The malevolent spiritual surge from that greatsword swept across the desert in all directions, churning like a tidal wave, rushing toward Pan Zhe and his party.
The Solar Flame of the Essence of the Sun suddenly surged at the very instant the greatsword shot forth.
Clusters of sharp flames escaped from the Essence of the Sun, matching the crimson sky with a blood-red hue, rendering the already scorching desert even more unbearably hot.
Cao Zhilan, Pan Zhe, Gu Linglong, and Li Yanqing—the leading lights of the new generation from various factions of the Endless Sea—were all in a sorry state, retreating rapidly from the Essence of the Sun, wishing they had never come to this place at all.
Further in the distance, the followers who dared not approach the Essence of the Sun watched the sky blaze with fire and the evil spiritual waves engulf everything. Cold dread filled their hearts; they dared not draw closer, yet they desperately yearned to know what catastrophic event had unfolded there.
Driven by immense curiosity, these people gathered together, inevitably drawn toward that specific area.
They had only taken a hundred paces when they saw Cao Zhilan’s delicate face set with sternness as she flew swiftly toward them.
“Everyone, retreat! Now!”
Cao Zhilan’s expression darkened, and she commanded sharply without waiting for a reply, immediately sweeping past them and continuing to sprint ahead.
Pan Zhe, Gu Linglong, and Zhen Yanqing lagged behind. Noticing their subordinates drawing near, they too hastily shouted, urging everyone to quickly move away from that spot, forbidding anyone from lingering there.
The martial artists, still unaware of what had transpired, saw the desperate state of their four leaders and dared not question it. They swiftly turned back, following in Pan Zhe and the others’ wake, retreating at the fastest possible speed.
The Essence of the Sun drew near.
Clusters of Solar Flames burst forth rapidly from that area, enveloping the entire sky, pressing down like a cloud of fire.
The crimson greatsword suspended in the heavens eerily emitted its malevolent spiritual energy into the void. The blood-red eyes dotting the sword’s body blinked, releasing a scarlet light—utterly bizarre.
At that moment, the blood-red eyes on the greatsword seemed to fixate on something as they blinked.
Beneath the greatsword, Shi Yan’s eyes were crimson, his senses muddled. He looked up at the half-meter wide, two-meter long greatsword floating above, a hint of confusion entering his gaze.
The Blood Rune Ring on his hand simultaneously flared with intense blood light, closely mirroring the scarlet radiance emanating from the greatsword.
Brilliant streams of bloody light shot out from the Blood Rune Ring, completely suppressing the power of the Profound Ice Cold Flame.
The instant the dazzling blood-light exploded from the Blood Rune Ring, the greatsword, which had been stationary in the sky, seemed to suddenly identify a target—or perhaps pulled by some invisible attraction—and began to drift slowly toward Shi Yan.
Shi Yan wore an expression of bewilderment, apparently unaware of what was happening, merely raising the hand bearing the Blood Rune Ring high above his head instinctively.
Within the Blood Rune Ring, marvelous and strange lights shimmered; the scarlet blood-light was incredibly dazzling, threatening to dye the entire sky blood-red.
Concurrently, the negative emotions swirling within Shi Yan’s body surged into the Blood Rune Ring like a tide. Upon receiving this infusion of negative emotion, the ring violently pulsed with a powerful spiritual fluctuation.
The fire-crystal-like crimson greatsword suddenly transformed into a streak of light and shot toward the Blood Rune Ring, vanishing inside it in just an instant.
Shi Yan, whose senses had been chaotic, abruptly regained clarity.
All the disruptive negative emotions clouding his sea of consciousness vanished in a single moment. Within his body, the Solar Power derived from the Essence of the Sun continued to boil and burn, a faint wisp burrowing into his heart, causing it to speckle like starlight, red as a blazing fire.
His body felt as if it were being incinerated, an intense pain. The cold energy from the Profound Ice Cold Flame acted like a chilling current, seemingly sifting through his body, slightly lessening the agony.
A thousand meters away from the Essence of the Sun, standing in the desert, he could still sense the intense solar power radiating from it.
Turning back to gaze upon the Essence of the Sun, Shi Yan was startled to realize that following the changes over this period, the blazing, dazzling light from the solar essence within the Heart of the Sun seemed to have gradually dimmed.
The Solar Power and Solar Fire contained within the Essence of the Sun were rapidly depleting under the dual consumption of himself and the Earth Core Fire; in this short time, more than half had been exhausted.
The sunlight released by that massive extraterrestrial meteorite was no longer so dazzling.
Shi Yan frowned, momentarily unsure of what exactly had occurred.
However, he vaguely recalled that someone had approached this area previously; he seemed to have rushed away from the Essence of the Sun while chasing someone... After a moment of hesitation, he released his divine sense, letting it spread slowly, attempting to detect any strong life fluctuations nearby.
One... two... three...
Within his sea of consciousness, he distinctly perceived dozens of martial artists, only two li away from him, retreating from the area at extreme speed.
Shi Yan was astonished.
After pausing for a while, unsure why those people were fleeing, he gave up any notion of pursuit. After some thought, he turned and began walking back toward the Essence of the Sun.
“Why run?”
A long while later, Gu Linglong suddenly stopped, turning her head to look back at the crimson sky, and frowned, “It’s just Shi Yan; there’s no need to be so nervous, is there?”
“Shi Yan?” Cao Zhilan shook her head. “The reason for fleeing has nothing to do with Shi Yan at all. That sudden greatsword appearing is the real culprit we needed to escape!”
“That greatsword…” Gu Linglong started, her small face turning quite grim, and nodded. “The moment that greatsword appeared, the several divine swords in my body issued intense warning signals, urging me to immediately move away. Could that greatsword truly be that powerful?”
“How powerful it is, I can hardly say clearly…” Cao Zhilan’s expression was solemn as she stated flatly, “But killing all of us would likely be an easy task for that greatsword. Moreover, it wouldn't even need to slay us one by one; the evil spiritual wave it released would be enough to shatter all our souls!”
At these words, the others were instantly struck dumb.
“That formidable?” Pan Zhe clicked his tongue quietly. “Does that mean this greatsword is a treasure of the Saint-tier or something similar?”
“At least Saint-tier!”
Li Yanqing also nodded. “The evil spiritual wave from that greatsword was indeed terrifyingly potent. Even from such a distance, I almost lost the will to flee. If I hadn't possessed my sect’s secret treasure, I might have really died there. The eyes on that greatsword possess the power to delude the mind, as if each one contained an evil life force…”
Pan Zhe and the others’ complexions shifted slightly.
Zhai Yanqing’s words brought back to their minds the countless eyes on the greatsword. Those eyes blinked in the sky, releasing a scarlet, bloody light—extremely bizarre and unsettling, giving off a sense of profound danger and bloodthirstiness, instilling fear even in these original navigators of the Endless Sea, making them unwilling to confront it.
“What do we do now?” Gu Linglong asked. “Shi Yan is clearly over there, yet we dare not approach. We don’t know whose that greatsword belongs to either. Do you think there might be others there?”
“For now, let’s avoid that area. I will use my Martial Soul to sense things. Once I can no longer feel the intense flames or sense any danger from that direction, we can go take a look. As for Shi Yan, he’s not worth worrying about; as long as he’s still there then, he will definitely not be our match,” Cao Zhilan stabilized the morale of the group.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Shi Yan’s eyes held a strange light as he walked step by step toward the Essence of the Sun, filled with astonishment.
“How did a greatsword suddenly appear inside this cursed ring? This sword should be a physical object; why can this cursed ring contain it?” The voice of the Profound Ice Cold Flame transmitted again from the Blood Rune Ring. “I have examined the structure of this ring; logically, it shouldn't be able to accommodate physical matter. Why can it hold this bizarre sword?”
“I think this greatsword and my ring share some kind of connection…”
“Why do you say that?”
“I don’t know the reason, but I have a vague feeling that the aura of the Blood Rune Ring and this sword are very similar. Especially the strange blood patterns on this sword, which bear a striking resemblance to the markings on the surface of this ring. Perhaps this ring and this sword were forged by the same person.”
“Hmm.”
Shi Yan touched the Blood Rune Ring, his expression rather strange.
He released his divine sense into the Blood Rune Ring and could clearly see a newly opened space within it. In that bizarre, blood-red space, the greatsword floated quietly, devoid of any life sign.
The earth-shattering evil spiritual surge that had been on the greatsword was long gone.
Releasing his consciousness, Shi Yan tried to sense the energy fluctuations on the greatsword but found nothing. No matter how he tried to connect with the sword, he could not receive the slightest feedback from it.
If he hadn't witnessed the sword's strangeness before, Shi Yan would have considered it utterly ordinary, possessing nothing remarkable. Once it entered the Blood Rune Ring, it seemed to have retracted all its dazzling brilliance, transforming from a divine sword into a piece of common iron, stripped of its earth-shaking might and momentum.
“Whoosh! Whoosh!”
A strange whistling sound emanated from within the Essence of the Sun.
Shi Yan stopped abruptly, observing the Essence of the Sun from ten meters away, sensing the solar power within it.
Rolling waves of solar power were released from the Essence of the Sun, entering Shi Yan’s body and drilling into his heart.
For some reason, after the earth-shattering transformation his body had undergone, his physical form now seemed to gradually adapt to the scorching heat of the solar power. When that solar power flowed into him, his physical body no longer emitted solar flames, nor did the heat burn him. His body seemed to have been transformed once more, becoming able to adapt to the Solar Fire, becoming harmonious with the Sun of the Star Martial Continent!