Chapter 1 【Congenital Thunder Spirit·The Grand Tutor's Evil Soul】

【Formed by absorbing the essence of the Banyan Undying Tree with secret rites, the greater part of which has already transformed into a Celestial Spirit】

【A non-human soul entangled with countless curses and karma】

【Direct consumption will greatly increase spiritual sensitivity, greatly increase spiritual affinity, and greatly increase soul strength】

【Spiritual tempering, transformed into the spirit attachment of the 'Heavenly Thunder Kirin', attached to all equipment and props】

【Forged using special techniques, it can be cast into a 'Heavenly Sword·Soulslay Lightning Control' Soul Weapon】

【Harmonized using special techniques, after consumption, one can obtain the inheritance of the 'Supreme Five Extremes Divine Lightning True Method'】

【Ten years, thirty years, fifty years, seventy years, ninety years, one hundred and ten years. A youth with the bearing of an immortal grows old, but never awaits the arrival of spiritual energy revival】

【Since heaven and earth will not grant it, I will seize it from heaven and earth. Life is inherently a cycle of seizing and being seized】

【Two hundred years of time have washed away the initial pity and unwillingness that led him onto the path, for one who seized the future of millions】

The Grand Tutor's soul was aquamarine, like the aurora borealis, or like the color of thunder.

At the edges of the soul, pure black demonic energy flickered, almost tangible—the curses, resentments, and karma of countless direct and indirect deaths at his hands.

Su Zhou had never seen such an evil soul as the Grand Tutor's. The various evil souls he had obtained in the past were nothing more than demonspawn and demon general souls, good enough for enhancing physical qualities and enchanting. None could be used to make soul weapons, let alone provide inheritances and skills—but the Grand Tutor's evil soul was different. Even if directly consumed, the attributes gained would be in 'extremely large' amounts.

"More than ten million people died because of him. Even if a Demon Emperor, a Demon Dynasty, or the entire Demon Army were to share the burden, such immense evil is unprecedented, surpassing even the instigators of world wars in my home world."

Su Zhou, whose entire body resembled a dried corpse, barely able to move thanks to cellular autophagy, held the Grand Tutor's evil soul in his hand.

Even as he sat above the lava pool, in a moment of extreme crisis, he was amazed by the power contained within this evil soul: "If we say that an ordinary person's spiritual affinity is '1-10', a normal cultivator is '20-30', and a genius is around '100', then I am '1000'."

"And the Grand Tutor's evil soul, without any processing, simply by using it, can add about 70, or even more, to spiritual affinity—enough to turn an ordinary person into a genius in an instant!"

For ordinary people, this kind of foundation-strengthening usage would be far more useful than spirit attachments and soul weapons, and inheritances would not necessarily be better, because inheritances themselves require one's own foundation to be effective, something to consider only in the later stages.

But with Su Zhou's talent, even a 'great increase' would be just icing on the cake, so this usage was the first to be eliminated.

As for spirit attachments, they were indeed useful. Although the spirit iron great cross spear hadn't been of much use in the fight against the Grand Tutor, it had at least forced the Grand Tutor to maintain a magnetic field defense to ensure his safety. One spear in exchange for one skill wasn't useless.

However, according to Su Zhou's Evil Fiend Devouring Demon Lord Divine Power analysis, the Heavenly Thunder Kirin spirit attachment was just a small lightning generator—after all, the Grand Tutor, despite having the bearing of an immortal, was limited by the lack of spiritual energy revival and hadn't even reached the Congenital Realm. His energy level was simply not high, and its lethality might not even be better than the Scarlet Earth Demonic Poison.

As for defense, it seemed to be a bane of metal weapons, but that was all. Not special or cool enough.

"Soul Weapon, Heavenly Sword·Soulslay Lightning Control... Hmm, the so-called Soul Weapon is a spiritual weapon condensed from spiritual power. Compared to material destructive power, it is more outstanding in its destruction of spiritual existences and its inherent transcendent power. And this spiritual weapon can easily kill soul bodies. In suitable weather conditions, it can summon heavenly lightning. I don't need to know how myself; I only need to input spiritual power to use it."

To be honest, Su Zhou was indeed tempted. The great cross spear was certainly useful, but if he charged too far into the enemy ranks, he would still need to fight with his bare hands after the enemies closed in. Having a soul weapon that could be used for close combat, light and nimble, would indeed be convenient. What's more, it came with lightning attributes that could paralyze enemies, and in key weather, it could even summon heavenly lightning strikes, truly a wealth of effects.

But of course, none of this was as eye-catching as the final 'inheritance'.

"As expected of an 'inheritance' that can only be condensed by extremely evil people, villains who can influence the world!"

【Supreme Five Extremes Divine Lightning True Method】

According to the description of the evil soul, and a few hints implied by Grandmaster Han, the Grand Tutor should have been the former head of the 'Heavenly Extremes Four Symbols Sect', a major Daoist sect in this Divine Wood World. He betrayed the sect with the sect's spiritual weapon to assist the Demon Emperor... and what he cultivated was naturally the 'Heavenly Thunder Kirin Method' exclusive to the sect master lineage, as could be seen from the name of the spirit attachment, 'Heavenly Thunder Kirin'.

In addition to being proficient in thunder techniques, the Grand Tutor was also proficient in compound Daoist arts. The 'Profound Tortoise Water Control Method' mixed with 'Thunder Method' created the Mistwater Thunder Dragon, forcing Su Zhou to flee for a time. The Grand Tutor's cultivation over two hundred years could not have been limited to just one technique, and with his talent and the resources of the entire Demon Dynasty, his cultivation would certainly not be limited to the 'Heavenly Thunder Kirin Method'.

The essence of his life's achievements, even the secret method of absorbing the innate Qi of the divine tree to transform himself into a 'Congenital Thunder Spirit', was probably all in this 'Supreme Five Extremes Divine Lightning True Method'.

And the so-called special harmonization method was actually very simple.

According to Yala's lazy explanation, it was just a matter of ensuring that one's mind was clear and not affected by the sudden fusion of the evil soul's inheritance. One could choose to meditate, drink a bottle of mind-calming potion, or purify the resentment on the evil soul... There were various methods, but the result was the same. The most important thing was to ensure that one's own soul remained dominant.

This was not a problem for Su Zhou.

Of course, now was not the time to eat the evil soul.

Su Zhou stored the Grand Tutor's evil soul in his soul space. Finally, with his spine fully healed, he slowly got up and climbed towards the top of the volcano wall.

The Divine Weapon Forge was a mess. Su Zhou and the Grand Tutor's brawl had torn and splashed a large amount of flesh and blood tissue onto each other, which had been dried by the high temperature and turned into brownish-black bloodstains stuck to the ground. The artisans who had been in it had long gone to the front line to support, and the Grand Artisan, as the last line of defense, had blocked the Grand Tutor for quite a while, holding out until Su Zhou arrived.

The Blade of Annihilation itself had no problems. As a transcendent-level extraordinary weapon, it was probably difficult for even a Grandmaster to get close to it. Even the Grand Tutor, after being severely injured, only wanted to indirectly affect it by detonating the Qi furnace, without the ability to directly affect it.

After taking a look at the divine weapon, Su Zhou had no spirit to sigh now. He staggered to the entrance of the forging camp and saw the Grand Artisan, charred and dying.

The Grand Artisan was still somewhat conscious, forcibly holding on to his last breath. After seeing Su Zhou, he seemed to know who had won and showed a smile, as if he was about to pass away peacefully.

"Damn it, what peaceful my ass! You stupid idiot, I fought that Grand Tutor so miserably, and you guys are still dying. Wouldn't the victory of this battle be utterly devoid of interest!"

Su Zhou was shocked to see this. In game terms, the weapon craftsman whose reputation he had painstakingly raised to 'Friendly' was about to be killed off by the plot—how could this be allowed?! The Grand Artisan had taken quite good care of him and was a good person. He was planning to ask the other party to forge him a convenient set of armor after the divine weapon was completed.

When a person dies, everything is empty, so one can't just die randomly!

So he quickly carried the Grand Artisan on his back and ran to the vicinity of his tent, urgently using the remaining holy water mixed with some wood spirit liquid extracted from demon general beasts to stabilize the Grand Artisan's injuries. Su Zhou then drank five liters of water in his tent and ate a lot of the dried rations, chocolate, and military dried meat provisions he had brought with him. His originally thin body gradually swelled up like a balloon and regained a bit of a human appearance.

Afterwards, feeling a bit of strength, Su Zhou had no time to care about anything else. He gritted his teeth, picked up the great spear again, and with the remaining half bottle of holy water and his spirit iron spear, he sprinted towards the city wall.

At this time, at the city wall.

The Divine Wood Guards and the city-defending warriors had reached a stalemate, and it could be said that both sides were suffering heavy losses. After fighting in a low-temperature environment for a long time, even the Divine Wood Kin couldn't hold on. At this time, most of the heavily injured and stiff Divine Wood Guards were dragged to the rear by their relatively intact companions. Only less than twenty were truly able to fight—with so few people, it was difficult to climb the city wall.

The warrior side was also close to the same. After all, there were only two Grandmasters who were immune to cold and heat, one of whom was an old man, and the other had injured arms, and neither was the type who could expand the results of the battle... Both sides were now shooting arrows at each other from a distance, and the battle was no longer as intense as before.

Or rather, both sides, knowing that their decisive fighting force had gone to fight at the decisive location, no longer had the heart to fight desperately—if the Grand Tutor won, the city-defending warriors would be better off committing suicide for a quick death. If Su Zhou won, the Divine Wood Guards should now escape and go their separate ways.

Then, the Divine Wood Guards, whose minds were already fluctuating, suddenly discovered that the city-defending warriors on the city wall, who had been remotely firing arrows and occasionally shooting one or two ballista bolts, suddenly stopped attacking and fell into immense silence.

"What, could it be that they all froze to death?"

This sudden anomaly made the captain of the remaining Divine Wood Guards feel a sense of dread. He didn't know whether he should take advantage of the situation to lead his team to charge or temporarily rest for a while—but in an instant, his heart sank like a stone in water.

Because what followed was the enemy's tired but absolutely sincere cheers!

Why would a fighting side cheer? Of course, because they believed that the situation had reversed and victory was coming... What kind of news would make them so excited and joyful?

The captain of the Divine Wood Guards had already guessed what it was, but he didn't dare to think about it carefully. He just slowly retreated, and around him, other Divine Wood Guards were also slowly retreating.

And amidst everyone's cheers, a figure slowly walked to the very front of the city wall—he was carrying a great cross spear and holding a magic sword in his hand. The figure waved the magic sword, and lightning flashed on it. Everyone present could see clearly that it was the Grand Tutor's personal sword.

Then.

He inserted the magic sword directly into the crenellation of the city wall and then mustered his spiritual power to announce to the entire battlefield.

"—Su has slain the Demon Dynasty Grand Tutor at Mount Taibai!"

—New Era Year 1, Taibai Mountain, Winter, First Month, Kunlun Outsider Su Zhou and Riding Wind Sect Master Li Daoran, Vice-Marshal, fiercely fought the Demon Army at the mountain pass and decisively defeated it.

Of the enemy's numerous troops, over a hundred, none returned. The Demon Dynasty Grand Tutor was beheaded in the volcanic fire lake, leaving no remains.

Thus, the northern border was pacified, and divine weapons were forged.