8: The Demonic Spear and the Eve of the Storm
Time flowed quietly in the Borderland, and Liu Qingtian was completely immersed in his Cultivation.
The energy of the two realms was continuously converted into resources for his own growth through the "Spiritual Ripple" vortex; his main body was becoming thicker and tougher with every passing moment, and the Dao rhyme of Wither and Flourish circulating between his willow branches was becoming increasingly profound and mysterious.
That purple-black great halberd still stood quietly to the side like the most loyal guard, yet it exuded a terrifying Evil Qi that kept others at a distance.
Liu Qingtian had long since grown accustomed to its presence, viewing it as a natural barrier that saved him a lot of trouble.
Occasionally, he would split off a sliver of consciousness to investigate out of curiosity, but each time it was ruthlessly repelled by that arrogant and cold artifact spirit's thought and the deeply hidden brand of a powerful expert. Over time, he stopped asking for trouble and just treated this fierce halberd as a bad-tempered neighbor with an owner.
He was completely unaware that, in this day-to-day "living as neighbors," certain subtle changes were quietly taking place inside the fierce halberd.
The material of the great halberd itself was extraordinary; it was a Fierce Weapon that had slaughtered countless powerful beings, and its core had long since conceived a glimmer of a nascent, rudimentary sentience composed purely of the will of slaughter and destruction.
However, this sliver of sentience had always been suppressed and dominated by the incomparably powerful Soul brand of its Original Owner, like a machine with fixed programming, able only to act according to the commands of the brand, unable to truly give birth to an independent and complete artifact spirit.
However, Liu Qingtian's existence became an unexpected variable.
He took root here, and his body was constantly radiating two types of energy auras originating from the most primal sources of the Myriad Heavens and Myriad Realms—the intent of death and ending from the Bone Abyss and the rhyme of natural vitality from the Jade Dream Realm.
Under the harmonization of the "Spiritual Ripple," these two forces achieved a dynamic field of balance containing the supreme Law of life and death.
This Law field, where life and death intertwined, might be a fatal forbidden zone for ordinary living beings, but for this peerless Fierce Weapon that was already at a certain Bottleneck and whose sentience was in urgent need of transformation, it was like the best catalyst and breeding ground.
The Original Owner's brand remained powerful, dominating the core might of the great halberd and ensuring it would not lose control. However, in the subtle places where the brand could not fully cover, in the deepest part of that nascent sentience, the Dao rhyme of life and death radiated by Liu Qingtian was like the finest spring rain, silently permeating and nourishing it.
The aura of the death origin resonated faintly with the halberd's own intent of slaughter and destruction, making its fierce essence more condensed and settled; meanwhile, the vitality of the natural spirit essence strangely injected a trace of extremely weak, almost imperceptible "activity" into that purely destructive sentience—a possibility that transcended mere destruction and tended towards "existence" and "change."
Life and death, creation and destruction—these two opposing forces achieved balance beside Liu Qingtian, indirectly providing an extremely rare and precious environment of "Yin and Yang harmonization" for the transformation of that sliver of sentience within the great halberd.
Under these conditions, that sliver of nascent sentience, which had been suppressed for so long, began to absorb the Law rhymes dissipating in the outside world extremely slowly and silently, beginning to undergo a kind of essential sublimation.
It was no longer just that initial cold, command-executing slaughter intent, but gradually gained a hint of something extremely obscure... "Curiosity"? "Observation"? Or even a faint "cognition" of its own existence.
This process was so slow it was almost imperceptible, and even the great halberd's own powerful Original Owner's brand did not immediately become alert.
That newborn, true sentience, weak as a candle in the wind, was like a dormant seed hidden deep in the core of the fierce Evil Qi, greedily and cautiously absorbing the "nutrients" radiated by Liu Qingtian, quietly growing stronger.
On the purple-black halberd body, those profound patterns seemed to become more deep and restrained, and occasionally, when no one was paying attention, a glimmer finer than a hair, fusing darkness and emerald, would flow across it, flashing and disappearing in an instant.
The Vicious Beast carving coiled on the halberd shaft seemed to have gained a bit of indescribable liveliness in the depths of its scarlet eyes, no longer just a dead object.
Liu Qingtian was completely unaware of all this. He was just focused on Cultivating, becoming stronger, and at the same time remaining vigilant against potential dangers.
On this day, one of his roots that was exploring the earth veins transmitted some unusual vibrations from far away.
It was not the aura of a single expert, nor the running of beasts. It was... dense, noisy, and contained fluctuations of various chaotic emotions and energies! It seemed that a large number of living beings were moving from afar towards this direction!
Immediately after, another root also transmitted similar perceptions. It was not just one group! There were several different factions that seemed to be coming towards the Borderland, towards the area where he was located!
Among some of these fluctuations, he even faintly captured a familiar aura that made his tree soul tremble slightly—it was the fluctuation of a Demonic Path Cultivation Technique similar to that of the demonic Cultivator Jiumolu from before!
There was also the Evil Qi of that alien warrior from before! And even... some spiritual energy fluctuations that appeared pure but were actually hiding greed!
"Trouble is coming..." Liu Qingtian's tree soul shuddered, all Cultivation states stopped immediately, and his consciousness became highly focused.
It seemed that the previous phenomenon, as well as the disappearance of Jiumolu and those few Cultivators, had ultimately attracted the attention of the outside world. Moreover, those coming were no longer stragglers, but organized, large-scale investigation teams that might have come from different factions!
Perhaps they were here to search for strange treasures, perhaps to investigate the mystery of their disciples' disappearance, or perhaps both.
But regardless, the storm was coming.
Liu Qingtian took a deep breath, all his willow branches slightly retracted, and Wither and Flourish Finger Force was secretly contained. He knew that this time, there probably wouldn't be another flying halberd from the sky arriving just in time to solve all his troubles. He had to rely on himself.
His gaze swept across the purple-black great halberd that was still silent beside him.
"Old neighbor," he thought to himself, "this time, I wonder if you will act?"
The great halberd remained silent, with only that invisible field of Evil Qi still permeating the area.
Liu Qingtian stopped thinking too much, sank his consciousness into the ground, and used countless roots to perceive as far as possible, trying to figure out the number, strength, and movements of these uninvited guests.
On the distant horizon, a few Escape Lights could already be faintly seen flickering, speeding towards the direction of the barren mountain. Further away, dust and smoke rose slightly, and it seemed that ground teams were also advancing.
The tranquility that had lasted for a long time in the Borderland was finally completely broken.
The mountain rain is about to come, and the wind is already filling the pavilion.
And inside the fierce halberd stuck beside the willow tree, that sliver of newborn sentience seemed to have also sensed the oppressive feeling of the coming storm from the outside world, becoming slightly restless, just like an infant instinctively sensing a change in the environment.