Staring at the seven shield walls blocking his path, Lin Qian's face twisted into a mocking smile. He raised his arm, clutching the Thundernight Sword high, as the crimson light emanating from it grew even more intense.
His double attack ability, although it could only be used once, was immensely powerful. It effectively doubled his attack power, amplifying both his physical strength and soul power twentyfold.
Now, with both his physique and soul power enhanced by twenty times, Lin Qian's next strike would be an attack amplified by forty times in total—a terrifyingly powerful blow.
"Shen Zhixing, brace yourself for this strike!" High above, Lin Qian's speed did not falter as he rushed forward. The golden-red thunder soul force around the Thundernight Sword surged, enveloping the blade and expanding it into a massive thunderous sword.
The soul force, now forming a colossal sword, fell from the sky like a descending blade, cleaving straight through the proud shield walls of Shen Zhixing.
As the sword met the shields, offense and defense clashed visibly in the heavens.
Slash!
With a single strike, Lin Qian's terrifying sword energy, transformed into a thunderous canopy, split the shield walls down the middle. Shen Zhixing's most powerful defense, the Seven Spirit Shields, was shattered before his very eyes, dissolving into the heavens in a flurry of soul energy particles.
Lin Qian, now unimpeded, continued his charge, his slender white sword aimed directly at Shen Zhixing's throat. Though the blade had yet to reach him, Shen Zhixing already felt an intense chill creeping over him, as if the air around him was beginning to freeze.
As the cold crept closer, a layer of frost began to form on his body. Reacting quickly, Shen Zhixing's burning soul power exploded outward, shattering the ice that had begun to form. He swiftly retreated, his hands forming a pair of soul power spears that he hurled at Lin Qian.
Shen Zhixing retreated with all his speed, but Lin Qian continued his relentless pursuit. The Blackhorn race was known for their speed in the air, and as a grandmaster-level warrior, Shen Zhixing's flight speed was nothing to scoff at.
With his soul power surging, Shen Zhixing tried to widen the gap between himself and Lin Qian. The purple soul power spears he threw at Lin Qian shot forward like arrows.
But Lin Qian's emperor's gaze, already activated, never left the incoming spears. His golden eyes tracked every movement. Just as he was about to swing the Thundernight Sword, he hesitated and instead brought the Cloudsword to the front.
As the icy aura of the Cloudsword spread forward, the purple soul power spears slowed, their momentum significantly reduced. Lin Qian deftly dodged the now sluggish spears and continued his pursuit of Shen Zhixing.
Once he had passed the spears, Lin Qian suddenly swung the Thundernight Sword behind him. A golden-red lightning slash burst from the blade, slicing through the center of the soul power spears, detonating them into a dazzling array of purple flames.
Shen Zhixing's face twisted in frustration as he watched the purple flames dance in the air, a stark contrast to Lin Qian's cold smile.
"Disappointed, are we?" Lin Qian's voice dripped with sarcasm as he slowed his pace, his gaze locked on the soul power spears still forming on Shen Zhixing's chest.
Seeing Lin Qian's sudden caution, Shen Zhixing raised an eyebrow before his expression softened into a smug grin. "Disappointed? Hardly. But you, on the other hand, have gone from a fierce swordsman to a coward in an instant."
"No, a wise emperor must heed the advice of his ministers," Lin Qian replied calmly, raising the Thundernight Sword to point at Shen Zhixing's spears. "Your Blackhorn race truly lives up to its reputation for mastering soul power, granting it such versatility."
"If I had engaged directly with those soul power spears and gotten caught in the explosion, your mark would have lingered on me. From then on, any attack you made would automatically track me down," Lin Qian explained, a note of admiration in his voice. "But as long as I avoid those flames, you have nothing on me."
"It seems that to unleash such flames, the soul power must be stabilized into these four-foot-long spears, correct?"
Hearing Lin Qian casually reveal the secrets of his Exhausting Soul Flame technique, Shen Zhixing was filled with terror. "Impossible! How do you know my secret technique?"
"Because I have an excellent prime minister," Lin Qian said, still smiling as he retrieved the Thundernight Sword and the Cloudsword from their hovering positions beside him.
Meanwhile, in the Phantom Star Huaxia Empire's Heaven's Work Ministry headquarters, Zhuge Ming sipped his tea as he sat on the high platform of the great hall. Surrounding him were three hundred tactical mirrors of varying sizes, floating in midair. The data gathered from Lin Qian's emperor's gaze, soul power, and soul perception was being rapidly analyzed and transmitted by the scholars of the Heaven's Work Ministry.
Zhuge Ming had thoroughly dissected the intricacies of Shen Zhixing's Exhausting Soul Flame and relayed them to his emperor.