AZI Volume 5 Chapter 38

"Hmm…"

Watching a pack of weapon spirits traverse the frozen seas, Qing Ming Yang asks—

"…Where are they headed?"

Towards the question, Lin Yu Heng raises a frown of contemplation, and answers—

"They all came out of that cave, maybe they found something in there?"

Narrowing her eyes, Xia Ri'er replies—

"Our cultivation base is still sealed. They probably didn't find the Immortal Sealing Chain in there."

"…They wouldn't head out to the seas so randomly, there's probably another island in the direction they're headed."

Silence looms between the three upon Lin Yu Heng's words. 

Eventually, Qing Ming Yang asks—

"Do we follow them? With their numbers, we don't stand a chance."

"…The sea is an open environment, there's no place for us to hide. Tch."

Sinking into thought, Lin Yu Heng clicks his tongue. 

Looking up at the skies, Xia Ri'er remarks—

"If this snow worsens, it should help to cover us from sight—assuming, we follow them from an appropriate distance."

"…Doable, but we might end up losing sight of them as well."

Glancing at Qing Ming Yang, Xia Ri'er asks—

"You got any better ideas then?"

"…Suppose beggars can't be choosers."

The conversation that these three are having is akin to the sort of talk that a group of hunters going after an especially large game would have. 

However, none of them could have possibly known that mixed in with the weapon spirits is an "abnormal thing" that would give anything or anyone—who stares at it wrong a beating. 

...…

"…"

Despite being the one to have suggested that they take a walk; Long Hua wasn't the one leading the group at the forefront. Instead, he chose to stay in the center. 

To avoid putting too much pressure on one portion of the ice, the group splits themselves into three at most—with a set amount of distance between them. 

Having her vessel lean over, the Tai Xuan Emperor asks—

"Thinking of something, master?"

"Hmm. Kind of want to go back into the hunting grounds."

Twisted, is one way to describe Long Hua's personality—for he simply hasn't had his fill of killing just yet. 

(The sooner I manage to evolve my killing intent into slaughtering intent the better.)

Once that happens, all his attacks would receive a greater sense of sharpness to them—which would help greatly, if he were dealing with weapon spirits that need to be convinced that they have died when they are killed. 

Raising a sigh, Long Hua mutters—

"That Hai Zang is going to require quite a bit of work…"

Recalling Hai Zang's mountainous figure, Long Hua feels like his only chance of defeating it would be to use the Machina Frame. 

However, with the Machina Frame in its current weaponless state—

(Weapons and armor for the Machina Frame, I've got it all. You need only give me resources in exchange for them.)

Perhaps, having read Long Hua's thoughts, the Tai Xuan Emperor advertises her services, to which, the former remarks—

"Tai Xuan Emperor, a person like you… Ai…"

Shaking his head, Long Hua feels powerless to retort. 

The two of them have walked through an entire lifetime together; however, neither of them can consider the other a close friend. 

As the Tai Xuan Emperor, the individual has ruled over an entire planet—making her a prideful woman. 

As the disciple of Dao He Tian Xue, Long Hua is just as prideful of an individual because that was the way he was taught. 

That being said, being prideful is a personality trait that is common among practitioners, and because they are prideful—especially so, if they are considered a peerless talent, the more difficult of a time they would have to meet eye-to-eye with a peer. 

One could even go as far as to say that being prideful is the cause of all bloodshed in the practitioners' circle, as members of the same clan might not even be able to see a clansman of the same parent to be their equal. 

Placing a hand to his chin, Long Hua contemplates—

(Hmm, I lost the use of my cultivation base midway into this excavation—specifically, when that thing showed up, I wonder…?)

...…

Further back—

"…"

Staring at Long Hua's back amidst the falling snow, Hui'er frowns. 

The hall's medicinal pill stocks aren't nearly as high as they were back in the inner domain; that being the case, Hui'er was made to enter this ruin to perform on-site concocting should anyone need it. 

Throughout her time in this ruin—other than the time she would spend on concocting medicinal pills for eventual usage, Hui'er has been observing the individual who shares the same name and face as her childhood friend.

However—

(His behavior is very different…)

"Hui'er."

Called out to by Zhang Yong, Hui'er snaps out of her thoughts. 

"Yes?"

"He's not him."

Blinking her eyes, Hui'er replies—

"I know."

It's unclear as to when, but at some point, Hui'er had fallen in love with the feeling of being chased after by the opposite gender because it made her feel superior. 

Seeing Long Hua again—with this sort of mindset, Hui'er felt as if she had been visited by a ghost of her childhood, during a period of her life where she wasn't as twisted. 

(He isn't him… Right?)

Still uncertain, Hui'er can only continue to mutter this inside her head—in an attempt to forget the past. 

(If he still is the same person…? What hap-)

Just as Hui'er is thinking of this—

"Uh?"

"Hm?"

*...…! ...! …!* sensing a tremor coming from beneath the ice, everyone looks down beneath them. 

It's difficult to say if it's fortunate or not; however, the entity that ends up greeting them isn't the shadow of a crocodilian weapon spirit. 

*Boom! Boom! Boom!* breaking through the ice like dolphins are fully Apotheosized weapon spirits. 

In terms of form, their appearance is similar to a humanoid with a larger upper body that is hunched forward. Behind their backs is a large dorsal fin-like structure, and their claws are wide enough in scale to grab an entire person's head with. 

"Stage one Apotheosized Sinners, maintain some distance between yourselves! And try not to hit the ice!"

Shouting this, Dan Hong summons his Relic, which takes on the form of a black scythe. 

Fully Apotheosized weapon spirits are separated into four stages. 

Stage one tends to appear rather basic in form, whereas stages two and three can be anywhere between five and 15 meters in height. At the same time, the red mist that emanates from stage threes is much denser, and appears similarly to flames. 

As for stage four, the black crocodilian weapon spirit is a prime example of it, their sizes vary wildly. 

"Prepare for combat!"

Shouting this, Duanmu Chen summons his Relic, which takes on the form of a silver glaive with blades on each end. 

Simultaneously, the nearby Dainsfield weapon spirits did the same.