Beastmaster of the Ages

The sea of blood looked tumultuous and vast. Though it had the same purpose as the Millionblade Formation, it took the initiative to attack rather than just passively defend. The moment Tianming stepped into it, he didn't need to deactivate anything and could head straight to the sea's depths. However, the bloody water formed into tens of thousands of beasts that charged at him to surround him.

There were also some hundreds of thousands of bloody spikes that shot toward him. They were fine to the utmost, like silky strands of hair. Though they were small, they were easily able to cut through any hard object. When they touched Lifesteal Silverdragon, they even produced sparks.

Tianming charged forward and had Ying Huo and the rest help out above. He heard a rumbling coming from the single remaining pathway above them, a sign that more enemies could be coming at any moment. "Yu Ziqian's nothing but a burden right now. I have to end this fast."

Tianming used his sword and chain to open up a path. He used Imperial Descent and unleashed a curved sword ki blast, cleaving open a path through the countless beasts, then charged straight in. Behind him, Xian Xian's black roots hurriedly clasped tightly onto the Blooddragon Palace to stabilize itself. Lan Huang swam through the sea of blood. As everyone else was tensing up, it was switching up swimming styles and letting out a booming laughter the whole time.

"What a dumbass!" the Archaionfiend snapped. Its fleshy black wings were coated with bloody lightning. Being at the twelfth level and about to enter the Constellation stage, it was on a higher level than Tianming and Lingfeng. Above its head were Xiaoxiao and the fearful Yu Ziqian.

"Yu Ziqian, what's that Dragonblood Desecration you mentioned just now?" Xiaoxiao asked as she looked toward the pathway.

"It's a grade-seven divine artifact on the same level as the Lifesteal Silverdragon, but it didn't belong to the Ninedragon Emperor. Instead, it used to belong to an elite of the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect of the same era. The weapon probably ended up in the Ninedragon Emperor's possession somehow, and he then left it behind inside this tomb," Yu Ziqian said.

"Then why'd you make such a big deal of that?"

"Are you even listening? Both the Lifesteal Dragon and Dragonblood Desecration are the best among grade-seven divine artifacts. They're something seniors who're centuries, or even millennia-old would dream of owning. The process of forging these artifacts is so complicated that few, if any, can achieve it! If their true potential was tapped into, even people of our age can emerge as heroes. It's likely that there's a drop of exalted blood near this weapon as well." Yu Ziqian figured that Tianming and the rest didn't react too much to weapons of this caliber because their sects were far too powerful. Little did he know that it was just because they were 'country bumpkins' from a different world who had no idea what was good or bad.

"The quality of divine artifacts at the same grade can greatly vary. For instance, grade-six or seven artifacts without artifact souls are far inferior to those that have them. In fact, grade-seven divine artifacts themselves can be subdivided into five categories. The Lifesteal Silverdragon and Dragonblood Desecration are both grade-seven level-five divine artifacts, which are worth more than ten times a level-four weapon of the same grade! For someone under the age of thirty to obtain something like that means that they'll never have to switch to another weapon for the rest of their life! They'll always have the better weapon, no matter their age or cultivation!"

Thanks to their ignorance, they didn't even know that twelfth-level constelliers usually only had grade-four or five divine artifacts. Most didn't even have a grade-six one.

"If I'm not mistaken, the Dragonblood Desecration seems to have ten artifact souls…" Lingfeng said. The rumbling was getting louder and louder and their eardrums felt like bursting. They were ready for the confrontation.

"There should be one main soul and nine subsouls. Combined, they're considered a single artifact soul," Yu Ziqian said.

"So the main soul's like a bow and the subsouls are arrows?" Lingfeng had an easier time understanding this thanks to his sensitivity to souls. It only took a simple glimpse for him to see through it. There was a blood dragon about ten thousand meters long deep within the sea, covered in spikes. Curled up, it looked like a bow. Beside it were nine smaller dragons, each one having a single sharp, hooked horn that pointed forward.

"That's right. It even has two forms, the first being a bow. If you fuse the bow and arrows together, they can be used as a spear," Yu Ziqian said.

Xiaoxiao immediately turned her attention over.

"Isn't this tailor-made for you?" the Archaionfiend asked.

Xiaoxiao often used bows and spears. Back then, she had fought with a halberd and other such polearms. But recently, she had switched to using bow and arrows with her new cultivation path. With the Archaionfiend taking care of most close combat, she wouldn't use a spear unless she had no other choice.

"He's almost there," Xiaoxiao said, looking down. Tianming was already really close to the weapon.

"The fact that we came here and ran into this weapon must be a sign. The artifact soul of this weapon must've been awaiting your arrival," Lingfeng said.

"Is that so?" Xiaoxiao had never felt that something so lucky would ever happen to her.

Yu Ziqian was still going on about the weapon. "The Dragonblood Desecration's made of a divine ore called dracosanguinite that carries the grade-seven bloodgorge dragonmark divine pattern. As its name suggests, any strike dealt by the weapon will draw terrifying amounts of blood from the enemy. While it isn't as sharp as voidslicerite, it can deal far more damage once it pierces the enemy.

"Not to mention, when it was forged, it was infused with three grade-seven divine hazards of great destructive potential, namely, cosmic blitz, sanguine frost, and eternal boltserpent. The two lightning and one frost hazard can inflict explosive and corrosive damage on an enemy. I only know so much about it because it's a famous weapon in Orderian chronicles. Everywhere the weapon passes, trails of corpses are left behind."

The Lifesteal Silverdragon and Dragonblood Desecration were considered the best grade-seven divine artifacts, as every aspect of their materials, from ore to hazards, was grade seven. They also had multiple hazards for additional effects. Most other grade-seven divine artifacts only needed a single grade-seven divine pattern, whether from ore or hazard, to be classified as such.

"The Dragonblood Desecration has never shown up again since disappearing hundreds of millennia ago. Its only known user was the Blooddragon Emperor of the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect, and there's many versions of his tales…."

Though Yu Ziqian had planned to go on, the commotion was getting too loud for him to continue. Tianming had finally shattered the formation and was charging toward the treasure. The ten dragon souls fiercely roared at him, their spikes looking incredibly threatening.

"There's the exalted blood!" That meant that youths like them could bind the weapons for their own use. Even then, the artifact souls didn't seem to be allowing him to approach. Almost instantly, an arrow appeared on the dragon bow and prepared to shoot toward Tianming, though he was faster. The moment he saw the blood, he lashed out with his left hand using the Lifesteal Silverdragon. The chain stretched to a thousand meters and immediately bound the bow, wrapping around it. The bow could only spin without being able to fire, leaving Tianming completely unscathed.

The artifact souls raged at being bound, though there was nothing much it could do to unravel itself in the form of a bow. Then the bow fused with its arrows and turned into a ghastly spear, allowing it to escape the chain and pierce toward Tianming. He deflected the strike with the sword in his right hand. Then he used his chain again, but didn't aim it at the spear this time. Instead, he aimed it at the Archaionfiend, binding Xiaoxiao and pulling her into the sea.

"What're you doing?!" she said, surprised. She knew how precious the treasure was. Even if Tianming didn't use it, it was something he could sell for a high price.

"Drink the exalted blood, quick. I'll hold the artifact souls back," Tianming pressed.

"I—" It was one thing for him to give her caeli. Those weren't that rare, and he didn't need them. However, this artifact was something people would kill for.

"Quick! Don't be too touched. I expect you to pay me back," he snapped.

"Fine." Though she was shocked, she no longer hesitated.

Tianming used the chain to stop the spear, tightly wrapping it once more. The artifact soul roared and struggled like a gigantic beast. If it weren't for the toughness of the Lifesteal Silverdragon and Tianming's strength, he wouldn't be able to hold the spear back.

"Hurry up!"