Chapter 139: The Sword God of Great Xia
“Crack!”
Within Lin Fan, something that seemed to have shattered suddenly began to reassemble.
A cold, sinister aura spread from his body. It was so sacred that it surpassed the limits of humanity.
“Crack, crack, crack, crack…”
A dense chorus of sounds erupted from within him. His shattered bones seemed to be enveloped by some strange force, slowly knitting themselves back together. That force continued to scour and transform his body.
Transcending mortality.
Becoming a god.
“This man…” The Goddess of the Ocean’s face was filled with shock. “What divine office does he possess?”
She had never sensed an aura like this before.
Cold. Evil. Brimming with brutality and slaughter.
The God of Death?
No.
He was not the God of Death.
The God of Death merely maintained order and carried away the souls of the dead. But this man radiated killing intent from every inch of his body, as if he killed for the sake of killing, spreading death wherever he went.
Although he had only just become a first-rank god, he had somehow given this third-rank Goddess of the Ocean an indescribable sense of danger.
“I cannot let him become a god!”
Seeing the force scouring and transforming Lin Fan’s body, the Goddess of the Ocean could no longer hesitate. All her divine power gathered into the trident in her hands.
The trident rose into the air and rapidly expanded.
Ten thousand yards of seawater surged upward, coiling around the trident like a ferocious water dragon.
“Lesser Ocean Divine Art: Poseidon’s Trident!”
“Go!”
The goddess swung both hands forward. The enormous trident that had been circling above her head, wrapped in the water dragon, crashed down upon Lin Fan.
“Boom!”
The trident descended with overwhelming force, the water dragon coiling around it as it smashed downward.
“Roar!”
The water dragon let out a furious howl.
“Bang!”
The trident struck Lin Fan head-on. Then the enormous water dragon howled as it washed over him, completely obscuring his figure.
Feeling Lin Fan’s aura weaken further and further until it was utterly overwhelmed by the water dragon, the Goddess of the Ocean finally let out a breath.
In the divine realm, innate gods possessed pure bloodlines and naturally formed divine bodies. Yet those who became gods through their physical bodies were never easy prey. Even innate gods were reluctant to provoke them.
Because they possessed something innate gods themselves did not: an indomitable will.
Only beings with astonishing willpower could break through the limits of life and become gods through their own flesh.
But the problem was…
“How could this man have become a god?” the Goddess of the Ocean said heavily as she watched the surging water dragon continue to pour down. “He clearly has no believers…”
Yet in the very next moment—
“You are right.”
“I do not have any believers.”
“But they believe in me.”
“Great Xia believes in me!”
A deep voice emerged from within the crashing water dragon.
“What?!”
The Goddess of the Ocean froze. Her eyes widened as she stared in disbelief at the place where the water dragon was raging.
He was still alive?
“Boom!”
Terrifying black divine power swept outward. A pitch-black blade radiance suddenly burst from within the water dragon.
It was like a streak of black lightning, flashing upward from the place where the water dragon crashed down.
The vast water dragon, along with the trident, was cleaved cleanly in two.
“Splash!”
The water dragon exploded into countless waves that fell from the sky.
Amid the rain of spray, the young man stood silently, black aura slowly radiating from his body.
Seawater splashed down around him.
The two halves of the broken trident landed beside him.
The young man stood with a blade in hand.
His figure, wreathed in strange black divine power, resembled a demon. Not the slightest trace of divine radiance could be found upon him. He was death given form.
The young man raised his head and looked toward the goddess with crimson eyes.
The icy killing intent wrapped around his expressionless face, together with the brutality and savagery reflected in those scarlet eyes, left the goddess’s mind blank.
The blood-soaked youth seemed to be the embodiment of slaughter.
Just looking at him caused a blood-red character meaning “death” to appear violently within the goddess’s mind. She even seemed to see an endless mountain of corpses and sea of blood behind him, the shattered bodies and severed limbs of countless gods churning within the crimson tide while innumerable angels wailed in agony.
“You…” The goddess stared blankly at the young man and said heavily, “What exactly are you?”
“Right now, I am the same as you.”
The young man stared expressionlessly at the goddess as his body slowly rose into the air.
“Did you not want me to witness the power of a god?”
“You may not believe this.”
“I was a god to begin with.”
“I returned here to protect Great Xia.”
“As for what I truly am…”
Behind the young man, sinister black divine power slowly spread. Two enormous characters condensed in the air.
“Asura!”
The moment she saw those two words, the pupils of the goddess—who had remained aloof until now—contracted violently. Terror flooded her face as she cried out:
“The God of Asura!”
The God of Asura.
The most terrifying divine office in the divine realm.
One who lived by slaughter was an Asura.
But how could this man have become the God of Asura? Was he one of the Asura race?
Had the Asura race not been completely exterminated by the gods during the War of the Divine Realm?!
But there was no time to think about it now. The instant she saw the word “Asura,” she turned and attempted to flee.
But in the next moment—
An equally sharp aura erupted from the sea behind her.
Terrifying sword energy shot into the heavens, its radiance towering like a pillar.
A figure slowly rose from the surface of the sea, ascending amid boundless sword energy.
The Half-Step Sword Immortal, Zhang Feng!
No.
He was not a Half-Step Sword Immortal.
He was the true Sword Immortal of Great Xia!
“Hum!”
The ancient sword that had lost its radiance and fallen into the sea shot back through the waves with a resonant hum. Transforming into a streak of sword light, it flew into his hand as if celebrating its master’s resurrection.
“How did I become a god?” Zhang Feng still seemed somewhat puzzled. But the instant he saw the sword, a smile touched his lips.
“So that is how.”
“My master was wrong.”
“If that sword had never been drawn, I could not have become a god even after a thousand years.”
“The sword energy I accumulated was not the key.”
“The true Sword God possesses the will to face a god and still advance with sword raised—the will to protect Great Xia.”
The Sword of Great Xia in his hand burned with fierce flames. Its grain was carved like bone, its blade forged through tempering fire.
He looked up at Lin Fan, who was radiating black divine power and holding the Azure Dragon Black Saber, and smiled.
“Kid, thank you. Without you, I would never have struck that sword—and there would be no Sword God such as myself.”
“And now…”
He turned toward the goddess, who stood frozen in place, horror written across her face.
“Try Great Xia’s sword again.”
The goddess wanted to retreat, but behind her lay Great Xia—and Lin Fan, standing upon the sea beside it.
There was nowhere left to go.
The Sword God raised his hand and swept out with a single stroke.
Sword light surged into the heavens.
That sword was brighter than the sun itself.
“Boom!”
Terrifying sword energy pierced straight through her. In an instant, the goddess’s armor shattered, leaving her body riddled with wounds.
The Sword God.
One of the most powerful divine offices in the divine realm. Only the God of Thunder, the three hidden divine offices of Time, Space, and Death, and the long-vanished God of Asura could surpass him.
The Goddess of the Ocean was utterly incapable of resisting.
That single sword from the Sword God of Great Xia had nearly slain her outright.
The sword named Great Xia returned once more to Zhang Feng’s hand. Holding it, he looked at the staggering goddess and said softly:
“By the way, were you not asking me to cut off your head?”