Ye Chui hurriedly used his iPad grimoire to check Fatty’s power. In his previous state, Fatty’s score was only 5. Debbie had used her magic to condense Fatty’s soul into a heroic spirit, but she couldn’t grant him power, so Godo was merely equivalent to an ordinary person at that time.
But now, as he officially became the guardian spirit of the Holy Light Forest, he began to absorb the villagers’ magic, receiving their reverence and restoring his strength. His score started to soar rapidly. In Ye Chui’s astonished gaze, the number kept climbing: 100, 200, 300…
When it reached 800, the increase slowed slightly. During this process, Fatty’s aura grew stronger. He was no longer the unreliable fatty but the hero who had watched over the forest for a century, forgoing the chance to become a Sword Saint to protect his descendants.
Finally, Ye Chui’s scan showed a score of 1010, just a hair stronger than Demon Mountain. This was the power of a Half-step Sword Saint.
Whoosh!
Godo transformed into a blur of light, enveloping Demon Mountain’s body. The invincible physique that withstood powerful spells and sword techniques like [Golden Rain] and [Starfire Bombardment] without a scratch began to erupt with bursts of blood. Demon Mountain roared in fury, wildly swinging his giant blade, but he couldn’t land a hit on Godo’s agile figure.
For a moment, he was completely overwhelmed, unable to fight back.
Demon Mountain’s strength lay in his beast-blood-infused physique, impervious to most attacks. But now, he faced a heroic spirit swordsman with devastating destructive power. The strikes of a Half-step Sword Saint were enough to wound him.
“Demon Mountain’s power doesn’t quite reach the level of a Half-step Sword Saint, only that of a Great Swordsman, but his physique is too formidable,” Gilga said weakly, approaching Ye Chui and Debbie. Her eyes were fixed on the intense battle as she explained. In the Castro Continent, those who wielded blades were also called swordsmen, a general term.
“Their battle is spectacular,” Gilga continued, pausing before adding with a hint of frustration, “If only I could unleash my full power.”
“What the heck, Gilga, you’ve got hidden strength?” Ye Chui turned to her in surprise. Was there some kind of seal on Gilga?
Debbie answered instead. “A heroic spirit’s ability to unleash its full power depends on the summoner’s capability, known as the ‘summoning limit.’ It’s like how Jiji has both a young girl and adult form. Right now, Gilga is in a basic summoning state. As a mid-level summoner, I can’t bring out Gilga’s full power. She currently only has the strength she had as a high-level swordsman, but when she became a heroic spirit, she was already a Great Swordsman.”
A Great Swordsman was the rank just below a Half-step Sword Saint.
Ye Chui nodded, realizing the truth. Gilga, one of the ten strongest heroic spirits wielding golden sword energy, had a score of only 95 according to his scan. Initially, he thought this was impressive. In Windrock City, the renowned swordsman Bastin had been so intimidated by Gilga’s aura that he lost all will to fight. But compared to Demon Mountain and Godo, with their thousand-point scores, Gilga’s strength seemed lacking. As a pay-to-win swordsman with premium attributes, this felt a bit underwhelming. Now he understood why.
It seemed Godo could handle Demon Mountain without much trouble. More importantly, Demon Mountain was a one-time summoned heroic spirit with a short summoning duration. Even if Godo couldn’t defeat him quickly, stalling until the time limit expired would suffice.
Ye Chui breathed a sigh of relief. His eyes then caught McKenzie, who was trying to sneak away. Naturally, he wouldn’t let him escape easily. The old mage had a score of 90. With the [Wind Walk] spell boosting him, Ye Chui appeared in front of McKenzie instantly. “You think you can just leave?”
McKenzie was in a pitiful state, one arm broken, his body covered in wounds from Ye Chui’s attacks, blood flowing freely. He looked weak and utterly disheveled, having planned to slip away from the Holy Light Forest during Demon Mountain’s chaos. Seeing Ye Chui block his path, a flicker of regret crossed his face before he calmly sat down on the ground.
“I never imagined that I, McKenzie, who roamed the world my entire life, would die here. Heh, to think I’d fall to you youngsters in the end,” McKenzie said to Ye Chui, who was checking his grimoire, with an air of resignation.
He still had the strength to move but seemed unwilling to continue fleeing under Ye Chui’s strange spells.
“You attacked me without reason first. You can’t blame me for this,” Ye Chui said, shaking his head, preparing to finish the old mage off cleanly, perhaps with a single shot to the head.
But a cold glint suddenly flashed in McKenzie’s eyes.
“Even if you kill me, you won’t get off easy.”
“You’ve got a trump card too?” Ye Chui paused, wondering if the old man knew curse magic. A bone-chilling cold suddenly enveloped him. Sensing danger, he aimed his finger at McKenzie’s head to unleash [Starfire Bombardment]. But before the spell could activate, the cold intensified, threatening to freeze his body solid. Unable to attack McKenzie, he quickly retreated.
“What did you do?”
“This is an immensely powerful spell called [Ice Age Descent]. Legend has it that before life emerged on this continent, it was covered in ice and snow. Scholars call that era the Ice Age. This spell was born from that, bringing that terrifying world back to life,” McKenzie said, one hand on his grimoire, his body rapidly frosting over, turning into an icy statue.
“I learned this spell but never used it because its power is too great. Casting it drains all my magic, freezing everything around me. Yes, this is my trump card, a super spell that activates upon my death, bringing the Ice Age back. I’ll take you all with me!” McKenzie’s voice was weak but venomous. Seeing Ye Chui prepare to escape with [Wind Walk], he mustered his last strength and waved his hand.
“Freeze. You’re not going anywhere!”
Ice instantly enveloped the entire Holy Light Forest.
Ye Chui’s body stiffened, and he couldn’t help but scoff at McKenzie’s words. What, you think you’re some anime character? But despite his quip, McKenzie’s suicidal spell was far more powerful than any fictional move. A layer of frost rapidly covered the entire forest.
Crack! Crack! Several birds in the air turned to ice and fell to the ground.
The mushroom-shaped trees in the forest were coated in frost.
The Holy Light Lake outside froze over instantly.
The mental mage, previously knocked out by Green’s brick, staggered to her feet, her face filled with terror. Her body turned into an ice statue and shattered.
McKenzie had also become an ice statue, but his magic continued to drain from his body.
Ye Chui summoned a fire snake to coil around himself and rushed to Debbie, Green, Winsa, Reisha, and Cass, amplifying the flames to provide warmth. But the bone-chilling cold still invaded their bodies, making them shiver uncontrollably, their movements stiff.
As the terrifying spell descended, several villagers were instantly frozen into ice statues. But a powerful sword aura enveloped them, with Godo floating above, using his power to shield them.
With Godo’s strength, he could barely counter the spell’s icy power. However, Demon Mountain remained mobile under the spell, his body covered in frost but not fully restricted. Roaring, he charged at Godo.
Godo, protecting his descendants while fighting Demon Mountain, lost his earlier advantage. His body took several heavy blows, and the villagers below cried out in panic, “Ancestor! Ancestor!”
“Ye Chui, look at Guni!” Debbie urgently pointed out.
Guni stood before the sacred stone sword in the village’s centre, gripping its hilt with both hands, her face strained with effort as she slowly pulled the massive sword from the stone. Some villagers, seeing this, were horrified. This was their revered stone sword, untouchable even to children. How could Guni dare to pull it out?
The sword’s glow seemed to protect Guni, preventing her from being fully frozen, though frost covered her hair and dark skin.
Finally, she extracted the massive sword. As she held it, the stone casing crumbled, revealing the golden blade within. A joyful smile spread across her face.
But that smile turned to shock.
The golden greatsword began to disintegrate, melting into a pile of golden sand that fell to the ground.
“This, this…” Guni stared at her hands, bewildered and panicked, instinctively looking to Ye Chui.
Ye Chui and the others were equally shocked. This golden greatsword had stood here for so long, protecting the area from the sealed demon. Had it already exhausted its power?
With its stone casing shattered, had the blade itself crumbled?
“Come here quick!” Ye Chui shouted, seeing Guni about to be frozen. Green cast a spatial spell, a blue light appearing beside Guni, grabbing her arm and pulling her toward Ye Chui.
“I didn’t mean for this to happen. How could the sword turn out like this?” Guni said, entering the fire snake’s protective range, her face filled with guilt.
“It’s not your fault. It probably wouldn’t have lasted much longer anyway,” Ye Chui said, shaking his head. But he felt something was off. How could a divine artifact be destroyed so easily?
Then, a realization hit him, and his expression turned to wild joy. “Could it be…”
“What’s wrong?” Debbie asked.
“The sword hasn’t disappeared!”
Ye Chui said hurriedly, tapping his grimoire’s screen. As he read the information, his joy intensified. A cyan light appeared above the grimoire, and he turned to his companions. “Let me show you a magic trick!”
“What’s a magic trick?” Debbie asked, puzzled.
Ye Chui didn’t answer. He reached into the cyan light and slowly pulled out the golden greatsword.
The sword was massive, its design peculiar. In the Time Shadow, Ye Chui had seen the Goddess of Wealth wield it, but the details were unclear, only that it looked strange. Now, up close, he noticed the hilt extended into several thin, gun-barrel-like tubes, three on each side, hugging the blade, reminiscent of a Gatling gun.
The blade had a hole, as if struck by another weapon, and several odd dents, like marks from being crushed by hand. These imperfections didn’t diminish the sword but gave it an indescribable aura.
This was the weapon of the Goddess of Wealth, crafted by the God of Gods himself.
Ye Chui hadn’t been able to summon it before, not because it lacked a dragon soul like Dragon Treasure, but because it still existed in the world. He couldn’t summon it as a heroic spirit. Now, whether due to its power being exhausted or because of his contact, it had dissipated, allowing him to summon it fully.
“Ye Chui, how did you get it?” Debbie asked, astonished, as were the others.
“No time to explain,” Ye Chui said, fully pulling out the massive, heavy sword and holding it aloft. As his summoned item, he wasn’t affected by its terrifying weight, wielding it effortlessly while retaining its devastating power. However, he didn’t know any sword techniques. Using background music could make him a powerful swordsman temporarily, but Guni was the best suited to unleash the sword’s potential.
Ye Chui handed the greatsword to Guni, then pointed at Demon Mountain, still entangled with Godo.
“Cut him down!”
