“Of course, the Shadowfiend Sword’s material can’t bear the full power of the true Asura Sword, but it’s more than enough to contain this seed of sword intent. With it, you can draw out much more of the Asura Sword’s might, while also allowing the real sword to resonate with it and speed up. Once the true Asura Sword arrives, this Shadowfiend Sword can serve as its shadow—two swords in one. The Asura Sword is already a transcendent divine item, so with this added capability, it’s like giving wings to a tiger. “Now that you have this sword, you can channel the sword intent through it. It will become a self-sustaining system, and you won’t need to use as much of your divine consciousness to help it grow. Even better, you won’t need to recover all that much after you use it. Even though it can only unleash around ten percent of the Asura Sword’s true power, that’s still terrifyingly strong, and the key thing is... you can use it continuously.” Hearing Tang San’s explanation, Mei Gongzi was overjoyed. “What should I do now?” “Let the seed of sword intent fully merge into the Shadowfiend Sword. Let it bear the entirety of your sword intent, and use that intent to cleanse the impurities within, transforming it completely. I suppose, after this, you can change its name to Asura Shadow Sword.” “I understand.” Mei Gongzi, always sharp, immediately grasped his meaning. Ever since becoming a Demon King, she had been continuously nurturing the Asura Sword. It was the core of her divine consciousness. Any enhancement to the Asura Sword meant a substantial increase to her overall power—be it cultivation, divine consciousness, or offensive might. If she could use the Asura Sword without holding back, even at just a tenth of its normal power, it would still be overwhelming. Tang San added, “Still, you should be careful when using it. The Asura Sword is too domineering; it was the number-one killing sword of a tremendously grand divine realm. It’s upright and just, and it was used to judge and punish, not kill indiscriminately. It only slays the guilty. If your opponent isn’t truly evil, you should not use it recklessly, or you risk polluting your heart and the sword intent as well.” “Mhm, I understand.” Mei Gongzi nodded and sat down cross-legged on the ground. The crimson sword aura before her instantly grew stronger. Now that she understood the purpose of the Shadowfiend Sword, she no longer restricted the seed of sword intent from touching it. Guided by her divine consciousness, the sword intent surged forth, gradually flowing into the Shadowfiend Sword. Tang San held the Spacetime Lighthouse, releasing a soft, dreamlike glow that drastically slowed time and space in the area. Under that gentle aura, the fearsome intent of the Asura Sword only spread outward at an extremely slow rate. Watching Mei Gongzi work on the fusion of the two swords, Tang San was struck by an idea. Since she had entered a deep meditative state and wouldn’t notice anything, he quietly summoned the Radiant Dragon Spear he had won at the auction. Left hand holding the Spacetime Lighthouse, right hand gripping the Radiant Dragon Spear, he gently guided a trace of the Sea God Trident’s seed from his divine consciousness to infuse into the spear. Tang San’s idea was simple: If Mei Gongzi could use the Shadowfiend Sword to host the Asura Sword’s intent, could he use the Radiant Dragon Spear to host this projection of the Sea God Trident? If it worked, the trident might respond faster to his call, and that would be an enormous advantage. If his personal divine weapon could arrive early, it would be of invaluable help in his later endeavors. Soon, however, a look of helplessness appeared on Tang San’s face. Damn, should’ve expected it. It’s no good. Though the Radiant Dragon Spear was indeed a divine item and a fine light-attribute weapon by the standards of this plane, it was still too weak compared to the Sea God Trident. It began trembling violently just from the trace of projected power. If he pushed further, it might collapse. Some people are just lucky, Tang San thought. Finding a vessel capable of withstanding a transcendent divine item’s essence was no easy feat, and in all fairness, Mei Gongzi also had nothing to do with it. The Shadowfiend Sword had attracted the Asura Sword precisely because of its unique material; in other words, the Asura Sword had chosen it itself. The Sea God Trident hadn’t shown any such response, so there was nothing more Tang San could do. He did, however, use the Sea God Trident’s pressure to make the Radiant Dragon Spear completely submit to him. In front of the big brother, the little brother dared not rebel. That so-called Radiant Dragon Emperor’s horn? Under the Sea God Trident’s suppression, it couldn’t even let out a squeak. Of course, Tang San wasn’t stingy with the spear. Using the Blue Gold Tree clan’s life-giving power along with a trace of the trident’s power, he refined it even more, and the spear clearly grew more powerful. In addition to its original radiance, it now bore life energy as well. Refinement done with pure life energy would enhance practically any item whose power did not stem from destructive intent, especially when the life energy came from such a high-level source and Tang San’s divine seat ensured the process was fully stable. As a result, as light and life harmonized, the Radiant Dragon Spear’s power significantly increased. Sadly, after this refinement, there was no way Xu An’yu would ever get the Radiant Dragon Spear back. Tang San had already imprinted it with his divine consciousness, and it was bound to him alone. At a critical moment, Tang San could even sacrifice the spear to briefly boost the trident’s power. After finishing its refinement, Tang San stored the Radiant Dragon Spear in his sea of consciousness for further nurturing. Then he took out the second divine item from the auction—the Black Tortoise Shield, which had been presented to everyone as the Dark Turtle Shield. Compared to the Radiant Dragon Spear, the Black Tortoise Shield was in a completely different league. Over countless years, the plane’s water and earth elemental essences had likely fused together, and the only reason this shield appeared was that the Dark Turtle of old had mutated and evolved into the Black Tortoise, an existence beyond the Emperor level that could access this fused essence. Sadly, it had ultimately failed. In theory, this item could only be properly used in a divine realm, where the Black Tortoise could reach its full power. Even so, if not for the presence of the Heart of Nature, it would have been the most valuable treasure in the entire auction. Purely in terms of value, even the Lifebond Necklace paled in comparison. At best, it could only match the Black Tortoise Shield. Despite its seemingly modest size, the Black Tortoise Shield was immensely heavy, like a mountain. When Tang San summoned it and placed it on the ground, water energy from the Endless Blue Sea immediately began converging toward it. The shield remained dormant, seemingly asleep. Yet even in that state, its defensive power was virtually unbreakable. As Tang San gazed at the shield, blue-gold light shone from his eyes. The Spacetime Lighthouse in his left palm burst with brilliance, forming a distorted field that enveloped both himself and the Black Tortoise Shield. Refining the Black Tortoise Shield was nothing like refining the Radiant Dragon Spear. These two divine weapons were worlds apart in caliber. Though far from being a transcendent divine item, the Black Tortoise Shield was in fact the raw form of one, and its quality was absolute top notch even by Tang San’s exacting standards. If Tang San could become a God King once more, he might even be able to use its peak power. In any case, in this plane, this item was practically indestructible, and that was really all he needed. A faint smile played across his lips. Normally, the Black Tortoise Shield would lie dormant until this plane evolved into a divine realm. But now that it had found its way into Tang San’s hand, things were about to go in an entirely different direction. Tang San stretched out his right hand. His body began to radiate with a blue-gold glow, but this time, it was none of his bloodline powers. Instead, he used pure divine consciousness, backed by the divine energy stemming from his divine seat, to awaken the shield.
