"Azure Dragon Spear."
The mortal iron spear he had once carried was gone. What remained — amplified ten-thousandfold, transformed beyond recognition — was something that had long since left its origins behind. It was a peak-grade Divine Weapon now, and it deserved a name worthy of that. It was almost fitting — his martial skill was the Dragon Spear Art. The name chose itself.
The moment the words left his lips —
Woooom.
The Azure Dragon Spear materialized in his hand. Its aura rolled outward like a tide.
Wang Wuji's eyes sharpened. "Spirit Weapon? Or Divine Weapon?"
Lu Chen couldn't help it — he laughed. His hand drifted along the spear's shaft. "I keep the aura veiled," he said. "Makes it harder to tell."
Then his fingers slid to the spearhead. A single drop of blood welled up, laced with True Yuan, and fell onto the blade.
Drip.
Drip. Drip.
Blood recognition. The Azure Dragon Spear drank it in — blood and True Yuan both — and in an instant, it woke up.
Lu Chen poured his full True Yuan into the shaft.
BOOM—!
The aura of a peak-grade Divine Weapon erupted. It swept outward like a shockwave, like a primordial dragon surging up from ten thousand years of sleep. The sky itself seemed to shudder.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
All seven Divine Core Realm elders were driven back, each forced step cracking the air beneath their feet.
"A — a peak-grade Divine Weapon?!"
"He actually has a peak-grade Divine Weapon?!"
The blood drained from their faces. A treasure like that was beyond even most Divine Ability Realm experts. They had never — not for a single moment — imagined Lu Chen would be carrying one. Here. In front of them.
With a weapon like that in hand, Lu Chen didn't need martial skills. He could sweep them all away on aura alone.
"Did you hear that?! That thing is a peak-grade Divine Weapon!"
"Isn't that the kind of weapon Soul Palace Realm powerhouses use?!"
"His cultivation alone was already terrifying — but his treasures?!"
The disciples looked on with wide eyes and poorly-hidden envy.
Swish. Swish. Swish.
Across every corner of the outer sect, elders rose to their feet. Their gazes burned as they locked onto the distant battlefield.
Never underestimate the pull of a peak-grade Divine Weapon. The Azure Sky Sect's outer sect didn't own a single Divine Weapon — not even a mid-grade one. A handful of the most powerful elders carried low-grade Divine Weapons. Everyone else made do with Spirit Weapons.
"A Divine Weapon... a peak-grade one..."
"What gives Lu Chen the right to carry something like that?"
"It must be something Shen Qing left him."
"If I had a weapon like that..."
The thoughts flickered through more than a few minds — hungry, covetous. But none of them moved. They knew better. Even if they somehow seized it, they couldn't hold onto it. And getting it away from Lu Chen in the first place? That was its own problem.
Then —
BOOM—!
A figure exploded out from the Outer Sect Outer Discipline Hall. The pressure that rolled off him hit like a physical wall.
"Hall Master Zhao!"
"Is he going after Lu Chen's Divine Weapon?!"
The elders stirred. A Hall Master was a different beast entirely — at minimum, the peak of the ninth level of the Divine Core Realm, one foot already over the threshold into the Divine Ability Realm.
"Hall Master Zhao carries a low-grade Divine Weapon and his cultivation is miles ahead of Lu Chen's. It doesn't matter what Lu Chen's holding — at the fourth level of the Divine Core Realm, he can't unleash even a fraction of a peak-grade Divine Weapon's true power. If the Hall Master makes his move, Lu Chen is finished."
"Zhao has never been afraid of Shen Qing — and with Shen Qing potentially gone for good..." Someone shook their head. "Lu Chen's treasure is as good as forfeited."
Lu Chen stood his ground, the Azure Dragon Spear leveled at the seven elders. His expression hadn't changed.
"Still want to go another round?"
Their faces darkened. Retreat meant losing face. Fighting meant losing — period. They were caught between a rock and a hard place, and they knew it.
The decision was made for them. A crushing aura swept in from the direction of the Outer Discipline Hall, and Wang Wuji seized the opening.
"Hall Master Zhao is here. Everyone, fall back!"
They scattered within seconds, pulling back several miles and doing their best to look dignified about it.
Lu Chen let them go. He turned, unhurried, and fixed his gaze on the approaching Hall Master Zhao.
His expression remained perfectly calm.
So what if he's a Hall Master? The thought was almost idle. A Divine Core Realm cultivator, at the end of the day. I didn't act openly without absolute confidence. I fear no one in this entire sect — not a Hall Master, not a Divine Ability cultivator, not a Soul Palace Realm powerhouse. Not even the Sect Master himself.
An outer sect Hall Master? Please.
"Criminal Lu Chen!" Zhao's voice boomed across the sky like rolling thunder, and he was still closing the distance. "You slaughtered over a hundred of your fellow disciples with no more regard than stepping on insects. That makes you no different from a demonic cultivator. Today—" the air seemed to crackle — "I will personally rid this sect of your filth."
The pressure that followed his words was staggering. A killing intent so dense it flash-froze the air, so heavy that even the senior outer sect elders couldn't quite manage a full breath.
Lu Chen's eyes went cold.
The seven elders before hadn't wanted him dead — they'd wanted him cuffed and hauled in for questioning. But this man?
His goal was execution.
Is it the Divine Weapon?
Lu Chen's mouth curved — not a smile, exactly. Something quieter and more dangerous than that.
Perfect, he thought. He'll make a fine warm-up.