Chapter 257: Overwhelming Power

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

“Little Xie, please, just do it for me,” An Lin implored

The Evil-Slaying Sword remained unmoving like a piece of scrap metal.

An Lin blushed as he glanced up at everyone.

F*ck, so awkward!

“Haha, it’s OK, maybe it’s because your sword is too tired and doesn’t want to move,” Xu Xiaolan immediately offered up words of consolation.

She did not know whether An Lin’s Evil-Slaying Sword truly had a sword spirit or not, but it was probably a good idea to dispel this awkward situation, so she felt like it was necessary for her to offer some comforting words.

An Lin nodded with disappointment and picked up the Evil-Slaying Sword.

Something suddenly appeared in his mind; it was a mission assigned to him by the system.

Stage One Divine Weapon Origin Energy—Condition: Successfully nurture a weapon spirit.

His Evil-Slaying Sword clearly already had a sword spirit. It could even cuss him out, so hadn’t he fulfilled the conditions of the mission already?

“Xiaolan, if my Evil-Slaying Sword can talk, does that mean it has sword spirit?” An Lin asked in confusion.

Xu Xiaolan shook her head. “Of course not. When an immortal sword successfully nurtures a spirit, the sword spirit can detach itself from the sword and manifest a body for itself. An immortal sword that knows how to talk can only mean that it has acquired intelligence and is in the stage of conjuring a spirit!”

An Lin was a little disappointed. He naturally knew many ways to nurture a spirit within a weapon, but these methods all differed depending on the weapon, and he did not know which method would apply to the Evil-Slaying Sword.

“Little Xie, Little Xie… tell me how to nurture a spirit within you?” An Lin asked the sword.

The Evil-Slaying Sword remained completely silent and motionless.

An Lin: “…”

Alright, I give up.

This was an arrogant and haughty sword, and its trashy owner was not worthy of hearing it speak.

After resting for a short while, everyone set off to the last palace.

The most mysterious and most fearsome place in the Winter Dragon Tomb—Palace of Heaven!

The last two groups of cultivators that had entered the Palace of Heaven never returned.

An Lin looked up at the palace emitting holy white light with a sense of uneasiness stirring in his heart.

The light seemed to represent everything that was beautiful and good in this world, creating an irresistible allure. If one was to stare at the light for too long, they would develop an uncontrollable urge to charge into the palace.

The Palace of Heaven was extremely huge, spanning an area around a dozen times larger than the average palace. The huge floating rock upon which the Palace of Heaven was situated appeared like the head of a dragon from a bird’s eye view, exuding an imposing aura.

“Same thing again. Gundam One and Gundam Two will lead from the front, we’ll run if the enemy is too strong,” An Lin instructed.

Gundam One and Gundam Two pushed the door open, and An Lin and the others followed along with their bodies tensed in anticipation.

“Huh? Why is there no one here?” An Lin was slightly taken aback by the scene before him.

The interior of the palace was not very luxurious, but it had a sophisticated yet antiquated feel. The light, fragrant aroma of wood wafted throughout the air. There seemed to be nothing dangerous or intimidating in the palace.

At the center of the palace was a pillar of white light which shot straight into the heavens; that was most likely the source of the light emanating from the Palace of Heaven.

From the exterior, the holy light appeared extremely alluring, but from the interior, the holy light gave off a sense of tranquil serenity.

Before everyone had a chance to explore, a humanoid figure suddenly materialized in front of the pillar of light.

Gundam One and Gundam Two immediately activated their Ionic Deprivation Protection Formation, enshrouding everyone in a film of blue light.

A white sword projection slashed toward them in a flash.

Boom!

The white sword projection collided with the Ionic Deprivation Protection Formation, sending violent shockwaves of energy radiating outwards.

The blue film of light began to tremble violently for the first time as if it was on the brink of collapse.

The attack came extremely abruptly, affording no time to formulate a defense. Fortunately, Gundam One and Gundam Two were robots with extreme reflexes and were able to defend against the surprise attack.

“Oh? Those mechanical puppets are interesting. Are they the inventions of the Purple Star?”

An ethereal, heavenly voice suddenly sounded from afar.

The figure in front of the pillar of light descended to the ground, revealing itself to be a tall and slender woman in a white dress.

An Lin focused his gaze on the figure and was greeted to the sight of an exquisitely beautiful woman who resembled the most perfect Celestial Maiden. There was a pair of extraordinarily intricate silver dragon horns on her head.

An Lin had only one glance, but he felt like he could no longer shift his gaze away.

Those dragon horns were like the epitome of perfection.

They were even more alluring than the heavenly features of the woman herself. He felt like he would fall under their control if he was to look at them any longer.

Not only An Lin, but even Xu Xiaolan, Da Bai, and Xiao Chou were staring at the pair of dragon horns, all of them completely transfixed…

They were even contemplating whether the pair of dragon horns would be the final reward in the Palace of Heaven.

If that really was the case, they would not be surprised at all. They would instead think that it was the most suitable prize among all!

“Have you seen enough?” The woman in the white dress was not surprised that everyone was gawking at her dragon horns and stood with a soft smile on her face.

“My apologies, may I please ask if those dragon horns are the reward for this palace?” An Lin asked with a respectful expression.

Sure, Long Aotian had told him the prize would be some bloodline inheritance or some treasure of some sort from Shen Yin, but in comparison, An Lin would much prefer those dragon horns to be the prize.

“Nope.” The woman in the white dress did not get annoyed at his question and instead smiled in reply. “But the reward is something just as good as these dragon horns. However, if you want the reward, you’d have to enter a series of trials…”

“What trials?” An Lin asked curiously.

“The first trial is a trial of combat strength.” The woman in the white dress conjured swords from the wind with a gentle smile on her face.

But the killing intent radiating forth from her body was like an eternal glacier, instantly making everyone shudder in fear.

“Gundam One, Gundam Two!” An Lin yelled

Whoosh!

The woman in the white dress took one step forward and instantly appeared right in front of the two Gundams before slashing down with her sword.

One of the Gundams had just activated an Ionic Deprivation Protection Formation, but a huge gash instantly appeared in the formation from her slash.

The other Gundam had already slashed a light sword toward the woman’s midsection with extraordinary speed, and the light sword flashed through the air like a bolt of lightning.

The woman’s slender fingers transformed into dragon claws and she gripped the space in front of her.

Crack…

A mystical power froze the very space itself and stopped the light sword dead in its tracks.

She stepped back quickly and slashed down toward the Gundam in front of her with her sword.

The scene that followed was one that had everyone looking on in shock.

Her sword was clearly materialized through her vital energy alone, with no assistance from any divine weapons, but an ear-splitting screech immediately erupted as the sword slashed into the Gundam’s body.

The Gundam which was indestructible in An Lin’s eyes instantly had a huge gash slashed into its structure amid a flurry of sparks.

The Gundam flew back as if it had been severely injured.

The other Gundam pounced toward the woman and was met with a punch to the stomach.

Boom!

Heaven and earth trembled for an instant, and An Lin could see the space around the Gundam’s midsection begin to warp and crumble…

Countless cracks instantly appeared on the metallic armor of the Gundam as it too was knocked flying into the air like a cannonball.

An Lin couldn’t help but gasp at the sight before him.

The woman in the white dress was able to warp and damage space itself— this was something only Return to Void Stage mighty figures were capable of!

“Run!” An Lin urged without hesitation.

Xu Xiaolan, Da Bai, and Xiao Chou instantly retreated toward the gate of the palace.

However, the woman had already appeared right in front of Xiao Chou in the next instant and threw a punch at him.

The terrifying force of the punch immediately knocked Xiao Chou back as he flew through the air with blood spilling from his mouth. She then turned to Da Bai and crushed down on the air between them. Da Bai suddenly felt as if an extreme downwards pressure was acting upon him with mountainous force, pushing his skeletal structure to the brink of shattering as his body completely sank into the ground.

“Xiao Chou! Da Bai!” An Lin yelled as wings of wind materialized behind him. He was just about to use the Origin Energy of the Netherworld as a last-ditch effort, but the white figure had already appeared in front of him in the blink of an eye and aimed a palm into his chest.

She was simply far too fast, there was no way An Lin could avoid her palm.

An Lin’s chest collapsed under the force of her palm as his innards received a heavy blow, causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood.

“An Lin!” A familiar voice roared.

Xu Xiaolan wielded her Dragon Sparrow Sword and charged at the woman in white with no regard for her own safety.

The appearance of the Dragon Sparrow Sword instantly caused the roars and cries of dragons and phoenixes to erupt in the air. A sword projection of over a hundred feet with intermingling crimson and blue rose into the air, before slashing down upon the woman in white with supreme power.

“Dragon Sparrow…” A hint of confusion appeared in the woman’s eyes.

Boom!

Flames and lightning exploded, pulverizing everything within a hundred feet radius into dust, even a section of the palace had collapsed in the terrifying explosion.

Xu Xiaolan did not have time to appreciate the spectacle as she charged toward An Lin in an attempt to rescue him and exit the palace.

However, the space in front of her suddenly crumbled, and the woman in white appeared in front of her again with an inquisitive look in her eyes.

“What’s your name?” the woman asked with her pleasing, ethereal voice.

Xu Xiaolan bit down on her lower lip and panted heavily as she looked at the woman in front of her. In the face of such a drastic power gap, Xu Xiaolan’s expression was filled with despair. Even escape was nothing more than a dream…

She considered her situation for a short while before deciding to relinquish her resistance. “My name is Xu Xiaolan.”

The woman in white pondered for a short while at her words before an elegant smile appeared on her face.

“Hi there, my name is Shen Yin.”