The Golden Divine Halberd

The golden halberd shaft was wreathed in divine light, emanating a mountain-like oppressive pressure while bearing the weathered marks of endless ages. It gave a sense of invincible heaviness and infinite antiquity, and its massive, razor-sharp blade gleamed with a cold light like a sheet of ice.

This was undoubtedly a divine weapon—an ancient sacred artifact that could hardly be sealed! Even the power of the Dragon Island seal could not fully suppress its divine force, enough to prove its extraordinary, transcendent nature.

Xiao Chen suddenly recalled that when the Dead City had appeared in the Bone Sea, ancient sacred artifacts such as the Buddha Dharma Wheel, the Ancestral Dragon Horn, the Dark-Iron Seal, and the Bronze Eight Trigrams had all attacked the Divine Stele—and among them was this Golden Divine Halberd! It was an ancient sacred artifact on par with the Buddha Dharma Wheel and the Ancestral Dragon Horn, daring to strike the Stele that sealed Dragon Island.

What a coincidence to discover this Golden Divine Halberd. Xiao Chen’s heart surged with excitement—if he could control this halberd, he might be able to use it to completely suppress the Demon. But in just a moment, his excitement subsided. Several older experts had lost their lives here, unable to claim the divine weapon. Could he, a young expert, possibly succeed?

"I'll advise you one last time: stay far away from here," the Demon's voice came from not far away. "Don't get any ideas about it. In the past, it was buried deep beneath the shattered mountains. If someone carelessly triggered its killing intent, it would bring disaster. Now that it has reappeared after the Dead City ordeal, if you come within ten steps, you will not survive. The corpses you saw earlier are the proof. The golden killing aura will follow you until it annihilates you."

Xiao Chen felt wary; he did not doubt the Demon's words. If the sacred artifact could be obtained so easily, the Demon would have taken it himself. Just as he was about to call Keke to retreat, the little creature had already fallen into a trance. Staring at the brilliant golden halberd, its eyes sparkled, and it was dancing with joy.

Unbelievable! This little one actually liked such a massive killing weapon.

"Keke, come back!" Xiao Chen's call was too late. Keke had already acted, turning into a streak of white light and charging forward—it wanted to take the divine halberd.

In an instant, the Demon surged with a cloud of dark mist and vanished, knowing what would happen next. Xiao Chen and the three skeletons were frantic but helpless.

Dazzling golden light shot into the sky, then swept toward Keke and Xiao Chen. The fierce murderous aura made their souls tremble.

The little snow-white beast seemed to realize at that moment that it had caused great trouble. It unleashed its strongest Binding Art, darting back like lightning, and a light screen enveloped Xiao Chen and the three skeletons.

At the same time, a sharp, peerless golden blade of light tore down like a colossal lightning bolt connecting heaven and earth. Xiao Chen was utterly terrified. Keke seemed to know it had brought deadly calamity and let out a few frustrated low cries. It strained with all its might, pushing its Binding Art to the strongest level it could muster.

The Golden Divine Halberd was an ancient sacred artifact, on par with the Buddha Dharma Wheel, so one could imagine the unmatched sharpness of its power. Although the snow-white beast commanded a great dragon divine art of unfathomable mystery, it was still a cub and could not withstand it.

The blinding golden light instantly tore through the light screen and slashed toward the little beast and Xiao Chen. In that final moment, the little beast blinked its big eyes innocently, looking at Xiao Chen with some dejection, as if saying it really wasn't its fault.

Xiao Chen was speechless. He had never imagined such an outcome.

At the most critical moment, the fierce golden light blades did not strike them. The little beast's Treasure Tree hat burst forth with seven-colored light, and all the golden light blades dissolved into rippling energy streams, converging toward the Little Sacred Tree like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea.

"Ya-ya!" The snow-white beast instantly shed its dejection and grabbed the Treasure Tree, hopping and dancing with excitement, like a mischievous child.

Xiao Chen and the three skeletons had been needlessly alarmed.

On a distant peak, the Demon stood with his mouth agape, staring in shock and disbelief at this direction.

"Keke, what are you doing? Stop!" Xiao Chen, who had just calmed down, was tense again. The snow-white beast was too troublesome. After putting the Treasure Tree hat back on, it approached the Golden Divine Halberd once more. Even the usually silent three skeletons jumped up, as if eager to fight the little beast.

"Ya-ya ya-ya..." The little beast mumbled nonchalantly and waddled forward.

Xiao Chen's heart was in his throat. Could the Sacred Tree withstand the Golden Divine Halberd's attack this time? After all, the distance was much closer than before.

Yet, things went unexpectedly smoothly. The ancient sacred artifact, the Golden Divine Halberd, emanated a soft divine light without any murderous aura, allowing the little beast to approach slowly.

Keke turned back happily and waved its little paws at Xiao Chen, leaving him and the three skeletons speechless.

Near the Golden Divine Halberd, the golden light waves were as viscous as liquid. The little beast seemed to sink into a quagmire as it walked, struggling to move forward.

Seven steps, six steps, five steps… until the final step, the snow-white beast finally reached the front. Happily, it reached for the Golden Divine Halberd. It was truly baffling why such a tiny creature liked this massive killing weapon.

When Keke embraced the halberd, which was much taller than itself, a violent tremor exploded. The entire shattered mountain range shook violently, as if a great earthquake had struck.

At this point, Xiao Chen threw caution to the wind. He charged forward with the three skeletons, reasoning that escape was impossible, so they might as well take a risk. They quickly joined Keke. Amid the blinding light, the rocky mountain range shook heaven and earth. Blazing light shot into the heavens, and countless boulders were sent flying into the sky.

Even cultivators far away noticed this strange phenomenon, seeing golden light piercing the sky. In the distance, the Demon sighed and murmured, "May the Sacred Tree be unharmed…"

"Keke, look at the disaster you've caused! We might really be finished this time." Seeing Keke's innocent expression, Xiao Chen felt utterly helpless.

Amid the sounds of shattering, they felt as if they were riding clouds and mist, seeming to be flung into the air. But Keke's Binding Art was still effective, enveloping them within. Meanwhile, the Sacred Tree on Keke's head blazed with seven-colored light, seemingly devouring the violent energy flow.

"Ya-ya ya-ya..." Keke looked at Xiao Chen innocently, as if saying we were safe. The Golden Divine Halberd was now in its embrace, and the excited little beast gave a wild wave. Blazing divine light swept across the entire rocky mountain, and the sound of the earth splitting continued. Xiao Chen seized the opportunity to give the little beast a firm knock, making it behave.

Finally, with a deafening explosion, the light screen enveloping Xiao Chen and the others was blasted sideways, flying far from that region. Keke clutched the Golden Divine Halberd tightly, refusing to let go.

With a crash, they landed among the rocks hundreds of meters away. Protected by the light screen, Xiao Chen and the others were unharmed. But Keke cried out in alarm, because the Golden Divine Halberd in its arms was slowly fading and then vanished into thin air.

On a distant peak, the Demon's mouth dropped open in shock. He could hardly believe his eyes—those reckless fellows had actually survived unscathed and not died.

When the blazing golden divine light in that area fully dissipated, the Demon rushed over like the wind. He stared speechlessly at Xiao Chen and the others. It was too shocking—they had all survived. Xiao Chen and the three skeletons had calmed down, but only Keke cried out anxiously, utterly dejected that the Golden Divine Halberd had disappeared.

The Demon was silent for a long time. Finally, he said in disbelief, "You… actually pulled out that ancient sacred artifact…"

Keke prowled around the Demon with a fierce look, suspecting that the Demon had stolen the divine halberd.

"Where is the Golden Divine Halberd? Why can't I sense its presence?" the Demon asked in shock. Xiao Chen also could not feel the halberd's presence at all—it seemed to have vanished into thin air.

"How is this possible? It seems to have completely disappeared from Dragon Island." The Demon was nearly frantic. What had these people done to lose a legendary ancient sacred artifact? Even with his unfathomable cultivation, he could no longer sense the Golden Divine Halberd's whereabouts, proving that the holy object was truly gone.

In the end, Keke nearly threw a tantrum, pointing fiercely at the Demon and demanding he return the divine halberd. The Demon was completely speechless and finally vanished silently into the distance.

After searching for most of the day among the rocks, the snow-white beast left with Xiao Chen in frustration. However, Xiao Chen felt that the Golden Halberd had not truly disappeared. He seemed to faintly sense its presence, but could not pinpoint exactly where it was.

Even after they were over a dozen li away, Xiao Chen still had that feeling—it seemed the divine halberd was with them! When he told this to the little beast to comfort it, Keke's big eyes immediately lit up. It searched all around, up and down, but found nothing.

In the end, the matter was left unresolved.

Only one day remained of the seven-day agreement. And on this day, Xiao Chen learned that the Winged Dragon King had been tamed. That meant, if they could contact the older generation, they had gathered the nine Dragon Kings.

For Xiao Chen, this was undoubtedly shocking news. Although most people did not yet know that nine Dragon Kings had been tamed, it would not remain a secret for long.

Xiao Chen had to start considering… perhaps he would have no choice but to lend the Sacred Tree to the Demon. Otherwise, he would have to watch others leave while he grew old alone on Dragon Island.

When he met Liu Mu and the monk Yizhen again, Xiao Chen talked with them for a long time, for he would soon go to make a deal with the Demon.

"How was the Winged Dragon King tamed?"

"You might not believe it," Liu Mu said, handing him a piece of roasted venison. "A huge Light Sacred Dragon gave the little Dragon King to a cultivator named Lan Yu."

"What? The Light Sacred Dragon gave its child to Lan Yu?!" Xiao Chen had considered many possibilities, but he never expected this. It seemed the Winged Dragon that had fallen on Dragon Island retained a trace of divinity and was not completely sealed by Dragon Island's power. It was making plans for its child, knowing that human intelligence should not be underestimated. In the end, it must have valued Lan Yu's capabilities.

Actually, Xiao Chen had a fairly deep impression of that female cultivator, Lan Yu. She had once tried to recruit him into the Blue Rain Alliance. Her gentle, water-like temperament had left a very good impression on him.

In fact, Lan Yu was a true expert.

According to the monk Yizhen, many cultivators on Dragon Island who opposed Dugu Jianmo had been killed by him. Especially after the Dead City ordeal, several cultivators who could match him had perished there. Among the younger generation on Dragon Island, few could still contend with Dugu Jianmo. The founders of the Light Alliance, Shilode, and the Blue Rain Alliance, Lan Yu, were among the few who could block his nine consecutive sword strikes. Of course, Yizhen, Xiao Chen, and others were also capable.

However, blocking nine swords was entirely different from defeating him. According to Yizhen's estimation, Dugu Jianmo had at least reached the Eighth Heaven realm. Aside from that woman who controlled Time Divine Principles, no one was truly a match for him.

Xiao Chen said, "The nine dragons have already been gathered. We should contact the older generation soon. Perhaps the people from Little Fatty Niu Ren's village have already made contact. It's time to leave this primeval island."

"But you…"

"I will settle things with the Demon once and for all."