The aura was intensely profound, so much so that Ye Chen and the others, even shielded within the talisman ship, could feel it distinctly. They immediately looked up, and about 60 kilometers ahead, beneath a small hillock, the ground began to shake and split open, unleashing ten thousand rays of golden light—brilliant, dazzling, and utterly captivating.
"What... what is that?" Xiao Hei exclaimed in astonishment.
Kaba peered intently, his expression shifting dramatically. "A divine artifact is emerging!"
"A divine artifact?!" The old Green Talisman man gasped in shock.
"Hurry, let's go over there!" Ye Chen urged, a wave of surprise and excitement washing over him. He hadn't expected to stumble upon a divine artifact just by chance wandering through this place!
What exactly was the concept of a divine artifact?
The forging of a single divine artifact was incredibly arduous, requiring the procurement of exceedingly rare materials. Sometimes, they were refined using the bones of over a dozen Ultra-Divine Beasts, further enhanced by incorporating various rare metals melted into a single furnace.
Even such an item could not yet be considered a true divine artifact; it was merely a semi-artifact!
To complete the piece, one absolutely had to inscribe the power of Natural Laws upon it. Whether an artifact’s grade was high or low depended entirely on how powerful the inscribed Law power was! The stronger the latent Law power contained within, the higher its grade!
Whoosh!
The Talisman Ship sped forward. The old Green Talisman man discovered that within Mount Tianwu, short-distance spatial jumps were impossible. They couldn't boost the ship's speed to light speed; reaching ten times the speed of sound was already the absolute limit!
Near the hillock, 60 kilometers away, several figures were already approaching. Sensing that immense, vast aura, their hearts were shaken, and they immediately rushed toward the source of the divine artifact's emergence with frenzied delight.
"It's a divine artifact!"
"A divine artifact is actually appearing!"
"Hahahaha, it's mine!!"
Anyone within a hundred-mile radius could feel that dense aura of divine power. True Divine Power was vastly different from Pseudo-Divine Power. In the presence of True Divine Power, one could sense an aura that was boundless, cosmic, and majestic. Pseudo-Divine Power, by contrast, felt thin, like a flimsy piece of cloth—easily torn apart.
Swish, swish, swish...
Almost simultaneously as Ye Chen and his group became aware of the phenomenon, others in different locations began surging toward the artifact's birthplace. At a glance, there were seven or eight ships circling the area. Five or six of them were Pseudo-Divine grade, the lowest being High-Grade Pseudo-Divine, and two were Peak Pseudo-Divine vessels!
And there were two Divine-level ships!
These two ships were towering and massive, etched all over with complex markings. The traces of their forging were unmistakable, and the ships themselves exuded an aura of profound shock.
Crackling noise~~
The void around the edges of these two ships rippled, as if the entire cosmos were an ocean, and the ships were navigating spatial waves. Compared to them, the other Pseudo-Divine ships looked like mere toys—tiny, fragile, and emitting a far fainter presence.
"I can't believe our luck, running into the birth of a divine artifact on our very first arrival!"
"Heaven truly favors me!"
Standing on one of the azure Divine-level ships was a youth with six wings. The wings were pure silver-white, the feathers soft, sacred, and beautiful—inviting one to reach out and touch them. However, if anyone knew that every single feather on those wings was capable of instantly killing a Peak Demigod expert, they would certainly refrain from such an impulse.
"Accelerate!"
"Anyone else who dares block the way, I’ll blast them into dust! This thing, this young master must obtain it!"
The youth, hailing from the Angelic Civilization, curled his lips into a cruel smile. Looking through the ship's external monitors at the surrounding Pseudo-Divine vessels, he scoffed, completely unconcerned. If any of those ships provoked him, a single blast would suffice to annihilate them.
Just then, the golden light intensified, radiating a magnificent glow, and the dazzling hilt of a sword slowly emerged. The hilt was carved with seven brilliantly shining gems, emitting waves of profound, mystical energy. Strands of Law, like complex scriptures, coiled around this broad black sword, dazzling the eye, making it seem as if the entire world revolved around this single object.
Several scattered figures nearby, witnessing this scene, couldn't help but feel a surge of wild ecstasy, their bodies trembling slightly. They threw themselves forward without hesitation.
"A divine artifact!!"
"This is a true divine artifact!!"
Everyone erupted, driven mad by greed.
Possessing a divine artifact meant they could sweep aside experts of the same realm. Most of these people were members of adventure guilds, mercenary groups, or Demon Hunter teams, while others belonged to families with ancient inheritances. With a divine artifact, their status would rise immeasurably!
"It's mine!!"
"Get out! All of you, get away from me!!"
The few who lunged toward the artifact discovered each other. Their eyes turned crimson, and they roared, unleashing their weapons and pouring their full strength into the fight, instantly deploying their most powerful peak secret techniques. Slashes of sword energy ripped through the void, and bestial forms conjured from concentrated golden Pseudo-Divine power charged furiously toward their opponents.
Boom! Boom! Boom...
Amidst the chaotic melee, one Peak Pseudo-Divine expert broke away from the fray and darted toward the truly divine artifact.
Whoosh!
A beam of golden light tore through the void from a distance, accurately striking that figure. Before he could even react, the beam enveloped him entirely, leaving him no time even to scream.
The chaotic battle paused, falling into sudden silence. Everyone stopped and turned to look, spotting two Divine-level ships hurtling toward them from tens of kilometers away...
"What!"
"Look at the banners!"
"It's people from the Angelic Family!"
"Damn it all!"
Everyone felt a surge of anger, unwillingness, and profound frustration. Their strength was equal to the newcomers, but what they possessed was worlds apart. Just the ability to pilot a Divine-level ship—even a low-grade one—was equivalent to ten Divine-grade weapons or a complete set of low-grade Divine equipment!
If they possessed Divine ships, wouldn't they also have Divine weapons? If those newcomers unleashed their Divine weapons, slaughtering them would be child's play!
The other Pseudo-Divine ships noticed this development as well. But looking at the divine artifact right before them, giving up now felt too painful to bear. Some ships ultimately decided to charge desperately toward the true artifact, staking their very lives on the gamble.
"You insignificant riff-raff, clear out!" The cyan-powered ship streaked forward, pushing its speed to the ten-times-sound limit—ten kilometers per second!
Whoosh!
It arrived directly above the divine artifact.
Kacha~~
The hatch opened, and a six-winged figure emerged. His immaculate white wings fluttered, his features handsome and refined, his eyes alluringly sharp, as he coldly surveyed everyone present.
"Come," the six-winged youth said, ignoring the glaring stares. He simply flung out an arm, and a golden rope unfurled, slithering like a serpent to entwine itself around the sword hilt, slowly beginning to pull the divine artifact outward.
"Hmph! A bird-man actually dares to try and claim a divine artifact!" From the other Divine-level ship, the hatch opened, and a robust young man floated out. His long, raven-black hair was unbound, and he wore blood-red armor, enveloped in a dense aura of killing intent and the scent of blood. His expression was icy. He pulled a small, exquisitely crafted pistol from his waist and, without even looking, fired toward the golden rope.
Bang!
The rope, as thick as a finger, was hit precisely from a distance of one kilometer, and it snapped.
"The Demonic Civilization!" The six-winged youth’s eyes darkened. He spoke in a low voice, "This is not your Demonic Civilization's turf in Tianzhou City. The branch you have established here isn't qualified to challenge me!"
"Heh heh, that's not necessarily true!" The man in the blood-red armor grinned, aiming his pistol at the six-winged youth and firing directly.
Shh, shh, shh...
Rounds of bullets sliced through the air, leaving wavy trajectories in their wake as they zipped straight toward the six-winged youth’s brow.
In the eyes of the winged youth, the entire world seemed to slow down. His body jerked, his six wings beating to create a curtain of afterimages, allowing him to evade the bullets as he charged toward the man in the blood-red armor.
"The bird-man is quite fast!" the man in the blood-red armor laughed. He drew a long spear from his waist, gripping the shaft, and poured his surging Pseudo-Divine power into it. His entire body radiated dark, malevolent energy.
"Demonic Invigoration!" he roared. The space above his head split open, revealing a phantom projection—it was the Demonic Civilization's secret technique for summoning ancient ancestors.
"Angelic Blessing!" The six-winged youth was not to be outdone. His eyes turned cold, and a dense white light erupted from every pore, converging above his head, tearing the void apart to reveal a sacred, vast, yet indistinct phantom projection.
"Demonic Blood Devourer Technique!" the man in the blood-red armor bellowed. His entire body was entwined with blood energy and demonic qi, creating an aura that was exceedingly grim and terrifying. Veins bulged menacingly on his neck, and the energy within his body surged wildly. Wielding the long spear, he charged toward the six-winged youth.
Pfft!
The blood-red spear seemed sentient, letting out a sound like a dragon's roar, carrying with it a sky full of baleful energy as it plunged toward the six-winged youth’s brow.
"Die!" The six-winged youth’s expression turned icy. He held a pure white longsword, creating countless afterimages that filled the sky as he lunged toward the man in the blood-red armor. With a flicker of thought, the entire area around them was filled with dense, overlapping afterimages, numbering thousands upon thousands.
Just as the two were locked in fierce combat...
Whoosh!
A ripple appeared out of thin air around the hilt of the true divine artifact, revealing a figure. He was clad in black clothes, with black hair, possessing a sturdy, imposing physique and an upright posture. Once the figure appeared, he gave a detached glance at the two fighting in the sky, then extended a hand, placing his palm on the hilt of the true divine artifact. With a flash of light, he vanished.
The two who had been locked in battle, who had been constantly monitoring the artifact, stared in utter astonishment at this turn of events.
"Where is the divine artifact?"
"How did it suddenly disappear?"
"Who was that person?"
"How could he vanish into thin air? Could he be an assassin from the Shadow Civilization?"
"Is he cloaked in invisibility? Quick, search!"
The two hurriedly separated, flying back to their respective ships to activate their scanners. The result soon became clear: apart from those currently present, there were no other life signs detected nearby.
The man had vanished?
The six-winged youth and the man in the blood-red armor froze for a moment.
Simultaneously, 100 kilometers away, a ripple flashed, and Ye Chen’s figure materialized. In his hand, he gripped a divine sword radiating seven-colored light, nearly 3.6 meters long and two palms wide. The blade was pitch-black, seemingly capable of reflecting a person's face. Its edge was so sharp that a single glance sent a chill down the spine.