93: Chapter 93 Old buddy, you've worked hard!

"Static…" The moment they stepped out of the teleportation vortex, a piercing interference sound came through the headset.

What met their eyes was a landscape of despairing desolation.

The dark red rocks beneath their feet were as hard as iron, covered in a thick layer of frost.

The two massive purple moons overhead dyed the entire world in an eerie, sickly hue.

"Alert!!"

Before Ancient Sword Soul and the others could recover from the dizziness of crossing the starry sky, crisis had already descended.

Hummm—!

The void trembled. In the pile of rubble ahead of the team, the space that had been empty suddenly rippled like water.

Following that, over a dozen translucent gray shadows emerged from thin air like ghosts!

They had massive bodies like mantises, over five meters in length, their entire bodies covered in a grayish-black carapace that seemed to absorb light.

Their forelimbs were two-meter-long serrated scythes, shimmering with heart-stopping spatial fluctuations.

【Starry Sky Beast: Void Mantis (Adult)】

【Realm: Fourth Grade Peak (Possesses Spatial Stealth Talent)】

【Danger Level: High!】

This was a terrifying creature never seen on Earth; they were assassins of the starry sky, specializing in killing trial-takers who had just entered the Starry Sky Ancient Road.

"Hiss!!!"

The mantis leader, which was exceptionally large, let out a hiss.

Swish!

A dozen gray shadows vanished instantly, and when they reappeared, they were already above everyone's heads!

"Watch out!!"

Dragon Battle roared, just about to raise his shield to block, but someone was faster than him.

"Get lost!!"

A black afterimage, like black lightning, instantly tore through the constraints of the low gravity.

Lin Yuan took the lead, the black moon battle blade in his hand already unsheathed.

【Blade Draw · Thunder Cut!】

Without any frills, the blade was unbelievably fast. The blade edge, wrapped in terrifying thunder true qi, collided fiercely with the Void Mantis that was ambushing Ancient Sword Soul.

Clang————!!!

A loud metallic clash resounded, shaking the surrounding rocks until they cracked and shattered.

That Fourth Grade Peak Void Mantis was sent flying backward by Lin Yuan's strike, crashing into a small hill, its fate unknown.

"What a hard shell!"

Lin Yuan landed, his brows slightly furrowed.

His strike just now, although not using his full strength, was enough to cleave through heavy tanks on Earth, yet this mantis's carapace had only cracked slightly?

And…

Lin Yuan looked down at the battle blade in his hand. On the originally peerlessly sharp blade, a grain-sized chip had actually broken off.

Lin Yuan's heart sank.

Facing this kind of beast that consumed starry sky metals year-round, with a carapace as hard as diamond, combined with Lin Yuan's current terrifying monster-like strength that had surged to 100 tons…

It was about to reach its limit…

"Hiss, hiss, hiss!!!"

Seeing their companion injured, the remaining Void Mantises were thoroughly enraged.

Especially the mantis leader (quasi-Fifth Grade); red light flashed in its compound eyes. With a flicker, it actually used its spatial talent to vanish again.

The next second.

Hum!

A lethal sense of crisis struck from behind Lin Yuan!

The mantis leader's spatial scythe, shimmering with a ghostly light, sliced silently toward the back of Lin Yuan's neck.

If this strike landed, even Lin Yuan's "Diamond Drill Bones" would break!

"Lin Yuan! Behind you!!" Ji Hongyi screamed a warning.

"I know."

Lin Yuan turned abruptly, gripping the hilt with both hands, pouring the violent true dragon blood qi within his body into the black moon battle blade without reservation!

【God-Demon Body Forging · Full Power!】

【Cut!!!】

Lin Yuan was going to meet force with force!

However, the moment he exerted his strength.

Crack, crack, crack…

The black moon battle blade in his hand let out a mournful cry, and then fine cracks instantly covered the entire blade.

It could not withstand Lin Yuan's vast, ocean-like true qi, nor could it withstand the terrifying torque brought by his 100-ton monster strength.

It was weeping, trembling, hovering on the edge of disintegration.

Time seemed to slow down at this moment.

Lin Yuan looked at this old friend.

A flash of reluctance crossed his eyes, but more so, a sense of resolution.

"Old friend!"

Lin Yuan murmured softly, his voice passing through his Spiritual Telekinesis, seemingly comforting this weapon that was about to pass away:

"I'm sorry."

"Let me… let you bloom one last time!"

"Break for me!!!"

Boom————!!!

Lin Yuan no longer suppressed the cracks in the blade; instead, he actively detonated the thunder true qi poured into it!

The moment the blade edge collided with the mantis leader's scythe.

The black moon battle blade shattered completely!

【Spiritual Telekinesis · Object Manipulation · Ten Thousand Blade Storm!】

Lin Yuan's vast Spiritual Telekinesis instantly took over the battlefield. The alloy fragments, shattered into hundreds of pieces, were forcefully swept up by his Spiritual Telekinesis, turning into a close-range metal storm!

Every fragment carried Lin Yuan's true dragon monster strength and thunder true qi.

The mantis leader, at such close range, had no time to dodge.

Its proud spatial scythe was snapped by the fragments, and its hard carapace was riddled with holes by the shards!

In an instant!

This quasi-Fifth Grade Starry Sky Beast didn't even have time to let out a scream before it was minced into a pile of flesh by this metal storm!

The battle ended.

With the death of their leader, the remaining few Void Mantises fled in terror, disappearing into the rubble in the blink of an eye.

Ancient Sword Soul, Dragon Battle, and the others gathered around, panting. Looking at the pile of flesh on the ground, their eyes were filled with the relief of having survived a disaster.

"That was close… these things are too underhanded." Dragon Battle wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

But Lin Yuan didn't speak. He stood in place, his hand still maintaining the posture of swinging the blade.

But in his hand, only the bare hilt remained.

The blade was completely gone, having turned into the fragments on the ground, mixed with the enemy's flesh and blood.

"Lin Yuan, your blade…"

Ancient Sword Soul walked up, looking at the broken hilt, wanting to say something but stopping.

For a martial artist, a weapon is their second life.

"It's fine."

Lin Yuan was silent for a long time before slowly loosening his grip.

Clang. The half-hilt fell onto the rock, sounding lonely.

"It was too tired."

Lin Yuan looked at the fragments on the ground and said softly:

"It was a good blade, but after all, it was just ordinary iron, belonging to Earth."

"And my path…" Lin Yuan looked up, gazing at the deep, boundless starry sky overhead, "is still ahead."

"It couldn't keep up with me anymore."

As Lin Yuan fused with the true dragon marrow, his physical strength surged to a superhuman level. B-grade or even A-grade alloy weapons from Earth had become fragile items to him.

Right now, he was like a giant fighting with a wooden stick.

Without a handy weapon, his combat power would be reduced by at least thirty percent!

"This is troublesome now."

Ji Hongyi frowned and said, "Without a weapon, you're at too much of a disadvantage in this Starry Sky Ancient Road. How about using my spare short sword for now?"

"No need." Lin Yuan shook his head, "Too light, it doesn't feel right."

Just when everyone was at a loss, suddenly.

Hum—!

The system within Lin Yuan vibrated again without warning, and this time, the vibration was even more intense than when he encountered the bronze door.

And it wasn't just the system.

Even the god-demon furnace within Lin Yuan, which had always been in a state of hunger, suddenly transmitted an extremely strong, almost greedy emotion to him.

That feeling was just like a beggar who had been hungry for three days smelling braised pork!

【System Prompt: High-energy metal reaction detected!】

【Direction: Southeast, 30 kilometers away!】

【Target: Ancient Battlefield Ruins · Ten Thousand Weapon Tomb!】

【Evaluation: Countless weapon souls of starry sky powerhouses are buried there… Go there! Your new partner is there!】

"Ten Thousand Weapon Tomb?"

Lin Yuan's eyes lit up suddenly. He looked up toward the area in the southeast shrouded in purple mist.

Although he couldn't see what was there, he could clearly feel that something seemed to be calling to him.

It was the ringing of weapons.

It was the loneliness and battle intent that had waited for ten thousand years.

"Interesting."

The somewhat low mood from before was swept away in an instant.

"I have a premonition."

"Something… is waiting for me there."

"A true weapon of a god-slayer!"