Chapter 518: Fragment of a Divine Artifact

The cave was quite ordinary, not the treasure trove Lin Fan had imagined.

Inside, it was gloomy and terrifying.

When Lin Fan reached the end and saw a mass of pitch-black mist crashing against the walls, a smile curled at the corners of his mouth.

"Haha, so it was you playing tricks all along. How does it feel, knowing your life is about to end?" Lin Fan laughed wildly.

As they say, danger lurks everywhere in life.

This time in the Ancient Domain of Ten Thousand Killings, after experiencing the Seven Saints' Treasure, Lin Fan had little trust in so-called experts.

Experts were human too; they feared death, especially the more powerful ones. How could they willingly hand over their life's opportunities to others?

With the system, none of this could be hidden. Trying to fool him was nothing but a pipe dream.

A 'Demon Seed Conversion Talisman' passed off as a 'Heavenly Saint Imperial Treasure Talisman'—what a poser!

In the past, Lin Fan had envied the protagonists in novels who encountered all sorts of adventures. But now, thinking carefully, those protagonists were probably no longer their original selves; they had been replaced by those great beings.

Otherwise, why would they be granted such good fortune?

"You..." That wisp of pitch-black divine sense shrieked sharply and lunged at Lin Fan.

It wanted to tear this fellow apart, utterly shred him.

"Hmph, a mere wisp of divine sense dares to be so insolent. Who gave you the courage?" Lin Fan bellowed, instantly summoning the 'Demon City.'

"Devour him."

The ancient great demon within the 'Demon City' roared repeatedly, tearing through the void with a claw, grabbing the Green Sage Ancestor like an ant.

"Impossible! The ancient great demon has long fallen. How could it be refined into a weapon spirit? Impossible..." The Green Sage Ancestor shrieked in disbelief the moment he saw the ancient great demon.

In that instant, the ancient great demon opened its massive maw, and a gale swept forth, swallowing the wisp of divine sense into its belly.

"Refine!"

The Green Sage Ancestor's powerful divine sense struggled within the ancient great demon's body, but in a flash, it was refined.

"Impossible..." In the final moment of refinement, the Green Sage Ancestor roared madly, then fell silent.

"Hmph, utterly useless." Lin Fan said disdainfully, while the power of the 'Demon City' continued to rise.

If this kept up, even without gathering the Five Spirits, it could ascend to a Dao Artifact.

Overwhelming force could break all laws; as long as enough power was accumulated, conventions could be shattered.

In Lin Fan's view, who said a top-grade spirit artifact needed various conditions to become a Dao Artifact? With sufficient power, none of that was necessary—the rules could be broken.

However, the fact that the Green Sage Ancestor recognized the 'ancient great demon' surprised Lin Fan. Clearly, the Green Sage Ancestor had existed for a long time, perhaps even before the ancient great demon fell, and had crossed paths with it.

"Although the Green Sage Ancestor didn't give me any experience points, strengthening the Demon City is still a decent gain." Though somewhat disappointed, Lin Fan was content.

He also felt that this journey had been far too perilous, with traps everywhere. He would need to be even more cautious in the future.

If he had been greedy for small gains, he would probably have died somewhere long ago.

"Eh, two skeletons." Lin Fan surveyed the surroundings. In the empty cave lay two skeletons.

One skeleton was embedded in the wall, nearly merging with it, yet it remained crystalline and translucent. Lin Fan gently touched it, and the skeleton instantly crumbled into ashes.

"This is a human skeleton." After touching it, Lin Fan understood. Human skeletons were inherently weak; only by cultivating to a certain realm could they remain incorruptible for eternity.

This skeleton had considerable physical strength, but it might have exhausted all its power at the moment of death, even fully unleashing its physical potential, causing the body to revert to an ordinary state, unable to withstand the erosion of time.

"Who could this be?" Lin Fan wondered, then turned his gaze to the ground nearby.

There lay another skeleton, likely that of the so-called Green Sage Ancestor.

This skeleton was relatively large and should belong to an ancient race.

The ancient race had immense innate advantages; even after death, their bones remained black and glossy.

"Eh, what's this?" Lin Fan noticed a fragment embedded in the ancient race's bones.

The fragment was ordinary, dull, and unremarkable.

But Lin Fan sensed something different about it.

Hum...

At that moment, the Eternal Axe in his backpack trembled violently.

"What's going on?" Lin Fan couldn't understand, but he took out the Eternal Axe. The moment it was drawn, the Eternal Axe floated in the void and suddenly burst forth with a power that enveloped the fragment.

"Could this be a fragment of the Eternal Axe?" Lin Fan's expression changed drastically. The Eternal Axe was originally a divine artifact, but due to damage, its power had been greatly diminished.

The current situation was unusual; this fragment was clearly closely related to the Eternal Axe.

The Eternal Axe contained the immensely powerful technique 'Three Styles of Heaven-Splitting.'

So far, Lin Fan had only learned the first style, 'Firmament,' which alone had greatly benefited him, like a divine skill.

If this truly was a lost fragment of the Eternal Axe, then after fusion, the second style would surely appear. Learning that style would skyrocket his strength.

In an instant, a beam of light shot out from the fragment, forming an image in the void.

The Eternal Axe shattered, its fragments tearing through the void and scattering across heaven and earth.

A human obtained this fragment and, after years of effort, forged it into a longsword. When the sword was completed, winds and clouds surged, calamities descended, and it became a Dao Artifact.

Ultimately, this human fought a great battle with an ancient race member, slaying that immensely powerful ancient race being, but he himself was exhausted and died here.

These scenes played out before Lin Fan's eyes.

"Phew..." Lin Fan sighed. So that was the outcome.

This human was not as powerful as Emperor Yuan or others, but he feared not death in his fight against the ancient race, earning Lin Fan's respect.

"Hum..."

The fragment hovered around the Eternal Axe, but for a long time, it did not merge.

Seeing this, Lin Fan understood. Over such a long time, the Eternal Axe had likely self-repaired due to the missing fragment, leaving no place for it.

"Heaven and Earth Furnace, refine."

Without any hesitation, Lin Fan summoned the 'Heaven and Earth Furnace' and cast the Eternal Axe and the fragment into it.

With the 'Heaven and Earth Furnace,' all these problems would cease to be problems.

...