BOOM!

Two powerful forces clashed in the sky. Divine music rumbled and runes exploded. Long Chen was unable to break Shen Bijun’s attack and was deadlocked with her, unable to reach her.

“Hmph, did you think that your fight with Zi Yan would make a good estimate for my power? What a huge joke. Zi Yan walks her hypocritical peaceful path, wanting to subdue people with kindness, to use music to educate people and bestow benevolence to the world. In truth, that’s a completely foolish and unrealistic way of thinking. In front of foolish people, slaughter is the most direct path. That’s why I cultivate the music killing path. Now, do you understand the difference between me and Zi Yan?” Shen Bijun smiled with profound ridicule.

Ripples were spreading from her zither, unleashing powerful waves that surged toward Long Chen.

Long Chen forcibly endured the Seven String Sea Suppressing Zither’s sound waves. He sneered, “Although Zi Yan is my enemy, there is an important place for her in my heart. There’s a huge difference between our understanding of the Heavenly Daos, but I should tell you that Zi Yan’s height isn’t something someone like you can reach. To be decisive with killing isn’t wrong in itself, but you don’t even have a bottom line as a person. The fact that you will use any despicable means only proves that your heart is shadowed, and that you hate this world. You cast that hate onto others. Someone like you is completely selfish and opinionated. You never use a mirror to look at yourself. You just feel like everyone else is wrong but you are always right. Or perhaps when you find your own mistake, you’ll comfort yourself by saying that it wasn’t you that was wrong, but this world. Do you think someone like you can be compared to Zi Yan? Don’t be so shameless.”

“Die!” Shen Bijun let out a sharp cry. Her face was twisted in fury, becoming incredibly sinister.

Each of Long Chen’s words had been like poison darts shooting into her heart. Zi Yan had become her heart-devil. People comparing her to Zi Yan had become her nightmare.

The divine runes of the Seven String Sea Suppressing Zither unleashed even greater brilliance. When Shen Bijun was enraged, her manifestation shook, and the sound of slaughter came out even louder from it. A ray of brilliant divine light shot at Long Chen.

“Evilmoon, stop acting dead. She’s been using her divine item’s power this entire time, and it’s getting tiring using only my power. Hurry up and help!” demanded Long Chen.

Long Chen had been relying on his own power to block her divine item, and he was only able to barely block it. However, now that Shen Bijun was using her full power, combining her power with the Seven String Sea Suppressing Zither, it was taxing for Long Chen to fight without Evilmoon’s help.

If the rest of the world learned that he was able to use his own power to resist a divine item, people’s jaws would definitely drop. That kind of power was something only Netherpassage experts could possess.

“About that, I’m in a crucial juncture right now. If I help now, I’ll lose half of the energy from the purgatory evil dragon I absorbed. That’s too much of a waste. Can you see if you can handle it yourself?” asked Evilmoon awkwardly.

The soul essence from the purgatory evil dragon was currently being absorbed by it. However, it couldn’t be refined in bits and pieces, but only as one full body. It was eighty percent through the refinement, and using its energy would cause the energy of the purgatory evil dragon to dissipate. Evilmoon was unwilling to do so.

However, Long Chen was only at the Soul Transformation realm. To have him fight against Shen Bijun and the Seven String Sea Suppressing Zither without a divine was too difficult.

“You really are a conner.”

Seeing that divine light coming toward him, Long Chen could only helplessly prepare to take out the Heaven Flipping Brick.

Suddenly, a golden furnace appeared in front of him, blocking the divine light. It was the Daynight Furnace. The Pill Fairy had blocked it for him.

The Daynight Furnace’s divine light blocked the light of the Seven String Sea Suppressing Zither. Shen Bijun’s body shook, and she looked at the Pill Fairy with shock. “The name of the Pill Fairy is not for naught. You are actually able to place your soul within your divine item and activate its power at will. Admirable.” Shen Bijun’s words were a compliment, but her gaze was icy cold.

“Long Chen, the Black Illusion Dragon Flame is about to break out of its seal. I tried to draw it into the Daynight Furnace several times, but it wouldn’t work. You think of something, and I’ll handle Shen Bijun,” messaged the Pill Fairy to Long Chen.

Long Chen nodded. This was good too. Since Evilmoon couldn’t bring out its power, and the Heaven Flipping Brick was a defensive weapon and a hidden trump card, it was too difficult for him to deal with Shen Bijun. He told the Pill Fairy to be careful as Shen Bijun schemed very deeply.

The Pill Fairy nodded. Seeing Long Chen go toward the black dragon, she indifferently said, “Why are you so fake? You and I are the same; thirty percent of our soul is resting within our divine items. We both have an initial level of control over them. If one of us should be admiring the other, it should be me admiring you. I started communicating with the Daynight Furnace from the age of ten, which is the only reason I have this level of control over it. According to what I know, the Seven String Sea Suppressing Zither was always held by Zi Yan, so if my guess isn’t wrong, you only came to possess the Seven String Sea Suppressing Zither after Zi Yan returned from the Grand Han. In other words, you managed to reach this level of control in just a short three months. To tell the truth, I really find it difficult to believe.”

She truly found it difficult to do so. The item-spirits of divine items felt a great aversion to being controlled by other people’s souls.

Most experts were only capable of using a portion of a divine item’s power because they were unable to gain the approval of the item-spirit. To obtain that approval required lowering the item-spirit’s wariness and dislike toward you. That took a very long time. Another requirement was that the item-spirit had to approve of your talent. Only when a divine item thought you could grow into a supreme expert would it accept you.

The majority of experts in control of divine items were unable to win that approval and were only able to order their divine items to attack based on the control of contractual divine runes. That would make the divine item even more irritated, and it would use the minimum energy possible when attacking.

However, when an expert was able to send thirty percent of their soul energy into a divine item to control it, it meant that the item-spirit had approved of that person.

It was just that for both Shen Bijun and the Pill Fairy, due to the limitations of their cultivation base, thirty percent was their limit. Any more and they wouldn’t have enough soul energy to control their own bodies. If they were sneak attacked while focusing all their soul energy on their divine item, they would lose the ability to protect themselves.

Adhering thirty percent of one’s soul to a divine item was equivalent to forming a mental connection with it. Not only could you control it, but the item-spirit would also work together with you to unleash the maximum possible amount of power.

“There’s no need for you to admire me. The reason I was able to gain the Seven String Sea Suppressing Zither’s approval is because most people don’t know that this core divine item of my Illusive Music Immortal Palace is actually an item for killing people. Both Zi Yan and my master are wrong. Only when the Seven String Sea Suppressing Zither is in my hands can it unleash the greatest power. Only I, Shen Bijun, am fit for the Seven String Sea Suppressing Zither. Pill Fairy, I don’t want to be enemies with you, but I must kill Long Chen. I hope you can move out of the way, or don’t blame me for being vicious,” said Shen Bijun icily.

BOOM!

As the Pill Fairy and Shen Bijun were talking, an explosive sound distracted them. Long Chen had slashed his saber at the Illusion Black Dragon Flame’s head.

However, he was startled to find its long tail had whipped toward him. He had barely noticed it in time to change his attack. He managed to cut off a portion of its tail.

“Impossible! How can an Earth Flame Spirit Beast possess such high intelligence?” Long Chen was startled. Earth Flame Spirit Beasts were mindless, berserk, and wild. They couldn’t possibly have such fast and skillful reactions. His attack had been so sudden, but it had blocked with the least amount of effort.

The black dragon roared, and its whole body shuddered. The majority of the chains binding it had broken now. It roared once more, and now the remaining chains exploded. At the same time, the divine runes on the walls rapidly faded. The formation began to disappear.

Having escaped its bindings, the black dragon roared and opened its mouth. A black sphere shot toward Long Chen.

At the same time, that spatial compression reappeared. However, now that Long Chen had the Five Star Battle Armor activated, this locking power was unable to fully bind him. With a single step, he escaped the domain.

The black sphere shot past him and struck the wall. This time, because the formation had vanished, the black sphere pierced the land. The entire palace crumbled.

Long Chen flew into the sky out of the ruins. He saw that everything in a thousand miles had collapsed, forming a giant hole.

There was also a huge line of palaces that had crumbled. That was the result of the black sphere shooting through them. The Black Illusion Dragon Flame’s power was truly terrifying.

The ruins exploded as the Pill Fairy and Shen Bijun appeared. The Daynight Furnace slowly revolved around the Pill Fairy, unleashing divine energy that protected her. She held a white flame sword in her hand as she attacked Shen Bijun.

Shen Bijun’s fingers danced across the Seven String Sea Suppressing Zither. Waves of divine music resounded throughout the air along with sharp blades that sliced toward the Pill Fairy.

BOOM!

The ground caved in as a furious roar shook the sky. The huge black dragon charged out of the ground and at Long Chen. Having escaped its seal, its aura was more terrifying than ever.