Clang clang clang~

Ye Qingzhou drew his sword and parried repeatedly, only feeling the vibrations from the hilt growing stronger, surprised in his heart: "Sword techniques that convert speed into power?"

"Be careful, he's Cross, the fourth-ranked Silver Knight of Europe, the Omen Bird!"

Xu Yunxi recognized the origin of their opponent from his moves and quickly informed Ye Qingzhou through thought transmitting sound: "Be cautious of his Pitch-Black Feathered Fiend!"

With Xu Yunxi's reminder, Ye Qingzhou then noticed that during their exchange, numerous black feathers were drifting down from the sky.

These feathers, all condensed with evil qi, were not only extremely sharp but also possessed strong corrosive properties, able to erode the protective true qi of a martial artist.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh~

The floating black feathers shot in from all directions, completely sealing off Ye Qingzhou's retreat, leaving him with no way to avoid or hide.

Thousands and thousands of black feathers instantly engulfed Ye Qingzhou's entire body.

"Ye Qingzhou!"

Xu Yunxi exclaimed instinctively.

Chris looked smug: "I declare your death."

Clang~

From within the tide of pitch-black feathers, a dazzling white sword light slashed through the deepest darkness, splitting the chaos apart, making the world colorful again as if creating heaven and earth.

"Using corpse qi and resentment as your fiendish aura, your swordsmanship has already fallen into the evil path."

Ye Qingzhou took a step forward, the black feather wave split in two, retreating rapidly to the sides.

"How can there be a distinction between good and evil in swordsmanship?"

Chris was unconcerned: "This world is like a vast forest, with a beast hiding in each person's heart. That instinctual wildness is the source of all life's power."

Whoosh~

As soon as Chris finished speaking, his figure abruptly vanished and then suddenly appeared behind Ye Qingzhou, with his sharp sword fiercely stabbing towards Ye Qingzhou's heart.

Ye Qingzhou turned and slashed horizontally, striking the weakest part of Chris's weapon.

Crack~

Chris's sharp sword broke with the sound.

At the same time, the divine weapon sword qi in Ye Qingzhou's hand was unleashed, like a shotgun firing a hundred swords, leaving the enemy's body riddled with holes.

"Ah!"

Chris let out a cry; at this moment, his body was full of blood holes, even the heart area had a thumb-sized hole blown open, revealing the heart inside that was still pounding.

Unlike a normal person, Chris's heart was large and strong, each beat like a drum, pumping energy-filled blood to every corner of the body.

Even pierced by Ye Qingzhou's sword qi, it still did not stop working; instead, it became even stronger as it beat.

Ye Qingzhou frowned: "No wonder I only felt corpse qi from your body, no breath of a living person. Turns out you have long been dead."

Beneath the celestial eye, no secret could hide.

On the top of Chris's heart was embedded a seed, with vine-like roots extending out, covering various parts of him, even wrapping around his brain.

In Ye Qingzhou's eyes, Chris was like a mantis parasitized by a hairworm, a living body, but just a walking dead.

"I want you dead!"

Having his greatest secret exposed, Chris was furious and ashamed, no longer able to maintain his previous gentlemanly demeanor.

Vein-like tree roots bulged around his eyes, absorbing the sword qi within Chris's body. The seed bestowed life energy that not only healed his injuries but granted him even greater power.

"Able to absorb and convert my sword qi?"

Ye Qingzhou felt somewhat troubled, for an opponent with such characteristics was often extremely difficult to kill.

As Ye Qingzhou pondered whether to fully unleash his strength and reveal his trump card to destroy the powerful foe before him, a clear cry of a sparrow sounded across the sky, coming from afar.

Then came an intense red light, over ten kilometers long, sweeping over and filling the earth and sky.

The scorching divine fire transformed into sword light across the sky and earth, falling straight onto Chris, directly vaporizing his titanium-hard pitch-black flesh.

Chris couldn't even let out a scream or wail before turning into ashes scattered by the wind.

The only trace left was a scorched sword mark several kilometers long on the ground.

"It's the Celestial Fire Divine Sword of the Vermilion Bird Divine General!"

Xu Yunxi's face was full of surprise; she was a fan of the Vermilion Bird Divine General, and now, having the chance to witness her idol in action, her spirits were naturally soaring.

Ye Qingzhou was full of admiration for the power of the Celestial Fire Divine Sword: "To simulate the Scorching Sun Celestial Fire with power of thought ability, and reach such might, truly the potential of the Elemental Spirit Armor is amazing."

Previously, Ye Qingzhou always wanted to create his own Elemental Spirit Armor, but his strength improved too quickly, and he hadn't crafted one comparable to a grandmaster's power before he himself became a Martial Arts Grandmaster.

So he had to abandon his original plan; he couldn't pour vast resources into making a big toy, could he?

And a Martial Saint Level Elemental Spirit Armor, such bottom-box technology, the official side would certainly not trade it, leaving Ye Qingzhou to explore by himself.

Moments later, a crimson figure descended from the sky, metallic wings slicing through the air, landing before the dead.

"Are you alright?"

The voice of the Vermilion Bird Divine General was ethereal and beautiful, like heavenly music, intoxicating those who heard it.

As the only female among the Four Great Divine Generals, the Vermilion Bird Divine General had numerous fans across Blue Star, with Xu Yunxi being one of them.

"Thank you very much for your help, Vermilion Bird Divine General."

"Hmm."

The Vermilion Bird Divine General nodded to Xu Yunxi first, then turned her gaze towards Ye Qingzhou: "I just received a message from Dr. Gu, so I came looking for you, and happened to encounter this incident."

"The person was sent by Kabbalah; they are likely the hidden hand behind the prophecy."

Ye Qingzhou discreetly reminded the Vermilion Bird: "I originally planned to capture him to interrogate for information."

Upon hearing this, the Vermilion Bird shook her head: "It's useless, his body is parasitized by the tree seed, and his mind and will have been twisted by the Divine Tree. You won't get anything out of him, but instead, you'll be located by the Divine Tree through him as a medium."

"Kabbalah, the legendary Life Divine Tree? Does this thing really exist?"

Ye Qingzhou was very curious, for in mythology, this mysterious and powerful tree was said to be the origin of all life, and also the only step to the Supreme Divine Kingdom.

"It indeed exists."

The Vermilion Bird nodded: "According to the information we have gathered, the Life Divine Tree Kabbalah is the life-bound divine artifact of the Plague Knight. It holds the important authority to manipulate 'Life Evolution.' In some sense, it can indeed allow mortals to become Martial Gods through genetic evolution!"

"You mean to say that it can create gods through genetic modification and grant ordinary people the power of a Martial God? Such a thing is actually possible!?"

Ye Qingzhou was truly shocked this time.

How arduous is the path of cultivation for a Martial Artist!

From Martial Arts Apprentice to Professional Martial Artist, then to Martial Arts Master and Martial Arts Grandmaster, if any of the elements—effort, talent, understanding, and opportunity—is missing, one cannot succeed. Even then, only a handful have achieved Ascension and Godhood over thousands of years.

And Kabbalah's Divine Tree can actually forcefully create gods through genetic modification method?

"It's not as simple as you think. The key to becoming a Martial God is not just about evolution through genes. The Plague Knight has made some progress after acquiring large amounts of Winged Dragon's flesh and deciphering some of the genetic martial dao of the Fish-into-Dragon Transformation."

"The Dragon Blood Potion?"

Ye Qingzhou felt the power long ago: "Although it's not very stable, such a thing can indeed elevate an ordinary person to great heights in one step."