson like a rising sun, the other yellowish-orange like a golden egg—both radiating an intoxicating power, charging toward the towering Troll Dou Soul flying up from behind!
What is this? A Dou Soul? No! It’s not a Dou Soul!
All the assembled Demon Elders and leaders were dumbfounded. Was this considered a Dou Soul, or not?
Still simultaneously, the Ascending Peaks Eighteen Hammers held aloft by Jian Jin swept through the air in a bizarre arc, smashing directly down onto the spear behind him!
This hammer strike! It was as exquisite as a spear colliding with a war hammer! This spear thrust! The sneak attacker expected to pierce Jian Jin’s body.
The eyes of the Demons lit up again. If Asmontis Thorn’s previous sword strike represented the pinnacle of swordsmanship, then Jiliu Feijing’s current hammer strike represented the absolute zenith of the hammer—the Art of the Hammer! A strike that surpassed that sword thrust by countless times!
In the face of this hammer blow, the splendor of the sword vanished.
Asmontis Thorn’s sword thrust, compared to this hammer blow, was like the difference between dust and a diamond—vast! Immeasurably vast!
A good opportunity! Asmontis Thorn felt the shadow of death suddenly dissipate. He ignored the potential damage to his legs from forcefully twisting his body; the ground actually cracked slightly under the rotation. The longsword in his hand flashed with cold light once more.
Die for me! Asmontis Thorn’s rage peaked. As the most promising disciple of the future Sword Demon, not only had he been evaded by a mere blacksmith’s sword thrust, but he had also been played for a fool!
Clang! Boom!
The blacksmith hammer struck the long spear. Two forces of extreme ferocity exploded outward. The Dou Souls in the sky collided like earth-shattering Devil Gods.
Crack, crack, boom…
Small fragments of metal continuously chipped off the surface of the long spear. The Demon who thrust the spear staggered back three steps; his metallic black face flushed deep crimson. The Dou Soul that had erupted also retreated with him, flickering in and out of visibility, appearing extremely unstable, as if it might shatter and vanish at any moment.
Bang! Jian Jin’s Super Void Soul instantly burst in the air, scattering like black mist back into his body. The collision of those two fierce forces hurled Jian Jin diagonally backward!
Dou Souls! The Dou Souls of the Ten Great Bloodline Powers were far stronger than ordinary Dou Souls! Even after shattering the power of the Super Void Soul, Jian Jin still could not engage fully against the power equivalent to a Rank Five Dou Soul. He twisted his waist, using the recoil force to evade the incoming sword thrust as he flew backward diagonally.
“Trying to flee? You must die today!” Asmontis Thorn’s sinister voice followed Jian Jin like a shadow; his body chased relentlessly after the flying Jian Jin.
Boom! The Super Void Soul rose again within Jian Jin’s body! The shattered power of the Super Void Soul returned internally, and stimulated by the Super Void Soul Seal in his First Dou Heart, it erupted with even mightier power than before!
In an instant, Jian Jin felt as if his Dou Veins and Dou Vessels—reinforced by the Golden Dou Heart and tempered countless times by Volcanic Elixirs—were about to be completely torn apart by this berserk power. His Dou Apertures and Dou Hearts spun with deep, rumbling thunder, a sound so loud that even the other Demon Elders in the courtyard could hear it clearly.