Inside the Heaven-piercing Halberd was a peculiar Divine Weapon Space. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Most of the space was a chaotic void, but one part held two differently colored vortexes and a core. The core flickered like a star, but it was covered with cracks, unable to fully shine.

Originally, the two vortexes were in balance, both unmoving.

But now, the fiery red one was slowly rotating. Although the movement was slight, it was definitely turning.

The black and purple one was also rotating, but several times faster—its movement clearly visible.

On the Divine Weapon Core, most of the cracks around the edges had already vanished.

The fiery red vortex had absorbed the Fire Soul, which in turn had repaired the cracks on the Divine Weapon Core.

The black and purple vortex had absorbed the Demon Pill of the Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle, drawn in the energy of the Thunder Essence, and similarly repaired some cracks.

Gu Zheng could understand all of this.

However, the surface of the Divine Weapon Core was now covered by a faint, thin membrane.

This membrane extended outward, covering most of the black and purple Thunder Vortex.

Gu Zheng focused his senses and confirmed that the nascent consciousness was emanating from this very membrane!

’A Divine Weapon Spirit?’

The thought popped into Gu Zheng’s mind.

Ever since he had refined the Heaven-piercing Halberd, nothing unusual had ever occurred.

For a nascent consciousness to suddenly appear now—if it wasn’t a Divine Weapon Spirit, what else could it be?

But that raised a question.

Gu Zheng had heard a little about the birth of Divine Weapon Spirits. They were exceedingly difficult to form and were always born naturally—when heavenly thunder stirred earthly fire.

No one had ever artificially created or condensed one.

Of course, it was possible that Gu Zheng was simply ignorant and unaware of any such records.

He had also never handled a true Divine Weapon before.

It wasn’t impossible for the Divine Weapon Spirit of the Heaven-piercing Halberd to be reborn after having been destroyed.

It was just too much of a coincidence.

For such a long time, there had been no activity at all.

Yet, it popped into existence right after absorbing the Demon Pill of the Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle!

’That’s right.’

Gu Zheng suspected that the new membrane in the Divine Weapon Space—this nascent Divine Weapon Spirit, this not-yet-fully-formed Artifact Spirit—was related to the Demon Pill of the Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle!

Perhaps the Heaven-piercing Halberd itself already possessed the potential for an Artifact Spirit to be reborn.

When the Demon Pill of the Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle entered the Heaven-piercing Halberd, the lingering will of the fourth-rank Demon Fiend that came with it was reforged and fused, thereby recreating the Divine Weapon Spirit!

Gu Zheng had no way of knowing the actual process of its birth.

He could clearly sense the Heaven-piercing Halberd’s current state. It had nothing to do with the original Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle; even if some remnant of the fourth-rank Great Demon’s soul had lingered, it had already been smelted by the halberd.

In short, the Heaven-piercing Halberd had a new Divine Weapon Spirit.

This Artifact Spirit was still in its nascent, newborn stage.

An infantile state!

When Gu Zheng’s consciousness brushed against it, he instantly received waves of curiosity, confusion, and chaos.

Most of it was chaos, with nothing specific.

’Chaos is good, chaos is wonderful!’

The corners of Gu Zheng’s mouth couldn’t help but curve upward.

This newborn Divine Weapon Spirit was not yet fully formed, which gave him plenty of time to nurture it as his own.

For now, it only covered part of the Thunder Vortex, not all of it.

A true Artifact Spirit of the Heaven-piercing Halberd would have both the Thunder Vortex and the Fire Vortex inside the space under its control.

And so,

While maintaining mental contact with the newborn Artifact Spirit, Gu Zheng took out the Half-sized Divine Weapon and began to slice open the Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle’s shell, following the lines on its surface.

The shell of a living Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle was as hard as a Divine Weapon.

The shell of a dead Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle was still hard, but its durability had noticeably decreased, a fact Gu Zheng could sense.

The Half-sized Divine Weapon was sharper than the Heaven-piercing Halberd. Exerting his strength, he successfully sliced into the Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle’s shell, carving one half of it into individual plates.

The body of the Vajra Thunder Demon Turtle was fifty to sixty meters tall, making each plate of its shell comparable in size to a truck.

As for the turtle meat inside, there wasn’t much. Gu Zheng collected a portion and put it in his Storage Pouch, leaving the rest untouched.

After getting all of that done, he waited for another moment. Soon, several figures streaked across the distant sky.

"Gu!"

As his figure flickered into view, Sang Qianying’s voice arrived first. "Oh, no, I should call you Gu King now!"

Sang Qianying strode through the air toward Gu Zheng and cupped his fist in congratulations. "Congratulations, Gu King!"

"Sang, you’re being too formal."

Gu Zheng returned the gesture with a smile. "I’ve merely taken one step ahead. I trust you’ll be able to catch up soon, Sang."

"Hah, catch up to you, Gu King, and advance to the King’s Body? It’s not that easy." Sang Qianying shook his head, then turned slightly to gesture at the two men beside him. "You’ve already met Boshan Guanzhi, His Highness the Second Prince. And this is Boshan Dongming, the Patriarch of the Boshan Family!"

’The Patriarch of the Boshan Family?’

’The Grand Minister of Rites for the royal family of Xin Country...’

Understanding dawned on Gu Zheng. He formally cupped his fist toward Boshan Dongming, a man with a resolute face but smiling eyes. "So it is Boshan himself. Gu Zheng pays his respects."

"Haha, you are too kind, Gu."

Boshan Dongming returned the salute with a smile. "I have long heard of your reputation, Gu. Seeing you today, I can confirm you are truly a once-in-a-millennium talent."

"Greetings, Gu King!" Boshan Guanzhi chimed in, saluting from behind.

"You exaggerate, Boshan," Gu Zheng said, shaking his head slightly. "It was merely a matter of timing and fate."

"You’re being too modest, Gu King. Advancing to the King’s Body takes more than just luck."

A deep, powerful male voice rang out as two figures streaked over from the distant eastern sky at incredible speed.

SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

In a flash, the two who had arrived by tearing through the sky revealed themselves.

One was a man Gu Zheng was familiar with: Xu Jianzhu, the Grand Director of the Demon Slayer Bureau. The other was powerfully built, his aura formidable and upright. Though Gu Zheng had never met him in person, he had sensed his presence before. It was, without a doubt, the Kao Mountain King of Jing Country, Zhong Zhengqiong!

The second-strongest expert of the Zhong Family had actually come in person.