The Evil-Breaking Divine Spear had once shone brilliantly during the battle at the Primordial Heaven Grand Restriction. In that engagement, many Domain Lords—and even Sovereign Masters—who emerged from the Primordial Heaven Grand Restriction had suffered grievously at its hands.
In numerous clashes that had been evenly matched, Ink Clan powerhouses were suddenly struck by the Evil-Breaking Divine Spear, their strength plummeting. If they didn't die then, who would?
Every Ink Clan member feared this Artifact, which was supremely effective at suppressing the power of Ink.
Unfortunately, that battle had been far too devastating. The Ink Clan suffered catastrophic losses, and the Human Race likewise. In the aftermath, the Evil-Breaking Divine Spears were essentially exhausted.
Crafting the weapon itself was not particularly difficult, but merely forging it was useless—it required sealing Purification Light within it to pose any real threat to the Ink Clan.
Over the years, the Human Race's armies had fought through several major campaigns, and even the Purification Light stored aboard the Purge Vessels had been more or less spent. There was no way to produce new Evil-Breaking Divine Spears. To make matters worse, after the battle at the Primordial Heaven Grand Restriction, Yang Kai—the only person capable of activating Purification Light—had vanished, plunging the Human Race into the predicament of a clever housewife who cannot cook without rice.
As a result, since that battle, the Evil-Breaking Divine Spear had essentially never been deployed again. This was a key reason why the Bastion of No Return had fallen so quickly. Had the spears been available back then, the bastion might never have been lost—after all, it had been defended by numerous Sacred Spirits, including a large number of Dragons and Phoenixes. Even if it ultimately fell, they could have held out far longer.
The Human Race now found itself in dire straits. The Ink Clan had seized over ninety percent of the Three Thousand Great Domains, forcing the humans to gather all their remaining forces and hold out in just over a dozen domain battlefields. Facing relentless raids from Ink Clan armies on every front, they raced desperately from one battle to the next, their survival hanging by a thread—one misstep and they would be utterly destroyed.
After decades of bloody warfare, the Ink Clan had witnessed the Human Race's tenacity and observed all manner of strange and ingenious tactics. They had believed they understood the humans thoroughly.
Until Chen Yuan brought out the Evil-Breaking Divine Spear.
The same weapon that had blazed across the battlefield at the Primordial Heaven Grand Restriction centuries ago proved its might once more. A single strike grievously wounded one of the five Domain Lords.
The Domain Lords clashing with the Human Race's Eighth-Order cultivators were horrified, immediately recognizing the killing weapon as the very thing that had wreaked havoc outside the Primordial Heaven Grand Restriction.
They all grew wary.
Fortunately, in the fighting that followed, the Human Race showed no intention of deploying the spear again. The Domain Lords surmised that the humans must possess very few of these weapons—otherwise, why would they hold back so courteously?
In truth, the number of Evil-Breaking Divine Spears currently available was indeed quite limited. Yang Kai had only been back for a few months, and even with emergency production, the humans could not have forged many in that time.
Of course, the larger reason was that the Domain Lords were now on guard. Chen Yuan and the others had no confidence in landing another hit, so they exercised restraint.
Sometimes a killing trump card didn't need to be unleashed to exert its deterrent force.
At the very least, after wounding that Domain Lord, the remaining ones had noticeably softened their assaults, making the situation far more bearable for the several Human Race Eighth-Order cultivators.
Then, upon receiving the Seventh-Order Open Heaven cultivator's urgent transmission, Chen Yuan produced another Evil-Breaking Divine Spear. Channeling the power of heaven and earth, he made it tremble slightly before him, as though it might pierce through the void at any moment.
The Domain Lords' heads began to ache. Especially the one locked in combat with Chen Yuan—his eyes were glued to the spear hovering before his opponent, his entire body's power pushed to its absolute limit, poised to defend at a heartbeat's notice.
Having witnessed what happened to his companion, he knew that if he failed to withstand this Artifact's strike, the best outcome would be severe injury.
He concentrated every fiber of his being, bracing for the killing blow about to descend.
The transmission warship was fleeing through the area, chased and intercepted by countless Ink Clan forces. From the look of things, it wouldn't be long before the vessel met a tragic end.
At some point, the battered warship seemed to lose all sense of direction and charged straight toward the battlefield where the Eighth-Order cultivators and Domain Lords clashed.
The Domain Lords noticed, irritation flaring in their hearts. Under normal circumstances, a casual strike from any of them would have been enough to obliterate the crippled warship. But under the threat of the Evil-Breaking Divine Spear, not a single one dared divert their attention.
The spear before Chen Yuan trembled even more violently, as though it would launch the very next instant.
The wrecked warship had closed to within striking distance of the Domain Lords. On its deck, over a dozen Human Race soldiers wore expressions of panic and helplessness—the despair of those on the brink of death.
Then, without warning, a wave of spiritual power rippled outward. The Domain Lord facing Chen Yuan's body shuddered as a razor-sharp force tore through his soul. The indescribable agony made him tremble instantly, his focus shattering.
Terror seized the Domain Lord. He had no idea what had just happened, but he knew unmistakably—he had been ambushed!
Who was attacking him? And who could possibly manage to ambush him?
He had been on full alert against Chen Yuan's movements, and the other Human Race Eighth-Order cultivators were each pinned down by Domain Lords. He had sensed no trace of another Human Race powerhouse approaching.
No matter how he turned it over in his mind, he could not fathom how—under these circumstances—he could still be ambushed.
But there was no time left for him to think. The instant the spiritual power wave erupted, the Evil-Breaking Divine Spear before Chen Yuan was unleashed. It transformed into a streak of radiance and plunged straight into the opposing Domain Lord's chest.
The Evil-Breaking Divine Spear did indeed possess a suppressing effect against the Ink Clan, but the weapon had its limitations. It was, after all, merely an Artifact. If an Ink Clan powerhouse was on guard, success was far from guaranteed.
That was why Chen Yuan had held the spear in reserve after producing it, waiting for the perfect opening.
And now, with this single strike, it found its mark.