Boom!
A loud explosion erupted, and a terrifying shockwave burst forth. The figure of the Blue Corpse Puppet was sent flying backwards.
The phantom of the Martial Emperor, though not possessing the full strength of a true body, still wielded the power of a Martial Emperor. A mere Half-Step Martial Emperor could not withstand it.
Fortunately, the Blue Corpse Puppet’s body was extraordinarily resilient. Even when blasted away, it suffered no damage. It didn’t fly too far before stabilising itself. Before the Jin Clan’s experts on the outskirts of the Zi Clan’s battle formation could react, it charged back into the formation’s range.
After delivering that powerful strike, the Martial Emperor phantom seemed to fade considerably. A look of astonishment appeared on its face, “Worthy of a corpse puppet, to withstand my strike without a scratch.”
“Trouble, quick!”
The Jin Clan elders grew frantic. They knew this Martial Emperor war seal didn’t have much combat strength left, at most capable of withstanding one more strike from the Blue Corpse Puppet.
After that, it would likely be unable to hold back the Blue Corpse Puppet, and the Heaven-Stealing Furnace would be destroyed.
At that moment, the sky trembled, as if intense clashes were occurring. It was unclear whether the Zi Emperor was rushing down or the Jin Emperor was hurrying down, blocked desperately by the other.
The direction of Jin Zhi and Zi Gong’s battle was also rapidly shifting towards this location.
“Swoosh!” To everyone’s surprise, before the Blue Corpse Puppet could strike, the lid of the Heaven-Stealing Furnace suddenly flew into the air.
Everyone was stunned, including Lin Xiao, who was equally shocked. He thought to himself, “It opened so easily?”
It was Lin Xiao who had used his spiritual energy to lift the furnace’s lid. Standing near the altar, he wasn’t far from it.
He had assumed that the Heaven-Stealing Furnace, being so extraordinary, would require the strength of a Half-Step Martial Emperor like the Blue Corpse Puppet to open. Who would have thought it could be lifted so easily, merely with his mid-tier fifth-grade spiritual energy?
It seemed the furnace’s lid wasn’t as secure as they had imagined.
No wonder the Jin Clan had set up such a formidable defensive formation, along with a Martial Emperor war seal. Perhaps it was precisely because the furnace’s lid was so easily opened.
Of course, this was also because the Jin Emperor’s phantom had dimmed and was distracted by the Blue Corpse Puppet. Otherwise, Lin Xiao’s spiritual energy would have had no chance of getting close to the furnace.
To Lin Xiao’s surprise, the Martial Emperor phantom seemed to smile at that moment.
“Trouble!” Lin Xiao’s heart sank. He immediately commanded the Blue Corpse Puppet to unleash a powerful Half-Step Martial Emperor attack, its body charging forward.
“Rumble!”…
In an instant, the Heaven-Stealing Furnace exploded. A torrent of energy surged outwards like an unrestrained ocean, its terrifying shockwaves crashing in all directions like hundredfold waves.
“Pfft!” “Pfft!”…
Lin Xiao and Ling Hu both spat out blood, their bodies sent flying by the terrifying shockwave.
The Blue Corpse Puppet was also forced back.
Around them, the experts of both the Zi Clan and the Jin Clan were flung away by the terrifying blast.
Lin Xiao and Ling Hu’s bodies came to a stop hundreds of metres away, both heavily injured.
Fortunately, they had been standing close to each other. Lin Xiao had commanded the Blue Corpse Puppet to unleash a strike, countering the explosive energy and blocking most of the shockwave.
Otherwise, that blast might have killed them.
The shockwave was even stronger than a Half-Step Martial Emperor’s power, though a sliver of it had passed through the Blue Corpse Puppet’s energy.
Of course, the shockwave was weaker in their position, but in other directions, it was far more powerful. Many Zi Clan elders were left vomiting blood from the impact.
“The furnace exploded?” The Jin Clan experts were stunned, their faces filled with disbelief. Had their clan’s plan to ascend to Emperor status failed just like that?
The Half-Step Martial Emperor elder, Jin En, and Ling Xiao, had they perished together?
“Father!” Ling Hu’s body trembled violently, his face darkening with despair.
“Sss!”
While everyone was reeling in shock, far in the distance, about a thousand miles away, a dazzling golden light shot into the sky. Like a towering golden pillar, it pierced the heavens, its brilliant glow illuminating all directions, as if divine light were shining down.
Even Lin Xiao and the others at the Jin Clan headquarters could see it.
“It’s fake, this is a fake Heaven-Stealing Furnace!” A frantic voice from the Zi Emperor echoed through the void, “Quick, go there, destroy the real Heaven-Stealing Furnace!”
Everyone was stunned.
Lin Xiao’s heart trembled.
The Heaven-Stealing Furnace was fake?
The Jin Clan had deployed over a hundred Martial Lords, a powerful defensive formation, and a Martial Emperor war seal, all to protect a fake Heaven-Stealing Furnace?
Who could have imagined that?
In truth, even the Jin Clan elders were bewildered. They, too, were unaware that they had been fiercely guarding a fake furnace.
“Hahaha, so that’s it, so that’s it! The clan leader pulled a switch, moving the real Heaven-Stealing Furnace! The clan leader is brilliant, truly brilliant, hahaha…”
At that moment, Jin Wuhuan was ecstatic, his wild laughter ringing out.
The other Jin Clan elders revealed expressions of狂喜. So that was it, the furnace was fake.
Their clan’s Half-Step Martial Emperor hadn’t failed to break through. On the contrary, they had succeeded, successfully ascending to the Martial Emperor realm.
The Jin Clan had gained another Martial Emperor.
Now, the Zi Clan was in trouble.
Lin Xiao, Ling Hu, and the Zi Clan members frowned deeply. If the Jin Clan now had a new Martial Emperor, they were in grave danger. The Zi Emperor couldn’t protect them against two Martial Emperors.
“Quick, the Sky Boat, stop him!” The Zi Clan’s second elder shouted, pulling out a Sky Boat.
Others quickly leapt aboard.
Another elder produced a second Sky Boat, and the Zi Clan elders hurriedly boarded. Seeing the Zi Clan’s movements, the Jin Clan prepared to act.
But at that moment, the Jin Emperor’s nonchalant voice rang out, “Too late. The golden light soaring into the sky means the refinement is complete, and the breakthrough to Martial Emperor has succeeded.”
“Zi Emperor, since you’re so eager, let’s all witness the birth of our Jin Clan’s new Martial Emperor.”
With that, the Jin Emperor’s voice rolled towards the distant location a thousand miles away, “Jin En, the Zi Emperor is visiting our Jin Clan headquarters. Come meet him.”
At those words, Lin Xiao and the Zi Clan members’ faces changed drastically, their bodies freezing in place. Ling Hu trembled, his spirit sinking into despair, “Father…”
If Jin En had successfully broken through, it meant his father had perished…
“Swish!”
At that moment, the pillar of light vanished, and a golden beam shot towards the Jin Clan headquarters. In no time, a golden phantom appeared, swiftly entering the headquarters. A bloodied figure emerged in everyone’s view, a terrifying Martial Emperor aura enveloping the heavens in all directions.
